#killing off Alden might have been my best idea yet

[stilessdylanobae-ddixonlove]

Surviving The Walking Dead - Wanted (Chapter 17)

Author: @stilessdylanobae-ddixonlove

Characters: Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier, Michonne, Lydia, Evan, Will Barbor, Magna, Aaron, Rosita, Eugene, Alden, Mary, Negan, Beta, Dog & Reader. 

Summary: Y/n and Dog struggle with recent changes, Daryl meets with the council, Aaron learns where the horde is being kept and a group sets out to find you. 

Note: I hope this chapter comes together okay. I wanted it to be a group decision to find you.

Also, consider the idea that certain people are so forgiving of you because you aren’t the only one who knows of this secret plan with Negan. (;

Warning: Cursing, graphic violence, death, painful losses/flashbacks, fluffffff.

Chapter Seventeen - Chapter Eighteen

You were in and out for a bit, slowly forced awake by Dog’s constant whining. When your eyes finally fluttered open, you reached an arm out beside you but felt nothing but a wad of blankets and empty bed. You sat up, noticing Daryl’s vest laid perfectly in his place.

He was gone.

You felt the devastation building, the pain in your chest and throat as you tried to hold back the tears. You succeeded in keeping all but one; a single tear fell in unbelievable despair, as you quietly wept over the thought of never seeing him again.

You were on your own now.

——————

Daryl was in a daze back at Alexandria. It’d been another three days and he’d spent most of it quiet and closed off. He sat inside Carol’s house that afternoon, incessantly tapping his leg while he waited for Lydia to get back from school. He thought long and hard about a way out of this mess. Michonne was on her way to Oceanside to help there for awhile, so he couldn’t talk to her yet.

Carol descended the staircase and noticed the back of his head resting against her couch. She paused.

“Aaron's going to talk to that Whisperer again tonight.” She said to him. He groaned. “Are you okay?” She asked.

Daryl turned and reached for his crossbow. “Mhm.” He mumbled. “Are you?”

He stared a moment, then stood and made his exit. Carol stepped out on the porch and watched him stop and chat with Lydia for a moment as she returned. He patted her shoulder and walked away.

“Where’s he going?” Carol greeted.

Lydia shrugged and sat down underneath the window. Her face was still covered in cuts and bruises. “I don’t know.” She stated, simply. Carol nodded and went to sit next to her with a long and drawn out sigh. “One of these days, he’s gonna leave and not come back here.” Lydia’s lips quivered.

“No.” Carol turned to her. “He’ll always come back. Is that what you’re worried about?” She asked.

“I’m worried that none of us will be the same without her.” Lydia swallowed harshly. “Negan did save my life and yet, she was the only one who could see any good in him.”

“You don’t understand the pain he’s inflicted.” Carol informed the teen.

“Maybe he’s changed. I did.” She said. Carol looked to her, reeling. She wondered if what she said had some truth to it as she looked to the young girls wounds. She thought about what they could have been and reached for her antibacterial cream in her pocket that Siddiq gave to her. She rubbed her thumb over the lid, lightly.

“Here. It’ll help with the bruises.” Carol ultimately handed her the container.

“I’ve had worse.” Lydia replied, taking it anyway.

“So have I.” Carol said with a harsh stare. “So what do you know about Mary?”

“Just that the one’s who watch the horde are loyal.” Lydia winced. “It’s like, I hate them but I still know them.” She rested her head back against the brick wall with a sigh.

Carol shook her head. “Yeah but Alpha drew a line and you have to choose a side.” She urged.

Lydia sniffled. “I wish I’d left when Henry asked me to. I wish we all did, like we talked about.”

“So do I.” Carol lamented. “I want you to come with me somewhere tonight, help me with something.” Lydia hesitantly agreed.

___________

That night, Aaron met with Mary again as planned. But she seemed off this time-more distant. And to his surprise, after he got close she grabbed him from behind and put a knife to his throat. She was feeling beyond overwhelmed, growing afraid and desperate to see her nephew.

“Don’t do this. It isn’t you.” Aaron told her as she pushed the blade a little harder into his neck.

“You have no idea who I am.” She spit in his ear. Carol , who was spying on them from afar, hoping to hear the location of the horde quickly appeared through the trees with her bow drawn.

“Let him go!” She yelled. Lydia, who came with her upon request showed her face next while Mary was suddenly blindsided with confusion and betrayal at the sight of her. She dropped the knife and ran. Carol couldn’t help but smile for a split second, wanting her to see Lydia all along. She wanted to send a message of uncertainty. She wanted to make the Skins question their loyalty to Alpha. Lydia quickly stepped in front of Carol, panic stricken. “Your mother told her people that she killed you.” Carol explained Mary’s behavior. Lydia’s heart dropped and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“You said you wanted my help!” Lydia hollered. “You used me to get to them.” She cried.

“I’m sorry.” Carol admitted. Lydia looked back and forth between Carol and Aaron, unsure what to do next. Her tears burned the cuts on her face but she was too angry to care.

“You said earlier you wanted me to choose a side.” She muttered. “Well fine, I choose mine!” She concluded, preparing to leave.

“You can’t go out there, it’s dangerous!” Carol tried to stop her. Lydia shook her head in disbelief. “Listen, I’m sorry about what just happened but it will help us. All of us! You, Daryl and Y/n too.” Lydia huffed and turned to walk away. “I want to go find Y/n and bring her home! I want to keep her safe too, can you help me do that?” Carol begged. “We can go to Hilltop, get Evan and Will. They will fight for her to stay.” Lydia’s breathing slowed as she finally began to calm down. “Okay?”

“Fine. I’ll go. Alone, I don’t want to be anywhere near you right now!” Lydia hissed before disappearing into the woods. Aaron looked to Carol questionably with disapproval. 

_______________

Daryl stood in the middle of the latest council meeting, his arms tightly crossed against his chest and his head hung low. Michonne returned home only a few hours prior, bitter and frustrated over the details of Siddiq’s death. She sat impatiently listening to the other discuss Dante and all that they had trusted him with; how he helped treat the people here, many times. It was truly repulsing. Aaron leaned back in his seat and rubbed at his beard. 

“Alright, enough.” He cringed, throwing a hand up to silence the noise. “Dante will pay for his actions, Michonne already said he will be put down. We are here to simply say that we need to take different precautions when it comes to allowing new people into the communities.” 

“Clearly.” Rosita grumbled from her seat, looking directly up at Daryl who scowled uncontrollably. 

The room was finally dead silent.

“If you got something to say, say it!” Daryl angrily threw his arms down as he skimmed the council members with his tired and heartbroken eyes.

Michonne took in a deep breath from her seat at head of the table. “Daryl, we’re all just trying to make sure everyone is safe. After Dante and after what Y/n did, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the people here are worried.” Daryl shook immensely and went to lean against the windowsill. 

“No.” He spoke firmly. “Get it all out of your heads because Y/n ain’t like that. You’re all scared and I get it. But you are wrong about her!” His voice grew louder. Rosita shook with frustration as Eugene put his hand on top of hers. She grunted while Daryl glared her way for several quiet moments. “This is why she left!” He muttered.

“Maybe that means she had something to hide.” Alden spoke up, placing his hands together firmly on the table in front of him. “The guy never should have been allowed to live and that’s on Rick. But now, it’s on us.” 

“You better stop talking, kid.” Daryl snapped. Alden sighed heavily in response. 

Michonne made her way over to where Daryl stood, hunched over near the window. “Listen, you are the best damn judge of character I know.” She turned to the group but she only spoke to Daryl. “I trust you and as I mentioned before she let him out, Negan is not our biggest problem anymore. Now, Hilltop and Maggie...” She paused, looking back to him. “They might be a different story but for now I promise you that no one here is going to go after her.” Michonne reassured her friend. Aaron stood and left the room, forcefully slamming the door behind him while Michonne winced.

Daryl crossed his arms again. “Lydia is still out there too. We don’t know what that means yet.” He motioned to Carol who stood in the back of the room quietly. 

“I know.” Michonne paused as Carol stepped out of the shadows. 

“Mary came back, she told Aaron where the horde is.” Carol spoke about the only thing that interested her during today’s meeting. 

“We’re gonna trust a Whisperer now?” Daryl questioned, looking to Michonne.

“You wanna do nothing?” Carol scowled. 

“Alright, I have to go back to Oceanside for a bit.” Michonne said. “But I know I can’t stop you from checking on this. It’d be better if you got a group together.” She suggested. “Maybe you’ll see Lydia along the way.” Daryl ultimately nodded in agreement, knowing Carol would go alone otherwise. 

_____________

You finally felt hungry. Finally felt good enough to get out of bed. You decided it was time to pull yourself together and go hunt. You slipped a sweater over your head, your body aching and your head still slightly spinning. You weren’t sure if you had came down with the flu or if your anxiety and stress was physically attacking you. Maybe it was both. Your long y/h/c hair was greasy and matted, therefore driving you crazy. So you threw it up into a messy bun and thought about heading for the edge of the border. If you remained patient and quiet, you could possibly check up on Negan and wash at the river without running into any Whisperers. You gathered some supplies while Dog sat down and stared up at you, his head cocked to the side. 

“You gotta stay here. This could be dangerous and I have to be quiet. No running, no barking. I’ll come back for you, boy.” You spoke out loud for the first time in days, your voice harsh and raspy. You cleared your throat and made your way up the stepladder and out of the bunker. The outside world was bright and hurt your eyes at first. You stared into the empty field surrounding you, wondering what was in store for you next. Regardless, you had to see this plan with Negan through.

You made your way deeper into the forest, the ground getting softer and muddier under your boots as you got closer to water. All was quiet, except for the sound of the river. You could see it now, from behind a tree where you sat and watched for almost an hour to make sure it was safe. 

No walkers. No Skins.

You opened your bag and pulled a large piece of bread from it, still savoring what you took from Alexandria, and you took a bite. Next you took a sip from your water bottle and then decided to attempt a bath. You pulled out a small bar of soap in plastic wrap you’d been saving for this moment, held it tight and stepped out into the open.

You found a spot where the river was shallow and well shielded by large bushes and proceeded to remove your shoes, jeans and sweater. You left your tank top and underwear on and slowly climbed into the freezing river. Though, it felt good and refreshing. You dipped your head back into the water and scrubbed your hair with the bar of soap generously. Then you rinsed. As you sat there for a minute soaking, you began to hear soft whispers. You slowly moved to the edge of the water and under a cliff of dirt and exposed roots. You could hear them above you, Beta and a few others.

You remained completely still. 

“Hey, you see that?” You heard one Skin say from behind his mask. Beta looked over to see your backpack laying against a stump below them. They turned around to make their way down the hill and you quickly reached for your belongings, grabbing your knife and pistol first before running behind some thick bushes. You covered your mouth, your hair dripping wet down your shivering body. 

“You, Jolly Green Giant! The Queen is asking for you.” You suddenly heard in the distance. It was Negan, you knew his voice. The men skimmed the area, then gave up and left. Beta grunted the whole way and once it was quiet again, you stood from the bushes, stealthily making your way farther out. You could see Negan now, he was wearing his infamous leather jacket, covered in dirt and blood and staring off in the distance. “You’ve got some serious lady balls.” He said a little louder. “Come on, I saw you.” 

You stepped out in front of him in your underwear, soaking wet and he looked you up and down, smiling. 

“You look like shit.” You greeted. 

“I can’t say the same, Princess.” He laughed.

“So?” You harassed, pulling your wet hair back up into a bun with the hair tie on your wrist. Then you set your bag back down to slip your jeans on while Negan watched your every move. 

“Well, seeing as I’m sure you can’t stay for dinner I’ll make it quick. These sickos have me digging holes to roast big ass pigs for them, they’ve sent walkers to kill me...oh, and let’s not forget Alpha's booty call yesterday.” He shrugged. “It’s been awesome.” 

“You had sex with Alpha?” You frowned. He smiled. 

“Jealous?” He teased. 

“No, that’s just disgusting.” You shook.

He grinned uncontrollably. “Listen, you don’t have to worry about me. Everything is going according to plan.” You stared. He got closer, forcing you backwards until your back stopped against a tree. He grinned. “Now, get out of here before you get seen and I can’t help you.” He spoke quieter. You scowled, picked up your bag and turned to leave. Negan quickly began covering your footprints. 

_____________________

The next day when the sun was at it’s highest point in the sky, Daryl watched fellow Alexandrian’s finish setting up for Siddiq’s service that would happen in the next few minutes. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked over to where their fallen friend was now buried in the dirt. But Daryl quickly fell distracted when he spotted Lydia re-enter Alexandria’s front gates accompanied by Will, Evan and Magna. He raised his right hand up to shield his eyes from the bright light, making sure he was seeing correctly.

Daryl then eagerly approached them. “Hey, what’s going on?” He yelled. “Did you go to Hilltop alone?”

Lydia guestered to those she brought with her. “They needed to know what happened with Y/n and that Negan wasn’t here anymore.” Lydia explained herself. “Carol thought-” 

“Carol asked you to do this?” Daryl questioned and she nodded. “Why?” Lydia rubbed her hand, awkwardly as Magna stepped forward impatiently. 

“We wanna help with the horde." She announced. Daryl stared for a moment. “We heard you needed people so here we are.”

“If you’ll have us.” Will added, remembering the circumstances of the last time they spoke.

“Alright.” Daryl hesitantly replied.

“So, where is Y/n?” Will then changed the subject, awkwardly.

Daryl painfully eyed the tall blonde. “She won’t want you out looking for her, trust me. But I promise she’s safe.”

Will gulped. “Does she know about all this though?” He wondered. Daryl nodded. “Look, not to step on any toes here but her and Negan’s relationship was always complicated, she saw things in him that no one else ever did. It was infuriating and the bastard wanted me dead but I have to believe that if she helped him, it was for a good reason. Y/n’s loyal but she’d never put me or anyone in danger.” Will defended you in front of everyone.

“I know that.” Daryl spoke firmly.

“So do we.” Carol suddenly appeared with Aaron. 

Daryl looked to her best friend as she smiled up at him. “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Daryl quickly asked her. 

“We’re gonna go get Y/n.” Lydia finally announced. “On the way to find the horde.”

“What?” Daryl questioned. His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open. 

Magna huffed. “Yeah, I always liked her. And honestly now none of us have to see Negan’s creepy face again.”

Daryl turned to Aaron and simply raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like it, but she’s family. I don’t think she did it to hurt anyone.” Aaron struggled to admit.

“You said Y/n wanted to help and honestly we could use it.” Carol noted and all of Daryl’s confusion and stress left his face instantly. “She’s one of us.” She shrugged, then grinned at Lydia sincerely with her lips pursed as if to apologize once again.

“Does Michonne know about this?” Daryl wondered. 

“Yes.” Aaron answered for her.

“And Maggie?” Daryl continued, looking to Evan and Will. He knew she would never agree to it, you were too close to Negan. “Eugene, Rosita, Ezekiel? You could piss a lot of people off here, maybe put her at risk.” Daryl voiced his concerns.

Evan furrowed his brow. “She wouldn’t want to sit on the side lines.” He quickly replied.

“She’d want to help keep you safe. And me,” Lydia stepped forward. “All of us.”

“Enough of us want her here, she’ll be okay.” Carol went on. “We can deal with Maggie and Hilltop later.” Daryl’s heart fluttered with relief and knew he couldn’t help but give in. “You don’t have to be alone, Daryl. Let’s bring her home.” She finished. Daryl nodded.

“So where’s this horde supposed to be at?” Evan asked, wanting to protect the place they happily called home just as much as everyone else.

“Sunken field on the edge of the national forest.” Aaron responded.

“We can leave right after the funeral.” Carol mentioned. “We good?” She asked before embracing Daryl in a big hug. He smiled gratefully.

____________

Daryl led the way back to the bunker-back to you. The anticipation was growing rapidly within him but he remained focused. Carol and Lydia followed closely behind while Magna, Aaron, Evan and Will stayed a little farther back to keep their eyes open for anything unfriendly.

Daryl pulled away some small weeds, revealing the large metal door below. “Y/n!” He called as he made his way inside.

Silence. Not even Dog was there to greet him. “Daryl?” Lydia questioned from the field above.

“She’s not here.” He hollered back, looking around the empty room. His vest was gone, along with Dog and your backpack. He rubbed his chin in thought before climbing back up the ladder. 

The truth was you were running low on supplies and still needed to hunt. So after your run in with Negan, you went back for Dog and left for your old neighborhood. As you made your way through the deserted area, seeing a couple more walkers than the last time you were here, you decided to once again head for Will’s house. You hoped your remaining stored items would still be there. The houses continued to crumble and rot away around you more and more each time you came. 

When you reached Will’s kitchen, you began opening and sifting through cupboards. Each one empty. Until the last one on the end. It had a jar of peanut butter, half empty with the marks of Daryl’s fingers still in it from last time. You scooped out a fair amount and let Dog lick it from your fingers. Then you stuffed the jar in your bag. The only other thing was a single can of peaches. You stuck your knife in the top and cut away at the lid as much as you could before drinking it’s contents. When you finished and set the can down, you noticed the fridge had been knocked over in front of the entrance to the living room. You stared out passed it, where the living rooms far wall and part of the roof had completely caved in and now littered the couches. You could see the outside world and how it had begun to take over. Weeds and other plants that were pushing through the broken wood floor and climbing the walls as well as a corpse, one of a man who couldn’t of died too long ago that laid under the rubble. You could just barely see his arms and the side of his head. People had been here since your last visit. Suddenly, Dog began growling as a walker spotted you and tried to enter the house. You stepped over the broken boards and to the opening where it was crying out for you. Then you jammed your hunters knife into it’s already cracked skull. You stared out into the world after it fell, waiting for the possibility of others. But none came. 

Will’s house was no longer safe. Exposed and taken over, it belonged to the dead now. You lowered your head and closed your eyes, giving yourself a moment to grieve before climbing back over the fallen fridge. You opened the front door and suddenly found yourself staring at your house. You hadn’t been there since the start, unable to go inside. 

Until now. 

Your breathing increased, the thought of seeing your childhood home again frightening you way more than the dead. You and Dog crossed the street and stepped onto the porch. You looked to the familiar white door and thought about your sister. You could see the child version of herself running out of it to find you riding your bike on the sidewalk. Then they both disappeared as you came back to reality and Dog whined. 

You peered inside the large window, passed the dirt. But all you could see was a tent, blue in color that was blocking the rest of the room. With your knife still firmly in your hand, you slowly turned the doorknob and went inside. You fiercely looked around, your good memories quickly being overtaken by the bad. You looked to the cream colored carpet that was now dark brown. Except in front of the sliding back door, where it was still red tinged. It took you back to when your neighbor came rushing in to warn your family before being eaten alive in front of you all. You remembered your father locking the rest of your family in the pantry while he successfully killed the dead and removed your neighbors body, even though you’d eventually all come to see much worse. You thought about how he then guided you to his truck, where you abandoned this place all together.

Only to end up back here, alone. The lone survivor of your family. 

You suddenly heard a rustling at the door and crouched to hide behind the abandoned tent, clearly left here by a stranger sometime between then and now. Will and Evan barged in, almost frantically. You stood with shock, your weapon lowered. You let out a large breath of relief, instantly losing your stiff posture. They turned to you, Evan with a slow smile and Will with a serious and fixed gaze until he too lowered his weapon-a rusty lead pipe. You smiled as they ran to hug you. Then you looked up to see Daryl step inside with Lydia, Aaron, Carol and Magna. Your eyes focused on only his, the air being stolen from your lungs. You swore your heart stopped momentarily as Will and Evan stepped away and he got closer. 

Your face hardened but a tear escaped your left eye. “How?” 

“I’ll always find you. That’s what you said to me once.” Daryl replied, swinging his crossbow back onto his shoulder. You looked to Lydia with a smile and she ran to hug you next. You held onto her, resting your cheek against hers until your eyes moved to Daryl again, who pulled you in by your clothing-by his vest you were wearing. “It looks good on you.” He said, wrapping his muscular arm around you tightly. Your body fully relaxed against his. He kissed the top of your forehead and let his lips rest there for several minutes as you breathed in his familiar scent. 

“Y/n, we want your help.” You heard Carol say as you let go of Daryl and looked to your friends, questionably awaiting their reason for being here. 

____________

@jodiereedus22 @dashesoflipstick @theunofficialduke @dixonluvv @nikki082489 @jordangdelacruz​ @lunatheumbreon @dbtvluv​I

Thanks for reading! I am super excited about what’s to come. 

<<Chapter 16, >>Chapter 18

#the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixion imagine #Norman Reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #Jeffery Dean Morgan #jeffery dean morgan fanfiction #negan #negan fanfiction

[esandcasg]

B Dog’s Ranking of Star Wars Films

Some months ago Big A challenged me to list my order of Star Wars films, from worst to best. Having re-watched a number now in recent months I felt it time to get this down on paper. Admittedly I haven’t watched all of them, so this might need updating in the months to come.

Let me know your thoughts or add a similar blog!

11. The Last Jedi

It is something of a tribute to Disney that it took me some time to decide my least favourite Star Wars film. There were two obvious candidates but in the end I went with the Last Jedi. Admittedly, I feel that The Rise of Skywalker is a worse film, but I give the honour of the shittest Star Wars film to this steaming pile of crap because it set the precedent for what was to follow. The whole film is based around the idea of doing something different with the force and the Jedi, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was done in such a bad way. I’ve recently re-watched it and it felt like 90% of the film is treading water whilst they develop the Reylo relationship. “What shall we do with the other characters?” I don’t know, stick them on a spaceship being chased by a Star Destroyer? “Fuck me, that’s brilliant.”  I recently read that Rhian Johnson’s biggest regret with this film was not being able to do his usual private showing to close friends before it came out due to security issues. I regret that too, cos they’d have told him what a big pile of crap it was.

10. The Rise of Skywalker

The true level of shittiness of this film has been discussed a lot; it was so bad that it even inspired a B Dog film rant blog. The first ever, if I am not mistaken? The fact that they have had to release information intermittently to explain the gaps in the story says it all really. A total turd. 

Don’t worry, my swearing will ease now along with my hatred.

9. Attack of the Clones

My ninth favourite (or perhaps more accurately, the third worst) Star Wars film introduces the prequels into the story with Attack of the Clones. I don’t hate this film like I do The Rise of Skywalker and The Last Jedi, so we start to move out of “hate” and more into “meh” with AotC. I don’t hate it, I don’t particularly like it. I nothing it (nod to #BigAsFilmReviews).

This film has a few things going for it, namely it features a young Hayden Christensen, who of course has a strong resemblance to a young B Dog, and it includes Anakin and Padme’s brilliantly written, acted and directed romance scenes. “You are in my very soul, tormenting me.” Beautiful. I jest of course, it was total cringe. But the issue that I have with this film is that it doesn’t feel like Star Wars. At least with The Phantom Menace there are elements that align with the prequels like the scenes of Tattoine. AotC just feels like a bit of a misfit. I wonder whether it was where George began to get a raging hard-on for green screen and prioritising wanky graphics above, you know, a decent storyline, and that impacts things? Or maybe he started flirting with the darkside long before this? But generally it is an entertaining enough film, just a bit shit.

8. The Phantom Menace

I struggled for a while with the order of Attack of the Clones and The Phantom Menace but in the end decided I preferred this one. But it’s a close one.

The issue that I have with this film – even above Jar Jar and the awful dialogue – is that I don’t get the target audience. There is loads of content for kids such as (the aforementioned) Jar Jar and the pod race, yet it is effectively a film about politics and features things like trade blockades. I mean, the opening crawl features gems such as “The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute... While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events.” 

I watched it with Sebastian and he didn’t have a clue what was going on, but he sat there patiently waiting for the arrival of arguably my favourite Star Wars character in Darth Maul. But as I mentioned above, TPM still feels like Star Wars and the lightsabre fight sequence at the end is enough to get it into 8th place. But we are still very much in “meh”.

7. Solo

But not for long as we start moving into “like” territory. I like this film. But the issue that I have is that it’s not really Star Wars. It’s a decent sci-fi film but I can’t associate Alden Whatshisface’s portrayal of Han to the original. It is largely forgettable mind; I have watched Solo once and couldn’t really tell you what it was about. Something to do with Solo and Chewie and Lando, and they went through an asteroid field, and Emilia Clarke got sold or became a slave, and the Falcon got wrecked. That’s all I remember. But I do remember feeling like the whole “Kessel Run” idea was totally different to what I had in my mind – I figured it was a famous smuggling run - and if they really had to do a backstory on Han then they could have come up with something better.

6. Revenge of the Sith

Probably the only prequel that I will stand behind. It is flawed, largely because of the overuse of green screen which can’t be easy for actors/actresses (exhibit A: Natalie Portman who is pretty wooden yet claimed an Oscar a few years later in Black Swan), but I feel like RotS is actually a fairly decent addition to the Star Wars portfolio with the actors starting to get used to the methods of Lucas or perhaps even pushing back a bit helping the script flow better. Hayden Christensen seemed a bit more comfortable playing a more complex and evil character than a loved up teenager, for example. However, there is still a large amount of Lucas “style over substance” going on still and the Darth Vadar “Noooooo” bit at the end is like something from an 80’s Arnie film. “I’ll be back, Kenobi.”

5. Rogue 1

I really enjoyed this film right up until the last few minutes when the arrival of Leia almost ruined it. I don’t quite know why, I think it just felt shoe-horned and unnecessary. There are other flaws that don’t align with the start of A New Hope and the characters lack any real depth, but overall I’ll let all this slide as it was a pretty exciting and well-made film. With Rogue 1 I am sensing stronger feelings… there is good in these films. I can sense it.

4. The Force Awakens

The first time I watched this film I didn’t like it. I think because I just expected too much – or something different - and I didn’t particularly like the way they killed off Han without the film or trilogy really getting going. What was the point? I thought Rey was totally wooden too. But I’ve watched it three times now and the last time – just before TRoS came out – I actually really enjoyed it, bordering on feeling that it was brilliant. I admit it is a fanboy tribute, but… if the cap or evil sith mask fits and all that.

3. A New Hope

It will come as no surprise that the podium spots are reserved for the original trilogy, and we move into love – of course - with A New Hope. It is slightly controversial to have this one in third place as I know a lot of people see ANH as the best of the lot, but I just prefer the other originals being honest. Whilst it is undoubtedly a great film, I find it more of a setting the scene kind of film: it’s a bit slow going in places and even as a kid I don’t feel it had the same levels of excitement as the other two. The toys that I played with weren’t the X-Wing and Tie Fighter from the Death Star scene, it was the AT-AT (I had two) and snow speeders from Hoth, for example. And re-watching them recently with Sebastian it has been the one that I struggled to sit through the most. I guess ultimately it is laying the foundations for the whole Luke vs. Vadar/good vs. evil element, which is what drew me into Star Wars as a kid.

2. Return of the Jedi

I know this film has flaws, but I love it. Well, the old version before Ol’ George started adding shit like the band in Jabba’s palace and another Vadar “Nooooooo”. But the whole film is great: the sequence at the start concluding with the fight over the pit of sarlaac through to the three phased fight sequence at the end. As I have said to you both, I have recently watched the original trilogy with Sebastian and he told me that he was exhausted at the end of the film, and I guess it’s that sort of excitement that I still associate with RotJ. One interesting thing is that watching the recently has opened my eyes to how hot Carrie Fisher was back then. I never really got it. No wonder my dad used to pop in for the Jabba’s Palace bit.

1. The Empire Strikes Back

And therefore the winner goes to the masterpiece that is The Empire Strikes Back. I don’t have anything negative to say about this film, and for me is in a league of its own compared to the other ten films, and up there with one of my favourite films ever. The Hoth fight scene, Yoda training Luke and the cave scene, Cloud City and then Vadar and Luke crossing swords for the first time. From start to finish it is exciting and so well made. But it’s also interesting to have a good vs. evil film finish on such a dark note, with the good guys going off to lick their wounds. In a lot of ways that is also what appeals about this film; it’s not just a straight up good guys win type of scenario.

[whateverisbeautiful]

Reveling in Richonne

121: The Turn (8x14)

The thing about this show is that it can have a weak season but, even then, there will still be at least a few moments that really deliver. And to me, this conversation between Rick and Morgan in this episode really delivers. 

It’s pretty moving and the fact that Lennie James and Andrew Lincoln are such phenomenal talents definitely has a lot to do with it. 💯

And in this conversation they have, there’s actually some Richonne connections to be made.

Plus, the events that occur in these following moments are particularly important since this is where we see a pivotal point for Rick. Imo it’s a large part of his turning point.

So after the beautifully acted moment between Rick and Michonne earlier, the next time we see Rick he’s sitting in a room with Judith. Rick clearly seems very distraught and then we see that he’s staring down at Carl’s hat, which is beyond heartbreaking, especially knowing that Carl was able to express what that hat meant to him in front of his dad. 😭

We’ve seen Rick have very brief moments of breaking and collecting himself post-Carl but I think this is the moment where the inner chaos that must be going on in his head is the most visible. Like this scene makes it clear how much all this is eating away at him. So he gets up and leaves cuz he can’t let himself sit in this pain. 

And it’s interesting that Judith was included in this moment because I think it just further hits home that Rick is in such a gripping head space that neither his wife or his daughter (the two lights he has left in this world) can bring him fully out yet. They definitely have come close, but right now his wrathful side has taken over and is spurring him to keep “moving to move away from it.”

So the very next scene is Rick walking outside with that coat on, so you already know what’s bout to go down. Someone or someone(s) finna meet their end. 💯

Another significant thing about this jacket is that it’s the one he wore when he killed the Claimer trying to kill Carl in the season 4 finale, and it just reminds me that Rick would do everything in his power to protect Carl and keep him safe and yet his son still eventually didn’t make it. (Why TWD, why?) 😢😪

On a lighter note, I notice how when Rick walks out it low key feels like when kids sneak out knowing good and well they’re supposed to stay inside lol. Like I def think all that looking around he does as he walks has to do with Michonne, cuz he knows if he runs into her then he won’t be able to help but abide to her wish that he stay here and process like he’s supposed to.

(Side note: I wish Michonne would have got her own storyline this episode so we could know what she did while Rick was out and in finding out he left. It would have been nice to know what she was up to that day. And not just cuz I’m in the ministry of #GiveMichonneMoreScreenTime)

This whole moment of Rick leaving is an indicator that Rick’s not in the best spot cuz Homeboy never goes against Michonne’s guidance if he can avoid it. Last time something like that happened he went crazy in ASZ.

So Rick approaches Alden and we’re seeing some signature Rick Nothing-to-play-with Grimes which I’m a fan of lol. He’s using his cop knowledge to get intel out of Alden and to get an idea of where those escaped Saviors might be.

Before walking away, Alden asks Rick that if it’s possible, could he not kill anymore people than he has to and he lets him know that Rick could have the potential to show these people a better way. 

It’s significant because it’s a very similar sentiment to what Carl expressed to him in his final moments. 

And again, it just goes to show that no matter how far he runs, everywhere Rick goes there is going to be some reminder of Carl and the message Carl instilled upon him.

After Alden tells him that showing these Saviors some empathy is something he could do, Rick responds saying “Yeah I could.” It’s low key petty, but I love the delivery of that line lol. 😋

At the same time, it’s yet another way to show that Rick isn’t ready to come to terms with Carl and his message. He knows he could do that, but he’s not trying to let the more rational side of him be in control of his actions right now cuz again, his goal is to kill away his problems.

So Rick leaves and then he runs into Morgan. And y’all they’re both on edge and losing it a little so probably not the best company right now lol. 

But I’m very happy these two got a storyline together cuz they started this series off and they’re some of the few characters that still have my heart on this show. Plus Lennie James and Andrew Lincoln are both seriously A1 actors. They are the best of the best in this cast, along with Danai and Melissa McBride imo. 👏🏽👏🏽(Which interestingly they play the four characters who lost children🏽)

When Morgan and Rick run into each other, Morgan’s in that murky headspace so Rick has to tell him “You know me”. And I love that it’s a “Clear” reference. It’s sweet that Rick knows how to proceed and talk Morgan down somewhat when he’s having an episode. It’s also sad cuz last time he told Morgan this, Carl was alive and well and forming the roots of his precious bond with Michonne. 😔

Rick also tells Morgan that he probably shouldn’t be out here which is true…for both of them lol. 

But what’s funny is that when Rick realizes they are both out here to finish off those Saviors he’s like “We finish it. You and me” to which I was like bruh but you just said he shouldn’t be out here 🤔…Again, not exactly thinking straight rn.

(Side note: Hearing him say “you and me” made me wish Rick would stop and remember how in 7x12 he told Michonne he wanted it to be “you and me reordering things together.” Cuz what he’s doing right now ain’t that.) 

It’s not long before Rick and Morgan find the place and are immediately captured. And seeing them tied up in that bar, I was just like Rick, friend…what is you doing. Cuz he’s supposed to be in his room reading a letter right now but instead he’s tied up in a bar with some Saviors. #wildin 

Plus I felt Rick also has to remember that him being out here in potentially life-threatening predicaments like this is going to greatly affect Michonne and Judith cuz he still have a family that needs him, and it would be devastating if they lost him so soon after losing Carl. But right now Rick can’t quite think pass the present.

I like how Rick wakes up so casually and asks how long he was out like he’s waking up from a nap tho. 😂 Homeboy is unbothered lol. Probably cuz he knows what he and Morgan are capable of. 

So these Saviors are trying to decide what their next move is and the sniveling one, Jared, is very eager to get back and turn Rick in. Rick then starts to recall Alden’s words and he presents an offer for the Saviors to come back to Hilltop and join them. He then gives his word and repeats what he said in 8x03 about how a man’s word “still gotta mean something”. Except this time there does seem to be less sincerity in his delivery. 

Jared’s not buying it and so then, y’all, I knew about Petty Rick but he was practically out-pettied by Morgan and I am here for Petty Morgan. 👏🏽👏🏽 His bold but casual honesty was great as he tells the Saviors; nah I’m def here to do what I have to do and kill all y’all. (And it’s funny cuz as Morgan starts really going off you can kind of see Rick look like he’s thinking “alright this might be too wild even for me” 😂)

Rick and Morgan warned these guys about a herd closing in and sure enough a swarm of walkers show up. Rick says “Thing is, we already killed you.”  and I don’t know why it’s said exactly but what I do know is that means he did kind of sort of warn them about what he’s about to do lol. 

They convince the Saviors that they’re too weak to take on this herd alone so some of the guys untie them. So then they’re all fending off this herd and a walker almost gets to Rick but then the Savior (that low key resembles early day Shane), takes out the walker before it can bite Rick, which makes it seem like he might be a real one.

But then things take a turn and get

Cuz Rick has the Saviors go in front of him and all Rick and Morgan have to do is just give each other a look like…

And that’s enough for both these OG’s to know what time it is and they proceed to take out all the Saviors.

Which my first reaction was like…

(Side note: That coat is undefeated, y’all.)

Now…I know this whole moment was controversial. And I have some thoughts on it lol. Cuz y’all the very first time I watched this I def felt like this was super cold of Rick and I felt like this was Rick dabbling way too far on the side of villainy. And with Rick having given his word I was like don’t tell me this show is trying to discredit Rick’s word, especially in the same episode he’s going to tell Michonne those words we’ve been waiting to hear. 

But then, like I have to do with many things, I stopped and addressed the error of my thinking. And I realized that this actually isn’t as heinous as it seems. Don’t get me wrong it was savage and revealing of how Rick’s in a very shaky spot, but in my opinion it was also sort of necessary and doesn’t make him a monster.

So while seeing Rick and Morgan at their most ruthless was tough to chew on initially, I eventually came to the conclusion that…

The way I see it, it’s like a kidnapping situation where oftentimes when someone is kidnapped and restrained from fighting back physically, they often use their words to help them escape by getting into their captors head. They will tell their captor anything to be let go, even if it’s a false promise like swearing they won’t say anything if they can go or that they’ll give them whatever they want, etc. These are all untrue but they’re used as an effective defense mechanism and escape strategy. 

And if it works and they’re able to escape and then they immediately break the promises they made, we’d understand that they had to give their word and then break it to survive. That’s what Rick had to do imo.

Cuz, while yes the Saviors untied them and even were working together to take out these walkers, the truth is there’s still not much of a legit reason to believe they can be trusted long term. 

Rick and Morgan were of use to the Saviors at the time, who knows what they’d do to them when the walker issue was done. They are after all on opposing sides of this war and technically have more loyalty to Negan than Rick. So Rick doesn’t have much reason to think they would genuinely side with him and it’s dangerous to risk finding out.

So Rick and Morgan’s lives were still on the line and Rick did what he had to do, which in this case was say what he had to say. His whole spiel about letting them go back to Hilltop was never his word, it was his defense mechanism to break out of there. It’s not that he meant it and went back on it, he never meant it.

What was his true word tho? That he was going to kill those Saviors and well…he def kept his word. 👀💯

And, yes, the vengeful aspect of this from Rick is not healthy and it’s definitely not Rick’s shining moment when he kills the guy that just saved his life but at least for me I don’t think this turn of events means Rick isn’t the guy we thought he was and especially most of all this does not mean he’s comparable to Negan in the slightest. Those comparisons just will never add up to me. 🤦🏽‍♀️

The most suspect aspect of this on Rick’s part is that it’s just so opposite of what Carl wanted for him, but in the end he’s not a horrible person for telling a lie to survive his captors. 

Plus doing all this allowed him to make it back to Michonne so...

So as Rick and Morgan are taking everybody out, I’m also here for Petty Morgan mean mugging Jared as he holds him to the gate, and then finally listens to Jared’s plea to let him go only once it’s too late. I was like…

Rick goes up to the guy who saved him and it’s interesting how similar the lighting is to the chapel scene where Rick spent his last moments with Carl.

There’s that same sort of light ray shining through and it’s ironic in a way cuz Rick promised to make it real for Carl but instead he’s just done the opposite of make it real, in the very same light. 

Admittedly, the most cruel feeling part of this whole thing is when Rick just bold face looks at this guy and cuts him off to tell him, “I lied.” But I think what we’re seeing right now is the very dark space Rick could go to if he doesn’t stop himself.

It’s deep to hear the Savior say he didn’t lie about wanting to make things work and it definitely sparks a contrast. Then, the Savior tells Rick they could’ve lived after and Lincoln does a great job of showcasing the suppressed emotion Rick feels at this moment.

The subtle smugness is quickly replaced with the struggle to pull the trigger cuz he knows he’s not right in the head and that he’s doing what his woman said “moving to move away from it.” But he can’t get away from it. 

Everywhere he goes, something or someone is reminding Rick of Carl’s dying wish in some way. And I bet it hits Rick that Carl was laying on the ground talking about this very thing of after and living together in peace. And that triggers Rick so he pulls the trigger. 

And this to me is the beginning of the turning point for him that actually starts to snap him out of this dark spot for a moment to become aware of what he’s becoming. 

Cuz as he stands around the bodies there’s definitely a sense that he’s gotten a big wake up call about how far he has strayed from Carl’s vision.

He’s slowly starting to sense that violence and wrath doesn’t solve the deeper pain and it isn’t the way to move forward.  

Morgan walks by and casually takes out a body about to turn, still in Petty Morgan beast mode I think. And what’s interesting is he says, “Everybody turns” and that line starts to carry a lot of weight. 

It means so much more than just everybody turns into walkers. It means everybody can turn from their old ways. In this world, everybody turns from their initial values and moral code at some point (especially after the loss of a child as we see in the cases of Rick, Morgan, Michonne and Carol in different parts of their journey)

But the thing is, yes everybody turns from who they are or were but just like you can turn dark, you can turn light again. You can turn back. 👌🏽 And in this following scene there really is a turning point for Rick where his eye are opened to how he has to turn things around.

Rick has a choice to continue on this dark path or be better and get better, not just for him but for his family and his people. So it’s significant that next we see Rick take a step towards that by reaching out to Morgan for an answer. And he gets just the answer he needs to realize which side he should choose.

He starts by telling Morgan how he saved him and he would have died without him, maybe even right in front of Morgan’s house. I love that these two get to make reference to the episode that started it all, 8 seasons later. Cuz they really were the two who drew us into this world.

What’s so meaningful about Rick bringing this up is that in the pilot Rick was to Morgan, what Siddiq was to Carl.

Rick was just a stranger at the time, but Morgan helped him like Carl took in Siddiq. So I think Rick is asking Morgan this right now because he’s trying to better understand Carl’s own thinking of helping the traveler by understanding why Morgan did that for him.

This is important cuz it’s Rick wanting to understand Carl’s side of things. So that right there let’s you know he’s not embracing the monster within, or at least he’s trying to fight it.

He reaches out to Morgan in hopes that it’ll help him see something that’s super difficult for him to see right now which is how to give people a chance again. He wants to be different and he’s essentially trying to gauge how by seeing why Morgan was able to do it for him, a stranger, all that time ago.

As Rick asks this, Morgan doesn’t want to talk about it and he just wants to go. Rick goes on to mention “Your son was there” and that’s when Morgan really wants to shut the conversation down cuz he still feels he’s not at a place to talk about Duane.

And this moment between them is so emotional because we were introduced to these two characters as fathers who would do anything for their sons and now they’ve both lost the very people they fought and lived for in the beginning. 😔

Rick continues to urge Morgan to just tell him why he saved him because reflecting on who they were before could help them understand how to try and be that again. 

And, while Morgan’s not at a place to just fully pour his heart out about this, he does manage to give Rick an answer that’s pretty profound.

He explains that the reason he did it was, “Because my son was there”. Y’all. 😭😭 

This is such a great response. The writing on this show has been suffering for a minute but that right there was spot on and really hit home to me. 👌🏽

It means so much. It’s so true that Morgan’s son gave him his humanity and then when he lost him, he lost all that humanity for a long while. And Rick has the potential to be in a similar spot cuz Carl was that instrumental to him as well. And you can tell that when Rick hears this he knows it too.

He knows it’s his son who kept him going for so long, especially before their family expanded, and so there’s a certain added somberness to this response cuz the very thing that motivated him is no longer with him.

But unlike Morgan who no longer has Duane to guide him to good, Rick still does have one more opportunity for Carl specifically to guide him to good; the letter.

So I think this is where Rick knows it’s time to read the letter. He needs his son’s guidance if he’s going to maintain his humanity, a humanity we saw jeopardized in this savior massacre (although, again, when you’re captured by the opposing side sometimes you have to finesse a situation)

(Side note: Speaking of finessing, that whole Jadis and Negan storyline was just a mess imo. Negan getting access to the guns and photos had me really wondering if he was a looney tunes character. And the fact that Jadis freed him and let him finesse her on her own turf with a brief bit of his backstory really had me like...

And also how is Negan going to see a helicopter and just casually be like; hey maybe we can chat about that one day?)

But I think the other saving grace that proves hope isn’t lost, is that Rick still has someone who Carl absolutely lives on through. Michonne and Carl had such an impact on each other and she represents so much of the good of Carl so through her and through Carl’s final words in the letter Rick can find his way back to the light.

Rick is a good man and a lot of what kept him that way was the motivation of his son, and without him that good complex got a little skewed, but deep down Rick still is good and wants to be good. So he knows something has got to give.

But the main reason I see this moment as Richonne related is because a big reason Rick let Michonne in, way back in season 3 is because his son was there. 😭

Like of course there was also an innate connection that Rick and Michonne seemed to have from the jump, but Rick was so entranced at that first meeting at the fence that it wasn’t until Carl spoke about helping her that Rick ran and brought her in. His son was taking in that moment similar to Duane in the pilot.

And then in the more personal sense of letting her in, it was also because his son was there to tell him Michonne is one of them that helped Rick feel more free to let Michonne further into his heart. 😊

And that decision to let her in changed his whole life for the better. Like she really did make life 1000x better for him. So if anything, that’s a telling reason of why sometimes letting people in works out and he should follow his son’s guidance, cuz Carl has shown him the way before and he can show him the way now too.

They end the scene with Rick in the broken mirror cuz, a little heavy handedly, it’s the broken man in the mirror. 

But it still speaks to something important because Rick’s been broken and it’s led him to go and act in the very way Carl didn’t want him to, so the mirror is this symbol of him having to face his issues head on and see more clearly that this isn’t the way.

So as Rick faces the man in the broken mirror he knows he’s at a crossroads with a crucial decision to make. Continue on as this cold blooded killer and lose his mind and have Carl’s death cripple him with insanity or turn to Carl through his letter to lead the way and make him a better man once more. 👌🏽

(Side note: I’m glad they didn’t have him look in the mirror cuz then I would have got some SNL “Californians” vibes lol 😂)

It’s really significant that 8x14 highlights the four characters who lost kids and that in this episode they each get to make reference to their kids and the way it changed them, because I think Carol, Michonne, and Morgan’s journeys after losing kids are meant to all represent paths Rick can choose to take having just recently joined this club.

He can be like Morgan and fall into a very fragile state of mind where he has unstable episodes and is never able to talk about it much. 

Or he can be like Carol and, as she says later in her words, “become nothing for a long while” only to emerge a strong fighter who also pushes the people close away and convinces herself that she has to be isolated. (Which side note: I’m proud of Carol that she was able to make some breakthroughs this episode in letting people in again)

Or he can be like Michonne who went to a very dark space like he’s gone to and then worked to put all this “moving to move away from it” behind her to face her demons and get to a point of healing and opening her heart to the love that was there for her.

I think it’s clear which road he should take.  And luckily the woman, who fought to overcome that shut down state she was once in, is willing and ready to walk this path of healing with him.😌

So this moment with Morgan is not only one of the best scenes of the season to me, but it is also the turning point for Rick. This is where he makes a decision on who he needs to be. 💯

Rick is not going to keep being this dark vengeful bloodthirsty guy, because he made a promise to Carl that he’s going to fight to keep. And he’s going to fight to keep this promise cuz, at his core, Rick is a man of his word. 👌🏽😌

And he has three very special words to say in this next moment. Amen. 😋🙌🏾😋🙌🏾😋🙌🏾😋🙌🏾🏾😋🙌

gif sources: michonnegrimes                                                                          andy-clutterbuck likeafantasy dailytwd carlschandler

#richonne #richonne fandom #richonne family #michonne #rick grimes #morgan #s8 #8x14 #thanks for reading! #(and scrolling)

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Solo: A Star Wars Story review

As a lifelong fan of Star Wars (I’ve been watching these movies since I was a little kid), there is one thing that has always and will always be true about the Star Wars fandom, no matter how many movies, TV shows, and books come out:

The Star Wars fandom is a malignant tumor on the franchise.

This is not anything new, but seriously, I saw so many people writing this film off before even seeing it – with one guy even going so far as to call it a trainwreck on par with that new David Cage game – that frankly I am confident in saying Star Wars has the worst fans of any property ever. You give them one really divisive film and then they immediately decide everything after is garbage as soon as it’s announced. But hey, I could rant all day about how awful Star Wars fans are; hell, I could write a book about it. But I’m here to talk about the movie they were so insistent would be utter garbage and a disgrace to the Star Wars name. How was it?

It was fucking excellent.

This film is just a fun, exciting space adventure; think Indiana Jones… IN SPACE! While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel or really do anything particularly new story-wise, it’s just a fun, thrilling, adventure film with heist film elements sprinkled in, it is the first Star Wars film in ages that actually invokes the feeling of fun and adventure that the original trilogy did. Do what exactly happens in this film that is so much fun? Well, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

...Han was living on the streets as a petty crook, serving some nasty criminal to stay alive and help find money to get himself and his girlfriend Qi’ra off the planet. Of course, things get complicated when they try to escape, and she’s dragged off while Han is left to join the army to fulfill his dream of being a pilot. Promising to come back for Qi’ra some day, he joins the Imperials, where he meets the thief Beckett and his crew, as well as his soon-to-be BFF Chewbacca. They decide to team up to pull off a heist that will have them rolling in money, but things go awry and soon Han and Tobias find themselves having to do ANOTHER heist for crime lord Dryden Vos, lest they wish to be killed. Can the gang pull off the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, or is Dryden Vos gonna add their skulls to his collection of jewels, statues, and Indiana Jones props?

So this movie is easily the best Star Wars movie Disney has produced yet – and for the record, I enjoyed at least two of the previous Star Wars films. The reason I call this the best, though, is it just recaptures that fun, adventurous feeling the old movies had in spades, but ALSO because the movie invokes the other great Harrison Ford character, Indiana Jones. There is a lingering taste of Indy to  this movie, and man is it nice to see two of  the best adventure franchises’ spirits blend into one fun package. If you ever wanted to see an Indiana Jones movies with aliens that is inarguably excellent, BOOM, you’ve got it.

The cast is actually the biggest surprise, especially Alden Ehrenreich, who had insurmountable odds stacked against him as he is playing a younger version of what just might be the most beloved character in the entire franchise. Thankfully, your worries will be erased only a few short minutes in; while this is clearly a younger and more idealistic Han than the bitter, cynical jerk with  a heart of gold we all know and love, the inflections, facial expressions, and “everyman who keeps getting dragged into crazy shit” feel of the character is all still there. I fully believed this Han and the later Han could be the same character, giving a level of prequel consistency that has on occasion been missing in Star Wars films. I’m looking at you, backflipping super Yoda.

Of course, the rest of the cast is excellent as well. I don’t think I need to spend any time convincing you that Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover is probably the most perfect casting choice in the universe for Lando; as soon  as everyone heard this casting choice, it was just collectively agreed this was the most perfect casting imaginable. Lando really steals the show when he’s onscreen which is the least surprising sentence ever typed out. Chewie, of course, is as good as ever, but is that really a shock either? What’s really a shock is how good the supporting cast is. Beckett is the least surprising with how good he is, because he’s Woody Harrelson, a man who just exudes greatness. Qi’ra, on the other hand, is a bit more shocking, seeing as she’s one of those love interest characters who is obviously doomed by canon despite this, she’s given quite a bit of characterization and depth, to the point it really is kinda sad things between her and Han don’t work out. Then there’s Lando’s droid gal pal L3-37, who despite the stupid name and a rocky start actually becomes very amusing and enjoyable as her screentime progresses. Dryden Vos is a suitable villain for a story like this, with Paul Bettany giving a great performance. And then there’s the badass space pirate Enfys Nest, who sadly I cannot go into great depth without spoiling; just take my word for it, Nest is awesome. Overall, this is a really solid cast of characters we got here.

One of the best things about this film, though, is just how fresh it feels why still incorporating all sorts of old ideas. This film actually canonizes a lot of stuff from the Legends continuity, so if you were sad about some of that stuff seemingly being rendered non-canon, well boy are you in for a treat! Planets, areas, even parts of Han’s backstory, all of it appeared in the old EU before appearing here. For some of the more fresh stuff, we get a lot of cool new alien and droid designs, and while there’s obviously some CGI mixed with practical effects, it’s not ridiculous, and when we get cool aliens like Therm Scissorpunch, the Summa-verminoth, and Lady Proxima, it’s really hard to complain. There’s stuff here for everybody, old fans and new. You can’t really complain about them not caring about fans anymore now.

Sure, there are some really corny moments and some dumb, nitpicky things here and there, but that’s really in line with the spirit of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films this movie most emulates. It’s just a fun, exciting adventure film showing how everyone’s favorite lovable rogue got his ship, his best friend, and learned the tricks of his trade, and it doesn’t try to overachieve and push things to new heights, which is a problem I have with The Last Jedi. This movie knows what it is, and it just wants you to have some fun. Casual fans will love the exciting thrills and the backstory, and longtime fans will enjoy all the shout-outs to the expansive lore of the series and appreciate the cameos and appearances of some characters, particularly a certain villain who has a brief appearance at the end. This is just a seriously great and fun film, which isn’t really something I’ve been able to honestly say about Star Wars in a while.

People who initially wrote this off and have seen it have reacted positively to it, so I guess not all hope is lost for the salty Star Wars fans out there. But the fact so many wrote this off due to the overblown hateboner for The Last Jedi is just ridiculous to me. Give this movie a chance, because whatever you feel about Star Wars right now, this will probably improve how you feel. Don’t go in expecting a reinvention of the franchise and just go in expecting a fun time like A New Hope or Raiders of the Lost Ark and you’ll be golden.

My only real issue with the film is that they did not once reference or use this song at all:

Come on, would it have KILLED them to play this over the credits?

#Review #Movie review #Star Wars #Solo #solo: a star wars story #Han Solo #Lando Calrissian #Disney #action #adventure #sci-fi

[hermanwatts]

Fantasy and Adventure New Releases: 28 March, 2020

This week’s fantasy and adventure new releases feature doomed felon NPCs, living saints policing the streets, and a spoiled princess trying to avoid a second trip to the headsman.

Burnt (The Balance of Kerr #1) – Kevin Steverson and Tyler Ackerman

An offer they couldn’t refuse. A chance to re-set the balance…

Tog and Kryder were raised as brothers, even though they were very different. Tog was a Half-Orc, tall and strong, and good with an axe. Kryder was shorter and tended to daggers…except when he used the magic passed down to him from his deceased mother. Having just reached adulthood in the Baronies West, both were enjoying life.

But when Baron Arnwald sends them out on a mission to determine whether the rumors of war are true, the brothers get a lot more than they bargained for. Running into Lan, the Keeper of Memories, they are shown many things that have nothing to do with the upcoming war…or do they?

One thing is certain—the Creator’s balance has been upset, and they must use all of their wits and skills to make things right again, both in their lives and in the world. Mercenaries and mages stand in their way, though, and the odds are stacked against them.

Although Tog and Kryder are only two people, forces are working in the background to get them to the right time and place where they can make a difference. If they’re not careful, though, they also might get very, very dead.

Corona-chan: Spreading the Love – edited by David V. Stewart

Stuck inside? Quarantine got you feeling down… or even worse, BORED?

Corona-Chan: Spreading the Love is here to rescue you from the existential horror of indoor life, by offering you a glimpse into other worlds of wonder, whimsy, and warped humor.

Tales of high adventure, escapist fantasies, and thrilling stories of suspense await within, from some of the keenest and most rebellious minds in pulp fiction, with a foreword by the infamous Daddy Warpig.

With 200,000 words of exciting fiction, most never before published, including four books, Corona-Chan is serious about spreading the love!

Read it today!

Coven (Saint Tommy, NYPD #7) – Declan Finn

Detective Thomas Nolan has finally returned home. In typical police fashion, he is welcomed home with a murder case and gunfire.

After one arrest goes spectacularly wrong, Tommy is assigned another case and another dead body.

But everything goes wrong from the start of the case. The deceased is a member of a nearby military base, and no one wants to answer his questions. A local bodega gives him mind-splitting headaches. Worst of all, someone is after his children.

To make matters worse — Tommy no longer has his charisms.

The Edge of Darkness (The Volatar Saga #1) – D. K. Holmberg

They called him the Volatar. He came from nothing. Found his power. Became a legend, then lost it all.

Now he has all the power in the world but can’t touch it. With war growing, an old enemy on his heels, his best friend by his side, only the north holds the secret to reconnecting with his lost power.

But war has a way of pushing old heroes aside.

Hevith Alaster knew nothing of the Hith when their dark magic took his family away. Life on the wagon train had been simple. Keep moving north, stay ahead of the war.

But war found him all the same.

Hurt, humbled, and left to rot in a northern prison, Hevith must carve out a new life for himself in the wake of tragedy–but only if he can find a way to break free before the Hith break him. Either he must rise to the challenge or he will be yet another casualty on the Hith’s path to total domination.

Ghostblade (The Savage Hunters #1) – Adam Lane Smith

Giant monsters roam the land.

Civilization is frozen in a savage age. For one young hunter named Alden, power and survival are one and the same. The ancient evil that once ravaged his village and murdered his ancestors has returned. At the same time, politics hurls Alden into gladiator pit battles for control of the throne.

When Alden takes possession of a cursed sword promising untold power, the hunter is determined to save his people by slaying every giant monster standing between him and the throne. But the angry ghost trapped inside the blade has other ideas.

Sentenced to Troll 3 – S. L. Rowland

The ancient portals have been unlocked, restoring fast travel to Isle of Mythos.

No longer the outsider, Chod enjoys his newfound acceptance as a hero and troll. New lands and adventures await with the promise of gold and glory. But every opportunity offers the chance of misfortune.

Several portals still remain closed, hiding dire threats behind their veils of dark energy. Enemies have disappeared into parts unknown, and rumors of the return of the greatest villain Mythos has ever known grow louder by the day.

Chod has one goal- unite the heroes of Mythos. Fail, and he loses everything.

Shadowbound (Ghostlight Academy #1) – Gage Lee

Kai Evers only wanted to give his little sister Biz an unforgettable trip to the happiest place on Earth.

But when an augmented reality game goes off the rails, the pair find themselves whisked away to a ruined fantasy world in desperate need of heroes. Trapped in the ruins of an ancient cultivation academy, the siblings must learn to master the mysterious ghostlight to restore the broken gate that can send them home.

This seemingly insurmountable quest will change Kai’s life forever—or end it.

Ghostlight Academy: Shadowbound is the first book in the exciting new series from the best-selling author of the School of Swords and Serpents series. Featuring cultivation, base building, quests, treasures, and monsters, this first volume is your key to an intriguing new world.

Subtle Target (Six Assassins #2) – Jim Heskitt and Nick Thacker

A ruthless peddler of poison is closing in. How long can she evade the inevitable?

Elite assassin Ember Clarke never thought she would have to stare death in the face.

In week two of a six-week trial by combat, she’s working hard to keep her head above water. But the hitman after her this week changes everything by poisoning Ember’s crew solely to get to her.

Devastated by these senseless killings, Ember strikes out to find the vicious murderer. But a technicality in the rules keeps the poisoner’s identity secret.

Can Ember uncover the identity of her shadow before this person kills again?

Tearmoon Empire – Nozomu Mochitsuki

Surrounded by the hate-filled gazes of her people, the selfish princess of the fallen Tearmoon Empire, Mia, takes one last look at the bleeding sun before the guillotine blade falls…

Only to wake back up as a twelve-year-old! With time rewound and a second chance at life dropped into her lap, she sets out to right the countless wrongs that plague the ailing Empire. Corrupt governance? Check. Border troubles? Check. Natural calamities and economic strife? Check.

My, seems like a lot of work.

Hard work and Mia don’t mix, so she seeks out the aid of others, starting with her loyal maid, Anne, and the brilliant minister, Ludwig. Together, they strive day and night to restore the Empire. Little by little, their tireless efforts begin to change the course of history, pushing the whole of the continent toward a new future.

And why did the selfish princess have a change of heart, you ask? Simple—she didn’t. She’s just terrified of the guillotine. They hurt like hell, and Mia hates pain more than work.

Fantasy and Adventure New Releases: 28 March, 2020 published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[themachiavellianpig]

The Walking Dead, Episode 12: Hilltop Has Fallen

Episode 12 of the Walking Dead, and farewell, Hilltop, you were too beautiful for this world. 

Full review and spoilers below. 

In a genuinely fun move, the Battle for Hilltop takes up very little of this week's episode - we really just see enough of it to make the conclusion (the destruction of Hilltop) feel suitably inevitable, opening up the rest of the episode for more decent character beats and little hints of further disasters yet to come. The lose of Hilltop is, obviously, going to be a problem moving forwards - as pointed out last week, Hilltop had the only decent blacksmith set-up they'd been able to find. Its destruction is going to put a real hitch in the production of armour, knives, spears and those sweet spiked shields moving forwards. 

Hilltop, it must be said, put up a hell of fight, even when the Whisperers managed to set so much of it all on fire. Earl's homemade catapults were lovely, as was the attempt to jam the broken gates with piles of the dead - had the horde been less of a horde, it might even have worked. But the walls couldn't hold, and once there was more than one point of entry, Hilltop was lost. We don't see the moment when that decision was made, we don't see who made the call to abandon the site and run, but it must have been made at some point. 

We do get to see Ezekiel trying to evacuate the children, as he'd planned with Daryl - Judith pauses to finish off some walkers following the little trail of children and kills a Whisperer as well, not realising the difference until its too late. As the Whisperer was lunging at a child, I'm not going to mourn their death, but Judith's another story. She's very little to have taken a human life, even for all of her training, and I do hope that it doesn't knock too much of her optimism out of her. 

And, in the second most important story beat in the battle, Yumiko spots Magna in the middle of the horde - not dead, just hiding. Hey, what better way to get out of a horde than to cover yourself in guts and go with the flow? We've seen this trick before, but never in the midst of such a large horde or for so long. 

Our final look at the battle comes courtesy of Carol's archery post - and from her perspective, everything is on fire and overrun with the dead. 

We cut to daylight, the fires put out, and the Whisperers picking through the battlefield to find more "Guardians" to replenish their horde - even Alpha admits that Hilltop did its fair share of damage before going down. Negan's still skulking around in his new mask, putting a Hilltop fighter out of their misery with a blow to the heart rather than a blade to the heart - a mistake which is noted by Alpha, who's still looking for Lydia. She dispatches Beta (or "Frowny McTwoKnives", as Negan dubs him) to find the errant heir, and send Negan off to collect more walkers for the horde. 

Negan, out of sight of Alpha, is still pretty against the Whisperer way of doing things and decides to wipe out a few more walkers rather than recruit them. His little smash-a-thon is interrupted by a brief sighting of Lydia, and then the most poorly-timed run-in with Aaron imaginable, who takes one look at Negan's new accessory and jumps to some rather understandable conclusions. Their dust-up is postponed by the walkers that Negan leaves Aaron to deal with, but I imagine that that conflict is going to be resolved at some point in the future. I certainly hope so. With Aaron surrounded and protecting a wounded colleague, Negan catches up to Lydia and snatches her. 

Meanwhile, Kelly made it out of Hilltop with Alden, little baby Adam and Auntie Mary. Alden is still being a little bit of a bastard, but he does eventually allow Mary to hold Adam and help to calm the poor little guy down. He extends an olive branch by asking about Adam's mother, Mary's sister - Frances. The hint of a reconciliation is interrupted by more walkers, and Mary volunteers herself to lead the undead away from her nephew and his guardians, with the customary "yell at the walkers until they follow" move. 

In a scene which was actually pretty darn heartbreaking, she kills all the walkers and has a rare moment of victory, before Beta pops up behind her and stabs her twice, fully intending to wait for the woman to turn and then add her back into the horde. If you won't walk with the Whisperers in life, you'll have to in death instead. She claws part of his mask off before succumbing, revealing Beta's actual face for the first time in the series. 

This is a problem for Beta, it would seem, as he kills the first Whisperer to comment on his face - a man who seemed to recognise Beta in some way. (Somewhere in my brain is the idea that Beta was a celebrity pre-Apocalypse in the comics, so maybe they're going the same way here?) Well, it's one fewer Whisperers for us to have to worry about, and then one fewer walkers as well, when Alden mercy-kills the newly-turned Mary with his bow. 

It's a real shame he didn't take a shot at Beta instead, but beggers can't be choosers, I suppose. 

We skip groups again to Carol, Eugene, Yumiko and the newly recovered Magna, who explains to Yumiko how she escaped the cave - and lost track of Connie along the way. Yumiko turns her rage and frustration on Carol, punching her in the face, despite Magna not really seeming to hate Carol at all. Yumiko and Magna, who left their relationship on pretty shaky ground before the whole cave expedition, finally decide to draw a neat, surprisingly mature line under the relationship, possibly acknowledging on some level that they're not really good for each other anymore. 

Eugene has a little wobble at the lose of all his radio equipment and at the possibility of missing his date with Stephanie; Carol pushes him to make the date, which is all the encouragement Eugene needs to set off on his own to (hopefully) make some new friends. Lord knows they could use some more nice people. Carol, left alone with her thoughts, finds Lydia's abandoned staff. 

Our third group of survivors (Daryl, Rosita, Jerry and his wife Nabila, and assorted Hilltop civilians) arrives at the agreed rendezvous - when Ezekiel was supposed to bring the kids. But there's no Ezekiel and no kids, just a walker with fresh red blood all over its mouth. It's too much for Nabila, who desperately wants her kids back in her arms, and Jerry and Daryl head off to find their missing children. 

We're not kept in suspense for too long, though, as we cut immediately to Earl and all the kids, safely hidden away somewhere with some supplies. Earl, even for a man of his age who's just fought a huge battle and then saved a host of little lives, looks awful - and no wonder, as he's bitten. It's on his arm - a shame, as in any other circumstance he might have had a chance to amputate and save his life that way. Instead, all he can do is go into another room and prepare to end his own life before he can become a danger to any of the kids. 

Judith, who is having to be far, far too mature this week, puts the pieces together and offers to stay with Earl so he won't be alone. He sends her back to the kids, saying that he's not alone - his wife and son are right with him. And then he nails a spike through a convenient table and slams his own head down, trying to destroy the brain before he can hurt anyone else. It was maybe the best he could do - but sadly it's apparently harder than Earl though to hit yourself in the brain, because he's up and growling, once again leaving little Judith to do all the heavy lifting.  

Daryl and Jerry find Ezekiel alive and unharmed, trapped under part of Hilltop's walls - returning so soon was a bit of a risk, but they don't even mention the Whisperers, so I assume Alpha's already moved on with her herd. They track the kids to their little shelter, finding all of them unharmed, and with little Judith sitting sadly by Earl's body, his blood still on her sword. She desperately needs a hug, and thankfully Daryl provides one. 

Finally, we have Negan telling Alpha that he's found Lydia. Alpha's view of her daughter has shifted a little - the last they met, Alpha tried to get Lydia to kill her and take her place as Alpha. With Lydia's refusal, Alpha's shifted to demanding her daughter's death instead, and she remains fixed on that idea even as Negan tries to gently nudge her away from such a plan. He opens up about Lucille, his wife from before, and how her death did really kill him as well - and then basically tells Alpha that she's not dead, she's lying about being emotionless and (reading between the lines a little) would she please just stop seeking her daughter's death? 

Alpha is unconvinced, so Negan leads her to an empty house and then slits her throat. Then he decapitates her and takes the head to Carol, who's entirely unsurprised and, I would assume, definitely the person who released Negan from his cell back in Alexandria. 

The Queen is dead. But what the hell is Beta going to do when he realises what's happened? 

Previous Season 10 reviews available here. 

#The Walking Dead #twd #season 10 spoilers #episode review #Episode Recap #Norman Reedus #Samantha Morton #Melissa McBride #Jeffrey Dean Morgan #Ryan Hurst #themachiavellianpig watches