#(may come from me being in a very star wars mode currently)

[notnormalatal]

One of the reasons i think people still rewatch or reread or reconsume tragedies in any type of shape and form is because we all have a little bit of hope that it will turn out different this time. 

We still have hope that Anakin Skywalker won’t turn to the dark side; we still have hope that Patroclus won’t take Achilles armour and run out in battle; we still have hope that Orpheus won’t turn around to see if Eurydice still follows him; we still have hope that Romeo and Juliet will finally be able to escape together without any of them dying. 

Even if we’ve seen or heard or read these and so many other stories and tales (from all over the world!!!) a thousand times before in different versions and retellings, there will always be that little bit of hope that the ending will change. And that THIS time, this time they will have their happy ending.  

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #32 - Nobody’s Ever Actually Dead in Comic Books

Our band of merry guys-who-weren’t-on-the-Lost-Light-in-issue-#1 approach the shattered husk of the Lost Light, in a gruesome scene that is only slightly marred by the graphic design.

Font doesn’t really suggest danger, does it? Here, for comparison, is something I slapped together in fifteen minutes (including recreation of background) using a font I got off a free font site.

Now, one could say that my version is rather derivative, flat, and arguably cliche, but you know what else it is? Appropriate for the fucking mood of having found a destroyed, hemorrhaging ship after everyone you knew disappeared.

I’m available, IDW! Hit me up.

Theorizing that this is the ship that the Coffin Rodimus came from- remember that? It was a few issues ago- the gang flies in for a closer look. The ship blood is actually something called quantum foam, which allows for quantum space travel to happen. It’s not supposed to be outside of the quantum quills, but the ship’s pretty junked up, so it is.

Because the ship is so very full of holes, the gang can set down for repairs pretty easy. They land in Swerve’s, finding it in less-than-pristine condition. They also find evidence of Crosscut having gotten creative, as a poster for the play he was working on is hung up in the room. Considering he was still writing it when he disappeared, this might seem a bit odd. But then you remember that this is a ship from the future, and it stops being so odd.

Because this is a future ship, with evidence that Crosscut did some stuff, it stands to reason that, at some point, everyone is going to come back from being disappeared.

Just to die.

Which is a bummer, but one crisis at a time.

Megatron disembarks the Rod Pod, with Ravage following, and everyone is just a touch put off by the duo. Everyone but Nautica, who proceeds to commit a microaggression.

Nautica, that’s Soundwave’s father you’re petting like a common animal.

Ravage, angered by this over-familiarity, swats at her. Skids questions letting an active Decepticon roam around, but Megatron brushes off these concerns, saying that finding any still-living crew members is more important. With that, the search begins.

The gang splits up to look for clues, despite Riptide thinking this is a horrible idea. They’re on the clock for this one- the quantum foam is liable to explode if it touches anything, and there’s an awful lot of the stuff floating around right now.

Nightbeat and Nautica leave the rest of the group to their own work, seeing as Nautica has the most appropriate alt-mode for traversing the gaps in the ship.

Man, that’s pretty cool. Wish Nautica hadn’t been regulated to being “girl best friend” for her character arcs, I would have loved to see her do some neat stuff for her own development. Guess that’s what happens when you get introduced as main cast late, and have to compete with all the faves who had dozens of issues to be established and who also don’t have to deal with the whole “token girl character” thing.

The rest of the gang- Megatron, Ravage, Riptide, Skids, and Getaway- start looking in the area they’re already in. Seems a little lopsided, but whatever.

Ravage finds someone almost immediately, identifying Ultra Magnus through smell alone. Only, it isn’t just Ultra Magnus.

The Magnus armor lays not terribly far away, having had its hands cut off to prevent the recall signal from being activated before being gut-murdered.

Gut-murdered wiTH A FUSION CANNON, MEGATRON

Of course, Megatron was forced to destroy his fusion canon after it was decided he would be joining the Lost Light, but you can buy these things off the black market like it’s nothing. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brainstorm had a few stashed in his lab.

As it currently stands, nobody can trust the guy who has a storied past of killing Autobots, on a future ship where the only folks who could stop him are dead. Megatron, at least, has the good sense to not argue this fact, and suggests that the boys lock both Ravage and himself up until they suss out exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, over with Nautica and Nightbeat, we run through all the weird shit that’s happened in the last day or so.

Nautica, you’ve been on this ship for months now. How did you miss the fact that the only couple within 800 miles got annihilated by way of Phase Sixer? I feel like that attack might have come up at some point.

Since they’re on the subject of spouses, Nightbeat asks Nautica if she’s married, or if she has friends. Though noting that such a direct line of questioning might get him slapped with someone else, Nautica reveals that she is single, though she does have a best friend. Nightbeat is also single, probably because he pulls shit like this.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica uses her Sonic Screwdriver wrench to open a door with the literal push of a button. Brainstorm tricked out her wrench so hard it turned into a magic wand, which is good, because they’re going to need all the help they can get now that space is literally warping around them thanks to the quantum foam.

Nautica kicks something on the elevator, and that something turns out to be Brainstorm’s mysterious briefcase. Too bad Swerve is gone, he was so invested in what it contained. Luckily, Nightbeat is just as interested.

Back over on the other side of the ship, it seems as though Megatron kept his word about not resisting, as both he and Ravage have been locked in a cabinet. Wonder how that’s going for them.

Oh, better than I expected.

Ravage is fucking pissed that Megatron joined the Autobots, thereby turning his back on everyone who supported his cause during the last four million years. Despite this grievous betrayal though, the Decepticons haven’t stopped moving. Turns out, Galvatron’s in charge now.

But only if Autobot Megatron isn’t some sort of ploy.

It’s at this point that we learn just why Ravage is here to begin with- to see if Megatron’s truly given up the Decepticons, and if he has, to murder him. But first he’d like to know why this is happening.

Megatron views himself as a monster, having perpetuated a war that ended the lives of billions, destroyed the Cybertronian way of life, ostracized his race from the rest of the universe, and killing just to have something to do. He doesn’t like feeling this way about himself, so he decided to walk away from that life by joining the other team.

Don’t think it’s quite that easy to do, but okay.

Ravage isn’t so sure that this change of heart is going to stick, still convinced that Megatron will snap back to his old self with just a bit more time. Problem is, Megatron may not have a ton of that resource left.

Didn’t they build that body in like an hour so you wouldn’t die? Yeah, no wonder it feels as ill-fitting as a twenty-dollar suit. Thing’s probably made out of pig iron and duct tape.

The lights come on before further self-reflection can be done, and the duo realize that they’ve had guests this whole time.

Someone put the kettle on.

Obviously some fucked up shit happened on this ship. Megatron isn’t so sure that it’s him who did these dirty deeds, however, as he reaches into Ratchet’s mouth and pulls out his brain. Which feels like something that doesn’t really absolve one of guilt, but okay.

Also, ew.

Back with Nautica and Nightbeat, things are getting weird.

Now, this sequence might seem confusing at first blush, but this is because the laws of reality are collapsing around them. Going by clues in the background, we can find the proper, linear progression of time, and thus is conversation. This is what is actually happening:

With the mystery of Brainstorm’s briefcase eluding us once again, we move on to see more graphic aftermaths of violence. Poor Tailgate has been nailed to the wall with a chunk of a metal beam that’s almost as big as he is. The mood lighting for this scene is gorgeous, but I’ve hit my limit for exposing y’all to gore for this issue, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one. Then they find something even more interesting.

Who’s ready for Under Cold Blue Stars… 2!

Back over on the opposite side of the ship, Riptide’s found something nasty. It’s a bunch of dead bodies!

Including, uh, Pipes.

Who already died a while ago.

Hm.

All the bodies in this room are in their alts, and it looks like they’ve all been shot and drilled into, for some reason. Skids brings up that he had a friend who could identify the placement of any robot’s brain module just by knowing what they turned into. Then he reaches into a corpse to see what the drill-hole’s all about. It makes him sick, though maybe not for the reason you might think. He gets on the phone with Nightbeat, who’s called to tell them that they’ve found Overlord.

Still locked in his weird body harness.

And decapitated.

Megatron is on the other line, calling because he’s figured out the same thing Skids has. Someone paid a visit to this ship. Someone nasty.

The gang regroups, and Nautica gets the basics on the DJD, because I guess nobody’s mentioned them even in passing in the last six months, either.

God, what do they even talk about on this ship? Certainly not their feelings.

The reason that one room was filled with alt-modes was because of Tarn’s addiction to transforming; t-cogs are easier to remove when they’ve been used recently.

We get a quick 4/5ths-page gore-fest, then it’s back to making it all about Megatron.

Maybe you should have thought about that before you FUCKING DEFECTED, YOU POOL NOODLE.

Nightbeat’s beginning to put two and two together. There’s an Overlord in the basement. That shouldn’t be, because Overlord got exploded by Chromedome when he mercy-killed Rewind. Something is off about the past of this ship.

Before he can establish his MTMTE everybody-lives-but-then-dies AU though, the quantum foam fucks with the ship. These sons of guns need to get the hell out of here, pronto.

Oh god, what now?

Ravage smells someone inside the Magnus armor, someone who isn’t a part of the usual nesting doll lineup. Megatron reaches into the Crackerjack box and pulls out one hell of a prize.

HE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES

Chromedome would be so thrilled, if he still existed.

[junker-town]

Western Illinois, Year 40, 2046-2047

The final season of our sim dynasty with Western Illinois in College Hoops 2K8 is here.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April 2020 for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies. Dynasty mode runs for 40 years.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks at the start of Year 40, here’s a recap of everything that happened last season:

Western Illinois entered Year 39 trying to three-peat as national champions for the first time in program history. We lost two starters early to the NBA coming into the season, but still had enough talent to be ranked No. 10 overall in the preseason polls.

We ran through the regular season schedule, losing only one game to UCLA during the non-conference season and sweeping Summit League opponents once again. We entered the NCAA tournament at 29-1 on the year and earned a No. 4 seed to the big dance.

We beat Brown in round one, knocked off Georgia Tech in the round of 32, beat Indiana in the Sweet 16, and lost to Florida in the Elite Eight. We know enter the final season of my career tied with John Wooden with 10 national championships.

We added three players in our last ever recruiting class: five-star JUCO SF Jerald Obasohan, four-star SG Erwin Walls, and four-star PF Kenny Butler.

Here’s a first look at our roster for Year 40:

It feels like only yesterday that a fresh-faced, 25-year-old came to the small town of Macomb, Illinois with big dreams. Coach Rick was hired by Western Illinois to do the impossible: win a national championship with arguably the worst team in college basketball. After 39 seasons at the helm, our tiny program has accomplished that and so much more. Now it’s time to hang it up.

Our journey at Western Illinois is finally coming to an end. In literal terms, College Hoops 2K8 forces mandatory retirement upon coaches in dynasty mode after 40 seasons. All good stories need closure either way. As we start our final season, we have some big stakes attached to our swan song.

Western Illinois has won 10 national championships in the Ricky Charisma era. That ties us with UCLA legend John Wooden for the most in history. What started as a mission to win a single national championship has now left us with a different goal: to become the undisputed greatest program in the history of the sport.

While we failed in our bid to three-peat last season — falling to Florida in the Elite Eight — we did bring back all four breakout juniors for this season. We only lost starting center DJ Foster to graduation. Yeah, it’s been a while since we last published Year 39 (thanks for your patience), so let’s go over the roster:

PG Christano Ngounou, junior, 89 overall: Ngounou made major strides after being forced into the starting lineup last season, and now looks like a rock solid contributor going into our final year. An international recruit out of Cameroon, Ngounou is a fast 6’3 guard with lockdown defensive ability and a slightly above average three-point shot. We have bigger names on this squad who will be expected to carry the scoring load, but Ngounou is going to play a huge role because he’s way better than every other point guard on the roster. We need quality minutes from him in the tournament. Former five-star international recruit with B potential.

SG Bernie Doyle, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Doyle is an incredible talent who enters his senior year looking to fully blossom into a superstar. The 6’9 shooting guard uses his immense size on both ends of the floor. He’s elite at getting into the passing lanes and forcing steals (a team-high 1.8 per game as a junior) on the defensive end, and has a sweet three-point stroke offensively. Doyle is such a smooth scorer and dominant defender that it feels like he has the natural talent to develop into an all-great in his senior year. Let’s hope he’s up to the challenge. Former No. 36 overall recruit from Detroit with C potential. Projected lottery pick.

SF Floyd Keller, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Keller checks every box for a small forward. He has good size at 6’7. He has a three-point rating in the mid-80s. He’s the best dunker on the team. He’s an elite offensive rebounder for a wing with a rating in the low 90s, which helps equip him to play minutes at the four. After a tough shooting night in our Elite Eight loss last season — he went 1-for-7 from three — we’ll need Keller to be consistently great if we want one more run through the bracket. Former No. 101 overall recruit out of Dallas with C+ potential. Projected second round pick.

PF Oscar Fray, redshirt senior, 88 overall: Fray enters his third year as a starter with a fascinating combination of size and skill that could set him up for a breakout senior year. The 7-foot power forward is a great three-point shooter for his position with a rating just below 80. Defensively, he’s the top-rated shot blocker on the team, and also does a pretty good job on the glass. Former No. 118 overall recruit out of Lynn, MA with C potential. Projected second round pick.

C Brody Munoz, redshirt senior, 92 overall: Munoz finally gets the spotlight as a senior after backing up DJ Foster — a one-time NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player — for his entire career up to this point. We’re expected big things, and not just because he’s tied for the highest rated player on the roster going into the regular season. What Munoz lacks in elite size at 6’11 he can make up for with strength, agility, and rebounding. We expect him to be really good at forcing turnovers, grabbing putbacks, and helping fortify the paint. Former No. 169 overall recruit (No. 6 center) out of Nashville with B potential. Projected lottery pick.

We have an incredibly deep bench for our final season. Center Logan Polk (85 overall) will be our sixth man, and should be able to form a three-man front court rotation with the two starters in the tournament. After that, we have a lot of options but not a lot of good options.

Here’s the rest of the bench: wing Jaycee Queen (80 overall), wing Jerald Obasohan (79 overall), guard Archie Howell (78 overall), wing/guard James Haranga (74 overall), guard Edwin Walls (74 overall), and power forward Kenny Butler (74 overall).

This is really it. Year 40. The last dance. What a ride it has been. We start the season at No. 4 in the polls.

How did the regular season go?

For our final regular season, we tried to schedule a good mix of local schools and historic big conference rivals with a couple in-season tournaments thrown in for good measure.

Here’s how the regular season went:

Win over Bradley

Win over Nebraska

Win over UTEP

Loss to Southern Illinois

Win over Florida

Loss to Northwestern

Win over New Mexico

Win over DePaul

That sets up a rivalry game against Illinois. We’ve played the Illini in almost every season, and we don’t want to end this dynasty without one more dub. The losses to Southern Illinois and Northwestern were a real bummer, and we need a palate cleanser. Let’s go!

Big win, 102-68. Look at Cristano Ngounou hanging 17 points and six assists on the Illini. Love seeing both starters in the front court — seniors Oscar Fray (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Brody Munoz (18 points, 11 rebounds) — each dropping a double-double, too. And how about our new five-star JUCO addition Obasohan chipping in 12 points off the bench? Really promising performance from the boys.

We get a big win over Kansas in our next game. That sets up another marquee game with a program we don’t like very much out of the state of North Carolina: Duke. We’ve battling with Duke on the court and on the recruiting trail for 40 freaking years. Can we end this rivalry with a dub?

Ugh, loss, 88-83. Nice games from Bernie Doyle (19 points, four assists) and Oscar Fray (14 points, 12 rebounds), but it isn’t enough. That’s our third loss of the season. Get bent, Duke.

We end the year with three more non-conference games.

Win over Illinois-Chicago

Win over American

Win over Arizona State

While we may have lost the final battle to Duke, I won the war over Coach K with a significantly better career by any measure (more on that in a minute). Now it’s time to jump into conference play in the Summit League.

Did we go undefeated in conference season?

Yes we did, another perfect 18-0 stretch.

Now we enter the conference tournament. Can we punch one more automatic bid to the NCAA tournament?

Win over UMKC

Win over Southern Utah

Win over UL-Calcutta

We’re going to the NCAA tournament for the last time, but that isn’t even the headliner after winning the Summit League. Im taking home the conference tournament championship, I won game No. 1,171 of my career. That currently puts me ahead of Coach K for the most wins all-time.

We have built a great legacy at Western Illinois. Before we enter the NCAA tournament, let’s take a look at our statistical leaders:

What a year for Munoz. Dude sat on the bench for four seasons before finally getting a starting spot, and all he did was lead our team in scoring at 17.2 points per game. Fray was awesome, too, averaging a hair under 15 points per game while chipping in nearly two blocks and six rebounds per game. It’s good to see Keller and Doyle both hit double-figures in scoring. I’m a bit surprised Cristano couldn’t even put up seven points a night after his big game against Illinois, but the assist and steals numbers are solid. We’re going to need him in March.

The Leathernecks are heading into the NCAA tournament at 32-3 on the year. I can’t wait to see what seed we get.

2047 NCAA tournament

Well, we couldn’t end this dynasty without getting swindled by the Selection Committee one more time. We’re a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament. I thought we should have been a top-four seed without question.

We’ll open the tournament with a game against No. 11 seed Syracuse. Sheesh. Before we get to the game, let’s check in on our roster one more time:

I’m loving the way this group progressed through the year. We have two awesome wing scorers with an elite combination of size and shooting in Keller and Doyle. We have plenty of beef up front with Munoz, Fray, and Polk. Ngounou entered the program as a 77 overall and shot up to a 92 in three years without a redshirt. The bench also really improved during the season and should give us plenty of different lineup options in March.

This is going to be a tough run, starting with Syracuse. The Orange have knocked us out of the big dance before, and consistently put together really strong teams.

Our last dance starts now. As always, we’re simulating every game, I’m not controlling the ‘Necks.

Let’s go!

Win, 105-73! What an absolute beatdown. We’ve moving on to the round of 32.

Long-time followers of the series will know that our Leathernecks have always been known as a second half team. It happened in a big way in this game. Syracuse ended the first half strong to cut our lead to nine points, but we quickly turned it into a blowout out of the break.

I thought this was a tremendous all-around team effort. Six players hit double-figures in scoring with no one putting up more than Floyd Keller’s 15 points. Everyone who played recorded an assist. I loved this play from the first half when we set two screens for our five-star JUCO Obasohan that helped get him an easy layup.

Our bench is a big question mark coming into this tournament, mostly because it’s filled with a lot of fresh faces who haven’t played big minutes in clutch spots before. I have to say, the performance of our reserves in our tournament opener was super encouraging. Obasohan in particular looks like a keeper after scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and knocking down a three. We always need wing depth, and he should be able to provide that on this run.

The clear highlight of Obasohan’s night: this sick two-handed dunk in transition for an and-one.

We love to turn defense into offense, and Ngounou and Doyle’s ability to get into the passing lanes really helps us out there.

Speaking of Ngounou in transition: he had a beautiful finish on the break to put the game fully out of reach. That’s what you want out of your point guard.

The win sets up a second round game against Colorado State

The Rams have been a solid program throughout this sim dynasty, regularly making NCAA tournament appearances. We have a decisive edge in talent heading into this game.

We are one win away from going to the Sweet 16 and extended our run in the big dance. One time, ‘Necks. Let’s go!

Win, 109-79! We’re going to the Sweet 16!

We didn’t need to be a second half team in this one. Our ‘Necks blew the doors off Colorado State from the opening tip-off. I thought we played a great game offensively thanks to our inside-out ball movement.

We had five scorers in double-figures in this one, but it was senior starters Bernie Doyle and Oscar Fray leading the charge. We know Doyle is capable of taking over a game at his best, and he was awesome in this one: 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from three. The real story was Fray, though.

Fray was probably the least appealing long-term prospect of our recruiting class when he entered the program alongside Doyle, Keller, and Munoz. That was mostly because of his 74 rating and C potential grade. While he’s always been rated a few points lower than his classmates, Fray’s skill set on the court is so important to us. He’s a massive 7-foot power forward who can protect the rim and shoot threes. What more do you want?

Fray went off in this game: 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals on 9-of-11 shooting. I love watching the big man shoot from deep. This was from NBA range.

Here’s one more catch-and-shoot three for good measure.

Fray might get slept on a little on this team, but he’s absolutely critical to our success if we want to win it all.

I also want to shout-out the bench for another solid performance. I liked what I saw out of Obasohan (11 points) and Howell (10 points). Since we already have two Obasohan clips in this post, why not make it three? Love him hitting this triple in the first half to help us open up the lead.

We’re rollin’.

The win sets up a Sweet 16 game vs. Alabama

We’re now four wins away from ending this dynasty with a national championship. A Sweet 16 game against Bama is going to be an absolute battle.

In our simulated future, the Tide have become a basketball school. This program seems to make the tournament every year, and they’ve given us plenty of trouble in the past.

A trip to the Elite Eight is on the line. Let’s go!

Win, 112-69! We’re onto the Elite Eight!

Say it with me: SECOND. HALF. TEAM. After a tight first half left us with a six-point lead coming into the break, our ‘Necks absolutely torched the nets in the second half to come away with the blowout win. Seriously: we scored 66 points in the final 20 minutes. That was an offensive clinic at its best.

I had a good feeling about the second half when Cristano got this three hit the rim like 50 times before falling. Sometimes you need some good luck on your side.

A couple possessions later, Floyd Keller came down a ripped another three. We finally had a double-digit lead, and we’d never look back.

It was great to see Keller (15 points) get going from deep. He hit all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

While we don’t have any clips of the front court from this game, they absolutely deserve credit for the win.

Fray turned in another incredible performance, this one somehow even better than his last. He ended the game with 25 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and three blocks on 10-of015 shooting. He didn’t attempt a three (booooo) but he dominated the game on both ends. His front court mate Munoz was almost as good. The senior center finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. We kept going inside — Munoz and Fray combined for 35 (!) field goal attempts — and they were making the Bama defense pay.

Not the best Bernie Buckets game (9 points on 3-of-10 shooting), but I clipped this shot from the first half, so I might as well embed it here.

Elite Eight, here we come.

The win sets up an Elite Eight matchup against No. 1 seed Indiana

Our run in the NCAA tournament has been a breeze up to this point, but I fear things about to get a lot more difficult. Our plucky No. 6 seed is about to run into one of college basketball’s blue bloods: the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

The Elite Eight has been something of a bugaboo for us. We lost in this round last year. We’ve lost in this round many times before. I don’t want it to happen again.

A Final Four trip is on the line. As always, we’re watching a simulated version of this game; I am not controlling the Leathernecks. Let’s go!

***

***

***

***

***

***

Loss, 96-86. Oh my gosh. And just like that, our dream of ending this dynasty with a national title is over.

I am devastated. I really thought this team was good enough to send me out on top, but it wasn’t meant to be. The Hoosiers’ outside shooters did us in. Indiana’s guard-heavy lineup caught fire from deep (10-of-21 for 47.6 percent), and our perimeter attack couldn’t keep up. We only hit 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) attempts from three.

What happened to our second half team this time? We were only down two going into halftime, but we were outscored by eight over the final 20 minutes. Tough scene.

There were some solid individual performances. Munoz went out strong with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Bernie Doyle dropped 21 points and hit this three-pointer to keep us in it early.

Floyd Keller just didn’t give us enough on the wing. He shot 1-of-8 from three in the loss. He did give us a little juice in transition, at least.

Cristano played all 40 minutes, and had eight points and nine assists. I really wish I got another year with him as a senior next season.

Unfortunately there is no next season. After 40 years at Western Illinois, our sim dynasty is over. Here are some final numbers on the series:

Final record: 1,177-213

10 national championships (tied with John Wooden for the most in men’s college basketball history)

15 Final Four appearances

25 Sweet 16 appearances

Final NCAA tournament record: 113-27

38 Summit League regular season championships

35 Summit League tournament championships

38 seasons with 20+ wins

61 players drafted

The thing I’m most proud of? After we made the NCAA tournament for the first time in Year 3, we didn’t miss it again the rest of this dynasty.

Is Ricky Charisma the greatest men’s college basketball coach ever?

I think so. Here’s how we stack up to other top coaches in NCAA history in important categories.

Total wins

Ricky Charisma: 1,179

Mike Krzyzewski: 1,170

Jim Boeheim: 1,083

Roy Williams: 903

Bob Knight: 899

Dean Smith: 879

Jim Calhoun: 877

Adolph Rupp: 876

Bob Huggins: 828

Eddie Sutton: 806

Tournament wins

Ricky Charisma: 110

Mike Krzyzewski: 94

Roy Williams: 77

Dean Smith: 65

Jim Boeheim: 57

Tom Izzo: 52

Jim Calhoun: 49

John Wooden: 47

Final Four appearances

Ricky Charisma: 15

Mike Krzyzewski: 12

John Wooden: 12

Dean Smith: 11

Roy Williams: 9

Tom Izzo: 8

Rick Pitino: 7

Denny Crum, Adolph Rupp, John Calipari: 6

Consecutive tournament appearances

Western Illinois: 36

Kansas: 31

North Carolina: 27

Arizona: 25

Duke: 24

Michigan State: 23

Gonzaga: 22

Winning percentage

Ricky Charisma: 84.7

Mark Few: 83.44

Sam Burton: 83.33

Clair Bee: 82.444

Adolph Rupp: 82.1

John Wooden: 80.3

National championships

Ricky Charisma: 10

John Wooden: 10

Mike Krzyzewski: 5

Adolph Rupp: 4

Roy Williams: 3

Jim Calhoun: 3

Bobby Knight: 3

Who is the best player in Western Illinois history?

That’s the big question within the fanbase right now. Before we get to it, let’s look back at our greatest recruiting wins.

We landed five five-star recruits out of the domestic high school ranks during my time at Western Illinois. We also signed nine five-star JUCO recruits, and six five-star international recruits from places like New Zealand (shout-out Dave French), Montenegro (anti shout-out Vitor Andrisevic), France (what up, Kim Kone!), and Cameroon.

The highest-rated recruit in program history was Sammy Yan at No. 10 overall in 2032. He was pretty much a disappointment. The program’s all-time leading scorer was center Vinnie Harmon with 2,452 career points during his career. He was the No. 122 overall recruit and the No. 8 center (those that followed the series or played the game know that centers are always weirded underrated on the recruiting trail).

Here are some more numbers during tournament games only (aka, the games we streamed), from the amazing Leathernecks Database maintained by our fans:

The highest rated player in program history is a tie between small forward Nic Cummings and point guard Duncan Martinez, who are the only players to reach 97 overall. Cummings in particular is a great choice for the GOAT. He ended his career with three national titles, though only one as a starter. He’s top-10 for me, but not No. 1.

The people’s choice for the GOAT is Deke Van, the legendary center who helped carry us to our first national title in Year 8. Deke’s turn from from Year 7 goat to Year 8 GOAT is the most memorable we’ve ever had. We couldn’t have done any of this without you, Deke.

When Coach tell you youre guarding @deke_van https://t.co/RDhmDAPRA8 pic.twitter.com/fm2udgvMZT

— Ryan Thomas (@RTtheSID) May 10, 2020

As the series went on, other great players emerged who finished with gaudier stats and better resumes.

My personal favorite might be Bert Draughan, Mr. Basketball out of Chicago (No. 29 overall recruit), who went on to win a title with us in Year 13 and also starred for our Year 11 team that began the season 35-0 before losing to Michigan State in the Final Four. Harmon is another fine choice. Skip Clemmons helped us win three national titles in Year 23, Year 24, and Year 26. Albert Jagla, Clemmons’ former teammate, played a big role in our first back-to-back championship squad, and is arguably the greatest perimeter bucket-getter in program history.

All-time favorite moment? Impossible to say. The first one that comes to mind is Kim Kone’s go-ahead corner three in the 2024 tournament. Najeeb Goode’s steal vs. UCLA in the Final Four to help us win our second title in Year 13 also stands out. There was also the time superstar power forward Allen Cunningham took off his pants mid-game.

Thank you to everyone who read, watched, and interacted

I started this series on April 11, 2020, a few weeks after the pandemic had shut down all ‘real’ sports. At the time, I was gearing up to cover the 2020 NCAA tournament. That never happened. I had college basketball on my mind, and I always wanted to write something on ‘College Hoops 2K8’, probably my favorite video game ever. This project is what came of it.

I had no idea if anyone was going to read this. I definitely did not think I’d finish out all 40 years like a complete lunatic. I didn’t think I’d write the equivalent of multiple books in terms of total word count.

Just before I dropped the first post in the series, I tweeted this:

Got a real dumb blog post coming

— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) April 11, 2020

I wrote around 70 posts in the series, counting the inaugural Hall of Fame induction (read a big Deke Van retrospective at that link) and two posts of my Deke Van x Seattle Supersonics spin-off. I’m estimating I wrote 200,000 words in this series. That’s about the length of “The Fellowship of the Ring.”

I still can’t believe everything that came from this series. The Washington Post wrote a profile on it. I went on WGN TV and did a few radio spots promoting it. We sold a Deke Van t-shirt with Homefield Apparel. Our series inspired a new friend in Japan named Thanh Nguyen to write a pair of e-books adding greater depth to our story. Friend of the program Mike Rutherford did an amazing hype video for our first championship run. When I moved the series to Substack for a few months, more than 7,000 people signed up for email updates and still remain. Our first Twitch stream for the Year 8 Final Four drew more than 7,000 total viewers, and had 2,500 concurrent viewers on it at as we were closing out the win. On SB Nation, the series has been viewed more than 500K times.

What really made the project special was always the community around it. Some quick shout-outs:

The Leathernecks Database is an amazing companion to this series. You can lost in there. Thank you to the diehards to helped maintain it, and reader Evan for starting it.

Thanks to my guy who started the Leathernecks Nation instagram fan page and whoever is behind the wondrous fake Deke Van twitter account.

Thanks to everyone in the Discord who maintained ‘Necks discussion always and forever.

Thank the diehards that came out for every Twitch stream. I don’t want to name names because I’ll forget someone, but you know who you are. I love you all. I also want to thank the readers for keeping up with the recaps, and everyone who emailed me feedback throughout the series. I also want to thank my buddy Scott for introducing me to the game and running through multiple 40-year dynasties with me way before I ever considered blogging through it like this. This series would not exist without him.

What a ride it’s been. As I sim through to the end of the calendar, I’m greeted with this message.

Thank you, everyone. Go ‘Necks.

[johnny-and-dora]

i’ll make the world safe and sound for you

jake has some important things to tell mac. (post 7x13)

read on ao3 -

Jake’s spent a lot of nights at the hospital over the years.

Eight years old, nursing a broken arm after Gina dared him to jump off the fire escape (she was the first to sign his cast). Drowsy on pain meds in Florida, recovering from a gunshot wound and a cruel six-month separation from his girlfriend. Most overnight visits have been an occupational hazard, a consequence of throwing himself headfirst into action without a second thought.

Jake doesn’t think he’d recognise that person now, the one who put being the hero and solving the case before anything else. He’s better off for it, knowing now that there is something so much better than flaming out in a blaze of spectacular glory.

Knowing the family he has found in the Nine-Nine. Knowing the life he’s built with Amy. And most recently, knowing the life he’ll be sharing with his newborn son. A whole other kind of spectacular.

This may be far from the first time he’s spent a night at the hospital, but never has he had a night like this one. Never has Jake felt this content, this overwhelmingly whole in his life. Never has his world shifted like this, changed forever at the piercing sound of his son’s first cries. Changed forever yet again the first time he held Mac in his arms.

Deep down he knows he should be resting, knows the adrenaline will wear off soon and that he’ll be pretty much useless for all of tomorrow. He knows that Amy would chide him if she wasn’t fast asleep beside him, something he’s very grateful for – she deserves all the rest she can get.

(She deserves a medal of valour, at least, for giving birth to the world’s most important baby in the precinct with no pain relief. He’ll see if Holt can pull a few strings.)

But Jake can’t bring himself to sleep just yet, knowing that his son is finally here and right beside him. He’s completely mesmerised by this kid, already addicted to marvelling at his chubby little cheeks and adorable round button nose.

Mac clearly can’t bring himself to sleep either, wiggling his little legs inside the blanket he’s swaddled in, and Jake’s heart trips, sparking a huge ridiculous grin. His tiny adorable little face scrunches a little in a way Jake instinctively knows means trouble, so he quickly shifts into Dad Mode.

“Hey there, buddy. It’s okay.” Slowly, he lifts Mac out of the bassinet and holds him close to his chest, bouncing a little awkwardly, but it seems to do the trick as his whimpers subside into the occasional peaceful snuffle. Jake breathes a sigh of relief, content that he’s officially eight hours into fatherhood and he hasn’t managed to screw anything major up yet. Mac seems more comfortable in his arms and it makes his heart swell with a pride he’s barely known before.

“Today’s been kind of a crazy day, huh? Think you’re gonna have to get used to those. Your mom and I tend to have a lot of them.” He glances at Amy, who is thankfully still completely conked out next to him, and the warmth in his chest envelops and encircles everything else. This family of his is magic.

“It’s okay though because we’re always going to come home to you. We love you so much.” His voice cracks a little as he cradles him gently, gently, because he’s holding his entire world, heart and in his hands, and that’s a lot to deal with at two in the morning.

“Y’know, I don’t think we’ve actually been properly introduced,” Jake says, exhaling a breathless little laugh at his own joke as he shakes Mac’s hand. “Hi, Mac. I’m your dad.”

He’s a dad now, and he’s going to be one for the rest of his life. He marvels at that as he gazes at his son, trying to memorise every adorable detail of his face. “Your mom let me choose your name – I hope you think it’s cool, because you were named after the coolest action hero of all time. I can’t wait to watch Die Hard with you, even though you’re gonna be way too little for it for a long while.”

It’s crazy how much time Jake’s already spent thinking about what Mac might be like when he’s older. His son has such a full exciting life ahead of him, and he’s just excited to be able to share all of his favourite things with him, like New York pizza and Star Wars and the best cop movie of all time.

“It’s okay, we’re gonna do lots of things in the meantime. Like play video games and build Legos and watch the Turtles and just hang out like we’re doing right now. And I’m always going to be there for you. Always. You’ll probably have to go to your mom for important life things and help with homework and stuff, because she’s super smart and I’m kind of a mess, but I’ll try my best.”

Mac gurgles a little at that, and it only just occurs to Jake that this conversation is more for him than it is for his son.

“You have absolutely no idea what I’m saying because you are a baby, and I respect that. But you are so loved, Mac. And I’m gonna tell you that and show you that every single day.”

He’s startled out of the moment by the sound of a phone camera shutter as Amy looks tearfully at them both. “Sorry, sorry. You guys are just too cute.”

“Make sure you get our good side.” Jake mumbles, pride washing over him as she laughs. He’ll never stop wanting to make Amy laugh. He absentmindedly hopes he’ll be able to make his son laugh, too.

Amy blearily snaps a few more photos and checks the time before shifting closer to them both, and he’s breathless again – she really is glowing in all her post-childbirth glory, though she’s always at least a bit glowy to him anyway.

It’s totally surreal, feeling his wife nestle into his shoulder as they both happily look at their son. It’s something he’s imagined for so long, yet infinitely more perfect now that it’s actually reality.

Jake yawns, and Amy briefly tears her eyes away from Mac to glance at him. “Have you been up all night? You should really try and sleep, Jake.”

“You need it more. And besides, I kinda can’t take my eyes off him. He’s perfect, Ames.”

“I know. He really is.” Her voice warbles with emotion and Jake knows what they’re both thinking – he was worth the wait, a million times over.

He carefully passes Mac over to Amy. After a revolving carousel of visitors earlier, it’s been a while since it was just the three of them, and an overwhelming sense of peace just washes over him watching his wife coo over their son.

His fears and doubts about fatherhood have not completely vanished – he’s still scared of making mistakes, of the responsibility he now has to the tiny amazing wonderful human currently cradled in his wife’s arms.

But all of the fear is muted now, pastel and pale in the early hours of the morning. It’s muted by the rise and fall of his son’s tiny chest. By the love alight in Amy’s eyes. By the way Holt had rested a hand on his shoulder and told him how proud he was. By his mom’s face as she’d held her grandson for the first time.

Mac’s penchant for a dramatic entrance doesn’t surprise him. What does is how much he already feels like a father, like he was made to protect this kid and will do absolutely anything to keep him and Amy safe. It’s not a feeling he’d be able to put into words after a restful eight hours of sleep, let alone now when he’s borderline delirious with joy.

So instead he presses a light kiss to the soft cotton hat on his forehead, delighting in the way Mac scrunches his nose exactly like Amy does. He’s never gonna get enough of this kid. And he’s certain, now more than ever, that this is the kind of precious love that only grows and grows.

[gamersonthego]

Matt Giguere’s Top 25 DS Games

It’s strange to think Nintendo, once again, had to prove themselves in the handheld space after the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance handily served every bit of competition it faced. Yet in 2004, the Nintendo DS faced an uphill battle to show that having the best and fastest hardware wouldn’t necessarily result in the best sales. 16 years and 154 million units later, the legacy of the DS is strong, evident in the deluge of smartphone and mobile games that rely on a touch interface. It’s a shame Nintendo and other publishers are not being better stewards to their catalogues of games as there are still many that are only playable on the original hardware, and few seem to make the jump to the current set of consoles and computers. Still, it is easy to find an original DS that works and there are still plenty of cheap titles to pick up. Here’s a selection of my favorite games to hit the handheld.

1. Meteos

Can a puzzle game top Tetris?  Honestly, thanks to the minds of Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Masahiro Sakurai, Meteos manages to blast past the mesosphere and comes the closest to a space rendezvous with the original falling brick puzzler. What makes it fun to play? While it can get rather hectic and fast paced, the touch screen makes matching three or more pieces a cinch. Blasting off these little “meteos” using rocket propulsion and fighting against the forces of gravity creates a very addictive hook with some variety that keeps it from being stale. It is a simple and effective puzzle game that showcases why a touch-based interface can work for some games better than what button presses can do. Add in easy to use single cart multiplayer and the single-player Star Trip mode to keep you sharp, and you have a puzzle game for the ages.  

2. Elite Beat Agents

Imagine being stuck in an impossible situation, like having to face down a runaway golem, or sneak into a corporate office using your ninja powers? Who do you call to help in this situation? This is a job for the Elite Beat Agents: A government agency that cheers you on to the grooves of radio hits from the ’70s to the ’00s. The idea of playing a rhythm game where you have to tap and slide didn’t sit well with my snobbish DDR and Guitar Hero ways. Why tap a screen when I can “dance” and “rock out?” Little did I know this was just as valid a way to feel the music and beat out a jam, and soon after I was feeling the hand cramps of too much furious tapping while I carefully made sure I didn't “Ouendan” the bottom screen. There’s a very strange energy to this game that permeates from the different scenarios to the beat of the soundtrack. I might not dig every song served in the playlist, but I can’t help but try and top my score on Sk8er Boi for the 100th time! With all the trouble in the world, maybe we need more games (and people) like EBA these days.

3. Advance Wars: Dual Strike

Oh Advance Wars, your time was too short over here. But hey! At least we were given a great first outing on the DS, and all these years later, it is still a blast to play. Using the second screen to quickly glance at unit and area information is a welcomed addition, but Second Front battles add a new dimension to the core strategy game that really sells the top screen. Throw in all the CO Tag Powers and a map editor built for a touch interface, and it’s hard to see how anything can top this release of Advance Wars. But seriously Intelligent Systems and Nintendo, please give the franchise one more shot!  

4. Tetris DS

Yeah, it's Tetris. But also, it’s Tetris! Maybe it is one of those “skips a generation” thing, as you can kind of plot the best versions of portable Tetris are on the GameBoy, the DS, and the Switch. Tetris DS may be sacrilegious to some with its hold options and infinity spin technique, but this is what I think makes this version unique beyond the various modes and dual screen support. To me it creates a faster version of Tetris that is easy to get into, but can be a fun challenge to master. The addition of Nintendo-themed boards to go with the different modes of play not seen in other versions also adds to this unique addition to the Tetris line. Looking for a version of Tetris with more to do than just the base game? Tetris DS has the most to offer.  

5. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

This game should have been a hit. Maybe the marketing hyped this game up too much? Maybe more people were spoiled by the full 3D realization of the GTA formula with GTA 3? Maybe the music wasn’t the same without the radio hits? Maybe if the synthwave revival had hit the scene sooner it would’ve helped? Whatever the case, this is a gem of a GTA game. While it misses out on the full production of the home console and PSP “Stories” line (I think full voice acting would have helped this version of the game immensely,) just about every aspect of the big brother version is here in this miniature version of Liberty City. From hijacking cars to outrunning the fuzz, this top-down 3D GTA gives a full helping of the open world mayhem the series is known for. The bottom screen minigames can get a touch annoying, but they hardly get in the way like many other games on the DS. Rounding out this game is the drug peddling economy minigame. Not only does it fit the setting and overall style of the game, but  it enables a great opportunity for emergent gameplay to unfold with big risks and big gains. It baffles me* how Rockstar won’t develop this further in their games’ single player campaigns. Check it out, as it’s still rather cheap on the DS and is also available on the PSP and most modern mobile devices. *I’m clearly ignoring the real money cash flow of online microtransactions. 6. Kirby: Canvas Curse

7. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

8. Mario Kart DS

9. Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck

10. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

11. WarioWare Touched!

12. Star Fox Command

13. Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

14. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

15. Final Fantasy IV

16. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

17. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!

18. The World Ends with You

19. Professor Layton and the Curious Village

20. Mega Man XZ

21. Pokemon Black/White

22. Photo Dojo

23. Style Savvy

24. New Super Mario Bros

25. The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass

[comunidadarcsystemworks]

Exclusive interview with Arc System Works

We have had the opportunity to interview several key members of Arc System Works. Before we begin, we want to thank Arc System Works America for giving us the opportunity to have this interview.

We will divide the interview into 3 sections: "General", "Daisuke Ishiwatari" and Tosimichi Mori.

General

Q. The first question is going to be a tough one, but the community has been very vocal about it so we would really want to begin with this one. Will GGPO (Good Game Peace Out) be implemented in your next projects? If not, would you consider its implementation at some point in the future? We are not talking specifically about Guilty Gear Strive.

A. We’ve heard your passionate requests, and we’re working on a netcode that will live up to everyone’s expectations.

We’ll have more information for you later.

(Guilty Gear Strive Director: Akira Katano)

Q. Fighting games aside, do Arc System Works has plans to do more action games like Hard Corps in the future? Especially with the Guilty Gear engine. We recently saw Code Shifter as your latest brand new platform action game or your collaboration with Wayforward, which are always welcome.

A. We’d definitely like to try genres other than fighting games, such as action games.

This would include plans to use Arc System Works’ 2.5D animation style in non-fighting games, of course.

However, we don’t have any concrete plans to share at the moment.

(Producer: Takeshi Yamanaka)

Daisuke Ishiwatari:

Q. Thank you so much for taking the time for our questions. Since the announcement at EVO, we are really excited to know more about Guilty Gear Strive, and we have read all the interviews and your philoshophy about this game and its gameplay. So, what would you consider to be the lead factor for this change?

A. Thank you for your excitement about Guilty Gear Strive.

The biggest reason for changing the gameplay is to make a game that can reach the current generation of gamers.

I feel that through previous Guilty Gear titles, we have more or less perfected the Guilty Gear formula.

It may very well be possible to tighten that up and make a further refined game. But, even if we did, such a game would create a disparity between new players and veterans who are used to the game’s systems.

So, we wanted to reset the start line for everyone. But of course, this doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our appreciation and respect for long-term fans and accomplished players.

Q. One of the main focus seems to be drawing the attention for new players and esports while adapting the HUD and the gameplay/action to everyone so it can be enjoyed by a wider audience. That´s interesting, but how will you make new players invest time in your game and wanting to improve their skills at their own pace? For example Granblue Fantasy Versus could be a good example since it has a big focus on its RPG Mode to do so in case beginners are not doing well while playing online.. Will you take a new approach this time with the Story Mode or single player content?

A. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything concrete at the moment.

However, the game will offer an experience of learning and discovery for both new and advanced players. Our game design is even more focused on that now, than ever.

I can’t guarantee that it will make it into the game, but we are also thinking of ways to further strengthen the community.

For example, currently most players aren’t very familiar with the top players.

But if they realized there were stars similar to Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather playing the game, wouldn’t they want to know how that person got so skilled?

We’d like to provide something to help players who aren’t too deeply into the game a way to enjoy it as a whole, like fans do with soccer or basketball.

Q. As of today, we know that you are gathering feedback regarding the main points of the new gameplay so I´ll save it for later, but as for the music, we are noticing a lot of emphasis on vocal tracks. Will this be the Guilty Gear with the biggest number of vocal tracks? will we get new versions of themes like “Holy Orders” or “Give me a break!?

A. Yes, I believe GGST will feature more vocal tracks than any prior title.

That is one of our many decisions in attempting a complete renewal.

We aren’t currently planning vocal arrangements of previous songs, however.

The only example I can think of where that went well would be Queen’s Seven Seas of Rhye.

Of course, if there were enough requests, there are songs I would love to create vocal versions of.

Q. A lot of people are requesting characters from past games like Testament or Bridget, but of course, we know that you can´t confirm any detail by the moment. However, I would like to know if we could get just a small hint about past fighters coming back to the scene.? Can we expect more original characters to be added to the game besides the cyborg samurai from the first teaser?

A. All I can say is, there will be characters from the previous series and this new character too. Please look forward to it!

Q. About the gameplay, as I said earlier, I believe that it's necessary to wait until the beta version for us to have a proper idea about it. Since I still haven´t had the chance to play the game I can just express my opinion as a spectator. I believe the overall gameplay seems interesting according to what you want to achieve but doesn´t the wall break mechanic interrupts the flow of the match a bit too much for the spectators? I feel the same with restricting combo routes, won´t it be monotonous if we ever watch the same, or really similar routes?

A. Don’t worry. The developers are creating GGST with both a casual and hard-core perspective in mind. There may be some aspects that don’t quite satisfy series veterans, but we will create new depth that will motivate them to learn something entirely new.

Also, even if the Beta Test is not well received, you will see our answers to your feedback in the game upon release.

Finally, could you share some words and thoughts to your fans in Spain?

Currently, we are steadily releasing news about GGST. However, the gameplay itself is still very much in development. Our plan is to continue to evolve the game as we receive feedback from the players. Please look forward to it.

Toshimichi Mori:

Thank you so much for giving us the chance to give an answer to our questions. We have read everything that could lead to a future Blazblue or Persona 5 Arena so I´ll try to make interesting questions for everyone.

Q. First of all, I would like to start with Blazblue Alternative Dark War. Will it be possible for you to share some more details about it? Last time I heard from the game I was taking notes at the London Comic Con.  If you can´t share any details, could you give us a hint about when could we know more about the game? Also, I love the sketches that you publish from time to time!

A. Thank you very much.

However, I can’t say much about Dark War right now--only that I, personally, am working so that you guys can play the game as soon as possible. I believe that as long as the players are supporting the project, it will move forward. So please keep talking about it.

Q. Talking about the London Comic Con from last year, I remember that I asked about Alpha 01 and you said that this year we should have news, but this year I want to add something else to the same question. Besides Alpha 01, when could we know something about Gamma 03 as well?

A. I’m really glad that for whatever reason, so many people like Alpha.

I understand some are really looking forward to her making an appearance, but it will be some time… So please wait a little longer.

Q. As of June of 2018 you said in an interview with Gamerevolution that you are saving ideas for future Blazblue and future Persona Arena Projects. Also, in an interview with Gearnuke (January 2020) you said that you would like that your next game will be 2.5D and that the next Blazblue will have new system mechanics. Taking all of this into account, could you please give us further details about what would you like to achieve with a new Persona Arena (which people are really vocal about it) or Blazblue project?

A. I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, I can’t really discuss anything at this moment. Please understand.

Q. Moving on to Blazblue Cross Tag Battle and talking about the same interview from Gearnuke, we read that companies are not approaching you to add their characters in the game. Have you considered “small” companies like Nihon Falcom or Vanillware to see beloved characters like Adol Christin from the YS series or Gwendolyn from a cult classic like Odin Sphere? I feel that they are characters that most of us known or we have heard of but they still didn´t have the chance to shine outside of their games.

A. I get a lot of requests for characters in BBTAG. Honestly, there’s lots of characters I would like to include, myself.

I won’t say it’s impossible for the characters you mentioned to join the cast, but we don’t have any plans for this at the moment. Regardless, I would really like to do some form of collaboration in the future.

Q. Sticking with Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, will we see more characters from RWBY or Senran Kagura? Is there a chance to see Persona 5 characters in the game (unless a Persona 5 Arena is in the works of course) or Kyoko and Misako from River City Girls?

A. We’ve just released Season 2, so we don’t have any definitive plans for the next characters yet.

Right now, we’re still thinking about the next step and listening to everyone’s requests as we work with the current version.

Going back to Blazblue main story, now that the phase C came to an end, and with Rachel´s words being “I shall find you, I promise” at the end of Blazblue Central Fiction… Will we get a follow up to this arc, or it will be a completely new arc? Also, are you planning to do another anime or manga?

A. We are preparing for the start of a new story… Sadly, I can’t guarantee when it will happen. I think that when that new chapter begins, you will understand what Rachel meant.

Finally, could you share some words and thoughts to your fans in Spain?

Thank you for loving the BlazBlue series.

I can feel that love you have, so I hope I can meet all of you in person someday. Thank you for your continued support.

[sicklilspidey]

Valentine’s dinner gone wrong

"Peter I swear to god, if you're not down here in full dinner attire in the next five minutes, I'll send cap your there to drag you down" peter heard tony yell.

You see it's currently Valentine's Day and peter was supposed to be getting ready to go to dinner with the avengers. Instead peter was laying in his bed clutching his stomach, grimacing in pain. The day started out fine, Peter went to school, visited May and even did a little patrolling. Something happened between him ending his patrol and this moment that his stomach wasn't liking.

"Hey Pete, Tony sent me up here. Said you need to get your ass down stairs right now or he'll add new baby protocols to your suit" Cap's voice echoed through peter's head.

Peter shot up, which his stomach immediately protested.

"Woah, you okay bud? You look a little pale, do I need to get tony?" Peter could hear the worried tony in Caps voice.

"N-no, there's no need, just sat up too fast" Peter said shakily.

"Well if you're fine, then I suggest getting down stairs before tony goes full dad mode and yells your full name. That never ends well." Cap giggle as he left the room.

Peter slowly got up and went to his mirror. His hair was mess and you could tell he was bloated.

"I'll just carry my jacket in front of me and no one will notice" he thought to himseld as he combed his hair out.

He made his way down stair to meet his super hero family.

"There you are, I was starting to think you died for something" Tony said as he ruffled up peters hair.

"You okay underoo? You're pretty warm" tony pointed out.

Peter stepped back.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just run hit remember" he said.

Tony just shrugged not wanting to annoy the boy.

"Okay everyone, let's get into our cars and go. We are already running late" pepper said from the doorway.

Peter ended up in the backseat of Tony's Lincoln SUV with Morgan.

"Peter, what are you doing" Morgan asked as she watched peter secretly try to rubbing his aching stomach.

"I'm not doing anything Morgan, what do you mean" peter asked.

"You were rubbing your tummy, is it icky?" Morgan stated.

This caught the attention of tony. He looked at peter through the rear view mirror.

"You doing okay back there" he asked.

Peter nodded, then dozed off.

"WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP" peters eyes shot open at the sound of Morgan's screams.

"I'm up, I'm up" peter replied.

"Good, 'cause we're here" tony said.

Peter looked out his window. He saw a very elegant and expensive looking restaurant.

" great, just the type of place you want to be when you're sick" peter said to himself.

Everyone got out of their vehicles and scurried into the restaurant.

As soon as peter was inside he knew this night wasn't going to end well. His spidey sense immediately started acting up, his stomach churned at the smell of food, and he had a feeling tony was into him.

"Follow me" a waitress said, leading the dinner party to their table.

"Kid you're sitting next to me" tony said.

"Bu-" Peter started.

"No but's about it, plant your ass in this chair" tony demanded.

Peter did as he was told. Everyone was chatting with each other, but not peter. All he could do was think about how tight his pants felt against his aching bloated stomach and the nausea that was creeping in.

The waitress came back and took everyone's orders then scurried to the kitchen. At this point, Peter's stomach was becoming a ticking time bomb. He knew the inevitable was coming. He just didn't know when exactly until the waitress came back with everyone's food. The smell and the sight of the food set off Peter's ticking time bomb. Next thing he knew there was a puddle in Tony's lap. The whole restaurant went quite.

"Oh my god, Tony, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry" peter said beginning to tear up.

"It's okay kid. I knew something was up. Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well. I wouldn't have dragged you to this boring dinner" tony said comforting the now sobbing boy.

"Pepper, honey if you don't mind. I'm gonna take the poor kid back to the compound " Pepper nodded.

"There's a spare pair of pants in the back of the car" she said as tony walked peter out.

"Kid, you know there are less gross ways to get out of dinner right" tony laughed.

"Please don't make me laugh, it hurts" that response made tony frown.

He hates seeing the kid so miserable and frail. It made him feel guilty. If he would've put two and two together, peter would be in bed and not puking in the parking lot. Oh shit, he's puking in the parking lot!

"It's okay, let it out. You're okay" tony tried to comfort the boy as much as possible, but there's only so much he can do.

Once peter finished, tony helped him into the car.

"Just try to sleep, we'll be at the compound in 20" Tony said.

Peter nodded and closed his eyes.

When he woke up, they were pulling up to the compound.

" I want you to shower then get straight into bed. FRIDAY will notify me when you're done. I'll head up there in a bit" tony said.

"I'm really sorry" peter said weakly.

"Don't be, it happens" tony responded.

When they got into the compound, peter did what he was told. When FRIDAY notified Tony that Peter was done and in bed, he made his way to the spiderling's room.

" hey kid, how you feeling?" Tony asked.

Peter grunted in response.

"FRIDAY, play Star Wars on peter's tv" tony said.

Tony climbed into peter's bed so he could comfort him. Peter snuggled into Tony's arm.

"When you're better, you're so getting lectured about being honest and to not hide illness" tony said then kissed peter on the forehead.

Hours passed and everyone finally made their way back to the compound. Pepper made her way to check in peter, only to find her husband and the boy passed out. She couldn't help but smile. Even though he didn't want to admit it, she knew tony loved Peter as if he were his son.

[yeats-infection]

@sqvalors tagged me in a lil writing meme... if you’d like to participate please do and tag me! 

ao3 name: fluorescentgrey but i also post some things as drglass (dr. glass is the second song on the fluorescent grey EP by deerhunter, so if i make another pseud it will be likenew, then washoff, etc.) 

fandoms: about two thirds of my fics are harry potter or star wars but there are a lot of random little goodies. currently i have shifted into the terror (2018) mode. 

number of fics: 59 right now... i will throw a party when i get to 69... 

fic i spent the most time on: this is funny because some of these technically took me like six months or more of working on them extremely intermittently... namely, bone machine. the series in the garden has taken me the most time generally... and in that, minuet did take me several months of working really hard while i had a schedule / commute that was not conducive to having a creative practice... 

fic i spent the least amount of time on: hilariously, literally my most popular fic by ninety miles, the witcher PWP that i wrote out of spite in two or three hours. 

longest fic: the source codes series... particularly heelstone which is 102k. i wrote these two stories in a single summer like a crazy person and i hate talking about them because i find them WAY too gooey. honestly, that’s why they are so long. it’s all the gooeyness!!!!!! 

shortest fic: yes, the answer is the witcher porn again (this silly thing is going to be the answer for many other questions in this little meme but i’m just going to stop talking about it while i’m ahead). the west end is just about 50 words longer and is much better and is a much better and more interesting story. 

most hits: we’re just going to pretend it’s sex and dying in high society, which has the second most hits. this is certainly due to the fact that @wolfstarwarehouse hypes this story a lot for which i am endlessly grateful! 

most kudos: recovery position has the second most kudos so let’s go with that one! i have been very touched by the response to this story, though i do personally like the sequel beachcoma a little more... i understand why not everyone wants to read it because it is a little more bittersweet. but it also comes from my soul. 

most comment threads: the two stories in the source codes series are leading here, because i only posted two chapters at a time so that i would get maximal validation, lol. 

most bookmarks: in order to talk about a story i haven’t talked about yet, the rosary has the fourth-most. i think this fic is truly my r/s swan song... i said everything i wanted to say and did everything i wanted to do. it’s a really good mystery/noir story that i didn’t think i could pull off until i did! and i love the OCs in it who have sort of manifested these secret headcanons for me that i may expostulate upon someday. thank you to @piovascosimo for the inspiration to write it. 

total word count: 1,000,478. lol! 

favorite fic i wrote: cannot possibly choose but probably the top five in order of date posted are: desperado, a handful of dust, doom town, beachcoma, jump into the fire

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: i already said all of source codes because it’s way too gooey, i also could make hard time killing floor blues a lot tighter, and a memoir of the flesh deserves a way better ending because i was rushing to make the yuletide deadline...

share a bit of a WIP: i was trying for a while to write a band of brothers AU where they are vietnam vets who start growing cannabis... based on the steve earle song “copperhead road.” this could have been SO good but the plot was too huge and unwieldy so i gave up. my roommate is obsessed with this idea and keeps asking me how it’s going so i may yet finish. but there’s a bit below the cut.

The knock at the door in the night was a sharp shock, bright as lightning, that sent them both back to Khe Sanh and before. Nix ducked. Dick went behind the doorframe. They kept low into the kitchen, where Nix took his old officer’s pistol out from where he kept it hidden behind the fridge. Then they went to the door, keeping to the edges of the hallways.

On the porch was Liebgott. He could have made his own way in likely right onto the couch without either of them noticing, so it was something that he had knocked on the goddamn door. It was particularly something given that none of the boys from Easy should have known about the grow operation, or even about Dick’s farm, being as Dick’s address on file at the V.A. was a post office box in town and Nix’s was still in Jersey. These considerations were nil to somebody who had spent the better part of five years in the bush of Vietnam. He took a last draw from his cigarette and put it out against the rubber sole of his boot, then he put the butt in his pocket. As far as Nix knew, he hadn’t said a word since January 1970.  

“Joe,” said Dick diplomatically. He put his hand out and Liebgott took it. Then he took Nix’s. He had handsome dark eyes, but they were full of a wall. You could tell he saw you, but it was like nothing followed the necessary channels to the brain to spur emotional response. It had been like this even while he was still talking, and after a while you got used to it.

“You comin' in,” said Nix, knowing he probably would even if he wasn’t invited.

Inside, they all three sat at the kitchen table in silence nobody was about to break. Finally Dick got up and went to the drawer where they kept the rollies and their share of the product. He passed a sheaf of papers and a film canister full of bud to Liebgott across the table. Nix understood as well as Dick apparently did that there would be no getting anything over on this kid, who had eyes in the back and sides of his head. He’d probably had a nice tour of the property before coming inside. “You hungry, son,” Dick said.

Liebgott shook his head. He extracted one of the buds from the canister and inspected it. They did look mighty good if Nix said so himself. They looked artful in Liebgott’s hand. There were black scabs across his knuckles and a dark rime of filth under those fingernails which still existed. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw to take a paper out of the sheaf and start shredding the flower into it.

“Captain Nixon calls it Easy Diesel,” said Dick, like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.

Liebgott looked up and a smile flashed across his face like the savage golden light of a flare falling over the far hills. His smile was sort of brutal, like the edge of a knife in a barfight, or like a seething animal. Luckily it went away as quickly as it had come. He rolled the joint with a quick grace and lit the business end with his old silver Zippo Nixon hadn’t seen since the war. There was a skull engraved on one side and on the other it read IF YOU ARE RECOVERING MY BODY, FUCK YOU.

“I don’t know how you found us, Joe,” Dick said thoughtfully. “You don’t have to… tell us. But we ain’t exactly keen to have just anybody here.” He paused and looked quickly to Nix, who tried to make it abundantly clear by means of eyebrows that he wasn’t sure they ought to go down this road, wherever it was leading. Dick ignored him. Liebgott was watching them, fully understanding their attempted clandestine exchange. “We ain’t exactly keen to have the DEA here,” Dick said at last.

The cherry at the end of the joint atomized with a crackling hiss. Liebgott looked between Dick and Nix with extreme seriousness sullied only by his exhaling a dignified white cloud out his nose. Then he nodded, once, curtly, demonstrating he understood his orders as they had been relayed.

Nix flashed Dick what he thought was a what have you done type look. But Dick looked totally unbothered. He should have gone into this business years ago for how violently unflappable he was. He said to Liebgott, “I’ll get some blankets and you can make up the couch.”

Liebgott shook his head to say no need. He got up, careful not to scrape the chair against the floor, shook each of their hands again, and in less than a minute’s time he was back out the door with nothing more than what he’d come in with except the joint.

Nix and Dick, on the porch, listening to the crickets, watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Are we hallucinating,” said Nix eventually.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dick replied. “We’ve got to ship all that product or we’ll starve.”

-

In the morning Nix was in the field, inspecting the plants. Liebgott was standing there at his quarter for god knew how long before he cleared his throat and Nix jumped about six feet in the air. There was a smirk shifting across Liebgott’s face that he would have been better about hiding when Nix had been his commanding officer. He looked like he hadn't slept. Back over there he had looked like that a lot, but it had been different, because of all the uppers they were taking. He cocked his head back over toward the long driveway and then he was off across the dew-wet grass which had already soaked through the hems of his canvas pants and his destroyed shoes.

Nix followed, like a duckling behind a hen. Liebgott still walked as though there were eyes in all sides of his head quickly processing information as he moved. Nix doubted you ever lost that kind of skill, even if in the real world it made you look like a mental patient. He caught up so they could walk side by side through the dew-wet grass. “What did you think,” he asked Liebgott.

Liebgott passed Nix the universal sign of furrowed brow that meant please clarify.

Nix gestured with pinched fingers to his own mouth as though Liebgott were also deaf. “The grass.”

He shaped his hand into an a-ok sign.

“You get any sleep?”

He nodded an infinitesimal nod, like the answer was a secret just for Nix to know.

“Well if you think it could be better just tell me how.”

Nix had had a high school friend whose sister was deaf from scarlet fever and whom he had watched on occasion communicate with her by means of sign language. Early on, back over there, he had sent off to command for a book, but by the time it came he understood it wasn’t that Liebgott couldn’t speak, he just didn’t want to. It was something like how people’s hair supposedly turned white if they witnessed some evil thing, or how people became ascetics in the name of god. If you were really fucked up on drugs or fear or otherwise, or if the natural magical thinking from childhood hadn’t been fully beaten out of you, you might have seen it as the sacrifice he had given to the forest for letting him out without a scratch so many goddamn times. It had been a bit of a trial to explain this to Spiers, who was practical almost to a fault, sometimes.

Liebgott showed another a-ok sign. Then he did a thumbs up which Nix knew meant it was good.

All in all it was smart. If he was still talking, Nix might have asked him, what have you been up to? You been sleeping on the street? You been to the V.A.? What did they tell you? And the answer would’ve been nothing good. Instead they just walked in the cool grass together in the sunshine and the morning was beautiful, and the air was sweet. It was all lovely until Liebgott had to physically stop him, laughing, somehow silently but also hysterically, from stepping right onto the razor-thin tripwire stretched invisibly across the dark gravel.

In the kitchen, Dick was doing the numbers. He took his glasses off when Nix came in and put the coffee on. “He learned a thing or two from Charlie,” Nix said, leaning against the counters.

“Who, Joe?”

“Our driveway is thoroughly ratfucked.”

“Hmm,” said Dick. He put the glasses back on and turned back to the accounting book. He was going to do this whole thing as above board as was humanly possible. The vivid daylight came through the window and struck the lens of his unstylish Ray-Bans and threw a kind of prism of color upon the white paper and the chicken-scratch sums. Nix felt like maybe this was something you would paint if you had the necessary implements and artistic ability. “Maybe we should see if we can get any more help.”

-

He was mildly ashamed to say it, but the doc had always kind of creeped Nix out. He imagined a hypothetical conversation with Dick, who he knew loved the kid, almost like a son: Listen, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid, I owe him my life, yadda yadda. But either he’s dropped the brown acid one too many times or the voodoo exorcism went FUBAR.

The doc had arrived on the farm on the heels of Sunshine and Rainbows, aka Mr. Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed, aka one Edward “Babe” Heffron. Nix had written Babe in South Philly, being as he was a connoisseur of bud and once upon a time had been famed among their company for smoking anything anyone put in his hand, often to his own detriment. The operation was getting big enough that Nix needed another pair of hands, other than Liebgott, of course, who was still fortifying the long driveway whilst giving away his cover by playing Led Zeppelin IV as loudly as was possible. It was a tough calculation, because Babe was a genius of pot, but he couldn’t keep a damn secret, and lo and behold he had dragged along with him a dark shadow in the human form of Eugene Roe. They came up the driveway in a big old Ford pickup that rattled its rust off in the potholes. Liebgott had dismantled the traps specially for their arrival when they had called from Williamsport to say they were an hour out.

“I figured we could use a medical professional to lend some credibility to the operation,” said Babe thoughtfully, sparking a joint on the porch over sweating jam jars of iced tea.

Roe snorted or something but it wasn’t really a normal person’s self-effacing laugh. Winters clapped his back. Nixon knew Roe had dropped out of medical school after two years but there was no need to say anything. Everyone knew that. Now he was working construction and Babe claimed to be working as a mechanic in a garage, but this seemed suspect given the state of the car they had driven up in.

“Well we sure as hell are glad you boys are here,” said Dick magnanimously.

Babe exhaled an opaque cloud that rivaled Nix’s own father’s ability with a stogie. “Can we see the bush?”

They went out all together to the field and ducked between the rows of corn. Babe knelt in the soil. It was damp with dew and quiet in here. It would have been almost like over there except it smelled good. “What’s the cross,” Babe said, inspecting the plants.

“It’s an indica blend…”

“Well, I can tell that,” he said.

“So you’re an expert on the plant now too?”

“I’ve just smoked an awful lot of joints in my life, Captain Nixon.”

Roe snorted again. When they all looked to him he said, “You said in the letter there was some kind of altruistic reason for all this.”

“It’s medicine, Gene,” Babe said gently, but also like they had had this conversation thirty thousand times. Nix filed away for later the intimation that Roe had read the letter he’d sent Babe at home in South Philadelphia.

“I guess you don’t remember the psychic break you had at the Do Lung Bridge.”

Babe waved this remark off, even though Nix remembered it too. It threw a chill down his back, like a water balloon had hit him at the base of his neck. “That was laced,” Babe said.

“With what!”

“I don’t know! Something bad!” Babe turned to Dick and Nix. “Gene’s teetotal,” he said, like this was a big old point of contention.

So that counted out the bad acid. Maybe he was just like this. Maybe he had had those big sad bug eyes as a child or an infant or a fetus in the womb. “Good on you, Doc,” Nix said.

“I ain’t trying it,” Roe said, folding his arms over his narrow chest, “no matter what it does.”

The doc was a tough cookie. Babe had claimed, over there, about as high as the Byrds song, that the doc came from a long line of the kind of folks described in Dr. John’s “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” and that, as such, he could heal wounds with his mind. When it didn’t work, as on the night when Jackson died, or the night when Hoobler died, or in the forest when Muck and Penkala died, or the night when Liebgott stopped speaking, he went to sit for a while on the edge of camp until Dick went over and made him eat something. Nix watched them in a state of confused envy, and then he went to write the letters to the families, so that Dick wouldn’t have to.

At dusk, after they ate a light dinner of corn on the cob and rice and beans, he took the boys up into the hayloft with an armful of blankets. “Sorry this is the best we got,” he said. He had said that about a hundred god damn times since they got here.

Roe looked like he wanted to say, you’ve got to stop apologizing for everything. Instead he said, “Where does Lieb sleep.”

Babe perked up. “Joe’s here?”

“You didn’t see him in the driveway?”

Nix sighed. “He’s gonna want to know what he did wrong that you saw him,” he said.

“Does he still — ”

Nix shook his head. “Not a peep.”

In a couple days time, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he was hot and tired and stoned, up to his elbows in earth in the field, showing Babe how to replant the hatchlings he’d grown from seed. “You guys room together or what?”

“Me and Gene?” Babe’s eyes were red in the corners from smoking and from the sun. “What about you and Dick?”

Dick, who had the radio on inside turned up as loud as it would go, so that they would hear it in the field, playing Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “What about me and Dick?” said Nix.

Babe was a smart kid. He realized this was going nowhere. With muddy hands he popped one of the seedlings out of its little pot and cradled it into the ground. “Well, I think he thinks he’s looking after me, but in actuality, I am looking after him.”

[collegeessayguy]

This list was compiled by my screenwriter friends Ed and Whit. Thanks, y’all.

Need more fun ideas? Hopefully this helps. Check out Part 2 here.

TO DO

Learn how to cook. From Michelin-starred chef, Massimo Bottura. He hosts an online cooking class on his Instagram and Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street has made its online cooking class free through April 30th.

Live Yoga Classes!

How about origami! One of my favorite skills learned as a child was origami. But my friend Becky had to teach me in person! And we all know “in person” is stupid now. Let’s learn online! It’s free.

Another thing I loved as a kid were Rebus puzzles — those visual word puzzles which hide common phrases. There are hundreds of them on the bottom of this website but make sure to do them in order because they list the answers to the last set on top of the current set.

Have a picnic indoors. Get a video of the outdoors and throw it up on your TV. Then, on your computer or phone, bring up some birds chirping or other nature sounds. Put them both on at the same time, put a blanket on your floor, and have a picnic. Believe me, it’s worth it.

FOR KIDS

A great google doc I did NOT make but was asked to share. Tons of kid-focused lessons and activities. Some stuff for grown-ups, too!

Sesame Street is chipping in because of course they do. They’re making games, videos and more all free. Their content list is constantly being updated so check out this page to keep up-to-date.

The Broad (a great museum in Los Angeles) offers a weekly “Let’s Make Art! Family Workshop At Home.” Every Friday they post a new project on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Here’s the first one on YouTube!

Drawing class for kids every day on Instagram. You’ve probably heard of this one. It’s been going around a lot. But just in case, here you go!

TO HELP

Help make masks for our doctors and nurses!

A friend (writer) and his wife (ER doctor) created a tax deductible fund where you can donate money that goes directly to buying meals for ER and ICU staff. If you’ve had the thought of donating food to those on the frontline, this is a great way to do it (and tax deductible!)

TO FEEL

Want to brighten up your day? Watch the Berklee College of Music students sing: “Love Sweet Love.” It’s really great.

Here’s a good article about what you may be feeling. And what you may be feeling is grief.

A friend suggested that since we’re all washing our hands to the tune of “Happy Birthday” multiple times a day, why not include a different friend’s name each time? That way you’re thinking about your good friends Katie and Grant instead of mindlessly singing “Happy Birthday” to no one like a crazy person.

TO WATCH

Part One we listed the Metropolitan Opera’s free shows but other operas are airing their own productions. The Vienna State Opera is showing pre-recorded operas. You have to register but then it’s free. And a new one every day!

Just something to lighten the mood and astound you: a magic trick. But honestly? Maybe the best magic trick I’ve ever seen. I know magic doesn’t usually translate on video but this one does. A true master.

Watch a movie series in chronological order. The Marvel movies come to mind, here’s the list. But there are other ways to watch movie series rather than chronological. How about watching the Star Wars movies in “Machete Order”? Episodes: IV, V, II, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX. Or, for something shorter but still Star Wars, how about this amazing reimagining of the Kenobi/ Vader lightsaber fight. If only all the films were made this well!

You’ve probably seen plenty of places to watch Broadway shows but how about documentaries ABOUT Broadway shows? Here’s a list of some great ones to watch!

I was going to list only the best of this list but Gizmodo has so many good, “nerdy” ideas for free viewing that I’ll just link the article. It includes: CBS All Access, Quibi, Showtime, and Amazon Kids. Also some great places to read: Audible, Internet Archive, and Scribt.

Sports! Sure, the NBA and NFL aren’t playing live games but that doesn’t mean we can’t get FREE access to their Passes. The NBA League Pass is free through April 22nd and the NFL Game Pass is free through May 31st. It’s all replays and classic games but still.... free sports!

And Sir Patrick Stewart is reading Shakespeare every day on Twitter. It’s worth a listen.

TO LEARN

Interview your partner/roommate/child/parent. If you’re quarantined with someone else, why not REALLY get to know them? For many years my job was traveling across the country interviewing strangers for consumer product research. But why does it have to be strangers? Interview your family or friend. Really get to know them for one hour. Ask them questions that don’t normally come up in day-to-day life. “Greatest fear,” “biggest regret,” “dream occupation,” “if you had a magic wand, what would you change in the world right now?” And you can’t say, “Cure the pandemic!” Tip: Have them answer every question in a complete sentence so you can understand their answer without having to hear the interviewer ask the question. Plus, as my boss always told me: “No matter what they say, ASK WHY?” That’s when the answers get interesting. For an ADDED activity, take your interview tape (from your phone or camera) and edit it on iMovie. A one hour interview should cut down nicely to 10 minutes. You get the experience of editing (very easy on iMovie) and then you have a piece of history from your time together.

TO PLAY

Free jigsaw puzzles! For adults and kids. And although I miss the hands-on feel of the puzzle, if you’re desperate, this is pretty good. Make sure to go to Full Screen mode. Makes a world of difference.

Make your own board game! Why just spend time PLAYING when you can ALSO spend time MAKING your game? There are some easy ones like “Can’t Stop” which are great for kids and adults alike. Or how about Otrio? It’s tic-tac-toe but more fun. Just google the game and make your own board and pieces. You can play it on the floor, on a table, or in the yard.

For more ideas, check out Part 2 here.

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[kcaruth]

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review

Before the dark times, before the mouse empire, LucasArts published several fun, memorable Star Wars video games, from Star Wars: Bounty Hunter to The Force Unleashed series. After Disney’s acquisition of LucasArts in 2012, the Mouse House stopped all internal developments at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff in 2013. Signaling its turn to the dark side, Disney awarded EA (voted worst company in America multiple times) a multi-year license to create Star Wars video games.

EA rebooted the Star Wars Battlefront series (2005′s Star Wars: Battlefront II has to be one of my most played video games) and released the new Star Wars Battlefront in November 2015. Critics acknowledged the game’s great graphics and visuals, but it quickly became apparent that the game lacked content. The hero and villain rosters were very limited, and the game only included content from the original trilogy, not the prequels.

Then came EA’s disastrous Star Wars Battlefront II, the repercussions of which shook the gaming world. Released in November 2017, Battlefront II had some promise. It was the first game since the Disney takeover to feature a single-player story mode that was canon to the film series. The game also contained content from the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. Additionally, EA greatly expanded the hero and villain rosters. However, EA showed it true colors with the game’s loot boxes, which could award players significant gameplay advantages if they purchased them with real money. Essentially, the game turned into a pay to win system, thereby making players who did not purchase loot boxes feel so disadvantaged that Battlefront II virtually became pay to play.

Although Visceral Games, the studio behind the Dead Space series, was developing a single-player Star Wars game, even getting to the point in the development process where they could tease everyone with in-game footage, EA canceled the game and shut down the studio. Not counting the Lego Star Wars games and mobile games, EA’s Battlefront games were the only new Stars Wars video games on the market, an astonishing reality compared to the rate at which LucasArts used to produce games for the franchise.

Eventually, EA finally came to its senses and assigned a single-player action-adventure Star Wars game to Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind the Titanfall series. Former Santa Monica Studio employee Stig Asmussen served as game director, and heavy-hitting talent like writer Chris Avellone, perhaps best known for his work on Fallout: New Vegas, joined the project. Finally, Respawn released Jedi: Fallen Order in November 2019 to much critical acclaim.

Now, with that long-winded background introduction establishing the recent state of Star Wars video gaming out of the way, let’s get into the real reason why everyone is here. What did I think of Jedi: Fallen Order? I am usually well behind on newer video game releases, but our current state of affairs with the global pandemic has afforded me a bit more time to dust off my controller. Having just beaten Fallen Order earlier this week, I have plenty to say about the game. (I even made a pros and cons list! Can you tell I have also been spending my time watching the misadventures of Leslie Knope and company in Parks and Rec?)

At its core, Star Wars is about family, friendship, and good versus evil, so let’s start by talking about this game’s characters and plot. (Don’t worry; I won’t spoil anything from the story.) Fallen Order nails the spirit of Star Wars. Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, players control Cal Kestis, a Padawan forced to keep a low profile after the Jedi Purge. Cal lives on the planet Bracca, where he works as a scrapper salvaging ships from the Clone Wars. Kudos to the game here. I stopped a couple of times just to admire the visuals of Bracca. It was definitely a “wow moment” seeing TIE fighters shriek by overhead and watching a Separatist ship descend from the atmosphere. One day, Cal taps into the Force for the first time since Emperor Palpatine’s Order 66 to save a friend from certain death from a workplace accident. Unfortunately, an Imperial probe droid records the incident, alerting the Empire of a Jedi fugitive. Two Inquisitors quickly arrive on the scene to track down the Jedi. Introduced in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the menacing Inquisitors are an evil organization of Force-sensitive beings, some of them former Jedi, who have been tortured and turned to the dark side by Darth Vader and the Empire or otherwise willingly joined the organization out of hunger for power. They are tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi in hiding and others exhibiting Force potential. Somehow, Cal has survived this long even though he still carries around his lightsaber with him everywhere! When the Inquisitors corner him, he literally just pulls it out of his pocket! How has no one ever noticed it before? Did none of the Imperial probe droids floating around the planet ever take a snapshot of the weapon? Plot holes aside, two new characters, Greez and Cere, rescue Cal from certain doom at the hands of the Second and Ninth Sisters and ferry him off world.

Cere is a former Jedi who held the role of Seeker in the Order. A Seeker located infants with Force abilities who could be taken to Coruscant and trained in the Jedi arts (think the good version of the Inquisitors). Greez is a starship pilot with a bad gambling habit, a green thumb, and an insatiable appetite. Cal finds a small droid named BD-1, who reveals a message from Jedi Master Eno Cordova, detailing the existence of a hidden Jedi Holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children across the galaxy. In the wrong hands, this list could lead to the children’s demise. Cal and Cere want to use the list to rebuild the Jedi Order. Thus begins the race between the Empire and our crew of ragtag misfits to secure the Holocron.

Overall, the story is good, great even for recent Star Wars standards. It fits the Star Wars cannon very well, and I loved the nods to the Clone Wars, mentions of obscure characters, and the foreshadowing of future events. Some moments elicit chuckles from the appropriate Star Wars humor, while others go to some truly dark places. The way the game tackles Order 66 earns it extremely high marks from me. The developers need to be applauded for bringing in new and relatively unknown planets that we have not really had the chance to explore before. There is no Hoth, Jakuu, or the like to be seen here, thankfully. Star Wars is a big galaxy; it is about time we saw different parts of it. We have spent more than enough time on Tatooine. The planets we do visit feel alive. Each one has a different color palette, climate, weather pattern (although the developers may have been a little heavy-handed on the fog in a few of the locations), and, of course, flora and fauna.

Cal fights everything from annoying rat creatures to ram-like slugs, from giant venus fly traps to trampoline spring-plants. Players can even collect plant specimens on different planets and plant them in Greez’s terrarium, which was a nice little way to take a piece of each planet with you on your journey. Oh, and the spiders. Cal has to kill tons and tons of spiders. Again, this is Star Wars! There is a whole galaxy at your disposal full of creatures that look like whatever your imagination can dream up, and the best we get is different species of spiders? That is probably nitpicking, but it felt like it was worth pointing out.

When it comes to the Empire, however, the variety is fantastic. Of course, the run-of-the-mill standard stormtroopers are here, but there are also variations like shock baton-wielding scout troopers, flame troopers, and the dangerous Purge troopers, essentially the special forces of the Inquisitors. The chatter between the troopers is great. Before they spot him, Cal can overhear them talking about their notorious accuracy, the planet’s hostile wildlife, or even mundane topics like food rations. Once Cal starts fighting them, they often taunt him, full of confidence in their abilities, but then they come to the realization that they are facing off against a Jedi. The confidence in their voices gradually turns to panicked fear as Cal slices through their numbers. By the time Cal gets to the last trooper standing, that trooper will regularly plead for his life or confess how scared he is. Every once in a while, the Empire will even throw AT-ST walkers at Cal, which are a fun enough challenge, though the strategy to defeat them becomes clear within a minute or two, and players are never forced to change up their tactics. I do love that after Cal destroys the walker, the trooper will crawl out of the wreckage and start shooting at him. Nice touch!

With all that said, the story is not perfect. In fact, once or twice it just feels dumb. For example, Cal goes on this grand mission seeking out an important leader in hiding, and when he finally encounters him, they exchange maybe one full sentence before the leader gifts Cal a rebreather so that he can swim underwater. You are telling me I conquered various obstacles and enemies, traversing across multiple planets all to get...a rebreather? This whole section could have been cut out and streamlined so that the storyline goes directly to the main setpiece of this planet I am talking about. Have one of Cal’s crewmates give him a rebreather and send him on his way instead. Regardless, at least the back and forth traversal gives players another chance to board the ship, ascend from the planet, and blast off into hyperspace. Seeing that never got old.

Respawn and its writers did a great job with these characters, including one of the Inquisitors (the other one is just kind of...meh). I enjoyed getting to know my crew, but I wish they had a little more to do in the game. In reality, they just stay on the ship 95 percent of the time while you are out running around on your mission (not that I entirely blame them...it is a cool ship). The conversations between these characters were usually good, but sometimes Cal would not mention huge, seemingly significant events or people he ran into to his crew! For a cinematic franchise like Star Wars, this game could have used a couple more cutscenes. The game often feeds the plot or a character’s mindset to players by making them idly stand near a crewmate and tapping R3 a handful of times to get them to cough up a couple of lines of dialogue.

As is to be expected from a Star Wars product, the game’s music is terrific. Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton composed the score and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir of London. Mongolian folk metal band The Hu also wrote and recorded a song that is featured during a couple of prominent portions of the game. The song lyrics were written in Mongolian and then translated into a fictional Star Wars alien language. The music compliments and elevates the game’s setpieces, with one standout part reminding me of Thor: Ragnarok. A couple of times, the game goes full John Williams to really make some moments hit home, and boy does it work! Hats off to Respawn for putting in this much effort in regards to the music for the game.

Getting into the gameplay, Fallen Order is an amalgamation of several other games. Dark Souls, Zelda, Uncharted, Metroid, Castlevania, Sekiro, heck even Sonic...they are all here in some form or fashion. Unfortunately for Fallen Order, it does not elevate the features it borrows from those games. The biggest reason? The bugs. Oh my goodness the bugs. How can a blockbuster release like this have so many bugs? Maybe it had something to do with EA or Disney wanting to push the final product out before the release of The Rise of Skywalker the next month, but the amount of bugs in this game are simply unacceptable. While none of them led to a complete game crash, I definitely caught myself grumbling, “I hate this game,” with my frustration levels constantly reaching the scorching temperature of Mustafarian lava, especially considering Fallen Order’s inexcusably long load times. Seriously, the load times after dying are so long that I had enough time to run to the bathroom, heat something up in the microwave, or make a cup of tea (to help relax me from this rage-inducing game) before the game finished loading. How can I lift off from a planet and travel through hyperspace faster than the game can respawn me after dying? It is not just dying, by the way. The game developers think they cleverly hid load times behind elevator rides, but that did not work either! At least throw in some elevator music or comm chatter if you are going to make me stand there for so long!

One time, I fell through the level to my death while walking on what was 100 percent solid ground. Speaking of solid ground, or should I say the lack thereof, enemies continued to fight me while clearly hovering in thin air when they should obviously be plummeting to their death. Woe is me if I tried to reach them, though, because my Jedi character must not have that ability, leading to, that is right, more death falls for me as the enemy looked on from his invisible sliver of ground above. If I was lucky enough to have an enemy remain in my relative vicinity and not stand off a ledge, that enemy had a chance of pinning and glitching Cal against a wall, leaving me trapped until I died from the beating. The enemy who kills Cal glows gold until players shave off a piece of that enemies health, which is great, but that means players cannot see that enemy flash red when he uses an unblockable attack. How could Respawn not notice this error when it is such an important component of the combat? For all the aggressive enemies with magical glitching powers, there were also those that would have a change of heart mid-combat and go pacifistic on me. I found this especially common in the later game and on one planet in particular with ranged enemies. They would fire at me, I would block their shot back at them and injure them, and then they would just stand there staring at me. It was really bizarre and made me uneasy turning my back on them to explore the area. I also experienced my health and Force bars completely disappearing from the screen. The first couple of times it happened, I thought it was intentional and meant that Cal could not die for that sequence of the game. Wrong! So much for thinking I was momentarily invincible with unlimited Force powers. This bug was especially crippling during big boss fights, as you can imagine. Respawn throws in some quick time events once in a while where players have to press the correct button in a very short amount of time. For the most part, I did not mind these, but one exception got my blood boiling. Cal is fighting a giant creature and ends up free falling. The game requires Cal to land in a very, very precise spot and pull of a quick time event. I cannot count the number of times I fell to my death during this part because of how finicky the game was being. Cal conveniently stumbles across every single icy or muddy slide in the galaxy during his travels, a way for the game developers to disguise a way to get players from point A to point B quickly, but these slides are also quite particular with when players jump and where they land. Another good portion of my deaths came from Cal not making a jump on one of these slides when he clearly had the distance or him seemingly landing and making the jump only for him to glitch and then fall backwards into a never-ending dark chasm. The game developers may have thought players would enjoy these slides, but I came to dread them.

The worst game bugs by far, however, dealt with frame rates and level textures. Not contained to one section or even one planet, unfortunately, garbage frame rates wreak more havoc across the galaxy than the treacherous Empire. I am telling you the frame rate is absolutely abysmal in this game. I can forgive a drop in frame rate if it happens a couple of times, but it is like it is a built-in gameplay feature of Fallen Order. It was maddening! How can Respawn expect me to properly block or dodge if the game cannot even keep up with my movements or camera adjustments? Texture pop ins and clipping were also recurring issues. One time, I noticed a soldier’s helmet load in late. Another time, a Wookie’s fur took a while to fill up the character model. (By the way, the Wookies in this game look horrendous.) Sometimes, it would get so bad that the game would just pause completely so that it could load in the content of the area. I honestly thought the game had crashed and was about to reboot the console before everything stuttered back into place and Cal got moving again.

I have done a lot of ranting about the game’s flaws the last few paragraphs, so let me get back to some things I did like. The combat works well. I cannot begin to tell you how satisfying and occasionally outright hilarious it is to Force push a trooper off a ledge, especially when he is standing there trying to intimidate you. I had so much fun simply blocking stormtroopers’ laser bolts right back at them. Best of all, I started taking every opportunity I had to pull enemies toward me, especially ones perched up on higher vantage points, and stab them straight through with my lightsaber. The lightsaber boss fights were a highlight of the game. Players feel the weight of every strike and every struggle when the blades cross.

In addition to Cal’s lightsaber, he also has his Force powers at his disposal. He starts out with Force slow and gradually adds other abilities, such as push and pull, as the game progresses. Players may question how Cal, a Jedi, can struggle with a squadron of stormtroopers or the local wildlife, or they may ask why he does not start with all of his Force abilities, but it all makes sense when you consider that Cal has to rebuild his connection to the Force. He has not used it since he was a child, after all. It makes sense that this amateur padawan who did not complete his training runs into a tough time in combat. When Cal does unlock new Force abilities, the game cleverly flashes back to show Cal’s master teaching him that ability during his training before Order 66.

Players can further bolster their Force, survival, and lightsaber abilities through a skill tree. Skill points accumulated from defeating enemies grant players access to increased health, stronger stim potency, increased lightsaber damage, and mass push, to name a few skills. Even later on in the game when most of your Force abilities have been unlocked and Cal has found a couple of fun new gadgets, the game still feels balanced. Cal never feels overpowered like Starkiller in The Force Unleashed games. Even when they are maxed out, his Force push and pull do not appear to have much of an effect on bosses. At most, they will briefly stagger them, whereas when they do it to Cal, he will comically tumble over like Palpatine when Yoda Force pushed him across his desk in Revenge of the Sith.

I will argue that a couple of Force abilities become outdated later in the game. At one point, I forgot I even had Force slow because I had not used it in a while. I only remembered it while I was trying to solve a small puzzle to escape from an area and had exhausted all other options. Can you blame me for always wanting to Force push enemies off a cliff instead of slowing them down?

I appreciate that the game developers allow players to adjust the difficulty at any time. I started out at a higher difficulty and found myself dying before I even left the first world, Bracca. However, I persisted. That is, until I faced off against Oggdo Bogdo and his trash hitboxes. Players can stumble upon Oggdo Bogdo very early in the game. Oggdo Bogdo, a carnivorous amphibian creature, is a boss variation of the more common lookalikes of him. There is a similar optional alpha creature boss encounter on most planets Cal visits. No matter how hard I tried or how many different strategies I employed, Oggdo Bogdo proved to be too tough for me, and after waiting through countless death loads and having to run back over to Oggdo Bogdo’s location time and time again, I decided to lower the game’s difficulty, allowing me to finally slay this ugly creature.

Like Sekiro’s sculptor’s idols or the bonfires in Dark Souls, Fallen Order relies on meditation circles as its save points. Cal can rest to full health and restore his Force meter as well as restock health stims. Meditation circles also allow players to access the skill tree and spend skill points. These meditation circles implement a good risk versus reward system. If players choose to rest at a meditation circles, all of the enemies he or she has defeated since the last rest will respawn. I regularly found myself weighing the pros and cons of my situation, questioning if I should heal and get more stims or push on so that I did not put more enemies in my path.

While I am on the subject of these meditation circle save points, I have to point out that Fallen Order does not have fast travel. Instead, it encourages players to backtrack and explore previously inaccessible areas that they can now open with their newly unlocked abilities. This was fine for a while, but I quickly grew tired of it when I noticed how much of the backtracking had me slowly climbing, traversing across narrow walkways that Cal has to carefully balance on, or shimmying over narrow cliff edges. This is padding by exploration. While the vine and rope swinging was fun, especially with Force pull, I stopped enjoying climbing up a conveniently placed arrangement of vines and the like by the halfway point of the game, if not earlier. I will admit that I believe Fallen Order contains just the right amount of playtime, but this stuff had it teetering on the too long side. This is compounded by one important world that players have to visit multiple times that feels too big. The developers’ creativity and excitement got a little out of hand here. Just pull up the map of that world to see how unwieldy it is. When I completed the story on a planet like this, I felt exhausted rather than triumphant. Why can’t I hail my crew to come pick me up in the ship where I am rather than having to run across the entire planet again to get back to the landing pad, fighting the same enemies I already cleared out a couple of hours ago? The game developers do provide a few shortcuts that players can open, but the amount of time they end up saving is negligible in some cases.

I was disappointed that there is no real endgame content. Sure, players can continue to explore or fight enemies for the heck of it, but the developers could have done so much more. After players unlock every ability in the skill tree, the skill points they collect after that become meaningless. I will confess that I chose to rush past enemies to get to my next destination rather than waste time or energy fighting them for the 50th time after I had filled out my skill tree. Why not unlock fast travel after players beat the story? How about adding in a fighting arena where players can test their maxed out skill set against waves of enemies? Heck, let the players unlock dark side Force abilites like Force lightning or Force choke after they complete the story so that whatever they do then is not canon. I would have continued to gather skill points for that!

Now I mentioned Cal’s droid companion BD-1 earlier, but BD-1 deserves a special shout-out. BD-1 is spunky and lovable. Not only does BD-1 shoot Cal stims to heal him, the droid also provides hints for puzzles, scans enemies to suggest tactics to take them down, plays recordings that push the story along, and helps Cal navigate the worlds by hacking locked doors or carrying him across zip lines. Additionally, BD-1 projects the holomap of each planet, which is vital to keeping track of where Cal is in relation to the ship or his destination. The holomap itself is decent. Color coding helps players see what is inaccessible and what is unlockable, but for the bigger worlds with multiple levels it can be quite a burden to scroll across. Not to knock BD-1, but I grew impatient waiting for the droid’s animation that it goes through every single time Cal finds a hidden chest. Cal opens up the chest, BD-1 jumps in and rumbles around, and then jumps back out with whatever was inside it, all while Cal repeats the same lines of dialogue, like “Woah, buddy!” or “Careful now.” or “What did you find in there?” There are 107 chests in the game. Let that sink in.

These chests are one of the rewards for exploration. They contain items that players can use to customize Cal, his lightsaber, BD-1, or the ship. While this is motivation enough at the beginning of the game, this customization serves no purpose beyond cosmetics. It comes down to which poncho or paint job players find more aesthetically pleasing. I love that the game developers let players change lightsaber colors, but I wish these different ponchos and lightsaber parts had some sort of effect on the gameplay, such as restoring more of Cal’s Force meter or refilling a small amount of health after defeating an enemy.

Force echoes serve as another reward for exploring. Cal uncovers lore from past events by reaching out through these Force echoes. They rounded out the worlds nicely and added to the feeling that they were lived in, real places in the galaxy. The final element of exploration is BD-1′s scans. While you are running around, BD-1 will occasionally crawl down off Cal’s back and scramble over to something the droid wants to scan. These unlock data entries on the planet, its flora and fauna, the Empire, or other characters. This is all fine and dandy, but the level of exploration the game developers expect players to do with all of the backtracking involved needs to reward me with more than just basic lore, especially when some of the entries feel like the writers did not even try when they wrote them. Is an entry on a storage crate telling me that the Empire stored materials in it really worth stopping to scan? I think not. Instead, the game developers could have really motivated me to explore more by throwing in a few interesting side quests or fun Easter eggs. Maybe players could stumble upon active Imperial transmissions and overhear characters like Tarkin or Thrawn. Maybe players could find an abandoned Imperial camp and watch Imperial or Rebel propaganda over a holofeed that was left on. They could have even hidden a squadron of battle droids that were forgotten from the Clone Wars. So many possibilities!

Jedi: Fallen Order is far from a perfect game and has so much unrealized potential, but I would not trade away my time with it. For every flaw, I can point to a positive, and vice versa. At the end of the day, I got to be a Jedi, and that is good enough for me.

[firebirdtransam68]

Transformers: Superlink References I Noticed

Most Trans-fans watch Transformers: Armada and Energon and see them as a completely different universe with little to no G1 references (and some Star Trek, Star Wars, and Pokémon references peppered into the trilogy), besides seeing them as some of the worst Transformers media; I saw Transformers: Micron Legend and Superlink that have a lot of G1 references, as well as being some of the most underrated and underappreciated Transformers media.

Superlink, especially, have many references from The Transformers: The Movie (1986) as well as parts of the original series, including Season 3, and a few callbacks from its predecessor, Micron Legend (Superlink is its sequel, after all).

The following G1 movie references I saw from Superlink include:

- The show brought back original characters from Micron Legend (including Ironhide, Sandstorm, and Shockwave), and then killed them off before even half-way into the series

- Megatron comes back as Galvatron; with not only a new body (which is a huge callout from the 1986 movie), but a different voice actor/seiyuu, as well

- Some of the original characters (especially Sandstorm, Ironhide, and Shockwave) were reformatted via Unicron’s power into completely different characters that are not as memorable

- Rodimus Prime (called Rodimus Convoy) makes an appearance, even though this Rodimus was not originally Hot Rod

- Springer (called Sprung in Superlink; which means the same thing) also makes an appearance

- A few scenes featuring Rodimus and Galvatron fighting each other is quite a big reference to the final battle in the 1986 film

- My least favorite Transformer: A Quintesson (Alpha Q)

- The animation is different than it was in Micron Legend; much like how the animation for The Transformers (1984-1987) was animated by Toei Animation, while the 1986 movie was animated by AKOM (and its style is a little different, as well)

- A completely different soundtrack specifically for the anime is used without reusing the Micron Legend soundtrack

- While songs like “The Touch,” “Dare,” and “Instruments Of Destruction” played at least once in The Transformers: The Movie, the intro and outro songs (“Taiyo no Transform” and “Calling You,” respectively) featured during certain episodes, especially in epic moments featuring fight scenes

- Not only is Kicker Jones a reference to Daniel Witwicky (a young tagalong human who is friends with the Autobots), he is also a composite character with G1 Hot Rod by behavior/attitude (he is quite impulsive, and wants his friends to not give up and fight for what is right)

- The female Transformer, Ariel, is a reference to G1 Arcee, since there was already an Arcee in Micron Legend

- There is a really fast Autobot; for Generation One, it is Blurr, and not only does he go fast, he even talks fast, as well; for Superlink, it is Wing Saber, who is quite an energetic Transformer to begin with (Episodes 26, 28, and the TV special are some well-known examples displaying his speed)

- Unicron looks a little more like his G1 counterpart than he did in Micron Legend

- Both the 1986 film and Superlink have their dark and silly moments, including beloved characters being killed off and Unicron causing destruction, and some slapstick moments regarding the Transformers

There are also some references from the original G1 TV show, as well:

- In both the G1 show and Superlink, an Autobot was killed off, and was reformatted into another, yet very similar, Autobot that is more well-known to many Trans-fans; respectively, they are Orion Pax (now Optimus Prime) and Wing Dagger (now Wing Saber); coincidently, both of their voice actors also voiced Ironhide (both Optimus Prime and Ironhide were voice by Peter Cullen in Generation One; Wing Saber and Ironhide were voiced by Koji Yusa in the original Unicron Trilogy)

- The G1 transformation sound effect is in the show!

- Many Transformers are based on their G1 counterparts, including Inferno, Wheeljack, Skyfire (almost), Omega Supreme, and Lazerwave (his G1 counterpart is called Shockwave, but since there is already a Shockwave in the Unicron Trilogy, the Decepticon’s name is Lazerwave, much like his Japanese version)

- Although they are not the same character, Superlink’s Red Alert and G1 Mirage share a very similar alt-mode, which is a blue Formula One race car

- The Shadowhawk Terrocons almost resemble G1 Lazerbeak; the Command Jaguar Terrocons resemble G1 Ravage; and the therapod Terrocons are called Dinobots (although, some may say they are a reference to Beast Wars’ Dinobot)

- The combiners made appearances in the show, including Buildron (a reference to G1 Devastator, but since there was already a Devastator in Micron Legend, the Decepticon combiner is called Buildron), Bruticus (whose individual combiners even kept their G1 names), and Superion (an Autobot combiner); there are also a few moments with Superion and Omega Supreme, as well, much like in Generation One

- One word: Energon (except, in G1, it is Energon Cubes; Superlink has Energon Stars)

However, being a Mecha anime show, Superlink also has references to other Mecha shows, including Voltron (as well as Beast King Golion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, due to the Grand Force (Prime Force) serving as Optimus Prime’s (or Grand Convoy) arms and legs), Gundam, and even the Brave Saga (including Brave Police J-Decker, in which I am also watching).  The Brave Saga, in particular, are referenced in Superlink, including the following:

- Once the Transformers Superlinked (combined) with one another, we see close-ups of their combining sequence, they call out their forms, strike a pose, and then the battle begins; special mention goes to Optimus Prime/Grand Convoy, with his Super Mode/Hyper Mode (with the Grand Force), Wing Convoy mode (with Wing Saber), and Omega Convoy mode (with Omega Supreme)

- While the Transformers shout, “TRANSFORM!” the Brave robots shout, “CHANGE!” once they transform into their vehicle mode or robot mode

- Both the Transformers and the Brave robots are emotive, and have had many humanized moments, as well

- Since the Transformers and the Brave robots are sentient and can talk, they also have different personalities that makes them what they are as characters

- Both Transformers and the Brave robots have a human companion who fights alongside them

- Both franchises have their awesome, funny, heartwarming, terrifying, and heartbreaking moments that makes their target audiences attached to their works

I could list more references and callbacks that I noticed in Transformers: Superlink, but I will leave it at that, and maybe you can also find references in the show, as well.

Also, as I have mentioned, I am currently watching Brave Police J-Decker, and I have completed 12 episodes, so far; the robots are very similar to Transformers, it has their awesome, funny and heartbreaking moments that motivate me even more to continue the series until the grand finale, and I already got a favorite character since Episode 1, Deckerd, the main Brave Police robot, and the main human character’s companion; and a really cool vehicle mode (also, I discovered another really underrated seiyuu, Toru Furusawa; he also made a brief appearance in Transformers, but he is mostly well-known in the Brave Saga; in fact, he is so underrated that DeviantArt does not have a single stamp or fan art based on him (at least not yet); so, for any anime and seiyuu fans, I would suggest giving this voice actor more recognition, as well).

That is all I will be saying for now.  Stay tuned for more posts.

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

[chipper9906]

The Best Laid Plans- Chapter 4: An Uncertain Reunion

Link To Chapter 1

Pairings: Kylo Ren/Rey, Ben Solo/Rey

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 7,940

Chapter Preview: 

Roughly ten minutes later, Rey finds herself settled down on her old cot with a scratchy thin blanket draped over her, peering into the darkness of her AT-AT in disbelief at the fact that Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, is currently laying on the floor, pressed up against the wall with an even older, more tattered blanket than her own, that of which barely covered him.

In the small sliver of moonlight that peeks in through the cracks of the AT-AT, Kylo catches sight of some glinting scuff marks reflecting back at him. Peering closer, he realizes that these marks are in fact tally marks, scratched into the wall roughly over time, spreading up and up the wall he is laid next to.

“Rey?” Kylo whispers into the silence of the night, not worrying about waking Rey, seeing as he could see her eyes reflecting at him in the darkness. “What are these marks for?”

“The tally?” Rey asks for confirmation, even though she knows it’s the only thing he can be referring to. “They count the number of days I was here.”

The room falls back into silence, this one much more unpleasant than the one before. After a few seconds more of this, Kylo dares to speak again.

“Rey… How long were you here for?”

“Roughly fourteen years, give or take,” Rey answers, her eyes scanning across the tally’s she meticulously added to every day.

“How…old are you, Rey?”

“Nineteen, I think. Probably closer to twenty now. I don’t know my actual birthday.”

“You were left here by yourself when you were only… what, five? Six?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Rey rolled over onto her back, staring up at the cracked, peeling metal of her ceiling. “Kinda weird how long we’ve known each other and never knew our ages.”

Kylo hummed in agreement, lifting a hand to softly run his fingers across the jagged tally marks in the wall.

“That was my attempt at asking you for your age, if you didn’t sense that.”

“Oh.”

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Chapter 4: An Uncertain Reunion

It had been a tremendously, idiotically, irresponsible decision to make. Rey knew it now, and she had known it the second she had agreed to meet with him on Jakku. You would think that if she knew it even then, she wouldn’t have agreed. And yet, here she was, climbing aboard the Falcon with a few canteens of collected water and some homemade rations, ready to fly to a planet she once called home, to meet with the Supreme Leader of the First Order, a man she once thought redeemable.

‘This could so easily be a trap.’ Rey thinks to herself as she flings her bag down beside the seats in the cockpit, flopping down into the pilot’s seat with a huff. ‘It would be the perfect plan; Lure me to him with the promise of something I can’t refuse, take me to a place I know to lure me into a false sense of security, then kill me just when I’m finally starting to feel safe around him.’ She continues to think as she runs through the Falcons pre-flights checks, flipping various switches and pushing down many different buttons as the Falcons engines roar to life.

She wanted to trust him. She really, really did. It would make things so much easier. Then again, she would be lying if she said she mistrusted him completely. For a good long while now, there had been something that kept her drawn to him, growing steadily stronger every time the Force had connected them. It had been strong enough that she truly believed that just by going to him, she would be able to turn him. It had been wishful thinking, yes, and she had felt like she was so close to achieving that. Which is probably why it hurt as much as it did when he began spouting nonsense about leading a new First Order like it was words from a textbook; something he had been thinking of for a while, perhaps. Had that really been his goal? To one day murder his Master, and for them to rise as leaders of a new power within the Galaxy? And for how long? When she had come to him on the Supremacy? When they had touched hands over the Force? When he had first seen her?

Such thoughts were whirling through her mind as she increased the Falcons thrust, feeling the lurch from the ship as it lifted from the ground. A few startled Porgs hurriedly flew past the Falcon, their squawks of complaints barely heard over the Falcons powerful engines. Rey let her hand linger on the lever for the thrusters for a few moments as she contemplated whether it was too late to just switch everything off and back out of this deal, but before she knew it, she had pushed the lever forward and the Falcon was rising higher and higher into the sky.

Any more thoughts of Kylo Ren were pushed into the back of her mind as her pilot mode took over, pushing the nose of the ship up and fully activating the thrusters. Rey winced slightly when her head slammed into the headrest as the Falcon burst through Ahch-To’s atmosphere and into the deep, dark depths of space. She allowed herself a few seconds to take in the beauty of the countless stars that surrounded her, reveling in the sense of freedom she felt whenever she flew, something she yearned for every day she spent sweating and exerting herself on the very planet she was headed for right now. With a few more taps on the Falcons console (and a few groans of protest from the ship itself), Rey enters the coordinates of Jakku and puts the ship into Hyperspeed.

Now, with the Galaxies stars whirring past too fast for her to fully see, Rey finds the thought of Kylo Ren once again sneaking back to the forefront of her mind. It was frustrating, to say the least. She can’t remember the last time her mind had let her go even a day without reminding her of him. Sometimes the thoughts would come from nowhere, something so simple as a flash of an image of him: Of the time he was dressed fully in black, mask still in place as he circled her frozen form like a predator that already knows it’s won. Or of the time she awoke chained to what she could only describe as a standing table to see that horrid mask staring back at her. In that moment, when her jabs had finally got him to remove his helmet, she had thought she might actually prefer him with the mask. Because now, she had a face to match the name. Now, she could see he was human just as she was, a young man with eyes so dark and blank that she could tell he had seen too many countless horrors that no one ever should. Perhaps, nearly the worst is a more recent memory, of when he had held out his hand to her, offering her what he thought would be all that she wanted. She can see his pleading face just as clearly as if she was in that red encompassed room once again.

‘I wanted you to take my hand!’

He did. He genuinely did. It hadn’t struck her just how much he had wanted for her to join him until he had snapped at her atop that cliffside, letting his inner mask slip away for her to see the painful frown etched into his face at his own words, showing her just how much he truly meant them. She may not have wanted to rule the galaxy with Kylo Ren, but Kylo Ren certainly wanted to rule it with her.

It wasn’t the worst though.

No, the worst thing to pop into her head wasn’t a memory of him, nor even the times when he actually appears.

It’s of that damn vision.

The one thing that brings her back to him every time, the one piece of hope she desperately clings to, the only thing she has left to convince herself that somewhere hidden deep down within that monster is who the Force had shown to her; a man dressed in light-colored slacks and an airy shirt, adorned with a coarse black vest  (of course, there was no way she could convince him not to wear any black). A man with a huge, goofy grin on his face, wide enough to proudly display the gleaming toothy smile he had inherited from his father, his joyful smile directed at her with an arm slung around her shoulders, pulling her into his side with a burst of giddy laughter so contagious, she couldn’t help but join him.

He was happy. And, stood by his side, so she was she.

That vision, that promise of what was meant to be, had been the reason why she had felt her hand twitching by her side at the throne room, a part of her so eager to throw caution to the wind and just grab his hand. Because what if this was how it came to be? What if she was meant to take his hand, to go down this path and be by his side? Perhaps then, being as close to him as he had obviously hoped they would become, she would find a way to turn him. Hopefully, before he could do the same to her.

But she couldn’t. Because to go down that path, she would have had to stand back and watch as the Resistance finally met its end. She would have to do nothing but watch as the only friends she has in this galaxy are blown apart on the commands of the man she was meant to lead beside, and how could she possibly do that? Her friends had sent her on this task, to find one of the last known Jedi to help find a way to end this war, to bring down the Final Order and restore peace. How could she possibly live with herself if she betrayed their trust, betrayed what it meant to be a Jedi, and instead be not only a bystander but an active participant in their deaths?

Kriff, she wanted for that vision to come true. But if that’s what it took for it to happen? She would rather have the vision of who Kylo Ren could be haunting her than the deaths of so many innocents.

Except… Except what if that’s not true? Kylo Ren had already massacred millions of innocent people under the command of his master, but now? Now, as Supreme Leader, she feared her rejection may have turned him resentful towards her, may have burnt out the last remaining bit of Light he had within him and pushed him fully into the Dark. What if, by saving the lives of a few, she may have doomed the lives of millions more?

Rey groaned in frustration, ignoring the stab of pain she felt in her head as she slammed it down on the console of the Falcon, the ache only slightly soothed by its cool surface. With an exasperated grunt, Rey turned her head to the side, catching sight of the empty and somewhat dirty co-pilot’s seat beside her.

She wondered what Chewie would say if he was here right now. She imagined a lot of Wookiee curses at her stupidity for willingly flying to a planet already full of murderous people to meet with an even worse murderer. Back on the Resistance base, she had worked up enough courage one night to ask the Wookiee what Ben used to be like. He was one of the only person left alive she knew besides Leia who could tell her about him, and bringing him up to the General seemed like a very bad idea, especially when she was trying to keep her connection between her son and herself as much as a secret as possible. Chewie had been rather reluctant to talk about him, and the small bits of information she could pry from him obviously pained the Wookiee to speak about; she imagined any memory of Ben brought up even more memories about Han, and considering how much his death pains her with how little time she had to know him, she couldn’t even imagine the pain Chewie must feel at his death, by the hands of his own son.

He had told her some tidbits of information; like how the mess of black hair he had was similar to the one he had as a child, only slightly more tamed and managed. Through that mop of hair (that he apparently fought his mother tooth and nail not to have cut) stood out a pair of ears that his mother hoped he would grow into, and got him into a lot of trouble when he would overhear important conversations his mother had (and, on occasion, one too many fights between herself and Han). Chewie told her of the times Ben would be aboard the Falcon, of teaching him all the tips and tricks he knew on the Falcons old and kind of glitchy Holochess table, of watching the small young boy sat upon his fathers lap in the cockpit, giggling in delight at his father's half-assed reprimands as Ben happily pushed at all the colorful buttons that lit up the Falcons console. Or, of the times where the young toddler would cling to him instead, pulling and yanking at his fur in his fun, to which the only way the Wookiee  could get him to stop was by holding him close (and making a sound that Chewie would tell you was certainly NOT a form of purring.)

But, Chewie had also told her that perhaps the reason most of his memories had been of Ben as a happy child was, perhaps, because of how little he truly saw of him. Han had never been one to settle down for too long, and the life he led was not one he could easily give up cold turkey. He had tried, the Wookiee had insisted, as hard as could to settle down somewhat after receiving the news that he would be expecting his first child. But, instead of leading a life of a baby-sitter as Chewie had expected himself to be condemned to, he had been back in the co-pilot's seat before he knew it, Han besides him as he always was.

Han loved Ben. She knew that, but if she were to look at things from Ben's perspective, of living the life that he had… She hated to admit it, but she could start to see how Ben had ended up this way.

Rey groaned once more, letting her head fall into her hands and rubbing at her tired eyes until the bright spots of light behind her eyelids began to fade away. Perhaps the fact that she was beginning to sympathize with Kylo Ren was another sign that all of this was a bad idea…

* * *

The Falcon gave a small shake as the ship exited hyperspace, the stream of stars above her head returning to their usual dotted selves amongst the infinite spread of darkness. Right in front of her was the gigantic pale orb that was Jakku, taking up most of her view from the Falcons cockpit windshield.

“Home Sweet Home…” Rey murmured to herself as she steered the Falcon towards the direction of Niima Outpost.

The Falcon broke through the atmosphere easily, barely a shake as it pushed through Jakkus minimal layers of cloud. As soon as the outpost came into sight, she pulled the Falcon out of its descent, not wanting to get too close for anyone to spot the ship. She had no doubt Plutt was still enraged by the theft of the ship, and she didn’t want to know what he would do if he found out she was the one responsible. Not to mention the fact she was sure some would attempt to shoot it down for the chance to scavenge what survives the inevitable crash…

The fallen Star Destroyers were the first things she saw, a never moving landmark amongst the never-ending dunes of sand. Those ships had been there long before she had even been born, and she was sure they would exist for many more decades. In fact, they would probably lie in their graves for the rest of the systems life, simply too immense to ever be picked clean by even the most determined of scrap collectors.

The AT-AT she once used to take shelter in was nothing but a small silver dot amongst the endless stretch of sand in front of her, easily missed if she wasn’t as familiar with the area as she was. Even after all this time spent away, it was still ingrained in her mind. Perhaps a part of her refused to believe she would ever truly leave this place, that she would have to remember every single detail of how she survived these past years for when she inevitably returns to the life of a scavenger…

The Falcon lands smoothly as it always does thanks to her constant tinkering, setting the ship down on the flattest bit of land she could find (and she knew for certain wouldn’t be a sinking pit…Those were always a nasty surprise). The unrelenting, dry heat of the planet hits her as the Falcons landing door creaks open, the scorching wind blowing irritating grains of sand straight into her face.

“Maybe Kylo had the right idea with the mask.” She complains under her breath as she secures her bag to her waist and tightens her grip on her staff. Rey steps onto the familiar sinking sand, it’s almost unbearable warmth wrapping around her feet as they sink further down with each step.

It was surprising how quickly she had acclimatized to Ahch-To’s colder climate, considering she had spent most of her life in this burning heat. Right now, she would rather face the cold chills of Ahch-To’s wind than the scorching temperatures of Jakku’s sun as it beat down on her from above. Then again, there were many times on Ahch-To as she struggled to see, let alone walk through the freezing rain that pelted her, wishing for the warmth of Jakku.

Rey stopped monetarily when the AT-AT came into view, much bigger than a silver speck now she was walking down on the ground. She spins around, taking in as much as the horizon as she can, not seeing any sign of any visitors, both unwelcome and… Well, she supposed ‘welcome’, considering she technically invited him here.

(Except he was the one that suggested this damn planet…)

It wasn’t all that surprising that he wasn’t here yet. Considering she had no idea where exactly he was traveling from, it may take him longer to get here than it did for her. She was actually kind of thankful for it. If she was being honest, she wasn’t entirely ready to face him quite yet. Speaking together through the Force was one thing, but to stand face to face… It didn’t seem that different, but there’s something about it… That pull that’s always trying to bring her closer to him, it magnifies in ways she can’t even begin to explain. It’s a feeling she knows he experiences too, or at least thinks he does, considering the fact that he’s constantly entering her personal space. Knowing him, he probably isn’t even aware he’s doing it…

After a quick perimeter sweep of the area, Rey finds she can no longer bear to walk any longer on the burning sand, even if the temperature was starting to drop as night approached. The interior of the AT-AT brings with it a welcome shade, and she can’t help but let out a pleased sigh at escaping the sweltering heat that seemed intent on draining every bit of energy she had. Rey plops herself down on a chair of sorts, made of metal and other sturdy materials she was able to scavenge from various ships, only made bearable by the miraculously luxury fabric she had procured from what must have been once a very wealthy (but now obviously quite unlucky) individual.

The dry scratchiness in her throat became too much to ignore, hurriedly ripping open the top of her bag and searching through its contents before pulling out a canteen of water she had brought with her. It was far from cold, but right now, she couldn’t care less. Even lukewarm, it was one of the most satisfying drinks she had ever had in her life.

It’s just as she goes to take another sip gulp of water that she hears the screeching sound of a ship’s engine zipping past. The canteen remains frozen by her lips as she listens out for it, hearing the deafening sounds gradually become quieter and quieter, until she can no longer hear it. Whatever had flown by had flown low to the ground. No pilot flies that low when they have a set destination in mind; rather only when they’re looking for something.

Either someone was looking for her, or she was going to have to face Kylo earlier than she thought.

She wasn’t sure which one she preferred it to be.

With one last deep gulp of water, Rey tightens the cap of her canteen and stores it back in her bag, which she then promptly stored in a hidden corner of her makeshift shelter where it would hopefully stay somewhat cool. Quickening her pace, Rey makes her way out of the only shelter that was ever her own, wincing at the blinding light of the setting sun that threatened to burn her retinas. Rey lifts her hand to shield the worst of the sun's rays from her eyes, peering out in the direction she thought she heard the ship head towards.

Any moisture she had regained seemed to disappear from her throat the second she caught sight of his familiar silhouette against the backdrop of Jakku’s sunset, his flowing cloak floating behind him as it gets caught in the currents of the wind. In the distance, she could just about make out the intimidating shape of his shuttle, its shadowy pointed wings standing tall and proud like a beacon in the sky.  Even from here, she could tell he was wearing his mask, something that oddly disappointed her. Although this time he had decided to forgo the hood on top, something she found gave him a much less menacing appearance.

Rey didn’t know what she was supposed to do right now. Was she supposed to walk over to him? Meet him halfway? Or just stand here and wait for him to arrive? The latter she decides is the best course of action, and as she comes to this decision, Kylo comes to a standstill. There they stand, two Force users having a standoff in the middle of a desert, with miles and miles of nothingness surrounding them and no one else in sight. A bout of uneasiness flares up at his frozen form, bringing her staff in front of her in the hopes he gets the message that she’s armed and ready to defend herself if need be. Her eyes remain glued to his side, where she knows for a fact his saber rests, waiting for the inevitable moment his hand goes to grab it.

But it never comes.

Instead, after an agonizing few seconds that felt much longer than that, Kylo continues to walk towards her. It was sort of strange, when she thought about it, that watching someone standstill was more terrifying than someone advancing towards you. That was just what it was like with Kylo, though. When he was stood still like that, she knew he was calculating something in his head, and no matter what you could possibly anticipate him doing, you would never be able to fully counter him. When he’s advancing towards you, it’s because, in his mind, he’s already won the upcoming battle, and that’s one of his greatest weaknesses. She knows that the best opportunity she has to outthink him is when he displays the cockiness and overconfidence of his father.

And Kriff, does she fear the day he stops doing that.

It wasn’t exactly like he was charging at her, but then again, in their previous chases, Kylo always seemed to… Stalk towards her. Perhaps another sign of his cockiness, that belief that he’s going to catch her no matter what, so he doesn’t need to hurry in his pace. Although, she wouldn’t say he was stalking her right now. On top of that, she’s not exactly running away from him this time, so really its more like he’s strolling towards her, casually, as if to say ‘Hi’ to an old friend while you’re out on a walk, not like you’re meeting face to face with the person you were once ordered to kill.

It takes him only a few minutes to reach her, coming to a stop just a few steps away from her. From here she can just about hear his somewhat labored breath emitting from his mask, most likely caught off guard by the exertion of trudging through deep sand. The sounds of his breathing are oddly mechanical sounding, no doubt due to being manipulated from whatever voice modifier he has built into his helmet. Kylo spends a good couple of seconds simply looking at her before glancing off to his right, scanning the area for a moment before he speaks.

“I assume you’ve performed a perimeter check?”

“As I did every night I spent here in the past.” Rey answers him, her fingers twitching against the heated metal handle of her staff, an unusually tense feeling sweeping over her, more so than usual when she spoke to him in the past. “Didn’t see much either when flying over- which I imagine you’ve done as well. Not a soul in sight, from what I could see.”

“Good,” Kylo states, turning his head back to face her before reaching his hands up to unlatch his helmet, yanking his helmet off his head to reveal black locks that were matted to his head with sweat.

“This is just a security measure- Less people see my face, the better,” Kylo tells her, letting the helmet hang by his side as he raises his other leather-clad hand to wipe his drenched hair out of his eyes. “Kriff, I forgot how much I hate sand. Stuff gets everywhere…”

And as she watches this six-foot man covered head to toe in thick black clothing, in the middle of a desert, with what can only be described as a pout on his face as he makes a miserable attempt to shake the sand out from his comically oversized boots, she starts to feel just a little bit better about accepting his offer.  

* * *

“This… Was your home?” Kylo asks in disbelief as he ducks through the entrance of the AT-AT, glancing around at the space she’d made for herself. “There’s not much room.”

“I don’t need much room. I spent most of my time in cramped sections of ships looking for parts anyway, so this was more space than I’m used to,” Rey answers with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, resting her staff against a make-shift table before sitting back down where she was before going outside. “This was just a place for me to eat and rest before heading out again. You don’t need much for that; just a roof and four walls to shelter you from the elements and other scavengers.”

“Just enough to survive,” Kylo notes sadly, gazing around at the dark and cramped room they were in. “Doesn’t matter, this should be the last time you have to see this place, nothing more than a meeting place.”

“Yeah… What’s one more night, right?”

“Wait, what?” Kylo asks, his head snapping to face her. “What do you mean ‘one more night?’ We’re leaving now, aren’t we?”

“Um, I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the last fifteen hours flying to get here, on top of busting my ass for the past few days making sure I was even ready for this trip of ours, and I’m exhausted. I’m not risking the Falcon flying tired like that.”

“We’re not talking that ship,” Kylo told her with a tone of finality.

“What?! Why not? What is it with you and this damn grudge with this ship?”

“It’s not about a…grudge.” Kylo practically spat the last word, not helping his argument in the slightest. “That ship is a very well-known ship. Do you think it’s a good idea to show up at a First Order inhabited planet in a ship that’s associated with both a Hero Rebel and the Resistance? We’d be shot down before I could even identify myself. Not the best plan for ‘sneaking in’.”

“Alright,” Rey said miserably, unable to counter his points. “But I still need sleep, and unless you’re ready to admit you’re actually a droid, you need sleep too.”

“I’ll be fine.” Kylo waved her off, already heading toward the exit of the AT-AT. “If you’re so insistent on needing rest, I’m sure you’ll find my co-pilot's seats are comfortable enough to sleep in.”

“Sure, I’ll do that- If you answer two questions for me.”

“What?”

“When did you last sleep, and was it more than two hours?”

The long stretch of silence she gets in response is all the answer she needs.

“If you want to risk your life piloting a complex space-faring ship with barely any sleep, you go ahead, but I’m not gonna fly with you in that state. Besides, you really think I’d feel comfortable sleeping while you were flying? You could fly me anywhere while I’m out and I’d have no idea until we were there.”

“Fine,” Kylo growled in defeat, reminded once again of her unbeatable stubbornness. Kylo stepped away from the exit with an agitated huff, glancing around dejectedly at the cramped room once more before his eyes settle at her feet.

“You…Wouldn’t happen to have a spare blanket, would you?” Kylo asks in the most defeated tone she’s ever heard from him, raising an eyebrow at the fact he was struggling to meet her gaze.

Roughly ten minutes later, Rey finds herself settled down on her old cot with a scratchy thin blanket draped over her, peering into the darkness of her AT-AT in disbelief at the fact that Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, is currently laying on the floor, pressed up against the wall with an even older, more tattered blanket than her own, that of which barely covered him.

In the small sliver of moonlight that peeks in through the cracks of the AT-AT, Kylo catches sight of some glinting scuff marks reflecting back at him. Peering closer, he realizes that these marks are in fact tally marks, scratched into the wall roughly over time, spreading up and up the wall he is laid next to.

“Rey?” Kylo whispers into the silence of the night, not worrying about waking Rey, seeing as he could see her eyes reflecting at him in the darkness. “What are these marks for?”

“The tally?” Rey asks for confirmation, even though she knows it’s the only thing he can be referring to. “They count the number of days I was here.”

The room falls back into silence, this one much more unpleasant than the one before. After a few seconds more of this, Kylo dares to speak again.

“Rey… How long were you here for?”

“Roughly fourteen years, give or take,” Rey answers, her eyes scanning across the tally’s she meticulously added to every day.

“How…old are you, Rey?”

“Nineteen, I think. Probably closer to twenty now. I don’t know my actual birthday.”

“You were left here by yourself when you were only… what, five? Six?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Rey rolled over onto her back, staring up at the cracked, peeling metal of her ceiling. “Kinda weird how long we’ve known each other and never knew our ages.”

Kylo hummed in agreement, lifting a hand to softly run his fingers across the jagged tally marks in the wall.

“That was my attempt at asking you for your age, if you didn’t sense that.”

“Oh.” Kylo blurts as the realization hits him. “About twenty-nine, closer to thirty.”

“Huh. Ten years older… You look younger than that.”

“I assume that’s a compliment?”

“Depends what look you’re going for, I suppose,” Rey responds, shrugging her shoulders even though Kylo couldn’t see. “I’m just saying if I had to guess your age, I wouldn’t have said thirty.”

“Never really put too much thought into what I look like, but thank you anyway.”

Enough time had passed without a word between them that Rey made the assumption that Kylo had finally fallen asleep. Craning her head to the side, her thoughts are all but confirmed when, with what little light the moon gives, she’s able to catch sight of him laid ram-rod straight on his back, eyes closed and breaths deep and steady. He looked very…Peaceful, even younger than he usually looks, the calm state bringing out the boyish features of his face. She was quite surprised that he asked to sleep here really, considering he had his own ship to sleep in. Well, saying that, she assumed it didn’t have a cot for him to sleep in, considering he didn’t mention one when he offered a place for her to sleep on board, but still, a seat would be better than the floor of an AT-AT in the middle of a desert, right?

“Are you going to stare at me all night, or are you going to sleep like you insisted you needed to?”

Rey felt her cheeks burn hot in the cold night's air, shamed to have been caught watching him sleep. How the Force could he tell with his eyes closed?

“Sorry, it's just… Weird, for me.” Rey apologizes as his eyes flutter back open, staring up at the ceiling while his vision adjusted before looking over to her. “I’m used to sleeping alone.”

“I can find somewhere else if you’re that uncomfortable.” Kylo offered.

“No, no it's fine.” Rey insisted quickly, shaking her head. “It’s… It’s kind of nice, actually. Weird, sure, but… It’s nice to have company.”

“Even when it’s me?” Kylo asked light-heartedly with just a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“Even when it’s you.”

Evidently, this was not the answer Kylo was expecting. Any retort he had ready on his tongue for the snarky comment he was expecting died off, swallowing deeply as he let her words sink in.

“It’s not really something I’m used to, either,” Kylo admitted to her. “It’s been… A good long while since I’ve trusted someone else to sleep in the same room as myself.”

“When was the last time?” Rey pushed further, an unexpected warmth blooming in her chest at the implication that he trusted her, at least enough to sleep near her.

“When I was a young boy with my mother, most likely,” Kylo replied. “Leia…My mom, she wasn’t around that much, neither was Han. When he deemed I was old enough to be left on my own, he was back to his old ‘job’, if you can call it that. Mom was busy most of the time- we moved around a lot. It was during that time the nightmares started, and shortly after that, I started hearing voices. They terrified me. Mom, she’d… When she was there, she would race into my room as soon as she heard me start to stress. She’d try her best to comfort me, and it partly worked, I suppose, but… They never went away.”

Rey was listening intently, taken aback by how much he was speaking of his past to her, and how much he was opening up. Even though she could tell he was holding some parts of himself back as he spoke, it was more than she expected from him.

“I think they started to get to Leia-my mom-after a while too. One night, when Han decided he’d come back and visit us, I overheard them arguing. He said that I was getting too old for all of this and that she shouldn’t be ‘coddling’ me over it. Mom insisted it was more than just nightmares, but Han didn’t want to hear about it. Han didn’t want to accept the fact that I was Force Sensitive, and he seemed to think the best way to go about it was to ignore it, pretend like it isn’t happening. The argument they had when Mom suggested sending me to Luke… That one was impossible not to overhear. But, eventually, even Han had to accept who I was. The voices were getting stronger, I was getting… More agitated. Restless. They sent me away, and, well, you know the rest.”

“They were just trying to do what’s best for you.” Rey offered meekly. “Ignoring it probably wasn’t a great idea… But sending you to Master Skywalker was.”

“You know they never actually asked me if I wanted to go?” Kylo retorted dryly. “What I wanted was never part of the equation. I got too much for them, so they shipped me off to my Uncle, hoping he could fix the problem.”

“You needed to learn; About the Force, about how to control it- “

“How to restrict it. How to repress my emotions. Skywalker wanted to sway me from the Dark, but his biggest mistake was pushing me away from it. It only made me more curious, made me start listening to the voices in my head- that they might be right.”

“Your parents just wanted to keep you safe, Ben.”

“Thirteen years, Rey. Thirteen years I studied under my Uncle, and do you think I got to see them in that time? Of course not. A Jedi isn’t supposed to have connections, not supposed to have emotional attachments. They sent me away when I was ten, and they knew full well what they were doing. Maybe I had some good memories of them once, but that was washed away under all I had to learn. Any I have of my Uncle, well- Strangely enough, the memory of him holding his lightsaber over my head while I slept tends to override them.”

“He regrets that, you know.”

“He confessed to it?”

“Only after I confronted him about it. ‘A moment of weakness’, he called it. A fleeting moment where he feared the dark within you, but that was it all it took. You know, he- He sensed it in me too.”

This got Kylo’s attention, the sounds of his blanket rustling filling the room as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.

“He was very reluctant to teach me. I didn’t know why at first- Of course now I know he was afraid to teach after what happened to you. When he finally gave in, and I reached out for the first time, I…”

“You went to the dark.” Kylo finished for her.

“I didn’t realize I was doing it.” Rey is quick to defend herself. “I didn’t know what anything was, I just felt it calling to me and I went to it. I got pulled out from it and… Master Skywalker was terrified. Of me. He…He…”

“He what?” Kylo inquired. “He- He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Wha- No! No, of course not.” Rey answered quickly, horrified that Kylo thought Luke would ever do such a thing. He seemed to sense the truth in her words, for Kylo’s anger promptly simmered away. “He ran away. He said that the power he felt from me was something he had only ever felt once before which was, well… You.”

“I assume he stopped teaching you after that?”

“No,” Rey replied with a shake of her head. “We had agreed to three lessons, but I only got one more after that.”

“What happened to the third?”

“He saw you and me in the hut- after you told me what he tried to do. I confronted him after that, and when he told me what he tried to, I left. I fled to find you.”

“And these…Lessons… Were they of any use?”

“They weren’t what I was expecting,” Rey confesses. “Master Skywalker, he… I think he lost hope after what happened.”

“Lost hope in what?”

“The Jedi Order. The first lesson was about how just because we have this connection to the light, it doesn’t make us Jedi - that the Force is simply too immense to belong to any religion.”

“It works both ways, you know,” Kylo tells her. “You can tap into the powers of the Dark too without being a Sith. Yes, my abilities in the Force may be focused towards the Dark, but that’s by my choice. I surround myself with the Dark, but I am no Sith. I was not taught in the way of the Sith Religion. You may surround yourself with the Light, or try anyway, but that doesn’t make you a Jedi.”

“Then…Then what are we?”

“Force Users. If you want to keep it simple, anyway. Never thought I’d see the day I agree with one of my Uncles lessons…” Kylo muttered the last part mostly to himself as he slid back down onto his back.

“In that case, I’m sure you would have loved his second lesson,” Rey told him with a huff. “Master Skywalker believed the Legacy of the Jedi is only of failure. That for every good thing the Jedi did, it was overshadowed by them allowing the Dark to overtake the Galaxy- That the Jedi has only done more harm that it had done to help the Galaxy and its people. Luke didn’t want to teach me the ways of the Jedi, because he didn’t want to have to pass that fate onto me. He thought it would be best to let the Jedi die with him.”

“Doesn’t sound like him in the slightest,” Kylo mumbled, furrowing his brow up at the dark ceiling above him as he thought. “He seemed to change his mind in the end. Seems you gave him his hope back, Rey. He believes the Jedi will live on with you.”

“And what about you?” Rey asked him. “Do you think that as well?”

“That’s not for me to say,” Kylo replied honestly. “Do I think it’s the right path for you to go down? No, not in the slightest, but I can’t tell you what to do. I can only guide you where I can. It’s up to you to decide what you do with your powers, Rey. You, and only you.”

“You say that like it should be an easy decision.”

“It’s not. Not in the slightest. Why do you think it took me until I was twenty-four to finally pick a side?”

Rey mulled over his words for a moment in the pause of conversation. There was something…Something about his words that sparked something within her, something she felt like she needed to talk to him about. Yet, telling him about it also seemed wrong. Like she was betraying someone, betraying herself if she even thought about it for too long, let alone say it out loud, and to him of all people. Except, in this moment of odd peace between the two of them, laying close to one another in the dark of the night, she finds the words slipping from her mouth without her permission.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course. It’s what I’m here for, after all.”

“I… I’m not really asking for guidance with this, I suppose. It’s… I don’t know. Something I need to tell you.”

Kylo sat back up from his makeshift bed on the floor, sensing the worry in her tone. It felt like his body had automatically responded the second he could feel her distress, a part of him he tried to keep buried down subconsciously trying to push him closer to her, filling him with this unusual, overwhelming instinct to help, to comfort in whatever way he can.

It was… an uncomfortable feeling to have returned to him.

“Well… If you feel like you need to say it, you can say it.”

“The truth is… I don’t know what’s right anymore. Before, it all seemed so simple; The Light was good, and the Dark was bad. But… Then I met you, I got to know you better and everything became so confusing. I…I can feel it within me, this pull to the Dark, and I know I shouldn’t be feeling it, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was there. And it… It feels like there’s something wrong with me. I know that people want me to focus only on the Light, to carry on the Jedi religion but… I’m scared. Scared that I’m not good enough, that this calling to the Dark, it’s- It's tainted me. It feels like-“

“Like it's tearing you apart,” Kylo finished her sentence before she could. “An equal pull to both sides. People are telling you that you belong to one side, but you can feel it's not as simple as that. We’re one the same, Rey. Same coin, just the other side. Sometimes it feels like you’re physically being pulled around, each side tugging you to the other. Some will say you belong to the Light, others will say you belong to the Dark. All my life, I tried so hard to do what others told me. I tried to push myself into being content with the Light, with my parents, with my Uncle. Then, when Snoke revealed himself to me, when he started telling me things others wouldn’t… I finally gave in, I turned to the Dark. I thought that would be the end of it, and then-“

Kylo cut himself off with a frustrated grunt, shaking his head as if he could physically push his thoughts out of his head.

“Then I could feel the Light calling me back. I did everything Snoke told me to, I was sure that as long as I followed him, obeyed his orders, he would fix me. I killed my own father in my search to settle myself, and it… It didn’t work. But… But then there was you,”

Rey’s body tensed up at the mention of herself, her mind already racing over what part she had to play in this.

“The scavenger girl from Jakku with a droid that held the map to Skywalker. I thought you wouldn’t be anything special. Just something between me and finally cutting the last tie to my past.  And now- here we are- Rey from Jakku; Back where your story started, me here with you, telling you all of this. Should I be? No. If the First Order heard of this, I would be killed for treason -even as the Supreme Leader,”

That was… Something Rey had never thought of. It was obvious really, of course, The First Order couldn’t know that he was helping her. As far as they’re aware, she is the last remaining hope of the Jedi Order, for the religion to continue. At this point, she could very well be their priority target, even over the Resistance. So, if Kylo, their leader, was caught helping her? Kylo may be powerful, she’s seen first-hand of that, but against the entire First Order? By himself? She couldn’t imagine the outcome would be good for him.

“I shouldn’t be here, but I am, and I’m telling you- You are not alone in this. I feel the call to the Light, just as you feel the call to the Dark. Both of us are trying our hardest to resist it, sticking to what we think is the side we should be. I’ve come to terms with who I am, Rey. I’m not letting others tell me who I should be anymore. You have people telling you who should you be too, but here’s the important question, Rey; Who do you think you should be? Where do you belong?”

“I… I don’t feel like I belong to either. I mean- Less than a year ago I didn’t think the Force even existed. I feel so out of place in all of this, and I… I don’t know. I don’t know, Ben.”

“You will,” Kylo assures her, his tone one of certainty. “Maybe not today, but one day- One day, you’ll know.”

Even though he wouldn’t admit it, Kylo could feel his body beginning to succumb to its exhaustion. He slid back down until he was lying down on his back, letting his eyelids flutter shut and sink into the comfortable darkness that enveloped him, despite the itchiness of the sand under his back from the few irritating grains that had been swept inside.

“Until that day comes, I’ll do what I can to help you.”

This time, Rey made sure enough time had passed since he last spoke, confident that this time he had finally given in to sleep before she spoke to him once more.

“That’s what scares me the most,” Her voice was barely a whisper, so quiet that she could scarcely hear herself. “Because every second I spend with you, I feel myself being pulled closer. To you, and to the Dark. And I’m terrified that one day, I won’t be able to stop myself from giving in.”

Link To Chapter 5

[dearkaelsman]

Because I’m currently unemployed and my province is in recession wooo

GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER.

Can be used for RP and non-RP blogs to get to know a bit about the person behind the screen!

1. FIRST NAME: Ashli

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: I can say the alphabet faster backwards than forwards. I am also a proud BlackBerry user in 2020.

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: Eyes and smile are the first things I notice. After that I feel like it’s different things I find attractive on a person or reflective on personality.

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: Hungarian-style cabbage rolls. Beef belongs in them, not pork.

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: Meat pies of any sort (they’re too rich for my palette to handle and literally make me feel sick).

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: I don’t believe in feeling guilty about things I enjoy if they’re not hurting anyone. 

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: In the winter I go full-on fleece PJ’s because I’m Albertan and it gets down to -40*C here. In the summer, a t-shirt or tank top and Lululemon pants/shorts.

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: Serious relationships because I lack self esteem.

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: Generally speaking I believe everything happens for a reason, however, as a recently unemployed journalist, I do wish I had paid more attention to job openings while working at my last newspaper that was shut down in January. I genuinely loved what I was doing, where I was working ( the pay was practically minimum wage but it was a job), so I didn’t pay attention to them before, and now I’m literally living in one of the worst areas of my country to find a job, and unable to afford moving to where there’s work.

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: If I’m comfortable with the person, yes.

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: The Star Wars prequels.

12. FAVOURITE BOOK: I read a lot so it’s impossible for me to narrow down to one book. The Harry Potter series (specifically Prisoner of Azkaban) will probably be amongst my favourites, especially given it was the first book series that made me love reading. Beastly by Alex Flinn is one of my go-to rereads when I’m looking for something romantic because I really enjoy the way the book is written, and as a girl that often ends up RPing guys, it’s nice to have that “male” type perspective on a romantic relationship. The Immortals Series by Tamora Pierce is also a long-standing favourite. 

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: Cats. I could so easily by a “crazy cat lady,” but I just have two at the moment.

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: Dearka x Miriallia (Gundam SEED, obvs.), Anakin x Padme (Star Wars), Trunks x Pan (DBZ), Mitsuhide x Kiki (Snow White with the Red Hair), Sakura x Syaoran (Cardcaptors)

15. PIE OR CAKE: Cake. I’m super picky with pie.

16. FAVOURITE SCENT: The smell in the air after it’s rained in the summer, OR what my sister and I like to call “warm sunny kitty,” which is how the kitties smell after they’ve been sleeping in a sunbeam all afternoon.

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: I don’t really crush on celebrities as much as I’ll find a character attractive in a show or movie that I’m watching. I recently binged “Spinning Out” on Netflix which unfortunately got cancelled after the first season, and I really liked Justin Davis, played by Evan Roderick, so I guess he might count as my current celeb crush?

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: Right now  I’m very much in Star Wars obsession mode so I’d like to go to Disney World to check out Galaxy’s Edge. Eventually I want to see the life-size Gundam in Japan and visit Cat Island, and visit Greece and Italy.

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: 100 per cent an introvert.

20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: Probably.

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: Android. Apples rot.

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: Yeah, I’m slowly catching up on games while I’m unemployed. Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is a recent favourite, but I’m super excited about the remaster of FFVII coming out.

23. DREAM JOB:  I don’t like limiting myself which is why I like being a journalist/photojournalist where I get to experience and do a number of different things. That said, if I could do nothing but shoot events for a newspaper - and sadly newspapers don’t employ straight photographers anymore - that would be ideal. Potentially I wouldn’t mind delving into the political realm with behind the scenes stuff, or combine my love for nerdy things with writing/photography and somehow get paid for it. And paid more than just above minimum wage LOL.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: Buy my dream camera, the Canon ID X, repair the gear I have that needs to go in. I’d look into opening up a viable independent local newspaper for central Alberta that isn’t tied down to a corporate, American-based chain or operating as a political propaganda machine, and once I have some job security, move into a place of my own.

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: Athrun Zala. He’s very much a self-righteous character that believes he’s the only one that really knows what’s going on, and the only one who NEEDS to know what’s going on. Much of the friction he created within the Le Creuset Team was as a result of him not letting his teammates know that Kira was a friend and Coordinator piloting the Strike. I believe they would’ve approached battles differently if they had known, and it would’ve eliminated the doubts of Athrun’s leadership when they were searching for the Archangel on Orb, and honestly may have saved Nicol’s life in the end. If he wasn’t so self-righteous, he also wouldn’t have played into Durandal’s hand in Destiny, trust Kira and even Lacus to be on the right side of things, and perhaps even prevented that whole Cagalli-Yuuna situation. He might even actually let one of the many women fawning over him (he honestly doesn’t seem interested in ANY OF THEM, Cagalli included), and let Dearka and Yzak know what was going on in Destiny when they were left in the dark about Durandal’s master plan, and what role the Archangel and Athrun were playing in the war.

I guess what bothers me, too - and it could just be the Dearka in me talking - but he gets preferential treatment a lot. As far as I know, the story is Dearka was demoted for his defection from ZAFT, while Athrun, who defected AFTER Dearka and didn’t even have the balls to return right after the war returned in Destiny and was given back his red coat and a FAITH badge as if he’d never done anything wrong in ZAFT’s eyes....only to pull the same shit again.

Honestly, the man has no direction in life, and is somehow lauded as a hero and exempted from any sort of repercussions of his actions.

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: Voltron. Miriallia-mun and I were both into Voltron when it came out and even cosplayed Hunk and Keith together and it was the best. But as it goes with many fandoms, the show got hijacked by brutal shipping wars where one couldn’t just enjoy the show. The fandom then became really toxic, calling for the creators to be assaulted or worse at conventions, or insinuating they were homophobic because they didn’t make their slash pairing canon. I couldn’t have cared less about ships in the show, and the final season showed some catering to toxic fan pressure and had some poor plot points which honestly left me uninterested in watching the show after the final season.

tagged by: Stole it from @aegis-destiny

tagging : Anyone who wants to.

[internetremix]

In IR lore, what are the personalities of your personas? Basic likes and dislikes?

Kristen: Goggles is An Child and behaves as such. She's very cheerful, very curious, a bit mischievous and also 100% obsessed with making fanwork of her internet family... like a goddamn weirdo. She'll usually be hanging out with everyone, spot some sort of inspiration, squeak with joy and then rush off to write or draw. She's also the defacto leader of the Smol Squad, which is composed of herself, Shyner, Jojo and Chi-chi, and she's usually the one squeaking out ridiculous plans in muppet for dumb shit like stealing cookies and trying to trap people in fanfiction scenarios. She likes to help and can often be found doing such things as assisting Xander in his many schemes or just popping up to provide shit like charts or hold things for other people- basically whenever it would be funny to have some goddamn muppet backing something up.

She loves plush toys, particularly Crockernanner, and also loves sugar, star decorations, and cuddles. She likes being picked up and loves attention, and she's pretty consistently attached to at least one person, often her big brother Split if she's not with the Smol Squad. She is in eternal war with Phill since he bullies her constantly, and will occasionally try to set up elaborate traps for revenge only to fail miserably. Also she's a huge weeb. She does not like to sleep and will often go days without it before being dragged off by some bigger person to take a goddamn nap you ridiculous child.  She is also very afraid of thunderstorms, she doesn't like loud noises or the dark.

She also has... various flaws and problems. But those are spoilers and I have no idea when/if we’ll be doing story stuff with IRsonas so I don’t want to give too much away with that.

Sorry this is very long, I think about my child a lot.

Jojo: JoJo is also a very happy child... like, stupid happy all the time. Like, they don't really have a concept of being angry. they're either manic happy or a bit sad. They love to find any way to make anybody smile or laugh, whether it be a somber happy, or a crying fit of laughter. They thrive off of happiness. They're a bit mischievous as well, and will try to play pranks and swipe things to chew on. They'll just appear in random places you'd never expect. like, in the pantry, the vent, or in your drawer. They chew things all the time to keep their dragon teeth sharp! They do tend to come off as obnoxious and kind of useless sometimes? But that's ok.

They love happiness, rocks, swimming, sandwiches, Vanilla coke, coffee, pianos, stars, ghost stuff(horror genre), and laughter. JoJo is pretty similar to Goggles now that I think about it x_xJoJo is best friends with Phill, and will always be on him in some way. Like his leg, back, holding onto his scarf by their teeth, etc. They're also very close with Goggles and Shyner, and Scott (even though Shyner tries to chase JoJo off with knives, JoJo will take it as a game of tag or something)JoJo doesn't like being yelled at or being told to go away. They get spooked easily by loud noises. They always get paranoid when they think someone is mad at them and will go to ungodly lengths to make them not mad or slightly annoyed with them, which sometimes makes people more annoyed with them than they were before.

JoJo is just an exaggerated version of me XD

Atwas: Atwas is fairly easy going. They make light of things often, and often hide serious sentiments behind jokes. They’re the type to roll with goofy and silly situations, and are very “yes and” type that enjoys escalating things in the name of light-hearted fun. They enjoy playing pranks, especially ones that take advantage of their hologrammatic nature (being able to enter and ‘possess’ electronics is something that they take advantage of often). Being technically in the cloud and a part of the internet at all times, they will often chime in with fun (often unrelated or humorous) metrics about situations and people as they occur—and often forgets that having a HUD isn’t something everyone has access to.

Being ‘technically’ invulnerable, atwas isn’t phased by the more dangerous things that go on in the IR tower, but usually prefers being a spectator or commentator as opposed to being an active participant in general shenaniganry. They don’t have any particular animosity towards anyone, and will occasionally help manage technical parts and functions of the tower.

They enjoy things like tech, cold weather, tea, fun statistics, darkness; and aesthetics like Film Noir and Retrowave.

They dislike things like excessively hot weather, being interrupted, getting too personal, having to put in a lot of “effort”, and being out of the loop.

Shyner: Shyner can easily be summed up to a tsundere in denial, and is the definition of an agent of chaos. If something goes wrong, she’s the one pouring a trail of kerosene to let the fire spread. She's loud, impulsive, and really doesn't give two shits. While quirky and charismatic, she’s also sarcastic and witty, reveling in the amusement of making fun of others. She’s often stubborn and impatient, thinking highly of her own beliefs and angered by those who dare to challenge her ideals. She also lacks a filter, and enjoys garnishing her words with colorful profanities. Filled with gripes of past trauma, she’s engaged in a constant internal war of turmoil and grief. She’s incredibly cautious and closed off around those she doesn’t trust, and can be very selfish.  Despite this, she’s loyal to the few people she cares about, going out of her way to put them first if a dire situation were to arise. She’s also very sneaky and mischievous, often finding amusement in spying on others. Her MBTI is INTP-T.

Her hobbies include stargazing, ghost hunting, spying, and Satanic worship. She enjoys melancholy vibes, horror movies, animals, thunderstorms, and has an unhealthy obsession with sweets. Yes, this child will stab you without hesitancy if you take her cookies. She dislikes seafood, big crowds, kiddie leashes, and is afraid of experiencing intense emotion she doesn’t understand.I love my satanic smol bean very much. If I may be so bold as to dive into the nitty-gritty psychology, Shyner possesses many flaws, a lot of which I personally struggled with growing up. She is a reflection of my past self, some gripes with my current self, and the perception of how I could have turned out if I hadn’t met my family at IR. Hiding behind the exterior of being a merciless bully, she still has an intense internal desire to be a good person, but gets frustrated and often derails herself in the process of fighting her desire to act on impulse. She keeps most relationships with people at arm's length, fearing that if someone were to think highly of her, it would only be a matter of time before they’re disappointed. If we were to go full-fledged story mode, she would most definitely have an intense character redemption arc, making the revelation that being shitty to those who care about her isn’t the way to run from her problems and hide away from her own sense of self-insecurity/hatred.

Phill: Phill likes mischief, bad jokes, sexual undertones, Jojo, sexual overtones, bullying Kristen, and the colour pink. That's it xD

Jojo: :D yay

Alex: Alex don't give a shit but is for whatever reason the bossman and is also as powerful as silver age Superman, just don't try actual murder of the crew and he won't yeet you into the sun

Moon: 2019 Moon is an idiot. If we didn't know any better, we would assume he was born from nothing but an old head of lettuce in Satan's refrigerator. Think like Scott from Monster Prom, but different. He knows his right from his left, but the compass is still just "NESW" to him. Impulsive, lovable, and kinda loud, this muscley dumbass will do practically anything you tell him to if he finds it enjoyable. When paired with a few people, he works well as a second to many dynamic duos. Brodingles and Moon/Split and Moon are two really good ones, dangerous shenanigans ensue. Can and will rap like a beast, any challenge to a freestyle will result in a career ending and a death being sentenced. Extroverted people pleaser, definitely shooting high to perform and when adapting to a character, goes a little too hard. This man played Gander in Charlottes Web and didn't stop making goose sounds for months. Did I mention he's also a disney princess? Singing, animals, mortal enemy falling to their death? Everything

Dawn: ToonWolf/Dawn's personality falls within the confines of recklessly adventurous who doesn't think things through entirely. They like to try and rope others into going on various hikes, treasure hunts, mythic/cryptid searches, etc. Unapologetic sailor mouth. They will fight for friends and family. Various animals, trinkets, treasures, and cool but useless garbage are brought back to the tower often (oops theres a liiiiiiitle bit of hoarding). Sometimes those animals consist of dogs, cats, lizards, bears, wolves, The Great Noble One, horses, lions, elk, you get the idea (Can I keep them?Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaseeeeee??????????).

Overall they are most comfortable and relaxed in/around water and likes a whole lotta things including sailing, swimming, adventure, stargazing, animals, mythology/legends, friends, family, and drawing.

They dislike waking up early, limitations, being talked down to, boredom, desert/hot/humid/dry weather, coffee, and the movie "Cube"

Tex: Tex is an avid cryptid detective + has a surprisingly good intuition when creating conspiracy theories about them to follow. Mm lots of memes and disguises. Smart, but usually just off on their own thinking about other stuff.Totally has a wall in their room dedicated to figuring all the cryptids out with like, red string and everything.

[lateviews]

Lateview: Absolver

If you've heard the expression, “Biting off more than you can chew”, then you'll understand how I feel about Absolver. Fans of third-person fighter games like “Dark Souls”, “Devil May Cry” and “God of War” know that these types of games require high levels of love and polish to do well. Despite the starved market, there’s a lot of room for mediocrity. Surprisingly, Absolver doesn't pull any punches and goes toe to toe with the best... until it runs out of steam.

Absolver is a third-person fighter game trying to set itself apart from the crowd using two unique mechanics: stances and the combo builder. The “build your own combo” system has been done before, most notably in “Remember Me” and “God Hand” but the way they combine it with the stances really sets it apart. Each move has a speed and damage rating as well as some of the moves having unique properties like breaking guard and interrupting attacks. There are 4 combat stances, visually corresponding to the direction your torso is facing. Changing stances will result in you turning your torso to face to the left or the right of your opponent while others will leave you with your back facing towards the enemy! Each stance can be assigned an escalating number of light attacks and a heavier “alternate attack”. Most attacks transition you from one stance to another; then, since you’re in another stance, you can immediately use that stances attacks. If you build your combos correctly, you can create loops where one attack will lead into one stance before an attack in that stance returns you to the same stance you started in. The end-result is a custom-built train of attacks that you've personally engineered to confuse opponents as you flow from stance to stance. Since you’re changes stances so often, your alternate attack changes over time. Predicting what move your opponent is currently planning on doing is daunting since there is so much they can do. Oh, and did I tell you that you can pull out a sword or gloves and doing so swaps you over to a brand new page of attacks that you need to customise and memorize?

The game has RPG elements to it as well. Gear will drop from mobs as you down them and you'll also find stashes of gear hidden within piles of rocks. Most interestingly though is how you acquire new attacks. You start the game with a reasonable number of attacks but soon you’ll run into people using 'new' attacks against you and if you block that attack, you'll start learning the move. Use your right thumb-stick ability against it and you'll learn it even faster. Story wise, this is a cool concept. Get punched in a particular way a certain number of times and you should be able to know how your opponent punches like that. Unfortunately, in practice, this just results in you actively not killing your opponents. You end up standing around as they are wailing on you while try to block/dodge/parry all their moves; grinding out all the moves before you move along. There is a risk/reward system at play here wherein all the learning you've done during a fight won't be saved until you kill the opponent and exit combat, but there is a lot of moves to learn from random grunts in the world and these don’t really pose a threat once you’ve got a handle on the game. This system gets even worse when you're trying to discover sword specific moves because swords are rare, and by the time you find someone wielding one, they are normally a very strong opponent and you can't afford to grind out these moves because you won’t survive unless you actively damage them.

That's pretty much the entire game. Fight, learn moves, earn gear, equip said moves and gear, repeat. Thankfully that's not as bad as it sounds because hey, it's a fighting game. You came here to fight. So why am I so disappointed in it? Well before I get to the big one, let me just rattle off a few smaller impressions the game left on me: ●       Falling off ledges is far too easy. Admittedly this is a designed mechanic; forcing someone up to a ledge and just pushing them off with attacks is a legitimate way to win a fight but it still felt like it was far too easy to just slip off. Even with nobody attacking you as you’re navigating the environment, one foot off the path might mean falling and most of the time falling is death, because when it's not instant, the insane fall damage will ensure you lose the fight that you just dropped into.

●       The environment is not easy to find your way around. The “map” you're given is essentially 3 circles, and you don't know where you are unless you sit at a bonfire an energy shard thingy or kill a boss as these are the only 2 markers on the map. Many times, vital paths that you NEED to go down are not highlighted or made evident in any way and are sometimes, out-rightly obscured. As a result of this, I completely missed an entire area of the game for a long period of time simply because I couldn’t find the path AND I thought I had already entered that area of the map… There's a time and a place to do-away with the hand holding evident in modern game design but this is too far the other way.

●       Maybe why the environment is so convoluted is to try to hammer in this sense of mystery that the game is so stubbornly trying to instil. The game makes a point of telling you NOTHING about where you are, who you are, what you're doing or why. Thankfully it does tell you what to do (fight people and open a door). It just comes across as entitled. There IS an interesting world here but by the end of the game, nothing is explained at all. Who am I? Why did I teleport when I put on this mask? Why do I need to kill these people? Did I travel through time? Who is this chick with a sword? Who were the people who were here before? The game makes a point in referring to the tesseract-looking particle effect that happens as you kill others, get killed yourself or even unsheathing your sword as “folding” which seems really cool! To sum up my feelings on the aesthetics and lore of the game, I have two words. Obnoxiously Mysterious

Finally, the big one. The game ends. It just ends. No big finish, no special reveal, no closure. Nothing. If you remember before, I mentioned the map being 3 circles? That's it. That's the whole game. I have FOUR HOURS in Absolver, and it's finished. The entire story-mode. That's a third of the I spent in DMC and less than a 10th of the time I spent in Sekiro. Now sure, those are AAA titles with massive budgets behind them, but I cannot help but feel starved of content, especially since the story does not wrap itself up. The game starts with you and a bunch of other initiates standing in an arctic wind before you are chosen, you don a mask and teleport to another world. You then traverse through 12 named areas (3 of which contain nothing) fighting 11 different bosses. There are probably below 50 enemies to fight in the entire game. And then you're done. After fighting the somehow important Risryn, you're teleported back to the place you started with, you graduate from being a “prospect” to become an “Absolver”, you get a neat cape and you get told, “Idk, wait around and grind a bit I guess?” before it teleports you back to the “hub”. To put this in perspective, if the game had 3 times as much content as it currently does, I would still probably call the game short. I have no idea why (besides development problems) the game ended when it felt like Act 2 should have begun.

The game tries to justify this by placing a big emphasis on PVP. There is a system to look up other players and have a tussle and the game is always online so you might find people in the world and decide to start smacking one another but if the game is dead (like it was when I got to it) then all the PVP is non-existent. That's not even mentioning the players who don't WANT to fight other people. As far as I can tell the “latest” addition to the game included the “downfall” mode. This mode (only available after you have graduated to be an absolver) is randomly generated rooms of goons to fight endlessly. The lore explanation for this area only adds questions to the already tall pile of unanswered ones. The game allows you to fight bosses again at a harder difficulty, but this is locked behind PVP progress…meaning that if you weren’t able to find a game like myself, then you just can’t

I hate having to be so negative. Other indie games cater themselves to a casual market and can have all the depth of a puddle and still receive high ratings but because the devs took on such a loved genre, all the depth they have added only makes people want more. I mean really, if my biggest complaint about the game is that I wanted more, there's got to be something good about it. In shooting for the stars, the devs came up short, but the time, skill and effort they put into trying to get there far exceeds a lot of other developers. I can say that the game was bug free and (until it ended) felt close to a AAA title and the sad thing is that it starts to get judged by those harsh standards. For a AAA title, this would be an insult; But for a fighting game? This is a worthwhile experiment; for an indie game? This is one heck of an accomplishment and for your time? This is worth it.

Overall, I'd look to pay $15 to $25 for Absolver, despite its $42 default price tag. It depends on how much you love the third person fighter genre; how much you enjoy PVP (and if you're lucky enough to be in a locale with players online) and how much you want to support the studio. If you can make a trio of yourselves, maybe you can get some mileage out of the co-op enabled Downfall mode, but I wouldn't want to pay much more for that.

[bbclesmis]

Salon: Watching PBS's "Les Misérables" as Notre Dame burned: A lesson in processing spectacular loss

The new version of Victor Hugo's tale has no familiar tunes to sweeten its tragedy. That feels very fitting now

By way of processing the shock of watching Notre Dame burn in Paris on Monday, I turned away from social media, where livestreams of the spreading flames were sadly plentiful, and turned on the latest adaptation of “Les Misérables,” currently airing on PBS’s “Masterpiece.”

This was mainly out of obligation, to be honest. The six-part series aired its first episode Sunday, the same night as the debut of a certain show starring zombies, dragons and queens. It is currently streaming online and via video on demand. Scheduling new installments of the “Masterpiece” epic as time-slot competition to the most popular show on the planet is pure folly; then again, something has to air at 9 p.m. Sundays. If you can’t serve up the flashiest show on television, might as well come in second.

Except this “Les Misérables” trades in substance, not dazzle. It has no music to it — literally. No renditions of the Broadway musical’s most familiar ditties such as “Master of the House,” no “On My Own.”

Andrew Davies’ adaption of Victor Hugo’s literary hulk (my softcover edition is 1,232 pages long) relies on the beholder to drink in the bitter imagery and soften her heart to the plight of characters who often cannot outrun their past failings regardless of what they do.

And although Hugo’s other great work, the 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” has a direct influence on the history of Notre Dame — Tuesday it soared the top of Amazon France’s n the bestseller list on Amazon France — the spirit of this new “Les Misérables” is better suited the age in which we collectively bore witness to a conflagration consuming one of the world’s great monuments.

On social media the chorus could not quite find true harmony in our collective mourning. People shared photos taken from recent visits and musings as to what Notre Dame means to them; others stonily called out the Catholic Church’s various sins over the centuries, citing everything from its participation in and funding of the brutality of colonialism to its protection of sexual abusers. Still others scoffed at what they saw as another example of manufactured grief showcases by way of Twitter.

The voices became a dueling chorus between the Fantines and Jean Valjeans of the world and the Javerts, to look at it another way. In that respect, the PBS version of “Les Misérables” needs no melodies to sell it, because the sorrow and the harsh lawful judgment demonstrated throughout the story, as well as the grace radiating through its performances — with Dominic West as Valjean, Lily Collins’ Fantine and David Oyelowo’s Javert — are its songs.

Presenting the story as an abridged version of Hugo’s writing forces the viewer to absorb the misery its characters endure without the sugar of melodic performance, without distracting spectacle that allows us, in a way, to emotionally split from the horror of what we're seeing.

And his makes it a diametric contrast to "Game of Thrones," a pure act of spectacle and escapism. HBO’s epic is pure fantasy, even though it too has a historical basis, borrowing aspects of the plot from England’s War of the Roses.

But by incorporating mythical elements and magical forces, the series’ fans can emotionally detach somewhat from the tale’s tragedy. In no way am I suggesting that certain Monday mornings in the upcoming weeks won’t be bluer than usual as the show’s fans come to grips with the death of a beloved character or three in the previous night’s episode. But we can also count on such demises being rendered in ways fitting to how the character lived. Each will be a spectacle among spectacles.

This is what struck me as I watched a place to which I’ve made several pilgrimages over the years be devoured by an element as careless, cruel and unreasonable as flame. I abandoned my Catholicism years ago for the reasons the vocal critics who showed up on Monday listed, as well as much more personal ones. And yet I have laid some of the most significant prayers of my life at the stone feet of Joan of Arc; I have knelt in prayer at her chapel inside the landmark in honor of my deceased loved ones and the troubled living I hold dear. To see the spire fall felt like a conduit to the divine being broken, even though I can’t remember the last time I went to church on Sunday.

But for a portion of witnesses, at least some of those voicing their opinions on the Internet, bearing witness to the public destruction of a world landmark prized in part because it is a work of spectacle on a grand scale became a struggle between the desire to feel and remember, and an insistence on emotional remove, a mode of thought that insists, as we watch this grand wonder crumble in faraway France, that this is not about us, whoever “us” may be,  and it's certainly not about you as an individual.

The second episode in the series, airing Sunday, shows the tale’s tritagonist Fantine at her lowest point: she’s cut off all of her hair and sold it, along with her front teeth, in exchange for a measly sum of money to send to the Thenardiers, a pair of cruel grifters with whom she’s left her daughter. She’s already been fired from the factory where she found work. Left with nothing else to offer, and no other place of employment willing to take her, she’s turned to selling herself off piece by piece: first, her most prominent assets, then her body.

The sight of Collins’ Fantine in this version of “Les Misérables” brings to mind the word most  appropriate to the novel’s title: at her lowest point, she looks wretched.

Unlike Anne Hathaway, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Fantine in the 2012 theatrical version, Collins’s Fantine wears the gaps in her dental work like a badge of shame. The darkness in her mouth yawns wide at the viewer as she grimaces through physically and emotionally torturous encounters, particularly at the pivotal moment that a certain gentleman crosses her path.

The man is carousing and laughing with the other ladies of the evening, all in much better shape that Collins’ tragic heroine. And when he encounters her, he treats her like a joke. Asking for her rate, she responds, softly, with the offer of however much he thinks she is worth.

“How about… nothing, then?” he counters, roaring along with his friends. Fantine is too weak to offer much of a defense, only a plea for mercy.

“I have to live, monsieur,” she softly says, adding. “Same as you.”

The “gentleman” laughs in her face. “Same as me? Cheeky cow.”

In the musical version of “Les Misérables” this exchange is preceded by Fantine’s climactic solo “I Dreamed a Dream,” the kind of song that transfixes the audience, making it impossible to look away.

This is the song that made Susan Boyle famous, in case you may have forgotten. Back then Boyle’s looks were as frequently discussed as her angelic voice, after she found fame by way of a 2009 episode of “Britain’s Got Talent.” Would she have achieved international stardom if she hadn’t chosen that particular song? It is an anthem of human tragedy, one of the most beautiful created in modern times. And it romanced Boyle, a woman in her late 40s who had never been kissed, never gotten a chance to take center stage, into an international symbol of triumph.

Point being, we’re all made to be the same creatures under the sky, but not on the same playing field unless someone wills it to be so.

Central to “Les Misérables,” which was first published in 1862, are the various trials of Valjean, actual and spiritual, some imposed on him by Javert, the law enforcement officer obsessed with bringing him to justice for a petty crime for which he was never caught and tried. West and Oyelowo are outstanding individually and in the few tense scenes they share, because they each grapple uniquely with the concept of righteousness. Oyelowo’s assured severity evokes the weight of the law and righteousness as defined by man, which serves as Javert’s north star.

West on the other hand digs into the agony of Valjean’s ongoing spiritual conflict, as he’s constantly torn between doing the right thing by man’s law and following the way of divine justice. His life is a perilous tightrope walk between these poles, particularly when it comes to making amends for his failings by raising and caring for Fantine’s orphan Cosette (Ellie Bamber).

And there’s a comfort in engaging with “Les Misérables” denuded of the songbook that made Hugo’s 19th century story popular again among the late 20th century’s masses, particularly as we come to terms with what’s been lost in the fires that nearly destroyed a place many thought would stand forever.

The spire of Notre Dame has been replaced before; it fell in 1786. It has survived eons of natural deterioration and assaults at the hands of men, notably during the ages of Napoleon and French Revolution, two eras surrounding the main action in “Les Misérables.”

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and Hugo’s tragic story of the cathedral’s bell-ringer Quasimodo and his unrequited love for a gypsy named Esmeralda so thoroughly seduced 19th century Parisians that they were moved to campaign for the crumbling church’s restoration, an effort that spanned decades,  continuing even up to the day of the fire. If American Francophiles revisit the tale via the page or the various films it inspired in the coming days, no one should be surprised.

But I also hope that as part of that reconnection to history, more people balance the all-encompassing passion for “Game of Thrones” by also taking time to appreciate Davies’ latest take on Hugo’s other tale. “Hunchback” is a story set in Notre Dame, but “Les Misérables” captures the soft clash of emotions resulting from our insistent lamentation over its loss. It is a story that captures the essence of humanity and redemption, appropriate accompaniment for a great work of humankind revived time and again over the centuries, out of an urgent need to redeem what is best in us. That has been the case throughout many centuries, and it holds true even today.

https://www.salon.com/2019/04/17/watching-pbss-stoic-les-miserables-as-notre-dame-burned-a-lesson-in-processing-spectacular-loss/