#seeker droid spoilers

[tiredassmage]

🖊 + may i hear your thoughts about whoever is on your mind.. a crumb of meowmeow...

*coughs.* I've held onto this for way longer than I ever thought I would or planned to and since we all are missing Tyr (affectionate), I'm going to attempt to put some Tyr content on the feed. I am only slightly sorry that it's the heartbreaking, feels-filled and fueled kind, lol.

So! *claps my hands together* We're going to need a spoiler cut because I'm going to talk about the Nathema Conspiracy again. Maybe properly for once. Because boy howdy is there a lot Tyr Deckard has never unpacked about the implications of the Nathema Conspiracy! [Edit: and some. Agent specific and other general story spoilers from before that point as well. General advice: this post is for after the Nathema Conspiracy arc is resolved, lol]

Iokath and onward has really interesting implications with Tyr for a boatload of reasons, really. As Alliance Commander, the decision to ally with the Republic on Iokath puts him in opposition with Acina - who, if memory is serving correctly and if not is just my own personal taste of how the story plays - is serving around the Dark Council and eventually on it in the era where Tyr was actively serving in Imperial Intelligence, or at least shortly after it. While I can't claim to have successfully completed the Dread Masters nor the Seeker droid questlines because of those sneaky little operations and heroics they tacked on at the end of those quest lines, I've sent Tyr to work for Acina on early Dread Seed investigations at least once, and to say the least, it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. Certainly her remarks on Iokath do the same - it solidifies that impression, the story as Tyr knows it, that he's only been as good as his work wasn't too much of a risk for the Empire, and for the Council in particular.

Which is kind of its whole own separate ramble that isn't what I said we'd talk about, but I'm not sure I've really publicly discussed it and foggily I think it's only been implied in some of my older fic writing here or there. Which... is a bit of a shame, really. Empress Acina nearly seems like a Sith he might be able to work with, up until that moment. Intelligence should have retired you when they had the chance - the kind of proof for Tyr's opinion that the Empire hasn't changed in the nearly twenty years he's spent in his Intelligence career. In hindsight, it probably feels foolish to have ever considered maybe some experience would've taught her something, to give just enough belief that the Empire might finally have a leader that would take it in a direction of improvement, but... Unfortunately, nothing that happens there and after really gives him much time to linger on it.

But, again, that's... a different podcast for a different day, as I've fondly picked up from a recent professor, lol.

SO. About the actual promised subject of this post, lol! I always have to be very careful introducing Tyr in my mind palace to the traitor arc as a story piece in general because... here's the thing... Tyr's incredibly loyal, at his core. But he's loyal in the way that he'll tear himself apart to save you the trouble of trying to do the same thing. His loyalty is the kind where he asks to be told the truth so he can lie for you.

And also the kind of loyalty where he'd pull a trigger on you for the sake of a long-term bigger picture outcome where you might be better off. Were the roles much different, Tyr very easily could've been the Alliance traitor, and unfortunately for anyone he cares for, I know he'd sell the role hook, line, and sinker. Which for now is just sort of a thought exercise @ho1ythunder and I like to torture our blorbos in occasionally, for the most part, rather than... a primary version of events, if you will. But it's a very interesting and chewy one because very few other instances tempt Tyr to show his loyalty in such a spectacularly disastrous (for himself and others) fashion, and therefore I think a lot of those closest to Tyr just... don't really. know, entirely, that he's... that way. He's incredibly good at masking such edges in the careful dance of duties he performs.

His loyalty and his saying he'd never (like to) hurt the people he cares for is no less genuine for this reality of him, certainly. But Tyr Deckard is not a man who does anything by halves, and on a gamble like the one against the Heralds for the sake of the Alliance and a Commander he'd trust and be loyal to? That's the last job in the galaxy to ever do by halves, if he wants even half a shot at it actually working in the Alliance's favor.

Tyr's the type that would end up in the Alliance either way, likely - very likely as an Intelligence asset, if not finally in a directing and overseeing operations role by that point in his life and career. He's likely worked with Lana practically from the start on locating the Outlander; they already served fairly close together in Sith Intelligence and Tyr is... not really the type to stay idle about something like Zakuul. He was already uneasy in the Empire given his... sympathies and mission history, after all, and the Republic's just as deep up Schitt Creek, if you will, about Zakuul, so defection to the SIS isn't really an ideal option at that point anymore.

The Alliance was where he could do the most good. He believes in that idea - of pulling together both sides, of forging something new and possibly better to confront something bigger than any one of them. And as Nine, he's played more than his fair share of spy games with shadow organizations - from the Star Cabal to the Shroud to the Revanites.

Regardless of how the Eternal Throne is resolved, unrest is almost a given with that much change going down in Zakuul. With the resources of Alliance Intelligence, it's... no stretch to consider someone with Tyr's track record could hunt down the Heralds. And it maybe should be little surprise he'd infiltrate them and play along to try to get information.

Unfortunately up to and including setting up an Umbaran train incident. To put the business end of a blaster against someone he likely respects and trusts. Someone he could even be quite close with.

Because he promised he'd never let a threat like the Heralds get that deep, that close to destroying what you've built.

Or, if you've been... less kind... Well. Tyr's had a bit of enough of his life being out of his own hands. Still, it's a lot of deaths on the line. A lot of lives.

Either way, the Heralds have to be stopped.

Infiltration. Assassination. Manipulation. All specialties of your ex-Cipher. Is it really any wonder he'd go so far? A doubt he's not above planting himself. For the sake of the cover. For the sake of keeping enough of Atrius's faith in his commitment and ability to follow through to figure out what he needs to gain the Alliance an edge it desperately needs.

And that is all interesting enough, I'd say! But no, I couldn't ever be that nice to him. I have to go and make sure Shara Jenn's involved regardless of him not being the main character! Because frankly Shara's reappearance on Nathema could ALSO probably be its own post and Tyr to this day STILL hasn't unraveled for me how he feels about it (his argument is that she already said there's nothing for them to discuss. And he can do many things; raise the dead and make amends with them is not among them). So her with a Tyr that's actually working for the Alliance within the Heralds is EXTRA chewy and interesting!

Because I like to believe she still remembers enough about how he works. Still remembers the younger Cipher Nine that stood against Darth Jadus, with no backup available and only her in his ear for advice, and argued with her that the human cost of the Eradicators was unacceptable. Her idealistic underneath the pragmatic facade of a well-trained operative Cipher Nine that defied the second most powerful living Sith, likely knowing full well it was likely a futile gamble with his own life.

That Cipher Nine doesn't match the work of the Heralds here. Oh, sure, they talk, they make nice. Maybe even rekindle a bit of those lost nights shared between them on Dromund Kaas nearly a lifetime ago now. But they're both playing a game.

A part of him still loves her - loves the woman he used to know. He may never have been able to fully trust her again after the Castellans - it was hard for him to trust anyone, but it made what he felt for her no less real. Maybe the same parts of her that are suspicious of his working against the Heralds' goals, the same parts that likely drive her to share advice with Atrius that this ex-Cipher she knows can't really be trusted outside of arm's reach... Maybe those same parts of her would like to still trust him.

But it doesn't matter. Imperial Intelligence is still gone. Cipher Nine's an Imperial ghost story. And it's been a long time since she's answered to Keeper of Operations Division.

And it's this... nexus of everything, everything it costs that... Normally, if it had been just any One of these acts in isolation...

If it'd just been the train. If it'd just been putting a blaster bolt through a trusted ally and friend? He likely could live with doing it again.

But all of it? An ultimate accusation from Atrius that he's betrayed everything and everyone he's ever claimed to hold loyalty for?

Imperial Intelligence for the deal with Ardun Kothe. Shara, for the same deal. He turned his back on Sith Intelligence to run off on this 'ghost hunt' with Lana. He's betrayed the Alliance now as well.

And all of that still nearly cost the Alliance everything. It almost didn't work. It nearly kills him. The hope he had for Shara to have made it out of this web of lies and madness that mired Intelligence in its cannibalization is utterly extinguished by her even being involved with the Heralds. He couldn't save her.

Was it worth it..? Was the cost... really worth it? Even in victory? Even though there's an Alliance left to judge his actions?

Little else - perhaps... nothing else he's done or survived has ever... really felt too far. But this would be. This was, he painfully realizes once the act's already finished. When there's nothing left but sparking machinery and the tang of blood on his tongue.

He might not be able to bear to ask for forgiveness, the bitterness of it all is so strong. He couldn't believe he'd deserve it, for what he's done. For what it's cost.

But will you? Could you? Enough to make him live with the guilt and the shame.

And if you could, well... Cipher Nine might finally cede he's been at this perhaps... too long. Another call like that.... It shouldn't have happened in the first place.

And THAT. That!!!!! To find a scenario where someone like Tyr, who... I'd say almost doesn't know how to quit. He doesn't just... give up, on anything. I'm sure a fair few would wish it'd take less to make him consider slowing down, to finally hang up the drive to be something like Atlas, with the weight of everything always upon his shoulders. But... damn, it sure is chewy something finally could. >:3

Tyr Vaiken Deckard, the man that you are etc etc. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[differentfandomsandthings]

(Tbb s2 e14 spoilers down below)

The thumbnail has Crosshair I already know it's going to be good :D

More vultures

No way! Is that...HOWZER!!!!!

Echo! And Gregor!!!

They are doing work! It's so nice to see Echo again ( looks like hes in charge as well)☺️ and we have two new names. Fireball and Nemec (let's see if they live).

Empire is trying to erase the ships data banks.

IT IS HOWZER!!!

They got away

Now thats how you start an episode!!

Ok. What are they about to do to Crosshair? All those clones held prisoner 😔

Dr Hemlocks assistant is so cheery and "caring" "How are you feeling Crosshair?" How do you think he feels!?😡

Hemlock's vioce is so sickeningly soft and sweet. I hate it even more than Rampart's because you know it's all fake and he's a scumbag. Shout out to both VA's they do an incredible job.

Hemlock wants Crosshair to tell him how to find clone force 99 and Omega. Crosshair says he doesn't know where they are but Hemlock fires back saying Crosshair knows how they operate.

Crosshair says he doesn't know anything.

There is the interrogation Droid we were so worried about! Dang poor Crosshair 😕

Back on Coruscant :D

Riyo Chuchi!!!

Yes looks like Echo is going to find Tech so he can figure out the encryption on the Imperial data

Wow! Crosshair broke free!! Doubt he'll make it far.

Hemlock's assistant actually seems to care a bit. Still don't like her but she might not be all evil. Somethings up with her at least. Some people think she's a clone, idk.

Why are they giving me hope like this!? I know hes not going to make it out😫

Gasp! He's sending a signal! Plan 88!?

Crosshair: You have to hide, they're after-" oh no he's been gassed! He was warning the batch to hide. I hope it got out before they cut the signal.

Hemlock is a sicko

Back on Pabu.

Lol looks like Wrecker caught a big one lol a big fish.

Oh My Gosh! Tech teaching Omega how to fly again! And she is flying lmao 🤣 😂 he looks scared 😭 "pull up Omega, Up, UP!"

She's about to do the "Tech turn"

She did it! I love this😭 she went from "I can't hold it" in s1 to perfecting "Techyo drift" lmao. Honestly I'm loving how this season is showing us how much of a baddass Omega has and will become.

Also, loving the Tech and Omega moment 🥰

Omega sounding so excited to see Echo

Echo: I see you've been keeping up your training. Race you to the landing pad!

Tech: that's not a-

Omega: you're on!

🥰🥰🥰

Omega almost crushes some people landing. Better get out the way lol!

The running jump hug!!🥰😭

Looks like Hemlock has a meeting with Tarkin at the summit....

The batch has found out about the other clones being held prisoner. Also, that Hemlock was kicked out of the Republic scientist division because he's a sicko

They also find out about Crosshair.

They got his transmission. Plan 88, The Seeker. They know they are being targeted now. Crosshair is still trying to protect them🥲

Hunter: or its a trap, like he did before.

Wrecker: how do we find out?

Hunter, what are you about to do? The opposite of what Crosshair told you too?

Hemlock: just tell me where the girl is. She means nothing to you.

Crosshair: 🤐

He does care!🥲

The episode ends with Crosshair being tortured 🥺💔

THIS EPISODE WAS A FREAKING 10 OUT OF 10!!

It had everything. Action, plot, comedy, downtime, bonding moments, characters we missed, and angst.

No Phee, Cid, or Nala Se this episode. Which is kinda surprising, mostly for Cid. What's she been up to?🤨

Also Omega did not get kidnapped this episode surprisingly.

I'm so scared for Crosshair right now. I really hope the batch can rescue him before it's to late. I have know idea what Hemlock has planned for him. Like is he just going to keep torturing him with the Droid, or is he going to get tired of that and turn him into whatever he's doing with the other clones?

What are the batch going to do? Crosshair sent out plan 88. They know they should hide but they also know he's being held prisoner. I don't want them to leave him behind again but at the same time going after him puts them in extreme danger. They have to get him out though, I just hope they all make it out alive and together.

I am so excited and scared for the season finale! One more week to go guys! 😫 😥

[rainofaugustsith]

Rain Plays SWTOR: Seeker Droid!

Canon Viri tackled the Dread Seeds/Seeker Droid quests. Macrobinoculars is still not doable solo, but after seeing some YouTube videos of the Seeker Droid quest endings online, I thought I’d go for it. It’s about the Dread Masters and I’m trying to do as much of their content alone as I can.  Seeker Droid story spoilers In terms of story, I thought it was a good one. At the end, of course Viri took the power for herself. She's the Wrath. Or she was, at this point in the game. And she sure as hell wasn't going to leave it for Acina to loot or take credit for - which is exactly what she would have done. 

I feel like the ending was totally in character for Viri. She was one step ahead of Acina, even though she didn't let on. In canon, once she became the Wrath she knew damned well that Vitiate was gone - it's canon because the Hands sent her an email about it after the class story. So she also knew that anyone telling her "the Emperor told me to do this" was full of shit. Acina wanted her to do all the gruntwork and then take all the credit for reclaiming the Dread Seeds. After seeing the Arcanum that Acina hadn't told her or anyone else about, that contained Patient Zero and all sorts of scary stuff - even more so. She would play along with Acina because the Dread Seeds were a Very Bad Thing, but she was certainly not going to fork over the Dread Masters' tech to her. 

Gameplay: It's bugged at the end. The final heroic on Ilum was decidedly miserable, which is a shame because the rest of the quest line was fun. 

Since the Dread Seeds happened during Viri's years as the Wrath, she brought along Jaesa to at least try to keep some continuity. Before KOTFE, Jaesa and Vette were her seconds all the time, and she would have chosen the former for anything Scary Force Related. Vette jumped in on the Ilum heroic because unfortunately Jaesa was useless there, despite being Level 50. Of course, she was standing there wearing Lana's belt with gold eyes, so she still didn't look 100% like she was from the correct part of her timeline, but I did what I could.  Overall, once I got the hang of it, using the seeker droid was pretty simple. When I was on Corellia I nearly got ninjaed - some asshole Jedi Knight was literally standing behind me and watching what I did with my seeker droid, then putting his down in the direction it was saying. As soon as I noticed it I just went over to Hoth to search for a different Seed. Sorry. Not helping you, Jedi.

On Alderaan and Balmorra Viri found the Seeds with only two or three tries with the seeker droid, which is...well, I'm not complaining. When I got to Voss, the last one Viri had to collect, I finally checked her mail and there was a buff from GSI in an email to make the search easier. Oops. Could have used that on Corellia. 

Somewhere along the way she somehow lost the seeker droid. I logged out and logged back in, and it was back in her mission tools. I also got an email with it. Okay. Glad to see everything's not bugged. 

Going through the Arcanum wasn't the easiest, but I'm really proud I was able to do it. I'm horrible at jumps. That's an understatement. Viri did die a few times as I figured out the first jump, and I got stuck behind some shelves once, but I'm really pleased with myself, and proud of Viri, that she was able to make it through. Rocket boost definitely helped.  The search took her to one of her favorite places, the ancient side of Belsavis. Better yet, she got to explore another Rakatan crypt. And there was a Rakatan transporter. Pure joy. The boss at the end was hilarious. You don't fight him; you just kill all his adds and he eventually gets zapped by his own artifacts and dies. Score. 

And then we went to Ilum.  I don't know if I even want to write a guide for this because the quest is bugged. Very, very bugged. Hellish. It makes me feel better that the difficulties did seem to come largely from the fact that it was bugged and not my own inability to make it through.  Once the bugs were sorted out, Viri didn't have much more difficulty with it than she'd had soloing, say, veteran Athiss or Red Reaper.  Viri spent three hours trying to get through a single room: a hallway where you need to place the power cells in the turret before the hordes of corrupted soldiers swarm in. The turrets refused to fuel past 87% over and over again. I called in different companions, all influence level 50. Vette, Jaesa, Lana and Shae all had turns. I tried them on tank; I tried them on heal. Worse: when Viri died I had the choice of a) reviving her in the room where ALL the cages were open so she was instantly mobbed; b) respawning her just outside the temple and resetting all the mobs in the entire mission. I was in tears of frustration.  After taking a shower, getting lunch and taking a break, I looked for more information online. Turns out it's a bug that can be alleviated by resetting the quest. I did that, and the next time I went in, I was able to solve the room in two or three tries. 

On to the Sithspawn, which was an entirely different level of hell. Viri didn't die here, but neither did the Sithspawn. Again, it was bugged. You're supposed to be able to lure the beast into standing on barrels that explode, but no matter what I did, it it didn't work. I looked online and sure enough, there were reports of this bug, too.  I put Vette on passive and went out into the hallway to take a break when the tentacles reappeared. I have no idea how or why, but after that the barrels worked, and Viri and Vette made short work of the monster. 

After that, the final boss was honestly a piece of cake. I had trouble finding the crystals to click for a moment, but once I did, easy peasy.  Acina was not happy was Viri. Eh. Don’t underestimate the Wrath. She still got some cute armor.  I don't think I'd be in a hurry to go back to this unless they fixed the bugs. But it's done, and I can say I did it. 

[disaster-bi-shan]

OK THINK I GOT MY IDEA FOR THE CONSULAR CHAPTER 1 REWRITE

Here it comes

DREAD MASTER INVOLVEMENT. bear with me here.

ok So what If. Prior to their imprisonment on belsavis rather than them all being kept in the dark temple, one is left on malachor three where (chapter 1 consular spoilers) the jedi master team comprising yuon, fain, parkanas and co accidentally discover it, and parkanas is the one that has to suppress the effects long enough for everyone else to escape, but not unscathed, unfortunately. The dread masters, though their power is kind of diminished, can still reach him via the phobis device due to imprinting on it long enough, and he ends up becoming a proxy/vassal for them. The mind control and shielding technique stuff is still sort of there, and we get to dig into stuff along with saving the original exploration team before they get possessed and taken over (each jedi correlates to each of the dread council, maybe?)

WE ALSO get to deal with the dread seeds being an issue from the seeker droid story Plus they now come with even more eldritch horror shit bc NIGHTMARES and terrors beyond your comprehension, yea?

maybe the afflicted masters buried them on each chapter 1 planet to build an army for the dread masters and such? Then the final showdown is finally securing the phobis device, taking down parkanas/vivicar by severing his link from it (kill and save options both preserved) and dealing with the fallout with THERAPY.

somewhere along the way we recruit some other jedi to help out and do damage control along with you (although maybe the cast is already pretty big by now, two/three other people including attros finn, duras fains daughter, and tykan's padawan), you being a narrative foil to parkanas, which you get to learn abt in flashbacks since the shield technique makes you fight through their mindscape and delve through their memories to get to the source of the corruption. Theres some way to work in some LS/DS choices but brain is not working

YOU specifically are the only one with enough mental fortitude to go in w/o succumbing yourself, noetikons are still the ones that teach you the technique and such, etc etc but with the aid of your team, some kind of battle meditation shenanigans, they act as anchors for you so you aren't going into it alone.

so this way! this feels a bit more tied into the later children of the emperor stuff (all behind the curtain subterfuge things the emperor has involvement/ties with) bc the dread masters Are a big deal unlike vivicar who is and the villain has a more coherent gameplan instead of... idk.

and less playing into ableism ... maybe ... eh... idk.

I'm not the dread master lore person here tho and it's still a little incoherent so obv room for improvement and tightening up stuff

[vespertine-legacy]

I haven't heard from them in a while, do you have any new headcanons for Raz and Shara?

Nothing incredibly detailed, unfortunately. They’re still there in the back of my head, and involved in a few thoughts I have to try to simplify my canon and connect all of my characters. I’ve got a lot of wips involving them, but nothing I’ve worked on enough to share. Raz is still a loving pain in Shara’s ass, and I’m sure Raz getting to Limitless was amusing for them both (“and why are you keeping a bunch of idiot thrill-seekers alive while they murder a bunch of droids and dogs?” “…they’re paying me?” “…Intelligence pays you. Quite well, now, I should think.” “Well, yes, but Intelligence has me behind a desk these days, this is the closest I’ve been to actual fieldwork in years.”)

I do have some thinky thoughts about their progression through some of the post-class…mess… [Imperial Agent post-class spoiler warnings] with Shara’s capture by the Republic and her time in carbonite, with the eventual offer that Cipher Nine is given to become Keeper of Imperial Intelligence… and I would love to figure out how to write Raz taking that offer, quietly working as Keeper for some time (and doing a damn fine job of it), and then absolutely obliterating Intelligence from the inside for everything they did—to her, to Shara, to Watcher X, to Watcher Three (former and current), to Nasan Godera, to Watcher One, to Fixer Twelve, to every Cipher, to every Watcher. Sure, they knew what kind of organization they were signing up for when they joined (well, not in the case of the Watchers, who mostly had no choice and were bred and raised for it). They knew there would be risks and losses, but not like what they suffered, not being discarded or tortured when they were no longer useful in the right ways, not being perfected to serve to the point that they wouldn’t know how to do anything else. Or maybe working to actually reform Intelligence, because she couldn’t in good conscience leave others to suffer the way she did. But either option would probably end badly for her. Salting and burning Intelligence would be a great way to get Murdered By The Sith (even if only because they’re mad that it happened internally and they’re not the ones who did it), and suggesting that “maybe our best field agents should have free will actually” would just put a giant target on her head.

But yeah, they’re still in there, being adorable little shits, and I wish I had more well-formed thoughts about them.

[transformers-trash-fan]

It’s my opinion on Cybervers time again...Yay

My sis and I binged the last eps of season one

Spoilers if you haven’t seen it anyway full speed ahead.

Episode 12

I feel like this thing with the billboard has been done before.... like in TFP or something

Windblade you’re gonna scare the poor boy

Why is the ladder only in the middle of the... I’m gonna say missile silo? Like then had to jump to get on it and jump to get off it....

I like the headlight flashlights

Bee you cutie

This little droid is cute....*one second later* fuck him

This is quite a group of flyers...or are they all Seakers?

I...I don’t know how to feel about this droid....

*looks up windblade toys on amazon* yes! They exist!

The explosions are still really cool looking

*trys to translate text* ....none of this matches

Nice Windblade! But uh so much for escaping

Damnit show stop making me feel things!!

Also f**** this Telly X whatever I don’t like him

Episode 13

Ok I feel bad for hating this little guy because he is cute but.... can’t he be a little more helpful... you know like he wants to be

Whoa hold on what about Egypt and aliens I wanna hear more about that

GOSH DANG IT! I WANT TO LIKE YOU YOU STUPID LITTE FLOATY THING BUT COME ON!!!

Oh hay Bee and I agree

Awwwww baby bee!

I wish my memory worked like that

Ratchet! I uh.... his voice is better then when I first heard it....still have to get used to it though

also Alpha trion, cool

Awww yeah boiii! The matrix!

No way no way no way we actually get to see him him become a prime!!!! No way!!!

That was very cool, I liked it

Oh hay Optimus is a file clerk (librarian) in this one as well! Cool

hay! WheelJack sounds better! Yay!

Oh hay it’s the resident Glitch Prowl! (Idk if he’s like that in this show)

Sis likes OP’s shield and says major Captain America vibes

Hold up! Dose Op have eye liner??

My sis agrees with prowl Op shouldn’t have gone back for him (she loves to hate this guys so it’s cool)

This pause

And Optimus sticks the landing but Bee flops it

Oh hay Screamer! Sup man

Sis hcs that Cyberverse’s thing will be eyebrows....she’s calling it now

Sis on ops eyes “big baby blues”

Oh StarScream is pretty

StarScream’s power in this is breaking my sisters brain its like The universe is aligning everything makes sense now

“He’s a freaking parrot” -sis

StarScream has a pretty smile

This is a very civil way to end the fight especially in a war

Let’s kick out the life force we’ll be fine! - Optimus prime

Telly X reminds us of the cores from portal

Episode 14

Awe they’re playing cube!

Ohhh they’re in Her memory!

Ooo burn

I like thundercracker

StarScream looks like he had a bow on his head

Oooh burn Shockwave that’s actually kinda mean man

Wait why dose everyone hate the seekers like all the time, I feel bad for them

I love bee, that is all

Episode 15

Wait why is Telly driving

GRIMLOCK! Wait why is he posted like that?

“Good morning everybot!”

“ status report please tell me were not crashing toward doom” I love this

Hugs *cinema sins ding*

One City is worth a dinosaur king

Cool a homing device crown

Awww grim

Episode 16

Oooo it’s time too meet Shockwave

I love grimlock!

THEY HAVE A HOT TUB! Yes!

They stole a plane, kinda wish we saw that part

is bee dancing?

I love that he keeps dancing in the background

Have I mentioned that I love Grimlock

Episode 17

Wow they crashed a LOOOONNNG time ago

“Do tell” aft

Oh hay he’s actually helpful!

I feel like this a G1 reference

YES GRIMLOCK THREW HIM! YES!

The frag he has guns?!?

That is not a shortcut that is a death trap

Grimlock hot * Cinema sins ding*

They found it!

Hugs!! *cinema sins ding*

Episode 18

Man I hate Shockwave sometimes

Shockwave is mama of spider shooties

Cutting Bee with 1500 degree knife

I’d say it was sad too see Telly go... but I don’t care

YAY HE CAN BE MORE HELPFUL NOW

“I love lasers”

WE GOT EVERYBODY BACK!

[christopherarnolddesigns-blog]

A few lessons from my first Star Wars Celebration

As you no doubt know by now, 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of “Star Wars.” As you might expect, fans from around the world gathered to celebrate the occasion at the sci-fi franchise’s signature celebration. Titled, appropriately enough, “Star Wars Celebration.”

Celebration is not an annual event -- the next one is scheduled to take place in 2019 -- and “Lucasfilm’s love letter to fans” sets up shop in different locales around the world. Fans have traveled to Denver, Anaheim, Los Angeles and London, just to name a few.

This year marked the “biggest and most widely attended” one of them all, according to StarWars.com. More than 70,000 fans attended the event in Orlando, Florida.

I was one of them.

This was my first time attending Celebration, and it was the largest convention I’ve visited to date. And it was definitely a learning experience.

Sure, I could complain about some of the hiccups or issues along the way. With an event this size, there’s bound to be some.

But instead, I thought I’d list some of the things I learned from this experience, and what advice I might have for anyone going to a future Celebration. Or, really, any big fan event.

PATIENCE AND PREPARATION

I thought I knew this going into the event, but I didn’t realize the full weight of that advice until I found myself “sleeping” on the convention floor the night before Celebration officially began. (I use air quotes on “sleeping” because there was very little sleeping during that time, unfortunately.) And even getting that privilege was a victory that came after standing in line outside of the convention center as afternoon turned into evening. One of the simplest Celebration truths is: If you really want something, be prepared to wait for it.

And if you commit yourself to sleeping on cold concrete instead of a comfortable hotel room, then you should make some follow-up preparations:

How will I entertain myself during that time? In my case, I brought a sketchbook, some pencils and markers and a little reading material, in addition to my phone.

What about extra power for my phone (or other devices)? Inside the convention center, power outlets quickly became valuable real estate. Occasionally you might find one in the floor near you in line, but those were few and far between. Along the perimeter of the room, wall outlets quickly saw roaming groups of fans temporarily setting up shop and recharging devices. So, imagine my excitement when I “discovered” an outlet that was not occupied! Next, imagine which swear word I uttered when I discovered it didn’t work. With all of that in mind, it’s a good idea to bring some portable power if you can. I brought one power bank for my phone, but really should have brought more. (It should be noted that this more directly applies to my overnight queueing experience. During the full-fledged convention, there were portable power stations set up and power outlets were easier to come by around the event.)

What about sleep? Or at least, comfort? Yes, you can bring in small chairs or even air mattresses. There were specific dimensions and restrictions noted on the Celebration website prior to the event, but during that first overnight queue I saw tents, at least one inflatable sofa and other comforts that I think were not on the official list. I do recommend you bring something. Especially if you’re a fan who’s pushing 40 years old and doesn’t normally sleep on anything remotely resembling concrete. But that leads to another consideration:

What do I want to carry during the day? Now, the severity of this issue is directly proportional to the proximity of your hotel (or other accommodations) to the venue. But me? I was about a 35-40-minute walk away and I didn’t anticipate much back-and-forth during the day. So for me, I filtered each of the previous considerations through this lens. And as a result, I was not terribly comfortable on the floor overnight.

All of these overnight observations began to lead me to a big piece of advice for future events:

BRING SOME FRIENDS (OR MAKE NEW ONES)!

There’s a common thought process that one of the best ways to spend time while waiting in line is to make friends with your fellow line waiters. The logic is sound, but let’s be honest: That concept is easy for some people, near impossible for others. I consider myself to be somewhere in the middle of that range. I was lucky during that first overnight queue: There were a few of us who hit it off right away: one family who spent the night, a Star Trek podcaster and another family which ultimately didn’t spend the night, but we continued to run into -- and recognize -- each other during the remainder of the show.

Getting to know your neighbors, at the very least, is practical and helpful for those inevitable occasions when you’ll need to find a restroom, grab a snack or -- oh, hey! Is that Ray Park on the other side of the convention hall? I’ll be right back!

Despite your level of social ease, I still think this is the type of event you should plan to attend with friends. I flew solo during my first Celebration experience and, while there were some definite advantages to seeing the show this way, spending that line-waiting time with some friends would have been fun, too.

THOSE MOMENTS, THOUGH!

Ok, so I’ve spent a bunch of words on the experience of waiting. There was much more to the show than that, I assure you. For instance, my overnight queue experience preceded the Star Wars 40th Anniversary panel that would help kick off this 4-day fan festival.

Whatever gripes or grumbles I had while sleeping and sitting on concrete for 16-or-so hours were replaced by quite possibly the coolest experience I didn’t even imagine before Celebration began. There was the panel, of course. We knew that Kathleen Kennedy, Mark Hamill and others would be on stage. George Lucas and Harrison Ford had not been announced prior to the event, but I suspected -- hoped -- they might also make appearances. The tribute to Carrie Fisher was moving.

Then, as Leia’s theme began to play and a curtain rose to reveal John Williams - JOHN WILLIAMS - conducting the iconic music live, it transformed into another experience entirely. The room shushed as the crowd realized what was happening. Phones and cameras rose to capture some piece of the moment. All the feels, as they say.

That moment.

And Celebration was only just beginning.

MAKE A PLAN

Ok, so spoiler alert: I’m not sure any of my subsequent moments at Celebration would get to the same level as JOHN WILLIAMS, but there was still a lot of really cool stuff going on all around me.

My wife surprised me with a pass to Celebration for Christmas. Not long after, I began doing whatever research I could to try and make the best use of my time and to ensure I got to see and experience as much of the event as possible. That’s where I began to learn about the overnight queuing, the schedules, the autograph and photo processes and more. I made up my daily schedules on the event app, carefully plotting which panels I wished to attend.

FORGET ABOUT THE PLAN

Those panels I plotted? I made it to one. That was the 40th anniversary panel on the first day. I attempted to go to others, and had wristbands for a couple, but was then sidetracked by a book signing at this booth, or the “Star Wars Show Live!” happening on the main show floor, or by simply being awestruck by some of the cosplay that was on display.

So, while I do recommend you have some sort of a plan in place, don’t be afraid to change it up on the fly as you explore and discover different things happening all around you.

WHAT’S YOUR NICHE?

Another big lesson I began to learn along the way but didn’t fully appreciate until Celebration? There are so many different subsets to the fandom. I went in as a “Star Wars” fan, like everyone else. But beneath that umbrella you then find cosplayers, collectors, autograph seekers, droid builders and more.

If you find yourself gravitating toward more of one subset than another, this can have a direct impact on how you plan and enjoy your convention experience. Because there is a ton of stuff to see, do and learn in any one of those niches.

As much as I am a fan, I think I came into this event as more of a general fan of everything “Star Wars.” I was a guy with a camera just eager to soak in the experience and document whatever I could.

I think it was that general approach that also led me to seek out the “Star Wars Show Live!” stage on each day I attended the show. With a little dumb luck on the first day, followed by a bit of patience and perseverance on days two and three, I managed to make my way at or near the front of the stage. This was particularly fun for a guy with a camera, as the show featured a series of interviews with cast and crew from the “Star Wars” saga -- Felicity Jones and Forest Whitaker were right there! -- as well as people involved in other aspects of the franchise universe and the convention. Producers also regularly invited different cosplayers to stand on the stage in front of an amazing backdrop.

So, for a guy with a camera? Yeah, that was fun.

All in all, this was an experience like none other. I can’t wait to do it again.

[wondrouswendy]

Uprooting the Last Seed

[vespertine-legacy]

Spirit of Vengeance Walkthrough

Welcome to my (hot-mess) attempt at a walkthrough of the Spirit of Vengeance flashpoint.

This walkthrough will mostly pertain to Story Mode difficulty, as I have yet to run Veteran or Master mode (hoping to get some guildmates to run it with me once they’ve gotten through the story content), but my expectation is that they’re mostly just harder mobs and no kolto stations in Master.

Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead for the 6.2 flashpoint.

If you do Solo-Story mode (the Cinematic Story version where you have the default companion, thankfully now set at influence level 25 instead of 1), you’ll notice that this default companion is ranged. That’s probably a hint as to the type of companion you might want to bring with you on the other difficulty levels. It seems that, as the name implies, you cannot bring group members into solo-story mode, so hopefully in that mode, you won’t encounter too many bugs or issues. Story mode has been stealth patched some to not be too terrible, but lots of players are still having difficulty and running into glitches.

One of the biggest themes of this flashpoint is that there are a lot of mobs. It’s been compared to an uprising, but there are bigger breaks between mobs. Though it is really easy to get the 75, 150, and 300 kills achievements for Varad, Dar’manda, and Ash’ad.

You start out on the Champion’s Glory, and when you run down the hallway, you run right into a Varad mob. You can stick along the right-hand-side wall to not immediately trigger them if you want. In Varad mobs, Bloodsworn are healers, Beskaryc are standard silvers, Hulks are standard golds with a decently nasty knockback, and Hounds are their puppies (you’ve seen them before in Mandalorian Raiders). Nothing much to watch out for with them. There’s one Bloodsworn in the first mob in the room who likes to glitch and be stuck up on a pillar where you can’t target him and can only reach him with AOEs.

Before you leave the first room, there is a Relic for the Relic Hunter achievements here. On one of the tables in the north east corner, you’ll find the Heirloom Varad Warstaff. However, it may be glitchy, and it may not show up. I took my Jedi Knight and my Trooper into the room four times each and it never showed up, but my Bounty Hunter got it on the first try. (The Relics will not be visible in my screenshots since I’ve already collected them, but I’d like to give an idea of location).

Continuing down the hallway, you’ll encounter some more mobs, and you’ll see your first kolto station. You’ll probably use these in at least one of the boss fights.

After fighting a biggish mob in the final room, you’ll see a big blue console to disable the first boarding tether. Before clicking it, make note of the three kolto stations around the room, since you may end up needing at least one of them. Disabling the tether summons the first boss, Gorga Brak. He has almost 3 million health, which is maybe a little absurd, but he’s not really thaaaaaaat bad, you’re just in for a long, boring fight. He does Full Auto, Flame Sweep, and Fire Bomb. Remember when I said you might want a ranged companion? Don’t quote me on this, but I think he’s less likely to put the Fire Bomb on a ranged companion. Also I thought for a while that Fire Bomb couldn’t be interrupted, but then I was able to interrupt one of them, so I’m not sure anymore. Maybe you can only interrupt it if it’s targeting you? You can interrupt Flame Sweet and Full Auto, both of which are kind of annoying. Anyway, depending on your dps output, [Spongebob Narrator voice] Several Minutes Later, you will kill Gorga Brak. On to the next ship by clicking a panel by one of the boarding pods in the next room.

Now you’re on the Dar’manda ship, the Fortune’s Folly, and everything is on fire. Fire bad. As soon as you move, a mob runs in. At least the Dar’manda have the decency for the healers to be labeled “medics.” Commit war crimes and kill the medics first. Next on your kill list should be specialists because they throw some grenades and Fire Bombs and shit that are just annoying.

In the room with the big holes in the floor, just stick to the right-hand-side in order to do the least jumping and potential falling. Turn off sprint if you’re worried. Your companion may just leap to their death because companions Be Like That sometimes, but there’s a platform at the end with a med droid where you can re-summon them. There is a lore item on the south side of the room before you go across, a little datapad.

After crossing the Gaps of Doom, you’ll start seeing yellow NPC nametags for War Profiteers and Dancers. Try not to kill any of them, because if you manage not to, you’ll get an achievement (alternatively, try to kill all of them, maybe there’s an achievement for killing all of the innocent [read, “innocent”] bystanders on the Dar’manda ship). You’ll have to be carefully with AOEs and DOTs, because my pyrotech’s scorch jumped to a LOT of yellows…

The next room has a lot of enemies and a lot of yellows, so depending on how much you want the Mercy achievement, be careful. On your way out of the room, be sure to grab the Flask of Aged Kri’gee from the floor beside one of the benches by the door on the east side for the Dar’manda Relic.

When you get to the Officer’s Quarters, you can pick up the Bonus Mission. If you go into the little side rooms, on the south, there are some biggish mobs there, but there are also two blue crates to click by some of the beds which have keys in them, which gives you the bonus mission Goldie’s Locks. This is for the bonus mission to fight Goldie, a Rancor the Dar’manda are transporting. You might as well pick it up, because even if you don’t pick up the keys, getting too close to Goldie’s cage starts the fight with her, and she’ll be able to kill you but you won’t be able to damage her (features, amiright?).

The room with the second boarding tether has a largish mob and Goldie. Depending on your class, your companion, and your armor rating, you may end up needing one of the kolto stations in the room, but if you do, be very careful that you don’t run close to Goldie’s cage, or you will engage the fight with her, which you’ll have to /stuck out of most likely because her cage door will still be closed and you won’t be able to open it to fight her, but she’ll still be able to kill the shit out of you.

The fight with Goldie is relatively simple. She’s like most of the other Rancor fights--think of the Rancor in the Battle of Rishi or Karagga’s Palace if you’re familiar with either of those. She does an alley attack that you can step out of, but a conal attack that whoever she is targeting has to just eat because it can’t be interrupted, so just point it away from the group (it’s a knockback, but it’s not awful. Her slam isn’t as bad as Bonethrasher’s slam. If you’re on a more mobile dps class, she’ll be a piece of cake. If you have to stand still to do your dps, you may get a little annoyed by her, but it’s not too bad (sorry, snipers and slingers).

There’s also a datapad with lore in the room with Goldie:

On to your next boss fight! Bask Sunn got stealth-nerfed some, but is still a little glitchy (can apparently punch you off the ship entirely according to one report?). Most people’s tactic is to kill his adds first, then take him out. I’ll say though, on my pyrotech, I just put a scorch on each of the four adds, then kicked his ass in about seven seconds, then took out the adds (and on my lightning sorc, I also just focused the boss, doing some AOE damage to the adds, but mostly just burning Bask). So, it’s really up to you. The adds don’t do a whole lot of damage, but they’re annoying, and while they did lower the damage Bask Sunn can do, he can still knock your health down a lot, so I found it easier to just Burn Him (literally, in the case of my PT). My PT was being healed by a level 1 influence Shae Vizla and my sorc was being healed by a level 50 influence Ginx, and both had a great time with just burning the boss, but your mileage may vary on this fight.

For a good time, there are a ton of places you can stand on the bridge and be in the Skybox as I like to call it and just look out into space. When you’re done goofing off, click the panel to go to the Ash’ad ship.

Welcome to the Seeker’s Vigil. In the Ash’ad mobs that greet you, Lorekeepers are healers, and Seekers have an attack called “Surge” with a box that looks like it ought to be a knockback, but either I killed them too quick or it doesn’t actually do shit, so those are your priority targets. Maybe on Veteran and Master step out of it, just in case.

In the “Archives” level of the Seeker’s Vigil, straight west from the door you come out of, there’s a bench with a little toy tauntaun Lore Item on it.

There’s some mobs in the middle of the room that aren’t too bad. Then, if you have a self-yeet to enemy target (Warrior/Knight Force Charge/Force Leap; Powertech/Vanguard Jet Charge/Storm; Assassin/Shadow Phantom Stride/Shadow Stride, but those may be unreliable just because they sometimes like to mess with you when you’re changing elevation; Operative/Scoundrel Holotraverse/Trick Move, similarly may not work since you’ll be changing elevation) you can go upstairs to the Lorekeepers. You can’t get around the debris on the ramp to get up there, you have to yeet up to them (or if you’re in a group and someone else can yeet to them, and then you’ve got a Yeet to Friend, or someone’s got a yoink, etc.), but there’s some cool stuff to look at up there. There isn’t anything to collect that I could find, but just neat stuff to look at.

Next up is The Trap. Don’t run willy nilly into this room. There are lore objects on either side of the room, but there are also two Annoying Snipers on the other end of the room who will engage with you as soon as you run in. You can’t hurt them and you can’t yeet to them, so don’t bother. There are plenty of things you can take cover behind, so run over to the lore objects and click them while you’re not being sniped. The snipe interrupts the “cast” on collecting the lore, so time your click carefully, or prepare to be annoyed. Then, run into the trap, because like I said, you can’t fight the snipers. I’ve placed markers of where the floor will fall. Depending on your graphics settings, it’s pretty obvious when the floor is going to fall out from under you, but just in case. It’s also approximately the edge of where the snipers would be in range of most attacks if your attacks would actually work.

If the fall hurts you too much, you can run up the ramp and hide behind some shipping crates for a bit to get out of range of the tentacles for a moment.

The Ash’ad Relic, the Ajak Genealogical Datacron, is in the boss room of this ship. It’s on a crate behind the boss (south east end of the boss, behind the tether controls). It’s pretty easy to miss, so don’t forget to grab it before you leave. You can run over and grab it before engaging the boss if you keep to the edge of the room.

Troya Ajak is a pretty easy fight. Songbird’s Volley knocks you back when it goes off. Pick Off (which I definitely read as “fuck off” while it was casting) blows you up a little when it goes off. I don’t even know if either of these are interruptable, because this was a pretty straightforward “get the boss’s HP to zero before they get your HP to zero” fight.

All righty. Almost done! Now you get some mobs that are mixed groups of all the clans you’ve fought so far. Remember the healers are: Varad Bloodsworn, Dar’manda Medics, and Ash’ad Lorekeepers, so if you see them, they need to go first. The ones that do special ouchie attacks are Dar’manda Specialists and Ash’ad Sharpshooters (honestly the Varad suck and we’ve known this since Mandalorian Raiders; you tried, gold star for effort). The rest of them, just kill them when you can. On to the boss!

Heta Kol will come down and fight you for a little while, then she’ll get buttmad and fly off while some adds come to the door. If you’re ranged, go ahead and stay on the platform to take them out. If you’re melee try to draw them into the room. Some have said that what resets her health when she comes back down is you leaving the room to fight the adds (but the adds like to run back into the hallway, and if you don’t have ranged attacks or a taunt, you might have to chase them; now might be a good time for your saber throws, your grenades, whatever your longest-range attack is).

The second wave of attacks does bring down Sharpshooters (aka snipers) on the platform, so if you’re focusing on the hallway adds and getting confused as to why your HP is still dropping, try turning around, because there may still be someone sniping you. Her move “Lockdown” can be interrupted, and if you don’t interrupt it, you’ll be dropping red circles from it that you want to stay out of. She throws grenades at someone in the last phase, and it seems to be whoever is closest to her (hello, ranged companion!), and it doesn’t seem like you can cleanse them off (or maybe you can, but then you need to, you know, get out of the circle it drops, and companions are too dumb to do that).

Overall, not a terrible flashpoint, just a little on the long side, and a lot to take in. I’m still excited to try it on the harder difficulty modes, and to find all of the hidden achievements, which there seem to be several spots for.