#BUT they have to win the fight for the pecking order to change essentially

[chaoticspacefam]

sibling rivalry at it’s finest ✨

Shakkai: Let’s call a truce.

Saarai (Sith heiress), raising eyebrows: I wasn’t aware we were at war. Shakkai, nodding: We are. And I’m winning.

Saarai, deadpan: I kicked your ass three times yesterday.

Shakkai: No. I let you win.

Saarai, sarcastically: Uh huh, sure.

Source: whyohgodwhy

[crystalelemental]

So, instead of an off-type clear in which I break out the best of the best and obliterate teams, I decided to do something kinda dumb.  F2P clear.  On this week.  Because I hate myself, apparently.

Before I go over the clears, I should specify what I consider F2P.  Essentially, anything permanently available and reasonably accessible.  Permanent availability means the legends, BP, and Story units count, but not units like Bugsy&Scyther or Blue&Arcanine.  Reasonable accessibility is anything 3* or 4*.  5* unit can't be counted on, but the commons are available enough that anyone playing for at least a month likely has the majority of them around.

Team 1 had to be stall.  Without Blue and Arcanine, I can't reasonably beat Grimsley.  So we cheesed, using Lucy and Janine, with Skyla as our frontline tank because Grimsley's all physical.  This took two tries.  The first try, Skyla got no MPR on Potion, so we died.  The second try, she got no MPR on trainer move, but got like four refresh on Potion so it was fine.  Thank god for that.

Round 2 was against Marshall, where Giovanni got to see use again.  I have not used Giovanni since...god, since at least SS Lusamine came out.  So this was a fun return to the F2P life, where Roxanne and Liza can power him up to maximum, Roxanne can buff defense, and we pre-sync clear the entire match.

Caitlin was also stall.  While BP Karen exists, I don't like BP Karen, I don't like recoil strats.  So I brought this stall team along to see, and I gotta say, not bad.  Base Surge and Electrode have Eerie Impulse, which cuts special attack of a foe by 2.  Surprisingly useful tech that I have overlooked many times.  Sycamore is the known champion of not dying, and BP Erika is the best at stall.  This was the cleanest win of the bunch, barring maybe Giovanni.

Then there's Shauntal.  Okay, full disclosure?  I went into this anticipating that Ghetsis or Candice would clear it no problem.  Turns out, Ghetsis deals only like 6k on sync, despite having Pecking Order and Devastation.  And yes, I'm sure it wasn't just missing the crit, because it happened six consecutive times.  So unless I missed six 80%s in a row, I'm gonna say it wasn't the crit.  So then I tried with Candice, and while somewhat improved, the main issue is that I can't use Hop here, he's needed in the next fight, right?  Well, turns out no, I probably could've used Hop here to salvage Candice, but I didn't know that and wasn't about to find out, so we stalled again.  And this was another pretty solid stall team, they cleared first try.  Misty buffs special defense, Viola debuffs special attack, evasion is through the roof, and Misty has heal.  I was pretty impressed with this comp.

Then we brought in Bruno, and I saved Hop here because I knew they could clear it and I wanted a safe win.  But hey.  Hey, you'll never guess what tragedy befell Hop.  Given my track record, you will never guess what he messed up.  Oh no, he didn't get MPR on his trainer move!  So Bruno had to waste two turns self-buffing!  And...it was fine.  We still stomped them.  The first run failed because I didn't set up enough damage to KO the sides, but hitting them with Screech changed that.  The real thing to note is...Maylene would've been fine here.  Like okay, maybe not completely, because no Potion support, and Hop did need Potion, but I'm not convinced that if Hop dropped, Bruno didn't have this under control enough to finish the job.  Maylene likely would've been fine, and I could've used Hop for Candice, and let Candice finally have a win.  I was a fool.

But yeah, all F2P units, clearing 10k Champion Stadium.  Sure, 60% of it was cleared with stall cheese, but stall is a legitimate strategy, maybe they should've just thought about how to counter that.  Please do not do that though.  I've seen a match that can counter stall cheese and it's the most brutal thing.  I will never relax around Lorelei...

In all seriousness, it is nice to come back to some of the F2P options.  I haven’t used Giovanni and Mewtwo in ages, and that’s kinda fun to remember how stupid he is.  Bruno’s hilarious and it’s so fun to know that he works.  But really, the big thing?  It re-validates my stance that Toxic/Trap stall is valid, and should be considered more significant than pure power.  A strong enough threat can off-type, sure, but for on-type damage, I feel like Stall is always a better value, because they can effectively clear any type.  As long as you have the right structure to minimize damage and keep healing up, stall is so good.  BP Erika’s so good.

[gear-project]

Just asking. Why would a perfectly balanced fighting game be boring, GP?

You ever play the game Pong?

It doesn’t get any more equal than this... if anything the “imbalance” lies in the skills of the respective players behind each paddle.

Fighting games, on the other hand, are nearly impossible to perfectly balance because of the diversity of their respective rosters and move toolkits.

Now, in the old days, like with Street Fighter 1, this was mitigated with Pallet Swapped characters (i.e. Ken was a Red colored version of Ryu and had the exact same move set up until Street Fighter II), meaning that both players could essentially play with the same moves and abilities, only in different colors, like Mario and Luigi in the original Mario Bros.

Was this boring?  Not exactly.  Not for enthusiasts and experts at the game.

But for the everyday observer, there wasn’t really much to look at.

Fighting games are and really always have been a spectacle... something for a crowd to gather around and watch.

I think a lot of players actually forget this fact and as a result there’s a lot less “showmanship” in the FGC itself.  A willingness to step outside the comfort zone and play against tier-lists.

Most high level players play with their strongest characters, so their objective is to “win”, not necessarily putting any uniqueness in that victory they’re trying to achieve.  They prefer consistency and the easiest ideal situations to mitigate.

However, outsiders and observers don’t really see this as easily.

Just like a Rock Concert, most people come there wanting to “see a show”.

So the question is, what kind of show are you going to give them?

Say it was the EVO Grand Finals and the last two players in the bracket remaining were playing character Mirrors...

It could be a good match... OR it could be a snore-fest.

In the Mortal Kombat EVO 2019 finals, there were a lot of Geras players, and some of the more lengthy sets were actually very slow-paced, to the point the crowd went silent observing two Geras players slug it out.

There were a lot of people on the Stream saying they “fell asleep” during the match because they couldn’t tell who was who and lost focus.

The players who were playing the matches were so focused on their situation that they didn’t really heed what anyone else saw... but that in and of itself is part of the problem.

While a mirror match might be interesting from the perspective of the players involved, it doesn’t reveal as much to anyone who isn’t a skilled observer.

The same is true of a balanced situation in fighting games in general.

Balanced games don’t surprise you, they don’t throw random situations at you, they don’t express anything new or diverse.

Some players want a fair fight, certainly, but most often that’s an unreasonable expectation.

Making a game that is easily accessible between low and high level players while still maintaining that level of diversity is also quite difficult.

It’s still a good thing for both parties involved to have a “chance to win”, but what high level players struggle with is the prospect of “losing for poor reasons”.

In truth, anyone can lose to a fluke situation in a fighting game, that doesn’t really change much in the way of their standing or hierarchy in the pecking order that is the FGC.  In fact most skilled players retain that consistency throughout their tenures as competitive players.

“Balance” doesn’t necessarily mean “Consistency” when it comes to win count, but “True balance” means that anyone “has a chance to win” (regardless of who they pick) and that those who make the effort will achieve their goals (or at least, get close enough to consistently achieve them).

[achronologyofbits]

GOTY 2019

I wanted to write a personal Game of the Year list, but I realized I really didn’t play that many games that were new in 2019. So I’m ranking them, but it’s less a “top 10” and more a “10 games I played and how I felt about them.”  

10. Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom Hearts III plays like a game from 2005.

I’m not sure I can fully articulate what I mean by that. Maybe I mean its combat is largely simplistic and button-mashy. Maybe I mean its rhythms of level traversal and cutscene exposition dumps are archaic and outdated. Maybe feeling like this game is a relic from another time is unavoidable, given how many years have passed since its first series entry.  

But there’s also something joyful and celebratory about it all — something kind of refreshing about a work that knows only a tiny portion of its players will understand all its references and lore and world-building, and just doesn’t care.

Despite all the mockery and memery surrounding its fiction, Kingdom Hearts’ strongest storytelling moments are actually pretty simple. They’re about the struggle to exist, to belong, and to define what those things mean for yourself. I think that’s why the series reaches the people it does.

Those moments make Kingdom Hearts III worth defending, if not worth recommending.

9. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Admittedly, I only played about 10-15 hours of this in 2019. Perhaps fittingly, that’s about the amount of time I originally spent on Dark Souls when it released in 2011. I bounced off, hard, because I didn’t understand what it was asking of me. Once I did — though, it has to be said, I needed other people to explain those expectations to me, because the game sure as hell didn’t — Dark Souls became an all-time favorite. And I’ve played every FromSoft game since then, and enjoyed them all. Until Sekiro.

Part of it is, again, down to expectation. Dark Souls trained its players on a certain style of combat: cautious movements, careful attention to spacing, committing to weighty attacks, waiting for counterattacks. In every game since then, FromSoft have iterated on those expectations in the same direction in an attempt to encourage players to be less cautious and more aggressive. The series moved from tank-heavy play in Dark Souls, to dual-wielding in DS2, to weapon arts and reworking poise in DS3, to the system of regaining health by attacking in Bloodborne.

In some ways, Sekiro is a natural continuation of this trend toward aggression, but in others, it’s a complete U-turn. Bloodborne eschewed blocking and prioritized dodging as the quickest, most effective defensive option. Sekiro does exactly the opposite. Blocking is always your first choice, parrying is essential instead of largely optional, and dodging is near useless except in special cases. FromSoft spent five games teaching me my habits, and it was just too hard for me to break them for Sekiro.

I have other issues, too — health/damage upgrades are gated behind boss fights, so grinding is pointless; the setting and story lack some of the creativity of the game’s predecessors; there’s no variety of builds or playstyles — but the FromSoft magic is still there, too. Nothing can match the feeling of beating a Souls-series boss. And the addition of a grappling hook makes the verticality of Sekiro’s level design fascinating.

I dunno. I feel like there’s more here I’d enjoy, if I ever manage to push through the barriers. Maybe — as I finally did with the first Dark Souls, over a year after its release — someday I will.

8. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

In December, my wife and I traveled to Newport Beach for a family wedding, and we stayed an extra day to visit Disneyland. As an early birthday present, Aubrey bought me the experience of building a lightsaber in Galaxy’s Edge. And the experience is definitely what you’re paying for; the lightsaber itself is cool, but it’s cool because it’s made from parts I selected, with a blade color I chose, and I got to riff and banter with in-character park employees while doing it. (“Can you actually read those?” one asked me in an awed voice, when I selected a lightsaber hilt portion adorned with ancient Jedi runes. “Not yet,” I told her. “We’ll see if the Force can teach me.”)

Maybe it’s because I just had that experience, but by far my favorite moment in Jedi: Fallen Order is when main character Cal Kestis overcomes his own fears and memories to forge his own lightsaber, using a kyber crystal that calls to him personally. It’s maybe the only part of the game that made me feel like a Jedi, in a way the hours of Souls-inspired lightsaber slashing didn’t.

I think that’s telling. And I think it’s because so much of Fallen Order is derivative of other works, both in the current canon of gaming and of Star Wars. That’s not to say it’s bad — the mélange of Uncharted/Tomb Raider traversal, combat that evokes Souls and God of War, and vaguely Metroid-y power acquisition and exploration mostly works — but it’s just a titch less than the sum of those parts.

Similarly, as a Star Wars story, it feels under-baked. There’s potential in exploring the period immediately after Order 66 and the Jedi purge, but you only see glimpses of that. And I understand the difficulty of telling a story where the characters succeed but in a way that doesn’t affect established canon, but it still seemed like there were a couple of missed opportunities at touching base with the larger Star Wars universe. (And the one big reference that does pop up at the end feels forced and unrealistic.)

When I got home from California, I took my lightsaber apart just to see how it all worked. Outside of the hushed tones and glowing lights of Savi’s Workshop, it seems a little less special. It’s still really cool…but I sort of wish I had had a wider variety of parts to choose from. And that I had bought some of the other crystal colors. Just in case.

That’s how I feel about Jedi: Fallen Order. I had fun with it. But it’s easier now to see the parts for what they are.

7. Untitled Goose Game

Aubrey and I first saw this game at PAX, at a booth which charmingly recreated the garden of the game’s first level. We were instantly smitten, and as I’ve introduced it to family and friends, they’ve all had the same reaction. When we visited my brother’s family in Florida over the holidays, my eight-year-old niece and nephew peppered me with questions about some of the more complex puzzles. Even my father, whose gaming experience basically topped out at NES Open Tournament Golf in 1991, gave it a shot.

I’m not sure I have a lot more to say here, other than a few bullet points:

1) I love that Untitled Goose Game is completely nonviolent. It would’ve been easy to add a “peck” option as another gameplay verb, another means of mischief. (And, from what I understand, it would be entirely appropriate, given the aggression of actual geese.) That the developers resisted this is refreshing.

2) I’m glad a game this size can have such a wide reach, and that it doesn’t have to be a platform exclusive.

3) Honk.

6. Tetris 99

Despite the number of hours I’ve spent playing games, and the variety of genres that time has spanned, I’m not much for competitive gaming. This is partially because the competitive aspect of my personality has waned with age, and partially because I am extremely bad at most multiplayer games.

The one exception to this is Tetris.

I am a Tetris GOD.

Of course, that’s an incredible overstatement. Now that I’ve seen real Ecstasy of Order, Grandmaster-level Tetris players, I realize how mediocre I am. But in my real, actual life, I have never found anyone near my skill level. In high school, I would bring two Game Boys, two copies of Tetris, and a link cable on long bus rides to marching band competitions, hoping to find willing challengers. The Game Boys themselves became very popular. Playing me did not.

Prior to Tetris 99, the only version of the game that gave me any shred of humility in a competitive sense was Tetris DS, where Japanese players I found online routinely handed me my ass. I held my own, too, but that was the first time in my life when I wasn’t light-years beyond any opponent.

As time passed and internet gaming and culture became more accessible, I soon realized I was nowhere near the true best Tetris players in the world. Which was okay by me. I’m happy to be a big fish in a small pond, in pretty much all aspects of my life.

Tetris 99 has given me a perfectly sized pond. I feel like I’m a favorite to win every round I play, and I usually finish in the top 10 or higher. But it’s also always a challenge, because there’s just enough metagame to navigate. Have I targeted the right enemies? Do I have enough badges to make my Tetrises hit harder? Can I stay below the radar for long enough? These aspects go beyond and combine with the fundamental piece-dropping in a way I absolutely love.

The one thing I haven’t done yet is win an Invictus match (a mode reserved only for those who have won a standard 99-player match). But it’s only a matter of time.  

5. Pokemon Sword/Shield

I don’t think I’ve played a Pokemon game through to completion since the originals. I always buy them, but I always seem to lose steam halfway through. But I finished Shield over the holidays, and I had a blast doing it.

Because I’m a mostly casual Pokeplayer, the decision to not include every ‘mon in series history didn’t bother me at all. I really enjoyed learning about new Pokemon and forcing myself to try moving away from my usual standards. (Although I did still use a Gyarados in my final team.)

As a fan of English soccer, the stadium-centric, British-flavored setting also contributed to my desire to see the game through. Changing into my uniform and walking onto a huge, grassy pitch, with tens of thousands of cheering fans looking on, really did give me a different feeling than battles in past games, which always seemed to be in weird, isolated settings.

I’m not sure I’ll push too far into the postgame; I’ve never felt the need to catch ‘em all. But I had a great time with the ones I caught.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

I have a strange relationship with the Zelda series, especially now. They are my wife’s favorite games of all time. But I don’t know if I’ve ever actually sat down and beaten one since the original Link’s Awakening. Even with Breath of the Wild, which I adore, I was content to watch Aubrey do the heavy lifting. I know the series well, I’ve played bits of all of them, but most haven’t stuck with me.

Link’s Awakening has. I wrote a piece once about its existential storytelling and how it affected me as a child. I love the way the graphics in this remake preserve that dreamlike quality. It’s pretty much a re-skin of the original game, but the cutesy, toy-set aesthetic pairs well with the heavy material. If this is all a dream, whose dream is it? And when we wake up, what happens to it?

Truthfully, some of the puzzles and design decisions haven’t held up super well. Despite the fresh coat of paint, it definitely feels like a 25-year-old game. But I’m so glad this version exists.

Oh, and that solo clarinet in the Mabe Village theme? *Chef’s kiss*

3. Control

I actually haven’t seen a lot of the influences Control wears on its sleeve. I’ve never gone completely through all the episodes of the X-Files, Fringe, and Twin Peaks; I’m only vaguely familiar with the series of “creepypasta” fiction called SCP Foundation; and I have never endeavored to sit through a broadcast of Coast to Coast AM. I’m also unfamiliar with Remedy’s best-known work in the genre, Alan Wake. But I know enough about all those works to be able to identify their inspiration on the Federal Bureau of Control, Jesse Faden, and the Oldest House.

Control is an interesting game to recommend (which I do), because I’m not sure how much I really enjoyed its combat. For most of the game, it’s a pretty standard third-person shooter. You can’t snap to cover, which indicates you’re intended to stay on the move. This becomes even more obvious when you gain the ability to air dash and fly. But you do need to use cover, because Jesse doesn’t have much health even at the end of the game. So combat encounters can get out of hand quickly, and there’s little incentive to keep fighting enemies in the late game. Yet they respawn at a frustratingly frequent rate. The game’s checkpointing system compounds this — you only respawn at “control points,” which act like Souls-style bonfires. This leads to some unfortunately tedious runbacks after boss fights.

On the other hand, Jesse’s telekinesis power always feels fantastic, and varying your attacks between gunshots, thrown objects, melee, and mind controlling enemies can be frenetic fun. That all comes to a head in the game’s combat (and perhaps aesthetic?) high point, the Ashtray Maze. To say more would be doing a disservice. It’s awesome.

The rest of the gameplay is awesome, too — and I do call it “gameplay,” though unfortunately you don’t have many options for affecting the world beyond violence. The act of exploring the Oldest House and scouring it for bureaucratic case files, audio recordings, and those unbelievably creepy “Threshold Kids” videos is pure joy. The way the case files are redacted leaves just enough to the imagination, and the idea of a federal facility being built on top of and absorbed into a sort of nexus of interdimensional weirdness is perfectly executed. And what’s up with that motel? And the alien, all-seeing, vaguely sinister Board? So cool.

With such great worldbuilding, I did wish for a little more player agency. There are no real dialogue choices — no way to imbue Jesse with any character traits beyond what’s pre-written for her — and only one ending. This kind of unchecked weird science is the perfect environment for forcing the player into difficult decisions (what do we study? How far is too far? How do we keep it all secret?), and that just isn’t part of the game at all. Which is fine — Control isn’t quite an immersive sim like Prey, and it’s not trying to be. I just see some similarities and potential, and I wish they had been explored a little.

But Control’s still a fantastic experience, and in any other year, it probably would’ve been my number one pick. That’s how good these next two games are.

2. Outer Wilds

Honestly, this is the best game of 2019. But I’m not listing it as number one because I didn’t play most of it — Aubrey did. Usually we play everything together; even if we’re not passing a controller back and forth, one of us will watch while the other one plays. And that definitely happened for a large chunk of Outer Wilds. But Aubrey did make some key discoveries while I was otherwise occupied, so while I think it’s probably the best game, it’s not the one I personally spent the most time with.

The time I did spend, though? Wow. From the moment you wake up at the campfire and set off in search of your spaceship launch codes, it’s clear that this is a game that revels in discovery. Discovery for its own sake, for the furthering of knowledge, for the protection of others, for the sheer fun of it. Some games actively discourage players from asking the question, “Hey, what’s that over there?” Outer Wilds begs you to ask it, and then rewards you not with treasure or statistical growth, but with the opportunity to ask again, about something even more wondrous and significant.

There are so many memorable moments of discovery in this game. The discovery that, hey, does that sun look redder to you than it used to? The discovery that, whoa, why did I wake up where I started after seemingly dying in space? Your first trip through a black hole. Your first trip to the quantum moon. Your first trip to the weird, bigger-on-the-inside fog-filled heart of a certain dark, brambly place. (Aubrey won’t forget that any time soon.)

They take effort, those moments. They do have to be earned, and it isn’t easy. Your spaceship flies like it looks: sketchy, taped together, powered by ingenuity and, like, marshmallows, probably. Some of the leaps you have to make — both of intuition and of jetpack — are a little too far. (We weren’t too proud to look up a couple hints when we were truly stuck.) But in the tradition of the best adventure games (which is what this is, at heart), you have everything you need right from the beginning. All you have to do is gather the knowledge to understand it and put it into action.

And beyond those moments of logical and graphical discovery, there’s real emotion and pathos, too. As you explore the remnants of the lost civilization that preceded yours, your only method of communication is reading their writing. And as you do, you start to get a picture of them not just as individuals (who fight, flirt, and work together to help each other), but as a species whose boundless thirst for discovery was their greatest asset, highest priority, undoing, and salvation, all at once.

I don’t think I can say much more without delving into spoilers, or retreading ground others have covered. (Go read Austin Walker’s beautiful and insightful review for more.) It’s an incredible game, and one everyone with even a passing interest in the medium should try.

(Last thing: Yes, I manually flew to the Sun Station and got inside. No, I don’t recommend it.)

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

If I hadn’t just started a replay of this game, I don’t think I’d be listing it in the number one slot. I started a replay because I showed it to my brother when we visited him in Florida last month, and immediately, all the old feelings came flooding back. I needed another hit.

No game this year has been as compelling for me. That’s an overused word in entertainment criticism, but I mean it literally: There have been nights where I absolutely HAVE to keep playing (much to Aubrey’s dismay). One more week of in-game time. One more study session to raise a skill rank. One more meal together so I can recruit another student. One more battle. Just a little longer.

I’m not sure I can put my finger on the source of that compulsion. Part of it is the excellence of craftsmanship on display; if any technical or creative aspect of Three Houses was less polished than it is, I probably wouldn’t feel so drawn to it. But the two big answers, I think, are the characters and their growth, both mechanically and narratively.

At the start of the game, you pick one of the titular three houses to oversee as professor. While this choice defines who you’ll have in your starting party, that can be mitigated later, as almost every other student from the other two houses can be recruited to join yours. What you’re really choosing is which perspective you’ll see the events of the story from, and through whose eyes: Edelgard of the Black Eagles, Dimitri of the Blue Lions, or Claude of the Golden Deer. (This is also why the game almost demands at least three playthroughs.)

These three narratives are deftly written so you simultaneously feel like you made the only possible canonical choice, while also sowing questions into your decision-making. Edelgard’s furious desire for change is just but perhaps not justifiable; Dimitri hides an obsession with revenge behind a façade of noblesse oblige; Claude is more conniving and pragmatic than he lets on. No matter who you side with, you’ll eventually have to face the others. And everyone can make a case that they, not you, are on the right side.

This is especially effective because almost every character in Three Houses is dealing with a legacy of war and violence. A big theme of the game’s story is how those experiences inform and influence the actions of the victims. What steps are justified to counteract such suffering? How do you break the cycle if you can’t break the power structures that perpetuate it? How do good people end up fighting for bad causes?

While you and your child soldiers (yeah, you do kind of have to just skip over that part; they’re in their late teens, at least? Still not good enough, but could be worse?) are grappling with these questions, they’re also growing in combat strength, at your direction. This is the part that really grabbed me and my lizard brain — watching those numbers get bigger was unbelievably gratifying. Each character class has certain skill requirement prerequisites, and as professor, you get to define how your students meet those requirements, and which they focus on. Each student has certain innate skills, but they also have hidden interests that only come to the surface with guidance. A character who seems a shoo-in to serve as a white mage might secretly make an incredibly effective knight; someone who seems destined for a life as a swordsman suddenly shows a talent for black magic. You can lean into their predilections, or go against them, with almost equal efficacy.

For me, this was the best part of Three Houses, and the part that kept me up long after my wife had gone to bed. Planning a student’s final battle role takes far-seeing planning and preparation, and each step along the way felt thrilling. How can you not forge a connection with characters you’ve taken such pains to help along the way? How can you not explode with joy when they reach their goals?

That’s the real draw of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I think: the joy of seeing people you care about grow, while simultaneously confronting those you once cared about, but who followed another path. No wonder I wanted to start another playthrough. I think I’ll be starting them all over again for a long time.

[a-confused-turtle]

The Will to Live

Fandom: Star Wars

Request by @blindperfectioniswasted : “ Can you do a fanfic of Poe and The Reader about the reader leaving for a mission and crashing, making everyone think she’s dead. She comes back two months less than a year only to find Poe basically dying from a broken heart. He’s deathly unhealthy and can’t even speak without wincing. So, the reader cares for him and nurses him. In the end he proposes to her! THANK YOU AND LOVE YA”

Pairing Characters: PoeDameronxReader,

Words: 2,000+

Warning: Curse words, mentions of death and disappearance

Author’s Note: Agh, the ending is something I’ve been playing with for a while... I altered the timeline just a bit (just felt like it should have been less time away). I also made the reader a solo and vaguely explained how she tried to get her brother back - it just felt right. Okay, I’m going to go hide now, I hope you like it but I’m not too confident about this one....

The moment you set foot on that planet you would have some explaining to do. Leaving… you’d loathed it, especially the way you left Poe. You hadn’t even been able to summon the courage to say goodbye and tell him, besides you’d known he never would have let you go through with your plan if you’d told him. And that was the trouble, you had to go through with it. If you hadn’t at least given it a shot, everyone would have died - Poe, your mother, everyone you had left would have been destroyed by the First Order.

So, you made everyone think you were dead - so they wouldn’t go looking for you - and found your brother, simple enough plan. Not many technicalities to it, except those awful things called feelings. Fuck those. Those were why you found yourself flying a junker ship to the base you hadn’t set foot in for eight months.

You could tell the communications officer nearly shit himself when you told him your business and your name. You merely cringed. Solo didn’t have the same ring to it as it used to, not since your dad, not since you almost died at the hands of your brother.

As you finally touched down, your hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Despite your best efforts, tremors continued assaulting your hands, especially as you neared the door. The door you knew the people you both loved most in the world and had hurt in the worst possible way. Finally you bit down the anxiety and strode down the ship’s ramp, hands up in case they still didn’t believe you were who you said.

Before you had a chance to process your surroundings fully, your mother rushed to hug you without a word. A number of weapons lowered as she wrapped you in her death grip. “I’m just glad you’re alive… How?” She murmured so lowly no one else could hear and, surprisingly, without a trace of anger.

“I owe you an explanation, but I owe Poe one too… Where is he?” Already misty eyed from simply hugging your mother, you dreaded her answer. You’d just assumed he’d lived through the last eight months of fighting, what if he…. hadn’t?

“You were the one that did the attack on their armada aren’t you?” Her grip kept you tight against her chest, even though you had to awkwardly lean down given the height difference.

“Mom…”

She pressed on, “Rey said your ship was destroyed, she thought you died. After what happened to your father… You were captured, weren’t you? On purpose?”

You tried to pull away, but she kept you in place a moment more.

“You did what you had to do. You tried to turn him, and he wouldn’t. You thought it’d be safer to disappear instead of leading him back to us?”

As you straightened up again, you swallowed thickly. “Something like that. I knew we would see him at the base, even before we left. I felt it and I thought I could save him, but I couldn’t drag all of you into that. You couldn’t come after me…”

Your mother nodded, eyes fixed on your entire face like she was seeing a ghost, and in many ways she surely was.

“Wh-Where is he?” You finally forced out, voice weak and the epitome of reluctance mixing with urgency.

When your mother once again failed to answer immediately, your stomach tightened and that horrible fear spread through your veins.

“Please tell me he-”

“He’s alive, but he’s not doing well. The doctors say he’s dying.”

~

Again you found yourself hesitating in front of a door, just staring at the smooth, though somehow still disconcerting surface. He wouldn’t want to see you… You’d done this to him, you’d abandoned him in a way that if he’d done the same to you, your whole life would have imploded. And his had…

Your mother’s words reverberated in your mind: He’s essentially dying of a broken heart… There’s nothing wrong with him, but his will…

He’d lost his will to live. Your Poe. Your strong, brave, courageous Poe…

Fighting off those stupid feelings of fear and doubt, your forced yourself through the door. You needed to see him whether it was for better or worse, and you needed to stop being a little shit, to reign in those regrets and feelings. You could never change the past.

You barely recognized the form on the white hospital bed sheets. He had no ounce of the light you remembered, the strength, or even those playful little ticks you remembered. No, that brightness had diminished and he didn’t move at all as the door closed, eyes open and fixed on the ceiling.

“Poe?” You whispered, tentatively. Had you actually gone to the wrong room? This couldn’t be him, please let it not be him.

Finally those beautiful chocolate eyes, once full and wholesome - now shattered and empty - lazily drifted over to your position. For a long moment they simply stared, blank as if out of sheer boredom, until something finally awoke in the damaged shell of your Poe. “Y/N?” He murmured, wincing almost as he spoke, in confusion and disbelief. “That’s not you. It can’t be…”

Unable to hold yourself back any longer, you rushed to his side, kneeling and taking his hand in yours. “It’s me,” you forced out, the guilt you felt in your bones palpable in your voice, “It-It’s me.”

His brow furrowed skeptically and his eyes studied you appraisingly, searching for any sign it was some awful trick, that you weren’t his Y/N.

“I’m alive and I’ll explain everything, but-”

With a surprising amount of speed, Poe leaned forward and stole a chaste kiss. Of course, you didn’t object, you even leaned in, deepening the kiss and enjoying what you’d longed so dearly for.

“I don’t care,” he asserted in that utterly certain and unwavering way.

“Poe, I really-”

“You’re here. I couldn’t ask for anything more… Without you, I…”

You brought your hand to his cheek tenderly. “You can’t die on me. I’ll never die on you, well I won’t ever again…” An hollow promise of a sweet nothing; since the two of you lived such perilous lives neither of you could guarantee such a thing, but you’d be damned if you didn’t try. For him.

Poe smiled warmly, placing his hand over yours and bringing it to his lips. “Die? You’re alive! If you want, I’ll go win the war right now, with my bare hands,” he replied in between pecks on your hand and eventually on your lips.

A wince and a groan from Poe finally interrupted that happy reunion. Immediately at the sound of his pain, you pulled yourself from him, ready to solve the problem, fix it whatever it was. And Poe, well he frowned at the loss of your touch though his strength from the excitement waned.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Let me get you one of the nurses-”

“Y/N.”

“You need to get better, I’ll just-”

“I,” he insisted, “am better with you here.”

You shook your head at him, biting your lip nervously. “Well, you’re about to get a whole lot better then.”

~

Just shy of a month after you’d returned, Poe was finally getting fully back to his old self. Mending those emotional and mental wounds had actually been easier than the physical ones. Who would have thought? Just your presence had pushed the two of you back to a honeymoon phase almost.

Through it all, you’d stayed at his bedside, only really leaving when he insisted you get some rest or take a shower - that one always earned him a glare. Even so, you seldom devoted your time to anything besides Poe getting better, either because of the love or the guilt…

True to his word, he hadn’t asked about what you did or why and you’d try to explain too. Everytime, he changed the topic of conversation easily, telling you with his eyes that it didn’t matter to him. While that seemed sweet and clearly indicated he forgave you, it still knifed your insides and your heart… He hadn’t deserved what happened, he was too damn good for you.

Finally, one day you couldn’t take a second more of it. You’d gone to take a shower and had run into your mother on the way to your room. She took your hand, offering a small smile and comforting words about Poe’s health. But, then she asked how you were feeling and you let it all out.

“Tell him for your own sake, sweetheart. He needs to hear it too whether he thinks so or not,” she said wisely.

“I’ve tried, mom, but he just…”

Your mother stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning to look at you. Her eyes reflected a different sort of light, one you hadn’t seen for many years, probably since your father left. “He’s just as stubborn as you. You’re perfect for each other.”

So, as you strode back to Poe’s room every step held purpose and determination. You didn’t even hesitate in front of the door. “Poe?”

The man appeared in the doorway to his bathroom a moment later, walking back to the bed. “Hey there, princess,” he chimed back happily, “I was just about to take a shower myself, care to join me?”

Glossing over the awful nickname, you had half a mind to take him up on that offer, because your heart leapt, beating stronger, at the sight of his normal antics. However, you quickly refocused and answered, “I’d love to, that is if you still want me to after I’ve explained.”

He frowned in that concerned fashion.

“I know you don’t want to know, but I have to tell you,” you pressed and moved to sit on the side of his bed.

Poe watched your eyes and movements carefully before sitting down next to you, taking your hand in his. “If that’s what it takes to get you to stop blaming yourself.”

“Of course I blame myself,” your shot back incredulously, those feelings getting the best of you, “I made you believe I was dead so I could try and bring my brother back! It didn’t even work, he’s gone! But I left you, and you almost died!”

Your outburst surprised him, but he quickly adapted to the new information. “You did what you had to do. I should have realized what you were planning and if I could do it all over again, I would’ve-”

“No, I should’ve told you. I just couldn’t bear the thought of him killing you because of me,” you full on sobbed, hunching over into your hands, while Poe placed his arms around you, pulling you into his chest. “He would’ve if you’d came after me!”

“If I could do it all over again, I would’ve let you go. That might’ve killed me, but you should know by now I’d do anything for you…”

Those words only made you cry harder, letting out all those pent up emotions you’d been willing away. You clung to Poe until the tears began to subside, leaving you sniffing pathetically. “Can’t imagine why,” you murmured.

Poe kissed the top of your head, but quickly resolved to more mischievous means of cheering you up. His fingers changed course before you knew it, straying from their protective hold to tickling. “Stop that,” he exclaimed, “You’re gorgeous and wonderful and every other brilliant adjective out there!”

You squirmed in his arms, trying anything to weasel your way out of the tickling trap. “I concede! Stop! Please!” You laugh-shouted.

“Only because you said, please.”

“You’re the worst.”

He snorted in response, pecking the top of your head once again.

“I really don’t deserve you…”

“That’s nonsense. You’re the best person I know, and I don’t want anyone else. I’ll never want anyone else,” Poe replied firmly, voice barely above a whisper as if for you and only you - something you knew you’d hold onto forever.

You forced yourself up, sitting and meeting those chocolate eyes. “I love you, Poe.”

“Now, how about that shower?” Poe quipped cheekily.

Tags:  @enniaram

[x-dudes]

86, with Poe and a force sensitive reader :))

86 from this prompt list: “You’re important too.”

Published: December 29th, 2017

Notes: Oooh this intrigued me. I’ve always wanted to mess around with ways to write force-sensitives beyond they typical Skywalker family movie melodrama. Enjoy!

Warnings: The Last Jedi spoilers, swearing, overusage of italics for emphasis (although both of those should be expected from me just letting y’all know upfront) Kind of long, so I put it under the cut

-

“I just don’t get why you didn’t tell me sooner, is all.” He stressed. Poe rested his  weight heavily against the angular window of the transport. He seemed exasperated, though you supposed he was rightfully so, after everything he had been through in just the past two or three days. You never would have guessed this could have added to the weight already in place on his shoulders. You almost felt bad for not filling him in sooner, as if you ever had any sort of say in the matter in the first place.

“Poe, I- I’m-Is’n-” Your sputtering stopped the second you approached his form and caught hold of the strained look in his eyes. His facial expression almost hurt you physically. You could feel his innermost torment. It killed you.

“(Y/N), don’t-”

“Poe, I didn’t know.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know, (Y/N), that’s bullshit.”

“Is it? Because if it is, it’s a damn shame I wasn’t filled in sooner either.” You argued, voice breaking slightly at the end. “I didn’t know, Poe. I had no idea what the force even was until I was told about my own ‘powers.’” You lifted your hand from his shoulder to express with them as you spoke. A habit you had developed in your youth that refused to die. “Powers” He watched you restate with air-quotes to correspond. “Look, do you trust me?”

“Now’s not the time for melodrama, sweetheart-” He turned to walk past you, hoping to forget this situation had ever happened. It wasn’t as though you were some sort of psychic, but something inside you could just tell. You had known Poe for years, yet it was only now that you were really aware of just how much you could feel his intentions. You supposed this intuition was a product of the force.

“No, this is serious. This is sincere, okay?” A firm hand was placed on his broad chest to keep him from leaving you, fingertips grazing over his caged heart. Each thump it made could be sensed like never before. “Do you trust me?” You restated, much more firmly. “Because I trust you, Poe. A hell of a lot, in fact. I’ve trusted you with my life time after time and you haven’t let me down thus far, have you? So I’ll ask you again, do you trust me?”

“I have- I do trust you, I mean- but I have let you down, (Y/N).” Both of his broad hands reached down and locked over the one you had placed over his chest, keeping it in place. “I’ve let you down time and time again and I-

“I’m not dead, am I?”

“No, but everybody else? So many others are dead, (Y/N).  So many have relied on me- have relied on us, relied on the Resistance as a whole, everyone put a lot of faith into me, and I’ve let so many of them down. And now? What do you expect me to say when I can’t even believe my own girlfriend, the woman I love, because some part of me says that I could have done more for you?”

“Well some part of me knows that you’ve done everything you can. Baby, you can’t win every fight you get yourself into, and that goes for any of these Rebels, not just you.” You stretched up on your toes, placing a small peck to his worried lips. “Look, before Rey left, she had told me about how there had always been this part to her that she couldn’t describe. It had always been a part of her, though it was… dormant all her life, and now it was awake. We got to talking about how it felt to be awake, and she told me she felt something inside of me. Something greater than the sum of my parts. I felt something too.” Your eyes fell to the floor, focusing on individual details in your shoes as you thought out your next words. With a deep breath, you decided you had found the closest thing available to the most fitting way of phrasing your story, and carried on. “When I was younger, growing up on Plexis I had always felt something special inside of me. A special sort of empathy that most people didn’t tend to possess. I suppose that was why General Organa had taken me in in the first place, back when she was a senator doing diplomatic work for the new Republic. She must have figured that this empathy would have done good in preventing troubling situations, though I don’t think she had ever figured that this special sense of empathy was ever a product of the force. I think it was more so because she saw a lot of herself in me, although doesn’t that sort of make sense and it was hiding right underneath our noses?” You paused to raise your eyebrows, grinning at your sudden realization.”It doesn’t matter- Leia had taken me under her wing, seeing a lot of herself in me and feeling like she had someone to nurture and invest in after her son had left to train with Luke Skywalker.”

“How do you know all of this?”’

“I could… sense it. Some part within me told me that she… poured herself into me as if I were her own. I don’t think she could tell. You know, Leia was never trained, either. She wasn’t aware of her own abilities until she was about twenty four. And that’s really something to take into consideration when the old Jedi order all but took their knights in from birth.” Poe broke your gaze, knitting his eyebrows tight in concentration. “Poe,” You cooed, turning his chin with your free hand for him to look at you again. “My abilities aren’t terribly strong. We can’t all be Skywalkers, you know.” You paused to giggle. “I think I’ve moved something with the force once in my entire life. During a minor mental break down, I screamed into a pillow to let some steam off and when I picked my head up a little clay sculpture I had sitting on my desk was across the room and smashed to pieces. I was so scared that I convinced myself the whole thing was a dream when I woke up in the morning.” You recalled, laughing at the memory. “You know how Kylo Ren can read minds? I get the Tusken Raider rip off version of that. I get super strong feeling sensitivity.” Poe let out a small chuckle at your comment, causing you to grin broadly. “No, wait, it gets better, after talking with Rey and learning about my abilities, I got a special sort of spacial awareness that does nothing at all but make me claustrophobic sometimes!” You joked enthusiastically. Feeling Poe’s serious demeanor break for the first time in days felt like heaven to you. “My gifts with the force aren’t terribly important. I could have gone my entire life without knowing about them and felt the same.”

“But they could be important, couldn’t they?” He questioned. Your demeanor changed the instant his laughter died. Another byproduct of the force, you supposed. “You said yourself that you’re getting stronger now that you know what you’ve been feeling is the force, right? Couldn’t you train to be stronger, like Rey is? Like Leia did?” Your brow furrowed. “Look, I know you said you trust me , so I’m going to trust you in telling you this, okay? You could be hugely important in taking down the First Order, but only if you dedicate yourself to getting stronger. You and Rey together could turn the tides in our direction, (Y/N). Maybe literally, if you wanted to. I know you think I’m doing everything in the galaxy for the Resistance, but I’m just a pilot, but you? You’re Important-”

“Woah woah woah, hold on. You’re important too. Are you fucking joking? You’re Commander Poe Dameron of the Black Squadron. Do you know even what that means or do you take that for granted? You had to claw your way to the very top of the chain to get that position. Leia came to you herself because she couldn’t think of a better man to ask to lead a squadron of the very best pilots in the Resistance. The man who had essentially looked Kylo Ren in the eyes and told him to go fuck himself? You’re doing everything in the galaxy for the Resistance with how much of yourself you give to the Resistance alone. I can’t believe you would e-”

“(Y/N), I lost our entire bombing fleet. Jess’ and Snap are both out there, probably dying in the middle of absolutely nowhere because I asked them to scout for help. It was my fault-”

“Poe,” You urged, forcing him to meet your gaze once more. The hand still circled by both of his gave his fingers a reassuring squeeze as you began to speak. “Poe, you can’t win every battle.” You reminded him. The free hand you had pointed out toward the quickly expanding horizon of Crait as your fleeter ship sought out a place to land. “What matters is that we win the war, and we’re going to win this war.” Silence engulfed you as the chalky surface of the little planet came into closer view. “No war is won without someone getting hurt.” What remained of the fleeter ships had landed on the bloody planet, rebels rushed to check on what remained of their loved ones, counting their living and mourning their recently dead. “I think we’ve all felt that hurt, I just feel it a bit differently.” WIth that, you felt it best to walk away, joining up with Oddy Muva on the trek to the abandoned base.

“Wait! Wait, (Y/N)!” You had heard. A turn of your head caught the sight of Poe in full flight gear, jogging to catch up with you as you searched for Lieutenant Connix.

“I thought you were going-” You began, though he cut you off before you could finish your statement.

“I am, but I had to see you first. I had to ask you something.” He trailed off to catch his breath after running in the heavy fabric of his flight jacket.

“Mhm?”

“You said I was doing everything by giving as much of myself as I could to the Resistance.” He reiterated.

“I did…”

“Promise me you’ll do the same?”

“What?”

“Ask Leia to train you. Even if you only learn one thing, that’s one thing we have that the First Order doesn’t.”

“Poe, the First Order has Kylo Ren-”

“The First Order doesn’t have you. You’re not Kylo Ren, (Y/N). You said so yourself. What makes you so sure that that’s a bad thing? Please?”

“You think this would actually do what’s left of the Resistance some good?” You whimpered.

“Now more than ever.” He answered simply. A shout of his name broke the solitude you two had formed. He cupped your face in both of his hands. “I gotta go.” He pressed a longing kiss to your lips before dashing to join the remainder of Resistance pilots in the fight against the First Order. You shut your eyes, allowing this very moment to be your first lesson. You focused in on Poe, concentrating with everything you had on sending a message his way.

Be careful out there.

As you watched him board, something seemed to catch his attention. He turned to you with a broad smile. One you were confused by until he shouted back over the roar of the engines “Anything for you, sweetheart!”

[10wwewrestlers-blog]

Wrestlings Greatest

In recent years it has been pretty obvious who the WWE had earmarked for future greatness. The Rock, Brock Lesner, John Cena and Kurt Angle the place all pushed very early in there professional wrestling careers with out the necessity to pay their dues. But do any of the current roster stand out in the identical method? Here's a quick look at some of the stars who could potentially be the subsequent important occasion superstar.

Randy Orton.

If it wasn't for Orton's terrible attitude and behavioral issues Randy Orton would already be considered one of WWE's top dogs. His first run as champion came too soon and was a panic resolution after Chris Benoit's title reign failed to convey rankings success, this plus the issue that WWE pushed him as a fan favorite however because of his smug angle the followers where by no means more likely to besides Orton. Every time Orton has been thought of for a title run since he's done some thing silly to put the stoppers on it.

It was believed Orton would feud with Triple H at Summerslam upon Triple H's return however it's now recognized Triple H is pushing for Orton to be given a run as champion as he feels Orton is prepared and the fans attitude towards John Cena could be greater if he spent a bit of time chasing the title instead of holding it, the query is will Orton screw up before that point?

Johnny WWE Wrestlers who were sacked in 2009 where are they now Nitro

Loads of wrestling specialists have commented on Nitro claiming him to be the "next Shawn Michaels". His character definitely resembles Michaels in his early profession, from his cocky perspective to his in the ring look but what number of "subsequent Shawn Michaels" have there been over time and what number of have reached the same heights? This said it does seem WWE administration think an excessive amount of Johnny Nitro and should you proves he can deal with himself as ECW world champion then his next reign might be right at the very high of the WWE.

Bobby Lashley

Not precisely a revelation however WWE clearly see Lashley as a potential Megastar. His look and powerhouse fashion will at all times win him fans however regardless of been given huge air time and the good thing about feuding with Vince McMahon (McMahon solely ever feuds with guys earmarked for the highest) I have never been overly impressed. He's undoubtedly improving however for me the jury continues to be out on whether or not Lashley can really reside up to the WWE's excessive expectations.

Mr. Kennedy

Probably one of the best worker on the microphone since The Rock, which was always going to offer him an enormous advantage over the rest of the competition. Entertaining and no doubt an enormous fan following awaits once he is carried out his half as an heel ( one thing Lesner, Cena, Angle and The Rock all did). Slight enchancment on his in ring performances and an extended spell without being sidelined by accidents may but see Mr. Kennedy fulfilling his dream of competing in the main event of Wrestlemania .

CM Punk

Punk would undoubtedly be one of the fans prime picks but within the WWE itself things don't seem as possible. He was famously on the tip of a slating from Triple H and Shawn Michaels (they mentioned he could not "work" a WWE fashion match) and his clean living persona might not make him the most well-liked man backstage.

His strong belief in the clean living attitude might nonetheless be a blessing for CM Punk, with the current issues WWE have had with the media over steroid abuse who would make a greater champion than CM Punk. Bret Hart's highway to the top was helped in the ninety's due to the steroids trial of Vince McMahon perhaps CM Punk could benefit in an identical approach.

MVP

WWE have to this point been impressed with the performances of MVP both in the ring and on the microphone which bodes effectively for the future of MVP. Definitely not the frontrunner to be the WWE's subsequent massive thing but when others slip up MVP could very well step into the upper tier of the WWE.

Marcus Cor Von

When wrestling in TNA as Monty Brown he was seen as a star of the longer term but since becoming a member of WWE issues haven't fairly continued in the identical vein. This is not an entire shock nonetheless as WWE have in recent years made wrestlers coming from exterior the WWE's own growth promotions work more durable and in the middle of the card before allowing them to shine. Some feel this is to make WWE appear superior to and harder to conquer than other promotions, whether true or not Marcus Cor Von is not currently where he'd wish to be within the WWE's pecking order.

Still, don't low cost Cor Von's chances of becoming the next big thing as WWE clearly noticed one thing in him to convey Marcus Cor Von to the company within the first place and perhaps once he's shown WWE his dedication to the corporate he might get the push that most of us expected.

Let's hope one in all these guys could make it as the following best thing as though none are the completed article all are open, and capable of, improvement and of putting on decent entertaining matches. I would a lot quite see any of those guys given a chance to fight on the top of the card than the likes of Mark Henry and The Great Khali any day of the week.

Only a few weeks back, the wrestling followers had been stunned to see a cameo appearance by Booker T in a Friday evening TNA home present in Lake Charles, Texas. The TNA officers had announced earlier that on account of AJ Style's lack of ability to perform that night time's essential event; he shall be changed by none other than the "5 Time WCW Champion." Booker T. Booker tried to play a heel throughout his cameo and in order to take action; he seemed down upon the TNA followers and the promotion itself. Booker said he is here only to win the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Because it happens within the cameo appearances, Booker fought well however succumbed to RVD, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion following a 5 Star Frog Splash.

This look drew some attention of the fans as Booker has parted ways from TNA last 12 months and reportedly shares a sour relationship with the TNA administration. He was severely criticized for poor locker room presence and was all phrases about how he can join WWE each time he wanted. To make issues even worse, he even refused to take the job to Matt Morgan, then considered as a less widespread TNA wrestler. This was a serious violation of firm rules and TNA determined not to entertain Booker additional. Since then there was no Booker T in TNA and after this cameo appearance, followers thought this would possibly step one of his return to TNA. However TNA officials have confirmed that it was solely a one-time deal with Booker and no further negotiation has taken place for the time being.

There have been rumors that WWE remains to be fascinated with Booker T, however only if he decides to maintain a full schedule. However on the age of forty five, this might well not be possible for him. WWE thinks he is not essential sufficient to appear as a component-time wrestler, something that HBK or The Undertaker enjoys at these later years of his career. WWE refused a similar proposal in case of Jeff Hardy and RVD as nicely which was a major factor in their signing with TNA. Now we needed to wait and watch Booker's next step which is able to actually decide his career as an in-ring performer.

WWE has not too long ago released a few of their superstars and officials, but again. The listing consists of some massive names like Maria and Gregory "Hurricane" Helms. Together with these two, the remaining who were given pink slips are Paul Burchill, Charlie Haas and referee Scott Armstrong.

Maria who recently turned 28 was arguably probably the most fashionable feminine faces of the corporate. She was the cover lady of Playboy and had additionally won "Diva of the Year" Slammy Award in 2009 - an award the place the winners are voted by the fans. The star has been axed after being with the corporate for six long years and he or she tweeted just lately that the news was quite shocking to her. Significantly for the fans of Maria as she was one op the top most divas in the business today and it'll actually be robust for WWE to fill up her house.

Gregory Helms' exit was less surprising though for the fans. The wrestler was lately arrested and charged with being "intoxicated in a public place" in Kentucky along with Chris Jericho. He was not a major card wrestler anyway and was given a much less important position in currently defunct ECW. He is anticipated to join TNA quickly and has already made a verbal settlement with the group. TNA has plans to begin a brand new steady with Jeff hardy, Shannon Moore, Helms and Jesse Neal.

WWE Uncooked is the most important cable TV program run by World Wrestling Leisure. The program has now aired on cable tv for 15 years, making it one of many longest running cable tv programs in the present day. It is featured some of the biggest and brightest wrestlers who've change into celebrities in their own proper. It is featured a battle with the former World Championship Wrestling on the Turner Community. It is also featured superstars, divas, stories, loopy matches and great leisure for the WWE fans.

WWE Raw started its legacy means again in 1993. It started out as a taped present from Madison Square Backyard every week. It could characteristic prime notch wrestling superstars together with the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart and British Bulldog. The color commentary team calling the matches featured Jerry "the King" Lawler and the present chairman of WWE, Vince McMahon. Of course as the present progressed, Vince eventually entered into the show, its stories and matches extra. And because the show advanced various wrestlers grew to become superstars. The perfect examples embody the likes of Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H), Rocky "The Rock" Maivia and Stone Chilly Steve Austin.

WWE Uncooked held its 15 yr anniversary present in December of 2007. The show featured highlights from the past 15 years of Uncooked, and even had a few of its legendary superstars and divas make appearances. Stone Cold Steve Austin confirmed up on the very finish of the show in a very fitting phase. He toasted a beer to chairman Vince McMahon within the ring, then delivered a "Stone Cold Stunner" on him, dropping Vince to the mat. WWE Uncooked continues to hit arduous each week. The joy of Monday Night time Raw lives on!

When you recognize somebody that loves to look at wrestling and by no means misses a match on T.V., then you could need to consider getting him or her WWE tickets for a special present. This can be some factor that they may really take pleasure in and have a great time seeing all of their favourite wrestlers on the identical time.

You will get anybody WWE tickets for a present. There are so many those that have an interest within the wrestling entertainment world. Increasingly more adults as well as youngsters are learning what this sport is all about. They are learning in regards to the wrestlers and the story behind the championships which might be being received at the entire particular occasions.

Make it possible for the person who you want to get WWE tickets for is going to be out there to go to the event on that date. You can also make up an excuse about why you need to know after which get the tickets. You do not need to get the tickets for someone that isn't going to be able to go. Most of the time the tickets are non refundable and so you don't want to free your money that you have invested for the tickets.

While you need to discover out if there's a WWE occasion coming to your town, you can simply go on their official online web site to seek out out when the occasions are scheduled. You will discover out all of the information that you will need to get the preparations made in an effort to get someone that you just love to see the particular events.

WWE tickets may also be discovered on-line and you should purchase them for any occasion that you want. You can have the tickets despatched to you or the receiver so that they will have them in plenty of time for the wrestling occasion. This will be an ideal present for the person and they will definitely enjoy the fun of this sort of current.

WWE tickets may be given to a baby or grownup. If they're given to someone that is beneath the age of 18, it will be mandatory for them to have an grownup to accompany them to the event. However, you may have a good time with the individual and see what the WWE is all about. You should have many reminiscences and a blast once you see the entire entertainment this is supplied with such a enjoyable.

[thecoroutfitters]

Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another article on chickens from R. Ann Parris to The Prepper Journal. If you have information for Preppers that you would like to share then enter into the Prepper Writing Contest with a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards with the top prize being a $300 card to purchase your own prepping supplies!

Chickens are some of the most popular livestock worldwide, modern backyard enthusiasts to sustenance-level farms from China to the Balkans. There’s good reason. They’re economical, versatile on the table, and multi-function laborers. Most chickens have pretty short “working” lives, though, which means we need to replace them regularly.

(Full disclosure: I don’t actually like chickens, but they’re essential to my production capabilities and I respect them as such.)

Breeding capability builds our resilience against the personal and short-term disasters as well as the nation-shaking and world-altering crises. A good rooster and reliable broody hen are a gold mine in these days of ordering chicks.

Those broodies are worth identifying, especially. They can save us time, electricity, and effort, and even increase the efficiency of our other poultry. Watching for some key traits in our hens, both good and bad, can maximize our flock’s ease and success.

I’m specifically talking about chickens, but many factors also apply to other poultry, and the behavioral aspects apply to the other super-efficient, inexpensive, every-prepper, apartment to acreage meat source: rabbits.

*Not everybody who can/will shoot a person or a wild animal is capable of harvesting something they raised. Start small and make sure you can actually control the population before you go big or breed more.

Broodiness

Broodiness is basically when a hen is ready and willing to sit a nest. I have never successfully induced broodiness. If a hen doesn’t want kids right now, game over. Maybe somebody is managing, but don’t waste too much time trying on this one.

See, most of the suggestions miss a big factor: Successful mothers are usually older hens, 3+ years. The best are typically upper-echelon birds hitting 4-6 years old.

Because laying decreases significantly every year, a lot of people have already replaced hens by then, leaving mostly young birds. It’s expecting a toddler-teen to focus, earn, budget, and shop like a 30-40-year-old.

That said, do use breed reviews to help anticipate broodiness expectations.

If you want a laying flock to periodically reproduce or serve as surrogates, avoid breeds listed as “low” and “no/almost never” for broodiness.

If we want 3+ clutches annually, we might maintain a couple keepers from breeds listed as “high/yes, often broody”, but try to go with breeds that break off broodiness easier, not breeds listed as persistent (read: constantly, stubbornly broody).

For fewer over-broody frustrations but periodic clutches from our layers, choose a “moderate/occasionally broody” breed.

Laying Boxes

Most of us expect our hens to share laying boxes. That can be a problem for brooding. If a hen shows signs of being inclined but isn’t sitting the eggs we’ve left, see if she’s getting displaced by other hens.

If so, that box is too popular. You need more boxes, to try moving her and her clutch to a different box, or relocating her box and replacing it for the other hens.

*Bonus tidbit: You may need extra boxes even with only 6-12 birds in non-brooding daily layer life, although you should be able to have a minimum of 2-4 layers using each box. — If you’re having problems, check the placements but start watching for personality traits and your own habits. There’s usually a problem, and it’s usually our fault or a particular animal or two with unacceptable behavioral issues.

Insufficient boxes can also be responsible for full and partial-clutch abandonment (she started sitting, then abandoned her eggs).

Check the hen and flock for battle signs, although roosters are rough lovers. She’s a sitting target on the nest, so he may actually be the problem. If it’s not him, she’s fighting off other hens for her nest, and may eventually give up or lose.

*Bonus tidbit: Hens with “love torn” back feathers are actually the indicator for most-likely-fertilized eggs.

Mean Ol’ Bitty

A hen should not resist being nudged out of the box daily. Nor should you be pecked over every egg. That’s cause to assess how calm the coop is at collection time (checking for problematic human habits) and then send problem birds to the glass-jar coop in the pantry.

Since our birds are calm, cool, and cooperative, we can recognize a hen exhibiting broody behaviors: staring daggers as soon as you appear, racing from feed/calcium/water to occupy the box before you get there, becoming increasingly unwilling to leave the box while you collect, fanning out feathers, pecking your shoe, snatching your sleeve, trying to squeeze through the lift in back-access boxes to follow her egg(s), and-or trying to wedge into the collection basket or hovering over it.

*Bonus tidbit: Also watch for hens laying near their favorite box(es) but not in them. Sometimes they can’t get in to lay because a broody is defending it.

Those behaviors are – for this out-of-character, slow-ramping (3-8 days), and temporary behavioral change – acceptable.

So long as they’re not excessive.

We are not going to screw with this hen often, but we are likely to want in there.

We need to add, crayon (track), and candle (check the contents of) eggs. We may want to get our hands on the hen (briefly and noninvasively) to feel under-the-feather condition.

In some cases, we may need to relocate our hen and her clutch/box (extreme weather, coop companions, brooder or grow-out pens, changing conditions that affect nest safety).

We’re usually going to want to get our hands on the chicks somewhere through their “raptor” stage at least once or twice, even if we’re not sexing or weighing them and don’t handle/socialize our birds.

We need to be able to do this without the stress that excessive guarding creates within the flock and her clutch. Excessive guarding can also be contagious to the flock and chicks, and carry over to her post-clutch conduct.

We might let an over-aggressive bitty raise this clutch (be aware: the genetic inclination is there if it’s her chicks). We wouldn’t indulge her broodiness again, though, and she’s looking hard at the butcher-paper poncho.

(Apply that to rabbits and other livestock, too. There’s a line mothers need to walk between enough and excess.)

Successful Broody Traits

On top of her personality, a broody hen needs to check a few boxes successfully, and a few more if we’re not hand-rearing the chicks or she’s raising them inside a flock.

One, and it might seem obvious, but she needs to eat.

Two, she needs to be lickety-splickety, and then get back to the clutch.

(Psst … We usually need to feed her, not expect her to free-range forage.)

Some hens are easily distracted or not dedicated, and will leave a clutch too long. Flip side, some barely budge at all. We may need to provide her with some extra tidbits, or keep feed and water closer.

Good mothers of most species lose condition, but if she loses too much, it may be months before she recovers enough to lay again after her brood.

Also seemingly obvious: She needs to sit her nest for the 12-60 hours it takes all the eggs to hatch.

Flaky hens will sometimes only sit the first few chicks, then abandon the rest. It’s especially frustrating to find cool, wasted eggs that were abandoned half-cracked and chicks that have gone hypothermic. Check them frequently when hatching starts.

Some young hens are like any other new mother, and just don’t get it yet.

We may be able to finish the hatching this time, but if she leaves early a 2nd-3rd time, we need to not indulge her broodiness anymore (and weigh feed-productivity against a glass-jar coop).

Unless we’re taking the chicks away to raise and only wanted the non-electric incubator, our broody hen needs to walk another balanced line: showing her fluffy-fuzzies how to eat and drink, but keeping the late-cracking pips and wet peepers warm enough.

This is another one where a food-water station near the box can make a difference.

If she’s keeping her peepers, the bitty walks that narrow aggression line again: Being peck-happy enough to protect her chicks from other barnyard residents, but not being a feathered Terminator intent on keeping everything 50’ away from the shed.

*Chickens are brutal. Do let her keep other birds off the chicks.

I prefer flock-raised clutches, but it’s not always possible. Big-gap fencing, small hawks/big crows, free-range factors, and the broody spending too much time guarding can make it unfeasible.

*Watch for a particular bird harassing her/them; problem chickens get the Ziploc poncho.

Especially if we have a big, multiple-breed, or mixed flock, we’re likely to need a brooder pen. Usually multiple hens can share them, especially if the nests are within 2-4 weeks of each other.

Once they’re separated, we’re going to have to be careful with introductions/reintroduction’s to the flock.

Surrogates

While my preferred birds will raise guineafowl, quail, turkey, and waterfowl, I for-sure want hens that will incubate them.

Sometimes we can add 3-4 eggs at a time, so she has the 10-20 she can cover in just a couple days. Sometimes we can add a full dozen at once. Sometimes it has to be slower, adding 1-2 eggs at a time to the ones she’s laying.

Some will roll significantly different-sized eggs out of the nest. I don’t love it, but it’s not a glass-coop or never-again offense to me.

A workaround is swapping for her eggs. Sometimes we’re stuck with 1:1 egg replacement, but usually we can match the size/mass of what she had – 2-3 hen eggs for 3-6 quail eggs or 1-2 goose or turkey eggs.

*Hen size determines her max egg count. Chickens cannot fit over as many goose or turkey eggs/chicks as they would their own.

Some hens will take on not only foreign eggs, but live chicks. Some will accept even 7-10-day-old chicks into their clutch.

It’s a rarer hen that will let you add already-hatched other-species to her own chicks, but they’re out there. (Some bitties would happily sit a half-grown emu.)

If you’re going to lose a clutch anyway (power/heat light out, mother overwhelmed or killed), give it a shot but brace for carnage. The earlier you can add them, the better.

I love the surrogate trait, but I don’t want hens too crazy with their adoptions. Too-keen birds trying to steal eggs or chicks are too disruptive, especially in smaller flocks.

It can result in fights, serious injuries, production-stoppage (stress), broken eggs, and mangled, run-over chicks.

We spent 5+ weeks (minimum) doing without a layer’s production to get those young birds. Heaven forbid they be from slow-laying, low-production game birds. The problem hen heads to Camp Kettle.

Broody Birds

Reproducing our flocks takes some pre-planning and know-how, but it increases our resilience to everything from personal disasters to worldwide crisis.

Reliable, versatile broody hens further increase our capabilities, even beyond small (but devastating) crises like outages/gennie failure and burned-out incubators and brood lights. They improve the efficiency of all our poultry.

Older, slower-laying chickens can raise clutches for higher-yielding young hens, maximizing each’s strongpoints and minimalizing each’s inherent age weaknesses.

Chicken surrogates incubating slower-laying game bird eggs gets those hens back to laying faster, too.

They also give us a canny bird to raise clutches for species that are mortally stupid mothers.

However, excessive broodiness is a problem akin to clutch abandonment and fake broodiness, and there are other broody behaviors we want to remove from our bloodlines. It can be hard for some keepers, but it’ll give us a more peaceful and productive flock in the long run.

Follow The Prepper Journal on Facebook!

  The post Raising Chickens: Breeding Resilience with Broody Hens appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[omcik-blog]

New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/message-of-puerto-rico-debt-crisis-easy-bets-sometimes-lose/

Message of Puerto Rico debt crisis: Easy bets sometimes lose

When some of Wall Street’s savviest hedge funds piled into Puerto Rico’s debt in 2014, it seemed like an easy bet: Buy up the island’s bonds at a discount, pocket the high interest and persuade politicians to make decisions that would raise the value of their investments.

Even if Puerto Rico’s economy collapsed and its government unraveled, the investment funds figured they had an ace in hand. Puerto Rico was a United States commonwealth, and thus — like the 50 states — legally barred from declaring bankruptcy as a way to shed its debts.

But that safeguard was all but wiped out this week. On Wednesday, Puerto Rico essentially filed for bankruptcy in federal court, under a law Congress passed last summer to help the island cut its debt and escape financial calamity.

More from New York Times: Wells Fargo Whistle-Blowers’ Fate Becomes Just a Footnote Fox News Besieged by New Bias Lawsuit and Federal Inquiry As ‘Brexit’ Tensions Rise, E.U. Proposal Targets London Finance

In taking this drastic step, Puerto Rico asserted that it had no way to pay the $123 billion in bonds and pension debt it owes.

The unprecedented legal filing came only a few days after hedge funds and other holders of Puerto Rico’s general obligation debt thought they had cut a deal with the government to avoid bankruptcy.

The move represented one of the lowest points in Wall Street’s long, torturous history of investing in Puerto Rico’s bonds. The hedge funds have been battling to protect their investments through the administrations of two Puerto Rico governors and across Capitol Hill, keeping an army of lawyers, consultants and operatives gainfully employed.

“I don’t think anyone bargained for this,” said David D. Tawil, a co-founder of Maglan Capital, a New York hedge fund that had at one point invested in Puerto Rico’s debt. “I think most funds expected there would have been a consensual agreement by now.”

It does not take long to see why a solution to Puerto Rico’s debt problem has eluded the hedge funds and other investment firms that own the island’s bonds: Many of the creditors think they are, or should be, first in line for the money. But the island also has to keep paying its police officers and its teachers while it struggles to raise revenue.

Two bondholder groups in particular — owners of general-obligation bonds and owners of Cofina bonds, which are backed by sales tax revenue — are at odds. Each of those types of bonds, their investors argue, carries protections that put those bondholders at the top of the pecking order after a default.

Puerto Rico’s general-obligation bonds are backed by a provision in the island’s constitution that promises that if there is not enough money in the general fund for all planned expenditures, general-obligation bonds will be paid off before anything else.

That sounds good, but investors in the Cofinas say they have an even better claim because they have a dedicated repayment stream in sales tax revenue.

The money goes straight from the merchants to a trust — not to Puerto Rico’s treasury — so the government cannot lay claim to it and use it for anything else, such as paying the general-obligation bondholders.

With both the general obligation bondholders and the Cofina bondholders claiming dibs, it will very likely take a judge to force a resolution.

A law passed last summer under the Obama administration, called Promesa, was designed specifically to address Puerto Rico’s predicament. It created a bankruptcy-like process that the island and other United States territories could use to restructure their debts.

Bondholders fought vigorously on Capitol Hill to derail the legislation but lost. They did win a few concessions in the makeup of the fiscal oversight board that would oversee the government’s attempts to cut expenses. For instance, it would have to include three members from a list of people picked by Democrats and four picked by Republicans. That way, some bondholders figured, they could expect a more creditor-friendly approach.

But the bill that was finally enacted had many elements that could harm bondholders, including a “cramdown” provision, which gives a bankrupt government the power to force a deal on an unwilling creditor.

To investors — who bought the bonds assuming their legal protections were ironclad — it seems as though the governments in San Juan and Washington are constantly moving the goal posts.

Hector Negroni, co-chief executive of FCO Advisors, which is invested in Puerto Rico bonds, said the oversight board had failed to honor constitutional protections for bondholders and to carry out its duty to force the government to tighten spending.

The board’s actions, he said, are hurting not only bondholders, but also the people of Puerto Rico, because the island’s access to the debt markets would be indefinitely frozen.

“We were promised Promesa wouldn’t change the rules against creditors,” Mr. Negroni said. “Here we find ourselves with a board that has attempted to force a solution on us that does the exact opposite.”

Do not count the hedge funds out just yet. Puerto Rico may have veered from Wall Street’s preferred playbook, but some of these hedge funds employ skilled dealmakers and relentless litigators.

Those firms include Aurelius Capital, which was among the firms that fought Argentina in court for years over its sovereign debt default and succeeded in pressuring the government there to pay back its debt. But the legal issues may prove even more vexing in Puerto Rico.

The hedge funds are not the only investors in Puerto Rico’s $74 billion in bonds. Those bonds had been a staple of retirement funds across the United States, generating hefty yields for mom-and-pop investors at a time of low interest rates.

Those retirement funds had been assured that Puerto Rico had little choice but to honor its debts — even as the island’s pension costs swelled and its tax revenue ebbed. Mutual fund managers like Oppenheimer and Franklin Templeton are now fighting for repayment alongside the hedge funds.

It is too early to say whether the hedge funds will end up losing money on their investments, as they bought many of them at a discount.

Before the bankruptcy filing, general obligation bondholders were close to a deal with the government that would have valued their debt at 70 cents on the dollar, according to people briefed on the matter.

On Thursday, many of those bonds were trading around 66 cents on the dollar, according to Municipal Market Analytics.

Mr. Tawil of Maglan Capital said many investors had made the mistake of comparing Puerto Rico to an insolvent nation. But nations are typically bailed out by the International Monetary Fund before they collapse totally.

No such bailout has come for Puerto Rico. As a commonwealth of the United States, Puerto Rico does not qualify for I.M.F. assistance, and there was little appetite in Congress for a wholesale federal rescue. For months, investors and residents have been in a “five-ring circus,” as Mr. Tawil put it, where bondholders are fighting with the government, the control board and one another.

Even so, Mr. Tawil is considering investing in the debt again. “We are in this unknown territory,” he said. “How this all ends is unclear.”