#one on Phantom so I can play with my EU friends

[desertleviathan]

The worst thing about having 13 alts in Final Fantasy XIV isn't the amount of repeated effort that goes into all of them, progressing them through the same content and the same grinds.

The worst thing is the nagging feeling that there should be 14 of them. Because that's what number the game is.

[catierambles]

as referring to my last post, the said fictional situation went as thus...

(under a Keep Reading for choice sake and because the more I write it, the longer it gets)

I have a running, I dunno what you want to call it, RPF? Delusion? In my head where I have a friendship (just a friendship) with Henry Cavill because he started playing ffxiv. If y'all know me, I love this game. I (actually) have a toon on the EU servers (Chaos-Phantom) and the running thing is that he had just gotten into the game, I was hanging around the Limsa aetheryte plaza (as one does) and he came up to me and messaged me in the pink (private DM) saying basically "I'm new the game, I have no idea what I'm doing, can you help me out?" Does it denote a bit of arrogance on my part that he would come to me versus any other player in the game? A bit, but whatevs.

The thing to realize with the ffxiv community is that we (for the most part) love sprouts. The term "sprout" refers to the little icon next to a New Adventurer's (player's) name, it's a little green plant sprout, so the community calls them "sprouts".

I am no different. If you're a sprout and you ask for help either of me directly (it's happened) or in say chat, I will help out to the best of my ability. I will send you links and resources and help you on your journey in this wonderful world that is Eorzea. I'll even ferry you around on one of my two-seater mounts if need be. If you decide to part ways with me after you get your footing, by all means, I hope you enjoy yourself. If you decide to stick around and continue talking with me, that's your choice and I welcome you.

Anyroad...

So he comes up to me and says the aforementioned and myself, not knowing who it is behind the keyboard and mouse because how could I, do my usual and go "Absolutely, my dude, what's up?" And it goes from there. We go from ffxiv in-game chat to Discord just for ease and I basically go "It would be easier to do voice comms, here's a discord server I'm in, if you want to, hop on into voice chat. If you don't have a mic or are not comfortable talking, you don't have to, just listen." Because not everyone does or is.

Some time passes, I get him through the start of the game and he decides to stick around. Just from my personal experience, if a new player finds someone that is willing to help them out with no expectation of getting anything in return, they tend to stick around. Humans are pack animals, we intrinsically like grouping with others, especially if unconditional kindness is shown.

I still have no idea about this little sprout's true identity and when he does decide to share it, I'm basically like "Okay, cool, thanks for letting me know." *screaming internally* He starts posting screenshots of our toons on his insta (with our toon names turned off for privacy's sake) so the cat's out of the bag. The ffxiv community goes a bit nuts with the knowledge that Henry Cavill plays their game and Square Enix is also just tickled.

The internet being the internet, our toon names are eventually tracked down and the more...passionate among his fanbase are all "Why tf is he wasting his time with this nobody? She probably just wants something from him." I don't, but yanno, self-projection, and all that. Someone helping another person with no thought as to reward or personal gain? Unheard of.

Anywho...

With the decline of WoW, ffxiv saw a bit of an influx of new players, it became a big thing. Celebrity media outlets caught wind and I, all of a sudden, found myself with a lot more attention heaped on me than I'm used to. (Good thing I work from home and hardly if ever leave my apartment)

He messages me and is like "Hey, so and so wants the both of us to be on this interview show, you don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"Do you want me to be there?"

"...Kinda, yeah."

"Then I'm there." If a friend wants me to do something that would otherwise make me uncomfortable to do on my own, I'm going to be there because they want me there for whatever reason.

It's the first time he and I will have met in person, but at this point, he's not Henry Cavill to me, he's just Henry, the wee little sprout that could.

We go on the thing, I'm very uncomfortable but pushing through it. And then the interviewer drops a bomb

"So we found your tumblr..."

"Oh, really?" I ask.

"Yes, it's very interesting."

"You don't say." dread rising. They then proceed to pull up some of my thirstier posts about him (which have been few and far between since he and I started playing together, so they're quite dated) basically trying to be all "Aha! Isn't this dramatic and exciting! Oh, the ratings!" After a bit of neither myself nor him saying anything, I just kind of look at the interviewer and go:

"If you're trying to embarrass me, mission accomplished. If you're trying to embarrass Henry, by looking at him, mission accomplished. If you're trying to look like an asshole, mission accomplished." And I get up and walk off stage because fuck them, honestly. Bastards. Henry stays behind and I head back to the dressing room and send him a message via discord.

"I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. I understand if you don't want to associate with me anymore. I understand if the thought of seeing me or talking with me makes you uncomfortable. Trust me, I understand. What I need you to understand is that I never, not once, wanted or was going to ask anything of you that you were not willing to give. I didn't have any grand delusions or thoughts about our friendship or our relationship as a whole. I do not, and will not ever, ask anything of you or from you other than your friendship. But now that shit has been laid out, if you would rather not, I understand."

I basically just leave it up to him whether or not he wants to stay in contact, or cut off contact completely.

If you made it this far, congrats, you got to the end.

...I need coffee

[padawanlost]

What was your take on Dave Filoni's speech on the Duel of Fates & Qui-Got Jinn?

I’m surprised people were shocked by that. I mean, he didn’t say anything new. 

His take is the same take that has been explored since TPM came out. I don’t know if people shocked by it are new fans who weren’t around when the movies came out or didn’t have access to the interviews/EU or of if they are in deep denial about the characters portrayed on screen.

“What’s at stake is really how Anakin’s going to turn out, because Qui-Gon is different than the rest of the Jedi.”

FACT since 1999. We know Qui-Gon was a ‘rebel’ since TPM came out. He’s even known as a ‘maverick jedi’ for that very reason, with multiple novels and comics exploring that side of him. Hell, he was Dooku’s apprentice, a guy known for being one of the Council’s biggest critics even when he was still a Jedi Master.

“Obi-wan:  Do not defy the council, Master, not again. Qui-Gon: I shall do what I must, Obi-Wan. Obi-wan:  If you would just follow the code, you would be on the council.” The Phantom Menace, 1999.

You get that in the movie, and Qui-Gon is fighting because he knows that he’s the father that Anakin needs, because Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that Jedi are supposed to care and love and that that’s not a bad thing. 

FACT since 1999. 

He was angry that the Jedi Master would dismiss him so abruptly in favor of the boy, but he realized, too, the depth of Qui-Gon’s passion when he believed in something. Training this boy to be a Jedi was a cause Qui-Gon championed as he had championed no other in Obi-Wan’s memory. He did not do so to slight his protégé. He did so because he believed in the boy’s destiny. Obi-Wan understood. Who could say? Perhaps this time Qui-Gon was right. Perhaps Anakin Skywalker’s training was a cause worth fighting for. [Terry Brooks. The Phantom Menace – published in 2000]

That Filoni himself reinforces in 2013 during an interview about TCW’s season 5: “I’ve always felt that one of Anakin’s downfalls, like it’s never that Anakin was innately going to be evil, but the people around him, the Jedi, in their lack of compassion, in being so selfless that they almost forgot to care.” Dave Filoni

The rest of the Jedi are so detached and they’ve become so political that they’ve really lost their way and Yoda starts to see that in the second film. But, Qui-Gon is ahead of them all and that’s why he’s not part of the council, so he’s fighting for Anakin. 

FACT since 1999. 

“With Episode I, I didn’t want to tell a limited story. I had to go into the politics and the bigger issues of the Republic and that sort of thing. I had to go into bigger issues.” George Lucas

In The Phantom Menace one of the Jedi Council already knows the balance of The Force is starting to slip, and will slip further. It is obvious to this person that The Sith are going to destroy this balance. On the other hand a prediction which is referred to states someone will replace the balance in the future. At the right time a balance may again be created, but presently it is being eroded by dark forces. All of this shall be explained in Episode 2, so I can’t say any more!- CUT interview 09/07/99?

“The first film starts with the last age of the Republic; which is it’s getting tired, old, it’s getting corrupt. There’s the rise of the Sith, who are now becoming a force, and in the backdrop of this you have Anakin Skywalker: a young boy who’s destined to be a very significant player in bringing balance back to the Force and the Republic. George Lucas - from the American ANH VHS tape in the making of Episode II in the 2000 release.

[The Jedi] sort of persuade people into doing the right thing but their job really isn’t to go around fighting people yet there are now used as generals and they are fighting a war and they are doing something they really weren’t meant to do.They are being corrupted by this war, by being forced to be generals instead of peacemakers. – George Lucas for E! Behind the Scenes - Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith

That’s one of the few times in history when the bad guys were very clearly delineated for us. There really was a fight for survival going on between pretty clearly good guys and bad guys. The story being told in Star Wars is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency to do the same things over and over again. Power corrupts, and when you’re in charge, you start doing things that you think are right, but they’re actually not. . – George Lucas

That’s why it’s the duel of the fates, it’s the fate of this child and depending on how this fight goes, Anakin, his life is going to be dramatically different. 

If good and evil are mixed things become blurred - there is nothing between good and evil, everything is grey. In each of us we have balanced these emotions, and in the Star Wars saga the most important point is balance, balance between everything. It is dangerous to lose this. – George Lucas

"So, Qui-Gon loses, of course, so the father figure, he knew what it meant to take this kid away from his mother when he had an attachment and he’s left with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he made to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him. Obi-Wan trains Anakin at first out of a promise he makes to Qui-Gon, not because he cares about him.

FACT since 1999. We literally see this in the movie.

He stopped his pacing and stared momentarily at nothing, thinking of Qui-Gon Jinn, his Master, his teacher, his friend. He had failed Qui-Gon in life. But he would carry on his work now, honoring him in death by fulfilling his promise to train the boy, no matter what. [Terry Brooks. The Phantom Menace]

When they find Anakin on Tatooine, he says, “I feel like we’ve found another useless lifeform.” He’s comparing Anakin to Jar Jar. And he’s saying, “This is a waste of time. Why are we doing this? Why do you see importance in these creature like Jar Jar Binks and this 10 year old boy? This is useless.”

FACT since 1999.

So he’s a brother to Anakin, eventually, but he’s not a father figure.  

“He is like my brother. I cannot do it.” Obi-wan Kenobi in Revenge of the Sith.

This, then, is Obi-Wan and Anakin: They are closer than friends. Closer than brothers. Though Obi-Wan is sixteen standard years Anakin’s elder, they have become men together. Neither can imagine life without the other. The war has forged their two lives into one.  [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]

[With Ahsoka] I wanted to develop a character who would help Anakin settle down. He's a wild child after [Attack of the Clones]. He and Obi Wan don't get along. So we wanted to look at how Anakin and Ahsoka become friends, partners, a team. When you become a parent or you become a teacher you have to become more respnsible. I wanted to force Anakin into that role of responsibility, into that juxtaposition. I have a couple of daughters so I have experience with that situation. I said instead of a guy let's make her a girl. Teenage girls are just as hard to deal with as teenage boys are. - George Lucas

That’s a failing for Anakin, he doesn’t have the family that he needs. He loses his mother in the next film. He fails on this promise that he made to his mother that 'I will come back and save you.' So he’s left completely vulnerable and Star Wars is ultimately about family.

FACT since 2002.

“Love people. That’s basically all Star Wars is.” — George Lucas

So, that moment in that movie, which a lot of people diminish as a cool lightsaber fight, but it’s everything that the entire three films in the prequels hangs on, is that one particular fight and Maul serves his purpose and at that point died before George brought him back.But he died, showing you how the Emperor is completely self-serving. He doesn’t care, he’s using people and now he’s gonna use this child.

FACT since 1999.

Each Sith has an apprentice, but the problem was, each Sith Lord got to be powerful. And the Sith Lords would try to kill each other because they all wanted to be the most powerful. So in the end they killed each other off, and there wasn’t anything left. So the idea is that when you have a Sith Lord, and he has an apprentice, the apprentice is always trying to recruit somebody to join him — because he’s not strong enough, usually — so that he can kill his master. That’s why I call it a Rule of Two — there’s only two Sith Lords. There can’t be any more because they kill each other. They’re not smart enough to realize that if they do that, they’re going to wipe themselves out. Which is exactly what they did.” George Lucas

Everything that Filoni said has been part of the lore and movies for 20 years now, so I really don’t get why people are so shocked by it. Also, context people! People have been using Disney canon to ‘prove’ Filoni wrong but these movies and the clone wars were written with long before Disney came into play. Filoni, like so many of us, grew up with Star Wars belonging to George and that colors how he look at the franchise and the characters. And don’t get me started on the ‘the EU doesn’t matter’ argument because it absolutely does. 

“And then George Lucas tells me one day, ‘We’re gonna put the Mandalorians in the Clone Wars.'  And I go 'Oh boy. That’s interesting. Cuz, lemme show you this.'  And I move this big pile of material over and I said 'This is everything. This is everything that the Mandalorians are right now.’ And so George and I do what we always do when we come across something that I know exists well in the EU, we go over it all.“ Now, all the history of Mandalore you prior to The Clone Wars it does exists. It absolutely exists.” — Dave Filoni

There’s actual behind the scenes footage of Filoni and George Lucas working on The Clone Wars and checking the EU to keep everything as cohesive as possible. The guy literately had thousands of conversations with George Lucas – the guy who actually created Star Wars – about these characters but somehow people are now trashing him because he said they should’ve know already?

Look, anyone who knows me know I’m not a Filoni stan but I believe in respecting people’s work and giving credit where credit is due even when I don’t agree with them 100%. If they don’t like his take, fine, that’s their right but please tone down the outrage fest because it’s entirely unjustified (and, to be completely honest, a little desperate for validation). He’s an actual person, not a fictional character there for you to hate or stan.

There’s a lot I don’t agree with it in this life but I don’t go around attacking real people and their jobs. But maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised, considering the people going after Filoni are the same people who have not problem whatsoever with star wars authors receiving death and rape threats.

[the-delta-42]

Rule of Precinct One Vol. 2

Rules of Precinct One Vol. 2

1. Detective Wilde has been authorized for use with all firearm ballistics, don’t ask how, we’re trying to figure that out ourselves.

2. Detective Wilde has been banned from use of all non-firearm weapons; we are running out of tail splints.

3. Detective Wilde is now required to wear a tail guard on duty, we really don’t need to go to hospital to get the damned thing reattached.

4. Do not underestimate Detective Wilde's ability to harm his own tail, seriously, don’t.

5. Detective Wilde is to stop stealing balls from the sports cupboard, we can’t get his wife to retrieve the balls every time.

6. Detective Wilde and Detective Hopps-Wilde are no longer allowed to take the nightshift together, I’m sure you can figure out why.

7. Whoever took the donuts from Clawhauser, well done, he’s supposed to be on a diet.

8. Do not make Box or Funny jokes with Detective Hopps-Wilde, we don’t need to find out that a Rabbit can actually go savage.

9. No stating Detective Wilde’s full name, there is a reason he dropped the John.

10. No asking why Detective Wilde’s father calls him Junior, at all.

11. Never, EVER suggest, imply, or otherwise insinuate that Officer Wilde is capable, or indeed, talented, at cheating at cards, in front of Officer Hoops. This will not end well.

12. Do not attempt to play cards with Officer Wilde. This includes Black Jack, Three Card Monty, and All forms of Poker

13. Amendment to the above: Cheat, Go Fish, and Snap are not excluded from this, on account of not traditionally being betting games. You may think that will prevent you from losing money. This will not prevent you from losing money.

14. A reminder to all Officers, Officers Schneider and Wilde are not to be in the same room together especially if they're both armed.

15. Whenever Detective Wilde is entering the station don't yell out "The British are coming!" Officer Fangmeyer is still recovering from broken ribs.

16. Reminder to all officers, trying to scare Detective’s Wilde and Hopps is generally a bad idea.

17. Reminder to all Officers, posting photos of new equipment on Furbook is now banned.

18. Don't EVER put a muzzle on Detective Wilde's office desk. Whoever did it, I hope you’re happy that he has to now spend a week in therapy. Seriously, we don’t need one of our best Detectives going into shock.

19. Do not, under any circumstance, show Detective Hopps anything Creepypasta related. The last time she saw Jeff the Kitty, she refused to let go of Detective Wilde until he passed out.

20. No one is allowed to use the Ion Cannon in storage. We don’t know what it does or why it’s there.

21. To all officers, stop trying to setup Chief Bogo with another mammal. Last time we had to rescue him from a cross dressing tiger and his friends.

22. Clawhauser is to stop playing matchmaker. It did well with Hopps and Wilde but not so good with others. See previous rule for proof.

23. Detective Wilde is not allowed to pick the movies on Movie Friday anymore. Many are still in trauma counselling.

24. Detective Wilde is not allowed to sing Happy, it caused every Officers in the station to break out dancing.

25. No one is allowed to play the Police Story Movie Series in the station, except on Movie Friday.

26. No one is to play the British Grenadiers within Detective Wilde's hearing distance, he may be an excellent singer, but it does get annoying.

27. All Officer patrolling the slums must wear a stab proof vest. We don’t need another incident where Detective Hopps-Wilde nearly became a Widow.

28. FOR THE LOVE OF ASLAN DON'T PLAY WITH Detective WILDE'S POISON CONTAINER FROM THE SAS.

29. Who played with Detective Wilde's EMP Grenades again? All the Police Cruiser's electronics are fried.

30. All Narcotics Operations are to be jointly operated with the ZDEA, not go out and do an Anti-Drug War with the Cartel, Detective Wilde was spotted wearing Combat Gear with an M4 during one of the Raids.

31. No matter what, Detective Wilde is not to be disturb during his investigation unless it's important.

32. Stop telling the Rookies that Detective Wilde is James Bond.

33. Who gave Wilde military grade super glue?! He somehow glued his tail to the ceiling of the station and it took a long time to get him down!

34. We all know you like Guns N Rodents, Detective Hopps, but whenever you're entering the Rainforest District don't play "Welcome to the Jungle" through the sirens. Same goes for any officers.

35. If you have a backstage pass to a Gazelle concert, make sure to hide it from Chief Bogo and Clawhauser. Officers Delgato and Wolford were nearly trampled to death last time.

36. Only Detective Wilde is allowed to use the Ion Cannon, it seems that he knows what it does and how to handle it. He also has yet to shoot his tail off with it.

37. Reminder to all Officers, Detective Wilde is only allowed to use a Baton in non-lethal situations.

38. Even though Wilde is British doesn't mean he's a stereotype, even if he does like drinking tea.

39. No one is to bet a Schneider vs Wilde fight, Schneider involved the GSG9 and Wilde involved the SAS.

40. No trying arrest a badger because he "stepped on your tail" this means you, Wilde.

41. Whoever keeps putting up bunny/fox adoption papers, please stop. Detective Wilde and Detective Hopps-Wilde become unavailable for the rest of the day when this happens.

42. Reminder to all Officers to not allow any more male bunnies to be in sight of Detective Wilde or Detective Hopps. We don't need another flirting incident.

43. It is now banned to arrest the driver of the ice-cream truck and "confiscate" all of the truck's merchandise because he wouldn't stop. (We're looking at you Officers Fangmeyer, Wilde, and Schneider.)

44. Whoever put up pictures of Detective Hopps getting changed around the station, be aware that none of us will subdue him when Detective Wilde finds you; he WILL find you.

45. Do not even joke that there is someone named Shere Kahn here to see Wilde about his time in the secret service. Last time this happened Detective Wilde disappeared for two weeks and Detective Hopps-Wilde was crying her eyes out.

46. Detective Wilde is to take home all of his personal gear immediately. We can't keep replacing every computer and electronic device in the precinct every time someone uses an EMP grenade.

47. Detective Wilde is no longer allowed to bring personal equipment to work without permission. A Stinger missile launcher isn't police gear.

48. Detective Wilde is allowed to use the ion cannon. He somehow knows how to use it.

49. Do not ask Detective Wilde about his time in the secret service. Last time this happened Detective Wilde freaked out and disappeared for a week, you know I’m starting to see a pattern here.

50. To all Officers, stop baiting Clawhauser to doing your paperwork through the use of donuts and cereals. Be responsible for your own work and Clawhauser is on a diet!

51. No one is to ever label fox repellent as Genuine Zooisiana hot sauce EVER again, Hopps is still crying in my office and Wilde is still being treated for the blindness that was caused by it.

52. Remember kids, fire hot. Someone should probably make a note on that.

53. Attention officers, attention, remember to work the shaft. Wilde we know this was you.

54. If it wasn’t clear before it is now, By no means are Wilde and Hopps allowed in the copy room together and apparently I need a new secretary.

55. Do not use the mini-gun. Half of our officers are still in the hospital.

56. Do not prank Officer Hopps with anything ghost related. Wilde took an hour to literally drag her out of her home because she believed there was a ghost at the station.

57. Reminder to all officers, do not pull pranks that involve any hot sauce or Ghost Peppers. Some of our officers still have ice packs on their tongue.

58. Don't ask why Wilde has the British Flag and a London Metropolitan Police Bobby Helmet on his desk.

59. New Patrol Cars maybe bulletproof, but that doesn't mean it's a target for target practice.

60. All Officers must use the code 10-8 if you’re on duty.

61. All detectives must have their badges on the at all times, I really don’t want another incident where the Mayor mistook Detective Wilde for some shady business man.

62. I don't care how, but Detective Wilde is forever banned from using TASERS so stop giving him TASERS. We really don’t want another ‘king’ incident again do we?

63. Yes, Detective Wilde, we get that you are a Doctor Who fan, especially Sir John Hurt.

64. We don’t need the constant thing of The United Kingdom leaving the EU, Detective Wilde is still trying to deal with the other British Citizens here who have started to break out in riots. This is quite possibly the first time Detective Wilde has used any standard Police equipment properly.

65. Please do not mention Gazelle in front of either Detective Hopps-Wilde or Clawhauser, it took us three hours to get them both to shut up.

66. Officer Cody, there are no contingency orders that tell you to kill/subdue any of the Detectives on the force.

67. Alright, which one of you lot petitioned for Detective Wilde to be removed from the Force?

68. Please, who ever brought the little Vixen into the precinct, bring her again, she’s adorable.

69. Alright, who gave Wilde (Both of them) Coffee? They’ve locked themselves in their Office and frankly I believe that you can all here them from where you are.

70. Detective Wilde, please call your mother, this is the seventeenth time she’s called in at the front desk. PS. We now know your actual first name.

71. Please refrain from commenting that Detective Wilde acts like Conan from the Anime Detective Conan when he finally solves a case.

72. Who created a real Phantom Thief, who is based off Magic Kaito 1412?

73. Could someone please explain to Detective Hopps-Wilde what the previous rule is?

74. Reminder to all Officers, Detective Wilde is an Authorized Firearms Officer, and his Unmarked Squad Car is a moving armoury.

75. Kevlar Vests are now Standard issue and must worn at all times.

76. This a warning to all racists Officers, you are outnumbered 100 to 1 and Wilde has a Pranking/Torture arsenal.

77. Detective Wilde: you may be a detective now, but that does not give you an excuse to dress up like Furlock Holmes on the job. That bubble-blowing Meerkatz pipe is simply ridiculous.

78. To all feline officers of Precinct One: having roaring contests at the station is expressly forbidden.

79. Officer McHorn: from now on when your office door is jammed please wait for a locksmith instead of charging at it with your horn. According to the contractor that was a supporting wall you nearly destroyed.

80. To whoever pumped helium into the chief's office before he passed out the morning assignments, your commanding officer is not amused.

81. To whoever told Detective Hopps-Wilde about Detective Wilde's Playbunny magazines, he has sworn vengeance.

82. Just because the chief is a Buffalo that does not mean that he is angered by the colour red like a bull gets. The fact that Bogo automatically gets aggravated at the sight of Detective Wilde (Wilde's fur being red and all) is purely a coincidence.

83. The hoses on armoured police vehicles are not to be used as showers. I don't care how clean you may get or how funny it is to see bald patches on Detective Wilde's fur we cannot afford the clean-up from flooding the garage... for the fifth time this month

84. When Detective Wilde warns you about someone conning you, listen to him. The ZPD budget is still recovering after the whole fake Gazelle autograph incident.

85. To the practical joker who subscribed Chief Bogo to the Gazelle Gossip magazine, the joke is on you: he's already a subscriber

86. No one is to mention the word "neuter" in the building. It took the whole day to find the male felines, lupines, and the vulpine.

87. NO VIXENS IN SIGHT OF DETECTIVE HOPPS-WILDE OR DETECTIVE WILDE!

88. Do NOT ask Judy's parents if they had vasectomy yet.

89. NEVER underestimate Detective Hopps-Wilde. We have now learned she can beat anybody to a pulp in a sparring match, including Chief Bogo.

90. Reminder to all officers: just because Wilde is a designated firearms officer, doesn’t mean he's a sniper. Also, don't request for any weapons for the armoury, we can't have a Barrett m107 .50 or an M240, we also can't have AT4's.

91. Detective Wilde is only allowed to sing at Karaoke Saturdays.

92. Please don't disturb Detective Wilde, both of them, when they are explaining their deductions.

93. Reminder to all Racists Officers Detective Wilde is armed for a reason.

94. The new Helicopters are for police work not Romantic Flights.

95. Detective Wilde is not Sherlock Holmes.

96. All officer in Precinct 1 must sign a pact to eat Clawhauser's donut everyday at least once. He was supposed to be 'weight reduced' to normal level of fitness.

97. To any officer out there who using police superbike as patrol vehicle, DO NOT give Detective Wilde and Detective Hopps YOUR SUPERBIKE KEY.

98. To any officer who think bringing Clawhauser's family to 'Bring Your Family To Work' day, DON'T. We can't have Clawhauser being scolded for being 'fat'. It reduces Clawhauser's work productivity. And there's a reason why he doesn't live with his family again.

99. - All officer must not pushes Chief Bogo to give you case. When there is no case, there is no case. I'm watching you, Hopps.

100. For the last time, who brings laser to Precinct 1? The productivity of Precinct 1 dropped to zero just because all officer chased after it.

101. ALRIGHT, WHO BROUGHT THE LASER HERE?

102. To all officers, Officer Moon Moon is to be supervised by at least one officer at all times. He's a new recruit and a walking hazard when left unsupervised. Just ask Grizzoli in the infirmary.

103. No more bringing of pets in the precinct, especially spiders. The giant huntsman spider Officer Fangton brought is still on the loose and a third of the force won't come in until it has been caught.

104. Detective Wilde, do not take advantage of Officer Moon Moon's gullibility. The poor guy lost his first pay check when you tricked him into playing cards with you.

105. If anyone, only Detective Wilde is allowed to refer to Detective Hopps-Wilde as "cute". Anyone else risks her fury.

106. WHY ARE THERE ZOMBIES IN THE PRECINCT?!

107. Whoever dressed up as those zombies, your commanding officer is not pleased.

108. NEVER say that you hate pop-star Gazelle in front of Clawhauser. Even though he is not physically fit, he is still a cheetah.

109. To whoever put the nude photo of gazelle in chief’s paperwork you have parking duty for a month. And I'm looking at you Wilde.

110. No one is to mention Detective Wilde’s ex-wife. It was hard enough to explain to Detective Hopps-Wilde.

111. Detective Garfield we don't care how much of a jerk you think your partner Lieut. Nirmal is, so stop spamming HR with requests to get him transferred to Abu Dhabi.

112. While we are on the subject of Detective Garfield, no one's to tell him when the cafeteria is serving Italian, last time he found out he barricade himself in there and by the time we broke down the door half the food was gone.

113. No Detective Wilde, you did not learn everything you need to know in kindergarten.

114. Notice to the motor pool, for now on all porcupine officers are on permanent motorcycle duty as we can afford to keep fixing car seats every time they come back from patrol.

115. Will you all stop harassing officer Bellwether, he had nothing to do with his insane cousin’s anti-predator plot.

116. Okay apparently you idiots disregarded the last note and now officer Bellwether got himself transferred to Los Santos, claiming he'd rather be shot than harass, so I hope you all enjoy the mandatory week long species tolerance seminar.

117. Don't let Detective Hopps-Wilde drink any form of energy drink (besides coffee). She already has plenty of energy, and doesn't need more.

118. Officer Mchorn is injured at the moment and Officer Moon Moon needs a new partner. Again, don't leave Moon Moon unsupervised.

119. To the one dressed as a Ninja, Detective Wilde and the rest of the Authorized Firearms Unit are hunting you.

120. Will someone catch that Phantom Thief!

121. Reminder to all Officers, if a Military tank got stolen like San Francisco, please do not ask Wilde for Anti-Tank Weapons.

122. Please do not use the Riot Armor to be RoboCop.

123. No, we will not add attack helicopters to our arsenal.

124. Whoever keeps playing those Hyena Gomez CDs please stop, her shrieking gives half the station a headache.

125. To whoever rigged up the riot tank speakers to play 'let the bodies hit the floor' whenever the water cannon is fired, the Chief is willing to overlook this offense if you help setup his home theatre system.

126. If some whacked job manages to steal a tank like that time in San Dingo, don't go asking detective wilde for a rocket launcher, besides that's what the secondary tank full of industrial adhesive attached to the riot tanks water cannon is for.

127. Lieut. Nokiayama the precincts head corner would like to remind everyone that just because he's a raccoon dog, he doesn't have mystical powers like in Japanese mythology, so please stop trying to grab his crotch thinking it will bring you good luck, he has his ancestor’s katana and he knows how to use it.

128. Do not ask Detective Wilde about his family. He does not want talk about. He had a break down last week. If this rule is broken you will be punished by the chief.

129. To all officers, firearms are supposed to be used in emergency situations only, not in trying to kill the giant huntsman spider Officer Fangton lost. It was last seen in the armoury.

130. Do not tempt Officer Schneider with beer, Detective Wilde with tea, and Hopps with carrots. They will find out where you live.

[joracalltrise]

I’ve fallen in love with the 7th season of the Clone Wars, but in the same time this season… disappointed me so much. Do you, guys, feel the same? Or are you fully satisfied?

I warn you, that I’m going to more or less skip the good things and get to the bad things – not because I’m a complaining person, but because I believe a lot of people have already listed all positives about the last episode and season 7 in general (especially <url> www.gffa.tumblr.com </url> – dude, I really love your blog!), so me talking about the things I had loved in the latest season, would be… repeating what other people have already said.

I think we all (or most of us) agree, that the 7th Season was totally amazing, if not THE BEST season of the Clone Wars. We got that clear? Okay, now let’s get to the “buts”.

1. Not enough episodes

I’ll sound a bit whiny here, but… I really don’t get it, why couldn’t we get full 20 episodes for the Final Season of the Clone Wars. Or even more than 20. Maybe there are people in Disney, who are smarter than me, and they know the answer to that question, but STILL… if Star Wars is such a good brand, why not making more of the Clone Wars?

Of course, there are also advantages of producing only 12 episodes.

The whole season feels more like a movie than a TV series. Or, rather – like three movies. Instead of “small stories” we were given three solid Arcs, which are very smoothly connected to each other. That’s a good thing. It’s not the same case as “the Legend of Korra”, where 12 episodes would give us a feeling of an enormous pacing.

BUT. Because I was given only 12 episodes, I got to miss some of my favorite characters.

2. Lack of some important characters

We didn’t see Dooku in the last season the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Grievous in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We didn’t see Ventress in the last season of the Clone Wars – not even ONCE!

We BARELY saw Obi-Wan (sniff! sniff!) – poor guy got some bigger scenes only in “Good friends not forgotten” and “Phantom Apprentice”. And some short (but really good) lines in “An unfinished business”.

Padme got ONE scene (one that confirms, that Anakin is, in fact, blind, since he didn’t comment on her baby bump).

Now, someone would roll their eyes and say – yeeeeaaaah, but Dooku, Grievous, Obi-Wan and Padme got PLENTY of TV time in the Revenge of the Sith, duh! If you want more of them, just watch RoTs, again. Okay, I agree, but… that was the whole point of me watching the Clone Wars. I liked it so much, because prequel trilogy was not enough for me. I wanted MORE of my favorite characters. What’s wrong with that?

And what about Ventress? She was supposed to have such a great Arc with Quinlan Vos!

Than brings us to the next case…

3. Abandoned and Non-existing Arcs

Utapau Arc… oh, I’m NEVER gonna forgive them for Utapau Arc!

I believe it was actually the best Arc in the Clone Wars. I’ve watched those unfinished episodes sooo many times, and they have brought me more joy than ANY full-fledged episodes. So many good moments in those episodes!

So much of Obi-Wan and Anakin dynamics (I’m sorry, Ahsoka fans, but no matter how much Felloni and Co will try to persuade me otherwise, OBI-WAN is a Jedi who has the closest relationship with Anakin, NOT Ahsoka. Quarrel, if you like, but that’s how I feel, sorry).

Anakin interacting with animals (outrageous, cute and absolutely beautiful).

Anakin’s great plan “ups, I’ve fallen asleep… ah, no, it was my plan from the beginning!”

Scorpion creature playing with Anakin’s lightsaber, and Anakin killing the creature “by accident”.

And FINALLY two best moments:

“Awww, got yourself captured again, Old Man?” (I’ll NEVER get tired of Anakin calling Obi-Wan “old man”, okay?”

And Obi-Wan merrily waving to Grievous, when he and Anakin escape with the cristal.

Ventress and Quinlan Arc – even if they didn’t follow a comic, they could have made an amazing Arc out of this.

Small Padme Arc? Like… how she was dealing with her pregnancy, while working for the Senate? Anything? Pretty please?

Some Arc involving Ayala Secura or Kit Fisto or Ki Adi Mundi or Plo Koon – just to say goodbye to those characters before Order 66? By the way, it’s kind of weird, Ahsoka didn’t think or talk about Plo Koon even a little bit, during the WHOLE season. That’s the disadvantage of having only 12 episodes, yup!

The last Padawan Arc aka Caleb Dume turning into Kanan Jarrus Arc aka One of my biggest disappointments for the last season. Why… WHY they didn’t do it?! The trailer gave me soooo muuuch hope! I really, REALLY wanted to see Kanan interacting with Depa and the Clones. Yes, I know, comics and stuff, but comics is not TV, and I love watching my favorite characters with nice soundtrack and great voice actors and everything. R.I.P. my expectations for Caleb Dume’s Arc in Clone Wars… sniff sniff!

Of course, there’s more, but those are the ones that come to my mind firsts.

4. Ahsoka’s character in this last season

Now, let’s talk about the character who got the most of the TV time in the whole season (if not the whole series).

Ahsoka’s greatest fans will probably get angry at me, but I’m still gonna say this. Not because I dislike Ahsoka, because I DO like her, and I think she’s an amazing character. Actually, before I start throwing my “accusations”, I’ll say some nice things about Ahsoka, so that you know I’m not trying to be mean here.

What Ahsoka did in the 7th season, can be mostly explained by her young age. She’s clearly at the rebel stage, she’s got through some really awful experiences (getting accused of treason, when you’re INNOCENT can really leave someone pretty shaken up, I think we all agree), and before Martez Sisters Arc for the first time in her life she was really, really ALONE.

Also, we all know that Ahsoka will be more mature in Rebels. It kind of makes sense, that you need to become an angry and proud teenager first, before you become an experienced and charismatic leader.

BUT, even knowing that, I’m really annoyed at Ahsoka after the last season. I’ve liked her during all 5 seasons of the Clone Wars, she was one of my favorite characters, but after season 7, she really got on my nerves. And honestly? I’m starting to think, it wasn’t even her fault. Maybe it was just the Clone Wars creators turning her into to some sort of… agenda? Using her to prove something? About the whole Jedi Order, maybe? Or about Anakin?

But, anyway, to the point…

Ahsoka’s actions in season 7 basically resulted in three groups of fans.

Group Number One (that’s NOT me) – people who started to think Ahsoka is some sort of saint, the only good (ex) Jedi in the rotten Order, the very best person, and oh, if only other Jedi could act like her, then maybe nothing bad will happen. And, oh, Obi-Wan and the rest Council sitters could REALLY learn from this amazing woman!

Group Number Two (that’s me) – people rising an eyebrow to Ahsoka’s behavior and being slightly annoyed at her.

Group Number Three (I don’t know who’s there, but there are some people) – people hating Ahsoka, getting really angry at her for acting the way she acted, and also blaming her for not using her knowledge about Sidious wanting to make Anakin his apprentice.

Who’s right? Maybe no one? Maybe partly everyone? I don’t know, so I’ll just proceed to explain my own subjective point of view.

I’ve already said some things about Ahsoka in this post:

<url> https://joracalltrise.tumblr.com/post/615743227991031809/ahsoka-versus-obi-wan-where-did-that-even-come </url>

I’m going to say more, but it’ll be much shorter.

What I disliked about Ahsoka most in the latest season was the fact, that she wanted to have a cookie and eat the cookie and she started to lecture people smarter and more experienced than her how to do their job.

Let’s start with the first one, by looking into Ahsoka’s particular words and actions. So…

She doesn’t want to be a Jedi, but she wants Republic to support her actions (siege of Mandalore) and let her participate in important Jedi-only discussions (Mace Windu talk). Kind of like some Brexit supporters, don’t you think? “Let’s leave the EU, but let’s keep all the privileges of the country belonging to the EU, because we are so smart, we deserve it and that’s it”. Oh, come on! You either leave of not – make up your mind, Ahsoka (Britain could, so why can’t you?).

She wants Anakin and Obi-Wan to help her but she doesn’t want to ASK them nicely and try a little bit to act like a person asking for help. She just expects them to agree, because they… what? Owe her? Owe her WHAT? Not supporting her ENOUGH, when she was accused (let me remind you: Obi-Wan sided with Ahsoka during Council meeting, and Anakin was litteraly running around Coruscant to prove his Padawan’s innocence)?

Her being angry about Anakin and Obi-Wan choosing Coruscant over Mandalore – I’m not even commenting that, because I’m tired of talking about it. But I’ll add just one more thing here – did it occur to anyone that Trace and Rafa are still on Coruscant, when Coruscant is attacked? What a great friendship you have formed, Ahsoka! Not even a single worry about whether or not your new friends will be in danger? But wait, they don’t need you, cause people in Mandalore need you more. Cool (sorry about the sarcasm, guys, but I couldn’t resist).

And now, the second thing.

If you want to change some huge organization, especially one like a Jedi Order, the best way to do it, is from the inside. Qui-Gon Jinn was like no other Jedi, and he was probably tempted to leave, but he chose to stay, and his presence benefited the Order in many many ways! He didn’t really change the Jedi – died before he could – but there was a chance. Perhaps Anakin could have changed the Jedi, had he not turned to the dark side? I think he would! Maybe, if he would mature even more (although, in Clone Wars he matured A LOT – look at the “Old friends not forgotten” episode) and join the Council a bit later, when the time was right… just imagine it! The Jedi Code hasn’t ALWAYS forbidden marriages and love. The Order could have come back to its old ways. Good thing, stuff like fanfiction exists ;)

But anyway, coming back to Ahsoka. If you LEAVE an organization, and then you start lecturing its members about morality and choices, it’s kind of obvious, they won’t take you seriously. And yeah, I fully support Obi-Wan’s statement “but Ahsoka is no longer a part of the Republic Military”, and I totally agree with Mace calling her “a citizen”. It’s all about Ahsoka wanting to keep and wanting to eat at the same time. What she wanted in the final season, basically, is doing all the good things she remember doing in the Order (helping people selflessly, supporting friends), but without having to deal with difficult (but necessary) things (like making difficult choices and dealing with consequences, duty versus emotion, all of this so called “playing politics”, etcetera). It’s like wanting to have a pet, but leaving all the problems – going to the vet, curing the animal, when it’s sick, maybe even making the decision of “putting a friend to a sleep” to keep it from suffering – to somebody else. Do you get, what I mean?

And before I leave the poor girl alone, I have one more thing to add.

I don’t like making Ahsoka “another Rey”.

Strong female characters are very much needed in the popculture. I’m a girl too, so I understand. But, for Force’s sake, don’t upgrade somebody’s skills ex-machina!

Okay, fine, they’ve made Rey a Force prodigy because she’s *********’s granddaughter and apparently she was already good in martial arts before she has left Jakku. Some people like that.  I don’t. I prefer an actual skill development instead of sudden skills upgrage.

But Ahsoka didn’t held a lightsaber for a long time, and first time she grabs her new pair, she becomes a one person machine. I wouldn’t say it makes me particularly upset, because it was nice to watch. But it DID disturbed me. And I couldn’t help the feeling, that canon was a bit shifted to match Ashoka fan’s expectations.

The canon got me used to the fact, that Star Wars strongest prequel fighters were Yoda, Palpie, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace, Dooku and Maul. I might have forgotten someone, but you get my point, right? Experienced and adult fighters, whose skills are logical and earned. Actually, I think that Ahsoka from Rebels fits that group as well.

I repeat it – Ahsoka FROM REBELS!

In Rebels she’s an adult and she’s got plenty of time to hone both her Force and lightsaber skills.

I’m not saying, I’m hating her fighting like a pro with Mandalorians and Maul. I repeat it - It WAS nice to watch. I’m just not buying it.

Like I’m not buying some other things.

5. Lack of logic (especially in Martez Arc)

It’s not a big fault, actually. We get plenty of those in pop culture shows. It gives us a lot of room for “How It Should Have Ended” videos ;)

But, seeeriiouslyyy…

Ahsoka using the Force right and left in the Martez Arc, while Rafa and Trace don’t notice A THING… are they deaf and blind, or something?

Is Anakin blind as well? Does he REALLY not notice Padme’s baby bump? Was he too busy’s with his wife’s beautiful eyes, or what?

And – AGAIN! – Ahsoka grabing Maul’s ship with the Force. Since when grabing a  (MOVING) ship with the Force became a canonical skill of anyone other than Yoda (or maybe Palpatine)? No, wait, even Palpie and Yoda didn’t grab a MOVIG ship. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan couldn’t Force grab Dooku’s ship, when he was escaping Naboo? There were TWO of them, for Force’s sake, and one of them was the Forcedamn Chosen One! Why couldn’t they? Oh, wait, I know! Because it was BEFORE “The Rise of Skywalker”. In THAT movie Forcegrabing the ships became a canonical skill, especially for prodigical women loved by the audience (again – sorry about the sarcasm, guys). As a woman who used to train martial arts for YEARS, I’d like female protagonists to actually LEARN their super skills, before they use them. Okay?

But, well, Star Wars suddenly canonizing new amazing skills after years is a material for a different article.

And, like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. The Clone Wars were still amazing and enjoyable to watch – especially the newest season.

Besides, well, I can’t get what I want all the time, right? Felloni and Co had to CHOOSE, whom they want to make happiest, and they’ve chosen Ahsoka’s fans. I don’t blame them. Maybe they’ll choose my preferences next ;) One can always hope, right?

Conclusions?

Yeah, I think that’s all I have to say about the newest season. And I repeat – once again – that in spite all this complaining, I really loved that season. And I loved reading about other people’s opinions about it. May the Force be with us all!

Thank you for reading this long, looong post!

If anyone’s up to the discussion, feel free to contact me.

[norcumii]

Yet more meta from the prior tumblr, originally posted on 12/11/2017.

Mmkay. There’s this post floating around about Obi-Wan’s characterization (link coming up in a minute). I want it on the record that I am all for people characterizing fictional characters however they want, on whatever criteria they have including “because I was in the mood for it,” ‘cause going ‘there’s only one true interpretation’ is totally a dick move.

Nonetheless this post has been slowly driving me bonkers so I’m trying to do the polite thing and make my own post deconstructing it rather than adding to theirs.

Hell, it starts off with “Please can someone explain to me why there’s this fandom thing where Obi Wan is nothing but angst and sads for 20 straight years on Tatooine?”

You betcha.

First off, OP is basing character assessment on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator. Look. I enjoy personality tests as much as the next person, but that thing is just as useful to behavior prediction as a Facebook quiz about which Disney Princess you are. Here’s a nice convenient article about why which a minimum of digging on Google netted me. MBTI presents archtypes that are sometimes useful for casual commentary, but that is not a diagnostic tool.

So let’s take a look at Obi-Wan, as we see in the movies (and Clone Wars), just after Revenge of the Sith. We have a man who is anywhere from 33 to 38 years old (depending on your version of canon), who has spent the last three years overworking himself at the heart of a hideous civil war that he was essentially drafted for, and oh yes, his side lost. Not only did his side lose, but it got massacred. Yoda was able to feel the death of the Jedi Order as it was happening, do not tell me that Obi-Wan had no idea what was going on too. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan was also dealing with the betrayal of his closest friend (his brother), who tries to kill him. Meanwhile, said brother does kill his wife (pregnant wife) who is a close friend of Obi-Wan’s, right there in front of him. All this leads to Obi-Wan doing the unthinkable: mutilating and then killing his brother – or worse, not being able to kill Anakin, leaving him in torment for another two decades.

There is so much PTSD fodder here, and that doesn’t even touch the betrayals from the clones, nor the question of ‘did he feel the psychic backlash from the chips kicking in and twisting the clones’ minds?’, nor the mental trauma from The Phantom Menace wherein he was replaced, failed his teacher who died in his arms but only after saying ‘that kid what replaced you, you need to train him now,’ and then 10 years of raising a kid when he was literally just sorta-kinda-not-exactly declared an adult himself. He was not prepared for that.

So once Obi-Wan’s handed over Luke (the last remaining link to his brother, who he is now not allowed any contact with since Luke expresses he’s never really met Old Ben) – that’s the first time he’s had to really stop and breathe in over 13 years. Ten years to raise a responsibility he never asked for, was not prepared to handle, and was a reminder of his greatest failure. Three years of running at least a literal third of a galactic war that was stacked against him (did he realize that by the end? That they were being played, and could never have won?).

Yeah, he’s got 20 years to work at recovering from that, but without a skilled therapist that I don’t think you’re going to find on Tatooine, you’re going to be lucky to be functional. I know that Star Wars as a whole doesn’t concern itself with mental health (seriously, mind healers are becoming one of my most cherished additions that Re-Entry brings to the table). That doesn’t mean ignoring it will get you a good character assessment.

Depression and PTSD isn’t going to make someone “a sad, bitter, lonely man” nor does it mean that one will metaphorically “be playing All By Myself on repeat for 20 straight years while sobbing into a cup of Bantha milk.” Depression expresses itself in any number of ways. It can mute things, so that while you laugh and even enjoy life, that joy doesn’t linger, or pales quickly. It can add a haze to everything, so you feel numb and distant. It can make someone who once expressed themselves exuberantly seem calm instead of manic. It doesn’t have to affect one’s wit, or habits of cracking jokes even if those jokes might feel flat and hollow to the speaker.

Sometimes it just leads to going through the motions of living, how one would have approached things Before – but it’s just empty motions.

PTSD can express itself as flashbacks. It can look like nothing until it is reactions to a different time and trauma instead of what is now and present. It can be a person haunted by their past, it can be explosive, it can be quiet and turned inwards. There are days when it doesn’t hit you, there are days when it’s so heavy on your shoulders that it feels like all you can do is sit, stare at a wall, and hope your brain shuts off. Then there are the days when despite that weight, you still need to go get groceries, or make dinner, or fix a vaportator, or fight off wayward Tuskens or something.

Nothing says that depressed and traumatized Obi-Wan wouldn’t sometimes take delight in lightsaber play, or practical jokes. I just don’t think that it would overtake the depression and PTSD.

On top of all of that is what you get when you take a look at the EU. Obi-Wan’s been traumatized since he was a kid. He was bullied through his tweens. He was rejected by the ONLY teacher he could hope to have until the Order booted him to the AgroCorps, at least a week before the official deadline. Then that shuttle crashed, and he saw his first major battle which led to approximately FOUR HUNDRED dead.

At not quite 13. Over the next year (probably less, but let’s be generous), he had to deal with: kidnapping, enslavement and hard labor, an attempted mind wipe, an actual war accompanied by abandonment by his teacher, and his teacher’s prior student trying to blow up his home. By the time Phantom Menace rolls around, we can include: several more wars, 6 months to a year on the run across war-torn Mandalore trying to keep a teenage Satine alive, taking responsibility for the death of Qui-Gon’s Love Interest – and that’s just what’s off the top of my head.

Y’know what’s interesting? During Attack of the Clones, what I see is a man just barely holding his shit together. That scene in Dex’s Diner breaks me, because all I can think of is my time doing food service while going through my own PTSD and depression – and I recognize that empty smile he has for Dex. I know it’s all interpretation, but I can’t help but think he’s faking that smile. That sure, he means it: he’s happy to see a friend, he wants to reassure him, but that doesn’t change the hollow inside that he knows if he lets go and falls into it, he will never climb out.

The war provided an alternative focus. It gave him clear, concrete goals: beat back enemies here and here, keep as many of these people alive as possible, here are resources and here are the end goals. He could legitimately bond with brothers in arms who could grok black humor, who wouldn’t look askance at someone covering long-standing grief and discomfort with banter and flirting, “who winked and witticized his way out of death and imprisonment a million times, who always found something to laugh about or make fun of even in the most difficult situations” – regardless of how inappropriate or relevant that might be to the circumstances.

Sometimes, that laughter is all that keeps you from breaking from all the pain.

Yes, people heal. Yes, he had 20 years to work through that trauma and injury. He’d also be doing it alone, with a legacy of stoicism and philosophies about releasing his emotions into the Force. The last major friendships he had ended in betrayal or in death, and people he depended on tended to either die or betray him.

That’s not something you blithely overcome to play pranks on the locals while watching over the kid of your best friend what you almost killed as he was trying to kill you, like he killed most everyone else you knew and loved. There is so much trauma and pain he’s had to see over the last 20 plus years, and Tatooine is the first time he ever gets to breathe and react.

If you want to write trickster archtype Obi-Wan, I applaud you. Without any sarcasm or mockery: you do you.

Meanwhile, I’ll be writing traumatized Old Ben.

(Many thanks to @morgynleri​ and @elegantmess-southernbelle​ who provided brilliant points and conversation, though I suspect I phrased it with much less grace and coherency than they did)

[therealchrisclem]

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker thoughts

I have seen Star Wars: Episode 9 - Rise of Skywalker. I wasn’t going to share my opinion, but it’s not everyday I get to go to a press screening for one of the most anticipated films ever made (of course, hype being what it is, doesn’t mean as much as it did in 1999), so why not try to get some of my thoughts across? 

A few things first - I’m not a critic. I was told a long time ago you can either be someone that does things or someone that criticizes them, but in order to treat either with the respect it deserves, you need to delineate that line clearly. I still work on my scripts and writing packet, I don’t see my self becoming an actual cultural critic of any kind in the future. This is just my views on this film as a guy who loves movies and really, really loves Star Wars. Secondly, Lucasfilm and Disney asked us not to spoil any of the movie, and while I don’t think that’s possible in a macro sense (do you honestly think the good guys lose?), I will try to respect their marketing wishes. There are some things in this movie that were incredibly shocking. Not enough of them for my taste though. 

Finally, I liked The Last Jedi. Was it flawed? Yes. Did the humor in it fit with the rest of the series? No. The humor coming from actual jokes is about as far away from George Lucas comedy like Jar Jar and farting space camels as you can get. It’s actually one of the biggest reasons why I think some fans didn’t think it was really “star wars-y.” Despite it’s issues, that movie introduced new concepts and themes and pushed the series forward in a way that The Force Awakens (which I liked better overall) didn’t, and the spin-offs Rogue One (which I thought was great but unnecessary) and Solo (which I hated more than any other Star Wars movie I saw in theaters, even Attack of the Clones) didn’t. I waited my whole life for new Star Wars because I wanted new Star Wars, not retreads playing in the OT’s bathwater. 

A side-note for a second: I used to always leave my takes on the big blockbuster movies I saw on Facebook. I realized, while ruminating on this movie during the afternoon that I stopped doing that a few years ago. Looking back, it was The Last Jedi that caused that break. I argued so much with friends and family over that movie that I must have decided at some point it wasn’t even worth sharing my opinions on social media. In terms of big budget cinema (I said it) I can’t think of anything as divisive. At least when it came to Batman V Superman, it was so overwhelmingly negative that I don’t remember the lovers of that movie feeling the need to justify it. Or maybe it’s just that social media is overwhelmingly toxic or that our culture in general is sick. I dunno, I’m not writing a Sociology thesis paper here. Back to Rise of Skywalker:

My sister Abby informed me last week that I was going to get to go to this press screening as my brother-in-law Leo’s plus one (he works in the industry) as an early Christmas gift. I was so excited and happy, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get to see the conclusion of my favorite movie series of all time over two days before paying audiences got to! I was pretty much buzzing on a tibana gas high all week. This is why I moved to LA! (Yes, I know that Tibana gas doesn’t get you high. Spice does. Let me mangle these EU references like Solo.) 

The El Capitan Theater in Hollywood is a historical building I’ve always wanted to see a movie at, and what could be better to see than the END OF THE SKY-WALKER SAGA? (Well, Avengers: Endgame*, for starters.) Despite how small and cramped the seats were (humans my size did not exist in the 1930s), my anticipation couldn’t have been higher. I even had my complimentary bucket of popcorn and my free Coke Zero Sugar like the paid off Disney shill I am. The theater darkened, the Lucasfilm logo shone, and we were taken back to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

I’m just gonna get blunt here. It’s impossible for me to say Rise of Skywalker is anything other than a disappointment. I have felt upset and angry after seeing a Star Wars movie (Solo). I have tried to convince myself I loved what I just watched after seeing a Star Wars movie (The Phantom Menace). I have never felt as indifferent about what I’ve seen after I left a Star Wars movie as I did today. And this was something I was really, really, looking forward to.

I promised no spoilers, so here’s my best attempt: The movie is at least 2 movies in one, crammed together at a breakneck pace that is basically held together by the charisma of the actors and the beauty of the special effects shots. The movie looks and feels like a proper Star Wars. I just can’t think of a time where I left a two and a half hour movie and thought it could have used 15 minutes more of exposition. It’s not like it doesn’t make sense, but nothing’s explained and you’re either on board or not. There’s an important character moment that gets brought up repeatedly and never resolved or mentioned after the climax starts. Things happen and exist and this movie doesn’t have the time to tell you why. The pacing is a mess. It is a ton of movie. Hope your eyes are able to keep up. There are also lots of groan-inducing moments and scenes that aren’t enough to ruin the movie but definitely pushed my goodwill to the breaking point.

If you hated The Last Jedi, I have a feeling you’ll be much happier with this. It turns that entire movie into a steaming pile of bantha poo-doo. There are still some things from that movie that resurface, but this movie does a better job honoring the prequels than it does it’s direct fore-bearer. (Seriously, this movie does some heavy lifting to make sure the prequels are connected to the rest of the series in a way George Lucas himself never bothered to do. Despite hating a lot of the prequels, it’s pretty cool.)

And that’s not to say it’s all bad! The action is so, so great, the effects are on another level, the stuff that is good is really good! There are iconic shots throughout that I could have seen on a poster hanging on my ten-year-old bedroom wall. The classic iconography is exalted in Rise of Skywalker. Once it switches from the “first movie” to a Force Awakens-style redux of Return of the Jedi, it’s pretty awesome. I love BB-8, and more that will have to wait for spoiler talk.

It’s never boring or hard to watch either. Plus, having John Williams finish out this series ensures it always sounds like Star Wars. What a gem.

So that’s it.

A mixed bag. 

After all the hype, after all this time, after all the money Disney spent devouring our childhoods and pop culture, that’s all this movie is. Honestly, I was hoping for a lot more. And maybe that will reveal itself when I see it again Thursday night. Even if it doesn’t, I’m still happy it exists. This sequel trilogy (for all its faults) is more than I could have ever hoped for as a child.

I can’t wait until everyone sees it and we can talk about the plot and argue about the movie online until we all hate each other again.

*This movie’s pacing made me appreciate the work the Russo brothers did on Infinity war and Endgame so much. It was a harder task than this movie, and they did it so easily I forgot what a near impossible task that must have been. Honestly, the MCU is really the Star Wars of our time. Don’t shoot me.

[miloscat]

[Review] The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)

There’s highs and lows to the experience of Tri Force Heroes. The premise seems pretty player-unfriendly, but by connecting with an active online community I was able to wring some enjoyment from it.

The Zelda series is no stranger to simultaneous multiplayer. Four Swords, Four Swords Plus, the battle mode in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, Hyrule Warriors co-op, and of course Tingle’s Balloon Fight DS. It’s usually part of a larger package, but here they’ve built on the mechanics of A Link Between Worlds to create a full game that’s multiplayer-only. (You can technically play stages solo but it’s a thoroughly miserable experience, as the design is so laser-focused on having three and only three human participants, and they don’t deign to include the kinds of quality-of-life features Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Plus had for solo play.)

TFH does have a plot but it’s a bit half-arsed. Link (external sources claim it’s the same one from ALBW, and that the change in look is due to a disguise even though the reason he’s accepted as a hero in the game is strictly derived from his appearance) comes to a town—comprising three houses and a castle—with the quirk that everyone is obsessed with fashion; this does tie into the game mechanic of crafting outfits to get different abilities. Then there’s two other Links for some reason. They have to defeat a fancy-clothed witch to break the curse on the local princess who has been forced to wear an unflattering unitard. It’s 100% the weakest story of any Zelda game.

From there you venture to the themed zones outside the castle. It’s the usual: forest, ice, volcano, haunted mansion, sky, etc, etc. While there there’s a robust series of mini-dungeons and stages with decent puzzles and combat, centering around usage of a limited set of items and teamwork. There’s good variety here, especially when you include extra challenge conditions; but only when you’re ready for them. Less successful is the havily-leaned-on “totem” mechanic, where Links pick each other up to interact with different vertical planes. It’s... rarely fun, unfortunately.

Being a multiplayer-only game, your enjoyment will vary based on your party. If people have similar skill levels, everyone is using the cute emotes enthusiastically, and everyone’s being a good sport, then it’s a surprisingly good time. On the other hand you could get dragged into a very difficult challenge and have to redo a level several times, or your run could quickly come to a close from contending with claustrophobic combat chaos, not to mention the dreaded lag and “buffering” wheel.

After playing Metroid Prime: Federation Force with my American friends, I was hoping for a similar experience with people I knew online; unfortunately the multiplayer is region locked, ostensibly to reduce lag, which is cold comfort for an Australian playing with French and Mexican players (technically the latter was playing outside their region with an EU copy of the game, but “EU” still includes countries as distant as South Africa). To be fair I rarely experienced really terrible lag, but I missed playing with friends, and there’s no way I could regularly get two other local friends. The Discord community I found usually provided me with games (and luckily I had a lot of free time during the day), because otherwise it’d be sitting for uncountable ages waiting for random players at this late stage of the game’s life. Online places like that to match you up with willing people are the only tenable way to still play reliably, and even then there’s of course a lot of stuffing around with Friend Codes.

The complications of even starting and maintaining a game make me wonder if it was worth it. If this implementation of a “multiplayer Zelda dungeon” experience really works. As a frantic co-op experience it can be fun, and frustrating, and satisfying, though it is just dungeons, without really fulfilling the other aspects of a Zelda game. But that’s ok, and when I reflect back on my time with TFH, it’s those moments of positive interaction I had with humans on the other side of the screen that I remember. But it’s still a toss-up if you’ll ever get to that point. I’m torn! Either way, Link can wear a pretty dress in this game so that’s cool.

[crackinwise]

why Prequels disappointment =/= TLJ disappointment

Yes, i saw that twitter thread.

You guys now have millions of easy access videos and posts and memes highlighting the Prequel problems frame by frame. You all creamed yourselves waiting for Plinkett to dismantle them. You got to have Family Guy and Robot Chicken influence povs. You get to laugh at the “bad” cgi that was actually the best we had seen at the time. 

With the exception of Jar-Jar (that kids loved for a while), we became fond of every new character no matter how small, and that fondness only grew thanks to new books, comics, and shows. We drooled at the lightsaber battles that were SUPER fast and stylized (shout out to Nick Gillard for showing me my sexuality)! We were in awe of not just locations but whole worlds that were vast and plenty! Yes, yes, constant green screen environments and aliens got old after a while, but we could look past it. When the Phantom Menace was released in theaters, the world was hyped. Every age: HYPED. I saw it at least 9 times myself, and even my father who had seen the OT in theaters and was a lifelong fan LOVED it. Everyone agreed Attack of The Clones dropped in quality mostly because of the boring, awkward “romance”; then we got satisfyingly hyped again for Revenge of the Sith. (Okay, we snickered even then at certain parts but overall it was considered the best of the three.)

 I’ll give the post title’s reasons step by step.

1. The Prequels did not touch any of the characters we grew up loving or idolizing. The “worst” we got was cgi Yoda bouncing around like a pinball in a fight, the Jedi Order kinda being elitist pricks that separated families, child Boba which literally coulda been and done anything and his worshipers would’ve complained, and Vader coming back at the verrrrry end only for legendary James Earl Jones being paid to yell a “nooooOOOOOooooOOOOooo”. The movies focused on Anakin, not Vader. They focused on a young Obi-Wan, which brought excited fanboy Ewan Freaking “I Make Lightsaber Sounds With My Mouth While Filming” McGregor into the mainstream and that man is a gift in talent and body. Even when he’s dragging the weakest points of his Prequel experience he’s still SO damn proud to have been a part of it.

The Prequels didn’t take Luke, Leia or Han and change their personalities or make their lives miserable and lonely. Each OT film built on the last and gave the characters growth that the Prequels did not take away. A fan that hated them could just ignore the prequels completely and not affect any of the OT. Established fans were even used to ignoring what stories they wanted to in the EU additions, so no biggie.

2. Yes, Prequels had bad dialogue and racist aliens and inconsistencies from the OT, but within itself had consistent characters and an overall arc that progressed. Lucas at least had a vague idea how each movie would play out, instead of doing one film then ditching to toss it to a whole new person’s ideas. Also remember this was released at a time when social media wasn’t as popular and wide open. You joined/followed mailing lists for fans, chatrooms for fans, livejournals for fans. (Or the opposite types if you weren’t a fan or had deep criticisms.) You went to cons and SWW, and no one was gonna pay money if they were gonna b*tch the whole time. You didn’t see EVERYONE’S posts unexpectedly and widespread. You couldn’t reblog; you just commented on someone’s post about your thoughts, and even then they could lock the comments to friends only. Fan videos had to be downloaded ON DIAL-UP so in-depth video analysis wasn’t a thing. Of course all fans had little nitpicks, but nitpicks that could be joked about akin to the infamous OT bloopers.

3. As i said: Good Lawd the dialogue was bad cuz Lucas had always had corny dialogue only great actors can pull off. That being said, we had fantastic actors for the Prequels. Liam, Ewan, Natalie: they can make things like “See Spot Run” sound important and dramatic. We didn’t care and we loved them. It was only really noticeable with Jake and Hayden. (Poor Jake i loved him as little Anakin and fanboys were and still are so fucking awful.) Hayden... Idk how he got the part but my bro and i still stiltedly mimic the “what. things. ?” from time to time. 

But corny lines are different from plain bad writing. And lack of direction (Lucas) is different from direction from someone who seems to not know the characters or care to (Rian). The actors we have, both young and old, in the new trilogy are fantastic, but they can still only do so much. They were jerked from knowing their characters to being disappointed and unsure between the span of two movies. 

That’s the difference in the two trilogies. Let people be critical. Let people be disappointed and angry. You don’t like it: fine. But they’re entitled to feel how they feel and you don’t get to feel superior because you think you’ve sat through worse. You’re not a better fan for deciding you’ve suffered more when you were probably just as excited back then as the rest of us. You’re a cliche, and a bad one.

[ayngelface]

Phantom Reactor Review - The Most Powerful Compact Speaker in 2019

CURRENT PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [EU]

Ok first of let me just say Phantom Reactor…that just might be the most awesome speaker name I ever heard… If you know of a speaker with a better name this let me know.

So imagine you’ve got this speaker in your house & your friends are like “what wireless speaker is that?” …and you’re like “hey you know I just got myself a phantom reactor….it’s 900 watts, up to 98dB. Bass as low as 18hz…why what speaker have you got?”

The Devialet Phantom reactor. What a powerful name it has, and trust me it is powerful! You WhatGear legends (YT Subscribers) who have been subscribed to the channel for a while will know… I’m a big fan of Devialet.

Now we have this new addition to the formidable French Hi-Fidelity companies Phantom line up. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this.

You know I was one of the 1st people on YouTube to put a video out on the Phantom. I was as excited then as I am now. Honestly, guys, the Phantom Reactor is going to open your ears & eyes.

DEVIALET PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [US]

Design

The Devialet Phantom Reactor is roughly a quarter the size of it’s bigger brother the Devialet Gold/Silver Phantom. It’s roughly 16 x 17 x 22cm. It is tiny, but it is also no lightweight speaker. The Reactor weighs in at over 4.KG and it’s a heavy hitter.

Just to get an idea of its size, in the Devialet Phantom Reactor review video, you can see it side by side with a Bose SoundLink mini and my current favorite BT speaker the Sony SRS X7.

It is virtually identical to the original Phantom with the white sides, and snowflake grill on the front. Power button and ports as well as heat vents at the back. Of course it has got the iconic aluminum woofer covers on sides. except this time the are 10cm’s in diameter.

There are a couple of differences here in comparison to the big phantoms. The way the Phantom Reactor has been manufactured is slightly different. It’s still a single piece cabinet but now you’ve got capacitive touch buttons across the top.

The original phantoms had a mid driver and a seperate tweeter. Whereas the phantom Reactor has single 3cm aluminum midrange/treble driver. This is due to reduction in size of the speaker.

Just so you know there are 160 patents and 981 part on this thing. So when it comes to design the Reactor is certainly unique.

Usability

Let’s go back to the capacitive touch buttons. Across the top we have got BT pairing, volume down, play/pause, volume up, and a sync button for the app. There’s also a LED indicator light to help you with pairing etc.

As for input methods you’ve got airplay, BT, Spotify connect, upnp optical and analog

I’m a little disappointed there isn’t Deezer integration. Especially being that Deezer is also a French company. Don’t worry I’m sure thats something they could add that later.

To get the full Hi-Res audio 24bit 192kHz out of the reactor you’re going want to use either airplay, upnp or optical and analog from a compatible source.

Now onto the app. So the volume control dominates the majority of the home screen. With the volume dial.

All the options to switch sources are there. Due to the fact, I use an Android phone. To get the most out of the phantom wirelessly you will need to download the Bubble UPNP app.

It kind of works in tandem with the Devialet app. Would be nice to see this integrated into the Devialet app…but to be honest once you set it up it works pretty seamlessly.

Also, you have the option to add multiple phantoms to the one app… And even pair two of them for stereo sound…

So that brings me on nicely to the Quality.

Quality

When it came to testing the sound quality. You know I wasn’t going to be testing this epic HiFi compact speaker with some horribly compressed source. So I went out of my way to download some HiRes Flac tracks , especially for you guys.

It is important you understand, that what you are hearing in the video is recorded via a video rode mic pro. Then rendered in premiere pro. Then played back on the device your watching on… So the Phantom Reactor really is something you have to go to the store and hear and see for yourself.

Click on this image above to watch the Devialet Phantom Reactor sound test segment of the video.

I really did try my best to visualize the sound quality in the demo video. I hope you can appreciate that.

I’ve heard a lot of Hi-End speakers… I actually worked in the Harrods technology department…you know that dusty old building in London Knightsbridge for a long time. I’ve heard a lot of end stuff. Hopefully you can trust my opinion more than most.

The great thing about the sound quality is even at lower volumes you still get that full sounds. When it comes to the sound stage it’s not fair to judge it without listening to a stereo pair.

Just know this. In my opinion a single Phantom Reactor packs more than enough power to fill a large room with powerful bass and amazing clarity and smooth mids.

The best thing about the Reactors sound quality is that even at its highest output level there is no sharpness to the highs. Nothing is lost in the mids or bass notes. It is incomparable to anything you will find on a speaker this small. I can promise you that.

And I don’t even need to tell you about the build quality… Because you already know.

Awesome Features.

ADH Technology

Devialet has its own patented amplification tech. The ADH which is essentially combining class A and Class D methods.

The advantage of this is that the size of the amp can be much smaller. You get the raw power of an analog amplifier combined with the efficiency of a digital amp.

So to break it down simply you can blast this thing from zero to 100 in second and suffer no distortion, 0 saturation, and zero background noise. Just a clean room-filling audio track at whatever level your listening at.

It’s amazing that even at low volume you still get a really full rich sound.

HeartBass Implosion - HBI

Next up the heart bass Implosion tech. Did you know the cabinet of this speaker has been sealed with 500KG of pressure?

So all that pressure just wants to explode out of this thing with those bass notes…and hopefully, you could really see that in the sound test section.

Signal Active Matching - SAM

Signal active matching… So basically Devialet says the phantom will match the exact rhythm and tempo of your music with absolute precision.

Active co-spherical matching - ACE

So the idea is the way in which the phantom outputs the sounds from either side and from the front. You get this real waveform coming from the speaker.

Sort of like the pattern you would see if dropped a pebble into still water. That sort of smooth ripple effect.

SubWoofer Covers

And the last awesome Feature has got to be those woofer covers. What other HiFi speaker is there out that is visually pleasing as this.

Summary

I know the sticking point for a lot of people will be the price. All I can say is “You get what you pay for.”

Yes, there are lots of cheaper options out their…but that’s not what you’re looking if you are watching this. The Devialet Phantom is head and shoulders above anything else of comparable size. That’s why it costs so much.

If I had space I would probably opt for the bigger phantoms. That statement comes from real life experience because I actually had a gold phantom here, and I quite literally couldn’t find anywhere to put it.

The Phantom Reactor is so compact and fits perfectly in any room in my apartment.

My dream setup would be to have two phantom Reactors either side my TV on the official Devialet …stands. That would quite literally be the perfect setup for me.

The Phantom Reactor is the best in class when it comes sound to size ratio. Yes, you could get more bass and more mids from the Devialet Gold Phantom but damn they take up a lot of space.

But not as much as a floor standing speaker.

So should you buy the Phantom Reactor? Yes if you are after the best quality compact speaker on the market. If it’s the power you’re after then check out this video you will like it.

See you in the next one. Don’t be late.

MORE DEVIALET PHANTOM VIDEOS FROM WHATGEAR

Check it out! One year later I finally get my hands on maybe the FINEST wireless speaker known to man! Watch #WhatGear shootouts : https://youtu.be/x9oYZCs9vGg It’s the WhatGear Devialet Gold Phantom review. The Gold Phantom has 4500watts of power…Is it a sound investment?

So Devialet have just launched a new addition to the Phantom range…Its the Devialet Gold Phantom. I caught up with Andy from Devialet to find out whats up with this new speaker. Check it out!

Check the price : https://amzn.to/2GJ9kG2 This is a GROUND breaking bit of kit from a french company. Engineered to perfection. This really takes wireless speakers to a whole new level. If you get a chance to actually hear one of these I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it.

DEVIALET ON AMAZON : http://amzn.to/2IzQhf9 So If your a Sky Q user you can pick up a £799 Devialet Speaker for as cheap as £249. The question is it really worth what they asking for? Well I’ve been using the Devialet soundbox for some time now… Source: https://www.whatgear.net/technology/devialet-phantom-reactor-review

[so-goodbye-smile]

Phantom Reactor Review - The Most Powerful Compact Speaker in 2019

CURRENT PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [EU]

Ok first of let me just say Phantom Reactor...that just might be the most awesome speaker name I ever heard... If you know of a speaker with a better name this let me know.

So imagine you've got this speaker in your house & your friends are like “what wireless speaker is that?” ...and you're like “hey you know I just got myself a phantom reactor....it's 900 watts, up to 98dB. Bass as low as 18hz...why what speaker have you got?”

The Devialet Phantom reactor. What a powerful name it has, and trust me it is powerful! You WhatGear legends (YT Subscribers) who have been subscribed to the channel for a while will know... I'm a big fan of Devialet.

Now we have this new addition to the formidable French Hi-Fidelity companies Phantom line up. I can't tell you how excited I am about this.

You know I was one of the 1st people on YouTube to put a video out on the Phantom. I was as excited then as I am now. Honestly, guys, the Phantom Reactor is going to open your ears & eyes.

DEVIALET PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [US]

Design

The Devialet Phantom Reactor is roughly a quarter the size of it's bigger brother the Devialet Gold/Silver Phantom. It's roughly 16 x 17 x 22cm. It is tiny, but it is also no lightweight speaker. The Reactor weighs in at over 4.KG and it's a heavy hitter.

Just to get an idea of its size, in the Devialet Phantom Reactor review video, you can see it side by side with a Bose SoundLink mini and my current favorite BT speaker the Sony SRS X7.

It is virtually identical to the original Phantom with the white sides, and snowflake grill on the front. Power button and ports as well as heat vents at the back. Of course it has got the iconic aluminum woofer covers on sides. except this time the are 10cm's in diameter.

There are a couple of differences here in comparison to the big phantoms. The way the Phantom Reactor has been manufactured is slightly different. It's still a single piece cabinet but now you've got capacitive touch buttons across the top.

The original phantoms had a mid driver and a seperate tweeter. Whereas the phantom Reactor has single 3cm aluminum midrange/treble driver. This is due to reduction in size of the speaker.

Just so you know there are 160 patents and 981 part on this thing. So when it comes to design the Reactor is certainly unique.

Usability

Let’s go back to the capacitive touch buttons. Across the top we have got BT pairing, volume down, play/pause, volume up, and a sync button for the app. There's also a LED indicator light to help you with pairing etc.

As for input methods you've got airplay, BT, Spotify connect, upnp optical and analog

I'm a little disappointed there isn't Deezer integration. Especially being that Deezer is also a French company. Don’t worry I'm sure thats something they could add that later.

To get the full Hi-Res audio 24bit 192kHz out of the reactor you're going want to use either airplay, upnp or optical and analog from a compatible source.

Now onto the app. So the volume control dominates the majority of the home screen. With the volume dial.

All the options to switch sources are there. Due to the fact, I use an Android phone. To get the most out of the phantom wirelessly you will need to download the Bubble UPNP app.

It kind of works in tandem with the Devialet app. Would be nice to see this integrated into the Devialet app...but to be honest once you set it up it works pretty seamlessly.

Also, you have the option to add multiple phantoms to the one app... And even pair two of them for stereo sound...

So that brings me on nicely to the Quality.

Quality

When it came to testing the sound quality. You know I wasn’t going to be testing this epic HiFi compact speaker with some horribly compressed source. So I went out of my way to download some HiRes Flac tracks , especially for you guys.

It is important you understand, that what you are hearing in the video is recorded via a video rode mic pro. Then rendered in premiere pro. Then played back on the device your watching on... So the Phantom Reactor really is something you have to go to the store and hear and see for yourself.

Click on this image above to watch the Devialet Phantom Reactor sound test segment of the video.

I really did try my best to visualize the sound quality in the demo video. I hope you can appreciate that.

I've heard a lot of Hi-End speakers... I actually worked in the Harrods technology department...you know that dusty old building in London Knightsbridge for a long time. I've heard a lot of end stuff. Hopefully you can trust my opinion more than most.

The great thing about the sound quality is even at lower volumes you still get that full sounds. When it comes to the sound stage it's not fair to judge it without listening to a stereo pair.

Just know this. In my opinion a single Phantom Reactor packs more than enough power to fill a large room with powerful bass and amazing clarity and smooth mids.

The best thing about the Reactors sound quality is that even at its highest output level there is no sharpness to the highs. Nothing is lost in the mids or bass notes. It is incomparable to anything you will find on a speaker this small. I can promise you that.

And I don't even need to tell you about the build quality... Because you already know.

Awesome Features.

ADH Technology

Devialet has its own patented amplification tech. The ADH which is essentially combining class A and Class D methods.

The advantage of this is that the size of the amp can be much smaller. You get the raw power of an analog amplifier combined with the efficiency of a digital amp.

So to break it down simply you can blast this thing from zero to 100 in second and suffer no distortion, 0 saturation, and zero background noise. Just a clean room-filling audio track at whatever level your listening at.

It's amazing that even at low volume you still get a really full rich sound.

HeartBass Implosion - HBI

Next up the heart bass Implosion tech. Did you know the cabinet of this speaker has been sealed with 500KG of pressure?

So all that pressure just wants to explode out of this thing with those bass notes...and hopefully, you could really see that in the sound test section.

Signal Active Matching - SAM

Signal active matching... So basically Devialet says the phantom will match the exact rhythm and tempo of your music with absolute precision.

Active co-spherical matching - ACE

So the idea is the way in which the phantom outputs the sounds from either side and from the front. You get this real waveform coming from the speaker.

Sort of like the pattern you would see if dropped a pebble into still water. That sort of smooth ripple effect.

SubWoofer Covers

And the last awesome Feature has got to be those woofer covers. What other HiFi speaker is there out that is visually pleasing as this.

Summary

I know the sticking point for a lot of people will be the price. All I can say is “You get what you pay for.”

Yes, there are lots of cheaper options out their...but that's not what you're looking if you are watching this. The Devialet Phantom is head and shoulders above anything else of comparable size. That's why it costs so much.

If I had space I would probably opt for the bigger phantoms. That statement comes from real life experience because I actually had a gold phantom here, and I quite literally couldn't find anywhere to put it.

The Phantom Reactor is so compact and fits perfectly in any room in my apartment.

My dream setup would be to have two phantom Reactors either side my TV on the official Devialet ...stands. That would quite literally be the perfect setup for me.

The Phantom Reactor is the best in class when it comes sound to size ratio. Yes, you could get more bass and more mids from the Devialet Gold Phantom but damn they take up a lot of space.

But not as much as a floor standing speaker.

So should you buy the Phantom Reactor? Yes if you are after the best quality compact speaker on the market. If it's the power you're after then check out this video you will like it.

See you in the next one. Don't be late.

MORE DEVIALET PHANTOM VIDEOS FROM WHATGEAR

Check it out! One year later I finally get my hands on maybe the FINEST wireless speaker known to man! Watch #WhatGear shootouts : https://youtu.be/x9oYZCs9vGg It's the WhatGear Devialet Gold Phantom review. The Gold Phantom has 4500watts of power...Is it a sound investment?

So Devialet have just launched a new addition to the Phantom range...Its the Devialet Gold Phantom. I caught up with Andy from Devialet to find out whats up with this new speaker. Check it out!

Check the price : https://amzn.to/2GJ9kG2 This is a GROUND breaking bit of kit from a french company. Engineered to perfection. This really takes wireless speakers to a whole new level. If you get a chance to actually hear one of these I'm pretty sure you won't regret it.

DEVIALET ON AMAZON : http://amzn.to/2IzQhf9 So If your a Sky Q user you can pick up a £799 Devialet Speaker for as cheap as £249. The question is it really worth what they asking for? Well I've been using the Devialet soundbox for some time now... source https://www.whatgear.net/technology/devialet-phantom-reactor-review

[cosmichemist]

Phantom Reactor Review - The Most Powerful Compact Speaker in 2019

CURRENT PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [EU]

Ok first of let me just say Phantom Reactor...that just might be the most awesome speaker name I ever heard... If you know of a speaker with a better name this let me know.

So imagine you've got this speaker in your house & your friends are like “what wireless speaker is that?” ...and you're like “hey you know I just got myself a phantom reactor....it's 900 watts, up to 98dB. Bass as low as 18hz...why what speaker have you got?”

The Devialet Phantom reactor. What a powerful name it has, and trust me it is powerful! You WhatGear legends (YT Subscribers) who have been subscribed to the channel for a while will know... I'm a big fan of Devialet.

Now we have this new addition to the formidable French Hi-Fidelity companies Phantom line up. I can't tell you how excited I am about this.

You know I was one of the 1st people on YouTube to put a video out on the Phantom. I was as excited then as I am now. Honestly, guys, the Phantom Reactor is going to open your ears & eyes.

DEVIALET PHANTOM REACTOR PRICE [US]

Design

The Devialet Phantom Reactor is roughly a quarter the size of it's bigger brother the Devialet Gold/Silver Phantom. It's roughly 16 x 17 x 22cm. It is tiny, but it is also no lightweight speaker. The Reactor weighs in at over 4.KG and it's a heavy hitter.

Just to get an idea of its size, in the Devialet Phantom Reactor review video, you can see it side by side with a Bose SoundLink mini and my current favorite BT speaker the Sony SRS X7.

It is virtually identical to the original Phantom with the white sides, and snowflake grill on the front. Power button and ports as well as heat vents at the back. Of course it has got the iconic aluminum woofer covers on sides. except this time the are 10cm's in diameter.

There are a couple of differences here in comparison to the big phantoms. The way the Phantom Reactor has been manufactured is slightly different. It's still a single piece cabinet but now you've got capacitive touch buttons across the top.

The original phantoms had a mid driver and a seperate tweeter. Whereas the phantom Reactor has single 3cm aluminum midrange/treble driver. This is due to reduction in size of the speaker.

Just so you know there are 160 patents and 981 part on this thing. So when it comes to design the Reactor is certainly unique.

Usability

Let’s go back to the capacitive touch buttons. Across the top we have got BT pairing, volume down, play/pause, volume up, and a sync button for the app. There's also a LED indicator light to help you with pairing etc.

As for input methods you've got airplay, BT, Spotify connect, upnp optical and analog

I'm a little disappointed there isn't Deezer integration. Especially being that Deezer is also a French company. Don’t worry I'm sure thats something they could add that later.

To get the full Hi-Res audio 24bit 192kHz out of the reactor you're going want to use either airplay, upnp or optical and analog from a compatible source.

Now onto the app. So the volume control dominates the majority of the home screen. With the volume dial.

All the options to switch sources are there. Due to the fact, I use an Android phone. To get the most out of the phantom wirelessly you will need to download the Bubble UPNP app.

It kind of works in tandem with the Devialet app. Would be nice to see this integrated into the Devialet app...but to be honest once you set it up it works pretty seamlessly.

Also, you have the option to add multiple phantoms to the one app... And even pair two of them for stereo sound...

So that brings me on nicely to the Quality.

Quality

When it came to testing the sound quality. You know I wasn’t going to be testing this epic HiFi compact speaker with some horribly compressed source. So I went out of my way to download some HiRes Flac tracks , especially for you guys.

It is important you understand, that what you are hearing in the video is recorded via a video rode mic pro. Then rendered in premiere pro. Then played back on the device your watching on... So the Phantom Reactor really is something you have to go to the store and hear and see for yourself.

Click on this image above to watch the Devialet Phantom Reactor sound test segment of the video.

I really did try my best to visualize the sound quality in the demo video. I hope you can appreciate that.

I've heard a lot of Hi-End speakers... I actually worked in the Harrods technology department...you know that dusty old building in London Knightsbridge for a long time. I've heard a lot of end stuff. Hopefully you can trust my opinion more than most.

The great thing about the sound quality is even at lower volumes you still get that full sounds. When it comes to the sound stage it's not fair to judge it without listening to a stereo pair.

Just know this. In my opinion a single Phantom Reactor packs more than enough power to fill a large room with powerful bass and amazing clarity and smooth mids.

The best thing about the Reactors sound quality is that even at its highest output level there is no sharpness to the highs. Nothing is lost in the mids or bass notes. It is incomparable to anything you will find on a speaker this small. I can promise you that.

And I don't even need to tell you about the build quality... Because you already know.

Awesome Features.

ADH Technology

Devialet has its own patented amplification tech. The ADH which is essentially combining class A and Class D methods.

The advantage of this is that the size of the amp can be much smaller. You get the raw power of an analog amplifier combined with the efficiency of a digital amp.

So to break it down simply you can blast this thing from zero to 100 in second and suffer no distortion, 0 saturation, and zero background noise. Just a clean room-filling audio track at whatever level your listening at.

It's amazing that even at low volume you still get a really full rich sound.

HeartBass Implosion - HBI

Next up the heart bass Implosion tech. Did you know the cabinet of this speaker has been sealed with 500KG of pressure?

So all that pressure just wants to explode out of this thing with those bass notes...and hopefully, you could really see that in the sound test section.

Signal Active Matching - SAM

Signal active matching... So basically Devialet says the phantom will match the exact rhythm and tempo of your music with absolute precision.

Active co-spherical matching - ACE

So the idea is the way in which the phantom outputs the sounds from either side and from the front. You get this real waveform coming from the speaker.

Sort of like the pattern you would see if dropped a pebble into still water. That sort of smooth ripple effect.

SubWoofer Covers

And the last awesome Feature has got to be those woofer covers. What other HiFi speaker is there out that is visually pleasing as this.

Summary

I know the sticking point for a lot of people will be the price. All I can say is “You get what you pay for.”

Yes, there are lots of cheaper options out their...but that's not what you're looking if you are watching this. The Devialet Phantom is head and shoulders above anything else of comparable size. That's why it costs so much.

If I had space I would probably opt for the bigger phantoms. That statement comes from real life experience because I actually had a gold phantom here, and I quite literally couldn't find anywhere to put it.

The Phantom Reactor is so compact and fits perfectly in any room in my apartment.

My dream setup would be to have two phantom Reactors either side my TV on the official Devialet ...stands. That would quite literally be the perfect setup for me.

The Phantom Reactor is the best in class when it comes sound to size ratio. Yes, you could get more bass and more mids from the Devialet Gold Phantom but damn they take up a lot of space.

But not as much as a floor standing speaker.

So should you buy the Phantom Reactor? Yes if you are after the best quality compact speaker on the market. If it's the power you're after then check out this video you will like it.

See you in the next one. Don't be late.

MORE DEVIALET PHANTOM VIDEOS FROM WHATGEAR

Check it out! One year later I finally get my hands on maybe the FINEST wireless speaker known to man! Watch #WhatGear shootouts : https://youtu.be/x9oYZCs9vGg It's the WhatGear Devialet Gold Phantom review. The Gold Phantom has 4500watts of power...Is it a sound investment?

So Devialet have just launched a new addition to the Phantom range...Its the Devialet Gold Phantom. I caught up with Andy from Devialet to find out whats up with this new speaker. Check it out!

Check the price : https://amzn.to/2GJ9kG2 This is a GROUND breaking bit of kit from a french company. Engineered to perfection. This really takes wireless speakers to a whole new level. If you get a chance to actually hear one of these I'm pretty sure you won't regret it.

DEVIALET ON AMAZON : http://amzn.to/2IzQhf9 So If your a Sky Q user you can pick up a £799 Devialet Speaker for as cheap as £249. The question is it really worth what they asking for? Well I've been using the Devialet soundbox for some time now... Source: https://www.whatgear.net/technology/devialet-phantom-reactor-review

[glompcat]

Also star wars

HOPE YOU LIKE WALLS OF TEXT

The character I first fell in love with: I have trouble really remembering, as Star Wars is something I had watched over and over again before I even reached the point where I can REALLY remember? There is a part of me that thinks it was probably Luke, but that said, I do know which character I remember loving the most as a young kid, and which one changed my life the most and for the better. I know that from third grade on I always insisted on pretending to be Jaina Solo during my childhood bestie and I’s games at recess. That I was reading a Young Jedi Knights book on the day he and I became friends (I was reading Shadow Academy to be specific and exact). That we became friends because I was reading a Star Wars book, and he was pretty much my only friend in elementary school, and is still a friend who is incredibly dear to me to this day. So while Jaina Solo probably was not the first I loved, she was the first I fell head over heels for, and in turn she gave me what I needed to survive the bullying I literally have blocked from my memory and my mom still cries about - a friend.The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Literally any and all characters in the current canon who were not in Legends. When they first announced that they were killing the EU I really was upset, and mocked the idea of a new canon. Now here we are, just a few short years into the new canon and I just… love it and its characters so so so much. I know that is very broad, so I’ll get more specific and pick just ONE character. Rae Sloane. Rae is an Imperial. I never ever expected to like her, at all. When we meet her in New Dawn it is made very clear to us that she cares about NOTHING but rising in the ranks in the Empire. That said she plays a very interesting and cool role in almost every work she appears in, Rae is that person who can tell the difference between being an evil fascist regime and being an over the top supervillain. Oh, she is just as evil as the rest of them, but kriff does she ever know when the people around her have gone full supervillain and she tends to serve the role of that person in the room rolling her eyes and trying desperately to show everyone just how bad these bad ideas are. No one ever listens, and now she just went from the figurehead forming the First Order to floating in a small craft in space with a former imperial prisoner and wow am I ever interested to see where she goes in Empire’s End.The character everyone else loves that I don’t: I am so very very upset that Armitage Hux, a character whose entire characterization so far is basically ‘is a nazi’ counts here. Also Maul (When will he die????). And Boba Fett (I don’t care about him? I really don’t?)The character I love that everyone else hates: Honestly I know large parts of this fandom still resents the new canon characters for existing. I work reeeeal hard to avoid those threads on the various boards I visit. Somehow I still find it hard to escape the hate directed against Rey. I know she is very far from someone who everyone hates, and I consider those people to not really be fans, but damn.The character I used to love but don’t any longer: When Phantom Menace first came out and I was 10 years old, I thought Maul was super cool.The character I would totally smooch: YOU WANT A LIST BECAUSE THIS WOULD BE A LONG LIST (like alllll the ladies).The character I’d want to be like: I hope to have Leia’s unending dedication to doing what is right, and Hera’s ability to take care of my fellow revolutionaries in the midst of the fight.The character I’d slap: Anakin circa the Clone Wars era. Ben Organa.A pairing that I love: How does Star Wars make me actually care about het ships???? Leia and Han, Hera and Kanan, Norra and Wedge… WHAT IS THIS? Also of course Sabine and Ketsu, Sinjir and sobriety (I can dream), Baze and Chirrut and Ahsoka and like every lady she has ever interacted with, we all know that woman is a chick magnet.A pairing that I don’t: I am still so sad Padme dumping Anakin only lasted for one episode in the Clone Wars TV show. Because WOW is he ever manipulative and abusive towards her. I could never ever ever, even if she WASN’T so queer coded, ever see anything between Ezra and Sabine. Reylo, obs. Also of course the popular two white facist dudes ship.

[ambiguityisnoonesfriend]

May the 4th 2017 Letter

Dear Yoda,

I am so excited, you have no idea. I love all the iterations of the characters and relationships I’ve requested, and can’t wait to see what you’ve created for me!

Likes: toppy women and partners who are turned on by toppy women, humor, endings with hope intact, functional relationships, dysfunctional relationships, secret relationships that aren’t really a secret, canon divergence AUs such as what if they got there five minutes sooner, porn, fluff, friends with benefits

Specific art likes: two or three panel simple line comics, playing card or tarot card type imagery, setting a scene, magic and metaphor

Do not want: noncon (dubcon and sex pollen ok), scat, watersports, omegaverse, unrequested ships except as mentioned, non-canon AUs such as coffeeshops

Luke/Leia/Han

These are the characters who started it all. I ship them as one group and I ship the component pairs. I see Han as completely in love with both twins, and he has been since the first day. Luke’s first priority is Leia, no matter what, and what he’s got with Han is simpler. Leia adores them both but her first and truest loves are duty and freedom. She would marry someone else if she had to. She would stay single if she had to. She would prefer to be with the two of them. I prefer to see these three in a more or less functional closed triad trying to make things work and the audience knowing how it all ends. Force ghost sex is fine for fics set after TFA.

Prompts: - Sneaking around post RotJ. - Sneaking around during their time on Hoth together. - How Ben came along, and raising him together. - AU where things never went bad. - That one time they went to Planet Sex Pollen.

Depa Billaba & Mace Windu

I recently read "Shatterpoint" and now I am obsessed with this particular Jedi family. The old EU and new EU differ on what happened on Haruun Kal. In one timeline, Depa was left comatose after falling to the Dark Side. In the other, she was critically wounded in battle with Grievous and lost most of her troops as well as her self-confidence. Is Mace aware of both timelines? Did he do something to alter the course of the one we're currently in to save his "daughter"? How have they reconciled the no-attachments policy with the fact that they clearly love each other, or was a distance between them the price of living in the new timeline? Depa had a sister who died on Geonosis because they recast half the Council for filming AotC then realized the new actors didn't look like the previous actors and retconned in new characters, whom no one ever mentions. Why? Depa was the youngest person to be elevated to the High Council. Did she feel she earned it, or was she worried part of the promotion stemmed from who she knew rather than who she was, and how did that affect their friendship? How does Mace respond to Depa's choice in Padawans, and how much of her choices in how she trains Caleb have been affected by her own history with one of the most powerful Jedi alive? What would have become of them without Order 66?

Kanan/Hera

These two are amazing, Actual functional adults in a relationship without jealousy or artificial barriers? Who knew? I love how both of them are attracted to the other’s competence. I love the trust. I love that they are clearly business partners and best friends first, and that they have been for years. I love that Kanan works for her, and does whatever she needs him to do to accomplish their goal, and he trusts she knows what she’s doing when she sends him out. I love that Hera puts the rebellion first, and her team’s safety, over her own feelings, and I love that it’s hard but she believes it’s right. I love that the one time she didn't, it blew up in her face and she recognized it was a bad idea. I love how she views the rest of the team as their family they’ve put together and I love that he clearly agrees. I see the two of them as essentially already married, whether or not they ever make it legal, but they both like and need their own space. My headcanon is that every few months, the two of them take the Phantom out for a 2-3 day supply run, and everyone except Ezra knows this is code for “we’re going to go have sex.” (I received an adorable fic on this very topic, and love it to pieces!) Feel free to incorporate or ignore New Dawn as you like.

Prompts:

- It seems like the team has a lot less down time in season three than they used to. How much mission and schedule-juggling do Hera and Kanan have to do these days to find a little free time alone together? - They've got experience raising kids together. Do they ever talk about trying for children of their own? Do they even know it's possible? (I like both surprise!preg and planned!preg as tropes, but prefer "then we discussed this like adults" rather than "then suddenly everything was magically better/worse/comedic stereotype" as the result. I'm not asking for pregnancy fic, merely stating my preference if you do go there.) - Five times other people assumed they were married. Extra: And one time they were right. - Dealing with the chain of command as Hera keeps getting promoted. - That one time they went to Planet Sex Pollen.

Chirrut & Kanan

The one thing I walked out of the theatre from Rogue One with was the desire to know absolutely everything about Chirrut and Baze. The only AU I wanted was the one where the two of them managed to survive and went away to be space married together forever. This prompt can take place before Rogue One, or in the AU where the space husbands live. (Space marrieds meet space marrieds?) How much does Chirrut geek out at meeting an actual Jedi? Is Kanan uncomfortable at finding out about people who worship the Force? Do they have Blind Force Guy bonding moments? Do they go on a mission together to rescue their other halves?

Hera & Thrawn

Ever since I read this, I have been obsessed with the image of Hera and Thrawn playing space chess against each other with the Rebel Alliance and the Empire as their playing pieces. Thrawn was polite to her during her interrogation, despite Slavin's protests. Does he view her as an equal, or is he just showing courtesy to separate himself from his coarse underling? Does that change over the course of their interactions? What picture does Hera build in her head of this Imperial she's sparring with? Does she use his art appreciation against him, having Sabine leave false clues in her tagging?

Reylo

I love this pairing for all the potential. They are opposites. They are exactly the same. Each is incredibly jealous of the other. They keep being drawn together like two ends of a stretched spring, and the only question is if they’ll fuck, fight to the death, or both. My fondest hope is both. I love all variations of dubcon for these two, from The Force Made Them Do It and Sex Pollen, to Forced To Work Together For Reasons.

Prompts:

- Kylo defects to the Resistance. Rey has to deal with her hated enemy as a part of her team. - Stranded together! Handcuffed together! Forced to pose as a couple! Anything from the standard get-together trope set is fine by me. - Alwaysagirl!Kylo AU where everything is otherwise exactly the same, including her chosen new name. - That one time they went to Planet Sex Pollen.

Leia & Hera & Sabine

This mission happened. I don't know if it happened before or after the Battle of Yavin, or even several years after Endor, but it happened. Maybe they have to rescue other team members. Maybe they have to go woo new allies, or pick up supplies from a picky source. Leia and Hera are going to disagree about who is in charge. Sabine's loyalty on the topic may vary depending on who is annoying her more at that moment. Leia and Sabine may wind up with their very first hangovers, or at a later setting, maybe they're remembering same. For background pairings, I'd prefer Leia with Han, Luke, or both, and Hera with Kanan. Sabine is my little black femslash dress, although I don't ship her with either of the women in this prompt.

FinnReyLo

I see Rey as drawn to both of them in a classic triangle: Finn is the pull of the light, and Kylo is the allure of the dark, and Rey is fascinated by both. Maybe Finn is enough to bring both the Jedi to the light. Maybe Kylo seduces them both to the other side. Finn and Kylo carry a lot of baggage with each other. Do they set it aside at Rey’s request, or does it define how they both must deal with her and one another? In general, I ship Kylo with Finn, Rey, and Poe, separately and all together, so if you want to throw Poe in to the pile of naked, that’s fine but please keep the emphasis on the requested ships.

Finnlo

The First Order Virgins Club has two very messed up members. I love that they intersect in their lives coming from the opposite directions. Kylo had a family and a unique destiny, and he gave them up for power. Finn was raised without affection and trained to be expendable, and he chose independence and freedom. Their time in the First Order surely screwed up both their minds with regards to normal relationships, and until proven otherwise, I assume neither has had one before we meet them in TFA. In a scenario where Kylo defects, Finn’s the one who would understand him best, and vice versa.

Prompts:

- Kylo defects to the Resistance. Finn has to deal with the ex-boss who nearly killed him as a part of his team. - Stranded together! Handcuffed together! Forced to pose as a couple! Anything from the standard get-together trope set is fine by me. - AU where Finn doesn't defect and Poe still gets the plans to the Resistance. FN-2187 slowly melts the heart of his bitter leader with the power of love, and they run away together before Starkiller Base goes boom. - That one time they went to Planet Sex Pollen.

Leia & Han & Rey & Kylo & Ben & Matt

If you offered this one, I assume you're up for crack. Bear with me. No, I mean "bear."

Brave AU!

No, wait! Come back!

Rey is the daughter of career politician Leia and her well-meaning pilot husband Han. Leia has been grooming her daughter to serve in the New Republic Senate and take on more responsibility. She has fewer hopes for Rey's younger triplet brothers Kylo, Ben, and Matt. Her primary hope for them is they stay out of prison. Rey doesn't want to go into politics. She wants to fly ships like Han, and more. She's inherited Uncle Luke's lightsaber, and in her heart, she wants to be a Jedi. Conflict with Mom. Dad caught between adoring her and being proud of her, and knowing Leia's right. The boys being annoying but sometimes helpful. Meanwhile, out in Wild Space, there are rumors of a seven foot tall hairy alien with a strange connection to her family. This could be as cracky or as serious as you wanted, and could diverge wildly from the movie after the initial setup. The thought of Finn, Poe, and Jessika as suitors for Rey's hand, and finding out they have to best her in lightsaber combat would be funny but not necessary. Endgame ship preferences in no particular order: FinnRey, Rey not choosing anyone because she would rather focus on her Jedi career, Stormpilot, giant orgy.

If that premise is too out there, a less cracky approach would be that the Organa-Solos did have three boys who led very different lives, and Rey interacts with each member of the family, not knowing why the three young men look so alike because Leia and Han aren't saying anything. This could endgame as Reylo, FinnReyLo, ReyBen, FinnLo, DarkTech, or no pairings.

Note that my non-canonverse AU DNW can be stretched a little here.