#or if it's gonna tie into all the other new republic stuff in some (probably dumb) way

[bikananjarrus]

new skeleton crew trailer is really giving goonies + guardians of the galaxy vibes

[quantumcartography]

Eventually I'm gonna do a deep dive on every name in the Locked Tomb series but I've been sitting on this dissection of The Emperor's chosen name for a long time and I want to put it into the world. So, here it is.

The Emperor John Gaius, His Celestial Kindliness, the First Reborn, King of the Nine Renewals, Necromancer Divine, our Resurrector, and The Necrolord Prime

“NOTE: He’s just some guy, you know?

NOTE II: Gaius was not the name John was born with. He picked it for himself circa Y100 of his reign.”

These two names have so much potential meaning tied up in them so buckle up.

First, the literal translations. John is a derivative of the Biblical Hebrew Yohanan which is in turn derived from the Yehohanan, which means literally “Yahweh has been gracious.” Gaius is a Latin name that likely derives from the latin gaudere “to rejoice.” This more or less makes the name say “Huzzah! God has been good!” Now, there is one other tweak to this. Gaia is the Greek personification of the Earth (Terra is the Roman equivalent) and if you slapped the Latin masculine ending on it, it would become Gaius. This does provide a tie to the planet Earth in his name (which is far more obvious in Gideon’s name of Kiriona Gaia) and would make sense if he picked it as a memorial to the dead Earth to which he could never return.

Next, modern social interpretation. John for a long time held the title of “most common name in the English speaking world.” I believe it’s since been surpassed by James, but it’s still up there. Gaius, funnily enough, was the Ancient Roman equivalent of John. It was one of the most common given names for so long that it became semi-synonymous with saying “some guy” similar to the phrase “Tom, Dick, and Harry” or “don’t know him from Adam.” These two names make his name something like “John John” or “Jon Doe” or “James Q. Public.”

Next: the strictly biblical interpretation. The most obvious link here is to the book of the New Testament, John 3. This is a letter by one of the many biblical Johns to a man named Gaius concerning some pretty mundane church business of the time and thanking Gaius for looking after some poor missionaries. It’s honestly a supremely drab book of the bible and doesn’t really get into doctrine or legends or exciting apocalypse stuff. It’s just a letter from a church leader to a rich patron. If someone more versed in Biblical history and literature can shed some light on this book, I’d be very thankful.

Next: some name associations. Being two of the most common names in history, we kinda have a wealth of options to pick from. Saint John the Apostle was the one who actually walked with Jesus and was the brother of the Apostle James with whom they made up the Boanerges, the Sons of Thunder. John of Patmos was the likely author of the Book of Revelation and maybe the same as John the Apostle (but probably not.) The author who wrote about the apocalypse seems pretty fitting. Gaius was also the praenomen (given name) of the two Caesars responsible for the death of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire: Gaius Julius Caesar and Gaius Octavius who became Caesar Augustus.

Julius Caesar is definitely the most well known Emperor of Rome/salad inventor and also second dictator for life (Sulla was the first so Caesar can’t take that title.) He was an incredibly popular general who was part of an alliance of three figures (him, Pompey, and Crassus) to increase their own power, wealth, and standing. When Crassus died, tensions formed between Pompey and Caesar until Pompey had the senate recall Caesar from his war in Gaul to be removed from command. Caesar knew this would lead to his execution at the hands of his rival so he made his own play, marching his troops into Rome (an act tantamount to sacrilege) to try and capture Pompey which spoiler he didn’t. It sparked a civil war that raged all the way around the Mediterranean for four years and left Caesar as the de facto ruler of the Roman Republic up until an unfortunate accident in the senate where he fell into knives 23 times. He had it coming. This idea of attacking his enemy before they have a chance to attack you only to have your enemy slip away is a notable parallel.

Gaius Octavius had been named as Caesar’s successor in his will and would go on to become the first proper Roman Emperor. He used the newfound power from his great-uncle’s death to form a new three person alliance (him, Lepidus, and Mark Antony) and hunt down Julius Caesar’s assassins and rake in treasure while cementing their political power. Surprise surprise though because Caesar Augustus (the name given Gaius Octavius after he became the Emperor) managed to politically, militarily, and psychologically out maneuver his two fellow rulers and within seven years he had metaphorically put Lepidus in the ground and literally put Mark Antony in the ground. Now, while in life Julius Caesar made a lot of moves to imply that he wanted to be the king of Rome, not least of which was modeling himself as descended from the gods and enshrining himself alongside them as equals. Augustus doubled down on this by starting a massive and complex propaganda machine to make himself equally divine, even within his own lifetime and immediately afterwards.

Both of these men led the Romans into civil wars that ravaged the empire. Both of them committed acts of sacrilege in the ancient world to further their political games of revenge. Both of them lied, cheated, stole, killed, and manipulated to gain more power and remake the world to be what they wanted. They were geniuses who may have even had good intentions and put an end to a long period of political instability, but through blood and steel and no small part vengeance.

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t address the elephant in the room that is Homestuck. I will say that my adoration of The Locked Tomb series has sent me down innumerable rabbit holes. I have researched paper manufacturing, the magnetic forces of Jupiter, Catholic prayers, polygenic phenotyping, Ancient Greek and Roman poetry, national anthems of nations of the world, and the psychology of Among Us. But the rabbit hole that is the MS Paint Adventures Wiki is one too daunting for even me. But in any case, I have no doubt that these characters sharing a name is no coincidence.

Lastly, the use of a Hebrew and Latin name makes this fascinating marriage of opposites. To massively understate it, Romans and Christians did not get along for a long time. Obviously now, the Catholic Church is seated in Rome, but for a BIG portion of the early Christian ministry, the Romans were the ones who captured them and set them on fire or crucified them or other fun and exciting means of execution. More than that, an apostle to Jesus’ monotheistic peace-loving and merciful message being linked with two deified and bloody conquerors of Ancient Rome does create this interesting tension. This tension is something very interesting in modern Catholicism as well as the Locked Tomb’s Empire.

[nickmillerscaulk]

OKAY MUSIC THING I'm back with one you don't have to work for. Genre theme: A Mess, all over the place, fuck a theme. Here goes: Kygo, The National, Alt-J, Sanitgold, Explosions In The Sky, Halsey

oh oh oh these are gonna be fun, @mego42​!!

Starting with the ones I do know:

If I know them: Alt-J (working off of their stuff from 2014 and earlier—I’m less familiar with their new stuff)

Favourite Song: Fitzpleasure

Least Favourite Song: n/a

Favourite Album: An Awesome Wave

Least Favourite Album: n/a 

Song that got me into them: Fitzpleasure or Breezeblocks

Seen Live?: I haven’t, but I would! I like how beat-heavy their music is. And I looooove a live show when you can feel the beat in your entire body.

Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | *7.5* | 8 | 9 | 10

If I know them: Halsey

Favourite Song: Castle (OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO DIFFICULT and I have to mention a fave from each of her other full-length albums: Walls Could Talk and You should be sad)

Least Favourite Song: I... don’t think I have one?! I will say, I don’t like the interludes on Manic. I always skip over them. 

Favourite Album: BADLANDS

Least Favourite Album: Ugh it’s a tie between hfk & manic... but I love them both equally?? They’re just tied for second place with BADLANDS easily claiming first.

Song that got me into them: Ooh I heard Hold Me Down or Colors first, but I immediately listened to BADLANDS as a whole and was sold after Castle.

Seen Live?: YES and it was full body experience hahaha (no, but for real she is beyond incredible live... 10/10 would recommend).

Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | *10*

As for these ‘don’t know them’ ones, I *do* technically know the artist, but I know no more than one or two songs by each of them:

If I don’t know them: Kygo

First song spotify took me to: Lose Somebody (w/ One Republic)

First Impression: It’s more chill than I was expecting! I went ahead to check out a couple of songs I recognized. I def know the one with Selena Gomez (love a dance/pop track now and then) and the one with Conrad Sewell (an Aussie!!). Yeah, overall surprised by how much more mellow his stuff is than I was imagining. 

Do I like it?: I do!

Would I listen to more from them?: Probably not something I’d seek out, but I think I’d keep him on if he came up in my spotify shuffle or on the radio! Would be fun on a pre-gaming playlist (ah, remember the good ol days of going OUT? DOING things? Dancing on a DANCEFLOOR in PUBLIC??)

Rate (from what I heard): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | *6* | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

If I don’t know them: The National

First song spotify took me to: I Need My Girl

First Impression: Oh THAT’S a voice. Makes me feel like I’m in a cabin in the woods, wrapped up in a warm blanket on a rainy autumn evening. Love me some moody, emotional, mellow indie rock. 

Do I like it?: Very much so.

Would I listen to more from them?: I think I would! But I think I’d have to be in a specific mood for them. Ideally in that cabin in the woods.

Rate (from what I heard): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | *7.5* | 8 | 9 | 10

If I don’t know them: Santigold

First song spotify took me to: Run The Road (I skipped over Disparate Youth bc I know that song far too well and I love it dearly)

First Impression: I’m trying not to let my love for Disparate Youth overshadow this first impression, so... overall I love how unique Santigold’s sound is. I don’t even know how to describe it? But there are so many layers to it! And it’s extremely cool. I dig the vibe.

Do I like it?: Heck yeah 

Would I listen to more from them?: Definitely. I want more Santigold on Good Girls too, please? (I’m certain you’re reading this, Jonathan Leahy.)

Rate (from what I heard): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | *7.5* | 8 | 9 | 10

If I don’t know them: Explosions In The Sky

First song spotify took me to: So Long, Lonesome (skipped over Your Hand In Mine because I was deeply obsessed with it during my twilight fandom phase)

First Impression: There is something so distinct about Explosions’ sound. And I find it super comforting. There’s this magical, twinkly, almost narrative-like quality to them. Ya feel? 

Do I like it?: LOVE IT.

Would I listen to more from them?: Absolutely. Perfect writing/editing music.

Rate (from what I heard): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | *9* | 10

[voidendron]

Story Time

One-Shot, 2′327 Words Star Wars AU

(( the formatting got fucky and hard to read for mobile, can’t get it to fix itself, so reposting as a text post instead of answer in an attempt to get it to work.

set later than previous SW fics where they actually like. can stand each other. it ended up WAY longer than I anticipated, but So. Worth it. It was a lot of fun :D ))

Warnings: Alcohol, Drunkenness (mild), Swearing Characters: Chase Brody, Jackieboy Man, Jameson Jackson, Marvin the Magnificent, Dr. Schneeplestein, Septic Eye Sam

Chase had dropped off a pretty large shipment earlier, which left the cargo bay of his ship with plenty of room. With an empty crate acting as a makeshift table, they all sat around it, some with more distance between them than others. It had been Chase’s idea, because of course it had been.

Jackie was looking at his drink skeptically (probably wondering if Chase had come by it legally or not) while Sam pouted at the fact Marvin wouldn’t let them have any. …Which was funny considering that, while they were the youngest there, they were as much an adult as the rest of them. Jameson had waved off the offer, not wanting to remove his vocoder—vocabulator?—whatever it was; Chase had heard multiple names used for the things.

Chase might have been a little tipsy at that point and he could feel Schneep eyeing him. He was watching himself, though, and at least his astromech could pilot while he was unable.

“Anyway,” the Bothan said as he threw a hand up, “that’s how I accidentally pissed off a governor and got an assassin sent after me!”

Marvin made a noise akin to some sort of hissing laugh. “I think I’ve got more questions than I started with.”

“Yeah…” Jackie took a testing sip of his drink as he leaned back against an empty pallet. “What was that part about getting stuck in the wrong vent again?”

“Doesn’t matter—my time’s up! Who can one-up that?” Chase pulled his best rendition of a grin that he could with a snout full of sharp teeth.

“Eh, I’ll give it a shot.” Marvin adjusted his legs and patted his helmet to make sure it was still resting at his thigh. “This was back when Sami was a teenager, but… Heh. You remember that Acklay?”

The younger Mandalorian immediately perked up and started grinning. “You told that story for weeks after!”

“Hey, that’s where I earned my signet—‘course I’d keep telling it!”

“Acklay…” Jackie rubbed at his chin. “You mean those freaky six-legged buggers that try to spear ya?”

Marvin grinned; his feline fangs were even sharper than Chase’s and glinted in the light from overhead. “Oh, yeah. And those legs are sharp, dammit.” He traced a line over his breastplate up to his shoulder and added, “Got a nasty scar here from it, and proud of it!”

“So what about the Acklay?” Schneep actually…tilted his head a little. God was he expressive for a droid.

“All right. Let’s see if this one-ups Chase’s ship-crash of an experience, huh?” He took a swig of his drink, then settled back comfortably. “I did a lot of our clan’s supply runs—especially if it was into dangerous territory. I had to go to Felucia for some plant. Not a botanist, so don’t remember what it was or what it was used for, but whatever. We needed it and that’s all you need to know about that.

“So, I was searching for this plant, watching my back for dangerous fauna, and then I heard it.” He gnashed his teeth together, making poor Sami jump at the noise. “It was above me, on one of the…root-things all over the place. Just watching me. And the thing was huge. I’d only seen them from a distance until that point, but one good strike would’ve speared one of its legs straight through me.

“When it shifted, the entire root creaked under it. It must’ve been waiting there long before I got there ‘cause there was no way I wouldn’t have heard it walk up there.” He muttered something in Mando’a and chuckled to himself. “So I did what any impulsive Mandalorian would do and started shooting at it.”

Jameson startled Chase—as well as some of the others by the looks of it—when he suddenly piped in. He hadn’t expected the guy to actually listen enough to contribute. “Acklays have exoskeletons. A blaster such as you carry would do little.”

Marvin frowned a little at Jameson, but at least he wasn’t baring his teeth this time. For once? “Yeah. And I remembered that fact only when it lumbered off the damn root and nearly speared me under it.

“That was back before I got my jetpack, and carried a vibroblade instead of my electrostaff.” He patted said weapon where it laid next to him. “So I was stuck on the ground with somethin’ a whole lot faster than me, with more reach, and those fuckers are scary agile, too. I was alone with the only things I’d have a chance with being a few grenades and my blade.”

Jackie arched a brow. “…You say that like ‘a few’ grenades are just a casual thing.”

“Well, yeah. Mandalorians are usually armed to the teeth.”

“Fangs,” Chase corrected with a chuckle. “’Cause you’re a Cathar, so you’ve got fangs.”

Marvin just snorted. “Someone get him to bed—”

“—I’m not that drunk—!”

“—Anyway. So I’ve got this Acklay that’s way bigger than me trying to knock me over, spear me, chomp me, whatever it can. It broke some of my straps, so I was left without a breastplate or right pauldron, lost one of my blasters, I’m dragging my sash in my hands since that got cut, too, and I really wanted to keep my grenades with me, all while I’m trying not to let this thing make a meal of me and it’s screeching in my ear.

“So I’m trying to duck around plants and dive for areas it can’t fit, but it just plows through or destroys them to leave me floundering for a new spot. I can see my ship, but this thing’s driving me farther and farther from it, then I trip, and all I see is one of its legs poised to impale me. I roll, but it still catches me,” he traces the line on his chest again, “so now I’m bleeding, can’t move one arm, and this thing reaches down to chomp me, catches my other pauldron instead and pulls it off so I scramble to my feet.

“I’m covered in mud and pollen and my own blood, my visor’s so filthy I can barely see. I pull a grenade off my sash and activate it, ‘cause at that point I’m thinking I’m about to die and I’m desperate. So I throw the fucker, and the Acklay snatches it out of the air and swallows it.

“Boom. I watched the thing get blown apart, grabbed my stuff and the plant after looking around for it again, and beelined it for my ship.”

Sam shook their head and grinned. “When he got back to camp he was a mess. He was dragging the armor that was pulled off by its straps and had his arm against his chest. His collar bone had been broken and he didn’t even sling his arm! The medical droid scolded him so bad. And the first thing he does? Pull off his helmet, grin a huge grin, and give the plant to our leader all proud of himself!”

“Hey, I had a right to be proud!” Marvin turned to show the marks on his pauldron; sure enough, it was an Acklay head. “That’s how I earned my signet!”

“…Damn.” Chase shook his head. “I’ve heard those things can kill groups of trained soldiers if they’re caught off guard.”

“Impressive,” Schneep agreed. “Very impressive!”

“So. Anyone wanna one-up that?” the Cathar challenged.

Jackie shook his head. “I thought I had a story. No way it tops that.”

“Let’s hear it anyway!” Chase said.

“Yes, please,” the droid agreed.

“Eh. Well.” He rubbed the back of his head. In the dimmed light of the cargo bay, it was almost eerie the way his red eyes glowed as he cast them around the room. “I was in my Y-Wing when Vader joined a battle?”

Chase choked on his drink and was left coughing for a solid thirty seconds. “You survived an encounter with him?!”

“I spotted his TIE from a distance, but it didn’t really…register? that it looked a little different from the rest? Soon as my squad leader saw it, I swear I was gonna go deaf. She flipped. Out. Ordering the squad to retreat immediately. It was right about then that a star destroyer came outta hyperspace.

“We knew that was it. We didn’t have a chance of winning that battle, so we fell back in the hopes of not losing multiple squads.” Jackie frowned. “Half my squad was killed—all good men, friends—when Vader showed up. Pretty sure he’s the one who got to ‘em. I’d never been so terrified.  Heh. And I never even got close to it—just saw it on the other side of the battle. Even now, I don’t think anything’s scared me so damn bad as seein’ that one TIE.

“I wouldn’t fly for days after that, and none of us would shut up about seeing it. We didn’t win that battle, but surviving that sorta encounter at least deserves some bragging rights. Right?”

“Wow!” Sam leaned forward, hands on their knees. “I’ve only ever heard stories of him, but that sounds scary!” They were…grinning, as they said it. Of course they were, Chase thought with a chuckle. He swore those two Mandalorians were addicted to danger. Maybe he was a little, too, but hey.

“Okay, we’ve got a game goin’ now,” Jackie said. “Someone’s gotta go next.”

Schneep shuffled awkwardly, then offered, “I was stolen by pirates?”

“Hey, now.” The Chiss frowned despite the story he’d just told. “We rescued you. Can’t hold that over our heads forever.”

“Oh, no, no!” He put up his hands, shook his head. “You saved me from the third time! But I’ve been stolen before.”

“…Third time?”

“By pirates, yes.”

“That implies you’ve been stolen by things other than pirates, too,” Marvin muttered with a huffed laugh.

“Dude,” Chase grinned, “you’ve got tell us about the first time. Or second—whichever’s more interesting. Please?”

The arms set into Schneep’s back for more fine-tuned work shifted and clattered and his eyes brightened a bit. Maybe he couldn’t make facial expressions, but he had other ways of showing how he felt. It was frankly adorable how expressive he actually was.

“This happened during the Clone Wars. I was a Republic medical droid—”

“I…had forgotten how old you were,” Jameson said.

Jackie scoffed. “You forgot something? You’ve got like. A literal computer attached to your head.”

“It didn’t seem like important information, so I disregarded it.”

“Guys,” Chase scolded, “don’t interrupt him.”

His extra arms fidgeted even as he tried to remain still. “I had been stationed at a small outpost to tend to the Clones there. It was too small and not well-defended—in a very bad location, as well. Very bad planning overall. That is what I was told. Pirates were able to overwhelm it.

“They took hostages, stole the droids and supplies, and fled back to their ship before reinforcements arrived.” He put his hands on his hips like he was disappointed, but also chuckled. “They tried to short me out! But they shocked themselves instead—is very funny to remember. They cursed and jumped around while their little machine zipped and zapped. The astromechs they stole found it hilarious and would not stop chittering!”

Chase laughed. That seemed to make Schneep a little more confident—he wasn’t used to talking so much about himself, it was clear, but the Bothan hoped he would start loosening up like this more often.

“The pirates were incompetent. They overwhelmed the outpost with sheer number and firepower, but I swear, far dumber than a battle droid. The Clones complimented one with insults—right to his face!—and he took it as genuine!

“They floundered around each other like the fish out of water! One accidentally released one of the Clones and the poor man was so confused that he just sat there waiting to be cuffed again, and another nearly shot his buddy while cleaning a blaster and having it go off. It was maddening! They wanted to sell us droids and ransom the Clones, but the truly frustrating part was watching them all be the idiots! I do not even think we were worried for our own well-being they were so nonsensical!”

Most of them were laughing, now. Even Jameson had his head tilted like he just couldn’t make sense of pirates. One of the lights on his AJ^6 was even blinking very, very slowly.

“Dude.” It took Chase a couple tries to actually get any proper words out through snickers, “I’m actually afraid of the answer, but… How badly did you embarrass them to get away?”

The droid cupped his hands over his face and laughed again. “The Clones tricked them into undoing their binds, but they were still locked in the cell. So the astromechs—they ambushed a pirate and stole the key from him!”

“Oh, god. Did they not know how freaking feisty mechs can be?! You don’t tick them off—‘specially not a group of ‘em!”

“Apparently not! They zipped and zapped and pinched until they got the key and released the Clones, and then they took over the ship! The pirates were locked out of the cockpit and the mechs found us the nearest Republic fleet. We all had such a hard time believing it actually happened—and no one would believe us! They could not believe someone could possibly be that incompetent!”

Sami looked like they were having a hard time breathing they were laughing so hard, and both Jackie and Marvin had covered their faces.

“…I think Schneep wins for most entertaining story,” Chase suggested. The others only nodded. “Unless Jameson..?”

“I have nothing interesting to tell.”

“…Oh-kay. Our dear droid with the freakin’ comedy gold of dumb pirate stories wins.”

Schneep clasped his hands together, something in his chest chirping.

[legendarymasterwolf]

E3 2019: My Thoughts on What We Saw

Alright, E3 is over this year, which means it's time to go over what we saw and my thoughts on it.

This is late, so some stuff here will be out already.

I'll be going by publisher alphabetically, so first up, we have...

Borderlands 3

I'm so freaking hyped to get lost in this hilarious world again. I've played Mordecai in Borderlands 1, Zero in 2, and Claptrap in Presequel. Still trying to decide who to play as in 3, but right now, it's looking like I'll pick FL4K, since he specializes in long range and has a few cute beasties by his side. Also, we're getting not one, but THREE action skills with each character. Not only that, but you can sacrifice your grenade skill for two equipped skills.

The Children of the Vault look like some worthy successors to Handsome Jack for title of "Best Borderlands Villains", though we'll see how they pan out on release date.

The gameplay that we saw of Moze looks smooth. Heck, everything about this game looks sleek and refined without doing away with the art style. Also, guns with legs.

Anyway, we not only got the gameplay reveal, but also Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary, a new DLC for Borderlands 2 that sets up 3, so I'm scrambling to finish the Handsome Collection on my PS4, which just got a lot more difficult now that I've bought RDR2 finally, along with several other games.

Control

I loved Alan Wake, and this is from the same people, so I’m hyped. The game looks great, has a suspenseful atmosphere, and it seems to play well. I’m looking forward to release date.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reboot

I haven't bought a COD game since "Black Ops 2", though I have played the newer ones with a friend of mine. It looks good visually from the reveal trailer I saw, I'll say that much. No gameplay yet, but I know it'll be gritty, focusing on some of the more shocking moments of the original trilogy, like "No Russian" from MW2 or the nuclear explosion from MW1, so it seems we're bringing in more edge to the series. Still, I'm glad the campaign is back, and I'm interested to see how it will look.

12 Minutes

A twelve minute time loop where you're forced to relive the death of your wife and the only way to break it is to find out why she was killed? Sign me up.

Code Vein

I remember this one from last E3. Still the same opinion, too. Anime style souls game that I might buy for the story, which looks interesting.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

So this looks REALLY good. It's like a deep RPG, deeper than Xenoverse was, with mechanics besides fighting like fishing, and as for the fights themselves, they seem to be more strategical than before, with a healthy dose of classic DBZ fisticuffs in there for good measure.

Elden Ring

A Souls game written by George RR Martin? Don't know too much about it besides that, but it looks cool based on the trailer.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan

Basically, another Until Dawn, but on the open sea during a storm. And I'm totally okay with that.

Deathloop

Another game from Arkane? The guys who made Dishonored? I'll take it. Besides, another time loop premise sounds interesting.

Doom: Eternal

If Fallout 76 was any indication, Bethesda desperately needs a win now to restore faith in their studio. Besides a few of the other games announced at E3 2019 that could do so, there was one that stood out in particular: Doom Eternal. I’ve already played all the Wolfenstein games, with the exception of one upcoming entry on this list, and based on what I’ve seen of Eternal, I’m going to like it due to the similarity in gameplay.

GhostWire: Tokyo

The presentation on the new game from the makers of Evil Within, another series to try now that I have a PS4, was memorable for a few reasons. First off, Ikumi Nakamura, the game’s creative director, was the main presenter and she was adorable. Seriously, it’s probably one of the best E3 presentations I’ve seen this year. I can’t remember the last time I saw one so genuine like hers, plus it helps that the Internet has fallen in love. As for the game itself, it looks great, with people disappearing in Tokyo and it being up to some guy with a bow and supernatural powers to find out why. The reveal trailer was all we got, but still, I can’t wait to play it.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

The first game I’ve ever preordered, and this comes from a guy who never preorders on principle. It’s a Wolfenstein spinoff with BJ’s twin daughters, so yeah, I’ll buy it. Plus, it’s co-op, so I’m playing this with my best friend. Still trying to decide which twin to play, though. Probably Jessie, since my friend is gonna want to play Soph.

Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory

Looks interesting, plus the gameplay reminds me of Shadowrun Returns.

The Sinking City

This one’s already out, but it looks good. Hopefully, it’ll be received better than Call of Cthulu before it. Plus, I’m all for a game where the protagonist is losing his mind, like Dead Space.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood

Set in the World of Darkness universe, like Bloodlines, except you're a werewolf instead of a vampire and it's from a different studio. Gameplay was revealed behind closed doors, but it looks good from what I've heard. We don't have too many werewolf games around.

Cyberpunk 2077

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!

Yeah, this might be the first game I preorder for myself, since now we finally have a release date: April 16th, 2020. The new trailer we got gave us a glimpse of a default male V as well as what may be Jackie’s death (please don’t kill off Jackie, CD Project RED, I like him too much already). After V’s employer tries to double cross him, V tries to kick ass with his twin arm blades, which look really unique, before said employer shoots him in the head. The trailer ended with a major surprise: as V comes to in a junkyard, a figure in jeans, a tank-top, and a silver left arm approaches, and kneels to reveal a face and voice that sounds suspiciously like Keanu Reeves.

Yes, that’s right, for those who haven’t heard by the time this is posted, Keanu Reeves is in Cyberpunk 2077 and he’s playing Johnny Silverhand, a legendary rocker in the world of 2077 who may not be what he seems.

After the trailer premiered onstage, Reeves came out onstage to promote the game. He could barely get through the start of his speech, people were that excited to see him in the flesh. There was even a great moment where he described the game as “breathtaking”, to which a fan shouted out, “You’re breathtaking!”, to which Keanu responded in kind. We don’t deserve this man.

Anyway, at the end of his speech, Reeves gave a new look at gameplay as well as the game’s release date. The glimpse was only about 20 seconds long, but still, the new look at the combat, hacking, and what is presumably a digital afterlife or something like that was enough to get me even more hyped for this game.

Seriously, I couldn’t be more hyped. This game is gonna be massive and I just might preorder it.

My Friend Pedro

Switch game, but still looks cool. It’s already out now.

Sea of Solitude

I need to play more games that make me feel like this. The art style looks gorgeous and the theme is depression, so yeah, I may buy this one if I like what I’m hearing.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Honestly, EA's part of the the expo was kind of depressing, especially when it got to Anthem. However, we did get more of Jedi: Fallen Order, and for that, I'm grateful, because this game looks great. Both the combat and lightsaber look slick as does the gameplay in general, and the voice acting is on point, from Cameron Monaghan to Forest Whitaker. We need a good Star Wars game for current gen consoles, and while The Old Republic is still my favorite, that's for PC. Also, while it has been announced that there are no microtransactions in the game, I'm sure EA will find some way to screw it up, but for now, it looks awesome.

Greedfall

I’m interested. Story and premise have me, a mix of 17th century colonialism with horror and the supernatural. Gameplay looks like my kind of jam, and we may be getting romance options too, based on some trailer observations.

John Wick Hex

Gameplay seems unique, plus it’s John Wick. I will always take more of Keanu Reeves.

Grandia HD Collection

I like JRPGs like this one, though it’s for Switch, so I can’t play it.

Way to the Woods

Looks like a cute adventure puzzle game. I might get it for PC.

Wasteland 3

This series looks like tactical Fallout, so yeah, I’m likely to give this one a shot since it looks good.

Blair Witch

A Blair Witch video game? That’s psychological horror?! With an adorable dog companion named Bullet?!?! Yes, please.

We didn’t get much besides a trailer and some gameplay, but I’m eager to see more.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sequel

Ugh, why is it that last year I was complaining about not having a PS4, now this year I’m complaining about not having a Switch?!

Anyway, this looks great and I want to see more. Especially since I’ve heard it’s going to be scarier than Majora’s Mask.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Looks good on the graphics front, plus the gameplay additions looks promising.

And once again, I can’t play it.

Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Out of all the games on this list, this is the one I want to play most that I can’t play because, you guessed it, I don’t have a Switch.

I loved the original Ultimate Alliance games, so I’m sure the new one is gonna be a hit, what with the new combos, character designs, and references to the MCU, plus it’ll tie us over until Marvel’s Avengers.

Pokemon Sword and Shield

The Pokemon look cute, it is set in the world’s version of the UK, gameplay looks improved, and once again, I can’t play it.

Empire of Sin

It looks cool, plus I need more Mob style games to play. It’s also made by the people who are responsible for the next game on this list...

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

It’s only in pre-alpha, but still, this one looks good. The original is on the Steam store, and there are fan made patches that improved upon what was originally a disaster. The sequel looks like a smoother version of its predecessor, with a few new abilities and mechanics put in. Again, it's in pre-alpha, so the final product will look much cleaner, but for now, I'm excited for its release date.

Shenmue III

First off, I’m royally pissed that Epic stole this one. That being said, the game looks great and I’m looking forward to continuing Ryo’s story on PS4. The gameplay looks great, the atmosphere is enthralling, and the English dub sounds good this time around. Still pissed about Epic, but at least I can play it on PS4.

The Outer Worlds

This still looks great. Since Fallout 76 took a nosedive and kept on going, we need a game like this to get that bitter taste out of our mouths. This still looks like a cross between Fallout and Borderlands, the true New Vegas spiritual successor that we need right now. The companions actually look helpful, have personalities of their own, and the Flaws System sounds really interesting, giving your hero a perk in enchange for a debuff for the whole game. Also the humor is great, too.

Marvel’s Avengers

Yes, the character designs don’t look so hot. However, those can be changed on the road to launch. That aside, I liked what I saw. The gameplay looks great, the voice cast has some top tier talent for the industry, and the promise of more heroes to be added after launch without the attached microtransactions has my attention.

Dying Light 2

I only played the demo for the first one, a game I still need to play, but I liked it enough to want a sequel. The usual free running mechanics look smooth, plus the addition of player choice shakes up the game, making your playthrough unique, so yeah, more of the good old stuff with a few new things sprinkled in.

Final Fantasy VII Remake and Remasters

The remake of FF7 looks AMAZING. The hybrid combat system looks like a dream, plus the character designs look top notch. In addition, the voice cast sounds on point for their respective characters. The hype around this thing was evident from the incessant cheering, we want it that much. We even have a release date: March 3rd, 2020. It’s been a long time coming, but it seems the wait to experience this classic for the second time on a different system will have finally been worth it.

Also, there was content announced for FF14 as well as two remasters: Crystal Chronicles and FF8.

Bet your ass I’m buying the remaster for FF8.

Biomutant

This has been described as Fluffy Devil May Cry. It’s accurate. I didn’t know you’d be able to customize your character, to! Combat looks fun, and it appears there is humor present if the narrator is anything to go by, so I’m interested.

Destroy All Humans! Remake

I never played the original, but I did read about it and hear about it from a friend. From what I’ve seen, the remake looks fun! Good parody of the 1950s and the updated graphics look great. Plus, Krypto seems like a fun, grumpy protagonist.

Gods and Monsters

This looks like a cross between Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Legend of Zelda. Considering it’s being made by the same creators of the former, I can’t wait to see more of this in the future.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

I’ll be honest, I still haven’t played any Ghost Recon games, so maybe here would be a good place to start. Gotta say, I like the way Jon Bernthal presented. He just seemed at ease onstage. Plus, Bernthal’s dog looks adorable. Bam Bam is the real hero of the Ubisoft press conference.

Anyway, it seems Bernthal is playing Cole D. Walker, one of the antagonists of the game. Didn’t see any gameplay, but still, the game looks good. I need to play more tactical shooters in general.

Watch Dogs: Legion

I played the first Watch Dogs game. Thought it was cool, but overall it was a bit disappointing. I still need to play the second one, but I heard it was a major improvement, even if it wasn’t a financial hit. Still, this one put a smile on my face. The ability to recruit and play as anyone? A sarcastic AI as your companion? A grandma assassin? I will take all of it, thank you.

Also, grandma assassin.

Did I mention there was a grandma assassin?

Can’t wait for March 6th.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The LEGO Star Wars games were some of the first games I ever owned back when I played on the PS2, so I’m hyped for a collection of all 9 films in one game. We don’t know much beyond the announcement trailer, but hey, I’ll gladly take this one when it comes out next year.

Baldur’s Gate III

A video game that plays like a DND game? I can’t wait. Haven’t played the other games, but I’m sure I’ll be fine once I play that tabletop prequel they mentioned.

Battletoads

It’s an Xbox and PC exclusive, but still, glad this is getting a remake.

Bleeding Edge

This looks like an Overwatch reskin. The combat itself looks unique, though, so we’ll see how it goes.

Gears 5

We got a little more on Gears 5 this time around. We’ve got a look at Kait and how the Locust influence is threatening to tear her apart (that’s what I’m assuming, I’ve never played the Gears games). We also got a new mode, Escape. I might get it, since it’ll be available for PC.

Halo Infinite

If this is what Xbox Scarlett looks like, then Sony might have actual competition for once. This is the best the Halo series has looked in years, and considering how let down some felt after Halo 5, it’s about time. We’re getting the same badass Master Chief back, this time with no AI companion, as Cortana has suffered corruption due to being around for longer than normal and has gone psycho as a result. Regardless, the graphics look amazing and I can’t wait to see how it looks when it releases Holiday 2020.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

I never played the original, but I might have to now, because this looks cute. The art style looks great and I’ll always be interested in games where you fight things ten times your own size. Plus, it seems to run smooth, and just by the sound of the story, it already has my heart.

Psychonauts 2

To cap things off, let’s end with a game I’ve been excited for since I finished the original months ago. The game seems to be coming along great, if the first level is anything to go by. Returning voice cast, new enemies and powers, new environments to explore, Jack Black voicing a Brain in a Jar, need I say more?

Also, this game looks to explore the water curse put on Rasputin’s family, so it will be a more personal and chilling story as well.

________________

So, there you have it. That’s my thoughts on E3 2019, half a month late.

What are you guys excited for? Leave a comment letting me know, especially if there was something I left out!

Until then!

[punkrock-furiosa]

for the gaming asks: 8, 20, 23, 47, 63, 71?

Aaaah I saw you in my new followers list, hello! :D

8. The game with the best atmosphere/scenery?

This is a really difficult one, but I think I’m going to go with Morrowind. I first saw it when I was little (maybe eight or nine?) and I was amazed, because it looked so fairy-tale-like, magical and mysterious. I still remember the image of pink-grey mists and the sun setting behind the silhouetted pair of giant mushrooms, while a wolf howls in the distance and soft harp music plays. (There are no wolves in Morrowind, so I’m not sure what that was about. It sounded great, though.) I was enamoured with that world pretty much immediately and I still am. It made me an Elder Scrolls fan.

20. Favorite publisher and/or developer?

Bethesda, ‘cause I grew up on their TES games and their worlds I could get lost in (and they weren’t yet selling canvas bags then :D )

Bioware, for similar reasons - they made KotOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age and I enjoyed all of them a lot

OBSIDIAN, which I actually discovered through their association with Bioware and Bethesda, and let me tell you nobody can create an insanely well-written yet improbably buggy game quite like Obsidian

I’ve grown really fond of Arkane too! I discovered them the year Dishonored 2 came out - everyone was excited and praising DH 1 so I decided to give it a try and I’m super glad I did.

Amanita Design, an indie studio that always seems to randomlyreappear on my radar with some beautiful adventure game (the picture below is a little white gnome and his dog on their home asteroid in Samorost 3)

23. Favorite genre of video game?

RPGs! But in a very broad sense of the word. If it has characters I can get attached to, some manner of a world and is for a single player, I’ll probably like it and think of it as an RPG. (Except for games that skew heavily towards strategy or roguelike. I get too impatient for the first, and too annoyed by uncertain results for the second.)

47. First person or Third person?

I prefer first person BUT with an optional third person mode, because 1) I’m vain and want to admire my character’s face and clothes 2) I need to know what my PC looks like to feel like I can properly associate with them.

63. What’s a game that has inspired you?

Edit: dear goodness this got really long somehow, sorry about that xD

I’m gonna single out two:

Knights of the Old Republic - It let me play a female character in freaking Star Wars. For my early teen self, that was big.

For one, the clothes look essentially the same on PC of either gender. No boobplates, no cleavages, nothing. (I suspect this was a matter of practicality during production, but that does’t diminish the effect it had.) For two, it allows you to be a world-wrecking revenge-seeking morally ambiguous and devastatingly charismatic millitary genius who can bring the whole universe to its knees if she wants to, and there was almost no gendered judgment attached to that narrative. Like. It blew my mind at that time that a woman could figure in such a story, especially without being presented as emotionally stunted, unhinged or power-hungry and needing to be punished.

My KotOR PC is my oldest and by far most detailed original character, because she honestly meant so much to me. (Which paradoxically means her OC page is almost permanently barren because there’s always too much I want to say about her so in the end I usually end up saying nothing.😅) I’m pretty sure this game was responsible for my love of fictional female leaders with questionable morality but an unrelenting dedication to their cause.

Planescape: Torment - This is one of those games where your party is formed out of traumatised and ostracised people with deep personal issues. I’m talking “I followed someone around as their helper for possibly centuries regardless of how awfully they treated me because I vaguely feel I may have wronged them in the past life,” kind of issues.You caused some of them. Your character has issues too.

But the thing is. You help these people heal - not completely, but enought so they can see a path forward. The “golden” ending for the whole game is basically your character deciding to stop running from whatever mistakes or hurt they caused in the world and accept the consequences of their actions - alongside whatever punishment that might entail. But there is a sense that not only is this necessary for any personal growth, but by accepting this, the good you caused in the world can stay too. The friends you made will remember you and stand by you if you wish them to. The world can be better because you were in it, even if you did things that were wrong.

The writing was amazing and the story hugely catharhic and motivational for me.

Also, on a much lighter side, I’ve never seen a game so lovingly describe what a really good pear tastes like. You don’t get any skill bonus or anything for buying it with your hard-earned in-game money, just a description of a really good pear. It’s awesome.

71. A game you can’t stop talking/thinking about at the moment?

Prey! It’s like Dishonored but you can actually creatively murder stuff without a semi-omniscient being scolding you about it! :D Honestly though, I got into it to tie me over before I can get a computer to run DH2, but I’ve quickly grown to love it as its own thing - which is impressive, since it’s also a horror and I don’t find being afraid very fun. Once the exam term is over, I intend to write a (hopefully helpful) guide for other easily scared people on how to deal with the terrifying bits without feeling too overwhelmed.

There are many cool things similar to Dishonored, but the whole story feels more character-focused, which really works for me. I’m really fond of most of the main cast (sometimes of them as people, sometimes for their writing) and many side characters I’ve never even properly met.* There are countless little found tape stories, the people around you feel alive - you get to know their day, their friends, their worries, moreso even than with the Heart. Plus since you collect info from various sources, you’ve got to piece everything together. Everyone has a different agenda, everyone is hiding something and so many things become clear only after the second or third playthough.

* (My faves are Morgan, Sarah Elazar, Alex and Rani Chaudhary.)

Also, especially the first third of the game has excellent pacing. Every time I felt like I might be getting a handle on the situation, the story or environment or gameplay threw something new at me to unbalance me. There are a myriad of tiny revelations, which works incredibly well because it didn’t matter much if I saw one coming, the next one would catch me unprepared (in a very good way).

Not the mention the amazing Arkane aesthetic. Never forget the amazing Akane aesthetic.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month! So, if that’s my new date, I’m actually on time for once hurray!

Fanfic:

Precipice:

::singsong:: This is the arc that will not end… (j/k, I’m having fun. It is taking longer to get through everything than I thought it would, though.)

We are in good shape, ish. I did miss one week this month, and I was late a couple times due to IRL stuff [a thrilling saga involving two car insurance companies, the registrar’s office of the university where I got my BA four years ago, HR and IT at my current job…]

Anyway. I’ve got about 2-3 more chapters to go, I think? Need to check in w/Coruscant again of course, and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are definitely gonna yell at Anakin after the Poor Life Choice he made in last week’s update. We’ll also hear from Leia and Beru, so that should be fun.

Then we’ll finally start Arc Five,is tentatively titled Lessons and will probably focus mostly on the kids—the twins, of course; Lavinia; probably Winter; possibly Biggs and Leia’s other friends… It’ll be a quieter arc, probably; more along the lines of Homecoming, where we’re getting people situated/positioned for future plotty shenanigans. Although we will most likely spend some time with Darth Infernalis, too.

Also, the next chapter will probably put me over 100k (omg). I feel like I should do Something Special/a bonus to mark the milestone. Any suggestions/requests?

Distaff:

The next chapter is coming, no really. Like I mentioned earlier, this month was A Mess, IRL-wise, so, in dealing with all that, I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted to on anything, including/especially Distaff. This coming month, though, I swear.

Auxiliaries:

I got the entry bit up this month! Or, well, the first of three parts of it, anyway. Part 2 of said opening might take a while, because it involves people shooting at the boys and I need to iron out who is shooting and why. I actually have most of Part 3 written, but Part 2 obviously needs to go up first.

So I might do that Part 2 later this month, if I get it finished, or I might post Ahsoka’s entrance, since I have that mostly finished and I’m very fond of it. We shall see!

AU Outline:

This month was Ventress accidentally adopting tiny time-travelling Luke Skywalker! She was so annoyed, I love it. As always, all five of these can be found in the #au outlines for the win tag.

Next month will probably be the Mask of Zorro/California Gold Rush AU Fusion No One Asked For, but that I may change my mind.

Masks:

…sigh. See aforementioned “RL was a disaster” comments. I’m almost tempted to just finish this one out as an outline and jump to Machinations at this point, but IDK.

For those of you who don’t know (because I’m not sure I’ve summarized it properly on this blog yet), Masks is the first installment of Masks!verse (ha, I’m creative), which is basically what I call an In Spite of a Nail AU, where Lavinia from Precipice exists in a canon-adjacent timeline. I say ‘canon-adjacent’ because it’s sort of a…weird hybrid of Official Disney Canon and Old EU/Legends Canon? It picks up in the immediate aftermath of Yavin and is a true In Spite of a Nail AU for the OT timeframe (i.e., the story focuses on locations/people that the movies don’t, and, while she does some specific things that change some details, no major plot points during these four years are changed). However, I tend to stick closer to Legends for post-Endor developments (for several reasons, mostly relating to I like the way things played out with the remnants of the Empire and the New Republic in Legends, politically/government-building wise; better than the parts I’ve read in the tie-in canon novels on the same subjects. Which is probably a large part of why I haven’t read all that much of the new tie-in novels; also Mara Jade, also Pellaeon, neither of whom has been recanonized yet sooooo yeah).

Anyway, some of the content from post-ROTJ novels is therefore excluded (as is Rebels, still, for unrelated reasons). But Masks!verse does eventually link up w/TFA (the third part, Martyrs, picks up shortly after the end of said movie). Canon may be locked at that point; it all depends on how much TLJ throws what I have planned already, and how much I decide to care.

Original:

As with everything, did not get as much done as I would’ve liked this month. Did not work on The Caladrius or any other crossover piece, but I got a few short bits out, for all three worlds I post to RF. Sadly did not work on anything potentially publishable/unrelated this month.

Other:

So, I’ve been thinking about doing an open question night once a month. I mean, I’ll of course answer asks/whatever that come to me outside of an event like that, but I’d be online/available for active interaction if I did this, if that makes sense? Considering holding these on the fifteenth if I do this. Or maybe the third Monday of the month, to alternate with the Coming Attractions posts? Something to think about.

I’ll also take prompts (for short/under-5k stories), which I’ll plan to fill by the next Open Question Night, barring RL shenanigans or something.

Thoughts?

ETA: On a semi-related note, I do have a meme open; feel free to send me one of the things!

Monthly Goals:

July Recap:

1. Keep up with Precipice updates.--well, like I mentioned above, I missed one, so...not really.

2. Get the friggin Opera House done and posted already.--...oops.

3. Debut Auxliiaries.--Yay! An accomplishment!

4. At least write some Masks. In order. Bits from Machinations or the timeskip between them don’t count. Even if it’s not a full postable chapter.--Yeah, not so much.

5. Do another crack outline :D--I did it!

6. At least 1k on Phoenix!verse.--Again, not so much.

7. Work on another origfic crossover.--Nope.

9. Seriously, Shadowsong. The archives.--Nope.

10. At least 10k on any/all projects.--uh....::quick tally:: Looks like I did actually make it! Huh, I didn’t think I had... But this was also a long month, so to speak, and a couple of my Precipice chapters were on the long end, so.

August Goals:

1. Keep up with Precipice updates.

2. Opera House.

3. Another Auxiliaries snippet

4. Work on Masks.

5. Another crack outline

6. At least 1k on Phoenix!verse

7. Work on another origfic crossover

8. The archives are sad and lonely and three years out of date. I should fix that.

9. At least 5k on projects that are not Precipice.

10. At least 15k total on any/all projects. [considering that even this month I met my goal, I figured I should up it and see what happens.]

[lazybarbarians]

Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire’s End by Chuck Wendig

Ragnell: So over the past two weeks we finished up the Aftermath trilogy with Empire’s End and now we are totally up to date on the state of the Star Wars universe one-year post-RotJ as pertains to everyone but Luke Skywalker.

And Ezra Bridger, and Kanan Jarrus, and Ahsoka Tano or really any of the animated-verse Jedi or Sith and any of the EU Jedi or Sith like Mara Jade who still might exist in some way.

But for the soldiers and scoundrels and surviving Imperials we have a status quo for about 29 years. We also know what happens to the core characters from the first Aftermath book which is honestly (and impressively, considering how little patience I have for original SW characters) what we read this thing for anyway. (As usual, I pretty much spoil everything in this recap below.)

So we open with several threads going on. Gallius Rax is flashing back to his Tuesdays with Palpatine excerpts, and gathering the pathetic remnants of the Imperial Navy on Jakku. Because Palpatine had a big secret project there, of which Gallius was an integral part. So integral that Palpatine appoints Gallius Rax as The Contingency which we can immediately tell will be a great pain in the ass to the whole galaxy.

Norra and Company are hunting down Mercurial Swift, so they can track down Rae Sloane. Temmin is annoyed he’s always stuck on getaway driver duty. The bounties on Jas from her old bosses are mounting. Sinjir is still having his career regrets, which are worsened by the fact that without Luke Skywalker around to point out sensible things like “I don’t think that’s good for the soul”, Sinjir basically still has to do the same job only for Norra. And Norra has entered Terminator Revenge mode, which is basically what has her asking Sinjir to do the same job and limiting Temmin to getaway driver duty. This is generally what everyone has to work past the entire story. They find out Rae Sloane is on Jakku and follow.

Surprise surprise, the pathetic in comparison to its former glory but still a really really lot of ships remnants of the Imperial Navy are there. This leads the good guys to split up, with Norra and Jas taking an escape pod to the surface because Norra’s in revenge mode (followed by Mr. Bones because Temmin is worried about his mother) and Temmin and Sinjir to go back to Chandrila to get embroiled in the political plot.

Kalinara: I actually thought Norra in revenge mode was one of the weaker parts of the story, unfortunately. It’s understandable that she’d be conflicted and angry, but there were points where she just seemed cartoonishly irrational. Norra was my favorite in the previous books, but I wasn’t as big a fan of her here.

R: Mon Mothma is facing a election challenge from the appropriately named Senator Wartol, a hardline warhawk who accuses her of weakness that led to the Liberation Day attack last book. Long story short, her challenger is a corrupt asshole who has criminal ties and uses them to rig a vote to actually PREVENT attacking Jakku so that he can say he voted for it but she’s a shit Chancellor for not even being able to put this together. Sinjir teams up with the Organa-Solo family and his ex-boyfriend Conder to resolve this. He does so well that Mon Mothma offers him a job as her aide, which resolves his career path crisis, enables him to skip the Jakku attack and settle down happily with Conder.

K:: How’s that for one of the first, explicitly gay characters in Star Wars? He and his boyfriend both get to live, AND get a happy ending to boot!

R: Temmin spends his time pestering Wedge Antilles to put him on a ship and send him to Jakku. Wedge, after last book’s mini-rebellion, isn’t even allowed to go himself and is stuck being an expeditor in the hangers. After several guilt-trips, Wedge finally relents and puts together the same group of outcasts from last book to sneak, unauthorized, into the battle and lets the 16 year old join them because Wedge Antilles has spent way too much time with Luke, Leia, and Han over the last 5 years.

Temmin’s been wanting to go back to Jakku, of course, because that’s where his mother, his droid and his.. Jas have been. Both Jas and Norra got captured by Niima the Hutt, who is horrible even as Hutts go. Norra was on some work-detail where Mr Bones the droid broke her out. Jas got to pull ever-increasing acts of badassery to avoid being taken in for her bounty, steal Swift’s ship AND steal Swift’s crew.

Also in Niima’s area, Rae Sloane and Brentin Wexley, who convince her to lead them to the Imperial Secret Squirrel place where they are promptly captured and forced to witness a ridiculous speech by Gallius Rax. Sloane undergoes some of her own career angst while Brentin actually manages to get them both free. They proceed to try to fuck up Gallius Rax’s mysterious plan, and go into the Imperial Secret Squirrel place.

While in there, Norra catches up to them and they all find out that due to an overly emphatic chess metaphor Gallius Rax has activated a weapon in the core of Jakku that will destroy the whole planet and both fleets. He’s also sent the Huxes off with a bunch of children to outside the Galaxy to meet other ships with imperials and children, and the Eclipse, so that Palpatine can continue to vex the Galaxy from beyond the grave. On the bright side he kills Tashu, who was actually such a dick I was hoping they’d save him for the Jedi to kill in a later story.

Norra, Brentin, and Rae have a great deal of emotional interaction about trust and distrust, and a rather kickass three-against-one fight with Gallius in between trying to shut down the weapon. Brentin gets through all the defenses but stops to save Norra and gets killed. Rae actually turns down the weapon while Norra, feeling that her trust of Sloane was justified, drags her husband’s body out for burial. Rae then boards a ship with the Huxes and a bunch of feral brainwashed proto-Stormtroopers for the Eclipse, because she is not actually finished being evil yet.

K:: I was surprised by how much I liked Brentin, in particular, in this book. He was more plot point than character last time (even if he was a helpful juxtaposition against all those “no, Kylo is BRAINWASHED!” justifications), but here, we got to see more of who he is as a man. I was rather disappointed they killed him off. I might have liked the novelty of Norra and Brentin going through an amiable divorce.

Sloane was pretty great too. And for all of my complaints about Norra previously, she and Sloane had such a great dynamic once they finally met up. And I’m thrilled at the idea that we might see her again.

R: Wartol is arrested because he tries to kill Mon Mothma, but really only manages to destroy her office and kill the advisor who hadn’t been fleshed out until this book so we could feel bad about her. Mas Amedda manages to escape Coruscant and sign a surrender treaty. Leia attends the signing, during labor (because kid, you are gonna have to wait until galactic peace gawddammit) and thus manages to freak out her husband, attain galactic peace AND have a baby. Nothing in this book manages to excuse Kylo Ren’s horrible horrible crimes, and in fact knowing what’s coming you kind of cringe at one scene. Wedge Antilles and the Wexleys all go to the new pilot academy. Jas sets up shop with the crew she stole from Swift, and grieves Jom who went to Jakku to find her and was killed in the battle. Sinjir settles down with his new career and Conder.

K: Seriously. I didn’t see anything that remotely indicated any “mind control from birth” or whatever nonsense. It isn’t even clear that Snoke EXISTS at this point in time. Any passage that could even be remotely stretched to mean some kind of fetus communication actually has a clear explanation in the text itself.

R: Actually, every character that we might have speculated would BE Snoke was specifically killed off

For the rest of the Galaxy, Chewbacca finds his son. Lando Calrissian regains his rightful place as Baron Administrator of Cloud City (which I believe is a 4-point Freehold if you’re tracking SW characters with White Wolf rules). Jar Jar Binks makes a friend and lives out the rest of his days entertaining orphans and avoiding politics. Coruscant ends up run by Mas Amedda anyway, but technically part of the New Republic. The Sith-worshipping Acolyte group from the Interludes was revealed to be sponsored by Tashu and dedicates itself to causing shit across the Galaxy and will almost certainly factor into the Jedi storyline. A charismatic leader, Brin, forms the Church of the Force which we already know factors into the Jedi storyline. It’s revealed that there are facilities known as Observatories, set up by Palpatine, that have been receiving data from outside the known galaxy all over the galaxy and not just on Jakku and that’s probably going to come into play somewhere too. The crazy pirate who found a Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought last book has cobbled together a functioning society of pirates around the ship. The residents of Tattooine have decided to just raise their own damned Hutt, Borgo, from childhood so they can have one who’s more compassionate than Jabba was. Luke is stated to be looking for old Jedi stuff.

That was a long recap, but one of the most tantalizing aspects of this trilogy is finding out just what the status quo in the Galaxy was after they finally wiped the bloated corpse of the Empire’s bureaucracy off of the map and got their new government underway. In general, it’s pretty satisfying. You follow your six Republic heroes, with some of the named characters from the movies as supporting cast, and your two main Imperials and their support, and get kind of a view of the rest of the universe. In a couple of places, these interludes tie into the main climax but others are just epilogues for the locations in the movies or tantalizing threads for when we find out what Luke has been up to.

K: I admit, that’s what I’m waiting for most. This was a fun side trek, but where is my favorite character, damnit?

R: I’m hoping we get another trilogy explaining this after The Last Jedi premieres. Or it’s the focus of the next animated series. Ezra seems custom-made to work as a foil for Luke, and Ahsoka was written out in a way that places her in safe-keeping until after RotJ.

One thing I found myself thinking from this last book, though, is that I feel better about The Force Awakens. I know a few OT fans who were very upset about everything Luke and Leia lost in the prelude to that movie and during it. I know a couple I saw who commented that they didn’t think Luke’s actions in RotJ were even that big an effect, since the Death Star was destroyed anyway. The view of the galaxy as seen in this trilogy, PARTICULARLY Jakku as compared to what we saw in the movie, changes that. You get the impression that even though there are still darksiders active, that a remnant of the Empire has left to regroup, that there’s still corruption and pirates and bullies and innocent people languishing in extreme poverty and hardship… that there’s still been a lasting improvement directly attributable to the actions of the heroes in the movies and the heroes in these books. Jakku at Rey’s time is actually a less horrible place than seen in this book. Many of the locations from the movies show people taking action and spreading hope. The remains of the Empire are the Emperor’s last middle finger to the Galaxy, and even after thirty years of gaining strength are still not the relentless, overwhelming presence in everyone’s life they were in Rogue One. The Galaxy was not instantly fixed, and much of the progress was wiped away, but there’s still a lot to hold onto. They came a long way between RotJ and TFA.

There’s really only one disappointment about this book. Tashu’s death. I joked above, but in the first book of this trilogy his main role is torturing a captive Wedge Antilles. The fallout from this is more realistic than you usually see in action-adventure fiction, where Wedge is still recovering throughout the second book both physically and emotionally. They’re unclear on whether he’s still using a cane this book or not, but either way it’s a long-term lingering impairment. He gets to staredown and work a little on his rage at Sloane last book, but he is never shown confronting Tashu. He’s never in the same room as the villain who put him through all of that. Tashu also never has a greater impact on any other main characters either from just this trilogy or the movies, meaning this villain was specific to one major hero and had a huge impact on that hero’s life and role in a story that covers at least half a year. Tashu isn’t saved for a later book or confrontation, he gets offed by Gallius and that’s a bit of a bummer.

[thedroidsyouarelookingfor]

Okay, so thoughts on the whole episode.

Well. Where to start. The baby and Din didn’t get to interact as much as I would have liked but there goodbye was HEARTWRENCHING. I knew Mando was gonna take his helmet off to see off his little baby and I still cried so hard. Nothing else in the world mattered to him in that moment. Just Grogu.

I’m a little surprised they went with Luke here. A minor character would have been safer, but more alienating for a large percentage of the audience. Then again, people didn’t know Bo Katan or Ahsoka and they’re doing fine. It is a little funny though that Luke didn’t introduce himself. Kinda weird that all those other characters were there and he didn’t speak to anyone. I dunno. I will say the CGI was not great. I disliked Rogue One and Rise of Skywalker for that too (and other reasons obvs). Best to use him sparingly if he returns. Still the action scene was incredible and it was amazing to see him in action like that. I admit it was a bit fanservicey so I understand why some people didn’t like it. When r2 came on screen thought I freaking LOST it. I’m a droid girl first and foremost and I adore him! I’ll be looking forward to seeing the gifs of him interacting with Grogu. I do wanna say that I don’t like criticism for people who like stuff like this that centers around “nostalgia blindness” and stuff. I don’t love Luke and R2 to the point where I’m incapable of enjoying stories without them, but I’m not upset about important characters being a part of the story. I hope what I’m saying makes sense? Like Cara should have know who Luke was. Gideon probably too. The whole “Star Wars is a tiny universe” thing doesn’t bother me that much as long as we DO keep getting good new characters like Din and the legacy characters that do make appearances are there for a reason.

A lot of people are mad it was Luke. Most people don’t know who Cal is and he may very well die before these events take place. His story will be told in video games, I’m sure. Ezra will hopefully be a part of the Ahsoka show so there’s that too. I would have had too many questions if Ezra would have just showed up here and now. Luke really was the only logical choice besides Ahsoka. And Luke has no connection to the traditional Jedi ways, so he isn’t bogged down by all the rules of attachment and stuff. In any case, it kinda sounded to me like Luke was just saying Grogu needs a bit of training to control his emotions and powers better, and then he can go back to Din. That seems completely logical to me. As long as Grogu gets back with Din after a reasonable amount of time and Inhuman CGI Luke is used very sparingly everything is fine.

Our girl squad was awesome. They kicked much butt.

The dark saber thing was interesting. I don’t trust Bo Katan. I want her to be nice lol but I definitely think she was giving off some villain vibes here (but so was Boba in that after credits scene). I mean Bo Katan was literally a terrorist when we first meet her in the Clone Wars. Then Rebels was a whole thing.

People are mad Luke saved the day, but come on Mando had already taken a beating by ONE of those dark troopers. He would have probably hurt himself if he tried to fight them with his fancy new weapon. Plus at that point he is trying to give it to Bo. (Even though I’m pretty sure Sabine just *gave* it to her in the past!?)

It’s Din being the master of the saber now that makes me hope he won’t be sidelined for Boba in season 3. There’s a lot of plot lines left unexplored. What most of us hope though, I’m sure, is that none of this ties into the sequel trilogy. We don’t want the remnant empire taking Grogu’s blood for Palpatine clones. Maybe it will tie into reusing Republic Clones? But I doubt it. As much as possible I want this series to stand on its own. A legacy character playing a part in it is fine, but I still want the story of Grogu and Din. I am worried about all the spin offs. I’m worried that this season was more of a jumping off point for other characters’ stories. I care about those stories, but first and foremost I care about Din and Grogu and I don’t want them to be sidelined.

All that being said, I still loved this season. Creepy CGI, legacy characters and all. I love Din and Grogu with all my heart. I hope we see more of them.

Mando spoilers but HUGE QUESTION...

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Was season one and two “The Book of Din” and now the show will be “The Book of Boba” and be focused on him as the main protagonist?? Because...honestly I have some FEELINGS about that. I mean each episode is called “chapter” ...

It was a great season finale, and admittedly it would have been a good series finale as well (if the sequel trilogy didn’t exist and ruin all of our hope of Luke’s new generation of Jedi) but I am NOT ready to say goodbye to Din and Grogu. And to be honest did they really NEED to put a slave girl in the end credits?? I know Fennic freed her and that’s great, but what would have been better is her not being there at all. Annnnnnnd I know people love Boba, but can he carry a whole show? I don’t really want to watch him if he’s about to be a crime boss or something. Nope. I have serious reservations about this series going forward. Is that all for Din and Grogu????? I find it hard to believe because of the cash cow that those characters are but maybe they wanted to stop while they were ahead.

Is Pedro Pascal confirmed for Season 3? Or do I need to cry some more now?

[voidendron]

Star wars AU, bragging competition. Like a chill night on the starship and they're all trying to outdo each other with stories.

(( set later than previous SW fics where they actually like. can stand each other. it ended up WAY longer than I anticipated, but So. Worth it. It was a lot of fun :D ))

Words: 2′327Warnings: Alcohol, Drunkenness (mild), Swearing

Chase had dropped off a prettylarge shipment earlier, which left the cargo bay of his ship withplenty of room. With an empty crate acting as a makeshift table, theyall sat around it, some with more distance between them than others.It had been Chase’s idea, because of course it had been.

Jackie was looking at his drinkskeptically (probably wondering if Chase had come by it legally ornot) while Sam pouted at the fact Marvin wouldn’t let them haveany. …Which was funny considering that, while they were theyoungest there, they were as much an adult as the rest of them.Jameson had waved off the offer, not wanting to remove hisvocoder—vocabulator?—whatever it was; Chase had heard multiplenames used for the things.

Chase might have been a littletipsy at that point and he could feel Schneep eyeing him. He waswatching himself, though, and at least his astromech could pilotwhile he was unable.

“Anyway,”the Bothan said as he threw a hand up, “that’s how I accidentallypissed off a governor and got an assassin sent after me!”

Marvinmade a noise akin to some sort of hissing laugh. “I think I’vegot more questions than I started with.”

“Yeah…”Jackie took a testing sip of his drink as he leaned back against anempty pallet. “What was that part about getting stuck in the wrongvent again?”

“Doesn’tmatter—mytime’s up! Who can one-up that?”Chase pulled his best rendition of a grin that he could with a snoutfull of sharp teeth.

“Eh,I’ll give it a shot.” Marvin adjusted his legs and patted hishelmet to make sure it was still resting at his thigh. “This wasback when Sami was a teenager, but… Heh. You remember that Acklay?”

Theyounger Mandalorian immediately perked up and started grinning. “Youtold that story for weeksafter!”

“Hey,that’s where I earned my signet—‘course I’d keep telling it!”

“Acklay…”Jackie rubbed at his chin. “You mean those freaky six-leggedbuggers that try to spear ya?”

Marvingrinned; his feline fangs were even sharper than Chase’s andglinted in the light from overhead. “Oh, yeah. And those legs aresharp,dammit.” He traced a line over his breastplate up to his shoulderand added, “Got a nastyscarhere from it, and proud of it!”

“Sowhat about the Acklay?” Schneep actually…tilted his head alittle. God was he expressive for a droid.

“Allright. Let’s see if this one-ups Chase’s ship-crash of anexperience, huh?” He took a swig of his drink, then settled backcomfortably. “I did a lot of our clan’s supply runs—especiallyif it was into dangerous territory. I had to go to Felucia for someplant. Not a botanist, so don’t remember what it was or what it wasused for, but whatever. We needed it and that’s all you need toknow about that.

“So,I was searching for this plant, watching my back for dangerous fauna,and then I heard it.” He gnashed his teeth together, making poorSami jump at the noise. “It was aboveme,on one of the…root-things all over the place. Just watching me. Andthe thing was huge.I’d only seen them from a distance until that point, but one goodstrike would’ve speared one of its legs straight through me.

“Whenit shifted, the entire root creaked under it. It must’ve beenwaiting there long before I got there ‘cause there was no way Iwouldn’t have heard it walk up there.” He muttered something inMando’a and chuckled to himself. “So I did what any impulsiveMandalorian would do and started shooting at it.”

Jamesonstartled Chase—as well as some of the others by the looks ofit—when he suddenly piped in. He hadn’t expected the guy toactually listen enough to contribute. “Acklays have exoskeletons. Ablaster such as you carry would do little.”

Marvinfrowned a little at Jameson, but at least he wasn’t baring histeeth this time. For once? “Yeah. And I remembered that fact onlywhen it lumbered off the damn root and nearly speared me under it.

“Thatwas back before I got my jetpack, and carried a vibroblade instead ofmy electrostaff.” He patted said weapon where it laid next to him.“So I was stuck on the ground with somethin’ a whole lot fasterthan me, with more reach, and those fuckers are scary agile, too. Iwas alone with the only things I’d have a chance with being a fewgrenades and my blade.”

Jackiearched a brow. “…You say that like ‘a few’ grenades are justa casual thing.”

“Well,yeah.Mandalorians are usually armed to the teeth.”

“Fangs,”Chase corrected with a chuckle. “’Cause you’re a Cathar, soyou’ve got fangs.”

Marvinjust snorted. “Someone get him to bed—”

“—I’mnot that drunk—!”

“—Anyway.So I’ve got this Acklay that’s way bigger than me trying to knockme over, spear me, chomp me, whatever it can. It broke some of mystraps, so I was left without a breastplate or right pauldron, lostone of my blasters, I’m dragging my sash in my hands since that gotcut, too, and I reallywantedto keep my grenades with me, all while I’m trying not to let thisthing make a meal of me and it’s screeching in my ear.

“SoI’m trying to duck around plants and dive for areas it can’t fit,but it just plows through or destroys them to leave me flounderingfor a new spot. I can see my ship, but this thing’s driving mefarther and farther from it, then I trip, and all I see is one of itslegs poised to impale me. I roll, but it still catches me,” hetraces the line on his chest again, “so now I’m bleeding, can’tmove one arm, and this thing reaches down to chomp me, catches myother pauldron instead and pulls it off so I scramble to my feet.

“I’mcovered in mud and pollen and my own blood, my visor’s so filthy Ican barely see. I pull a grenade off my sash and activate it, ‘causeat that point I’m thinking I’m about to die and I’m desperate.So I throw the fucker, and the Acklay snatches it out of the air andswallows it.

“Boom. Iwatched the thing get blown apart, grabbed my stuff and the plantafter looking around for it again, and beelined it for my ship.”

Samshook their head and grinned. “When he got back to camp he was amess.He was dragging the armor that was pulled off by its straps and hadhis arm against his chest. His collar bone had been broken and hedidn’t even sling his arm! The medical droid scolded himso bad. Andthe first thing he does? Pull off his helmet, grin a hugegrin,and give the plant to our leader all proud of himself!”

“Hey,I had a right to be proud!” Marvin turned to show the marks on hispauldron; sure enough, it was an Acklay head. “That’s how Iearned my signet!”

“…Damn.”Chase shook his head. “I’ve heard those things can kill groups oftrained soldiers if they’re caught off guard.”

“Impressive,”Schneep agreed. “Very impressive!”

“So.Anyone wanna one-up that?” the Cathar challenged.

Jackieshook his head. “I thought I had a story. No way it tops that.”

“Let’shear it anyway!” Chase said.

“Yes,please,” the droid agreed.

“Eh.Well.” He rubbed the back of his head. In the dimmed light of thecargo bay, it was almost eerie the way his red eyes glowed as he castthem around the room. “I was in my Y-Wing when Vader joined abattle?”

Chasechoked on his drink and was left coughing for a solid thirty seconds.“You survived anencounter with him?!”

“Ispotted his TIE from a distance, but it didn’t really…register?that it looked a little different from the rest? Soon as my squadleader saw it, I swear I was gonna go deaf. She flipped.Out. Orderingthe squad to retreat immediately.It was right about then that a star destroyer came outta hyperspace.

“Weknew that was it. We didn’t have a chanceofwinning that battle, so we fell back in the hopes of not losingmultiple squads.” Jackie frowned. “Half my squad was killed—allgood men, friends—when Vader showed up. Pretty sure he’s the onewho got to ‘em. I’d never been so terrified.  Heh. And I nevereven got close to it—just saw it on the other side of the battle.Even now, I don’t think anything’s scared me so damn bad asseein’ that one TIE.

“Iwouldn’t fly for daysafter that, and none of us would shut up about seeing it. We didn’twin that battle, but surviving that sorta encounter at least deservessome bragging rights. Right?”

“Wow!”Sam leaned forward, hands on their knees. “I’ve only ever heardstories of him, but that sounds scary!” They were…grinning, asthey said it. Of course they were, Chase thought with a chuckle. Heswore those two Mandalorians were addicted to danger. Maybe he was alittle, too, but hey.

“Okay,we’ve got a game goin’ now,” Jackie said. “Someone’s gottago next.”

Schneepshuffled awkwardly, then offered, “I was stolen by pirates?”

“Hey,now.” The Chiss frowned despite the story he’d just told. “Werescued you. Can’t hold that over our heads forever.”

“Oh,no, no!” He put up his hands, shook his head. “You saved me fromthe third time! But I’ve been stolen before.”

“…Third time?”

“Bypirates, yes.”

“Thatimplies you’ve been stolen by things other than pirates, too,”Marvin muttered with a huffed laugh.

“Dude,”Chase grinned, “you’ve gottellus about the first time. Or second—whichever’s more interesting.Please?”

Thearms set into Schneep’s back for more fine-tuned work shifted andclattered and his eyes brightened a bit. Maybe he couldn’t makefacial expressions, but he had other ways of showing how he felt. Itwas frankly adorable how expressive he actually was.

“Thishappened during the Clone Wars. I was a Republic medical droid—”

“I…hadforgotten how old you were,” Jameson said.

Jackiescoffed. “Youforgotsomething? You’ve got like. A literalcomputerattached to your head.”

“Itdidn’t seem like important information, so I disregarded it.”

“Guys,”Chase scolded, “don’t interrupt him.”

Hisextra arms fidgeted even as he tried to remain still. “I had beenstationed at a small outpost to tend to the Clones there. It was toosmall and not well-defended—in a very bad location, as well. Verybad planning overall. That is what I was told. Pirates were able tooverwhelm it.

“Theytook hostages, stole the droids and supplies, and fled back to theirship before reinforcements arrived.” He put his hands on his hipslike he was disappointed, but also chuckled. “They tried to shortme out! But they shocked themselves instead—is very funny toremember. They cursed and jumped around while their little machinezipped and zapped. The astromechs they stole found it hilarious andwould not stop chittering!”

Chaselaughed. That seemed to make Schneep a little more confident—hewasn’t used to talking so much about himself, it was clear, but theBothan hoped he would start loosening up like this more often.

“Thepirates were incompetent. They overwhelmed the outpost with sheernumber and firepower, but I swear, far dumber than a battle droid.The Clones complimented one with insults—right to his face!—andhe took it as genuine!

“Theyfloundered around each other like the fish out of water! Oneaccidentally released one of the Clones and the poor man was soconfused that he just sat there waiting to be cuffed again, andanother nearly shot his buddy while cleaning a blaster and having itgo off. It was maddening! They wanted to sell us droids and ransomthe Clones, but the truly frustrating part was watching them all bethe idiots! I do not even think we were worried for our ownwell-being they were so nonsensical!”

Mostof them were laughing, now. Even Jameson had his head tilted like hejust couldn’t make sense of pirates. One of the lights on his AJ^6was even blinking very, veryslowly.

“Dude.”It took Chase a couple tries to actually get any proper words outthrough snickers, “I’m actually afraid of the answer, but… Howbadly did you embarrass them to get away?”

Thedroid cupped his hands over his face and laughed again. “The Clonestricked them into undoing their binds, but they were still locked inthe cell. So the astromechs—they ambushed a pirate and stole thekey from him!”

“Oh,god. Didthey not know how freaking feistymechscan be?! You don’t tick them off—‘speciallynot a group of ‘em!”

“Apparentlynot! They zipped and zapped and pinched until they got the key andreleased the Clones, and then they took over the ship! The pirateswere locked out of the cockpit and the mechs found us the nearestRepublic fleet. We all had such a hard time believing it actuallyhappened—and no one would believe us!They could not believe someone could possibly be thatincompetent!”

Samilooked like they were having a hard time breathing they were laughingso hard, and both Jackie and Marvin had covered their faces.

“…Ithink Schneep wins for most entertaining story,” Chase suggested.The others only nodded. “Unless Jameson..?”

“Ihave nothing interesting to tell.”

“…Oh-kay.Our dear droid with the freakin’ comedy goldofdumb pirate stories wins.”

Schneepclasped his hands together, something in his chest chirping.