#guys remember piett?

[tacos-goku]

Ok today we're going to review Star Wars: Lost Stars (or *Estrellas Perdidas* since i have the ESP version)

Note: Includes Spoiler Free and Spoilerfull section, you'll be warned

It a really old book i decided to read cuz i had it in my house and i heard good things about it.

Spoiler Free Section:

The book is pretty good, the author already had a good number of releases earlier. It doesnt drag that much its very fluid, one or two chapters that takes place halfway across the book feel slow but its not a deal killer. For a YA novel no character feels horribly corny, at least not cornier than a regular star wars character, although they do start introducing a bunch of characters halfway that i mostly couldnt remember.

The legacy characters are used pretty solidly, they dont take all the screen but they arent sidelined entirely since they are pretty important to the story, aside from Darth Vader and Princess Leia most of them only get namedrops here and there, and those that do appear regularly arent particularly famous. You dont need to know who Mon Mothma or Admiral Piett are to enjoy the book. The romance is good enough, its not god tier but you can tell the author has experience writing and she makes it very natural, the romance itself doesnt start until halfway making it feel fluid with the character arcs.

One thing that did bother me for some reason was the cliffhanger, I thought it would be a sell for Episode 7 or some sequel to the book, but its just an open ending for a character that will never appear in another piece of media, and a very unsayisfying open ending at that.

I'm gonna give it a 7.5/10, closer to a 7 than an 8. Recommended for anyone who likes Star Wars and/or YA novels, if youre not into either you might not like it, but its not amateurish like most YA novels post hunger games, it has essence.

Ok now it's time for the spoilers:

The biggest detail that I found odd but I grew to appreciate deeply was the characters never getting over Alderaan and the Death Star's respective explosions. The EU and New Canon have both wanked Star Wars powerscaling so much we forget blowing up a planet is a big deal and this book makes the characters feel that. Having an imperial from alderaan who witnesses the event and instead of defecting doubles down on his loyalty is really interesting.

I also like the change in characteristics from the rebel and imperial main characters, SW usually portrays the empire as rows of rich white people (and a blue man or two) and the rebellion as a very diverse group of humans and aliens so making it so the loyal till the end imperial is a black woman who sees it as a way out of space detroit and the rebel who defects after the events of a New Hope a rich white guy who sees the empire more cynically is an interesting take, although this may be up to personal interpretation.

I did mention that the legacy characters are handled very gracefully, much better than those Disney+ shows could manage, but there was a chapter that did feel too fanservicy, where the imperial main character, Ciena, is the one sent to tow Darth Vader's ship after the death star blows up, it seemed too forced of a meeting between the two, seeing as Ciena ends up in Darth Vader's Star Destroyer anyways for the events of episode V and VI, besides that I didnt feel any problem with the og characters.

The alderaanian imperial, Nash, left a lot to be desired, the book employs a lot of timeskips so it can extend over all the inportant years it needs to, but Nash's character arc doesnt adapt to these, seeing him go from a cheery imperial pre episode IV to an angry loyal commander during and after episode VI isnt handled *horribly* but you dont see the progression since they dont take enough time on him to make you feel the change, I do like that he isnt made comically evil and he does love his friends even at his worst, that is appreciated humanization.

Finally, the post Return of the Jedi events are a bit rushed, you can tell Claudia Gray wasnt allowed to spill too much details on the events since this was released before The Force Awakens, but the insider look on post Endor empire is pretty good, I dont necessarilly agree with the empire surrendering one year after Endor in the new canon, but the book makes it clear that the Emperor quite literally was holding the empire together by himself via duct tape and lightning and how him and Vader dying sent everything downhill, the Battle of Jakku is a great example of it, showing the Empire just getting completely pummeled.

Any character I didnt mention by name I dont have much to say about other that they were either very good if they first appeared on the first half (The other protagonist Thane and other imperials like Jude or Kendy), or a bit forgettable if they first appearned on the second half

That's all

#moncayo review #star wars #star wars lost stars #lost stars #claudia gray #thane kyrell #ciena ree #darth vader #leia organa #admiral piett #mon mothma #galactic empire #rebel alliance

[cparti-mkiki]

now that apparently i am back on the subject of star wars i vaguely remember reading a fic where vader just casually didn't have his helmet on sometimes when piett reported in the meditation chamber and honestly i like the idea. i much prefer the pre-prequels era interpretations of vader where it really wasn't that serious. like... prophesied space jesus with silly over the top tragic backstory who's constantly under ridiculous levels of cartoonish anguish vs. past-his-prime upper management evil commander in a 70s sci fi costume ... it's not that complicated like for ME there's a clear superior option lol. i know i'm basically alone in this because people seem to love the woobie main character of the universe anakin but i am unable to take any of what's in eps 1 2 or 3 seriously and i genuinely have to ignore them if i want to enjoy the original star wars (and i find it mildly funny that george seriously tried to pretend that it was his vision to make darth vader the main character of the saga all along and that he definitely had his 2000s fever dream in mind when making the originals)

ot vader is such an opaque character anyway so to me it was all so much more fun when people had to come up with their own interpretations of 1) his past 2) the extent of his injuries 3) his actual personality — because honestly most what i've seen is more compelling that what we eventually got. also people back then had to base their vader interpretations off... the actual vader in the original movies... which makes for a much more satisfying tone in the sense that it felt like the character we see onscreen instead of a shoehorned prequels guy who has no place in a good movie. i just want the mind of a like, deeply unpleasant, petty, harsh, darkly humorous and very very tired 50 to 60 something who has had a serious military job for decades, not the angsty ramblings of a teenager. it just want it to feel... grounded

#star wars

[sheepfulsheepyardinspace]

Do you have any Star Wars fanfic recommendations, or have a link to someone else's list? I really wanna veg out.

oh my god, DO I. this may have been the best ask in the world. i’m not really sure what u want a feel for, so i threw together some of my favorite longfics for maximum veg time from the ot/pt and links for swr and swtcw recs. they’re pretty much all luke-anakin/vader centric, since that’s kinda my bread and butter.

let’s start with frodogenic, who wrote the first longfic i ever read in sw and might be one of the funniest authors ever. they once reviewed my fanfic & i nearly cried from joy. anyway. 

The Father, 284k+, complete. “Ten years after ROTS, tormenting nightmares of his unborn child drive Darth Vader to extraordinary measures with unexpectedly drastic consequences. Clearly, experience has taught Darth Vader nothing...” 

this is my og star wars fic and boy oh boy is it amazing. i will never get over this. i don’t want to spoil anything but when i say the final chapters are great? i mean they’re legendary. sometimes i still think about them & wish upon a star that i could be such a great writer. vader’s amazing, han is spectacular, and the ocs are fantastic.

Far More Than Rubies, 70k+, complete. “Nine years after AOTC, tragedy revisits the Lars Homestead. Little Luke Skywalker is suddenly plunged into chaos as the rebel movements discover a secret military project that may make a crucial difference in the war with the Empire.”

the spiritual twin of The Father, FMTR takes a look at padmé’s character and relationship with both luke and anakin/vader that’s hard to beat. it’s darker and heavier than The Father, but it hits those same sweet, sweet emotional beats while raising the age-old question: if padmé had lived, what would she have done?

The Family Tree, 12k, complete. “In which Luke Skywalker is stranded in a tree waiting for a flash flood to recede. Too bad he's got company...”

okay, i admit, this isn’t a longfic, but it is a longshot, and it’s amazing. the imagery and description always blow me away, and the interaction (canon-compliant) between luke and vader just [chef’s kiss] get me. vader’s in full, glorious form, and it makes it all the harder when luke wrestles with the knowledge that vader is his father.

Sibling Revelry, 25k, complete. “After Bespin and before Endor, Darth Vader is shocked to discover that Luke and Leia are twins. He's even more shocked when Imperial Intelligence reports that Organa and Skywalker are, erm, a tad closer than previously suspected.”

this is complete crack and humor in the best way possible. it’s crack treated entirely seriously, and you will be in stitches, i promise. no matter how many times i’ve read this i break down.

KittandChips (@kittandchips) writes what i can only describe as food for the soul. the luke-vader interaction is insanely amazing, the world building of daily imperial life and imperial governance is amazing, and vader just has a special je ne sais quoi that u must read to understand––tragic, funny, and so, so fatherly. they’re currently rewriting the Force Bond Series to fit in with newer canon, so i will joyously binge reread the entire again (including the new Force Bond: Mustafar Weekend).

Force Bond 1: Orphan, 47k, complete. “After Owen and Beru are killed by a mysterious stranger, young Luke ends up as an orphan on Coruscant. It's a race against time as Obi-Wan struggles to find Luke before Vader realizes the boy is his son.”

Orphan kicks off the series, which tracks vader and luke’s relationship through the perils of luke’s teenagerhood while growing up under the eye of the emperor and imperial court. it’s filled with slow growth, struggle and misunderstandings as darth vader tries to single parent, and pay off in every installment. the entire series clocks in around 777k+ and is the most joyful, fulfilling reading you’ll ever have. promise.

darth-nickels (@darth--nickels) writes darker, twistier, and terribly, terribly heartwrenching aus. they’ve got a whole host, but let me introduce to my two favorites. also, check out their faux-academia on vader. it’s amazing and i love it, but i admit i am an academia hoe.

Dooku Captured, Pt 2, 16k, complete. “Dooku is taken alive onboard the Invisible Hand, and Sidious' web is torn. The Sith Lord wonders if death might have been preferable to clumsy interrogation by Anakin Skywalker.”

Dooku Captured is a longshot au told from Dooku’s pov which takes the beginning of ROTS and throws it on its head. it’s a fascinating outside perspective of anakin and obi-wan’s relationship and such and interesting examination of dooku’s psyche and especially his complex relationship with the jedi order, qui-gon, yoda, and palpatine. i cannot rec this one enough.

Black Mirror, 90k, incomplete. “The Ghost crew returns to the Lothal when they hear the Empire is investigating the Jedi Temple there. They learn Vader is alone and decide to take him out-- but what they find could change the course of Galactic history.”

Black Mirror diverges into swr territory, but make no mistake: this is entirely an examination of vader and, later, obi-wan as well as ahsoka. luke makes his appearance later in the game, and boy oh boy will you love luke’s portrayal is a microcosm of luke and vader’s relationship within canon. heed the tags, though.

jerseydevious ( @jerseydevious ) is, first and foremost, one of my favorite people on earth. secondly, though, she’s an amazing writer with a deep understanding of vader’s character and psyche, a flair for beautiful depictions, and the true ability to wring every emotion out of your body.

Two and a Half Men (with a baby), 13k, incomplete. “After a long day of bargaining with Hutts and attempting to ignore his past, Darth Vader is nearing the end of his rope. When he discovers his two-year-old son, it's the straw that breaks the semi-rational Sith Lord's back; in a rash act worthy of the Skywalker name, he scoops his son into his arms, steals a shuttle from his own fleet, and punches in random hyperspace coordinates to a destination on the other side of the galaxy. Unfortunately, father and son are not the only ones on the ship.”

Two and a Half Men will stick with you, dude. like no other. i promise. it’s a whirlwind ride with obi-wan, vader, and piett and as funny as it is heartbreaking. it touches on some heavy issues and doesn’t shy away from looking at the damage done to vader––again, heed the tags.

Helioseismology, 4k, complete. “Luke gets shot down on a supply run and caught in an ice storm. It's extremely lucky that his father followed him there.“

i’ll admit. im completely biased about this one because it was a birthday gift to me and i am sucker for litcherally anything when jd puts pen to paper, but believe me when i say you will be awed by the depth and tangled relationships between these luke and vader that jersey can illustrate in a stroke of the paintbrush. im love. always.

izzythehutt ( @izzythehutt ) i am blown away by the intricate dialogue and characterization, always. and the latin puns? im sold. im also a sucker for latin puns, but that’s a story for a different time.

In Loco Pirates, 34k, complete. “A down-on-his-luck Hondo Ohnaka manages to capture the unicorn of all bounties--Luke Skywalker, which sends Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, on a painfully familiar trip to the planet Florrum to collect his prize. The failed negotiations leave Vader in the awkward position of being stuck in a besieged pirate bunker, trying to balance keeping his wayward child safe (and in his custody) with controlling the tongue of a loose-lipped pirate who--to the surprise of no one--has a bad habit of telling 'amusing' anecdotes from the Clone Wars.”

hondo, aka the best character of swtcw, is brought to life just as vividly on paper as on screen. his entire personality brings luke and vader’s difficulties in a sort of incredulous light, which makes it as funny as it is vulnerable and tragic. the sequel, Palpatine Ad Portas, brings piett into the spotlight, and oh man do his interactions with palpatine and vader bring u all the uncomfortable vibes. relish in it.

sparklight ( @littlesparklight ) man. lemme introduce u to an amazing prolific and detailed writer. i will never get over the series they’ve written & neither will u.

Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn’t Get Away, 122k, incomplete. “One-shots surrounding either AU situations of canon/legends works where Luke would normally have gotten away (or Vader is simply inserted into the action to come pick his child up) but in these instances doesn't, or completely new scenarios of the same. There are no deep ruminations on consequences of the situations here, just our awful Sith dad picking his son up when he'd rather not be.”

exactly what it says on the tin. u know those glorious moments of fanfic where luke’s gotten captured and ur on pins and needles, waiting for vader to show up in a moment of dark glory? here’s the moment. here’s all the moments.

Space Race, 122k, incomplete. “Owen gives in to Luke's wish to attend the Imperial Academy and Obi-Wan is too late to avert it, though he's not too late to make sure Luke leaves Arkanis before Vader can gets his hands on him. Luke spends over a month running around the galaxy before his father gets him, and from there...”

this story relishes in chase and boy is it fun. it will keep you on the edge of your seat and it’s an amazing ride.

The Suns of Tatooine, 85k, complete. “Luke ends up on a moon swamped in dark side energy after a mission goes wrong, then his father appears... and then they go on a bit of a learning experience. This could've been the only thing that would come of getting through a Sith complex with his father, but thanks to going to free Han earlier than the gang did otherwise, more revelations are had. Will that change anything?”

this series is a thoughtful, contemplative piece examining the nature of the force and the relationship the skywalkers have with tatooine. the descriptions are beautiful, the inventiveness is amazing, and you’ll be thinking about it for long afterwards.

an additional few…

Between Flight and Longing; 34k, complete. “Luke Skywalker and Han Solo journey to the planet Balen'ar on a desperate mission and find more than they'd bargained for.”

a classic and it is for a reason. the interaction between han, luke, and vader is so spectacular and the slow trudge of going through the forest with your greatest enemy and best friend is something hilarious. the end is bittersweet and fantastic.

The Sith Who Brought Life Day, 13k, complete. “An Imperial officer loses a bet and has to get Darth Vader a present for Life Day.”

somewhere between terrifying and dull, this fic presents a canon-compliant look at the hunt for luke and the grinding wheels of the empire. the oc is amazing and it echoes in true star wars spirit: sometimes it’s just some dude who can change the galaxy.

Quintessence, 5k, complete. ‘“Well, Master, I think I’ve found the one positive aspect of this situation.” “Which is?” “The Temple won’t have to pay the costs for our funeral pyres.”’

pure hilarity and shenanigans abound in pre-aotc obi-wan and anakin hijink goodness. lemme tell u––u will deeply sympathize with mace windu afterwards. additionally, check out the rest of the author’s oneshots! they’re deeply thoughtful and the interactions the author writes between obi-wan and anakin are always gold.

some extras & shameless self-promotion

here’s a full list of recommendations for star wars rebels fanfic in case this is what you’re looking for (remember when this used to be a swr blog, lmao)

i’ve also written sw fanfic, both swr and luke-vader centric. drop by and tell me if it’s any good!

#also if anybody knows these authors' tumblr accounts pls lmk so i can link them #guys remember piett? #i miss piett #firmus piett #star wars #star wars fanfic #sw fanfic #sw fic #three two one boom #jerseydevious #luke skywalker #darth vader #anakin skywalker #star wars rebels #late-in-the-day #idk if any of these r new at all to anyone #but they r my faves :)

[viviane-lefay]

Yeah, no fucks to give here!

Really not into this ship - at least not in a romantic & sexual context.

—

At this point, I think it is best, if I put a little clarification here, before I continue:

This is just about my personal opinion, theories & headcanon - and by no means lays a claim to general validity (nor does your POV, btw).

I have more of a pick & choose approach to fandom subjects, anyway, so I can customize the experience exactly according to my needs and wishes. This is fiction, after all - the realm of endless possibilities - where anything goes, and where there is a place for the preferences of all of us.

That said, I really want to point out that I have nothing against people shipping the Dr. with Agent Stone - but since I, personally, prefer m/f ships, I’d rather choose the female OC approach, as it’s also my beloved villain x heroine constellation (not the subject of this post, though).

My take on the dynamic between the Dr. and his assistant is, therefore, quite a bit different from the fandom popular one. Well, to each his own.

What this post definitely is not, is an invitation for a debate regarding character interpretation, shipping choices, etc. - and all the potential drama that this might entail. If that is what you’re after, then I’d politely ask you to leave now, because all you are doing is wasting both of our time.

Let’s just agree to disagree and move on, k!?

I do my thing and you do you, guys!

I suppose, I made myself abundantly clear now.

—

Anyway, to return to the topic …

Where have all the male friendships & professional partnerships in fandom gone!?

Because, personally, I think agent Stone rather relates to his boss on that level…

Robotnik being a role model of some sort, that is - not unlike a kohai & senpai, or a younger & older brother constellation, actually - where the former looks up to the latter due to certain traits that he admires (and Stone certainly does). Regarding the age difference of the two, this could also make sense.

I’d estimate that Stone can’t be much older than his mid-twenties at most, since he’s in the position of a junior agent and assistant - still at the very beginning of his career path. And he’s very capable, disciplined and professional, at that, which is probably why he made it as Robotnik’s assistant at all (unsurprisingly, given the man isn’t the most patient).

Speaking of whom - I think, regardless of Jim Carrey being in his late fifties at that point - he, himself, can’t be that old, actually. My personal take (& preference) here would be late thirties, which would still make a lot of sense regarding his academic and occupational career. Being this overachieving genius, I guess that he finished school in time-lapse mode, skipping one, or even more grades - same goes for uni. Therefore, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was done by the age of 25 - his five PhDs included (bet he did two at once), which would still give him plenty of time to make his way as an agent and scientific government official up to the time of the events of the movie.

Aside from that, I can’t help but see parallels to the dynamic of Piett and Vader here, as well - a mixture of professional esteem and a bit of intimidation. But certainly no outright fear, as Stone is hardly under the threat of being strangled to death by his superior, like poor Piett is.

That is not to say that Robotnik’s still frequent misconduct towards him is ok (it definitely is not), but it certainly is more mild than he behaves towards, say, pretty much anyone else. Btw, that includes the “pin yourself to the wall”, grabbing him by the bottom lip and dragging him towards himself, while glaring at and chiding him (For what exactly!? Not being perfect, or as smart as him!? Chill, man, the boy is doing his best, and he’s doing a good job!).

Fandom, of course, does what it always loves to do - construe this as “evidence” for the alleged attraction between the two, which is pretty far-fetched, imho (…although you’re surely free to interpret it this way, if you so please. As I said, this is just my pov & to each his own. *shrugs*).

Anyway, you can clearly see Robotnik displaying this type of behaviour, along with the invasion of personal space, towards other male characters as well - be it “Major Nobody Cares”, “Officer Brainfart”, the big bar dude he threw out of the window, or Tom Wachowski. So, following this line of argument, does that mean he’s into these guys, as well!? Honestly, that’s pretty ridiculous!

If anything, it is a blatant display of asserting dominance, bringing the message home that he is the alpha male, while putting his opponent / subordinate in his place - and that’s it! What this behaviour definitely is not, however, is something remotely shipping related.

Besides, there are many examples of other male characters doing this for similar reasons, too - amongst others Darth Vader (remember that scene between him and Orson Krennic!?), and Severus Snape (after Harry invaded his memories during the occlumency lessons). And Robotnik does that quite aggressively in the cases above. In fact, it seems to be a fairly consistent behavioural pattern with him (not that he actually needed that though, but that’s an entirely different matter).

As for Robotnik’s personal attitude towards his assistant, I think Stone’s one of the very few people he actually respects, and even likes, because the young man’s esteem for him is so genuine, while everyone else regards him pretty much like nothing more than an asset, or a threat.

It’s not like he doesn’t somewhat encourage being kept in that position himself, behaving like he does - aside from actively reducing himself to his intellect & academic prowess. This isn’t all that surprising, as it is something he apparently gets his entire sense of self-worth from, and likely the only thing he got any appreciation for from others, which is, perhaps, also why he constantly needs to spotlight said trait (no behaviour someone truly at one with himself & his abilities would display, btw). Then, there is his little tolerance for failure - especially when it comes to himself. He truly expects to perform flawlessly, like a machine, and when he doesn’t, that really seems to unsettle him (that face when Tom points his unsuccessful attempts to catch Sonic out to him … he was so offended, he almost looked like he wanted to cry ^^;;).

So, of course it is likely that he becomes quite attached to the sort of attitude and behaviour that Stone displays towards him, even though he wouldn’t think of it this way - because, you know, emotional bonds with other human beings obviously are beneath him (Yeah, sure, we did see the veracity of that claim afterwards, didn’t we!?).

But, then again, growing up as an emotionally starved child and adolescent, used to being brushed aside, and, later, deliberately distancing himself from other people, he actually might have no clue whatsoever how to appropriately deal with things like these, and thus brushes them aside as “weakness”, which really does make sense, especially in the context that he was bullied as well.

Same goes for him eventually adopting the habit of pushing other people away via plain disagreeable behaviour. I think this phenomenon is called “hedgehog’s dilemma”, and it is quite ironic that he is more afflicted by it than his blue nemesis.

It is so painfully obvious that this guy has some massive issues, stemming from past emotional neglect and negative experiences - so much, that he even rejects all things human altogether, along with his own humanity.

His excessive idealization of and identification with technology, therefore, comes quite in handy as a defense mechanism in order to cope with said experiences.

Machines don’t ask much of you, they do what they are told, they are predictable, and they - above all - can’t suddenly abandon, betray, humiliate, and hurt you (which, I think, is the crux of the matter here).

Even though he might claim that his robots are everything to him, and that he doesn’t need anything and anyone else - his actions, however, prove otherwise … let alone his constant spiteful remarks on the matter, which just sound so damn bitter.

We can recognize that quite clearly when he is forced into involuntary seclusion on that mushroom planet at the end. This is where we see that what he truly is missing are not his machines (I bet he could have easily built a robot to accompany him out of the wreckage of his vessel), but one of the few people (maybe even the only one at that point), that he had apparently grown to value as worthwile company - namely agent Stone.

And, yes, it is very evident that he misses him (platonically, for me - but this isn’t even the point here) - he even tries to make a rock resemble Stone’s likeness in order to have someone to “talk to”, and mimic the social interactions he had with him.

Essentially, all those objects and machines are but a substitutive gratification that he tries to use, but that never come remotely close to the real deal, let alone are ever able to replace it.

In the end, he’s still a human being, along with all the human needs that go along with it - human contact and care included.

If the psycho-social and emotional makeup of his closest known relatives is any indicator to how his own might be structured - and it usually is (I’m speaking about the nature aspect, not nurture) - then he can’t be such a bad guy, after all - at least not inherently.

Taking his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, for example, who loved his granddaughter Maria (a total sweetheart) so much, that he was willing to do anything for her, in order to heal her from the fatal illness that was afflicting her - and who literally went insane with grief after losing her - then it shows someone with a strong emotional life, who feels what he feels very keenly and deeply. Furthermore, he is also someone that happens to bond very selectively, but if that is the case, it has this virtually absolute quality about it, with a love just as intense and profund to match (which is quite beautiful, actually).

On the other hand, though, that can also mean someone that has a high degree of emotional vulnerability, and who, therefore, is susceptible to sustain lasting damage from interpersonal traumatic experiences (which happens to be the case here, imho).

More often than not, it is this type of person that is likely to cork up their feelings and harden their hearts as a result - and who use every opportunity to deride the very traits, needs, and wishes they worked so hard to push away, if they see them in others. That is, amongst others, what gives them away. It’s pure projection - which is why I think that his caustic remarks should definitely not be taken at face value.

There are many, many examples of villains (or anti-heroes) that fit this type. Robotnik would hardly be an exception.

Besides, it is nice to see that Jim Carrey seems to have a fairly similar take on that matter (not that I actually care, but still):

“… and all it really comes down to is, he wants to be special to somebody, only it’s gone megalomania for him.”  [x]

Ouch! Poor guy, actually.

He seems a lot like Ozai in that regard. No wonder I dig this dude (aside from him being hot, that is, haha) - he’s totally the type of villain I fancy.

And also, like it’s the case with Ozai, I can’t help but wonder about his past, given there is known so little about it (aside from a few hints), so the following will be about some of my personal theories and headcanons about him, his family, and his past.

These are such important characters (main antagonists, no less), yet the creators can’t bring themselves to be more specific about the most basic facts concerning their families. Ugh, huge pet peeve here! Nobody expects a huge ancestral chart down to the tiniest details, but they could at least offer more info about their closest relatives - especially the parents, who happen to have the most formative influence on a person.

How old was he, when his parents died, anyway!? That they died seems pretty much a given, as that is what being an orphan is about, per definitionem (and he referred to himself as such). But how did they die? Did he witness their death, or was he absent?

Personally, I have this theory that their demise might very well be linked with what happened to his grandfather Gerald Robotnik, and his cousin Maria. Perhaps they were on that space research colony during the military assault, and were also amongst the “collateral damage” there.

From what I read, the recruited scientists lived there, so I reckon that they did bring their families with them, which is likely, since it is said that Maria was born there, so at least her parents must have lived there for an extended amount of time, as well. Since Ivo isn’t Maria’s brother, but her cousin, Gerald must have had at least two children, who lived alongside him (… and his wife!? No info about her, either.) on that station.

While I think both of Ivo’s parents were from prominent scientist families (after all, that is what the population of this space station was comprised of), it is still unclear whether or not they remained on that station. I am inclined to believe they might have split their time between there and Earth, as Maria and Ivo don’t appear to have been particularly close, such as, for instance, her and Shadow (who was pretty much her only friend there), but I think that might also have been the case due to a difference in age.

Maria was 12 years old when she died during the military attack on the station. Since Ivo apparently seems to have no significant memory of his parents, and seems to have spent his childhood as an orphan, he can’t have been older than 3-4 during this incident.

With Gerald arrested, and pretty much the rest of the inconvenient Robotnik family gone, aside from that small child, I think the military decided to take him along, simply because of the vast potential of this child, coming from a bloodline of geniuses, that was now theirs to mold and to exploit.

They likely left the boy in an orphanage afterwards, mostly to his own devices, and without any support, or caregiver whose bonds transcended the mere duty of keeping their fosterling alive - a lonely life, largely deprived of emotional warmth and attachment.

However, they did keep him under close monitoring, so they could intervene anytime they saw fit, to stir him in the direction they wanted - like a psychological experiment of sorts. I remember that in the movie the presiding pentagon guy referred to him as “a lab rat with teeth” - which is rather telling regarding how they perceived him, and pretty nasty, considering the implication.

The Robotnik name, though, they obviously did not refuse him - a decision they would come to regret later. While this allowed him the only tie to his ancestry, their legacy, however, didn’t do him much good.

Gerald Robotnik was a disgraced man, known to the world as the genius madman, imprisoned and sentenced to death as a criminal - which was, by far not the whole truth. And yet, he was turned into this idealised picture of a hero by his grandson, who so admired his achievents and strove to become a scientist because of it, despite knowing only the official version of the story.

The tainted reputation of his grandfather would haunt Ivo for a long time to come. It would also become the lens through which he was perceived and judged by the world at large, and this turned out to be the main reason he was rejected, and, furthermore, relentlessly bullied by his peers - irrespective of his own accomplishments, which earned him at least the praise of his authority figures.

That he eventually snapped and retaliated, did not exactly improve the situation for him. While the bullying did stop for the greater part, the peoples’ suspicion had turned into fear, as their concerns had come to pass after all, and, as a result, he was shunned even more.

In the following years, he was further on groomed to become this perfect military asset - a morally unchecked scientist and ruthless agent, that the government could deploy like the weapon they undoubtedly saw him as.

Unfortunately for them, however, their experiment didn’t quite have the outcome they had anticipated, as he not only exceeded their expectations on an intellectual and scientific level, but, at the same time, became increasingly unstable, unpredictable (”psychological tire-fire”) and, hence, potentially dangerous - to such a degree that they became very hesitant to deploy him at all (despite the “perfect operations record”), and even downright terrified of him.

Frankly, I think they’d also have ample reason to be afraid of him, other than just his obviously ambitious nature. The most prominent being a possible event, where he finds out about what truly happened to his family and himself, as well as their role in this. Needless to say, that he wouldn’t take this lightly, considering all the shit he had to endure because of it, and likely seek revenge. I’d really be curious about such a scenario.

#Dr Ivo Robotnik #Sonic the Hedgehog #movieverse #headcanon #personal opinion #not interested in a debate here #that is what rl subjects are for #fictional world is purely for wish fulfillment and processing stuff #I am merely looking for like-minded ppl here and those with a similar taste

[adelcrait-old-account]

Lost and Found— Chapter 15: The Boss

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522103/chapters/64196512

After discovering a security breach, Vader sends Luke and Piett undercover to a bar frequented by criminals, hoping to run into the woman that is planning to defeat the Empire. 

Meme spoilers and a rant under the cut:

Hello! 

This chapter was a long time coming thing. I wanted to change the scenario and get them all to an actual planet with real air. Luke’s been up in space for weeks, but Piett must have been there for a few months, if not a year. I’m sending him on a vacation, he deserves it.

July me also thought it was the funniest idea to write Piett, unmasked Vader and Luke in a bar talking about Vader. Luke would introduce unmasked Vader as “his mortal enemy”, and Piett would believe it. I also find it incredibly amusing (to me) that Vader refuses to act as another person because: a) *dramatic spotlight* He is Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, current temporary Emperor, Leader of the Imperial Security Bureau, Leader of the not-so-secret Investigation against the Galactical Insurrection....He will not do something as foolish as acting. Do you even know who he is? He is Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith- b) He refuses to act as Agent Broly because he just doesn’t care. In the end he did reveal his identity to Piett, and he knew it was a risk coming there unmasked, but there is trust between them, and so Vader doesn’t see the point of acting as this Agent Broly.

For some reason when I first started writing Agent Broly I imagined a tall surfer himbo of some sort. Do with this information whatever you want.

1. The Boss

Now onto the star of the night, Anak- sorry. *coughs* the spotlight please? Thank you. nOW ONTO THE STAR OF THE CHAPTER: Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, current temporary Emperor, Leader of the Imperial Security Bureau, Leader of the not-so-secret Investigation against the Galactical Insurrection... My mans a bit out of character, but hey! This is an Alternate Universe where Vader when stressed acts like clone wars Anakin because there is enough love in my heart for all versions of this character. 

The real boss of the chapter is Miss Celissa Vanis, finally making an appearance after Chapter 6, when Luke and Vader just found her in the Coruscant rebel base. Remember those times? Feels like ages ago. Where has she been? What is she doing? Does anyone know what she’s doing? Do I know what she’s doing? What is her Modus Operandi? Does she have one?

Listen.......She’s out there getting stuff done. It took her less than six months to scare The Darth Vader, kidnap Palpatine and Mothma and start a very organised clandestine riot. SHE’S GETTING SHIT DONE.

I really like her. She is the antagonist of the story, yes, but hey! She’s charming and makes some very good points even if the execution of her ideas is....well, bad. People are dying. But she makes sense, even if I, as a person that is also reading the story and has opinions, disagree with her.

Celissa had a dramatic entrance, and she also got a dramatic exit. It has taken me over 70,000 words, but I finally decided to include something about...you know. That guy. 

Celissa stared at the ship. Her people looked at her for guidance, but she didn't have any. She was already planning to get rid of Darth Vader's new Sith apprentice. "You! Pick up the blasters and let's go. The Emperor has some questions to answer." 

Palpatine, answering questions? Celissa, teach me your ways. 

2. ‘The Skywalkers: I am The Last Skywalker Left, both Skywalkers say’ A STAR WARS STORY

These two... I know they’re related, you know they’re related, everyone knows they’re related, and I know that they will know that they’re related (I’m not telling you the How yet ;D) but...they share one brain cell, and in this chapter Luke has it. Which is understandable, because Vader is out of his comfort zone and has a lot on his plate. He probably hasn’t been to a space!bar since that time Hondo kidnapped Obi-Wan and him...about twenty-five years ago.

Luke, on the other hand, spent most of his life on Tatooine. He probably befriended ‘cool looking people’ in Mos Eisley when he was five and his Uncle had to drag him away because those people were dangerous. Luke in a bar filled with dangerous people is like a fish in the sea.  But I think that the fact that Luke and Vader are related by blood will just be a major Plus when the truth is revealed, because I already see that they’re vibing as friends. Hell, they even argue like children through the Force because Vader’s being snarky (because he’s out of his comfort zone) and Luke is just not letting him get away with things Vader usually did.

Hey, and I love them for that.

3. ‘The not-a  Commander, Someone Help Him’

I would quote Rickey Thompson’s you are my ride or die video, but I want you to watch it. This is me talking about Luke in this fic.  The Commander, Ben Starkiller. As I said before, Luke is more comfortable in the ground with the normal people because he spent most of his life on Tatooine with his Aunt and Uncle, moisture farmers. He understands people, he understands crime, he has seen people being wrongly accused of crimes they did not commit. So when Darth Vader starts talking about criminals, Luke steps in. He said this in Chapter 3, and his position still stands. He might not officially be a rebel anymore, but his morality hasn’t shifted:

Vader continued staring at him. “Why did you join [The Rebellion] ?” Luke clenched his jaw. “The Empire is a rotten, corrupt fascist state that supports slavery and massive genocide,” he said calmly with a shrug, “I have witnessed enough to see that something must be done against it.” “That is all theory, Commander. I am asking what caused you personally to be against it.” “I won't watch how innocent people are killed because the Emperor threw a tantrum.” Vader wanted to say that his Master never lost his composure: out of both of them he was the most likely to throw tantrums. Sidious was more strategic in his murders. “The Empire took the life of someone you knew.” Luke clenched his jaw. “A great deal of many people, sir. This is a war.” He would never reveal what the Empire did to his aunt and uncle, he wouldn't give Vader that pleasure. "No one cares about murders on Tatooine."

4. Hondo Ohnaka, Forever Young

I loved him in the Clone Wars and in Rebels. This is the man that when confronted by Darth Maul and Savage Opress, said the following:

Darth Maul: "Filth, you will pay for your insolence." Hondo Ohnaka: "Insolence! We are pirates! We don't even know what that means. Open fire!" 

I can only imagine the kind of stories there are about this man in the galaxy, and Luke has heard them all, so when he heard that Hondo said Vader tried to kill him, I just imagined this:

Imagine sending this without context to someone that hasn’t read my fic but knows the star wars lore....I would be very confused. It could also be an AU where Hondo finds baby!Luke and raises him as a pirate, and then Vader comes for his child and finds Luke Ohnaka speaking fluent pirate slang with the man that raised him. 

In case you didn’t know, Hondo kidnapped Anakin and Obi-Wan for ‘business’ in the clone wars TV show. After that, Anakin was too distracted with the war to go find Hondo again, so they left on neutral-to-bad terms.  On the long list of people that Vader wouldn’t want to see him unmasked, Hondo is at the bottom, because Vader doesn’t even remember he exists. Imagine you’re Vader (I know, I know), you’re approximately forty-five years old, drowning in work, undercover in a mission, arguing with this boy who is accusing you of being “impossible”, and then he goes very quiet and says “That’s Hondo Ohnaka.” The name is oddly familiar, and you turn around and you see him. That dude that kidnapped you when you were only twenty years old. This was over 25 YEARS AGO, surely he won’t remember you, right? 

Right?

5. Captain Kathmir, who?

Captain to Darth Vader at the start of the Empire, led the 501st to battles, a very well known figure in the Imperial Fleet...so why doesn’t Vader want to talk about her?

Piett spoke. "Yes, precisely. [...] Everyone knows what happened to Captain Kathmir."

The Force stopped ticking.

Luke frowned. "Who?"

"Nobody," said Vader urgently, "Drop the topic, now."

She disappeared after failing him. What happened? 

The Force became cold, and Luke shivered when Vader spoke. "The story is a lie built on childish rumours." he spat quietly. 

In case that you’re thinking Vader might have had something with this Captain, the answer is No. In my humble opinion, in canon, I don’t see Vader having anything with anyone that wasn’t Padmé, and this extends to all my fics. There are enough headcanons for everyone.

And to conclude, a wholesome one: 

Thank you for sticking with my nocturnal ramblings about this story! I’m posting another chapter in a few days, where they will do Force magic in the snow. 

#lost and found #My posts #my fics

[asthefirerisesblog]

OKAY GUYS BUCKLE UP YOU DON'T KNOW ME BUT I HAVE AN IDEA.

(We are talking about Vader so if discussing his health issues is triggering for you, go make yourself a mug of hot chocolate and I hug you (or not if you don’t want to) from afar)

(if Anakin the war had been a little less murdery)

In this absolutely ridiculous AU I have in my head, I have imagined the Rebellion (mostly like the Rogues with our dear dear sunshine boy Luke Skywalker) as a group of gen z friends, with ridiculous insides jokes, MEMES and fits of laughter every 2 seconds.

For example, they have the Star Wars equivalent of a Group Chat.

And you must understand that the Group Chat is sacred. If there is a message on it, nobody cares that it's the middle of a very important meeting or even a dogfight, e-ve-ry-one must see what ridiculous meme that random guy you talked to once on a Saturday morning two years ago sent. It is mandatory. 

I talked about stupid inside jokes and for example, there was Wedge who once completely THREW HIMSELF DOWN in the middle in a hallway (actually, he fell, but 1. it was so dramatic even Luke Channel-Boots Skywalker wouldn’t have done it, and 2. he will not admit for the life of him that his foot got stuck in whatever irregularity of the floor) and it made a BOOM so loud and it was so damn funny everyone decided to never let him live that down. So now, when you enter this hallway, you have to put your foot down the hardest you can in remembrance for the magnificent BOOM of Wedge.

Now, imagine that Anakin and the crew of the Executor have defected to the Rebellion when our beautiful murderdad has discovered that he was, in fact, a dad. Anakin is, at this point, half-living his best life. He has his son, he found his daughter (ummm also Alderaan has not really happened okay thank you bye) and they actually care about him (that’s new and scary for this extremely traumatised tin can). He took off the mask and is relying on a clear oxygen mask to breath, + the vital parts of his suit. Doctors are figuring a way to completely remove the suit, but he is not completely down for another extensive surgery, so yep. Beneath the mask, the Rebellion (and the ex-Imps) have discovered a man deeply scarred both physically and mentally, with a lot of issues (about his relationship to his body, to himself in general, his self-worth etc). My vision of things is that during the Clone Wars and his Jedi years, he had already a lot of issues concerning his view of himself (growing up as a slave  and a complete lack of therapy didn’t really help), but there was still a light, a fire in him. I do think that despite everything, there was moment where he could forget about all the bad things and just spend a very happy moment with Padmé/Ahsoka/Obi-Wan. But the Darkside (and Palpatine) erased this fire and now he is mostly empty and quiet all the time (even if finding his children has lessened his apathy towards life a bit, it’s going to be a looooooooooooooooong time before anything visibly changes).

Let’s talk about the crew (= Piett because I love this man, although if I don’t remember if it’s correct timeline wise okay let’s not care about canon we are here to improve it hahah thanks). Piett has served for the last... period of time under Vader, which has probably aged him of at least 50 years. If you have to compress the entirety of Piett into one word it would be stress. The guy can never, never fail at the littleless thing or he will die. He cannot break the etiquette or he will die. He has to be perfect, otherwise (as you guessed), he will die. Piett arrives in a world where you call your superior by their name or even a nickname, you play sabacc with them, you win, you laugh at them, and you never let them live it down. In this world, you mostly communicate through memes, emojis and pranks. In this world, Luke Skywalker will live-tweet the heck out of the battlefield. (The first few interactions with the Rogues are going to be fun I tell ya).

And now, let’s have fun about the meeting of these two worlds. Vader, an ex-slave who hasn’t had fun for the twenty last years of his life, his crew who is absolutely terrified of him, and the Rogues, who have decided that today they were going to go in this Very Important Strategy Meeting in matching unicorn onesies.

#If you have any ideas I would be THRI-LLED for you to add them here #btw my first language is not English so I'm sorry for all the mistakes #tw body horror #honestly Vader's suit should have its own tw #tw self worth #tw depression #tw ptsd #I don't know how to tag this is my first time ever doing so I'm sorry #luke skywalker #darth vader #anakin skywalker #redemption #leia skywalker #wedge #firmus piett #star wars #the rogues #discourse #my writing #it's mine for once #hihi #love ya

[sparrowsabre7]

I was thinking about it and...

Is Moff Gideon the first major American accented Imp officer in live action? 

Initially I thought he may be the first full stop but then I remembered Chokey McChokeface from A New Hope and Johnny Informthecommanderlordvader’sshuttlehasarrived and the one guy at the cell block.

He’s certainly the first key Imp officer to not be white*, but I think Moff Gideon is the first officer of any seniority, certainly first officer who was a lead villain of their media to have an American accent. The rest have all been British (Piett, Needa, Jerjerrod, Ozzel, Veers, Krennic, Tarkin etc).

No real point just a curious observation. 

*not difficult given that in the OT the Empire consisted exclusively of white men, imperial women and other ethnicities were relegated to books, comics, and games until Rogue One and the First Order seems to have a generally more inclusive hiring policy. 

#moff gideon #the mandalorian #star wars #giancarlo esposito

[makiruz]

Scenes missing from the fic so far:

Luke talking to Leia about what Cody told him, with her not knowing but not being surprised at all. Luke insisting their parents aren’t evil and she’s like “dude, have you look at what they’re doing?”

Rex figures out the leader of Vader’s Fist is Cody and he’s like “Cody is that you?” and Cody is like “I’m CC-2224″ and Rex goes like “Oh Cody, what have they done to you brother?”. Eventually Rex coax enough personality out of Cody for him to be like “Rex what are you doing?” “What we were made to do, protect the Galaxy. What are you doing?” (Nadja is like “Cody? As in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Cody?” Xinia is amazed she’s in front another legend). Also Rex is like “at least General Skywalker replaced me with someone worthwhile”

Vader confronting Rex. He’s like “Rex what the fuck?” Rex is like “Man the years have not been kind to you General” Vader is like “I thought you were dead, and you betrayed me and joined the Rebellion” “You know, from where I’m standing you were the one who betrayed the Jedi Order. Also you know whatever happened to Commander Tano?” “Shut up, shut up, shut up; I’m not the bad guy, I saved the Galaxy” (Xinia is enjoying the show, Nadja is taking the opportunity to shoot daggers at Vader)

Luke, Leia and Cody talking about Obi-Wan. Padmé convinced Luke that Obi-Wan lied to him because he wanted to trick him into killing his father and pull their family apart because evil Jedi tricks or something. Cody is like “No General Kenobi and General Skywalker were best friends. The General loved Skywalker like a brother, trying to kill him would kill him”.

Also he just found out Kenobi was alive until 5 years ago, and he’s getting an emotion he doesn’t remember how to feel after 25 years of Imperial conditioning; the words “I didn’t kill him” are there somewhere

Leia talking to Rex about her fathers, specially the bad one. (No, Rex didn’t know, he found out like everyone else).

 Also Luke, he knows Rex’s a Rebel, not that he’s a Clone, this is a shock. Also stormtroopers didn’t know Rex is a clone either, they don’t know how to process a clone trooper who act like a person. Nobody in the Empire knows how to process a clone that acts like a real person; they assume he’s special somehow but Xinia is like, “No Wolfe and Gregor (who’s alive because I say so) are like that too” Eventually Luke and Piett meet more rebel clones and think “Maybe it is us”

Padmé is out having a crisis too; but crushing it down with all the rest of the denial

I have no idea what R2 is doing, but it’s gonna be explosive.

#Star Wars #fanfic #my post #writing #AU #my writing

[lightandwinged]

Continued TLJ thoughts on our in-between day (we’re taking Sam to see it tomorrow morning because we’re masochists).

I think my primary issue with this trilogy is that each writer/director for each film is being given complete creative liberty, which sort of results in a lot of inconsistencies, plot holes, red herrings, and the like. Like the prequels sucked major ass, but at least the narrative was consistent--the story had been specifically mapped out beforehand and was being followed along. With this... I know there’s some Word of God somewhere about the major plot points, but at the same time, it feels a lot like playing one of those games where each person writes one sentence and the story at the end is a jumbled mess. 

Which is to say that I liked TLJ as a stand-alone movie; if it hadn’t been preceded by TFA and the rest of canon, I’d probably have enjoyed it a lot more. Every character in the movie got a complete arc (except poor Hux and Phasma, RIP), the main cast were all dynamic in ways they hadn’t been before, and as a movie in and of itself, it was pretty damn good. But then I remember that it’s part of a larger canon and the standalone bits just... don’t add up the way I’d like them to. 

And I REALLY want them to, and I feel absolutely 100% fine about the idea of Rian Johnson having his own trilogy to play with (I feel even 100% finer about the idea of Taika Waititi getting a Star Wars film, COME ON MAN). BUT as part of the Skywalker legacy or whatever they’re calling the whole chunk of prequels, OT, and sequels, it just... it didn’t work for me as a piece of that. And I do think that the dissonance between TFA and TLJ is why.

Anyway, good/bad notes that I forgot last night:

I would die for Rose Tico. I know that I said this or some variant last night, but it’s true. She’s perfect. I love her. I hope she’s like... a major leader in the next film. 

Benicio del Toro’s character was honestly really interesting, and I want to see more of him. You just do not get characters in Star Wars films that aren’t one thing or another, bad guy or good, just in it for the money. And I wish we DID get more of them, because they’re interesting. 

Despite his character not being done any justice whatsoever (like people are complaining about Finn and Poe being sidelined and I’m like y’all, did you see the movie?), Hux definitely got the biggest laughs out of me. He’s not reminding me so much of space Hitler anymore as he is reminding me of Piett and his ilk. And that’s delightful because I loved the Empire’s underlings and their constantly shifting chain of command, shifting based completely on whom Vader hadn’t choked yet that day. 

The Space Horse Escape Scene made me both (a) ask Kyle “what the fuck even IS this movie?” and (b) grin like an idiot. Look, it was fun, and it was a fun we haven’t seen in Star Wars before. FREE THE SPACE HORSES!

I really cannot emphasize how much I loved the little kid at the end with his broom saber, perfectly tying up the theme of the movie and, more than that, making you realize what the theme of the movie WAS. And also, he reminded me so much of Sam, but that’s every kid, so. 

Kyle keeps reminding me of the slug sloth milking and I swear to god, between that and Gul’dan the Midwife in the Warcraft movie, I’m just so done with everything ever, honestly. And what makes me even MORE done is that the slug sloth is going to have a Wookieepedia page and lore about it, and just. It’s a humanoid animal with udders that looked like balls at first and then it got milked. Please, fandom. For once. Let it go. 

Rey’s temptation to the Dark Side scene made exactly no sense and had me thinking, “oh yeah, this is going to go somewhere” a lot but it never did. The comparison was there between her going down the Butthole Of Darkness and Luke wandering off to the Dark Side Forest, but like... with Luke, we actually knew what was going on. With Rey it was like... are we going to start dancing together now? Is that what the snapping is? Like this is trippy and all, but I remember when the Dark Side actually intimidated and unnerved people and this was more like going to a department store and saying “oh hey, cool, let’s play with the mirrors.”

Anyway. Seeing it all again tomorrow, will probably write more tomorrow night.

#star wars #the last jedi #the last jedi spoilers #I'm giving this another month and then I'm going to be talking about it in tags #bc there's one tag I'm dying to use but cannot

[365footballorg-blog]

Garde calls on Montreal Impact to show "pride," "fight" amid losing skid

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April 22, 20185:53PM EDT

MONTREAL – Seven games into the Remi Garde era, the Montreal Impact find themselves averaging less than a point per game, on a three-game losing streak – suffering two early red cards in those three matches �� and tied for the most goals conceded in the league.

The Impact have posted two clean sheets in their two wins, both of them in 1-0 victories, and lost their other five matches, conceding 17 goals. No goalkeeper in MLS has had to make more saves (39), faced more shots (56) or carries a higher goals-against average than Montreal’s Evan Bush.

Even with Ignacio Piatti posting his first MLS hat trick to stake the Impact to a 3-1 lead, the story was the same in Saturday’s home opener at Stade Saputo, Montreal conceding four second-half goals to LAFC in a 5-3 loss.

“I just looked at the stats and we had 19 shots on goal against us today, that’s crazy,” Bush said after making 14 saves, including a penalty kick, in a losing cause. “That’s 29 shots on goal in the last two games – that’s crazier.”

Led by Piatti, the Impact raced out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday, and still took a 3-1 lead into halftime despite a 31st-minute penalty kick and red card to Victor Cabrera for a collision with Marco Ureña, Bush making a diving stop on Ureña’s penalty kick.

But Montreal conceded two goals in the first eight minutes of the second half, and later allowed Carlos Vela and Latif Blessing to give the expansion side from Los Angeles a two-goal cushion.

“We conceded too many goals, too many chances,” Garde said postgame. “We conceded four goals in the second half, but it could’ve easily been six or seven. I’m not happy at all about the way we managed the second half because when you have the chance to lead 3-1 at halftime and if you are playing 10 men, you should be more determined to protect your goal and sometimes to attack.

“I mean there are not too many tactical situations in this occasion. It’s more about your pride, about the fight you want to put in the game to win. And I think in the second half I didn’t see a team that wanted to preserve the score and maybe to score one more.”

Montreal’s losing streak began with a 4-0 loss at the New England Revolution on April 6, when Saphir Taider was sent off 14 minutes in for a dangerous challenge on Luis Caicedo. Midfielder Samuel Piette said an “attitude problem” might explain the Impact’s struggles when they are down a man.

“We came out in the second half, we knew we wanted to do good things, like be compact and work hard, but these are only words,” Piette said. “You’ve got to apply that on the pitch. As well, the goals we concede are too easy. It’s a lack of marking in the box.

“I remember the first goal of the second half the ball came through my legs and there were two or three guys open in the box. So we have to be more aggressive on that. Set pieces as well. We conceded again on set pieces so there are different type of goals that we need to be careful next time.”

#block-block-188 {padding:0;} #stay-connected {border-top:1px solid #ebebeb;margin:20px 0;} #stay-connected p {margin:0;color:#4d4d4d;line-height:1.5em;} @media screen and (max-width: 730px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 731px) and (max-width: 1120px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 1121px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:708px;} }

MLSsoccer.com News

Garde calls on Montreal Impact to show “pride,” “fight” amid losing skid was originally published on 365 Football

#amid #calls #fight #Garde #impact #losing #Montreal #pride #show #skid

[esandcasg]

Star Wars – The Force Awakens revisited – A Big A Review

It’s on Netflix. I’d just finished a Cost Benefit Analysis (my first proper one at work) and thought I’d whack this on and put down my thoughts, especially given recent (and less recent) discussions about The Last Jedi.

Speaking of which, another prompt for this was that in our post-viewing debrief of the Star Wars sequel, my brother said to me ‘Come on, if Han Solo hadn’t have died it would have been a good film’. My bias towards Harrison Ford is well known; so was my general view of TFA clouded by the smuggler’s death?

It should be said at this point I’ve not seen the film from start to finish since I saw it at the cinema, making it the only Star Wars film (well, TLJ is the same actually) that I’ve only seen once. I watched the prequels a number of times – though I think with less frequency as the trilogy progressed – and have obviously seen the original trilogy ad infinitum.

Anyway – let’s not digress too much before we’ve even got to the bones of the piece. I’m intended this to be a general commentary on the film itself before diverging into a general mulling over the direction of the newer Star Wars films in general.

TFA starts with a focus on new characters – Poe, Finn and Rey. There are a few others dotted about – Lor Van Sekka (I have undoubtedly got that name wrong, but the character played by the bad guy from Minority Report), BB8 and, of course, Kylo Ren, Hux and Cappy Phasma. The feel of the film is immediately Star Wars. There’s an earnestness about Poe that tonally fits and I actually like the brutality of the Stormtroopers here; it harks back to A New Hope, when Obi Wan and Luke come across the slaughtered Jawas. Stormtroopers developed into figures of fun throughout the Original Trilogy and this sort of had them back as actually nasty pieces of work.

That said, this idea of brutality is undermined by two First Order figures – Hux and Phasma. Kylo Ren is supposed to be this vaguely immature, hot-headed bad guy. He has moments of rage and uncontrolled reactions to things, but he’s not supposed to be in charge. Unfortunately, both Hux and Phasma seemed to be being portrayed almost tongue in cheek. Hux is pulling ‘I’m a bad guy’ faces throughout, and Phasma’s voice is too much like someone who has spent their entire career in rep, giving overblown performances, and are suddenly given a spot on TV and are unable to play it down. Look at the Imperial officers in the Original Trilogy. There’s one sneery guy who gets throttled by Vader in A New Hope, but the rest of them – Tarkin and Piett particularly – are just fairly normal, cold, straightforward people. They are almost business-like in their manner, whereas Hux and Phasma are almost cartoony (both would be worse in TLJ). I wonder whether casting familiar-ish names in both roles made that likelier.

So you’ve got, in the First Order, a childish main bad guy (necessarily so) and two cartoony sub-villains. There’s a problem right off the bat. And that only gets compounded when we meet…

Rey.

I have a problem both with the characterization of Rey and the performance. Let’s start with the performance. It’s too on the nose. It’s not helped by all the exposition she has to do (more on this anon) but there’s something sort of stilted about the way the lines are delivered. It’s almost too earnest (despite my comment about this earlier on). It’s… it’s the sort of performance I would give; too affected, lacking subtlety unless she has people to bounce off. Ridley is good in later scenes when she has to be upset but the sort of earlier, day to day stuff seems pretty bad – it’s the same when she’s being enthusiastic with Han Solo on the way to Maz’s place.

The characterization doesn’t help. Rey is both wistfully looking for a way out (seeing the ship leaving Jakku) and yet determined to stay. She’s both self-reliant and desperate to be liked. And yet the performance isn’t conflicted AT ALL to start off with.

Anyway. So I have an issue with the first order, and Rey is a little jarring. But otherwise I think the story works and I’m enjoying it. I enjoy it even more when Han Solo and Chewbacca come in.

I remember watching Six Days, Seven Nights with my older brother at the cinema and there’s a scene where Ford’s character, Quinn, is drunk at a bar. My brother leant his head close to mine at this point and said “He’s acting now”. He didn’t mean it as an insult or a compliment but as a comment. A couple of years later I read an interview with Ford where he bemoaned the lack of opportunity he’s had in some respect in terms of the roles he’s offered. Referencing The Mosquito Coast (which is a great film, and he gives a great performance in it) which performing poorly at the box office, Ford said something to the effect that as soon as he tries something outside the parameters of his usual Ordinary Guy put in Extraordinary Situation role, people say “He’s acting now”. As my brother had.

I suspect that given the type of roles Ford has enjoyed success in, there’s been an element of maybe not considering him that good an actor. We could argue this point back and forth, but I think one of the reasons this manifests is he has – undeniably – screen presence. There is a complete ease at being on camera, being on a film set, that I don’t think is that natural anymore for a lot of actors. Actors from an older generation had it – Streep, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson – but maybe younger actors don’t in the same respect. Perhaps that’s because back in the day you used to go and see a film because a certain actor was in it. I’m not so sure that’s the case anymore.

Anyway, my point in all of this was that there’s a sense of ease in the way Han Solo and Chewbacca come into the film. The familiarity helps (you’ve seen these characters loads before) and the relationship between the two helps as well.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Solo and Chewbacca triggers two things which will eventually begin to make the film less enjoyable.

The first is exposition. All the dialogue starts being weighed down by it. What happened to Luke. What happened to Kylo Ren. What happened between Han and Leia. What happened to R2D2. On and on and on. It doesn’t really let up. And it makes the dialogue a lot more boring. The exchanges between Han and Leia are particularly bad in this respect. Same for the exchange between Han and Kylo Ren. It’s all just exposition.

I understand the need for explaining some things but Abrams and Larry Kasdan should have had more faith in people sticking with the films because they’re Star Wars. You didn’t need to explain that Kylo Ren was Han and Leia’s son until the last confrontation. You don’t need to have both Han and Leia talk about what happened to Kylo Ren on a number of different occasions.

The second bad thing is fanboyism. The maguffin of the film is Luke, so there’s a certain amount of wistfulness baked in, but as soon as Han comes in, everything becomes about worshipping the original trilogy. Rey and Finn are amazed to meet Han. Kylo Ren is a Vader fan boy. They compare the planet to the Death Star. Everyone wants to find Luke.

The film starts on its own two feet but seems to become less and less secure of itself and more and more reverential to the past as time goes on. Why? There’s really no need. You are going to have a certain amount of Star Wars fans regardless. You don’t need to constantly revere the past. In fact it’s more interesting not too, I would argue. This may seem an odd reference, but I like how Ghostbusters 2 starts, with Ray and Winston as children’s entertainers. How in a fictional world heroes can be forgotten as the world moves on (in that case, New York). I think that’s partly why I liked TFA to start off with. You’ve got Luke, Han and Leia who have, to some extent all fallen on hard times, and a world that has sort of moved on.

Except it hasn’t, really, because of the fact that everything still revolves around the three of them, and becomes more about them as the film goes on.

That then brings me to the ending of the film. There are some glaring errors here; Han’s death, the tone of the subsequent remainder of the film and the appearance of Luke.

Let’s start with Han’s death. It’s pointless, and here’s why. The only reason that Han should die at that point is either to save his friends or to allow Kylo Ren to become something else.

Does his death save his friends? No. At that point there’s something of a bond beginning between Rey/Finn and Han but not worth talking about. But Kylo Ren isn’t getting in their way. Han could plant the bombs and leave quite happily but is compelled to confront his son, presumably because a) he’s his Dad and hasn’t written him off and b) Leia told him to. Neither are about saving his mates.

So then we’re down to character development for Kylo Ren. The obvious thing is that the patricide allows Ren to choose the dark side. Except there are a couple of problems here. Firstly, where’s the conflict? It’s not as if up until this point he’s been struggling with the choice between the two. There is one real point where this is referenced and that’s the bit where he’s talking to Vader’s mask. There’s nothing else in the film that shows his struggle. There’s stuff that shows he’s immature or incompetent but nothing to say he’s struggling between the light and the dark

So suddenly there’s a need as far as the writers go to make him choose the dark side?  

Fine, so let’s go with that. Except that there’s no difference in his character in The Last Jedi! None! He’s still a whiney, impulsive, slightly incompetent bad guy. So you’ve gained nothing and have lost a character that a) all the fans loved and b) could have actually bought more time for the new characters to establish themselves without the films having to live or die based on who they are.

Ren should have had a scene early on in TFA that shows he is still struggling. His first appearance needs to show his struggle, when he kills that guy. Maybe afterwards you see him take off the mask and look down at the lightsaber in disgust? Something that says this guy isn’t quite dark side yet. The problem is that the writers wanted him to be a bad guy from the off, to be scary from the off. And then almost reverse-engineer this struggle.

Ok, to point no. 2. The tone of the rest of the film.

Han’s death should have been an opportunity for Rey/Finn and, especially, Chewie to lose it. To absolutely lose it. Rey sort of does but sort of doesn’t, and it’s hinted at in her fight with Ren but that should have shown her almost being pulled to the dark side in her rage, and she should have been prevented from killing him by something else. Maybe that earthquake. I know that sort of happens anyway, but there’s no real rage in her performance. There’s no real sense that she would have killed him if she could. Then there’s the obvious Chewie/Leia non-hug, and how there almost seems to have been no impact on anyone that Han had died. And you have Rey going to see Luke, Luke not saying anything, R2D2 and Chewie not leaving the falcon – all this has been done to death. The tone is confused. They’ve blown up the new death star – good. But Han died in the process – bad. I know Obi Wan Kenobi dies in A New Hope but there’s a crucial difference, or a crucial set of differences. 1) He does so knowingly. 2) His voice appears later on so he’s still there. 3) Luke et al get a chance to get revenge. Han’s death, however, mars any achievement of blowing up the death star. It makes it unfulfilling as an achievement. For me, anyway.

And then Luke at the end. For a film to gradually get more and more about one character, to build up this character’s appearance, to have him do and say nothing is a really, really crappy payoff. There’s way too big a build up for nothing to happen. And the ending isn’t even interesting, because we know she’s going to see Luke. We know it’s going to happen. What would have been more interesting is that when they landed they say the broken X Wing, Rey and Chewie and R2D2 go up to the temple except it’s been destroyed. It’s in ruins. And then from out of the shadows comes a darkly-dressed Luke who pulls the lightsaber from Rey’s hand and ignites it. End film.

It starts really well, as a Star Wars film. The universe is true to what has come beforehand and I like the ruined nature of the place. The war was over but it took a toll on the world, and the peace allowed the first order to rise. That’s all cool. And say Luke has disappeared, and Han has fucked off somewhere, and Leia is holding it together. And have the new characters basically have to reunite them in some way, that shows the new characters to be taking the lead. And then gradually have the old dudes fade into the background as the films go on. I think that could be a plausible way of developing a new franchise.

Unfortunately they seem to have flipped between extremes – JJ Abrams almost too in love with the past. Rian Johnson then feeling that it needs to be jettisoned (along with most Star Wars traits). And so we’re left with Abrams again to try and tie up what has become a mess. There’s no single vision (for better or worse) and no real momentum going from one film to the next.

I’ll still watch the next one, as I’ve watched them all so far, but my appetite is diminishing to the point I’m questioning how much I liked Star Wars in the first instance.

#Big A's retrospective film reviews

[i-like-raw-ramen]

My Thrawn history

This will be long but gives you some idea of how long I’ve been crazy about Grand Admiral Thrawn and I left a lot out! 

My first encounter with Thrawn was finding a paperback copy of “Heir to the Empire” at Costco.  My oldest brother had mentioned seeing it but didn’t get it because he had assumed it was going to be what the new Star Wars movie was going to be about and didn’t want spoilers. This was the early 90s and rumors were always happening but it was many years before the Prequels or even the extended editions would come out but we didn’t know anything then. It was Pre-Internet main stream days. So maybe you heard things at conventions or at a comic book store or video store but there was no going to a Star Wars website to learn anything, That was years away.

I read the book because after reading the blurb on the back I didn’t care if it was full of spoilers, I wanted to read it! and by the end of chapter one I was in love with Thrawn. I had grown up a Star Wars fan and while being a girl,  I really didn’t want to be Princess Leia. At 6 years old I dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween. So I tended to like the Imperials. I remember when I was 12 and going to sleep away camp and taking a picture of Admiral Piett with me to hang above my bed.   By high school I was with a some friends who all liked Star Wars and all we had was the books, as there was no tv shows, no new movies, nothing but the original trilogy. One guy (Who called me “The wife of Thrawn”) read The Last Command faster than I did and told me the ending just because he was a jerk and cheered for the rebels. I still cried and threw the book across the room when I read that Thrawn had died.  Around 1996 or 97 I was away at college when the new Thrawn books came out and I peacefully read them. About that time I had email and was going online and found the website of the book publisher for the Star Wars books at that time. (Around 1997, 98)  (This website no longer exists) They had an online forum to discuss the books.  I started going there to talk about the books and found a good group. I decided to read the other Star Wars books that were out and could only find the second one in the X-Wing series so I asked someone in the group if they’d help me if I had any questions since I was starting in book 2. One woman replied that she would.  I would later learn that she had been a fan editor on the books. I would also later...get engaged to her son..... and ended up in a long term relationship with him that only ended around 2013.  To this day I still have contact with people I knew from this core group and not all just family from this previous relationship.I’d stay active in the Star Wars fandom for many years but I eventually got sick of it.   When the Thrawn books were declared uncanon when Disney took over Star Wars I felt so devastated that I didn’t want to be a Star Wars fan anymore.  I hated Force Awakens and sold a good majority of my Star Wars collection except my Thrawn stuff.  Thrawn was still part of my life. My non business email address was Thrawn related, my twitter handle, I still made Thrawn fan fic for myself.  I got to meet Tim Zahn at a convention and gush that the books meant so much to me and ask if the name Thrawn came from Fellowship of the Ring. (It didn’t)  But now, Thrawn is back, canon again. I have a Thrawn book and another on the way. I have Thrawn in Rebels and who knows what the future holds.

#Thrawn

[viviane-lefay]

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single villain in possession of some mad skills, and screwed up morals must be in want of a formidable adversary in the form of an equally badass heroine.”

- Jane Austen, probably

… and if there isn’t one already, I’m very much inclined to make one - even just for the sake of it.

Because, if there is something I love just as much as villain x heroine ships, it is creating new characters.

And you really can’t expect me to pass this opportunity, can you!? ;)

Personally, I think it can’t really hurt to have another brilliant scientist there (aside from Tails), a human one, who works alongside the Good Guys™ - and also one with a soundly working moral compass on top of scientific competence and brainpower - which the Dr. so sorely lacks.

I suppose this could really help to get him off his high horse, as he obviously deludes himself with the assumption that he’s the only smart person in the room, or at all, not to mention the compulsive need to rub this in anyones’ face. We get it, darling, your’re a genius, but you certainly aren’t the only one. Eat some humble pie and come back down to earth, ok!? Not even Snape was this petty…

Regarding such antics, if anything, it comes across as significantly bitter, if not a bit desperate. No one with a healthy sense of self-worth acts like this - they wouldn’t even want to. Hence, I’m quite certain it’s more a massive inferiority complex covered up with megalomania in his case, from what I remember & read about him, and his family background (which is quite tragic, actually). Btw, what happened to his parents!? We only hear about his grandfather and cousin, but never about them, as well as his own past, which is just hinted at, if anything - the growing up as an orphan & being bullied stuff, you know … which surely can’t have been *just* about him being a socially awkward nerd, but maybe also about his grandfather’s history - just a guess on my side (I elaborated on the subject quite a bit in this post).

And what is it with me, that I always find myself fascinated with emotionally repressed, potentially traumatized and fucked up villains!? It’s always the same. ^^;;

But I digress …

What I wanted to say is, I think this would make for some interesting dynamic & chemistry. =D

Anyway, allow me to introduce my character at this point …

Adelia Sigrún Sharpe

Professor of Astrophysics & Engineering

of British and German origin, but lives in America

comes from a family of academics on both sides of her ancestry

the German part of her bloodline has a darker past, as one of her relatives took part in the amoral experiments conducted by scientists during the Nazi regime - therefore, she has developed a rather firm ethical code which she lives by, as she abhors the abuse of science for base motives

is also very fascinated by Sonic’s powers, and wants to study, and make use of it, but in a more altruistic manner

aside from designing & building innovative tech stuff, as well as aviation, she practices swordsmanship in her free-time - and is quite good at it, at that

is more warm-hearted and caring than she appears on first glance (and has a rather feisty side, too), but that is something, which is rarely seen (except by a few trusted friends and collegues) due to her fairly diciplined personality, that usually makes her appear rather factual and reserved

as a child she went through a period of being sidelined and bullied by her peers, after rumours spread about the deeds of the above-mentioned family member (which would depict a parallel to the Dr., who dealt with this matter in a completely different way, not least due to a different set of circumstances). This experience also contributed significantly to her self-controlled, serious, and thoughtful nature. Ultimately, it made her more understanding.

has a totally dry, deadpan style of humour - but in a good-natured way, as she’s usually not prone to being snarky

she’s an acquaintance of Maddie Wachowski (whom she met at uni)

The characters that served as a major source of inspiration for her are:

Jane Foster  -  intellectual prowess & sense for justice (plus I, admittely, would kind of like it, if Adelia, not unlike Jane did with Loki, gave the dear Dr. a resounding slap, along with a “This is for San Francisco!”, for all the mess that he caused there ^^;;)

Anakin Skywalker  -  knack for tech & piloting

Pepper Potts  -  professionalism & elegant style

Black Widow  -  looks (see below), martial arts & reserved exterior

Other sources of inspiration would be the "Vril girls" - Maria Orsic regarding her looks, and Sigrún regarding her name.

Faceclaim would be Scarlett Johansson:

P.S.:

I know there is already a fanon-popular ship, but, tbh, it’s not really my cuppa.

That said, I want to point out that I have nothing against people shipping the Dr. with Agent Stone (you do you, guys), but since I, personally, prefer m/f ships, I’d rather choose the female OC approach, as it’s also my beloved villain x heroine constellation.

As for Agent Stone, I still think he’s a really important person for him, of course, but more in a professional & platonic manner (like, he’s the Piett to Robotnik’s Vader), given Stone’s the only one he treated with at least a semblance of respect, and whom he actually missed (!) afterwards - contrary to what he said before … I guess he has very limited self-awareness in this matter, huh!?

Anyway, that was all for now. I hope you still liked what you found here. =)

Here’s the DA post, btw.

#Dr Ivo Robotnik #Adelia #Sonic the Hedgehog #movieverse #headcanon #original character #OC #Adelia/Ivo #dr robotnik x OC #villain x heroine #enemies to lovers #m/f ships #dollmaker #azalea's dolls

[365footballorg-blog]

Wiebe: Transfer deadline looms as MLS clubs look for missing pieces

August 8, 20176:34PM EDT

ExtraTime Radio Podcast

LISTEN: Takes of all types on all 22 MLS clubs after a jam-packed Week 22. Once that’s out of the way, PRO’s Howard Webb breaks down the first week of Video Review and the Baer’s Lair has the guys in stitches (and reveals a new ETR addition). Subscribe now so you never miss a show! Download this episode!

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The clock is ticking. When the hour and minute hands hit 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday night, Major League Soccer’s secondary transfer window will slam shut.

Dear @MLS front office folks,

Be courageous. Make trades. Get that deal over the line. Pull the trigger.

Sincerely,

Fans of the league

— ExtraTime Radio (@ExtraTimeRadio) August 8, 2017

With a little more than 24 hours remaining until the deadline, now’s the time of year when MLS decision makers earn their paychecks – and chart the short- and long-term future of their respective clubs. The phone is ringing, texts are pouring in and paperwork is being jammed through as fast as technology allows. The pressure is on, and the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy is at stake.

And while plenty of deals are already over the finish line, the big question remains unanswered: Who will be 2017’s Garth Lagerwey and land the sort of player who helps inspire a playoff run (and perhaps even a trophy lift and victory parade)? Who will fill a hole – small or large – that allows their team to finally reach its lofty potential or just avoid disaster by making the playoffs? Who will beat the clock and change the course of league history in the process?

The folks at LAFC have already fired a (yet to be officially confirmed) shot across the league’s bow with reports that Mexican international Carlos Vela will join the expansion club in January. The Chicago Fire reaffirmed their MLS Cup aspirations by announcing David Accam won’t be going anywhere this summer. Crew SC, Orlando, and San Jose all dropped coin on Designated Players.

And, inevitably, there will be more moves before the close of the window on Wednesday, almost certainly a blockbuster or two. Hell, Lagerwey might even revive the Derlis Gonzalez transfer from the reportedly dead. Here are three that could take clubs from also-rans to contenders.

A starting FWD (and JVD replacement?) for LA

The Robbie Keane era feels like a long time ago. Those Galaxy teams didn’t hover below the playoff line in August, and LA find themselves facing a quiet November unless things turn around ASAP.

Jonathan Dos Santos was a good start (and may help revive brother Giovani’s form), but LA still need a fulcrum for the attack to revolve around with Gyasi Zardes pushed back to the wing and Jack McInerney more super sub than super signing.

Goals would be nice, but at this point Sigi Schmid might settle for good hold-up and combination play to open things up for Dos Santos (x2), Romain Alessandrini and Ema Boateng.

Wildcard: What happens if Jelle Van Damme decides he can’t bear a few more months away from him children back in Belgium? It’s a scenario LA must be ready to face head on, and the means of filling that hole (if a move home materializes for the big defender) may be closed if they don’t pull the trigger in this window.

Fresh blood at Stade Saputo

Matteo Mancosu’s role in the Impact’s run to the brink of MLS Cup was well documented. His return to role player this year has gotten significantly less attention. Anthony Jackson-Hamel has loads of potential (and five goals off the bench), but he isn’t yet ready to will Montreal to a playoff berth.

Unless Mancosu rediscovers the form that saw him bag seven goals and six assists in a tad more than 1,000 minutes last season, Montreal will struggle to challenge for anything more than a Knockout Round spot. Is that enough for owner Joey Saputo? A targeted signing up top could push the Impact over the hump.

Wildcard: More goals (and space for Nacho Piatti to operate) would be nice, but Montreal won’t go anywhere if their defensive record doesn’t improve as well. Sam Piette was a nice signing at defensive mid, but some more competition at center back could help push Laurent Ciman and Victor Cabrera to greater heights.

New home (and replacement) for Yura

I thought Yura Movsisyan would be a hit when he returned to Real Salt Lake. I thought a little tough love would get him going this year, too. Seems I was wrong on both accounts. It’s probably time for both parties to move on, if the financials make sense.

To make one thing clear: Even if RSL can find Movsisan a new home via loan or a permanent move in this window – they’ll won’t be bound by tomorrow’s deadline, in that case – Craig Waibel won’t be under pressure to find an immediate replacement. He’s probably better off taking his time, in fact.

But if there’s already a target in the hopper and the Claret-and-Cobalt can get it done, they can reasonably believe a playoff run could be in the cards. The rest of the pieces are there (and finally healthy). What’s missing is someone to consistently bang in the service arriving in the 18-yard box.

***

What roster hole does your club need filled? Let us know in the comments section below, and remember clubs can still improve until rosters freeze for good on Sept. 15 as long as an ITC (International Transfer Certificate) isn’t changing hands.

MLSsoccer.com News

Wiebe: Transfer deadline looms as MLS clubs look for missing pieces was originally published on 365 Football

#clubs #deadline #look #looms #missing #pieces #transfer #Wiebe