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crystal-moon-101 · 3 years

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Ben Gen 10 - Live Reaction Review

Right, so since I’ve finally got my hands on the new crossover episodes, and since my favourite show of all time is Generator Rex, I thought I’d watch it and write down things along the way. Mostly just reactions to things happening as they go, and then probably a simple review at the in another post of what I liked, didn’t like, and maybe what other ways this episode could have gone.

Spoilers! Kind of, for those who haven’t seen it yet! But onto the watching!

Should probably mention I haven’t seen a whole lot of the Reboot Ben 10. Not awful from what I’ve seen, some interesting and well-done aspect even, but certainly not my cup of tea. But I’m here for my boi Rex anyway so…

This is actually quite a cute theme song intro, not gonna lie

Ah, yes, a very American opening in a very American location.

Lol, of course they use Heatblast as the first alien in the episode, got the same voice actor as Rex, nice touch.

Evil...trees? Are these actually villains in the show?

Also, that little girl is precious.

Ben, are you trying to start a forest fire in the middle of the park?!

Ha, Gwen gets it!

Ah, yes, more American stuff.

“Don’t wreck the precious monuments” should have seen what you did to Mount Rushmore in your past, Ben.

Sup, Hex.

Music is evil, got it.

So Ben’s aliens are pretty famous already, at least being treated more like celebrities than monster sightings.

“Burn the flute!” A.K.A nearly burn Hex in the process.

And that’s why Ben never passed music class.

And why exactly do you want the world, Hex?

“Hopefully the last one of the summer” Don’t jinx it Max!

Time goes by so fast, doesn’t it Ben? Especially with aliens, villains and timetravel.

Max is secretly an EVO with that kind of growl.

Yes, because as we all know, villains will stop trying to take over the world once summer is over. They must hibernate for the winter.

Also, Max, did you steal those marshmallows?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…….Ben, you good there?....Did Hex do something to your brain?

Who thought this would be great to animate!?

We all have those existential crises and talk to smores.

Jesus, Rex, got ninja skills I see.

Some homeless kid and his monkey stole my food? Time to kick some ass!

My favourite alien, Canonballoon.

I’ve missed my boy and his chimp.

Awwwww they’re sharing! Also just….feel so bad for them already. Homeless and struggling for food, my poor boys.

So EVOs do exist here? Wonder how that will be explained.

Ben out here really trying to beat up some other kid, lol. What a great hero.

Bobo, you are great.

I feel like...Ben’s going through some issues.

Ah yaaaaaaaaaaa, bring on the EVO powers! BFS!

Look ma, no hands!

Rex 1, Ben 0

Ben really wants to commit murder or assault here, wow.

Overboard is the word I’d use, yes.

The life of a background character.

Nanites confirmed! And now they’re in the watch, that ain’t good.

Huh...not what I thought was gonna happen.

The little girl is still precious.

This would be fun to explain to Azmuth.

This ain’t good.

On the run from Providence I see.

Awww, poor Rex. Really doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

I can’t tell if these people are angry because of the DNA affect them, or they’re really just being angry in general.

See ya, Gwen and Max.

Interesting to see that the Providence aircraft looks straight out of the show.

Evening, Six.

Still a badass like normal.

He said Omega, he said the word!

Also, nice blame game there Ben. It’s not like you provoked Rex by, ya know, trying to crush him like a grape.

Um...Six...did you just….try to kill a kid? He didn’t know Ben had powers, that pillar could have easily crushed a normal human.

“This is how you try to convince me you’re not a threat?” Say the dude who just tried to murder a kid!!”

Oh no, he Naruto runs!

Oh, hello Hex.

Also, what is Providence in this world? What are EVOs and Nanites in this world? None of this has been explained yet.

Ok, so that’s what Providence is...You’d think we would have seen them before based on all the aliens showing up who want to destroy the world.

EVO Generator....I wonder if that means that there aren’t very many EVOs, like maybe there is only a set group from the same lab, and Rex is considered the most dangerous because he can make EVOs.

Ben, do you even know what an EVO is?

Jeez, I know Six is like, the sixth deadliest man on the planet, but he just tackles alien Ben like it’s nothing. This guy should take on Vilgax.

Did he say nib libs?

My boi’s back!

I’m not liking this Six...very much not the character I’ve come to love. Who are you and what have you done with the real Six!

Lol, gotta make sure the kids at home know these aren’t real guns!

Using a net on one kid, and about to beat the crap out of the other, nice.

I do have to ask why Hex was picked to me the main villain, beyond whatever the hell Providence is doing. Why the magic dude and not a tech based villain? Someone who could be both interested in the watch and nanites.

What a covenant spell you have there, Hex.

Again, why do you want to take over the world?

“No, those are my aliens!” I think that’s the least of your concern there, Ben.

Bobo 1, Hex 0

Why is Bobo one of the best-written character’s here? Not that I hate Bobo, but just…

Lol, Rex did you just lay there, the entire time? What was that net made out of?

Ah, right. Let’s attack the children rather the magical manic who clearly stated he wanted to rule the world.

Those nets are fireproof apparently.

Ooof, ah….quite the sore spot there, Ben.

Just let me hug Rex, please…

Are there EVOs are are there not!?

I know this is supposed to connect with older fans, but most of this info would fly over the head of anyone who hasn’t watched Generator Rex. They act like everyone knows what EVOs and nanites are.

Still with the blame game are we, Ben?

Judging by that look, Rex’s parents are also dead in this world. Guess he’s not allowed nice things in this universe either.

That flashback was….so latching in the dramatic department.

Now ya wanna help, Ben.

He’s so scared of himself, noooo!

Ya, but the different between you and him, Ben, is that he lost his parents, his home, got mutated, his memories became hazy, got locked up and called a monster, and now lives on the streets stealing smores. I think Rex has more of a reason to feel scared at being new with the hero business.

Bobo gets it.

Gotta love they added details on Gwen and Max’s alien forms to make them stick out from the rest. Don’t want to confuse anyone lol.

Thinking of a clever comeback on the spot is hard, not gonna lie.

Yes, Ben, drown him.

Again, with the American music, lol. It ruins the fight scene here.

What is this fight scene?

Original Providence agents would have died on screen rather than ditching the fight.

God, everyone’s made Rex feel like everything is his fault, poor guy.

Rock 1, Ben 0

This message and heartfelt moment falls flat, the build-up wasn’t there and it just...kind of happens. It lacks a lot of flavour and impact, and it doesn’t help with how most of these characters are written.

Old people jokes.

Now we shift the blame to Kevin.

Is Fourarms Gwen bigger? Because if so, nice touch, since we know female Tetramands are stronger/bigger than the men.

Ok, so attempted murder is fine when Six and Ben try to do it, but not Rex, got it.

Get in line Hex, you’re not the first who wants to ‘recruit’ Rex. You’ve got Providence, Van Kleiss, Quarry, Black Knight, that one band, and so on so fourth.

Why is this heartfelt moment suddenly happening now? This feels like it could have been placed back when Rex refused to fix the watch.

Ben…”I’ve already tried that!” Bruh, you tried beating him up, telling Six and Providence you saw him, basically acted like he wasn’t a good hero because he refuses to get over his trauma, and reached out your hand once because it benefited you....I get what they’re trying to do, but it just makes Ben look like a jerk. I get he’s ten, but still…

Just...slap him Bobo, please…

Why are we so nervous about Rex’s sword? Ben you have aliens that can burn, cut, smash and so on, and you barely care what you do. Remember how you nearly started that forest fire at the start?...

Yo, what!? What kind of logic is that, Providence? “Whelp, guess earth is screwed, might as well burn it”

Ya, remember that time when EVOs infected the whole world, and Providence decided to just burn everything down with lasers?

Extendo blade.

Huh, so Six’s blades can break down Rex’s builds.

Salamander...don’t you mean...Skalamander?

One ship? What is Providence packing!?

Yasss, Punk Busters!

Rex is crying, how dare you!

Now we got Smack Hands, you’re in for it, Hex!

Ooooooooooooooonnnnn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttt!

Ah yes, the sixth most beautiful man on the planet.

Again...what is with the nuking?

Magical cloth fixing, just what I need.

Pure chaos with my boy.

Cracking his neck made me cringe.

Also why the sudden change in heart, Six? This feels out of character for the character who is out of character.

Look, Rex, you’re either gonna fix the watch, or you’re gonna start the self destruct countdown. Everything is going to hell, so might as well take that 50/50.

And it worked!

Ah ya, about that missile.

See’s missile inbound “I can handle it!”

Iron Giant vibes around here.

Screw ruling the world, I’m gonna murder this one child!

My cat’s the same.

REX, DID YOU JUST KICK A MISSILE!?

So that’s his full name?

I think you need to work on those vacation days with your boss, Six.

You are not Six, I will never accept you.

So the episode starts with Rex being alone, homeless and being chased by Providence, and ends with him being alone, homeless and being chased by Providence. What was the improvement here? Self Confident?

Ben even just lets him go, doesn’t even offer him to stay with his family.

Rex deserves better.

Another heartfelt moment that just...falls flat…

“Always be family and be there for you, Ben” Until you go to college without telling him before hand

So!...That was the crossover. Not...amazing sadly. I didn’t have high hopes to begin with, and mostly was just happy enough to have Gen Rex be acknowledged. But this Crossover missed a lot of points, and fumbles quite a bit. It reminds me a lot of the Secret Saturdays Crossover and what was wrong there. But I’m tired and will do a break down/proper review another day, if people are keen for that. Thanks for reading this if you did, it was a rollercoster!

#Interesting to analyze #But I am still disappointed #Welp time for fanfictions and fanart to save the day!#Generator Rex #Gen Rex #GR #Ben Gen 10 #Ben 10 #Ben 10 reboot #Ben 10 Generator Rex #Ben Tennyson #Rex Salazar

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troped-fanfic-challenge · 4 years

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Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange 2020 Masterlist!

A huge thanks to every person who signed up for our fic exchange, we got 21 really wonderful fics! We’re sorry it took us so long to get this out to you all! For anyone who isn’t sure what this was all about, this was a double blind gift exchange where each of our twenty-one (21!!!) writers were assigned four tropes from an anonymous recipient, and were tasked with writing a fic that fit our holiday theme, and included all the tropes. The only guidance from their recipient were a couple of brief notes they included during the sign up, and both the writer and recipient were revealed when we shared all the fics! A big thanks to the Tropesters who stepped up to write a second fic when we needed them! These fics, as with all our TROPED fics, were creative and unique, and found ways to utilise tropes that may seem so simple but were transformed in really spectacular ways! Please enjoy these wonderful holiday fics!

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roots in my dreamland (my house of stone, your ivy grows) (Rated M) [Bellarke]

Written by @captaindaddykru for @thelittlefanpire. The four assigned tropes were 1) Doppelgängers, 2) one character is a dancer, 3) first snow, and 4) kissing to keep a cover/a secret.

Summary: Clarke really wants it to work out with Bellamy, but as an A-list Hollywood actress there’s a lot of contractual obligations she can hide behind instead of confronting her own insecurities and past mistakes. Luckily, this Christmas she’s lucked out, and her stand-in Josie is more than willing to (completely selflessly of course) take her place.

Now comes the hard part.

brighter than moonbeams (Rated T) [Memori]

Written by @the-most-beautiful-broom for @thedefinitionofendgame. The four assigned tropes were 1) The characters play a game,2) Secret Santa, 3) Exes to Lovers, and 4) Surprise kiss.

Summary: Murphy and Emori fall in love fast, and then talk themselves out of it. Years later, their paths will cross again, and they realize that their might be parts of their story that are yet to be written.

What a way to start the year (Rated T) [Bellarke]

Written by @bellarkeshoe for @bellamysgriffin. The four assigned tropes were 1) Law enforcement partners, 2) Character gets BADLY injured and they hide it somehow only to reveal later that they are mortally wounded, 3) Characters hugging after they’ve been through hell, and 4) Kissing in the snow.

Summary: It’s New Years Eve, and Bellamy and Clarke got stuck working.

It’s Alright, It’s Okay (Rated M) [Clurphy]

Written by @sailawaymayday for @wwjacksparrowd. The four assigned tropes were 1) Found Family, 2) Groundhog Day/timeloop, 3) Character gets shot/stabbed/BADLY injured and hides the wound somehow, only to accidentally (someone else touches them and their bleeding, they collapse, etc.) reveal later that they are mortally wounded, and 4) Hurt/Comfort.

Summary: Clarke makes it onto the Ring with the rest of Spacekru. What happens when New Years Eve keeps repeating itself? And what does Murphy have to do with it?

Dancing in Graveyards: An Arkadia Anthology (Rated T) [Gen Fic]

Written by @justbecauseyoubelievesomething for @kinetic-elaboration. The four assigned tropes were 1) Small town gothic, 2) Christmas Lights, 3) First snow, and 4) Sneaking someone in/out of your window.

Summary: Three small town gothic stories intertwine as old friends reunite and try to make the best out of their lives. Raven returns home after her foster father’s death and is pulled like a magnet to her enigmatic highschool sweetheart. Jasper seeks solace from a tragedy and desperately attempts to outrun the ghosts of the past. Bellamy battles his inner demons and prays not to tear himself and his loved ones apart in the process. And all of them come to realize that they belong together, even if the place they call home is shadowed by sorrow.

do or die, you’ll never make me (because the world will never take my heart) (Rated T) [Bellarke]

Written by @shen-gong-oops for @probably-voldemort. The four assigned tropes were 1) Fake dating, 2) Amnesia AU, 3) Enemies to Friends to Lovers, and 4) Superhero AU.

Summary: As the youngest member of the Guard and the daughter of the Guard former leader, there are high expectations set for Clarke. The Marketing and PR teams at Ark expecting her to be prim and proper during any conferences, while simultaneously performing their well-rehearsed fight choreography to a T.

But when four unknown supes challenge the juggernaut that is Ark Industries, Clarke wonders if herodom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Merry Christmas, Lovebirds (Rated G) [Murven]

Written by @kinetic-elaboration for @shen-gong-oops. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character cautiously says “i’m going to kiss you now, okay?” or some variation of that, 2) Mutual pining, 3) A misunderstanding, and 4) Tattoos.

Summary: There’s never snow for Christmas on the beach, Murphy is a culinary genius, Raven has a boyfriend, and other presumed facts, too obvious to mention.

Once Upon Our Story (Rated G) [Bellarke]

Written by @andthelightbulbclicks for @bellamythology. The four assigned tropes were 1) break-up/make-up, 2) Did they or didn’t they, 3) Extremely biased flashbacks of the same event, and 4) Bookstore or library AU.

Summary: Bellamy returns with as much fanfare as one can imagine when driving a school bus decorated as Santa Claus through town, leaving Clarke shocked and all of their friends confused given he hasn’t been home in months.

(Or: Six months ago, Bellamy left Arkadia.

Six months ago, Clarke didn’t.

Six months ago, their friends knew the relationship ended, even came up with their own versions of what really happened. But the question that they all want to know for certain– is why?)

Dream A Little Dream of Me (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @queenemori for @vmreed. The four assigned tropes were 1) One character has a child, 2) Protectiveness, 3) Only one bed, and 4) Soulmates.

Summary: It was just Murphy’s luck that right as he was starting to enjoy Earth, he had to leave. But he’d rather that than succumb to a fiery death wave. He and the other residents of the Ring remembered Clarke every year during their New Year’s Eve celebration. But even when they weren’t celebrating Clarke, Murphy couldn’t seem to get her off his mind. He wished his brain would stop playing tricks on him by making him think she was alive. Clarke was dead. Wasn’t she?

i don’t wanna burn out, so wont you please set me on fire again? (Rated M) [Murven]

Written by @kuklash for @sparklyfairymira. The four assigned tropes were 1) Protectiveness, 2) Exes and Lovers, 3) Small Town AU, and 4) Characters fall on each other and have a moment.

Summary: The wind nipped at Murphy’s nose as he stood in the doorway of the gas station on the edge of town. Work was slow, as it always was after sundown, especially in the mid-December cold, but someone had to make sure the good townsfolk of Arkadia could get their milk and gas after the small general store closed. All 800 of them. He watched the cars drive by throughout the day, recognizing each and everyone of them. Bellamy’s beat up truck he worked all highschool to afford, Clarke’s clean new sedan, even that jerk Finn’s loud ass motorcycle. He watched them all pass one by one, his old classmates returning home after another semester of college at the University of Polis. The only sign that time was passing at all.

The phone inside rang, breaking him out of his melancholy, at least for now.

“Great,” he thought, sarcastically. “A phone call 10 minutes before we close.”

He walked back inside and put on the most cheerful customer service voice he could muster.

“Dropship Gas, this is Murphy. How can I he-”

A familiar female voice cut him off, leaving him cold.

“Murphy? Thank god!”

It was his ex.

Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you (Rated M) [Bellarke]

Written by @sparklyfairymira for @captaindaddykru. The four assigned tropes were 1) Celebrity AU, 2) Meet Ugly, 3) Characters must share something, and 4) Characters aren’t together but are mistaken to be.

Summary: Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin are household names thanks to their music. They belong to the same label so they often work together on duets—even though they can’t stand one another. Their first meeting is disastrous and six years later they still can’t get along.

toward brighter days (Rated T) [Sea Mechanic]

Written by @reggieshamster for @/ashplana. The four assigned tropes were 1) Apocalyptic Log, 2) bed sharing, 3) road trip au, and 4) mythical creatures.

Summary: Dear Harper,

I am ridiculously out of it this morning. Last night, when we reached the campsite, Luna suggested we give Echo her own bedroll, since she gave hers up the night before.

Which meant Luna was sleeping with me.

Beside me.

Excerpts from Raven’s journal as she travels to Polis for the Winter Solstice Festival

three words, two hearts, one maybe (Rated G) [Bellarke]

Written by @bellamysgriffin for @bellarkeshoe. The four assigned tropes were 1) Youtuber AU, 2) best friend’s sibling, 3) frikdreina, and 4) miscommunication.

Summary: After an accident blinds Clarke, Octavia’s been encouraging her best friend to keep up with her artwork. In order to inspire her, she recruits the help of her older brother, Bellamy, who’s recently launched a new exhibition at his museum, to feature her work. Bellamy likes Clarke’s work, and he’s more than happy to help. But when she doesn’t show on the big day, he takes matters into his own hands. With an old video camera, he records people’s reactions to Clarke’s artwork so that she’ll know just how talented she is. But when he sends it to his sister, he doesn’t expect her to upload it to YouTube. And he definitely doesn’t expect to go viral.

Something Beautiful, Simple, and Bright (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @wwjacksparrowd for @queenemori. The four assigned tropes were 1) Friends with Benefits AU, 2) Prank war, 3) characters are not together but are mistaken for a couple, and 4) Based on a Song.

Summary: Six months after Wonkru and Eligius manage to establish peace and divide Eden between themselves (with a little slice shaved off for Spacekru, of course), Clarke has a mission: plan a New Year’s Eve party for fifteen hundred people within three weeks.

Murphy’s mission? Stop her from burning out in the process. Oh, and if he could just get Monty to quit it with the freaking noisemakers, that would be great, too.

(…Okay, yeah, he’d also like to date Clarke for real instead of just sleeping with her. But that’s a pipe dream, right?)

put your faith in the devil and the deep blue sea (Rated M) [Clurphy]

Written by @probably-voldemort for @kuklash. The four assigned tropes were 1) Time Loop AU, 2) Characters fall on top of one another and have a “moment”, 3) Enemies to Lovers, and 4) Superhero AU.

Summary: Twenty years ago, when the clocks changed from 11:59pm on December 31st, 1999, to 12:00am on January 1st, 2000, the world ended, exactly as the doomsdayers had predicted. Now, there are only a few livable months left on Earth, and the privileged are evacuating for a life in space, abandoning the planet.

But not everyone has given up.

Clarke was only three when the world ended, and she’s spent most of her life in her mother’s lab. Now, as the last space ships are preparing to leave, her mother’s machine is finally ready, and Clarke and her mother are heading back in time to try to stop the apocalypse from happening in the first place.

An attack on the lab leads to Clarke heading back to 1995 on her own, and the past isn’t quite how Clarke’s vague memories from the beginning of her life paint it. Clarke soon discovers that not only did the machine do more than just send her back in time, but she wasn’t, in fact, sent back alone.

Will she be able to stop the apocalypse before the clock strikes midnight? Or are some parts of history unchangeable?

All I Want For Christmas (Rated T) [Memori]

Written by @thedefinitionofendgame for @the-most-beautiful-broom. The four assigned tropes were 1) Fake dating, 2) Joke kiss turned real kiss, 3) One character is sleeping and the other character is watching them totally in love, and 4) Blanket fort.

Summary: Tired of being single, Murphy decides to take matters into his own hands and get himself a girlfriend before the annual Christmas Day dinner with his friends. Having had bad luck in the past with girls - all twenty four of them - Murphy is determined to make the twenty-fifth, the “Christmas Day” number, his forever.

Of course, this is easier said than done. When his fellow coworker, Emori, seems to be having similar problems and suggests them being each other’s “fake dates” to their Christmas parties in December, Murphy jumps at the chance. Fake dating is better than being totally alone, right? It appears that way, at least until Murphy starts to catch feelings; the ones that make you question everything you think you know. As their “fake feelings” start to become more real, Murphy realizes that Emori’s the one he wants for Christmas. But she’s got walls up and even though his heart doesn’t stand a chance, Murphy’s determined to break them down and show her what falling in love really means, maybe with the help of a little December magic thrown in.

As long as we’re together, no I can’t get much higher (Rated T) [Murven]

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman for @andthelightbulbclicks. The four assigned tropes were 1) Zookeeper AU, 2) Treasure Hunt, 3) secret places, and 4) Secret Santa.

Summary: Murphy has only known Raven for a little while, but the longer he spends getting to know her, the more he realises that there’s no hope of him not falling in love with her.

So when he gets her for Secret Santa, he makes it his mission to nail it.

before i knew you (Rated G) [Clexa]

Written by @dylanobrienisbatman for @sailawaymayday. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Pen Pals, (2) 3+1, 4+1, 5+1, etc., (3) surprise kiss, and (4) character meets another characters ex.

Summary: What do you do when your penpal, the person you know the best in the world, who you love, turns out to be the rather rude (if also rather pretty) sales girl from downstairs? Lexa is about to find out. or - 3 times lexa and clarke meet without knowing they’ve been penpals since childhood, and the 1 time Lexa figures it out.

when life gives you shit, you make kool-aid (Rated M) [Becho]

Written by @reggieshamster for @dylanobrienisbatman. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Bodyguard AU, (2) Bed Sharing, (3) Kissing to Keep Cover/a Secret, and (4) a Character gets shot/stabbed/badly injured and they collapse, being caught by their loved one.

Summary: Bellamy used to have it all, and then one screw-up cost him his career and his fancy life. Now, working as a bodyguard for alcoholic businessmen and their families, he gets a call from his sister for a job… escorting a hitwoman to testify against a man convicted of crimes against humanity. What could possibly go wrong?

and left the secret at the grave (Rated T) [Clurphy]

Written by @probably-voldemort for @justbecauseyoubelievesomething. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Murder Mystery, (2) Partners in Crime, (3) Exes to Lovers, and (4) Snowed In.

Summary: At 8:57 on the morning of December 23rd, eight year old Jordan Green discovered the body of Skybox Inn owner Vera Kane on the floor of the lobby. His screams woke up the other guests of the inn, as well as the live-in butler.

The discovery of the body was followed shortly by two more discoveries. The first was that the storm the night before had knocked out the phones and the internet, and the second was that the inn was completely snowed in with no hopes of escape anytime soon.

Thirteen people trapped in an inn.

Uncountable secrets.

One murderer.

One question.

Who killed Vera Kane?

what a tangled string of Christmas lights we weave (Rated T) [Linctavia]

Written by @thelittlefanpire for @reggieshamster. The four assigned tropes were: (1) Royalty AU, (2) Cyrano AU, (3) Characters fall and end up landing on top of each other and have a “moment”, and (4) Hair brushing and/or braiding.

Summary: When the royal family loses their beloved Prince Wells, the future king of Arkadia, all eyes are on them. The Queen remains as stoic as ever, the Spare grapples with his new responsibilities, the Princess drowns in her grief, and the King is threatening to abolish the monarchy forever.

At Christmastime, as tensions in the palace rise with the vicious tabloids outside, the royal family makes an escape to a castle in the mountains, hoping to find solace and reconcile with their loss.

Princess Octavia will try to mend her broken heart back together as she becomes entranced with the letters sent back and forth between herself and another. But when it’s revealed who the true penman is, will she rise above her sorrow or sink further into it?

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Take a read! Leave a kudos/comment! Our Tropesters worked so hard on creating some unique, festive fun fics from all the amazing tropes that were sent in. Thanks again!

#TROPED: masterlist #chopped: holiday gift exchange #chopped: holiday trope exchange #chte 2.0 #chte2020 #masterlist #the 100 fanfiction

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tokupedia · 8 years

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Kamen Rider 45th Anniversary File: Gaim

*ominous chimes sound followed by the sound of marching drums* ♫ Got it, Move~ Wooow~ ♬

2013

After a long hiatus with clipshow series to tide fans over, Tsuburaya finally creates a brand new Ultraman Series and Ultraman to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary: Ultraman Ginga

Neo Ultra Q bring the original Ultra Q concept into the modern day as its “second season” and airs on satellite TV.

Kyoryu plus Humans! After almost a decade, the fandom’s favorite motif of Dino Sentai returns! HEAR OUR ROAR! The invincible superstars of the 37th Sentai, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger debut! Perfect-de gozaru!

DokiDoki! PreCure runs alongside the Strongest Braves and Armored Riders as the Pretty Cure series of that year.

Garo: Yami o Terasu Mono debuts on TV and stars a new Makai Knight: Ryuga Dougai.

Kouga returns for one last outing as the original Garo in Garo: Soukoku no Maryu. This film takes a more dark fantasy approach akin to 1980s Jim Henson as it is less about the scares and boobs and more of a gothic Wizard of Oz/Alice in Wonderland tale that the whole family can enjoy with only a little blood here and there.

Gatchaman becomes a live action movie....with disappointing changes made to the source material that upset the fans, resulting in a box office flop as it made it to #6 on the charts for only its first week and then fell hard straight to the bottom in the following weeks. Fans consider it one of the top 10 worst live action adaptations of an anime.

Another dud was the film re-imagining of the 1960s hero Tiger Mask starring Eiji Wentz.

On the more raunchy side of things, Hentai Kamen debuts on the silver screen.

Koichi Sakamoto does two solo film projects: Travelers, a sci-fi action flick starring Nao Nagasawa and Ayumi Kinoshita and 009-1, a movie that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the birth of Shotaro Ishinomori (And haunts my nightmares!)

Nuligumar Z, something that slipped past even my radar. It is a film about a Magical Girl henshin superheroine who fights zombies!

When it came time to plan the next season, Producer Naomi Takebe had an interest in breaking away from the formula a bit as the Kamen Rider series had fallen into certain patterns such as only 2 or 3 heroes each season. The first idea that came about in the Toei studio was that there would be more Riders, akin to Ryuki. The next idea was that each would have a motif unique to each of them, at first the team passed around the idea of birds and insects but Bandai suggested something completely unorthodox: Fruit.

Naomi loved this idea as it was something that was never done before and would give a unique look to each Rider to match their personality. The Toei staff test marketed kids to find out what kinds of fruit they liked, with the most popular being oranges. So they decided to make an orange fruit samurai as the main lead!

In terms of music, Avex got a band outside their record label, reggae group Shonan no Kaze, to perform some of the songs of the show and movies with the actors who play the main heroes doing their own themes. Ei Ei OH!

As for the trinkets, the staff wanted it to be like OOO where the device was easy to swap out. (And because OOO was the highest selling Kamen Rider toys on record to date and they kept trying to get those numbers again despite OOO being a lightning in a bottle happenstance.).

Naomi had one idea about “unlocking potential” and after some brainstorming, the staff came up with the idea of using padlocks as a gimmick and enhance it with the fruit motif. But the staff decided it needed a bit more pizazz so they chose to set the show it in a “Sengoku-like setting”, thus the concept of armors came about. To add more flavor, no pun intended, they chose not just armors from ancient Japan, but ancient China, European Knights, Norse Vikings, ancient Arabian archers and a Roman gladiator!

To add to the sheer bizarreness of this mixture they added a guy famously known for a show about killing young girls in a dark deconstruction of the magical girl genre as its head writer:

Gen Urobuchi, dubbed by fans of his work as “Gen the Butcher” or “The Urobutcher.” A self proclaimed nihilist in terms of his dark style of writing, Gen’s involvement caused quite a stir in the fandom and excitement built up. This happened because the voice of Kivat the 3rd from Kiva, Tomokazu Sugita, worked with him previously and introduced him to Naomi Takebe.

Despite seeming out of place for this type of thing, Gen was a huge fan of Kamen Rider, having read Ishinomori’s Black manga when he was a teen and favorites like Ryuki (which may or may not have inspired Puella Magi Madoka Magica) as well as universal fan faves like the Kamen Rider Black TV Show.

Gen also saw this as a challenge, as he had been in a rut doing nothing but anime for a while and needed a change of pace. He was instructed to make the series like “Early Showa Era” Kamen Rider, which only made fans want to see it more.

Then we saw the costumes.....and the fandom had a schism form as some thought Kamen Rider was “ruined 4everz”.

But Gaim is now one of the more highly praised Kamen Rider shows of recent memory. Many enjoying it for going into darker territory at times, having characters you root for, a few deaths and a genuine sense of danger if the heroes fail in the later parts of the season. Also, a plot that neatly threads together (more or less).

Granted, it also had a few hiccups, like the summer 2014 film that was more or less a forced tie-in to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Kamen Rider Taisen’s plot and the awesome but forced and disrupting-a-story-arc Kikaider crossover episode to plug the movie Kikiader Reboot.

The praise was so high for the show that internet geek fan website Den of Geek proclaimed it as the best tokusatsu show in years. (I’d like to think Garo deserves that title at least once in a while and every toku franchise has its day when it hits it outta the park, but I’m just a Fox with opinion) I’d say go into Gaim with expectations leveled, as you are automatically setting yourself up for possible disappointment if overhype clouds your judgement.

If you think it is as great as everybody says, great! If you don’t like it, there are (currently as of this post) 27 other shows of varying styles and tone you can try out or other franchises of the toku genre that may be your cup of tea.

But enough yammering...It’s Lord Kouta’s stage now! ORAAAAA!

(Mr. Kazuraba circa 2013)

Real Name: Kouta Kazuraba

“Pluck the fruit of Heaven. That the world may be dyed in your image. Is that the glory you seek? Is that burden one you can bear? Know this. The lives of men are not ours to control, not even our own. We cannot defy the inexorable current of fate that carries us. But what if fate itself were to call you... To change the world? To turn the course of the future? You cannot defy your fate. But the fate of the world is in your hands!”

In a bustling planned community called Zawame City, the Yggdrasil Corporation provides everyday needs, from healthcare to housing to schools. Zawame used to be a small town, but Yggdrasil moved in and made it a pet project. With a large corporation running everything, people in Zawame feel it is like a “castle town” of the Sengoku Era of old.

And in this town, they call home, everyone hails to a Beat Rider song. Beat Riders are special dance groups that lift the spirits of the citizens. Beat Riders also engage in competitions for turf with other Beat Riders dance groups in Pokemon-like battles using Lock Seeds to summon monsters from another dimension called Inves. One former dancer is Kouta Kazuraba, who has given up his life as a member of Team Gaim and fun to basically adult. (I know that feeling all too well). This has caused a rift between his friends such as Mai as he no longer has time for them and after spending time with Team Gaim’s leader Yuya, goes back to his adult life.

Yuya later talks to a Lock Dealer named Sid, who offers him something to turn Team Gaim’s luck around after their loss to Team Baron...

Kouta later gets a text from Yuya, telling him he found “something good” with an image of a strange device sent as an attachment. Mai and Kouta then encounter a dimensional tear and go inside it, After Kouta picks some strange fruit from the dimension, a larger Inves appears and attacks Mai. They find the device lying on the ground and no sign of Yuya anywhere. Kouta puts on the device, as it looks like a belt buckle and it causes the fruit he was carrying to transform into Lock Seeds. The Inves finds them and chases them again back into their world, and after distracting it, Kouta uses the belt and a Lock seed to become what would later be dubbed an “Armored Rider”.

During his battle with the Inves, a mysterious blonde woman appears to warn Kouta that what he chooses next will determine the course of his fate. If he continues to continue, he will be forced to fight until the very end. Kouta kills the Inves and then goes down a winding path of mysteries, alliances, betrayals and revelations of the dark truth of both Yggdrasil Corp. and the Inves.

Looking back on it, that was when the gears were just starting to turn. But, we didn't realize anything at all. We didn't know that our fates were already written in stone. We just wanted the power to reach our dreams. We thought that helped shape us. That's what we all believed. In the endless war that was yet to come. We would discover that for ourselves.

-Kouta Kazuraba

During one adventure, he met his predecessor Kamen Rider Wizard, who bestowed the title of Kamen Rider to him and the two fought an evil sorcerer alongside the other Heisei Riders.

Gear:

Sengoku Driver

Lockseeds

Lockseed Holder

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Lock_Vehicles

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Armor_Parts

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Musou_Saber_Holster

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Musou_Saber

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Daidaimaru

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Ichigo_Kunai

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Pine_Iron

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Suika_Sojinto

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Sonic_Arrow

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Genesis_Driver#Genesis_Core_Unit

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/DJ_Gun

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Senyo_Joint

Powers:

Enhanced Strength from the various armors, skilled weapons user with various weapons at Gaim’s disposal which is further enhanced by his final form.

The Jimber Forms give Kouta a specific enhancement: Super Hearing in Jimber Peach, Super Speed in Jimber Cherry and Enhanced Power in Jimber Lemon. Kachidoki Arms generates fire from the war flags that Gaim carries and has an AWESOME Gun that turns into a Zanbatō!

When the “Madoka moment” happens in the show, Gaim basically becomes a demi-god. He has florakinesis, teleportation, spirit mediumship, telepathy, attack nullification, exorcism, healing powers, dream walking, reality warping, time travel (by way of the golden fruit), portal creation, resurrection ability and a healing factor. Kouta also possessed the power to terraform an environment as large as an entire planet.

Even if his Lockseeds are damaged, Kouta can regenerate them to working condition as long as he is alive and bears the power of the fruit.

Kiwami Arms can summon multiple Arms weapons which Kouta can manipulate via telekinesis to attack his opponents (as seen in the game All Kamen Rider: Rider Revolution).

Weaknesses:

Before the “Madoka moment”, all one needed to do to defeat Gaim was destroy his driver as he was an ordinary human or swipe away all his Lockseeds. He also was susceptible to mind control and “Dark Henshin-ed” once in to a black version of Gaim.

As a demi-god, it is shown that while Kouta is a formidable opponent, certain beings can drain his power away rendering him human again and thus able to be killed (Ex. Megahex). If the “back-up” of his genetic data inside the Kiwami Lockseed is destroyed, then Kouta would be dead and gone forever as he would have no means of reviving.

He also can be overpowered by stronger beings, though ones of such god-like cosmic threat level are few in the Kamen Rider universe.

Given his near God-tier status now though, it is a difficult task to even make a dent in him for the average Rider.

Enemies:

Inves

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Inves

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Inves

Inves are beings from another dimension who at first are like Pokemon to the people of Earth, a fun harmless pet they could summon to fight battles in called the Inves Games from Lockseeds. However, it becomes apparent after the first episode that they are far from innocent, as they are wild beasts who feed on the fruit of the Helheim Forest/Lockseeds to grow even stronger and evolve into larger monsters and attack people. However, despite seeming to be mindless, there is a dark secret as to what exactly they are.

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Over_Lord_Inves

Some of the Inves posses sapient-level intelligence and these are classified a the OverLord Inves. They command the feral and savage members of their race.

Yggdrasil Corp.

(Riff: Yggdrasil, a subsidiary of EvilCorp Conglomerates United and Amalgamated Cheese.)

http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Yggdrasill_Corporation

Yggdrasil is a major multinational corporation run by the Kureshima family. They set up their new HQ in Zawame seemingly out of interest in a city development project, but have a more serious ulterior motive in stopping a mass outbreak of the Inves that they believe will wipe out humanity.

Despite this seemingly noble goal of saving humanity, Yggdrasil’s means of doing so are morally questionable at best and outright horrifying at worst.

Word eventually gets leaked that they were going to let 6 billion humans die as they could only save 1 billion in the event of mass outbreak if the Helheim Forest spread. They are then labeled as terrorists by the UN and after a domino effect, including a siege of the Zawame Branch by the Inves, the company went into bankruptcy.

However, its former CEO does try to repent for his company’s sins by helping rebuild Zawame and protecting it in Kouta’s absence.

(Though the Melon Lord wasn’t a bad guy to begin with, just a bit arrogant and misguided in believing there was no other way to save humanity and things went out of his control as the series progressed. Kouta eventually got through to him and the two became friends.)

That’s all for now, I leave you to bask in the metal mustachioed glory that is Kachidoki Arms!

#RiseUpYourFlag!

#kamen rider #45th anniversary #kamen rider gaim #fruit #samurai #2013 #tokusatsu #kachidoki arms #fruit basket #dai dai dai shougun #soiya #this is our stage now #dancing #dj gun #sengoku driver #lockseed #gen urobuchi

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MLS Newsstand - May 11, 2018

May 11, 201812:23PM EDT

SELECT CLIPS

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Houston Dynamo, 10:30 p.m. ET – TSN1 / TSN4 / TSN5 / ESPN+

MLS ARTICLES

Caps could use a Blondell moment to defuse Dynamo

The Province – May 11, 2018

The Vancouver Whitecaps (4W-5L-1D) took a step back last week with a 1-0 loss to 10-man Minnesota, and look to bounce back tonight when they host the Houston Dynamo (3-3-2) at B.C. Place. Both The Eagles (playing all their musical hits next door in Rogers Arena) and the Caps should have Desperado on their minds. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on TSN 1, 4 and 5 and carried on TSN 1040 AM radio:

The Big Matchup

In desperate need of some offence trailing the Loons last week, the Caps inserted Kei Kamara into the game after he started the Major League Soccer contest on the bench in his first game back from a groin pull. He was a big, dangerous target, coming close on four opportunities, but the rust of a three-week layoff was evident.

Another solid week of training should help Kamara round back into form for the goal-starved Caps, and be a handful for Adolfo Machado on the Dynamo backline.

Five things to watch

IN NEED OF A BLONDELL MOMENT

The Caps have scored just three goals in their last give games, of which they’ve lost four and been shutout three times. Last week with the man advantage, they had 19 shots, the third highest total in a game they were blanked.

Robinson said after the game he could have tried pairing Kamara with Anthony Blondell, a combination we haven’t seen this season but could this weekend. Both players are strong in the air and can hold up the ball, though Blondell might do well to calm his game a bit and opt for placement over power.

THE SHORT STUFF

The short pass has been a problem for WFC, which hasn’t been able to string much together in tight quarters. The Caps are last overall in total passes per 90 minutes (350.9), 18th in overall accuracy, and have the most inaccurate short passes per 90 minutes in the league. Even if you’re not trying to dominate possession, doing something with the ball when you have it is key for an offence predicated on service to its target players up front.

THE SHORT WEEK

It’s a busy schedule for the Caps, who host the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night before travelling to Texas to face FC Dallas next Saturday (May 19) afternoon. Their depth at each position is going to be in high demand this week, especially on a team that has five key contributors 30 or above. I’d expect the Caps to field their No. 1 lineup against Houston, then rest some starters against the Earthquakes (1-5-2), who are last in the West and have the league’s second-worst record.

“I don’t mind the short weeks, so you can just focus on the game, recover, then play the next game. You don’t have to think about it too much, you can just play,” said 31-year-old fullback Marcel de Jong, who started five straight games before sitting the past two, giving way to youngster Brett Levis.

“It’s always good to have a team with a lot of good players, so we can help each other when we need, and rest players. When injuries happen, you can still have a strong squad. Obviously after last week, the pressure’s on. But every game is going to be tough and going to be hard for us, but especially in home games, we need to get results.”

BY THE NUMBERS

At 1.22, the Whitecaps are better than seven other MLS teams in terms of expected goals, but that hasn’t been borne out by their average of 1.0 goals per game. In their last four losses, you can point to several different factors — poor finishing in Salt Lake, a game plan destroyed by a late injury to Kamara against LAFC, poor adapting to a new formation and a hot goalie in Kansas, another heroic keeper in Minny — but PDO, which calculates finishing rate vs. save percentage is a good indicator of how much is skill, and how much is luck.

At 898, only three teams are lower than Vancouver, and they have 21 goals combined and are below the Caps in the standings.

QUIOTO PROBLEM

When it comes to offensive affect, the Dynamo’s answer to Kamara — who’d figured in all but two of his team’s goals before being injured — is Romell Quioto. A pre-season illness hampered his start, but since getting his first start on April 14, he’s figured in Houston’s last nine goals. The dynamic winger has two goals and four assists, but his effect has kick-started the offence, like a 90th-minute shot against the L.A. Galaxy that hit the crossbar and led to the game-winner from Memo Rodriguez.

They’ll need all the offence they can get tonight, as they have yet to win a road game this season, a streak stretching past the last nine away games.

Working in their favour: Houston has 11 first-half goals, tops in MLS, while the Caps have conceded the fourth-most in MLS (7).

Predicted Starting 11

Whitecaps (4-4-2)

Kamara — Blondell

Davies — Felipe — Reyna — Ibini

De Jong — Waston — Aja — Nerwinski

Goal: Marinovic

Dynamo (4-2-3-1)

Quioto — Martinez — Elis

Ceren — Alexander

Beasley — Fuenmayor — Machado — Wenger

Goal: Willis

Whitecaps: Jordon Mutch (hamstring); Dynamo: A.J. DeLaGarza (torn left ACL), Juan David Cabezas (quad), Philippe Senderos (hamstring/knee), Dylan Remick (concussion), Kevin Garcia (hamstring), Jared Watts (hamstring).

Houston Dynamo evolving in 2nd year under coach Wilmer Cabrera

Pro Soccer USA – May 10, 2018

HOUSTON – Last season, under first-year head coach Wilmer Cabrera, the Houston Dynamo blitzed the league with their quick counterattacking style of play. But this year, they’re changing things up.

The Orange rode their counterattack all the way to the Western Conference finals before being disposed of by the Seattle Sounders. But entering 2018, Cabrera’s second year, the club knew it had to evolve its playing style to etch itself among the league’s best teams and to again make the playoffs in a tough Western Conference.

Eight games into the season, it’s clear this Dynamo team’s playing style — while still a threat on the counterattack — has plenty of other ideas on the pitch.

“We’ve been changing. This Dynamo team doesn’t look like the same Houston Dynamo as last year. We play better,” Cabrera said. “If we went through last year, 90 percent of the games that we played we didn’t have good possession because we were built to counterattack, but we’ve been evolving. We’ve been improving.

Evolving the team’s playing style takes time. Players need to adjust to different things thrown in their path.

LA Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid, whose side lost 3-2 in Houston on Saturday, agreed the Dynamo are not the same as last year. But beyond being a more possession-oriented team, Schmid points to another reason for the Texas side’s improved play this season.

“I think [midfielder Tomás] Martinez makes them more of a possession-based team,” Schmid said. “I think he helps them, but they’re also now in the second year of their project and they’ve been reasonably healthy, so [forwards] (Mauro) Manotas, (Alberth) Elis and (Romell) Quioto have played a lot of games together and they’ve been able to put the same lineup out week to week.”

While the Dynamo’s returning players have stepped up their game, new players are also being incorporated into the team this season.

Cabrera said he wants his team to have the possession but to do something with it, “possession of a purpose,” he calls it.

“To play soccer with the idea to attack, because at the end possession without a purpose doesn’t help us,” Cabrera said.

Houston takes it’s new playing style on the road as the Orange take on the Vancouver Whitecaps Friday night.

Portland Timbers-Seattle Sounders rivalry reaches milestone as clubs prepare for 100th game

The Oregonian – May 10, 2018

Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri has faced the Seattle Sounders an incredible 15 times in MLS play over the last five years, but his most vivid memory against Seattle came in his first year in Major League Soccer.

The Timbers took on the Sounders in the 2013 Western Conference semifinals that year and earned a huge 2-1 win on the road in the first leg of the series. The club returned home to Portland for the second leg the next week in a position to oust their rivals. Late in the first half, Valeri sprinted into the box and scored on a sliding shot to give the Timbers a 2-0 lead and all but secure the series win for Portland.

The deafening cheers from the crowd in that moment stuck with him.

“It was my first year. It was the first time of my career playing in playoffs,” Valeri said. “That game was crazy. Every game is good against Seattle. It has something extra, special, spicy.”

Portland’s 2013 playoff victory over Seattle is just one of many iconic moments in the storied history of the Timbers-Sounders rivalry.

The rivalry was born on a rainy day in May 1975 when the clubs first met in the North American Soccer League. The Timbers went on to oust the Sounders from the playoffs that season in a historic sudden-death overtime match in front of 31,000 fans at Civic Stadium.

More than 40 years later, the Timbers and Sounders are preparing to celebrate a milestone in the history of their rivalry as Portland is set to host Seattle Sunday in the 100th game between the two clubs.

“When you look through the rivalries in this league, you got to say this is the biggest rivalry, hands down,” Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson said. “And at one hundred games, you can compare it to most rivalries around the world. You definitely feel that tension when you play Seattle. You definitely feel that excitement. The game is always a little bit scrappier than your average game.”

Scrappy and tense games have been a hallmark of the Timbers-Sounders rivalry since the beginning.

T2 head coach Cameron Knowles, who played for the Timbers from 2007-2010 when they were in the lower division USL, clearly remembers being sent off in the 2007 U.S. Open Cup after what he called an “alleged” foul on Seattle’s Roger Levesque. Portland general manager Gavin Wilkinson, who joined the Timbers as a player in 2001 and later served as the club’s head coach, had to get stitches after each of his first two games against Seattle after being elbowed in the chin and forehead. He has a scar on his chin to this day.

Timbers assistant coach Sean McAuley made his debut against the Sounders in his lone season as a player for the Timbers in 2002 and introduced himself to game by getting a yellow card.

“My dad always used to say to me, ‘Whenever you play a rival, make sure you get booked,'” McAuley said. “So, I got booked in the first six minutes. I think it was the first thing I did. First challenge was a yellow card. I thought that would be good.”

Over the years, the rivalry has produced numerous memorable moments. Among those moments are Levesque embracing the villian role by miming being chopped down like a tree in an infamous goal celebration, Seattle’s Clint Dempsey ripping up a referee’s notebook in the U.S. Open Cup and Portland’s Fanendo Adi celebrating a two-goal performance by grabbing Timber Joey’s chainsaw.

The Sounders hold the series lead with a record of 50-35-14 across all competitions, but the Timbers probably hold the bragging rights after beating Seattle in the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs and being the first of the two clubs to win MLS Cup in 2015.

“There’s the intensity of the game, the importance of the game,” Wilkinson said. “It always has the meaning of so much more. Every game against them is like a final. The players understand it, the club understands it and it’s understood on both sides.”

Over the years, the rivalry has only grown as new events have been added to the history and the support on each side has swelled.

During their final years in the lower division USL, the Sounders drew just over 3,000 fans per game. Last season in MLS, Seattle finished second in the league with an average attendance of 43,666 at CenturyLink Field. The Timbers never drew less than an average of 5,500 fans per game in the lower divisions USL and even drew an average of over 10,000 in 2010. But Portland now sells out every game at Providence Park and the atmosphere inside the stadium is astounding.

“All of that has served to intensify the rivalry,” Knowles said. “The supporters’ culture, the level of play, the bragging rights of MLS Cup. Every year, it seems like there’s another layer that gets added.”

On Sunday, Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese will experience a Timbers-Sounders game from the sidelines for the first time.

But like anyone that follows MLS within the United States or abroad, Savarese was well aware of the rivalry long before he took over as head coach of the Timbers. There is nothing else like it in American soccer.

“I’m lucky to be part of it because I know what it represents,” Savarese said. “It was a rivalry that already existed before (the two clubs joined MLS). Bringing it to Major League Soccer created something that all of us that love soccer and want soccer to grow in the United States wanted to see.”

Ken Burns gives a Twitter shout-out to Portland Timbers mockumentary about Seattle rivalry

The Oregonian – May 10, 2018

Somber voiceovers, reading letters to loved ones. Expert talking heads sharing analysis. White titles on a black background, accompanied by melancholy music. No, it’s not a new documentary series from Ken Burns, whose iconic works on “The Civil War” and “The Vietnam War” have made his name synonymous with historical overviews.

Nope, we’re talking about “The Rivalry,” a mockumentary about the history of battles between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders professional soccer teams.

Fans of Major League Soccer have been having fun watching “The Rivalry,” and now Ken Burns himself — or at least the official Twitter account associated with the master historian — has gotten into the act.

The Burns Twitter account has a link to “The Rivalry,” and reads, “There is no re-writing history but there are a multiplicity of points of view.”

There is no re-writing history but there are a multiplicity of points of view. @TimbersFC mockumentary about their rivalry with Seattle

The Portland Timbers will face off against the Seattle Sounders for the 100th time on Sunday, May 13, at 1 p.m. in Portland’s Providence Park. The game will be televised on ESPN.

How FC Dallas’ depth is a result of its culture

Dallas Morning News – May 8, 2018

Ryan Hollingshead came on for the third time this season in LA, and the jack-of-all-trades is in something of a familiar role fighting for playing time in various positions.

Still, he wouldn’t commit to saying this is the deepest FCD team he’s played for in his five seasons in Frisco.

“I think it’s tough every year. I don’t ride the hype of, ‘Oh, this year’s different than another year.’ Every year there’s guys trying to battle here for starting positions and every year they’re bringing in new guys to make the team that much better,” he said. “This is the same sort of thing. We’ve got a lot of good guys who can play and who can step in at any point, and that speaks to the staff here and the front office and the people they’re bringing in. It speaks to the culture they’re growing here.”

A coach always will accept new additions who can make his team more competitive, but this season FCD has seen the emergence of players like Jacori Hayes and Cristian Colman, who were on the roster last year but rarely contributed, make their cases for more playing time.

“I think the rotations this year have helped us to add more minutes to the players,” FCD coach Oscar Pareja said. “We have a good team and we have players who usually didn’t play much last year for one reason or another but this year they are contributing to the team and being part of the equation every weekend. That helps us a lot and I think the pool of players is getting deeper.”

Chris Richards called into US U20s for Honduras trip

Dallas Morning News – May 9, 2018

New FC Dallas homegrown signing Chris Richards, who just had a training stint with Bayern Munich in Germany, has been called into the latest US U20 camp by coach Tab Ramos.

The U20s will train for 6 days in Florida before heading to Honduras for two matches against Los Catrachos on May 17 and 19.

The U-20 MNT is midway through the first year of a two-year cycle with the focus on qualifying for the 2019 U-20 Men’s World Cup in Poland.

The camp will be Richards first camp in the U20 pool.

Richards will not be activated on the FC Dallas roster until the current Developmental Academy season ends.

US U20 Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (2): David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.), Seth Stiebel (Saint Louis FC; O’Fallon, Miss.)

DEFENDERS (6): Glademir Mendoza (Real Salt Lake; Phoenix, Ariz.), Manny Perez (N.C. State University; Garner, N.C.), Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.), Chris Richards (FC Dallas; Hoover, Ala.), Sam Rogers (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.), Angel Uribe (Club Tijuana; San Diego, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Frankie Amaya (Pateadores; Santa Ana, Calif.), Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC; Powder Springs, Ga.), Chris Goslin (Atlanta United FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Andres Jimenez (Envigado FC; Miami, Fla.), Richie Ledezma (Real Salt Lake; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Alex Mendez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Aristotle Zarris (LA Galaxy; Sarasota, Fla.)

FORWARDS (6): Simon Becher (Oakwood Academy SC; Brooklyn, Conn.), Shaft Brewer Jr. (LAFC; Sacramento, Calif.), Wilson Harris (Sporting Kansas City; Encino, Calif.), Abdulkadir Haji (Manchester, N.H.; Virginia Commonwealth University), Ulysses Llanez Jr. (LA Galaxy; Lynwood, Calif.), Justin Rennicks (Indiana University; Hamilton, Mass.)

FC Dallas Practice Observations: May 10, 2018

Dallas Morning News – May 10, 2018

Today was a closed session for FC Dallas, but I used my ninja skills and snuck in so our readers could get a top secret, super-duper spy report!

Just kidding, a closed session just means it’s in the main stadium and a passerby can’t look over the fence. It also means I have to ask someone from PR to let me in, which of course requires FCD Head Coach Oscar Pareja’s permission.

As you can see from the pic above, the essentially finished exterior to the South End looks good. If you squint, maybe you can spot they are starting to put in the frames up near the top left corner for the new TV screens that are going on that end.

News and Notes

Kris Reaves is missing today as he was having surgery today for a sports hernia.

Four Academy kids are in to help make up the numbers: Chris Cappis and Gibran Rayo, both of whom we’re seen a fair bit of lately, but also Emmanuel Paga and Ronaldo Damus.

Jordan Cano is with OKC Energy and Jesus Ferreira is with Tulsa Roughnecks on their respective loan deals. As is Adonijah Reid in Ottawa Fury, but he stays there and isn’t a back and forth guy. So is Anibal Chala technically, but we know that’s basically a joke at this point.

Paxton Pomykal and Francis Atuahene are both still rehabbing.

Chris Richards is with the US U20s in Florida.

Bryan Reynolds plays right back again today. This is actually a thing now for about two weeks running. He also played right back last week for the U19s as well and that wouldn’t happen without Pareja asking for it. I asked Pareja about Reynolds at right back, his answer is down below. FCD has a depth problem at right back and if Reynolds can solve that, and if it gets him game action, then it’s a win.

Brandon Serviania looks strong and active again today. He’s really showed me something since his return from his compartment syndrome procedure. His Progression is really remarkable. His range has increased, his confidence up, he’s not just playing but starting to impact play. Pareja says Servania is starting to challenge and it’s now a 5 player battle at the two deep-lying mid spots. Servania is an 8, so if he gets a shot it would be along with a more defensive 6 next to him.

A note on one of the Academy kids, Gibran Rayo, who is 16. About 20 minutes after training ended, as I was leaving the building I walked past the Dr. Pink field and Rayo was out there by himself with a bag of balls shooting on goal. You can’t teach desire.

On the Kellyn Acosta recovery watch, after getting 30 minutes against LAFC the next step should be to start and play about 60 minutes. Let’s see if that happens this week. I think there’s a good chance.

Pareja confirmed that Jesse Gonzalez is 100% healthy and his playing or not is down to coach’s decision.

Training Observations

After warm-up and some ball & fitness work, the first large-scale drill was interesting. It was essentially 11 players vs 4 Academy kids and a goalkeeper.

Don’t worry, it’s not as ruthless as that sounds. It was a half field drill that was about building up and getting play into the box. Good accurate passing, complete 11 offensive rotations, quality crossing or penetrating passing, and finishing. The Academy kids were only putting in token resistance and movement; they were mostly just being living obstacles. There were also some static obstacles: cones marking passing channels, tall metal figures for midfield defenders. This drill isn’t teaching anything; it’s a muscle memory, confidence building, and getting your mind sharp kind of thing.

After this main drill Pareja took a group of players to the opposite and worked on corners and free kick patterns for this weekend’s game. As you can imagine in a closed-door session I’m not going to talk about them or any personnel.

‘Cause spoilers. Stop reading my stuff, Sigi!

Given Pareja took more than 11 players for the walkthrough, it seems he may not have yet decided who will start this weekend.

The players that were left over, including the four 19s, worked with Marco Ferruzi on a crossing, passing, and shooting drill. About 1/3 of a field with full goals and keepers. It was 4 v 4 in the middle with two crosses wide on each side. Quick combo play in the middle or send it wide for a cross back in. Tight space, fast passing, tight combinations, and finishing.

Again, on this day I’m not going to mention who was in this drill as it would give away the players working the corners with Pareja.

Catching up with Oscar Pareja

You’ve had four games now without Mauro Diaz in the lineup, does this say more about him or more about where your team is, that he hasn’t been a choice?

We are choosing to have some versatility with the lineup and you gotta carry the risks in that and see if for this particular game you want to give the opportunity to somebody else. We have been using that mentality for the last month for more or so.

Mauro is fine. He’s training well. He’s doing a good job on understanding, as well, what we are doing and support from him to his teammates has been great. It’s good. And so are the other ones who have not been regulars in the lineup.

You know, somehow we have to shake up our subs a little and see if we can play different between one game or another, or within the same game. I’m expecting that will make us good, we are expecting everything to come together quickly.

And then you have to choose.

One player that doesn’t quite look the same as last season is Michael Barrios. What is he not doing right now that he was doing the last couple of years?

Mikey hasn’t been consistent so far. And that happens with players. You don’t like to see it, because you have a player who has tremendous ability to break our lines, take people on, and do what he has done in the Cup. That’s why we have decided just to give him a little bit of a break also.

Sometimes the loads, and sometimes the continuity also, and sometimes the pressure to perform every single weekend, that’s heavy. We may say that is shouldn’t, but it does, with him it’s the same exercise.

But Mikey is a worker and he’s very committed to do the right things, I don’t have any doubt that Mikey will bounce back also.

You’re about a quarter of the way into the season, do you see progress in your team?

In certain ways I do. I have seen progression in some areas. As I say to you, I think we are more versatile, more flexible. We have enlarged the roster, the participation of the youngsters in the lineup, all those things. I’m hoping to have more continuity in certain behaviors of the team in the field, but I think it’s early.

I’ve seen Reynolds now playing some right back with you in training and with the Academy, is that now a thing, Reynolds at right back?

I see things there. We spoke with Bryan and said, “you know what, I have seen some ability here from you when you attack from behind. With your size and your stamina and your technique, naybe we can use all these tools and get somebody that can help us there and see.” Bryan was content with that. We are working him in that position, for now, to see how he develops.

I thought Brandon Servania has looked really sharp since his return. Is he putting himself into your thought process now?

That’s great and I’m glad that you asked me that. Because it’s a reality, he has been very sharp and he has been in the equation already. I have seen him already progressing and competing now. He’s not just being part of the team but competing.

So we had four midfielders [competing] now he comes as the number five and he’s making his case. This week he performed very well and I can see him stronger. I’m glad to see it.

He embraced the idea to go play with the Academy and get some minutes. We let [Jesus] Ferreira go to Tulsa yesterday and we will keep evaluating cause with the boys playing, it’s the only way they can make that training effective.

Have you considered a short loan with Servania, maybe a game or two somewhere?

He could, yeah. He could. Because the best way for them is to play. Where is the dilemma… but playing is necessary.

What do you think is Brandon’s best position?

Number 8. I think he can play it as the double pivot but him being the link. I see fine the game reading for him, just toss him in and let him carry all the ideas. I think he can be a good compliment for a number ten or for a second forward, and having somebody beside him who is stronger defensively.

Crew off to best start under coach Gregg Berhalter

Columbus Dispatch – May 10, 2018

Two months and eight days after its season started at BMO Field in Toronto, Crew SC walked off the grass at Mapfre Stadium with one-third of it in the books.

The first two-plus months have already yielded two significant swings for the Crew. A four-game unbeaten streak gave way to a three-game losing streak, which then flowed into another four-game unbeaten streak.

Eleven games have given a more positive progress report than the Crew is used to by this point. A team that has often treaded water to start seasons before finding its rhythm as the playoffs near is off to a 5-3-3 start (18 points), its best through 11 games under coach Gregg Berhalter by two points.

“I think the way I look at every season is you like to build and you want to arrive at a point, and that’s the important thing about it,” Berhalter said. “Along the way there are a lot of ups and downs, and it’s a difficult road and it takes unexpected turns. But we want to keep getting better, we want to keep improving and keep building.”

Last season, the Crew surged into the playoffs behind a more consistent offense via a healthy Federico Higuain and a steadier defense over the last three months of the regular season. To start 2018, a solid defense — 10 goals allowed in 11 games — has been the Crew’s pleasant surprise. An offense that has occasionally struggled after the trades of Justin Meram and Ola Kamara comes as less of a shock.

The Crew has the potential to create more chances on offense over the final two thirds of the season, midfielder Pedro Santos said, but the team appears to have a better grasp of one important element — winning — than it has at this point in previous seasons.

“Wins always bring confidence. When we win, things come easier,” Santos said. “If we keep winning the next games, when we create three or four chances, we can score three or four goals. But I feel my teammates’ and everyone’s confidence growing.”

Busch retires with Columbus

Goalkeeper Jon Busch, who started a 14-season Major League Soccer run with the Crew, has signed a one-day contract to retire with the team. He will be recognized at halftime of a game Saturday against the Chicago Fire at Mapfre Stadium.

The 41-year-old Busch, who played with the Crew SC from 2002 to ’06, is fourth in league history in regular-season appearances with 309.

“I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to retire as a Crew SC player,” Busch said in a statement. “I have played for three fantastic clubs, but Columbus has always been our home. So, it is only fitting that my career ends where it began.”

Breaking the mold: Wan Kuzain, and U.S. soccer’s search for more players like him

FourFourTwo – May 9, 2018

It’s uncommon to see a professional club in North America highlight pass completion percentages in a press release announcing a signing.

But that’s exactly what Sporting Kansas City did upon inking Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal as an MLS Homegrown Player in April, extolling the teenage midfield talent’s USL-best 91.3-percent passing accuracy in 2017 and his 90.8-percent completion rate in his first few games of 2018 as they promoted him from Swope Park Rangers, their reserve side.

The tack is partly because the 19-year-old U.S. youth international plays holding midfield in Sporting’s system, a role not generally conducive to gaudy attacking statistics. It also hints at his rare gifts, and the challenges to cultivating others like him.

“A very good passer of the ball, very good technique, very good vision, good awareness,” Swope Park head coach Paulo Nagamura, himself a holding midfielder in his playing days, told FourFourTwo. “For me, what defines Wan Kuzain, he is a little diamond that needs to be polished.”

Kuzain does not fit the traditional mold of a blue-chip United States men’s national team youth prospect. He stands a modest 5-foot-10, 160 pounds, and isn’t remarkably strong, fast or physical. Born in Carbondale, Illinois, to Malaysian parents, Kuzain has since 12 years old been drawing attention from onlookers in both countries with YouTube videos of him bewitching opponents. He’s different; now, he aims to prove that those skills can translate in Major League Soccer.

“I think sometimes we have the wrong impression about physicality,” said Nagamura. “Kuzain is a very good example of a guy who is not very physical and strong, but is really quick on the ball, with quick feet. His technique and his quick feet overcome a lot of the stronger guys he plays against. For sure there’s a lot of players like that in the United States and we can never close the doors for those players, because I think we want to have guys who are good on the ball, guys who can make plays and guys that are technically efficient.”

After learning the game under the guidance of his father – a former pro in Malaysia – at local club South Illinois FC, Kuzain joined St. Louis Scott Gallagher’s academy system at age 11, making the four-hour round trip from Carbondale for trainings and games four to five times a week. Today, the club would be able to fast-track a player of his abilities up to the USL level, where it owns and operates Saint Louis FC. But back then that arrangement was in its infancy, so Kuzain and his family looked west, where his brother Wan Kuzac was working as an administrator at Sporting KC.

Having built a reputation as one of the most aggressive recruiters of youth talent in the nation, Sporting wasted no time. Kuzain joined SKC’s academy in August 2016 and signed a USL contract with Swope Park Rangers less than a year later. The club shifted him from an advanced midfield role to the No. 6 spot along the way. He was promoted to the senior MLS team in April, making him the first player in club history to progress from academy to full first team.

“I saw what they had here, the training facilities, the natural progression they have with their players, and thought it would be a really good move,” Kuzain, who was also scouted by – and trained with – Dutch powerhouse Feyenoord before deciding on SKC, told FourFourTwo.

“In Europe you can see that every club is trying to look for the next big-time player and they have scouts all over the world. And I think that it’s happening now in MLS – smaller pool, obviously, but I think it creates competition and obviously competition equals a higher level.”

Even hinting at a similarity with the likes of tiki-taka masters Andres Iniesta or Sergio Busquets risks doing any youth prospect a disservice. Yet if there’s a young American player remotely comparable to the products of the Catalan club, it’s Kuzain, with his natural comfort on the ball, rapid speed of thought and execution, expansive vision and sky-high soccer IQ.

“It’s just a matter of what you’re looking for,” said Blake Decker, the academy director for Saint Louis FC who worked with Kuzain in the Illinois branch of the academy. “I wouldn’t say that Kuz is not athletic – he is athletic, but in maybe different areas than what’s traditionally seen or valued in American sports. Tremendously coordinated, really quick, really well-balanced, really agile, which also are athletic qualities.

“Maybe he doesn’t have a big profile or is not powerful in the traditional sense where he’s going to cover acres and acres of ground. But being able to play in and out of tight spaces, balanced, able to shift and go both ways, being coordinated with and without the ball, I think he rates in all those qualities.”

Could Kuzain’s rise signal the long-sought evolution away from American soccer’s longstanding obsession with size, speed, strength and athleticism? Are there more like him out there just waiting to be identified and cultivated?

“I don’t consider myself different,” Kuzain says. “Obviously the typical American player that we see is someone who’s fast, big and athletic. Overall, in my time in the Development Academy I’ve seen players who have similar abilities or play the same way who are small, technical and not necessarily the most athletic. But I think there’s a lot of those type of players that are coming through in the academies, and we’re going to see much more of them for years to come.”

Under MLS regulations, Sporting claim large swaths of the Midwest as their “Homegrown territory,” a concession made in recognition of its small-market status compared to the likes of the New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy. That territory includes St. Louis, a historical hotbed of the game that might already have its own MLS team were it not for difficulties in obtaining a stadium plan for its expansion hopes.

It’s fair to say that rankles some in St. Louis, especially given the lack of a training compensation or solidarity payments system to recognize and reward youth clubs that nurture top talent. In the meantime, the onus falls on individual players and families to find a path towards the top.

“At the end of the day, the majority of his development came down to him,” said Decker. “We provided an environment, we’re very happy and proud of the time we were able to spend with him and where he’s gone. If you’ve known a kid since 11 years old, of course would you like him playing for your club? Yes. Would training compensation be nice? Sure. But the most important thing is that you’ve played a part in helping somebody to take another step towards achieving their dreams. That’s probably the most important thing for us.

“We try to be a good neighbor in our own community; it’s recognizing through our affiliate clubs when a player transitions to our academy – that information is included when we talk about that player and we recognize that accomplishment, because we truly do feel that it’s a group effort. No club anywhere in this country is going to be able to identify every single player at 7 years old or 10 years old that is going to play professionally. It’s a collective effort.”

Kuzain credits both clubs for developing him. It’s far too early to decipher the height of his ceiling, and even more difficult considering how different and nuanced his position is. But in Sporting KC, Kuzain has a club with a proven track record of advancing talented young players – as well as teammate Ilie Sanchez, of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy, to learn the holding midfield role from.

“MLS is a much higher competition and much higher level than USL, so he has to catch up to that,” Nagamura said. “I do believe he has the qualities to do it. He’s just a young kid and he has [a] lot of tools.”

Ramos names 21 for U-20 camp in Florida

American Soccer Now – May 9, 2018

UNITED STATES U-20 HEAD COACH Tab Ramos today announced his roster for an upcoming camp which will take place in Florida before traveling to Honduras for two games against the Honduran U-20 team.

The roster lacks most of the top names of the age group as it is not a FIFA international window and clubs are not required to release players. Still, there are important players here who should play a role in the team moving forward.

Here is the roster along with a few takeaways.

THE ROSTER

GOALKEEPERS (2):David Ochoa (Real Salt Lake; Oxnard, Calif.), Seth Stiebel (Saint Louis FC; O’Fallon, Miss.)

DEFENDERS (6):Glademir Mendoza (Real Salt Lake; Phoenix, Ariz.), Manny Perez (N.C. State University; Garner, N.C.), Matthew Real (Philadelphia Union; Drexel Hill, Pa.), Chris Richards (FC Dallas; Hoover, Ala.), Sam Rogers (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.), Angel Uribe (Club Tijuana; San Diego, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (7):Frankie Amaya (Pateadores; Santa Ana, Calif.), Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC; Powder Springs, Ga.), Chris Goslin (Atlanta United FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Andres Jimenez (Envigado FC; Miami, Fla.), Richie Ledezma (Real Salt Lake; Casa Grande, Ariz.), Alex Mendez (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Aristotle Zarris (LA Galaxy; Sarasota, Fla.)

FORWARDS (6):Simon Becher (Oakwood Academy SC; Brooklyn, Conn.), Shaft Brewer Jr. (LAFC; Sacramento, Calif.), Wilson Harris (Sporting Kansas City; Encino, Calif.), Abdulkadir Haji (Manchester, N.H.; Virginia Commonwealth University), Ulysses Llanez Jr. (LA Galaxy; Lynwood, Calif.), Justin Rennicks (Indiana University; Hamilton, Mass.)

CARLETON LEADS THE WAY

The most high-profile name on the roster is Atlanta United’s Andrew Carleton who is expected to be a big part of not only this U-20 team but also the U-23 team next year. Playing time at a talented Atlanta team is hard to come by for Carleton but the U-20 team is giving him a chance to contribute and be the key player for a team.

As a veteran of the U-17 World Cup team last year, Carleton needs to use this camp to cement his status as a starter and leader in the attack.

PLAYERS ON THE RISE

As U-20 World Cup qualifying approaches, there are several players on this roster who have seen an increased role in Tab Ramos team over the first few camps of this cycle.

Richie Ledesma: Real Salt Lake’s Richie Ledesma was very impressive for the U-20 team last camp where he stood out in a win over France. As it is appeaing possible that Tyler Adams might not be part of this U-20 team during the cycle due to national team commitments, Ledesma’s stock is rising within the team and he has surged past other players. With a good camp here it is possible to see him starting in qualifying and possibly the World Cup.

Manny Perez: At North Carolina State, Perez plays mostly as a winger but Ramos believes he is best used as a right back. Last year he turned down an opportunity to sign a Generation Adidas for MLS and could instead turn professional this summer. He appears to be the starting right back for this U-20 team but could have competition from Ajax’s Sergino Dest. With Dest not in this camp, Perez has a big opportunity to tighten his grip on the starting job.

Chris Goslin: A central midfielder and veteran of last year’s U-17 World Cup team, Goslin’s main competition for the U-20 team is the injured Brandon Servania and, of course, Chris Durkin who is having a tough time getting involved with this team due to commitments with DC United – where he is a starter. An Atlanta United homegrown, Goslin has an opportunity at this camp with his main competition absent.

Frankie Amaya: The Santa Ana native scored the winning goal for the U.S. team last camp against France and all reports were that he impressed throughout the camp in Europe. Now the Pateadores attacking midfielder can strengthen his case to be part of World Cup qualifying by building on his performance in March.

Chris Richards: After two very strong cycles at the position, central defense is weaker this cycle for the U-20 team. Philadelphia’s Mark McKenzie appears to be the top option in central defense but after that, the competition is wide open. Chris Richards is a homegrown from FC Dallas and recently spent time training in Germany with Bayern Munich.

WHO IS NOT HERE?

The list of age-eligible players not at this camp is long. Top goalkeeper Brady Scott of FC Cologne is still in Germany as is Ajax U-19 right back Sergino Dest.

FC Nordsjaelland winger Jonathan Amon was asked to play in this camp but is currently a starter with the Danish club which has important games remaining. Similarly, Schalke’s Nick Taitague is considered to be an important player at this age group but is still with Schalke and has dealt with injuries this past season.

It is known that Werder Bremen forward Josh Sargent will be called up to the full national team later this month and it is also likely that Tim Weah will as well after earning his first senior cap in March. Meanwhile New York Red Bull standout Tyler Adams continues to look like a key player for the U.S. team the moment and if he does play for this team, it will probably only be at qualifying or the U-20 World Cup.

In MLS, Philadelphia center back Mark McKenize and DC United central midfielder Chris Durkin are both first team players with their clubs and were unable to take part. Meanwhile, FC Dallas homegrown Brandon Servania is injured.

Finally, Union Berlin and Germany U-19 central defender Lennard Maloney is still in season but ASN has heard that he has been in contact with U.S. Soccer. It is very possible that he plays with the team in future camps.

While it is not confirmed by CONCACAF, ASN is hearing that U-20 World Cup qualifying could be very early this cycle – possibly in November with the U.S. hosting the event in Florida. So Ramos does not have much time left to sort out his depth chart.

So the bottom line is that when compared with the players who are not here as well as players from the U-19 or U-18 teams that could impress and move up into this team, there is still a lot of competition to be part of this U-20 team come World Cup qualifying. It is camps like these which will help Ramos make up his mind.

Bwana’s winner is a great story—and even better news for Sounders

The Athletic – May 10, 2018

If Handwalla Bwana’s cinematic life story ever makes it to the big screen, Wednesday night will feature prominently. In the 54th minute of a tied game, a rematch of the last two MLS Cup finals, the child refugee turned teenage Sounder broke free behind Toronto FC’s defense. Acting on instinct, Bwana hit Will Bruin’s through-ball past onrushing TFC goalkeeper Alex Bono and into the back of the net. The rookie’s first professional goal held up as the game-winner in a 2-1 Seattle victory that was as crucial, and unlikely, as any in recent memory.

Juxtapose a few images of a six-year-old Handwalla playing soccer barefoot on the red dirt of the Kakuma refugee camp with the clip of coach Brian Schmetzer awarding him the game ball in the visiting locker room at BMO Field, and the script writes itself. To edit Bwana’s journey down only to the highlights, however, would miss part of what made Wednesday night so special. His is a story of struggle and sacrifice, a story of…

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