#i no longer have to block tags to dodge spoilers

[sege-h]

Thoughts on the State of Play reveal

Under a readmore just in case

1- I know I said I'd keep the Son*dow tag blocked for a bit after Prime ended but I think I'll keep it blocked till the end of the year now lmao

2- I know the rumor has been going around since yesterday but I took it with a grain of salt since it's. Yknow. A rumor. But even when I let myself think 'what if its real tho' this is SO FAR FROM WHAT I EXPECTED. A!!! I thought at most we'd get is a remaster that'd also make Shadow playable! As soon as I saw the new level I was like WAIT WHAT. WAIT WHAT!!?!? and it just kept going from there!!!

I'm so happy we'll be getting a HD biolizard fight! He'll no longer be contained to the 3DS! Also from what little we saw Shadow will get to have some dynamic posing in the boss fights, like Super Sonic did in Frontiers. Good! I loved those!

3- Ian Flynn has #KnowingSmile'd the announcement and I'm hoping this means he got to write for whatever new content there is.

And speaking of Frontiers! I'm hoping that this ends up being Shadow's 'Frontiers' moment. In that his writing and character get what Amy's, Tails', and Knuckles' did in Frontiers.

4-I had the stream off to the side in another tab since I wasn't interested in most of what was shown. And then I heard the first few notes of the Generations music and i immediately switched tabs and I just!!! Feel like I did in 2011 except my computer/internet is way better, and you tube is shittier!

5- I'm excited for this for such Me reasons. For those new here- I live in a country that had no Sonic stuff for...well, never, really. Not until about 2022. The second movie did what I'd hoped the first movie would do (but then the pandemic happened) and brought over Sonic stuff here. For the first time in my life I went to a toy store here and it had Sonic stuff. I got to buy physical Sonic comics for the first time. For the first time in my life I can go to a video game store and actually see Sonic games there. It's been wild

That being said, 2011 had Nothing. Sonic Generations came out. And I didn't want to pirate it because a friend of mine had worked on it. I was determined to find it. And I only saw it irl one time- for the Playstation. A console I've never had. It was pretty upsetting! I remember posting about it here even....I've been on tumblr too long SHDGSHDHS

Later I'd find that there was a 3DS version. I have that! So I looked for that version of it alongside the PC one

So, for almost a decade, I looked, to no avail. And for this whole time I refused to look at any playthroughs! Any knowledge I had on whats in the game came from the trailers we saw

And then in 2019 my best friend helped me buy the 3DS version. I had 9 dollars on my 3DS and whenever the game went on sale it'd be on for 10 dollars. So he gave me a dollar and helped me get it SHDGSHDH

So I finally experienced Generations! It was surprise after surprise in that one, because I knew it was different but I didn't know how. I didn't expect a Rush level in it, or for the Biolizard to be in there!

And then in late 2020 when I got my new computer and could finally get steam, another close friend got me Generations for the PC! I'd somehow managed to dodge spoilers on it all those years so all I knew about it was: Theres Green Hill, Chemical Plant, City Escape, and a Silver boss fight.

I got to play modern City Escape for myself- which is the level that inspired the current iteration of my main OC, Storm. It was a joy

All this rambling to say...it's wild to think that once this remaster comes out, I'll be able to get it day 1, at least I hope I will. Still-it won't take me almost a decade to get to it

And if there's a physical release? I'll be able to go to a store here- HERE, not in one of our neighboring countries, not from somewhere else, but in a store here. Right across the street. And I'll finally have a physical copy of Generations. That was my final goal with the game-- I love it, I have two versions of it! And the plan was always that even though I'd gotten to play them now, if I ever ran into a physical copy of the game, I'd buy it. And now I'll really get to do it

6- Bonus thought of me being silly: Wowow my OC was shown at the State of Play--

[rockingthegraveyard]

The internet is becoming treacherous the longer TotK has been out. I’ve been avoiding most story related quests, I’m savoring them and saving them for last. Also I just want all the armor I like complete and upgraded fully. So I’ve been trying to dodge plot related spoilers like I’m Neo. The longer it takes for me to get there, the more I have to avoid, I’m gonna end up having to block the tags if I want to save myself from spoilers 😅 

[rihlltalk]

also while I'm thinking about I figure I'll send out a quick update for anyone who cares (not quite a vent, more musing under the cut)

you might have noticed that I haven't been posting that much as of late aside from queued posts. most of that was because of me needing to focus on some irl matters for a while, and part of that was to both dodge spoilers and to adhere to the dawntrail spoiler embargo (which is now lifted by the way - as a reminder, block the tag #dawntrail spoilers if you don't want to see any spoilery content from me).

the irl shenanigans have improved somewhat, which I'm glad for. but I am also sorry to report that I think I've lost my creative drive in the meantime. I do want to write and I have a staggering backlog of wips on that front... but I can't bring myself to do it. I sit down to try and immediately I have all these thoughts about how cringe it feels to be writing something so self-indulgent; how it - to quote a post that's stuck with me since I first read it - feels "too sincere an admission"; how it would be received if I published it publically, if it would be received at all; and how no one cares, and subsequently how pointless of an endeavor it is to keep at it. I get so caught up on people ignoring my writing at best and being clowned on at worst, that I can't bring myself to put words to paper successfully, even if I don't intend to publish it at all and the work is just for me.

and it makes me sad because I've been writing for over a decade of my life now, and it genuinely used to bring me joy. I used to not have any problems indulging myself in writing things. I hate that I'm struggling with this now, but I really don't know how to return to a place where I can write carefreely. I'm sorry to report that the writing prompts in my inbox are gonna be there for a while longer, in the meantime.

but yeah. I dunno. otherwise I'm fine I guess. I just miss my hobby and I don't know how to get it back.

[fire-and-swan]

Today I watch the last two episodes. Dimension 20: A Starstruck Odyssey, episodes seventeen and eighteen. The final set. It all comes down to this.

(prev episode notes are here, here and here, btw)

Battle Stations!

Ponytail Barry is the good Barry.

Gold Tier Jib-Job makes Jib-Job fight! That is ridiculously useful.

"I need the surrender of X" "Oh, that's lovely, please hold."

All the U4F backup!

Amusing that the Bad Call is U4F

Enemies starting a slap fight, like "mine" "get off, they're mine!", which does make things a bit simpler.

Wait. What? When the heck did Barry Nyne get on board the Wurst? And why is he targeting Barry Syx, rather than seeking Skip?

So ridiculously cool that the group came up with a way to defeat a Slug. That they took the time and effort to work out what would beat Skip, and bought the stuff, for this exact moment.

Margaret has a minor war room. That is awesome.

Oh no. It was going so, so well. Except now, Barry isn't a slug, and the Princeps is. (Did Zortch use something like Dominate Person on Barry Nyne? Is that what happened?)

Yeah, this. This would've been so tense to watch live. There is so much going on. It was all going so well, and that last reveal? The pilot got attacked? Now we're really in trouble.

Anyway: Eighteen!

Skip: in trouble. Barry: safer than he was. Everyone else: honestly, doing fine.

Ooh, the decision of whether to do ship stuff, or people stuff is so key here.

There are so many people in this combat. I though the battles of Crown of Candy were bad for management. This, however. Comparable, at the very least.

Nyne thinks that he's Syx? What? This is wacky.

The Barry v Barry discussion is really really something. Both in all of Murph's incredible argument there, and in Brennan's Barry preformance. "In this roll, you have expertise. Because you are expert in nothing more than than being a Barry."

One tiny FTL jump. One round, no pilot, no prep. Oooooh. Oookay. That was stress. That was legit fear they might go down. I'm sure that being thrown into space wouldn't have killed them all, but still, that could have been disastrous. But that's dnd.

Loose Duke? LOOSE DUKE?!?

Call to Guards is such an amazing use of action economy. Absolutely amazing!

Worm fight!

All hail the King!

Holofract success! And the entire house of Frangus is gone. Oh boy, that's a lot.

Yesss, all the debt gone.

Calling it now, a full ship sweep is now going to be a part of daily operating procedure.

First ever lie, and it's a 21! Go Riva!

Amazing to have saved the galaxy, to have achieved success on basically every level, and there is still another ship left to fight.

*blinks. Stares at screen. Taps back to rewatch scene just to check what I'm seeing* Skip is helping Skipper fly the ship. Ookay. Well, that is kooky.

I love ship fights in this game. They're completely, 100% teamwork. It's beautiful to see.

They have the ship down to nineteen fifteen hitpoints before they ram it. WILD!

Okay, turns out they needed that. Don't ram things, just boost guns and shoot them. Noted.

This has been so wild. I literally cannot sit still. All fidget and stim rn. All fidget and stim.

Skipper had a moment to be actually supportive of the crew. Which is oddly cathartic. Like, he learned something through Skip and the crew. And then chose to become Skip again. Which, uh, yeah. That's a choice.

I do wonder if they are both conscious and aware now.

Oh, the end of a gallivant. She learned to lie. She learned to look out for herself in the harsh realities of space. And now she's leaving.

Oh, oh heart. These campaigns always end so strong. Such beauty. Found family and strength and everything. The adventure save the galaxy, yes. But more importantly it saved a small rag-tag group, and it made a family. And that is beautiful.

And now it's over. It's all over, and now I have to just pick up and go on with my life, as though watching through Fantasy High, Unsleeping City, A Crown of Candy, and now this hasn't been life-changing.

The ball is rolling up.

[gigilberry-wips]

the bonds of kinship

(image used can be found here)

Fandom: The Mandalorian

Pairings: None

Warnings: Brief mentions of fighting and violence, Spoilers for Season 2 Finale

Tags: Reader-Insert, No (Y/N), GN!Reader, Jedi!Reader, Creative Depictions of The Force, Action, Angst, Feels, Character Study, Healthy Relationships, Hopeful Ending

Word Count: 2.9k

Summery:

You’re a Padawan training under Luke Skywalker when your master recieves a distress signal from a Force sensitive child. He follows the lead and brings you along for the ride.

AO3 link

A/N: A few days after the season 2 finale I was lurking in the mandalorian tags, as you do, when one of those “i wish someone would write-” posts (this one) got my muse to drop by long enough to toss this one shot through the window.

- Obligatory disclaimer that I don’t know a thing about Star Wars. This show is my first introduction to the franchise and at the moment I am in absolutely no hurry to enlighten myself further (is there anyone else who’s here for the authentic experience of being as clueless as Din about this show? Because I’m having a blast :D Just about every subtle reference, easter egg, and character mention has gone flying over my head and I honestly find that hilarious)

I don’t know how well I’ve written the Force here, so just ... roll with it, please and thanks.

- Apparently Luke's ship is supposed to be a one seater kind of deal, but for the sake of this fic let's just pretend it has room for two people, yeah? Yeah? Good.

While writing this I thought of the song King of the Fairies, performed by The Dubliners. It'll make more sense near the end bit of this. I hope.

@ctrlmando​ I hope this turned out alright! Enjoy! ^_^

*

The Imperial battle ship made an imposing figure in the vast, glittering expanse of space. Under the cramped confines of your knees, R2D2 stirred, blinking and beeping in a way that made you mildly concerned for your shins.

“… so, this is where he is?”

“It is.” Master Skywalker nodded, his eyes trained on the floating craft. “Do you remember your part of the plan?”

“Get in, find the kid, get out.”

“Correct.” As a port came into view, he added, “Are you sure you’re ready for this? If you want to, you can stay here with R2D2.”

You gripped your saber’s hilt where it was clipped to your belt. In all the years you’d been under your master’s tutelage, there hadn’t been much in the way of students to train with on your level, few and far between as they were. This wasn’t just the first student to contact your master first, and through the Force no less, this was the first time you were being trusted on a mission like this.

For you to pass up such an opportunity? Out of the question. “Born ready,” you said, your tone firm.

“Then by all means, lead the way.”

The ship’s hull passed through the entrance just as the comms came to life. A woman’s voice spoke through it, but neither you nor your master answered. The moment the ship docked, you jumped out and took off at a sprint.

Keeping low to the ground, you focused all your powers on stealth and speed, dodging around the combatants before they had time to react. It wasn’t your job to take care of them, not yet – and from the sounds of it, your master was doing well for himself. While he took the brunt of the fire, you focused on navigating the corridors and opening your mind to the Force.

He was there. The child was a strong, bright little beacon, his presence lighting a path that ran clear as truth. The droids that tried to block your way you shoved aside with your powers, until you were well past them and they were left to face another, far more deadly opponent to charge at.

You hardly registered the fallen bodies you skipped over. Didn’t matter. You’d think about it later. Rescue came first.

The child’s presence led you to a lift. Above your head, a humming, artificial energy grew stronger and stronger the further up you went. When the lift opened, it was to a short corridor lined on either side with battle ready droids.

But by then you had your lightsaber out. Time to fight.

In a blur of sparks and tearing metal, you sliced the first droid in half. The next to come at you got its gun tossed out of its grasp through the Force and its head swiped off. One after another you cut them down, using the lightsaber and Force as needed, switching between the two with an efficiency that had been drilled into you until it had become habit.

The last droid fell in a twisted pile at your feet. You stepped past it. You waited.

In the few minutes of sizzling silence, you contemplated the dented metal door before you, so large it encompassed to breadth and hight of the corridor. There were … five? Six? Six adult creatures, all facing the entrance. Or no – one was unconscious. There was also that bright little child. He seemed unharmed, but you couldn’t be sure until you saw for yourself.

The door slid open. You marched into the room with lightsaber in hand and smoke curling at your heels. You allowed your hood to drop, finally showing your face to the gathering.

Front and centre there stood a humanoid clad in armour. Beskar armour. In a style you never thought you’d see more than once in your life.

A Mandalorian.

And it wasn’t just one. There were two more in the back, with slight modifications in their armour design, but distinctly Mandalorian all the same. Save for the first Mandalorian, the rest of the adults had their weapons raised at you.

The Mandalorian spoke. “Are you a Jedi?”

“… I am a Jedi in training.” You tilted you head. “My master should be arriving shortly.”

He had just finished down below. You felt more than heard him board the lift; he would be there in a few moments. Deactivating your lightsaber, you clipped it to your belt and stepped to the side of the entrance, closer to where several monitors idly hummed.

A very long, very green ear peeked out from behind a chair and you were met with the beseeching gaze of a child.

He … was tiny. You doubted he’d even pass your knee. He clung to the seat with tiny, tiny hands, and he was dressed in a brown, smock-like thing that made him look even tinier. But no matter how fragile he looked, no matter how impossibly wide and dewy his eyes were, the presence that radiated out of him was unmistakable. He was the kid.

Curious, you reached your thoughts out to him. A warm, exuberant little mind eagerly found yours, shy and hopeful.

What do you want? You asked.

You were met with a flurry of sensations. A sweet smell, a full belly, a metal ball?, gentle hands, a human chuckle.

… well. That wasn’t … unexpected, per se. He was a baby after all. But he hadn’t quite understood your question.

You tried again. Why did you call my master? Why are we here?

The child’s ears twitched. He opened his mind further and allowed you to see.

There were many emotions there, confusing in how strong they were and how drastically they contrasted. Nostalgia, safety, joy, peace. Sorrow and pain, loss and rage. They all held a strange depth to them, like a mind that had lived far, far longer than its apparent youth suggested.

Eventually, the emotions solidified into thoughts. Make me strong. They said.

… You want strength? Why would he need more? He was already strong, incredibly so.

… I have been hurt and I have been lost. But he protects me. The child looked up and to the side, towards what you now realised was his caregiver. I love him, and he loves me, but I can’t protect him. He fights for me and he saves me and he will die saving me and everyone dies saving me and it’s MY FAULT. Without warning, a barrage of memories flashed through your sight, followed by feelings of fear, panic, and helplessness. So make me strong. If I can protect me, then he doesn’t have to. He can just love me, and we will be happy.

At this, a sudden wave of love flooded out from him. It was a selfish love, needy and possessive. But that wasn’t unexpected either. Most of it was just simple, baby love, a “this is mine to keep and mine forever” love. You would’ve been surprised had it been anything different.

A hand landed on your shoulder. At once you felt your master’s presence, bringing you out of your observations and back to the present.

“… he doesn’t want to go with you.”

You looked up sharply. It was the Mandalorian who’d spoken. He glanced between the two of you and his charge.

“He is waiting for your permission.” Said your master, oddly gentle.

The way you were reading into the Force meant that you could feel a little of the surface emotions coming from those in the room. You imagined that if you could see it, the Mandalorian’s face would’ve taken on a complicated, pained expression.

Not receiving a reply, your master continued. “He is strong with the force, but talent without training is nothing. I will give my life to protect the child. But he will not be safe until he masters his abilities.”

Although he spoke quietly, his words carried a weight and authority that could not be refuted. One that came from being the one and only Luke Skywalker, the Jedi master who had earned the right to use it. And when he spoke, most tended to listen.

Something in the Mandalorian seemed to fall apart at those words. But at the same time, many other things fell together, forming a picture of resolve and acceptance.

He walked to the chair and carefully picked up the child, his hands steady even as his voice shook. He spoke to him and him alone, words so soft you barely heard some of what he said.

“… I’ll see you again … I promise.”

The kid reached for him, an unspoken request. Without hesitation, without a second thought, the Mandalorian did something that shocked what little knowledge you had of the Mandalore right out of you.

He removed his helmet.

Where before there had been a nondescript Mandalorian, there now stood a man. A heartbroken man with tears in his eyes. The tears did not fall, not even when the child touched his cheek and he shut his eyes to them.

“… time to go.”

The kid’s ears drooped.

He said something else and let the child down. Straightening up, he nodded to you and your master.

While your master nodded back, you furrowed your brow. There was something strange about the emotions that came from this man. Not so much that they were bad or wrong, but that they were different from what you knew. It wasn’t just sadness or longing, as it often was in the parents and family of the disciples your master took into his care. It was more … complicated. Deeper, somehow. Even the love that came from him felt different. You couldn’t quite place your finger on how or why.

It perplexed you, made you want to reach into his skull and see what was there. But that would be rude.

“Are you sure you want him to come with us?” You asked.

Because if he didn’t, if he really, truly had a problem with it, then the kid wasn’t coming. Family drama was messy, and your master knew better than anyone else not to get in the way of that.

The man considered you. You crossed your arms. His gaze darted to the monitors, where the view from different parts of the ship still showed.

“… do you know, I took out one of those droids.” He smiled. That is, his lips tilted up at the corners. “One of them. And I barely did it. But you, you took on dozens of them. I saw you. You did it in moments, and you say you are in training.”

Glancing down to where the child clung to his leg, the smile became something sad. “This child has been hunted across the galaxy. I have done what I could, but this … this is more than I can do for him. I cannot give him what he needs me to. I cannot protect him the way he needs me to. He’s made a choice. The least I can do is see that he gets it.”

“Even if it doesn’t make you happy?”

Because it didn’t. It shouldn’t have, not with the bond that stretched between the two of them.

But he only shook his head. “I’d rather he be alive with you than dead with me.”

Before you could think further on that, a loud trill interrupted the air. R2D2 rolled past the doors and came to a stop to the right of where you and your master stood, happily beeping like it either didn’t notice the tension in the room or else didn’t care.

It caught the child’s attention. His entire face lit up – oh. Oh. There was a bond there, too. Something to ask about later that you tucked away in your head.

Letting go of his caregiver’s leg, the kid toddled up to the robot and babbled at it. R2 responded in kind. The sight created a bubble of cuteness strong enough that you didn’t have to look to know that most of the adults had eased their collective guard.

While the two conversed, the unmasked-Mandalorian idly held his helmet. And there was another contradiction – to ask, or not to ask, that was the question. To get it over with now or leave it alone. You didn’t have to; it’s not like knowing the answer would affect you in any way.

But then again, it was the first time you had a Mandalorian to give you an answer. Might as well.

“… You know, I’ve never met a Mandalorian before.” You said conversationally. “Doesn’t taking the helmet off go against your creed?”

He blinked, looking down at the helmet like he’d forgotten about it. Meanwhile, Master Skywalker did the mental equivalent of a tsk, but you ignored it.

“… yes, and no. I thought it did. But there is more to it than that. When you reach the heart of it.” His eyes settled upon the child. “I am a Mandalorian. I have my creed. I have not betrayed it, not in the way that matters. It … took me some time to realise this.”

He sighed, closing his eyes again. When he opened them, it was with a clarity that shone in his emotions. “I trust you. Both of you. Please look after him.”

“We will.”

At the sound of his voice, the child seemed to notice your master for the first time. He tilted his head curiously up at him. After a moment, he shuffled over and lifted his arms up.

Master Skywalker obliged him. Picking him up, he nodded his thanks to the room and walked out the door. Taking one last look around, you gave a slight bow and did the same, not turning back or minding the still sparking heaps of broken metal strewn across the floor. Propped up on your master’s shoulder, the kid had a good view of what you were walking away from, kept in his sights all the way to the lift.

It was when you were in the lift yourself that you saw what he saw. The gathered adults back in the room, but especially, the man who had cared for and protected him. And as you contemplated the two of them, you felt that something again, reflected in the child as he felt it from his guardian and held fast to it.

It stayed with you, as your little rescue party traversed back through the wreckage that was a once heavily armed battle force, as you climbed into your seat and your master guided the ship into the embrace of space.

Of course, he called attention to it first. “Your mind is troubled.”

You shrugged, even if he couldn’t see it. The lights of hyper space flashed by the windows, reflecting in the child’s eyes while you held him securely in your lap.

“I’m just somewhat … confused, is all. I know what I felt, but I don’t know what to make of it.” You bit your lip, giving the kid’s cheek a tap. “You felt it, too. What do you think?”

“Why don’t you ask the little one? He should be the most familiar with it.”

Ah. That reminded you. So far you’d spent the entire time referring to your new fellow disciple as “child” and “kid” and had yet to ask his name.

You mentally nudged him. He twisted around to look up at you and gurgled.

Grogu. He said.

“Grogu.” You nodded, brushing your thumb over his nose. I have a question for you. That person you cherish, he confuses me. When you think of him, what do you see?

Grogu pushed his hands against your chest, and his bright little mind painted a picture of the man who’d come to span the entirety of his world. Who’d lifted him from a life of darkness and pain and given him another, one filled with safety and warmth and home.

Through his eyes you saw what he saw. Through him you felt what he’d felt. A man who bore the marks of loss and terrible grief. A soul that had been shaped by duty, devotion, and sacrifice. Of promises that were honoured, of kindness for the sake of kindness, of extending peace when there was a choice to be had. Of an unconditional, selfless love, that gave itself freely and demanded nothing in return.

That you knew. You knew it in the way you were taught to connect with the Force and all it touched. Because the truth was that being free of attachments did not dictate that there had to be no love. To protect something, you first had to love it enough to protect it. To honour life and all it entailed, you had to accept it and grow with it and still learn to love it, faults and all.

That is what it meant to be on the side of the Light. That is what it meant to take the gift you had and use it to restore balance and peace.

The way that man had loved carried a protectiveness and freedom that was entirely for the one he gave it to. A love that was given freely, that cherished what it held and asked for nothing in return.

And this little child held it in his heart and his hands. He pressed them into your cheek, and his dull claws made indents in your skin. You dazedly blinked out of your thoughts, his face coming into focus and the warm weight of him held against your front.

“… I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such a thing in someone.” Even to your own ears, you sounded faint.

Your master didn’t ask what you were talking about. He’d probably felt it as well as you had. “He has a good example set for himself.”

The ship’s dashboard blinked with lights as it exited hyperspace. It made Grogu perk up and try to turn around to see it, wiggling in your arms. You quietly smiled.

“Yes … yes, he does.”

*

*

*

I have my own thoughts on the finale and people’s reactions to it that I might share eventually, but for now I’ll give credit where credit is due:

Din and his beliefs

Din being a good father: here, here, here, and here

Din being a kind, wonderful person in general

What got me thinking of that song for Din in the first place

R2D2 & Grogu headcanon

From Grogu’s perspective: here and here

From a storytelling perspective: here and here

[norcumii]

Ruminating on Rebels, 2

I know I took awhile with this episode, but boy does it feel long. The pacing is off? Or my brain is just unhappy. No idea which. I suspect that’s just my brain, though.

SPOILERS AHEAD. REBELS CRITICAL. For details what this is about, here’s a post.  My relevant tag is “throwing popcorn at Rebels”.

Episode 2: Spark of Rebellion Part II

Overview:

Ezra runs into the Star Destroyer to warn the team, gets to Zeb and Kanan just before they get ganked at the cell block. Sabine cuts the gravity, leaves a lot of explosives at the control room, but Ezra gets caught on the way out. The Ghost crew makes it to hyper before finding this out from Zeb, vote on going back or not. Kallus makes a pretext of questioning Ezra (note: I think it’s meant as legit, but it felt lackluster), and then Ezra escapes as the Ghost crew arrives to rescue him. They meet up part way and book it, only to find that while escaping, Ezra overheard where the wookies REALLY were being held. Off they go to Kessel to save the wookiees! Fight scene at the spice mines, leading to Kanan using the lightsaber and getting ID’d as a Jedi, Ezra faces off against Kallus to save a kid wookiee, the team escapes. Kanan offers Ezra a chance to join up and learn to use the Force, and away they go to a  dramatic voice-over by Obi-Wan via holocron recording.

Random impressions:

These wookiees are AWFUL

PLASTIC FOR YOU, PLASTIC FOR YOU, BAD ACTION FIGURES OF EEEEEEVERYONE

I really, REALLY, R E A L L Y don’t like Hera. She’s advertised as team leader and Space!Mom, but all I keep seeing is manipulative bullshit. Apparently letting Ezra take the holocron was a test to see if he was Force sensitive. Her comment in the Ghost the last episode about “If all you do is fight for your own life, then your life is worth nothing” - aaaagh. That – I get what they’re TRYING to say, about having Purpose is good, but having been in A Very Bad Place where all I could do was cling by my fingernails and try to take care of myself because 1, no one else would and 2, that was literally all I could manage – that just smacks me in the face with guilt-tripping. I know it’s not meant to be that, just...UGH. At best, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’m going to continue side-eyeing her until she proves she’s not ACTUALLY an asshole, and yes, that is apparently an uphill battle.

The rescued wookiees say that if the Ghost crew “ever need help, they’ll be there” - THAT BETTER PAY OUT BEFORE THE SERIES IS OVER. (spoiler: Wookieepedia indicates it does not. I am disappoint, though I will keep an eye out in case it’s wrong.)

I am totally convinced now that Ezra HAS actually been using the Force awhile. The way he somersaults over crates into cover – dodging blaster bolts – and then later over a trooper to get between him and a Wookiee kid – that’s something Ezra KNOWS he can do. Like, past experience doing that sort of leap. I want to see how this interacts with Kanan’s lessons.

Kanan dodges bolts a lot more than he reflects them, but when he does they tend to take out troopers effectively. Someone’s spent time practicing.

Speaking of, he goes WAY hard on the Stoic Holy Jedi (With A Lightsaber Up His Ass) thing. Ugh. I want the goofy smuggler more. That’s more fun, AND show’s growth away from his past. We’ll see how that interacts with right now he’s trying to Jedi because oh noes, it’s a padawan (WHUT DOOOOOO)!

When Kanan shows up to save Ezra, he’s is riding on top the ghost, which pops up alongside the catwalk. ....meaning Mr. Drama Llama opened the doors to a shipping crate in flight and somehow flipped his way up to the top of the ship, OR lightsabered his way an exit through the TOP of the crate, which I hope was done carefully or they took out parts of the magnetic seal keeping the crate attached to the bottom of the ship. ...Jedi. SIGH. WHY COULD NO ONE MAKE A CRACK ABOUT THAT? YES IT WAS IMPRESSIVE, BUT THEN AFTERWARDS IT MAKES A GREAT TENSION RELEASE TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WAS UNUSUAL. Meh. Ok, that one’s probably me being too finicky.

Sabine left about 20 explosives in the control room. Just one of those has been shown to be enough to blast open doors and destroy a speeder bike. HOW MUCH BOOM DO YOU NEED? I mean, ok, this leads to a hole in the side of the super star destroyer (venting atmosphere! :D That was some LOVELY animation and there WAS squee about that!)

Zeb is a gods damned wreck. If he were less physically violent, I would pick him as a favorite, because interesting non-human and it’s clearly trauma and not knowing how to people that leads to him being...him. However, I can’t get over the way he’s THAT rough. There’s a line between “you’re dealing with old issues poorly, and that expresses itself through (at best) roughhousing and not gauging your own strength” and “you’re beating up on others and using your trauma as an excuse for it, and we all know how well ‘cool motive still murder’ works as a defense.”

When Ezra left, Chopper made sad bwoops and waved goodbye in a non-sarcastic way. Whut.

The animators are still not getting clear direction. The bit that really jumped out at me was when Ezra saves the kid wookiee, he’s shown hoisting the kid’s cuffed hands and looking all puzzled at the binders – and we just saw how he IMMEDIATELY knew how to pick those things open on the adult wookiees. Possibly just me being nitpicky again, but it’s very jarring to me.

The “I swear, if he gets left behind again it is not my fault!” bit showed up, and I can’t tell if that’s them trying to make the repetition is funny thing, or establishing a trend? I mean, I COULD see a longer running...not gag, but trend, of Zeb having to either leave or haul Ezra out of things and them bitching at each other over this for YEAAAAARS until it’s just an easy thing, a well-worn way to poke at a friend like an affable punch to the shoulder that is just a thing they do. Which could be cute, if done right.

Hopefully more coherent views:

The inter-group dynamics are wild, and I don’t think I mean that in a complimentary sense. Zeb is just...kinda broken, ok. Sabine was kind of a non-entity through most of this. I don’t have the spoons to count her lines, but the most memorable thing that she did was want to know how the explosion looked. Which...ok? I guess? Hera had more characterization, and we got the Competent!Pilot thing – along with the Manipulative Asshole thing, which yeah, I’m eyeballing a LOT more. Chopper came across as irritable and generally a cranky old man, which would fly better if Zeb wasn’t already trying to squat on that territory. It makes things feel more grating than perhaps they are. Kanan is your average Jedi but in better clothes, and I can’t tell how much sanctimoniousness is he doesn’t know how to teach, how much is just discomfort, and how much is I don’t like the manipulation of Ezra.

As for Ezra, he’s got some NEAT skills. I...kinda like the whole “nope, I’m not a hero, not running out there in a the middle of a blaster fight to save some rando” attitude because it’s hints of the hero’s journey having far to go, but there’s not enough heart of gold for me to give any shits. He’s TOO caught up in his own situation for me to care (and while I don’t blame him as a character for that, it makes him a third-rate Aladdin archetype. All the ‘in the rough’ but no ‘diamond’).

Kallus is satisfying to dislike, for all that he feels like a poor man’s Thrawn. The temper tantrum of kicking the surviving stormtrooper off the catwalk was gratuitous, but fine. We’re not supposed to like him. (Yes, I know about later, but I’m ignoring that at the moment.)

So. Yaye, I guess. We have our characters, we have our villain and our on-the-sidelines villain in the Inquisitor waiting to swoop in to be all mastermind badguy. We have our setup, and a few potential threads to follow back on.

End summary:

That was a weak (second half to a) first episode. I mean, again, that’s not a killer, but nothing about the show grabs me and goes “ISN’T THIS THING AWESOME???” There’s too much internal conflict without enough glue to bond people together, I have strong reasons to dislike almost everyone (and the rest are too undeveloped yet to really hit me one way or another). With the animation doing nothing for me, it’s...getting no traction so far.

[the-beacons-of-minas-tirith]

Together From Now On

Fandom: Castle Rock/Stephen King

Ship: Joy x Chance

Words: 1862

Part: 1/?

Rating: G (fluff, kissing)

Notes: This is literally the very first fanfic I have published. I’m not a huge ff writer, but the “bury your gays” trope is one of my biggest pet peeves and I just really really wanted to correct it this time. I haven’t had a lot of time for writing lately, so I figured I’d post what I had so far and continue the story. Spoilers for Castle Rock S2

@fanpageknight @wormoffthestring sorry it took so long! Here it is!

The sky was gathering with clouds, a familiar scent on the wind: rain was coming. Through the open window of the passenger seat, Joy Ingalls looked out at the wooded landscape that seemed endless. But, she wasn’t really Joy Ingalls, was she? After nearly seventeen years, she had learned her true name, which was Evangeline Wilkes.

She had also learned of her true parents, Carl Wilkes and Rita Green, and that the woman whom she had believed to be her mother, Annie, was really her half-sister. Violence, death, murder, these were the things that Annie had fled from…along with Evangeline, who had been no more than a baby when a teenaged Annie had hidden her in a cardboard box and made her way to the river, intending to drown them both and escape “this dirty world”, as she often called it.

But something happened, something that had saved them both, and that was that Evangeline had smiled at Annie. She had never done so before, always crying when the troubled girl had held her, but this time, this time… Something had changed in Annie at that moment, something had pulled her back from the edge, and for the first time in a long time, Annie felt that things might get better.

Many years had passed with Annie and her sister, now renamed Joy and passed off as Annie’s own daughter, living a life on the run, although Joy had never known it – Annie, now a nurse, had kept up a pretense of the necessity of nurses moving around often. And so they did, moving from place to place, staying in areas for only months or even weeks before leaving, many times in a hurry, which Joy now knew was because of her adopted mother’s habit of stealing pills from the hospitals in which she worked, in order to control her unstable mind.

And it had been for this very reason that Joy had not, at first, believed Annie’s frantic paranoia of a man she had claimed to have killed, a dangerous man, coming back to life. After all, tales of the supernatural, even from locals who believed every word of it, were a thing of fiction, right? Maybe in some towns.

But not in Castle Rock.

Joy squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to block out the horrid memories, memories of the townspeople falling under a sinister trance, moving like zombies towards an ancient statue, memories of people who were no longer people, but vessels of wicked souls returned from centuries ago.

She had almost become one of them…

But her mother, who was not her mother, had kept that from happening. And now…

“Hey.” A voice broke Joy out of her dark thoughts. It was Chance, approaching the passenger window from the small convenience store they had stopped at. Joy had opted to stay in the car.

“Oh…hey.” Joy wrung her hands and looked down, breathing out slowly.

Chance opened the driver’s door and, setting the drinks she had bought in the cup holders, made herself comfortable in the seat. She glanced at Joy, a concerned look on her face. “You good?”

“Fine,” said Joy quietly, chewing her bottom lip.

Chance looked at her for a moment, then spoke. “You were thinking about it again,” she said softly. She gently put her hand over Joy’s; she could feel it trembling slightly.

“Joy.”

Joy looked up at Chance slowly. The girl who held her affections was good at seeing the truth, even without words. They hadn’t talked about anything that had happened in that town since they had left almost two weeks ago. She had pushed it down as long as she could, but now Joy could feel the words she longed to say rising inside her, like the late August heat that surrounded them.

Swallowing hard, Joy closed her eyes again. “What if I was wrong?”

“Wrong?”

“What if I – I shouldn’t have left her? What will happen to her without me? She saved me, I could have become one of those –” Her voice cracked, and she paused to take a deep breath. “She saved me,” Joy repeated slowly. “And I left her.”

Joy remembered this part vividly, perhaps most of all. Unlike the other memories that came unwittingly, surfacing every now and then like skeletal trees in a valley of fog, this one stayed at the front of her mind, burning intensely as if it had been branded behind her eyelids. Annie’s face, so eagerly hopeful at the thought of what she was sure was true, that Joy wanted to leave this wretched town with her and never come back. Well, part of it was true. Joy was desperate to leave.

Just not with Annie.

How her adopted mother’s face had slowly but surely crumpled, how her eyes, still so wide and emotional, were now filled with shock and fear instead of hope. Joy knew this would happen, but it didn’t make it any easier. “Mom,” she had said. “Mom, I think…I think I need to leave. Without…you. I love you, mom. I really do. But…I can’t…be with you anymore.”

           Annie had tried her best to keep her emotions from taking over. “Oh, Joy, little love, you don’t mean that! You’re just…” she hurriedly searched for what to say. “You’re overwhelmed. And why wouldn’t you be! Y-you’ve been through s-so much recently that – that you’re not thinking clearly! Those horrible people – those, those, dirty birds almost killed you!”

           “Mom…” Joy wanted to say more, but Annie cut her off.

“I’ll tell you what, little love, you need a good night’s sleep. We can go back to the lodge and rest, and then we’ll discuss it in the morning, okay? Okay?”

           But Annie knew she wasn’t letting Joy go anywhere alone. And Joy knew it too. Which is why what she had to do next broke her heart.

           She left a letter for her mother, expressing as best she could her feelings. That she needed to find her own way, that she still loved her, and hoped they could reconnect one day in the future. Taking with her a bag of clothes, her phone, the keys to her mother’s car, and what little money she had, Joy had left the lodge while Annie had slept, meeting Chance outside and helped her push the vehicle far enough away that Annie wouldn’t hear it start. They were lucky; the tank was almost full.

           And so they had driven, mostly in silence, stopping every so often to eat or find a hotel to stay at. Chance had, in the confusion of the town trying to regain its sanity, taken as much cash as she could from the register of the local bar, so they had plenty to keep them going for a while.

           Chance looked at Joy with empathy in her eyes. “I get it. I know what you’re going through. It sucks to be apart from your parents, even if they aren’t good for you. But it gets better. Hey, at least you have a phone now.”

           Joy gave a small chuckle.

           “When I left my folks, I was terrified,” Chance continued, rubbing Joy’s hand gently. “I had no idea if I would last. But you know what got me through it?”

           “What?”

           “What got me through was knowing that there was nothing left for me in the past, so that meant that everything I had to gain was in the future. That I had to keep moving forward.” Chance raised Joy’s hand and pressed it gently to her lips.

           Slowly, slowly, Joy’s anxious heartbeat decelerated, and she looked deep into Chance’s eyes, eyes that conveyed love and compassion. She had never felt this way about anyone before, had never felt this strong sense of safety and belonging, safer than she had ever been with her mother. Her chest felt lighter than it had in days.

           Joy smiled at Chance, and Chance smiled back. As if by second nature, they both leaned carefully towards each other, their lips meeting tenderly for more than a moment.

           A light patter had begun on the roof of the car; the rain had started. It was the soft, sweet rain of summer, cleansing the world around them and bringing new hope to their lives.

 ***

             Chance and Joy pulled into the parking lot of the hotel just as the rain had started to pick up. Dodging the drops, they ran in to the main lobby with their bags over their heads. Inside, they brushed their damp hair back, and chuckled as they looked at each other. Once their humor had subsided, they surveyed the interior.

As one of the common chain hotels, the lobby was hardly distinguishable from the others they had stayed in. The tiled floor was a pale cream color, there were fake plants in the corners, and the small sitting area had a flat screen TV showing a news channel. Right now, the anchor was pointing to a weather map and explaining that the rain would last until the end of the week.

           Chance started towards the front desk, where a middle-aged blonde woman was occupied with a magazine. Chance cleared her throat. The woman glanced up.

           “Yeah?” she said.

           “We’d, uh, like a room?” said Chance. “Please,” she added.

           The woman – Beverly, said her name tag – moved to look at her computer. “Name?” she asked absently, as she typed.

           “Andy,” said Chance in an even voice. She and Joy had agreed that it was best to use fake names for now, at least until they made it to Canada. No telling if they were being searched for.

           “Last name?” said Beverly. She seemed to be keeping herself from rolling her eyes.

           “Evans,” Chance replied.

           With a few more clicks on the keyboard, Beverly turned back to Chance. “Only rooms we got left have one bed. The couches are pull outs thought, if you want,” she said glancing at Joy.

           Joy paused, exchanging a look with Chance. Chance held her gaze for a few seconds before turning back to Beverly. “That’s fine. We’ll take it.”

           “How many nights?”

           “Um, four. Tonight to Sunday morning.”      

The blonde woman typed on her computer, then got up and went into a room behind the desk. She was gone for a minute before returning with two key cards in her hand.

           “Room number is 79. Third floor.” She placed the cards on the counter and then looked expectantly at Chance, who pulled a thick envelope out of her backpack.

           “How much?”

           “One-eighty, even.”

           Chance rummaged through the envelope and handed Beverly several bills. The clerk put the cash in the register and then gestured towards the elevators. “You’re all set.” She became engrossed in her magazine once more.

           Once the two girls were in the elevator, they sighed in relief. Chance looked at Joy. Joy looked at Chance. And all of a sudden they were laughing, leaning back against the mirrored walls. They were just two girls in this moment, two girls closer than friends who were happy and carefree and in love. Taking each other’s hands, they stepped off the elevator and made their way to the room.

[ukaia]

Hide and Seek

This story takes place right after Putting Others First: Selflessness VS Selfishness Redux. There's no real spoilers in it, outside of this is how I think Roman was feeling at the end of the episode.

It's just an idea that came into my head when I was listening to "Hide and Seek" (Vocaloid) English ver by Lizz Robinett

If you think I've missed any tags, please let me know and I will fix it right away.

I hope you enjoy!

     Ding Dong I know you can hear me  

       Roman panted as he ran down the halls, his uniform was rumpled and his sash ripped, blood seeped from a blow he'd not fully dodged. He slammed the door closed behind him. Patting for air, he pressed his back against it, the whispers of the figure coming after him was making him tremble,confusion and fear skittering though is mind.

             Open up the door. I only want to play a little         

Roman winced as he locked the door and backed away from it.. his brothers voice on the other side, singing in that creepy way. At least, he thought it was Remus singing, but it sounded all around him at the same time. He didn't understand what happened, why had Remus started this...this.. game !!!

             Ding dong You can't keep me waiting    

                  He heard the morning star hit the door and he held himself tighter shaking more. This had to be some sort of.. trick.. a sick game.. something... Remus wouldn't actually hurt him would he? The morning star hit the door with another CRACK

                       It's already too late for you to try and run away  

        He backed away from the shaking door, his back hit the other wall a surprised grunt escaped him. He was sure this room was bigger... He slid down to the floor as the morning star hit the door again. The creepy music playing not stopping.. echoing.. haunting.

             I see you though the window, our eyes are locked together  

        Roman was frozen, like a deer in headlights as the eyes of his brother locked with his. The maniacal smile on his brothers face became even wider. It was much too wide, his  teeth much too sharp, he didn't even look like Remus anymore. The sight of it made his heart stutter in his chest.  He needed to do something! The door wouldn't hold up against the morning star much longer.

             I can sense your horror though, I'd like to see it closer  

        Roman yelped as Remus slammed his hand on the window. Remus pressed his face to the window, his breath casting fog on the glass. Then he drew back his hand, and hit the window again... and again...and again.

             Ding Dong Here I come to find you  

        Roman cried out as the glass shattered, suddenly. He stared in shocked terror as blood started dripping from his brothers face. The glass caught in his hair, where he'd smashed it though the window, no longer satisfied with hitting it with just his hand. Remus's smile never wavered though as he leaned in closer towards Roman. He ignored the glass scraping against the skin on his neck making more blood ooze down the shards of glass still in the window and dripping on the floor.

             Hurry up and run Lets play a little game and have some fun  

        The words jolted Roman into action. He scrambled to his feet and bolted though another door running blindly, terror coursing though his body.  His brothers words echoed down the hall after him. He barely had time to question how he'd gotten into the halls again before he heard Remus climbing though the shattered window and redoubled his efforts to escape.

             Ding Dong Where is it you've gone to?  

        Roman ran blindly, nothing looked familiar. Nothing seemed the same. None of the rooms he was searching for were there. He knew he just had to keep running, there was bound to be an exit somewhere. A way to get away from Remus... was it Remus though? He sounded weird, his smile was wrong... something was so.. off...

             Do you think you've won? Our game of hide and seek has just begun!  

        He didn't have time to think about it, pushing the thoughts out of his head as he heard Remus coming up behind him once more. Roman ran and ran.. there had to be something, someone, anything to stop this. There had to be something he could use to protect himself with!!

             I hear your footsteps, Thumping loudly though the hall ways  

        Roman kept running. He hit wall after wall,  stumbled over turn after turn, searching, seeking anything, anyone. Please!!!  He thought to himself .. Please someone save me! It didn't matter how un-princely it was to beg for someone else to save him. He couldn't keep this up.

             I can hear your sharp breaths. You're not very good at hiding.  

        Deep down he knew, nobody was coming for him, nobody would save him. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't' say he was surprised. Roman gripped his side where a stitch was forming, his breathing was getting ragged, and he was gasping for each lungful of air. Another blind turn, another hall another dead end. He was exhausted and sweat covered him, making his uniform and hair stick to his body and forehead. No matter where he turned, or ran or tried to hide he couldn't escape. He couldn't break free he couldn't find shelter...

             Just you wait, you can't hide from me (I'm coming)    

         Remus's morning star drug the ground as he walked causally chasing his prey. He grinned more and more...

                       Just you wait, you can't hide from me (I'm coming)  

                  Logan's footsteps were sharp and clear, they never wavered, never stopped, never faltered. The metronome to the beat of the song that echoed down the halls and haunted Roman. He glanced back to see Logan, but the glasses reflected the little light in the halls making his eyes impossible to see, the smile on his lips,however, much too wide.

                       Just you wait,you can't hide from me ( I'm coming)  

                  Patton's skipping steps were easily heard, echoing around the halls. It didn't take long for the smell of burned cookies and sour, spoiled food wafting from him to surround Roman making him gag.

                       Just you wait, you can't hide from me.  

                  Deceit's cape fluttered as he walked, his steps were nearly silent, barely heard over Roman's raspy, desperate breathing.  He could see the yellow threads drawing ever closer, ready to ensnare him and drag him to his death.

                       Knock Knock I am at your door now  

                  THERE!!!! He could see the brilliant Crimson and Gold door standing proudly in the hall he was running down. Roman was so relieved to see it. He would be safe in there, he ran in and slammed it shut, locking the door with the twist of his wrist and bolting out of sight into his closet, where he shut that door too. He would be safe in here... right? He could already hear Remus knocking on the door. He had to be safe in here

                       I am coming in No need to ask for permission.  

                  Roman didn't understand how, but he heard his door's lock click, and then the creek of it opening. Remus coming into his room! He put his hands over his mouth desperate to hide his ragged breathing, he had to stay hidden... he couldn't get caught!

                       Knock Knock I'm inside your room now.  

                  Roman shut his eyes tight, pressing further back into his closet as he heard Remus's footsteps in the room, the scrape of the morning star on the ground as it drug behind him. He shuddered and pressed his hands tighter to his mouth, praying not to be found.

                       Where is it you've hid? Our game of hide and seek is about to end  

                  Roman pressed harder into the back of his closet, the boards digging into his spine, his hands pressed so tight over his mouth he was sure he'd bruise it. He waited, the dragging of the morning star moving around the room. The sharp steps of Logan joined it, the scent of rotten food began to drift under the door frame and the yellow threads sought him out. He was trapped....

                       I'm coming closer Looking underneath your bed but you're not there  

                  Roman felt tears slipping from his eyes, go away.. please go away.. please someone save him.

                       I wonder, could you be in the closet?  

                  His heart froze hearing that, no.. no anywhere get bored, go away someone please anyone!! He kept his eyes shut as the closet door creaked open.

                       Ding Dong I have found you  

                  Roman pressed further back.  Please.. someone... anyone.... please...please...please...

                       Ding Dong You were hiding here. Now you're it.  

                  The morning star scraped the ground as Remus began to lift it up and above his head. Roman covered his ears, trying to block out the sound, he had nowhere to run.

                       Ding Dong Finally found you, dear. Now you're it.  

                  Patton's hands reached forward, mottled with black and blue and green, smelling of rotted flesh. The stench was overwhelming. Roman felt his stomach roll and heave as Patton drew closer and closer to him.

                       Ding dong Looks like I have won  

                  Logan's glasses continued to hide his eyes, the smile continued to be too big, he was reaching for Roman and Roman could only cower before him.

                       Ding dong Pay the consequence  

                  Deceit's thread's wrapped around him, they were so tight they bruised immediately. For a few moments that's all that happened, and then he was drug from the close The figures converged on him and a scream ripped from his lips, echoing down the halls. The door shut tight once more.

                       Pay the consequence  

[danwhobrowses]

NXT TakeOver Stand & Deliver Day 2 - Review

Alright, onto part 2 Day 1′s Stand and Deliver was a strong showing but there was plenty of chance to top it, so it’s time to see if Day 2′s strong card can do it

This will be later than I intended, mainly because I have been swamped with other stuff, I wanted to watch this after work but time is not on my side

read part 1 here

Spoilers for Stand & Deliver Day 2 (and tidbits of Day 1), you have been warned

Pre-Show As with Night 1, the good stuff is mainly the Samoa Joe interviews. I did find it humorous of Kross saying ‘I’m gonna throw bombs at him’, that’s a mental image. The F bomb kinda contradicted him being asked if he was too emotive, unless that was intentional. Joe’s shade at Balor was good though, let them fight again! The Shotzi stuff in the tag champs’ interview was a bit off-putting for me, I know she’s supposed to be wild but like, if you wince at a babyface it’s not good.

Number 1 Contendership Match for NXT Tag Championship - Killian Dain & Drake Maverick def. Breezango (Pinfall by Maverick on Fandango via Dain’s Powerbomb) Kudos to start with for Breezango dressing as pirates even for the Pre-Show, these two deserve more what they’ve gotten (I know injuries have hurt them but they could’ve had a longer reign). Drake and Killian also deserve more than they’re getting, Drake should look at going for the CW title again. We started with a bit of character stuff, Fandango and Drake lead to Drake doing Fandango’s hip swivels which angered Fandango, then Dain tagged Drake in which hurt him and then Drake put the pirate hat on the bemused Dain. Dain’s time in-ring was short though as Drake did a combo move, Breezango then took control of Drake. Dain handled the hot tag well, handling both men, but after an attempted combo move Breeze superkicked Drake, double team for 2 but then Dain pushes back, Drake hits the super rana as Dain dumps out Breeze, Dain then powerbombs Drake onto Fandango whose limp body covers for three.

It was a fine pre-show match, still short but not abrupt. It was kinda weird narratively though because it felt like Breezango, in spite of their entrance, were playing heels. The matchup is kinda odd too, MSK vs Dain and Maverick makes for a face vs face match but hey ho

Main Card This time a music performance by Poppy, it was like Paramore and Evanescence had a one night stand, not bad but not necessary lots of shaky cam though.

Cruiserweight Championship Unification Ladder Match: Santos Escobar (c) def. Jordan Devlin (c) Santos came in like a true Luchador with the cape, mask and another mask while Devlin walked in no-nonsense with his Irish Cruiserweight attitude, a true division of style preluding the fight. Devlin and Santos work some chains and reversals, few lifts here and there but nothing too flashy until Devlin took advantage, an Asai Moonsault onto the outside is followed by Devlin getting the ladder. Cleverly, Devlin evades the ladder lower-rope dropkick and hits Santos in the head, but his climb is denied. Santos has a worried look when Devlin is about to Irish Whip him into the ladder on the corner but he reverses, he squashes Devlin against the chain that surrounds the outside of the ring before getting a second ladder. This time Santos plays clever, dropkicking the ladder he was setting up onto Devlin, before driving it into his gut, Ladder 3 comes out immediately after as Santos lays stomps onto Devlin.

Devlin regains control by slamming Santos’ face onto the bottom of Ladder 3 which Santos placed on the top turnbuckle, every attempt by Santos is responded by Devlin, his monkey flip launches him into a climb, Santos’ pull down into a DDT, Santos does get a suicide dive to drive Devlin into Ladder 1 set up on the wall but Devlin pulls off a counter suplex on Ladder 2 which is on the floor, Spanish Fly counter then a cutter. Ladder 2 is set in the corner as Devlin lands a top ladder moonsault, he has it dead to rights but Legando push the ladder leading to a nasty-looking fall and Devlin being thrown into the steps. Gesturing to climb, Santos foolishly dismisses his faction allowing Devlin to throw a ladder at Santos to bide some time, he sets up Ladder 1 adjacent to 2, a tussle leads to a ladder Spanish Fly. Devlin makes the climb but with fingertips on the belt Santos comes back, clubbing blows are traded but Santos headbutts Devlin through the slanted Ladder 3. Santos claims the belts and celebrates with his faction and son.

It was a good ladder match, but I didn’t think it needed Legando’s interference, the culture clash wasn’t sold so much either, Devlin did more Lucha moves and the finish of a headbutt was a bit lacking, but a strong opener.

MSK Interview MSK were less insufferable on this interview, bit of character there too with them disagreeing on predictions.

NXT Women’s Tag Championship: Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon (c) def. The Way [Indi Hartwell & Candice LeRae] (pinfall by Shotzi Blackheart on Indi Hartwell via Senton Bomb) The Way continued the Gargano tradition of comic attire with Candice wearing Thor attire, while Shotzi and Ember (let’s call them War Girls for now, reference to Mad Max War Boys, the Tank and Ember’s War Goddess) come out on their usual tank. The Way start with the advantage jumping the champions and zoning out Shotzi, Ember gets the hot tag even sneaking in a DX Suck It during her forearms. An Indi Distraction averts the Eclipse but Indi pulls off the Tower of Doom Powerbomb for 2. Pop-Up Spinebuster hits 2 again but Shotzi is tagged in when Ember escapes the double team move, Shotzi hits a crossbody then an assisted suicide dive, Ember then goes outside with the senton and then the team Dominator for 2, Candice sneaks a roll up for her own 2 though and gets a chance for their own double team move (flapjack flatliner), Ember breaks that pin though. A middle rope knee by Ember and an Enzugiri by Shotzi clumps both women together for a 2-for-1 Eclipse and Indi is prone to the Senton Bomb for 3.

Nice little tag match there, Indi was impressive and the right person won, we need a long reign for the War Girls to build prestige for these new titles.

North American Championship: Johnny Gargano [w/Austin Theory] (c) def. Bronson Reed (pinfall via One Final Beat x2) After the video package but before the match we saw Steph with another acquisition, Gable Steveson. Bronson’s attire is unchanged but Gargano comes out with what looks like the Infamous Iron Man (Dr. Doom in an Iron Man suit, it was actually awesome).

Reed’s power influenced the start of the match as Gargano picked at every body part to chop down the Colossal. A Tope is caught but Gargano wriggles out with an eye rake and drives Reed’s ribs into the Announcer’s table. Reed is not kept down for long, but his power moves are followed by a pause as the ribs are sold, a lovely Jagged Edge though since Reed re-lifted Johnny when he tried to knee an escape, the deadlift corner suplex gives Gargano the chance for a corner backstabber but Reed rallies back with a counter suplex. The Senton is missed and turned into a cradle, Gargano spikes a poison rana and then latches the Garga-no Escape. Reed rope breaks and blocks the interceptor, Razor’s Edge from ramp to ring, Tsunami misses, Superkick by Gargano gets 2 though. Reed hits a short-arm clothesline to set up another Tsunami but has to swat Theory away giving Gargano time, top rope rana is averted and Reed hits the Powerbomb, it should be 3 but Theory moved Gargano’s leg. Annoyed with Theory, he throws him into Gargano on the outside, suicide dive takes all of Theory but none of Johnny, who drives Reed back into the ringside. Rolled back in the ring, Reed counters One Final Beat with a Beach Break for 2, sets up the Powerbomb but Gargano gets out, 2 superkicks stagger but he’s flattened by a mule kick, Reed goes to the top but he’s not thinking Tsunami - he goes for the Moonsault but Kurt Angle rules apply, Moonsault misses, Gargano hits two successive One Final Beats to get the 3.

I’m a little let down that Reed didn’t win but it was a solid match, good title match and Gargano keeps on going. I guess Lumis’ feud may continue or Reed will get another chance, just hope they do something with Reed’s momentum.

NXT Championship - Karrion Kross [w/Scarlett] def. Finn Balor (pinfall via Running Forearm Smash TITLE CHANGE) Dunne, Burch and Oney are seen on the outside as both men prepare, Kross always having the BW filter still doesn’t do it for me, nor does Scarlett’s mannerisms. I mean the outfit was great but other than that she kinda stands around or flails around. Balor’s entrance a lot more patient but the intense staring did not go unseen. Balor with a big red X painted over his heart to sell that he’s not gonna fight on emotions. Balor’s lock ups to start are powered out by Kross, but every time Balor is hit he smiles, the mind games slowly eating into Kross. A slap in the face sends him over the edge though, ‘now you’re gonna get it’ Kross says as he punctures Balor into the corner, Balor dodges the second to hurt Kross’s shoulder then moves for a submission, once again powered out into the corner.  Kross drove his knee into a Tree of Woe Balor but his stalking made him fall prey to an Armbreaker, he rolls out and tries the powerbomb but Balor floors him with a shoulderbreaker, another submission and then pulling the shoulder against the ropes. A delayed pause happened when Kross went to lunge but stopped and collapsed, no sympathy from the champion as he went for a kick in the gut. Advantage got traded as Kross went corner to corner with powerslaps but then was dropped with a reverse DDT. Kross then smashes Balor with a cradled suplex, rolled into a lariat and then a shoulder powerbomb for 2, Balor then counters with submissions and a sling blade but then gets hit with a clothesline and then an exploder. Balor senses the finisher and hits the Pele Kick, Shotgun Dropkick on 2 corners, Coup de Grace! 1, 2, NO! Kross has rolled into the Straitjacket, Balor rolls into a stomp though, Rings of Saturn on the hurt shoulder, facing Scarlett in pain Kross snaps, powering out and clubbing Balor before hitting a release German Suplex. Kross squishes Balor again then lands the Forearm Smash on the back of the head for 3.

Biiiit of a weak finish I think, considering the array of attacks Kross had there could’ve been more to finish off Balor, but I’m not mad at Kross getting the title back, there’s clearly plans to make him dominant and we’ll see what challenges await.

Franky Monet Teaser and Santos Escobar Interview Another Franky teaser with the dog running around the gym now, bit excessive to go 2 straight days. Santos was interviewed on his victory and to his credit he does put Devlin over regarding his resilience while crowning himself the ‘Emperor of Lucha Libre’, can someone send for El Rey?

New NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez was also in the crowd with her gold as we did more recapping of Night 1

Unsanctioned Match - Kyle O’Reilly def. Adam Cole (Pinfall via Knee Drop) Anticipated throughout with shots of both men surrounded by security leads up to the main event - touted to have been put on last because ‘we don’t know if we’ll still have an arena’. Security separates the men in the ring too, not much peacocking just staredowns, it’s all business and mind games, Adam Cole making sure to do ‘Adam Cole BayBay’ in O’Reilly’s face.

The bell rings but no man makes a move, a calm before the storm as they explode at each other, O’Reilly with running corner boots, Cole with a Pump Kick, O’Reilly with the tope and the Armbar, Cole with the stomps and Barricade throws, O’Reilly launchpad into the barricades and then the chair comes out. Kicks on the seated Cole and a body press leads to Cole rolling back to the ring, O’Reilly locks in a corner guillotine but Cole throws him off the apron in a nasty looking bump that sells O’Reilly’s injured neck. A UE-painted Chair is used for damage as Cole lays into O’Reilly, also shoving O’Reilly into a production tower before returning to the ring, Cole uses the point of another Chair on his neck as he maintained control, O’Reilly gets a submission but Cole drops him with a neckbreaker, mocking O’Reilly as he tells his former friend ‘I made you’. This sets off O’Reilly though, fighting through all Cole’s strikes to counter with knees and clubs, the submission mind comes into play with a leg-first drop onto a chair and then a kneebar, an apron stomp onto a seated Cole took both men out. Back in the ring Cole raises a chair but O’Reilly kicks the gut and then punches the chair so the lid hits Cole, he goes to get a chain from under the ring but gets hit with a twisting neckbreaker on his way back. Cole tries to rake the chain on O’Reilly but he fights back and kicks Cole with a chain-wrapped leg, Cole then wrenches in a Figure Four which rolls back and forth. Cole then floors O’Reilly by using the chain to clothesline him on the rebound, then a chain assisted backstabber for 2. Cole sets up a triangle of two chairs but doesn’t get to use the points, he Germans and O’Reilly sits on one chair that sets up a Shining Wizard for 2 again. Cole then goes for the steps, O’Reilly lands on his feet and hits a Guillotine, he releases to knee Cole down, he was going to flatten Cole but hesitates and gets driven into the barricade. The fight moves on top of the Announcer’s table but it does not give for O’Reilly’s brainbuster but Cole wastes O’Reilly with a TV Monitor, a toolbox introduces pliers, tire iron, bolt cutters and another chain. The pliers and tire iron are blocked and O’Reilly hits the Dean Ambrose-style rebound clothesline.  After a brainbuster for 2, O’Reilly uses a chain assisted armbreaker, then a chain assisted triangle but Cole grabs the tire iron to break the hold. Both men set up a chair to face one another and trade shots, O’Reilly hits harder but Cole hits the low blow. Superkick hits for 2, so Pillmanizing Con-Chair-To is attempted next, the Official disagrees and gets KO’d, Panama Sunrise would get the 3 but the Ref is now out, some pretty stiff hits from Cole on the guy actually easy does it. The fight moves to the ramp as Cole throws a chair at O’Reilly and throws him into the barricade, O’Reilly jumps for the Guillotine but gets thrown into the Barricade again, another Guillotine on the ramp sends both men through the middle of the ramp but Cole is the one who rolls out, kicking out the side of the ramp to pull O’Reilly out. The Ref has returned to life as Cole brainbusters O’Reilly on the steel steps but it hits 2 (bit of a quick 2 I admit), he goes for the last shot but O’Reilly collapses, he tries again but O’Reilly dodges, heel hook, Cole tries to stomp but then both legs get hooked, Cole wraps the chain around his hand and socks O’Reilly to break the hold. Cole looks for the Panama Sunrise again but is caught, neckbreaker, pele kick then a Last Shot of his own for O’Reilly: 1, 2, No! O’Reilly sets up the chain and wraps Cole’s leg in a chair, but Cole then hits O’Reilly with the chair and sets the unfolded chair legs up ready to drive O’Reilly into it, his trash talking though is responded with a low blow, wraps the chain around his leg as Cole lies on the chair, knee drop and that’s 3.

Welts surrounds O’Reilly’s body as Cole is stretchered out, O’Reilly slowly walks away from his fallen friend with some glances back and raises his hand to close the night. A definite main event caliber match to finish off a feud, O’Reilly really steps out of Cole’s shadow in this match as we found newer unique spots with a chain and the ramp itself. The post-match felt like O’Reilly wasn’t sure when his cue was but we can allow it what with the war he went through

Conclusion Overall it was another solid night, I think both nights were pretty on par with each other really. I think I’m only really miffed a little by the NA title scene and a few abrupt endings in Night 1 but Night 2 never overstayed its welcome, it was perhaps a little more predictable but NXT has never shied away from telling you who the ‘right person’ to win is in its builds. What’s next for NXT is Tuesday Nights but what’s next for WWE is Wrestlemania, the Black and Gold has set the bar, can the flailing Main Roster rise to it though?

[skarletterambles]

So I’ve been way, WAY behind on watching The Blacklist.  I lost track of it about a third of a way through last season, and had to wait for it to come out on DVD to get it from the library and finish watching it.  By the time I finished that season, it was already too late to watch the first episode of this season On Demand, but I watched the second episode (the art heist one, which was delightfully amusing and a nice breath of fresh air after the intense Kaplan climax episodes.)  

I have really wanted to get caught up so I can watch the current episodes, especially since they’re no longer on Thursday nights when I work my evening shift.  Alas, various RL circumstances make it hard to get episodes watched.  It’s extremely frustrating.

Anyway, because I’ve been so far behind, I have the names of the show, the characters, the actors, and certain keywords blacklisted (oh, the irony) on Tumblr.  I have avoided the temptation to click on posts that show up as blocked with those words, because I really didn’t want to be spoiled.

Since the mid-season finale, however, I could tell just from the tags I saw that something Very Bad had happened.  I had my suspicions about what it was, and the anxiety of not knowing was worse than spoiling myself, so I took the plunge and clicked some of the recent posts.

Since my reaction involves profanity and lots of reaction gifs (and it’s long), I’ll put a cut here.

Ahem. 

WHAT THE EVERLIVING FUCK IS WRONG WITH THE WRITERS?  WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY THINKING?  THIS IS NOT OKAY!  THIS IS HORRIBLE!  WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?????

I still am somewhat trying to avoid detailed spoilers, but I know Tom died.  That’s enough to make me feel...well, all the emotions in the above gifs, and more.

How could they do that?  One of the most complex, nuanced, interesting, useful characters on the show!  One half of a fascinating power couple.  The dynamic between Tom and Liz was explored, broken down, and rebuilt with such care over the past seasons, and their relationship was a huge part of the show.  To gut that emotional center...what are they thinking?!?!?!

Don’t tell me the antis finally got to NBC.  Oh please no.

Sure, TBL is a dark universe:  characters die, bad shit happens, happiness is fleeting, etc.  But that’s why the Tom/Liz dynamic was SO GODDAMN IMPORTANT!  It was two characters who were enmeshed in this web of secrets and lies from the day they were born, finding a way to carve out a niche of normalcy for themselves among the madness.  Only they could understand each other--hell, even tolerate each other.  They were soul mates who “got” each other on a level no one else could match.  They had history.  They had a child.  They had dreams.

For years we have watched Tom “assemble a soul” and learn who he really is genetically, morally, and psychologically.  To go from working undercover, dodging bullets one moment to bouncing his baby girl on his knee a few hours later...that was fascinating and endearing!  I looked forward to that balancing act becoming more complicated in the future, as Agnes grew up to ask questions and chafe at the strange lifestyle her family lived. 

It would have been a marvelous way to explore what Red could have done differently in raising his own family.  Red could have grudgingly given Tom advice on what to do and what not to do, what he wished he had done, what he never had the chance to do...  It would have been a great character moment for Red, too.

(By the way, I was SO FREAKING HAPPY that they FINALLY put Daddygate to rest.  Liz is a chip off the old block in so many ways...heehee...)

I saw @takadasaiko mention Liz’s dream of someday being able to peacefully walk through a park with the man she loves and their child, and how that was been ripped away from her.  That just gutted me.  It’s true:  the ideal that Liz has dreamed of, the light shining at the end of the long, dark tunnel she’s traveling through, has been snuffed out.  HOW COULD THEY DO THAT TO HER?

So we’ll go from a Liz who was finally figuring out her place in the world and coming to terms with her lineage, to a Liz whose world has been shattered yet again.  The poor woman has been through so much.  How could they take away her soulmate?  We know how she reacts to great loss, so it’s not like we’re exploring uncharted territory for her character.  What narrative reason is there to put her through this fresh hell?  “Living in a world of spies and criminals is dangerous, and people you care about get killed.”  NO SHIT, that’s been clear from season one, episode one.  Main characters have to suffer hardships to keep the plot interesting, sure, but at a certain point it’s just excessive to heap more on.  

After everything Liz and Tom went through to get to where they are at the start of this season (rebuilding the trust after the false premises they started out with, hurting each other physically and emotionally, learning to forgive, prioritizing each other, understanding the sacrifices required to be in each other’s lives, having a freaking gunfight at their second wedding, faking Liz’s death to escape their enemies (and frenemies...or fatherenemy?  Whatever.)  After ALL THAT, to have their happy ending yanked away like a playground bully playing keepaway with a nerd’s lunch money stinks to high heaven.

(Even from a more practical angle, they could have at least kept Tom around to babysit while Liz has her adventures.  Plenty of shows in the past have cast the hero’s wife into that kind of passive role to show that the main character has a domestic life--which is sexist and shitty, but I don’t think the reverse has been done before, so that might have been interesting to explore.  It would have been a tremendous disservice to a character of Tom’s abilities, but at least Liz would have been happy, and he would have been there for future, more active plots when the situation arose.)

Is it some dumb attempt to parallel Tom and Liz with Red and Katarina?  Because I thought the whole point was the next generation trying to escape the mistakes and pitfalls of the previous generation, to carve out happiness despite the world of danger and intrigue they inhabit!  You know, all that about Red being a sin eater who put everything on the line to try to protect Liz from being swallowed up by his world?  And even if he failed to shield her entirely, at least he inadvertently threw a man into her path who could become her partner and equal in so many ways, who could balance and support her.  There was hope that she was going to emerge from all this more or less “okay.”  

Instead, nope, life sucks, hope is useless, everything is bleak, you were foolish for caring, happy endings are unattainable, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.  Acedia is king.  Valar morghulis.

It makes me wonder why I’ve spent so much effort, angst, and frustration (not to mention the library fine for keeping the DVD past the due date) trying to get caught up with this show, if this is the kind of crap they’re pulling.

And yet last season was really good, with the whole Mr. Kaplan storyline, and I do want to see how the Red/Liz dynamic develops now that she knows he’s her biological father, but...GAH!  Tom was an integral part of the show, especially the parts I like most.  The FBI team is fine, but none of them grab my attention and imagination the way Liz and her (weird, dysfunctional) extended family do.

So I’ll keep watching this season, but I am NOT happy.  As the gif barrage above attests.  Heh.

TL;DR:  Killing off Tom Keen was a shitty move for the show and for the other characters, and I doubt I’m ever going to feel the same way about The Blacklist again.  Whether it’s enough to make me stop watching remains to be seen, but it leaves a very, very bad taste in my mouth indeed.

[hubakon1368]

DISCLAIMER: This post is not from the author of the fic. If anyone knows the name of the author’s tumblr account (if they have one), would you please tell me? It would be appreciated.

Chapters: 22/? Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Kairi & Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck & Goofy & Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse & Riku (Kingdom Hearts) Characters: Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Axel (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Merlin (Kingdom Hearts), Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts), Goofy (Kingdom Hearts), Mickey Mouse (Kingdom Hearts), Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Yen Sid (Kingdom Hearts), Vexen (Kingdom Hearts), Demyx (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem the Wise | DiZ, Ienzo (Kingdom Hearts), Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts), Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts), Saïx (Kingdom Hearts), Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Larxene (Kingdom Hearts), Marluxia (Kingdom Hearts), Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Aeleus (Kingdom Hearts), Dilan (Kingdom Hearts), Tron (Kingdom Hearts), Ansem Seeker of Darkness | Xehanort's Heartless, Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Jiminy Cricket (Kingdom Hearts), Chirithy (Kingdom Hearts), Naminé (Kingdom Hearts), Riku Replica (Kingdom Hearts), Luxord (Kingdom Hearts) Additional Tags: Friendship, Spoilers - Kingdom Hearts III, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblades (Kingdom Hearts), Training, Magic, Fight Scenes, Guilt, Regret, Protectiveness, Memories, Lost Memories, Parental/Big Brother Lea/Axel, Hearts, Missing Their Friends, Axel Raised Roxas, Past Isa & Lea (Kingdom Hearts) Friendship, Badass Lea (Kingdom Hearts), Lea/Axel Has Issues, Axel Made Mistakes, Worldbuilding, Sora (Kingdom Hearts)'s Heart, Sora (Kingdom Hearts)'s Heart-Guests, Magic and Science, past trauma, Aqua Has Issues, References To Experiments On Hearts, Bad Things Happened In Radiant Garden, Badass Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Mentions of Blood, Dive into the heart, Stations of Awakening, Serious Injuries, Knives, Burns, Protective Lea/Axel, Platonic Relationships, Near Death Experiences, Badass Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts), Donald Duck Has Magic, Roxas (Kingdom Hearts) Has Issues, Xion (Kingdom Hearts) Has Issues, Donald Duck (Kingdom Hearts) Actually Uses Cure, Nightmares, Platonic Love, Platonic Cuddling, Hugs, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends as Family, Canon Temporary Character Death, Self Sacrificing Tendencies, Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts) Is Connected to Anti and Rage Form Series: Part 1 of Instinctively Family

FanFiction.Net Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13220794/22/Big-Brother-Instinct

Chapter 22: Don’t Think Twice

_______________________________________________________________

Gritting her teeth, Kairi leapt up and launched herself at the tall Nobody with a spiraling strike. She hit hard with Destiny's Embrace before flinging herself away again. Speed and agility were her ally. Saïx was bigger, stronger, and tougher than her.

Real fights aren't fair.

And Kairi didn't intend to fight fair. Not when she knew she was outmatched and not when she knew what was at stake. If she made a mistake, Saïx would kill someone.

Maybe her. Or maybe Lea.

He was trying to keep some distance between him and Saïx, relying on Fire spells and throwing his Keyblade at the Nobody. But it didn't always work. Sometimes Saïx came in close and forced Lea to twist and dodge the claymore. And Kairi could see how Lea would wince or stumble as the fighting continued, a little slow or too clumsy. Maybe because of his still healing injuries or maybe because it was a fight that he never wanted to face.

What would it have been like if she was forced to fight Sora or Riku like this? Would she be able to do it? Kairi didn't know.

Kairi cast Curaga on Lea once again. The higher-level spell was definitely helpful. Then she ran towards Saïx, sliding behind him just in time to pull off an aggressive combo against his back. Kairi hit him repeatedly, stringing together a longer and longer combo as she managed to keep him stunned. She couldn't let him recover. As long as she kept it up, she could keep Saïx off balanced and unable to retaliate.

Real fights aren't fair.

The she pushed her luck too far. Kairi was too close when Saïx spun around, a duller section of his catching her in the middle and flinging her away. Crashing to the ground, Kairi rolled back to her feet even as she struggled to catch her breath. She raised her Keyblade to defend against the next blow.

But that strike never came. Lea was suddenly between her and Saïx. He threw his left arm up defensively, Kairi having a split second to realize that he was mistakenly trying to block with his absent chakram like so many times during training. But a loud clang rang out rather than a snarl of pain.

Kairi blinked in surprise when she realized that his Keyblade had been replaced by twin chakrams. Not his old ones, but a pair forged of fire and magic. Lea looked equally stunned by the transformation.

"Guess I figured out Sora's Keyblade form changing trick then," he said as he shoved Saïx back. "Helpful."

"Nice timing for it," said Kairi, trying not to wince from the forming bruise across her stomach. "You did the thing again. He could have broken your arm."

Grinning as he spun his burning chakrams in his hands in a comfortable manner, Lea said, "Let's see you break a decade-old habit. At least something good came out of it."

Then he threw the burning weapons, forcing Saïx further back as he dodged the attack. Spinning and burning chakrams that twisted and flew through the air in what seemed chaotic, but Lea could clearly predict because he snagged them upon their return while barely looking. When he held them both again, light flared and Lea had his Keyblade back.

"I can work with this," he said.

[esseastri]

All right, fronds, Tor has announced that starting August 22, they’ll be posting Oathbringer chapters! This is terribly exciting for people who want to read the preview chapters, but for people like me, who want to wait and savor (and liveblog) the whole book at once as opposed to piecemeal and spread out over several months, it’s kind of a source of anxiety...

I know that I’m going to be dodging spoilers for almost three months now (thanks, tor). And while I would never want to dampen people’s enjoyment of the preview novel chapters, I’m adding my request to the pile of people saying, yo please please please tag your spoilers!!! 

Aaaaand as much as I love tumblr, it can be kind of...a complicated endeavor making sure that posts end up where you want them--or don’t. So here’s a friendly review of how to make sure spoilers don’t end up where people who don’t want to see them...won’t.

Read mores are your friends. That little line makes everything so, so much easier to avoid. Read mores are your friends.

Wait until the fifth tag. Here’s one of tumblr’s less well-known features: only the first five tags on a post will show up in the public tag. So if the FIRST tag you put on a post is #brandon sanderson, that shit’s showing up in the #brandon sanderson tag. BUT if you put #one #two #three #four #five #brandon sanderson, (or similar “junk tags”--I tend to use // marks), then we’re all safe. It won’t end up in the tracked tag and it’ll be easier to avoid spoilers in the public, tracked tags. You still maintain organization on your personal blog, because it’s still in YOUR #brandon sanderson tag, but you won’t ruin someone else’s day by having it show up in the public tag with spoilers attached.

The first five tags work the other way, too! No one wants to scream into the void and not get a response--I’m on board with that. So somewhere in your first five tags, put #oathbringer or #oathbringer spoilers or even #stormlight archive spoilers. That way, people reading the preview chapters have a place to go to interact with other people reading the preview chapters, and people who want to go into November fresh and clean and unspoiled can still check the regular SA and Bsandy tags without fearing they’ll get spoiled.

Don’t put reactions in the tags. A lot of people have blacklist settings so that even if a post is blocked, the tags still show up as readable--this makes it easier to see why things were blocked, but it also runs the risk of tags like “#omg and then JASNAH did the THING and I DIED” spoiling even tiny things. Keep tags for...well, tags for a few months, and add additional screaming or reactions to the bottom of your actual post.

Discord and Mibbit are your friends. The nice thing about both messaging services is that you can set up different chats and servers that are subsets of the regular ones. So make a spoiler chat separate from the regular, spoiler-free chat, and go wild.

TAG EVERYTHING! Even if it’s a meme or a stupid shitpost or a vagueblog or something that doesn’t seem like it’s spoilers--TAG IT ANYWAY. If it’s even tangentially related to Oathbringer, TAG IT. Especially memes, tbh. Memes are insidious, and often innocent, but with a closer look, they reveal more than they might have intended. Tag literally everything, even if you don’t think it’s spoilers, even if you think it’s annoying. Those of us avoiding shit will thank you.

KEEP tagging stuff, even after the book is released! Maybe you read the preview chapters and so you’ve got a 300-page headstart, or maybe you speed-read, or maybe you took time off from work just to read, and maybe you finish two days after the book comes out. Keep tagging spoilers. Some people read slower, or have time commitments or work keeping them away from the book, or simply read a few chapters a day to savor it, or want to read faster but can’t because they’re liveblogging it (hello, fronds!). But just because you are finished doesn’t mean everyone else is, and continuing to tag for spoilers is super necessary, even six months--or longer--out from the release date.

All right, I hope that didn’t come out as patronizing or anything. I’ve just found that an occasional reminder of the ins and outs of tumblr’s more useful systems can be super helpful, especially if it’s stuff that newer users might not have encountered yet, like the fifth-tag-rule.

ANYWAY, for everyone starting with the preview chapters, ONLY SEVEN DAYS UNTIL OATHBRINGER!!!! Those of us waiting the remaining 90 days until November 14 thank you in advance for tagging your shit. <3

....shit, 90 days? that’s closer than I thought it was.....guess, I need to get a jump on my WoR reread!!

[itsworn]

Denied a Test Drive, He Bought This 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A Anyway—40 Years Ago!

This FE5 Bright Red 1970 Challenger T/A was originally sold through Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago, home of Mr. Norm Kraus. Oddly, the Challenger T/A was equipped (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with a white vinyl top.

The Challenger’s original but anonymous owner was from Glenview, Illinois. In 1974, he sold it to a local, young, drag racer/poseur/wannabe. That owner ripped off the hood and installed some type of dual-quad tunnel-ram intake, headers, and stupid wheels. A young Scott Swaydrak, also a Glenview resident at the time, remembers seeing the car coughing its way down the local side streets.

Not long after, for some reason lost in the mists of time, the second owner no longer wanted the T/A. The original owner bought the car back from the youngster, probably in 1975. The original owner became the third owner, likely more than a bit perturbed at what had happened to his Challenger.

The original/third owner heroically returned the car to Ma Mopar factory condition. The stock exhaust manifolds, stock Six Pack induction, and stock T/A hood were all reinstalled. Scott believes the second owner might have butchered the original hood, so it’s possible that the hood on the car now was a replacement item.

In 1977, Scott, now 18 and the owner of a 1969 Charger R/T, spotted the Bright Red T/A for sale at the Glenview gas station. He went to look at it, and naturally asked the first/third owner if he could drive the Challenger. The seller refused. Can you blame him? Second owner Speed Racer had butchered his beloved car.

Bitterness was apparent, but Scott exercised diplomacy and climbed in the passenger seat. In a somewhat grandfatherly fashion, Scott was chauffeured around the Glenview neighborhoods in the soon-to-be-his Challenger. He never drove it that day. Awkward. Some guys buy their cars sight unseen; Scott bought his test-drive unpermitted. Regardless, days later cash changed hands, Scott became the fourth owner of the T/A, and finally took it for a test drive.

Muscle car happiness was found mixing up fun excursions with the Charger and the T/A. Scott attended local cruise nights at Flukie’s in Niles, as well as bigger car shows in Illinois. But by 1982, the Challenger was beginning to show signs of wear. Rust had arrived at the bottoms of the quarters. The bubbling under that repulsive white vinyl roof needed attention. In response, Scott enlisted a family friend to do a repaint, not a restoration, which included fixing the rust, removing the vinyl top, and properly painting the roof. Rust repair was accomplished early-1980s style, with hand-fabricated patch panels as needed.

The end product turned out nice enough to get the attention of Monogram Models’ Roger Harney, who persuaded Scott to allow the use of his car to collect pictures and measurements as reference material for the creation of a Monogram 1:24-scale kit of a 1970 Challenger T/A (see sidebar).

Scott drove the car until 1986, and then parked it in heated storage. Career and family responsibilities dominated his life until 2002. Finally, after a 16-year hibernation, the T/A was awakened to receive a complete rotisserie restoration.

Mopar restoration expert Klaus Zimmer of Zim’s Kustoms in Lakemoor, Illinois, was called on to restore the T/A to showroom condition. Restoration work included the installation of N.O.S. quarter-panels, floor repair, and trunk work. A single-stage acrylic enamel was used to faithfully restore the 1970 assembly-line-fresh appearance. Zim’s also installed the glass, panels, and suspension.

Scott elected to keep the white vinyl roof off the car. “To me, that white vinyl roof with the sinister black hood and graphics and the black interior always looked like a mistake, so I left it off.” Good call.

The engine was machined by a local NAPA machine shop. Scott assembled the 340 Six Pack to factory original specs. The transmission was rebuilt by Scott’s Mopar buddy, Dennis Bernardy. About two years were spent assembling the car. The restoration was completed in 2009. Since then, the T/A has attended occasional cruise nights and car shows. “I hate to say it, but anything over 10 miles means I take the car in my trailer so it doesn’t get damaged,” Scott admits.

At one show, the wife of the original/third owner came up to Scott and said, “You have to sell this car back to my husband. It’s all he talks about.”

Scott politely said, “It’s not for sale, it’s a keeper.”

Some of us might have added, “And no test drive, either.”

At a Glance

1970 Challenger T/A Owned by: Scott and Patricia Swaydrak, Hawthorn Woods, IL Restored by: Klaus Zimmerman, Zim’s Kustoms, Lakemoor, IL Engine: 340ci/290hp Six Pack V-8 Transmission: A833 4-speed manual Rearend: 8 3/4 with 3.55 gears and Sure Grip Interior: Black Highline bucket seat Wheels: 15×7 Rallye Tires: E60-15 front, G60-15 rear Goodyear Polyglas GT

Dodge created the Challenger T/A by equipping a JH23 Challenger Highline with the A53 Trans-Am package. In other words, the car was not a separate trim level like the R/T or SE, but rather an option package on the Highline model. Exterior adornments in the A53 package included the exclusive side stripe with T/A callout that ran along the beltline, ending abruptly at the leading edge of the C-pillar.

Not long after purchasing the Challenger T/A in 1977, Scott Swaydrak was photographed standing by his pride and joy. As is plain in the photo, the car was originally equipped with a white vinyl top. From day one, Scott was not a fan. He had it removed when the car was repainted in 1982.

The A53 package included the 290hp 340 Six Pack engine, which was built with a distinct block and cylinder heads. The “J” T/A 340 block has two-bolt main caps, but it says “TA” on the block, and it has extra material at the webbing that supports the crankshaft. The T/A cylinder heads featured adjustable rocker arms and relocated pushrod holes to accommodate porting the runners.

The Six Pack induction system was made up of these three Holley 2300 two-barrel carburetors mounted atop an Edelbrock manifold. Exceptional attention to detail is evident on the trio of carburetors and accompanying vacuum pod diaphragms, fuel lines, vacuum lines, and choke thermostat and pull-off.

The left fender tag lists the options found on the Challenger, while the second fender tag reads “TRANS AM,” which indicated the Trans-Am package.

Because the Challenger T/A was based off the basic Challenger Highline model, the Rallye Dash was optional and not found on Scott’s car. Interior options include the center console and solid state AM radio.

The front spoilers were optional. The T/A front scoop, hoodpins, and blacked-out hood give the car a racy, all-business attitude. In order to accommodate the 15-inch front tires, the Hemi and T/A cars came equipped with fenders with “rolled” inner wheelwell lips.

Model Challenger for a Challenger Model One day in 1982, when Scott Swaydrak was driving his 1970 Challenger T/A down the streets of his Glenview, Illinois, hometown, he noticed that he was being followed. He pulled into a gas station, and the suspicious vehicle pulled in right behind him. When Scott stopped, the other driver popped out of his vehicle and said, “We’ve been looking for this car.”

Scott replied, “Who is ‘we’?” He recalls thinking, Is the car stolen? Is this the FBI?

Neither. It turned out to be Roger Harney from Monogram Models, which was based in nearby Morton Grove. Roger was both friendly and persuasive as he talked to Scott about having his E-Body serve as a reference Challenger for the creation of a 1:24-scale 1970 Challenger T/A plastic model kit.

Flattered, Scott agreed to bring his car to Monogram Models to supply the staff with needed pictures, measurements, and details of the car. The two-day process resulted in an accurate kit for enthusiasts. As a display of gratitude for the use of his Challenger, Monogram supplied Scott with a case of 12 model kits and a preproduction version built in just red plastic. Not many muscle cars can lay claim to having a modeling career.

Photographs and measurements were taken by the staff of Monogram Models in order to create a scale model of Scott Swaydrak’s Challenger T/A. It took the better part of two days to collect all necessary information.

Bob Johnson, an executive at Monogram Models, is seen shooting pictures of the Challenger T/A while a designer makes notes for production purposes.

The Monogram model turned out great. Scott’s actual license plate, SAS 392, was included on the cover.

The post Denied a Test Drive, He Bought This 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A Anyway—40 Years Ago! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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