Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everybody~

This year the lambo twins got hit by my annual Transformers festive urges

Some notes that come to my mind as I watch Season 2, episode 3 of Stranger Things (YEs, this would be the equivalent of tweeting live watch, but in just one post)

Jim Hooper is VERY out of his depth. I get him trying to reassure El, but on one hand, BAD idea to lie, even white lie, to a girl whose only socialization after thirteen years or so is the phrase "Friends don't lie" and can make Carrie White look like a parlor trick magician. On the other, not explaining to El that he was late because of probable Upside down shenanigans? Good to protect her of a REAL danger, Bad to give his case. And also, uhm, he knows that Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas CAN keep El a secret. He saw them ride literal circles around the goverment Shop guys (I know they're not the Shop... but they act like the Shop, they quack like the Shop, they are as stupid as the Shop) so why not trust them a bit?

El of course got her teenage rebellion runaway mood going on. Because come on, El was going to run away. She absolutely tasted freedom in season 1, she was not going to stay locked up in a cabin in the woods forever. Plus, now that she has hair? She looks completely different from before. People wouldn't think much about "Jim Hopper's niece", not even if he is still working with the idiot Shop. OTOH, Why absolutely NO ONE ever tries to teach her how to act normally ? She calls attention to herself precisely because she doesn't know how to talk to people.

Dustin being equally smart (because he started researching wtf was hiding in his trashcan) and stupid (Because he feed it the ONE THING we know is really toxic to a lot of animals and then invited Max to see something that OBVIOUSLY came from the Upside down when Max has no idea of it) is... very sweet in a "teenagers will be teenagers" way. OTOH, not realizing that Dart is OBVIOUSLY from the Upside Down, is a mayor fail on Dustin. I get why Will didn't tell him "Oh, I puked him up", but still, it is an obvious alien thing.

Of course he'd tell Mike. But well, then Will has no taste.

Max has the patience of a saint. But then she has to have it if she's related to Bill.

Bob is equally sweet and while his advice is not that good for Will since... uhm... well, Big Nightmare Clown is not the same as what Will experienced -unless his Big Nightmare Clown was named Pennywise and now I weep that Sean Astin didn't have a chance to be a character in It- at least he is TRYING to treat Will normally which is far, far more than everyone else is doing... and of course his advice ended up backfiring because, well, Will wasn't having NIGHTMARES.

Jonathan has fell SO down on my list of liked characters, he's sitting in the fort with Mike. I would get him angry that his mom is dating a perfectly absolute great guy if his father was a) dead, or b) had been a perfectly absolute great guy. But we have established he hates his dad. So why the hell is he mad his mom has a chance to happiness? It's not as if he read the script and he knows Bob will die and break Joyce's heart!

On other hand... wow, Steve really matured in the year between Season 1 and 2. And he called out Nancy on her secret threesome because wow, she was so entitled "where were you?" so Steve is apparently her driver? So good for Steve to actually step out of something that is bad for him. I understand Nancy complaining that she was drunk and thus he shouldn't take what she said seriously... but then she didn't contradict anything of what she said while drunk so... yeah. No Nancy, you want everything? You need to communicate. While on the other hand, Jonathan absolutely thinks they're a trio and just didn't thought of mentioning it to Nancy or Steve either. This really doesn't work.

Nancy is an IDIOT. Like, she KNOWS her phoneline is intervened. She SAW them do it in a montage. I mean, I love her gumption when it comes to hit things with more teeth than the Osmond's family, but she is an idiot when it comes to common sense. Then again, her brother is also an idiot. Him treating Max like trash just because he misses El is not fair. And why the hell El reacts like a jealous girlfriend? That was the worst narrative choice ever for everyone.

Joyce should take a second job as a private detective. She's REALLY good at it. Of course, she's also a total Mama Bear. And the first one who sees that there's something going on with Will more than what everyone is telling her, because of course. How long before everyone calls her crazy? 10 minutes? (I have to say, Winnona Ryder? KILLS the role). Oh, wow, i was right. It took us 10 minutes to see someone rolling her eyes at her. At least it was not one of the main characters.

Oh, that line of Mike saying "That's like saying if someone is from the Death Star they're not necessarily evil" hits really funny since... in OUR timeline, in 2015, two years before? We got Finn. And a bunch of other non-evil Storm troopers in the comics. And well, by THEIR timeline, they ALREADY had Return of the Jedi, where we see that Darth Vader was, in fact, not evil. So yeah, Mike... You don't get to say that someone is evil just because they were born in a very ugly dimension. And while Dart might be dangerous, Mike's reaction to it is not a good one. Especially when the show shows us that yes, Dart DOES trust Dustin, as he's the one kid that it doesn't hiss at.

I also finally realized WHY it bugs me so much that Stranger Things is Stephen King's lite. It FEELS like a Stephen King story, it moves like an Stephen King story, the characters CAN be paralleled to a lot of Stephen King's characters (Jim Hooper is Alan Pangborn without the knowledge of magic tricks to ease kids into talking with him, Dustin is right out of the Richie Tozier school of kids who don't know when to shut up for their own sake. Hell, I can play "scenes that come right out of a King book" and write a ten pages or so post with season one alone), but it has NO credit or acknowledge to King from the creators at all. On the other hand, two years later we got a series that was supposedly based on King's works and... felt nothing like a King story. So part of my anger is that Stranger Things is what Castle Rock should've been.

I need to work on that because well, not fair to the series. Even if they did took a TON of "inspiration" from King.

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 4

Before we get into the meat of the chapter, I need everyone to remember that usually, I love Bruce as a dad. However, this fic paints him in a different light. If you don’t want to see Bruce painted as a bad dad, you can turn back after you read the first 2500 words of this fic (which is almost 4000 words long).

Mẹ is, possibly, Vietnamese for mom/mother/mama (or at least that’s what Google translate is telling me).

However, without further adieu, let’s get on with the story.

Thana looked around, her breath coming out in harsh bursts that sounded in the dark alleyway. She ran a hair through her dark red hair, freezing when there was more hair than she remembered their being. She heard a familiar high, sharp laugh that sent her into a panic. She looked around, trying to find Jay-Jay.

Thana paused, trying to remember when the last time she had to worry about where Jay-Jay was, before he was taken in by Bruce Wayne. She turned and saw her father's red hair out of the corner of her eye.

She bolted, tearing through streets that seemed darker and scarier with every step. She felt tears start streaming down her face, causing her to miss the turn to Uncle Ozzy's establishment.

She stumbled into an abandoned warehouse, seeing Jay-Jay tied to a chair with blood taking the same path down his face that tears were taking down hers.

"Jay-Jay?"

"Pixie?!" Jay-Jay gasped out. "Run!"

Thana turned around to watch Jervis Tetch close the door with a maniacal smile on his face.

"Looks like I not only caught Alice's white rabbit, but also Alice herself." Jervis' face split into a sinister smile as he walked towards the duo, swinging a crowbar around.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Thana gasped awake, her ribs throbbing in a manner similar to the way her ribs throbbed in her dream. She frantically scrambled to uncover herself, immensely grateful that her room was the highest one in the building.

Thana grabbed her phone off of the charger and unlocked it quickly. She scrolled through her contacts before landing on Kim's.

She worried her lip as she listened to her phone ring. She was about to hang up when she heard it connect.

"Mèo con?" Kim's voice sounded over the phone. "What time is it?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just, he had me and Jay-Jay. He had me and Jay-Jay and he was hurting us."

“Mèo con. Listen to me. He can’t get you, I will not let him get you. Do you want me to come over?” Kim’s voice grew clearer with every word, his dedication to his friend shining through.

“Would it be okay if I came over?” Thana’s voice was quiet and hesitant, a tone she hadn’t used in a long time.

Kim let out a yawn. “You know my Mẹ loves you and will let you in whenever you need us.”

---

Thana and Kim walked into school that day in matching hoodies, however Thana’s still had the full sleeves while Kim’s had the sleeves shortened. Kim wore baggy black jeans paired with white sneakers while Thana wore ripped black jeans and white sneakers.

In the few years that Kim had known Thana, they had dressed similarly on several occasions. The two looked almost like siblings on a good day and on a bad day Thana looked like a mini female Kim. Today happened to be a good day, where the duo just looked like fraternal twins.

Thana sat beside Kim, on the inside beside the window while Kim sat on the aisle. Nino and Chloé sat in front of them while Sabrina and Adrien sat in front of them. Juleka and Rose sat behind Kim and Thana and across the aisle from Ivan and Max. Nathaniel, Alix and Mylene sat in front of them leaving a desk between them and Alya and Lila.

Chloé in a surprising, to some in the class, move showed up that day in cuffed ripped denim jeans paired with a yellow mock neck turtleneck shirt, black boots, a black belt and a puffy red cardigan. Nino, unsurprisingly to everyone but Alya and Lila, showed up that day in cuffed slightly distressed blue jeans, a red striped shirt, white sneakers and a black beanie.

Alya and Lila, being the two most unused to the four’s odd dynamic, simply stared before turning back to one another.

“So, anyways, like I was saying.” Lila continued. She’d decided to come to school dressed in an orange ruched long sleeved dress with a pair of nude heels. “Jason Todd is like my best friend. He came to me and wanted to know if I thought he should forgive Bruce, oh I mean Mr. Wayne, for what he did.”

Thana glared at Lila, her gray blue eyes going cold (and looking far too much like her father’s eyes) before she slammed her hands down on the desk. “Jason Todd is your best friend? Funny, I don’t remember you being there when we were freezing our asses off in the dark alleys of Gotham. Funny, I don’t remember you being there when I had to stitch him up because he got the shit beat out of him for trying to get money to feed us! Funny, I don’t remember you being there when Deathstroke rained bullets on us for existing!”

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng! That is enough. Go to Principal Damocles’ office!” Madame Bustier called out from the front of the room.

Thana turned her eyes on their teacher before collecting her belongings, her friends all stood up and began collecting their belongings as well.

“Where do you three think you’re going?” Mlle. Bustier questioned the trio.

“To Daddy’s hotel after Principal Damocles tells Fragolina to go home for the day. Fragolina just had to listen to Rossi lie about her brother, whom she hasn’t seen since she was pulled from the streets of Gotham.” Chloé stated as though it should have been common sense.

Nino and Kim nodded before Kim took Thana’s belongings. Nino turned to Adrien before glancing at Alix and back to Adrien. “We’ll keep Alqamar calm until you get out of school.”

Adrien nodded before he watched his four friends shuffle out of the room. He hoped everything would be alright and that they could give the four temporary holders their Miraculouses today instead of waiting any longer.

---

Adrien and Alix walked into Chloé’s suite in Le Grande Paris hotel carrying six people worth of homework. “Niú! Shé! Jiǎohuá! Xiǎo māo! Guī and I brought homework!”

Chloé turned to look at the duo, a black bandana wrapped around her head with her hair thrown up in a messy bun, before turning back to the task at hand, painting Kim’s nails black to match her own and Nino’s. “Fragolina is in the blanket fort she and Kim built over by my bed. Nino is over there-” she nodded to indicate the area “-listening to music.”

Alix nodded and smiled. “Sweet. You go to Kiti and I’ll go lay down with Nino.”

Adrien rolled his eyes as Alix went over to Nino and invaded the boy’s space, laughing when Nino simply pulled a second set of headphones out of his bag and placed them on Alix’s head before laying back down. He slowly traversed Chloé’s room, knowing that if he moved anything out of place the blonde would be upset with him, before smiling at the blanket fort that was made. “Thana? Can I come in?”

“As long as you don’t give me that dumb high road bullshit. I can handle her lying about Sabine and Tom not wanting me, they only took me in because they wanted a daughter to be just like them, and I can handle her thinking she’s turning the whole class against me, but I refuse to let her lie about Jay-Jay like that. Jay-Jay doesn’t deserve it and I refuse to let you make me feel like shit for sticking to my beliefs.”

Adrien let out a dry laugh and shook his head. “I would never.” Adrien pushed the door to the fort open and let a small smile flit across his face. “Oh Thana.” Adrien sat beside Thana, pulling her into his side with an arm around her shoulders, and hummed a song his mother used to sing to him. Adrien knew his friend needed him and was okay with being there for her.

---

Desgracia, flanked by Trâu and Renarde Véloce, followed Althaeban into the place where they were meeting the four temporary holders. They each held a small octagonal box with the red symbol of the Guardian on top of it in preparation of this meeting.

Alix ran past them with a quick call of, “soon!” over her shoulder. She ducked into an alleyway out of the way and from the opposite direction Salihafa landed on the scene.

Monsieur Punaise strolled into the plaza, a small square of grass surrounded by sidewalks with buildings on three sides and the fourth side open to the rest of the city, with a small grin. He was excited to help the temporary heroes reach their full potential. He bumped Desgracia’s shoulder before standing beside Salihafa.

Their four chosen rushed into the plaza, their hair all but streaks of colour until they stopped. Alicia stops closer to the gathered heroes than her three friends, Bellamy just behind her in front of Marc and Brielle. Marc’s black hair stood out beside Brielle’s short blonde bob. Bellamy ran a hand through his hair before looking around at his friends.

“Is everyone alright? Everyone’s together?” Bellamy asked as he double checked that his three friends were there.

Alicia laughed and shook her head, her dark violet hair swaying behind her. “Yes Mom. We’re all here and alright.”

Brielle nudged Bellamy to get his attention. “Bellamy. We have company.”

Salihafa couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. “Oh Bug boy. They’re hilarious. Can we keep them?”

Monsieur Punaise shook his head. “Hafa, we can’t keep them, not if they don’t want to be kept.”

Marc smiled, watching the heroes interact as though they were simply friends and not the Heroes of Paris. Their eyes flicked over the assembled heroes before landing on the four holding octagonal boxes. “What’s going on?” They looked back at Monsieur Punaise and Salihafa and frowned. “Why do they have octagonal boxes?”

Monsieur Punaise’s grin grew only larger before he waved at the four chosen. “Hello you four. Due to special circumstances the six of us will be out of Paris for a while, which is where you four come in. In our absence, we ask that you, Alicia, Bellamy, Brielle and Marc, step in to assist us in our fight against Hawkmoth.” As each name is called, a hero steps up in front of them and presents them with a box.

Renarde Véloce presented Alicia with an octagonal box with a smile. “This is the Miraculous of the Mouse, which will grant you the power of Multiplication. Will you accept this Miraculous and fight alongside your fellow heroes to protect Paris in our absence? Will you return this Miraculous when your time is up?”

Alicia nodded and accepted the box.

Trâu presented Bellamy with an octagonal box with a slight upturn of his lips. “This is the Miraculous of the Dragon, which will grant you the power of Perfection. Will you accept this Miraculous and fight alongside your fellow heroes to protect Paris in our absence? Will you return this Miraculous when your time is up?”

Bellamy nodded seriously and accepted the box from the hero.

Althaeban presented Brielle with a similar octagonal box. “This is the Miraculous of the Bee, which will grant you the power of Subjection. Will you accept this Miraculous and fight alongside your fellow heroes to protect Paris in our absence? Will you return this Miraculous when your time is up?”

Brielle smiled professionally and nodded. “I will do my best.” She accepted the box from the hero.

Desgracia presented Marc with the last octagonal box. “This is the Miraculous of the Horse, which will grant you the power of Teleportation. Will you accept this Miraculous, fight alongside your fellow heroes to protect Paris in our absence, and give safe passage to Monsieur Punaise to help him purify the Akuma and reverse the damage done? Will you return this Miraculous when your time is up?”

Marc looked at the hero and nodded, accepting the box. “Yes, Desgracia.”

-*-*-*

Jason scrubbed his hands down his face, looking over the paperwork in front of him. He let out a tired sigh before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. Jason felt thin arms wrap around his waist and he smiled before ruffling the short black hair atop Damian’s head. “Hey, Little Nugget.”

“Baba,” Damian responded. “What’re you doing?”

Jason chuckled, sitting back down on the couch and pulling Damian onto his lap. “Going over some paperwork. Would you want to legally be considered mine? To legally be Damian al Ghul-Todd?”

Damian’s green eyes widened and a hesitant smile spread across his face. “Do you mean that?”

Jason smiled at his little boy. “Of course I do ya hayati.” Jason wrapped his arms around Damian and rested his chin on the top of his head. “You’ve been mine in my heart for nearly three years now, Little Nugget.”

Damian laughed, and nodded. “Okay.” Damian nuzzled Jason’s shoulder before sliding off of his lap to go talk to one of the men Jason claimed as brothers.

Jason sighed and ran his hand over his face.

---

Jason, accompanied by Damian and his dumb brothers, strode into the Iceberg Lounge. “Cobblepott?”

Oswald Cobblepott poked his head up from behind the bar with an inquistial “yes?”

“Do you have a legal guy? Someone who helped you get this place?”

“Why do you ask?” Oswald asked, slinging a towel over his shoulder.

“I want to legally be able to claim Damian. I don’t want anyone to be able to take him away from me.”

“Good for you.” Oswald smiled before appearing to get lost in thought. “I believe Dent is still a member of the bar. He could probably help you.”

Jason nodded, “thanks.” He turned to his brothers and his Little Nugget. “Can one of you watch him while I go talk to Dent?”

Dick nodded. “Can we introduce him to Pam?”

Jason looked over his Little Nugget’s outfit, a red hoodie with blue jeans and sneakers, before nodding. “Remember, red sleeves will keep him safe. Do you have your’s?”

Tim pushed the sleeve of Conner’s leather jacket to reveal long red sleeves while Dick just pulled on a letterman jacket with red leather sleeves (a jacket he’d had commissioned by their favourite designer (who just seemed to get Gothamite fashion for some reason)).

Jason pulled Damian into a tight hug and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Behave for your dumb uncles, and don’t take off the red sleeves. You may have been publicly claimed as the only biological son of Bruce Wayne but that doesn’t mean anything to bad guys.”

Damian nodded, a very small smile on his face. “I promise I’ll behave Baba.”

---

Damian, Dick and Tim walked into the Botanical Garden with appreciative gasps at the fauna.

Dick and Tim smiled at their nephew, at the clear awe that was displayed on his face. They shared a look before looking back at Damian, to notice that he’d pulled out his sketchbook and was squatting in front of a patch of flowers they were sure he’d never seen before drawing them in as much detail as he could.

“What are you three doing here? Doesn’t Daddy Dearest frown upon mingling with the riff raff?” Pam’s amused voice carried throughout the oversized greenhouse. Where most others would hear a mocking tone in her voice, the older two knew that what she said was merely said in jest.

“Hey Pam.” Dick called out as Tim went to collect their wayward charge, who’d managed to wander a little too close to a patch of pitcher plants.

“Morning glory, Solidago.” Pam smiled and waved at the older boys. “Well hello there child of Sundew, what a beautiful day it is today. Were you observing the patch of Sundew and other Drosera plants?”

Dami nodded and smiled. “Lycoris.” Damian waved at the red head. “They’re lovely, just like Baba.”

Pam smiled and scooped the tyke up into her arms. “Let’s go see the different plants.”

Dick and Tim could only share confused looks with one another as Pam carried Damian around the greenhouse.

---

Jason sat in the back corner of the café he was supposed to be meeting Harvey Dent in, a window to his side and the wall at his back. He brought the cup of coffee up to his lips, savouring the aroma of café coffee as he waited for the older man.

Harvey Dent walked into the café a few minutes later, his head down but his eyes focused on the path in front of him. Harvey slid into the chair opposite Jason, blue meeting blue, before Harvey smiled. “How can I help you?”

Jason set the cup of coffee down, folded his hands on the table in front of him, and took a deep breath. “I need you to help me file for legal custody of Damian al Ghul-Wayne. He has been my son for the last three years but Mr. Wayne publicly claimed him the other day. I can get Damian’s mother’s signature but Mr. Wayne is going to fight it.” Jason looked down at his hands, before letting out a shaky breath. “Mr. Wayne didn’t even know that he existed until a few days before the press conference. Mr. Dent, I need your help to keep my son.”

Harvey Dent looked at the man, really looked at him, and nodded. “Okay kid. Anything to get under Brucie Wayne’s skin.” Harvey chuckled, before his eyes landed on Jason’s red sleeves. “Why is one sleeve shorter than the other?”

“It’s for my sister.” Jason answered with a shrug.

Harvey frowned. “Does that ever accurately explain it?”

“With everyone who knew her.” Jason finished his cup of coffee and looked at Harvey. “Can we set up a time for an appointment to go over the details at a later date? I have to go rescue my son from my brothers.”

Harvey nodded and rose, extending a hand to Jason. “What time next week works best for you?”

Jason grasped the older man’s hand and shook it. “I’ll probably be at the Lounge Monday through Wednesday from ten to three and only there Thursday and Friday from noon to two. My son wants to spend some time getting to know his Aleuma’s friends.”

Harvey smiled and nodded. “I will see you Tuesday at ten.”

Jason watched the older man walk out of the café before he turned to find his waitress. He smiled charmingly at her. “I’m sorry miss. I don’t mean to bother you, I just need to get my check from you as soon as you can bring it to me. I let two of my brothers take my son out for the day and I have a feeling that they took him somewhere I didn’t approve of and I need to go rescue him.”

The waitress, named Kellie, smiled and nodded. “Of course sir. Just one moment.” She disappeared for a moment before returning with his check. “I hope your son understands how lucky he is to have you as a father.”

Jason smiled and nodded. “He knows.” Jason pulled out his wallet and gave her his debit card. “Thank you for your help.” He put a twenty dollar bill down on the table and walked out of the section before taking his card back from the waitress. “Have a great rest of your day.”

---

Jason woke up on Sunday with his son splayed across his chest. He smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of Damian’s head. He loved waking up in the morning, and not at three am to his son having a nightmare. Unfortunately, his phone started ringing loudly, “What’s Up Danger” pouring from his speaker.

“Roy?” Jason mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Jason? I’m sorry if I woke you up. I just, I need help.”

“Roy. Are you using again? Where are you? Where’s Lian?”

“No, I’m not using again. Lian and I are at Oliver’s. Jade just dumped Lian on me, Jade just dumped Lian on me and Lian has this brand on the small of her back and I want to kill the mother of my child.”

“Hey. Roy. No. I can send Alfred to get the two of you and have him drop you off at my apartment so I can make you coffee and breakfast? You’ll get to officially meet my son?”

“You have a son?” Roy whispered in shock.

“Do you need me to call Alfred to see if he can give you a ride? Or can you make it on your own?” Jason ran a hand through his son’s hair and smiled as his Little Nugget nuzzled deeper into his embrace.

“Can you call Alfred?”

---

Roy Harper sat at the island in Jason’s apartment. Dick stood in the living room cooing down at Lian, who he held against his chest.

“Tell me about you and Jade.” Jason smiled at his friend as he cooked.

“It wasn’t anything special.” Roy took a sip of coffee. “Lian is the best thing to ever happen to either of us, or at least I thought she was.”

“Baba?” Damian stumbled into the kitchen and wrapped himself around Jason’s leg.

“Good morning Kutlat Saghira. Say hi to Roy.” Jason ruffled Damian’s hair with a smile.

“Hi Roy.” Damian mumbled.

Roy smiled and waved. “Hi Damian.”

---

“Hey Jaybird?” Dick called as he walked into the kitchen.

Jason glanced over his shoulder at his older brother. "What's up Dickiebird?"

Dick slumped against the counter and offered him a smile. "So, Kor'i and I are getting divorced. Kor'i's going back to Tamaran but I get to keep Mar'i. And because I love you and don't want to put you out, Wally's offered to let Mar'i and I stay with him."

"Okay. Are you okay?" Jason wiped his hands on a nearby towel before turning to face him. "Do you need anything? Do you need me to take you out to go drinking?"

Dick chuckled and shook his head. "No Jaybird. I don't need you to take me drinking. Thanks for being so chill about it."

"You're my brother Dick, and the uncle of my son. I'm not B, I'm always going to be here for you."

---

Jason sat beside Mr. Dent across the table from Bruce Wayne and his lawyers.

“What is this about Jason?” Bruce sounded exasperated and shook his head.

“Mr. Wayne. My client called this meeting to discuss custody of young Mister al Ghul-Wayne.”

“Custody? Of my son?” Bruce’s voice grew dark and Jason had to fight against his instinct to flinch at the man’s tone.

Mr. Dent frowned at the man before looking at the man’s legal team. “Please keep your client under control. My client was a minor under his care when he had his unfortunate accident.”

Bruce glowered. “Oh. Boohoo.”

“Mr. Wayne. It is in your best interest to calm yourself.”

Jason glanced at Harvey, who nodded, before looking back at the legal team. “I just want custody of Mr. al Ghul-Wayne. I don’t want financial support from you, I’m not doing this for your money. I’m doing this because I love him.”

Bruce growled and stood up. He was about to speak when Jason spoke again.

“Besides, after what you said after the press conference I thought you’d be glad to be rid of him, seeing as he is the child of a rogue, and the grandchild of a rogue.”

“You shut your fucking mouth you ungrateful brat.”

“Mr. Wayne.” The head of the Wayne Enterprises legal team, Abraham Shields, spoke. “Calm yourself before we have you removed from the room and we, the legal team, act in the best interest of the company.”

Mr. Dent’s face grew in a gleeful smile. “All my client wants is to retain custody of young Mr. al Ghul-Wayne, as my client has been young Mr. al Ghul-Wayne’s primary guardian and caretaker for the last three years.”

---

The two legal teams, and their clients, sat in the courtroom of Judge Alika Mahelona with Damian al Ghul-Wayne sitting on the witness stand.

“Now, Mr. al Ghul-Wayne-” Judge Mahelona began before Damian cut her off.

“I’m sorry, excuse me Your Honour, but Baba says my name is Damian al Ghul-Todd.” Damian in all his adorable nine-year-old politeness helpfully corrected the judge.

Judge Mahelona smiled. “Can you point to who Baba is for me?”

Damian smiled and nodded before pointing at Jason. “That’s Baba. He takes care of me and loves me even when I make mistakes.”

“He sounds like a good father. Now, I’m going to ask a hard question and I want you to answer as honestly as you can. Can you do that for me?”

Damian smiled. “Yes Your Honour.”

“Who do you want to live with?” Judge Mahelona asked the boy, she was not expecting his answer.

“I want to keep living with my Baba. He helped me get away from the bad place with the bad people, and he’s very nice. He’s helping me acclimate to America and he doesn’t get mad when I can’t remember the words in English. I haven’t known Baba very long but he’s the best parent I’ve ever had, because I only met Mr. Wayne a few weeks ago.”

Judge Mahelona smiled and nodded. “Okay. Then I grant custody to Mr. Todd.”

Bruce growled and threw a glare in Jason’s direction. “Fine.” He stood up, turned on his heel and stalked out of the courtroom.

“I’d like to formally introduce the Todd family.”

Damian ran off of the witness stand and attacked Jason in a hug.

Taglist

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So, what do you think?

Scorponokkin’ on Heaven’s Door

So until recently there was no CHUG Scorponok. The only thing close to fitting the gap was a Botcon exclusive super-limited redeco of Energon Scorps with the ability to fit a classic headmaster. But I don't have that, and neither do you, so it leaves us all kind of screwed. I do have his head, of course. A special bonus titan master included with Titans Return Grotusque, but with no body. A regular Energon Scorponok would otherwise fill the gap, despite the lack of headmaster compatibility, but something always stayed my hand whenever I thought of picking one up. The possibility, the maybe, the outside chance every time a convention rolled around that this might be the year when the big green bellend gets announced.

And this year, it finally was. Huh.

I'll be honest, a full-on Titan-class toy for Scorponok was not what I was hoping for. Deep down I wanted a leader or commander-sized variant, because as with many of these Decepticon leaders it's his Marvel G1 comic that I associate most strongly for him. It's pretty obvious that the artists and writers there were not given height charts much of the time (or decided to ignore them), as many characters, Scorponok and Fortress Maximus most prominently, were depicted as regular sized bots. While this caused problems for Fort Max, what with him not having any point to his alt mode and having a confusing in-between mode for his double headmastering, it made little difference for Scorponok. He was still a huge, powerful Scorpion-shaped battle station bastard, and this way he could stand and chat with his fellow robo-men without worrying about stomping on them the whole time.

No-one's quite done headmasters as well as Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman in the G1 comic. None of this tedious transtector nonsense, the Marvel comic delved straight in to the ramifications of merging the brains of a human and giant robot together. Both Fort Max and Scorponok served as exemplars of the process, and in Scorponok's case it showed his headmaster partner Zarak take on more and more of Scorponok's cruel and arrogant nature, while Scorponok began to show increasing amounts of humanity, becoming the most reasonable and diplomatic of all the Decepticon leaders. It was Scorponok who agreed to forge a truce with the Autobots, and Scorponok who saw the need to unite the squabbling factions of the Decepticon forces. It was a great arc, and a far stronger one than Megatron or Shockwave ever managed. It also made his death even more harrowing, his melted face giving rise to all sorts of uncomfortable ideas about the fate of poor Zarak underneath in the imaginations of traumatised children. Brrr.

So this tiny toy, despite its official label as 'Scorponok' really better represents Lord Zarak in his exo-suit. The Scorponok face on his back is made out of die-cast metal rather than plastic, and Zaz gets a premium paint job to pick out the silver on his fearsome new faceplate. So good is this titan master that it puts a lot of the others to shame, since the paint applications on the tiny figures slowed to a crawl after the second wave. Almost makes you wish for a proper body for him to go with...

As it happens, the real head for titan Scorponok is itself the size of a tall deluxe, which technically negates any need for this tiny metal guy... but then of course the deluxe is itself a headmaster, now mirroring the double headmaster system of Fort Max. So I don't know about you, but my plans are to swap out the titan master that comes with Big Scorponok with the one I already have. This is the best of every possible world - not only getting the ridiculously massive titan toy, but also a smaller version that can interact with his buddies and still be Scorponok. Zarak still gets to be a regular titan master, Scorponok gets to be two separate sizes of robot. What luxury!

So while this is not the Scorponok I really wanted (and I don't have a clue where I'm going to find the space), I'm still pretty excited by the prospect of Earthrise Scorps. Pretty much all of the Generations output for the last half-decade has shown that Hasbro and Takara have got really good at mimicking the better parts of the designs from the 1980s without losing any functionality. So at this stage a full reveal of ER Scorponok doesn't even seem all that necessary. We already know it's going to look like Scorponok always did, and always should. Just, you know, massive.

Until then, I'll keep this tiny Scorponok in his place. Dreaming, as always, of bigger things.

5 Times Nancy Wheeler Saw Her Little Brother Cry and 1 Time She Saw Him Smile

here’s that st fic i mentioned a few days ago! i wrote this when 5+1s were still a thing lmao.

this is, for the most part, canon compliant. ship wise, there’s lots of mentions of mileven, but this is mostly just nancy caring about/looking after mike and being a good older sister (duffers take note) bc i love them both and wanna see more of their relationship lol. this is my first (and tbh v possibly only) st fic. i’d post it to my st blog ( @curlywheelers hmu lol) but my irl friends follow that blog so i’m posting it here instead lmao

words: 2,190

warnings: mentions of canon character deaths, generally v angsty lol

read on ao3 or below (:

Nancy Wheeler has seen her little brother cry plenty of times. He cried nearly every Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning the one spring their mom had signed him up for baseball, and she always rolled her eyes at him. He cried when he went down a hill too fast and fell off his bike when he was nine, and she put Band-Aids on his cuts. He cried when their parents would argue, and she hugged him until long after the shouting stopped so he couldn’t see her own tears. Still, her experience with Mike’s pain didn’t make it any easier for her as his older sister to witness.

* * *

Nancy sat in the living room with her parents, the three of them deafeningly silent; what was there to say? They had just received the phone call that Will Byers’ body had been found in the quarry, and they had no idea where Mike was, or whether he had heard or not. The only sounds that cut through the heavy air were Karen Wheeler’s uneven breaths as she tried to stifle her sobs of concern, wringing her hands. Nancy bit her lip to keep herself from crying too.

After what felt like hours, they finally heard the front door open. Mrs. Wheeler jumped up and met her son in the entryway of the house. Nancy watched as Mike crumpled into his mother’s embrace, sobs wracking through his body. Her chest ached and the tears started flowing; she wished she could do something to help, but what was there to say? Kids aren’t supposed to die. Kids aren’t supposed to watch their friends die. Nancy trembled as she watched her brother cling to their mother.

* * *

Nancy didn’t know what to say, but she knew she had to say something. Or maybe just listen, or even just be there. She had to do something for him; he couldn’t even tell their parents. She knocked on his bedroom door, but it opened slightly to reveal that he wasn’t in there. She sighed, knowing where he’d be. She did her best to avoid her parents as she made her way to the basement; she only ever went down there to do laundry and look for old clothes, and she felt almost like she was intruding on a space not meant for her as she swung the door open and started down the staircase. The sight before her stopped her in her tracks about halfway down.

Mike’s watery brown eyes stared up at her from a fort she had never seen before, making him look like a deer in headlights. He dropped the walkie-talkie he had clutched in his hands and began wiping his eyes as he sniffled. Nancy hurried down the stairs, sitting beside him. Nothing was said between them as she pulled him into her side, resting her cheek on the top of his head. The words she’d heard him say in Will’s hospital room echoed in her mind; She saved us. But she’s gone now. “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked quietly. He shook his head, and she left it at that. She felt his body begin to shake as his tears came again, and as she rubbed his arm she willed herself to keep her own at bay.

The two siblings may not have been the closest in the world, but Nancy was good at reading people, and Mike was an open book anyway, so she could tell that Eleven had meant a lot to him. Thinking about it, El had probably been Mike’s first serious crush. Nancy’s chest ached; she was feeling loss too, and she couldn’t bear the thought that her little brother was feeling anything remotely similar to her own pain. He was only twelve – no twelve-year-old deserved what happened to him; he had been through far more grief than any twelve-year-old can be expected to handle. He was a good kid, and so was Eleven; they had both just been trying to help, and now Mike was heartbroken, and Eleven-

Nancy pulled him closer. He cried a little harder.

* * *

Jonathan jumped out of the car as soon as it was parked in his driveway, barely stopping to take the keys out of the ignition. Nancy followed, rushing up the porch and holding the door open for him as he carried Will’s unconscious body out of the car and into the house. Hopper’s truck was right behind them, and Nancy watched as he helped Joyce out of the car and into the house as well. She was about to follow them in when she realized Mike hadn’t gotten out of the car. Dustin, Max, and Lucas rushed into the house, Steve behind them. He paused in the doorway when he realized she wasn’t following.

“Hey,” Steve said softly, “you coming in?” She shook her head without looking at him.

“I need to check on Mike,” she whispered, descending the stairs of the porch and heading back to Jonathan’s car. She heard the front door close behind her.

She took a deep breath outside the car before opening the door and sliding into the backseat next to Mike. He didn’t react; he just stared at the seat in front of him, his eyes wide and faraway. “Hey,” she spoke gently. When she still received no response, she took his hand in hers – it was shaking. “You okay?” She knew it was a stupid question, but she had no idea what else to say. Normally she’d just be there for him, but he wasn’t crying or yelling or anything – she needed something, even just for him to squeeze her hand back. It took about a minute of silence, but he finally spoke up.

“I could hear them,” he whispered, his voice breathy and broken. She felt his grip on her hand tighten as his tears started to fall. He turned his head to look at her, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. “I heard those- those things-” he began saying, his own sobs cutting him off. Nancy’s heart sank into her stomach; no one had mentioned why Bob wasn’t in the car or why Mrs. Byers was sobbing, but it wasn’t too hard to fill in the gaps. Nancy thought she might be sick at the thought of her little brother witnessing that. She wanted to put her arm around him, but he had her hand in a death grip.

“Mike,” she whispered, beginning to cry herself, “I’m so sorry.” And then he was in her arms, rocking back and forth slightly while he sobbed. She rubbed her hand in circles on his back while holding him as tightly as she could, as though he might float away. He could’ve, god, it could’ve been him who’d been eaten alive by those things. And now she was really, truly crying as well. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she sobbed, not wanting to ever let him out of her sight again. “I’m so, so sorry, Mike, I’m never gonna let anything happen to you, okay?” she vowed. He pulled back to look at her and nodded.

“Y-you too,” he said, his entire body still shaking, his face red and puffy. They stared at each other for a moment before Mike started wiping his eyes. “You shou-hould p-probably go check on Jo-onathan,” he said, his words hiccupped with small sobs.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said with an air of finality. He looked at his older sister with an incredible amount of grief and fear, but also with clear gratitude before burying his face back in her shoulder. They stayed like that for what felt like an hour, but was really more like five minutes before collecting themselves and heading inside to join the others.

Just as Mike was about to open the door, Nancy stopped him. He gave her a questioning look, and she did something she hadn’t done in years: she kissed his cheek. “Agh, gross,” he complained, pulling a face. But he still squeezed her hand before going inside, and they both understood.

* * *

After making sure Joyce and Will were comfortable and safe in the backseat, Nancy climbed into the passenger seat beside Jonathan. Her eyes strayed to the Byers’ porch where Steve was standing with Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Mike. Her heart tightened as she thought about the conversation she’d just had with Steve – if you could even call it a conversation. But her heart hurt a whole lot more when she saw Mike watching El leave with tears in his eyes. She could only imagine what he was feeling right now, having just gotten her back and now having to watch her leave again. Nancy knew as well as everyone else that there was no certainty that any of the six who were leaving were coming back, and El was least likely of all to survive, excepting Will. Nancy watched her brother get smaller and smaller as she drove away, wishing desperately that she could be on that porch telling him everything was going to be okay. But Jonathan needed her, too, even more than Mike, and she knew Steve wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Still, it broke her heart to see her little brother in so much pain when there was nothing she could do to help.

* * *

“Mom, have you seen my pink lip gloss?” Nancy called from the stairs.

“I haven’t,” her mother’s reply came from the kitchen. “Have you checked the bathroom?”

“I already did!” Nancy called back in frustration, running back up the stairs before she could hear Karen’s reply. On her way to her room, she noticed Mike’s door was open a crack. She could hear muffled sniffles coming from his room as she walked closer. The door creaked open when she knocked to reveal Mike sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. He jerked up at the sound of Nancy’s entrance. She noted the tears on his cheeks and the suit and tie lying next to him on his bed, nice and neat and definitely untouched since their mom had put them there for him. Nancy closed the door and walked further into the room. “God, Mike, I know you can’t dance, but it’s nothing to get so worked up over,” she joked lightly, taking a seat next to him.

“Leave me alone,” he grumbled, wiping at his cheeks.

“What’s up?” she asked gently.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled in response. Nancy just sat there, waiting until he was ready to share. He sighed eventually, still avoiding her gaze as he confessed, “I promised her I’d take her.” Nancy’s heart dropped. “I told her all about it, and I promised I’d take her, and now I can’t.” Nancy hated hearing the pain in his voice, but at least this time it was easier, because this time Nancy wasn’t useless to him; this time, Nancy knew something he didn’t, she knew she would be able to help make him feel better. Still, it sucked to see her little brother so upset. But she wasn’t about to ruin the surprise.

“I’m sure she understands,” she said. “It’s safer this way.”

“That’s all anyone ever says,” Mike answered, sadness evident in his voice though he tried to sound annoyed.

“I know,” Nancy replied softly. “But hey, you’ll have a great time with your friends! And maybe I’ll even save you a dance,” she teased.

“Ugh, gross,” Mike complained, pretending to vomit as he shoved her away. She giggled, but left the room anyway.

“Get dressed!” she called before closing the door, “Mom put a lot of thought into that outfit!” He flipped her off, a gesture she returned with a smile before returning to her search.

She gave one last look around her room, finding her lip gloss under her dresser, before taking her makeup case and slipping out of the house before Mike could see her with it.

* * *

Nancy smiled down at Dustin, nodding her head to the music as she swayed. She let her eyes linger for a moment, disappointed to see that Mike was sitting alone, staring off into space forlornly. It was upsetting, but she knew he’d be smiling soon enough. As if on cue, she watched him look toward the door, eyes wide as he jumped out of his seat. Nancy smiled to herself, watching as Mike started walking toward El. Nancy silently congratulated herself on her styling abilities, proud that El’s hair had stayed the way she’d styled it.

“Holy shit.” Dustin’s eyes had followed Nancy’s and the two of them watched as Mike took El’s hand. “Is she allowed to be here?” Dustin whispered.

“Hopper knows she’s here, and he’s outside if anything happens,” Nancy assured him, a smile on her face. Dustin’s face lit up.

“You knew about this?”

“Who do you think did her makeup?”

They glanced back over at Mike and El. They were resting their foreheads together as they swayed to the music, and Nancy’s heart soared; she hadn’t seen her little brother smile like that in such a long time.

being the middle wheeler child [headcanons]

Request: @xbarrjallenx said “can I please request a ‘being mike and nancy’s sister…’ head canon? thank you!“

Pairing: Mike Wheeler x Reader (platonic, family), Nancy Wheeler x Reader (platonic, family), Steve Harrington x Reader (oops it’s romantic)

this is so long and all over the place and i’m thinking of doing a steve story based on this headcanon. thoughts?

being a Wheeler has made your life…interesting.

to start, you’re the awkward middle child, three years older than Mike and a year younger than Nancy.

even though you’re closer in age to Nancy, you can’t help but feel closer to Mike.

you‘ve always been the one who watches over them during their campaigns, even joining in when you get bored of doing homework

(the whole party loves you)

((in fact, Dustin, Lucas, and Will all have secret crushes on you but shh))

but of course you’re still pretty close with Nancy

I mean

who else are you gonna go to for advice?

and gossip?

she’s your role model.

surprisingly, you fit in with the popular crowd at school

which means that you catch the attention of King Steve fairly quickly.

you can’t help but fall for the big-haired dork

I mean, he hangs out with you a lot and he’s actually showing interest in you

just when you think he’s about to ask you out…

he goes after Nancy.

you can’t help but feel heartbroken

and Mike notices, so he tries to distract you, using D&D in order to keep your attention focused away from Steve & Nancy

when Will goes missing, things get worse

you thought Steve asking Nancy out hurt?

imagine losing someone who you’ve known all your life.

you go to the search party, tears in your eyes as you search for little Byers

when you don’t find anything, you sneak out with the boys

you’re just as surprised as they are when you find Eleven

you are the one who she trusts the most

you give her your old clothes and help the boys set up a small fort in your basement

this whole thing has definitely kept your mind off Steve

too bad Nancy has to ruin it and drag you to his house the next night.

the party is lame (in your opinion) but you just don’t want to see Steve and Nancy making out

so when Barb cuts herself, you jump at the chance to leave

you take Barb’s side in her argument with Nancy, causing Nancy to say some pretty mean stuff to you

(like, even Tommy and Carol are shocked)

((so is Steve but he decides to stick with Nancy instead of you))

so you stand up straight and hold back your tears, following Barb outside..

…where you are both taken by the Demogorgon.

you wake up disoriented, not knowing where you are

you’re blinded by bright lights, and when your eyes adjust, you can’t help but smile.

sitting around you are Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Will.

you shift around, trying to get comfortable

this automatically wakes up Mike, which wakes up Dustin, which wakes up Lucas, which wakes up Will

the four boys surround you in a hug before Mike sits up straight, grinning widely.

“NANCY, SHE’S AWAKE!! (Y/N)’S AWAKE!!”

in stumbles Nancy, eyes red and swollen and hair all over the place

she lets out a sob as she throws herself on you, apologizing profusely as she realizes just how close she had come to losing you

you’re super confused for a few minutes before it all comes back to you

Eleven, Barb, Will, the place that the kids now call the “Upside Down”

your eyes widen as you look at Mike

“please tell me no one is dead.”

Mike looks at Nancy, who looks right back at him

they speak in unison

“El is gone”

“Barb is gone”

you look down slightly before getting up, making your way to the door before you feel your legs give out 

you begin to fall, feeling two sets of arms steady you

“woah there kid. take it easy.”

it’s Jim Hopper, who you haven’t seen this sober in years. 

“(Y/N) you’re awake!”

all of a sudden, you’re being embraced by someone and you can’t help but smile as you recognize the familiar scent of Farrah Fawcett Hairspray.

things are finally going back to normal

no Demogorgon and no Upside Down to worry about

but then Christmas comes along

and you wake up sick

your mom forces you to stay in bed, and you listen

until you end up in the bathroom, throwing up like crazy.

when you see the weird slug coming out of you, you calmly stand up, flush the toilet, and sprint all the way to the Byers household

you flinch slightly at Joyce’s smiling face, not wanting to ruin her day

you ask her permission to talk to Will and she agrees, knowing that you two are the only ones who understand each other.

Will admits that he’s experiencing the same things as you but makes you promise not to tell anyone.

you reluctantly agree and he smiles before hugging you.

“I’m scared (Y/N)”

you can’t help but feel protective over Will but you can’t find it in you to lie to him and tell him it’ll all be alright.

so you settle for the truth

“me too Will. me too.”

you reject Jonathan’s offer to drive you back home, and although Joyce is worried, she knows that you need the time to yourself.

you’re stopped on your way home by a honk

you look up slowly to see Steve Harrington leaning our the window of his car

“hey Wheeler. what’s a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?”

you scoff and roll your eyes before walking away, only for him to follow you up the road.

“c’mon Wheeler. what’d I do?”

Steve eventually gets out of the car and catches up to you, grabbing your wrist and bringing you in, eyes widening when you start crying

he wraps you in his arms and carries you to his car before driving off

“wanna talk about it?” he gently asks. you nod.

and so you spill everything

and by ‘everything’, I mean

e v e r y t h i n g

the vague things you remember from the Upside Down, admitting that you remember Barb dying. everything.

including your crush on him and your heartbreak over his relationship with Nancy

yet you keep your promise to Will, and don’t say a word about the slugs

Steve stares at you for a moment before grabbing your cheeks and leaning in

your eyes widen and just as his lips brush over yours,

you open the door and dart out of the car, running all the way home

you couldn’t kiss Steve. you couldn’t do that to Nancy.

you start to avoid Steve, even though he always tries to talk to you about it

you spend even more time with the kids, immersing yourself in Mike’s search for Eleven.

soon enough, it has been nearly a year since the events with the Upside Down

you find yourself struggling, visions of that place becoming more and more frequent

until it all culminates on Halloween

you get dragged to Tina’s party by Jonathan 

and you’re actually having fun, until Nancy and Steve get into their fight

Steve comes up to Jonathan, telling him to take Nancy home before turning to you

you stare at each other until Jonathan comes back, Nancy in his arms

you turn and walk away with Jonathan, grabbing his car keys in order to open the door for him

After placing Nancy in the car, you realize you forgot your purse so you go back, telling Jonathan to go ahead without you

you hear a small shriek from the woods behind the house and can’t help but go near it

you find some sort of small creature, which runs when it sees you.

you follow it all the way to the Henderson’s home before deciding to turn back…

only to find yourself in the Upside Down once again

you notice a large shadow looming over the town, and your anxiety skyrockets.

the thing makes its way towards you and all of a sudden, you’re in Jim Hopper’s arms.

you can’t speak. everything that comes out of your mouth are broken stutters

so Hopper takes you to a small, rustic cabin

where you find

“(Y/N)!!”

all of a sudden you’re tackled by a curly head of hair

“Eleven?”

Hopper tells you everything that has happened since last year 

you’re just really happy that El is okay.

soon you have to go back, promising that you won’t tell anyone about El.

you eventually get dragged into the whole thing with Dart, and you have to run around looking for him

you run into El, and quickly help her get out of the school, narrowly avoiding Mike

you burst outside and find yourself back in the Upside Down

Will stands there, gaping at the weird shadow monster

you quickly run to Will, trying to get the monster away from him

you’re successful but know that it has infected Will.

((you are unaware that a part of it has entered you now as well))

you try and help Joyce with Will, and eventually help Bob figure out where Hopper is located but you don’t go with them

Mike doesn’t want to let you go but you assure him that you’re going straight home

you arrive home, where you run into Dustin

and eventually Steve

the burning of the tunnels hurt both you and Will, although it hurts Will significantly more

Dustin and Steve don’t know what to do

eventually, y’all go to the junkyard, where you meet up with Max and Lucas.

the kids are all busy arguing, leaving you and Steve alone

“hey (Y/N), I think it’s time we talk about what happened last Christmas.”

“no offense Steve, but now is not really the best time for that.”

Steve is so done with you ignoring him but before he can do anything about it, you’re all stuffed inside the bus waiting for the demodogs.

you’re on the floor with a demodog about to devour you when all of a sudden, they’re called off.

the first thing Steve does when he picks you up is dip you into a dramatic kiss, causing all the kids to groan

“what about Nancy?”

“we broke up the night of Tina’s party. turns out she never loved me and I never loved her. we were always focused on other people.”

you eventually make your way to Hawkins Labs, meeting up with everyone else.

Nancy hugs you super tightly

“so, Jonathan huh?”

“so, Steve huh?”

you find Joyce, Hopper, Will, and Mike and quickly drive to the Byers household.

“(Y/N) I thought you said you were going straight home!”

“shut up Michael. something got in the way.”

you quickly realize that you must be sedated as well

even though you’re not completely possessed, you’re still a risk

you manage to calm down Will when he wakes, and smoothly translate his message towards the others: CLOSE GATE.

you’re taken to Hopper’s cabin as well, and the virus comes out of you much more easily than it comes out of Will.

eventually, Will is freed and you just know that El has closed the gate.

a month later, you find yourself fixing Mike’s tie before the Snow Ball

you and Nancy are also going, being in charge of snacks and drinks, respectively.

you can’t help but chuckle as Dustin walks into the school, hair all puffed up just like Steve

you really can’t help but smile as Nancy walks over and asks to dance with him

you find yourself swaying softly to the music, leaning against the walls before..

“can I have this dance?”

you look over to see Steve standing there, a goofy smile on his face as he looks at you

you gingerly place your hand in his and squeak as he tugs you closer to him

you smile fondly as you spot Mike kissing El and turn to Steve when you hear his laugh slightly

“what?” you ask

“it’s just, I don’t know why I didn’t ask you out last year.”

“well you were in love with Nancy.”

“that’s the thing (Y/N). I never was. it was always you that I was in love with. not her.”

you find yourself unable to speak as you pull Steve down, pressing your lips against his in a kiss that leaves him completely breathless.

you bounce apart when you hear a squeal and look up to see Nancy and Jonathan standing there, the latter holding a camera up.

Jonathan smirks before handing you a polaroid. “congrats.”

Nancy follows, leaning up towards Steve and whispering in his ear. “if I see her cry you’re dead Harrington. got it?”

Steve chuckles and nods before coming face to face with Dustin and Lucas. 

“if you hurt her, I will break you, you son of a bitch!” Dustin exclaims.

“if you ever get bored, call me.” Lucas says with a wink, causing Max to snort.

Mike and Eleven are the last to speak. 

“if you ever do anything bad to her Harrington,” Mike starts.

“yeah yeah. I get it. you’ll hurt me.” Steve interrupts.

Mike snorts before speaking.

“no. i’ll let el come after you.”

you can’t help but laugh at Mike’s words, bringing him into a hug that soon draws Nancy in as well.

even though the past two years have been terrifying, you’re just glad that you had such amazing siblings with you every step of the way.

Tags: @delicrieux, @broken-pieces, @xbarrjallenx

My thoughts during all Episode 1

Uh, this obviously contains heavy spoilers so, all my thoughts under cut! 

•Aye where are we? Where is this? Take me back to Hawkins?

•Who are these ppl? This robbers? where are my good honest kids?

•oOH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT. OH SHIIIIIITTT. Five.

•HELLO 911 MIKE STILL HANGS ON THE BASEMENT FORT! SEND HELP!

•Okay but Dustin is the one who had his score beaten, HE'S THE ONE WHO SHOULD BE INTERESTED THE MOST IN FINDING OUT WHO IS THIS MADMAX! And yet he's the first one to take Mike's side when he firmly states he's not 'prostituting his sister'.

•Episode one of season one gave us Dustin Henderson thoughtfully offering Nancy some pizza not because he had some sort of silly crush on her but because he genuinely just wanted to share pizza with her and now Episode one of season two gives us this little angel rather keeping Nancy away from some dumb jackass than getting information he would rlly appreciate, someone give this child a well deserved hug and maybe plz let me be that someone.

•MIKE ASKS EVERYONE IF THEYRE OKAY BUT NO ONE ASKS MIKE IF HE'S OKAY I AM NOT OKAY!

•Mike putting his arm around Will. Mike putting his arm around Will. Mike side hugging Will.

•Dad hopper has to put up with so much shit someone get him a beer.

•Steve is trying his hardest and that's all that matters. I love Steve.

•WHO THE FUCK IS THAT DUDE WHO BROUGHT MAX TO SCHOOL HE IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM.

•Nancy being friends with Jonathan is all that matters now. This is the air I breathe. Let me die in peace.

•THE MONSTER HUNTER OT3 IS ALIVE!!!!1!!!1!!!!

•Jonathan what the fuck are you lil emo doing walking away from ur boyfriend and girlfriend, get your scene ass back here and let urself be happy, you dumb emo.

•Bob is such a generic name.

•Okay like I love seeing Joyce so relaxed and happy and smiling but who the hell are you bob? Why is your name so generic?

•Okay bye bye Bob, it's time for Dad Hopper and Mom Joyce to take their kid to therapy.

•I do not trust this dumb Phycologist Doctor.

•Will you're scaring me.

•HAH! I KNEW I SHOULDNT TRUST THAT MOUTHBREATHER DOCTOR!

•"If anything happens... Call me first." Is the new I love you plz drop ur Generic named Bf and marry me.

•I FEEL SO SORRY FOR BARB'S PARENTS BUT ALSO PLZ DONT TALK ABOUT DAD HOPPER LIKE THAT HE'S A GOOD MAN!

•Nancy, baby, what is u doin'? Don't cry baby.

•MIKE STILL CALLS ELEVEN GOSH I AM SO DEAD.

•DAY 353 HES BEEN CALLING HER ALL YEAR WHAT THE FUCK MY HEART.

•I can't believe the Suffers managed to write something more stressful than El being trapped in the upside down for an entire year and that is SHE CAME BACK ON THE EXACT SAME DAY WHAT?

•What the actual fresh hell?

Immediate Thoughts After Watching Chapter One: MADMAX

I made of bunch of notes of my immediate thoughts after watching each episode. So I thought I would share some of the highlights here.

“They were so right, the opening sequence was not at all like anything on s1!”

“I squealed when I saw Noah’s and Sadie’s and Joe’s and everyone’s names in the opening credits!”

“And when that number 2 came in: ALREADY ICONIC!”

“The classic walkie-talkie scene with them rushing to go to the arcade; brought me right back to s1 episode 1! And “Kids” was playing in the background!! I was just giggling throughout the whole scene!”

“I’m not prostituting my sister” sounded just as hilarious as I had imagined it”

“Poor will, you don’t deserve any of this!”

“I know Billy is gonna be a horrible person BUT that introduction was so BADASS; Steve’s “raise a little hell” entrance was put so shame”

“And our girl Max is finally here!”

“Mr Clarke geeking out over the brain and everyone in the class except for the boys being bored out of their minds; LOVE IT”

“Will walking along the hallway and everyone staring at him! I still wonder what story they told everyone to explain how he suddenly returned from the dead.”

“The whole sequence of Will walking out of the school and sitting in the car has got me in tears: please someone help my little boy!”

“Okay Karen’s hair is looking glorious as ever”

“The toys have emotional value” omg Michael stop”

“Plagiarizing essays, graffiti?? You’re taking this whole emo thing way too far Mike”

“If your friend would jump off a cliff, would you?” OMG Ted you don’t even know”

“Nancy and Steve going for dinner at the Holland house is so awkward!”

“I feel so bad for the parents AND Nancy! She must be feeling so horribly guilty!”

“They are right for wanting #justiceforbarb and they seem so happy and hopeful to find her now”

“But we all know she’s lying dead in another dimension with slugs in her mouth”

“Nancy crying in the bathroom while the “eulogy” song plays!”

“AND THEN we switch to mike sorting out the toys. I can’t deal with this.”

“It’s Rory the dinosaur! That scene seems like a forever ago!”

“Mike going to the fort and doing that whole “it’s day 352” speech got me in tears”

“Will and Jonathan having a heart-to-heart. I love it”

“It’s that why you don’t have any friends?” Well that was harsh Will.”

“Bob being so normal and lame, I love it!”

“IT’S TIME FOR THIS ICONIC SCENE!”

“The Byers house is so nice and clean now I didn’t even recognize it at first!”

“It feels like a forever ago when we first saw this at the super bowl teaser. Look how far we’ve come guys!”

“I actually had to pause to take a breather before hopper entered the cabin. My daughter eleven is gonna be here!”

“The half-eaten eggo on the table. YES”

“No signal” the glorious first words of our badass daughter this season”

“It’s eight fifteen, not eight one five.” YEAH BUT THAT’S WHAT MIKE TAUGHT HER!”

“That outfit of hers is beyond cute”

“And the hair!! I love it so much”

“And them awkwardly having dinner together in silence: YES! This is the father-daughter content I signed up for!”

“In conclusion: Amazing first episode! Brought me right back to the feel of season one, especially with that whole arcade sequence. But everyone’s acting like nothing happened and I can already sense the tension: something’s gonna happen and the shit is gonna hit the fan. And I’m so excited about it!

AND ALSO WHAT HAS EL BEEN DOING THIS  WHOLE TIME AND WHY ISN’T SHE CONTACTING ANYONE??“

Out on a Limb

Annnnd here’s the next chapter! You guys seem to really be enjoying this fic, and I’m glad! King of the Squirrels is one of the originals, the old school, and he doesn’t get a lot of attention. He happens to be a favorite of a friend of mine too. uwu We still have quite a few chapters to go, with lots of surprises in store!

For now, let’s take a musical journey with everyone’s favorite jibberish singing ego!

That’s legitimate Simlish. @alcordraws

AO3 Mirror

Chapter 4: who let the squirrels out

Enjoy the music. uwu

"It's been three days."

"Choo wagga choo choo..."

"...just go get him down. He's an embarassment."

"Plerg majah bliff?"

"Now."

"Boobasnot! Dag dag!"

The conversation replayed itself over and over in Bop's mind while he trudged out the back door of Egos, Inc., he treasured boom box tucked under his arm. Sure, there were plenty more modern ways to play music, but he just couldn't drop the classic. Making mixtapes was more fun than CD's or digital downloads anyway.

What was decidedly not fun, would be taking orders from the one and only Darkiplier. Why the ego had decided to hunt him down for this task still baffled Bop, but he'd heard all the stories about King of the Squirrels and trees. Maybe Dark felt a different approach would be easier. Someone more "normal," without any supernatural abilities to abuse. Bop certainly fit that description.

Part of him had to wonder if Dark's concern really stemmed from secondhand embarrassment, though. It wasn't as if people just wandered through the lot behind Egos, Inc. Surely if Dark was ashamed of King's display he would have gotten him down on day one.

Well, Bop did his best not to question the inner workings of the other egos too much. Either he'd get a headache, wind up even more confused than before, or inexplicably trigger a meeting with whichever ego he happened to be analyzing. Besides a small handful of them, Bop would rather avoid the other egos. Too intimidating, too scary, too creepy, too powerful. No, Bop was fine just making music in his studio with Bing and maybe holding the occasional conversation with Bim. Occasional. He still remembered that time Bim got too excited and turned a microphone into a taco.

Bop had been terrified of tacos for a solid week, much to Bing's chagrin.

King couldn't be so bad though. He was one of the normal ones too. Just had a horde of squirrels following him everywhere, an infatuation with peanut butter, and a habit of climbing trees. Nothing scary about that.

...being eyed by a dozen squirrels from the boughs of a sizable walnut tree gave Bop second thoughts.

Still, if he just gave up and retreated, Dark wouldn't be pleased at all. Bop didn't think he could take another "private conversation" with the ego. So, swallowing down his fear, he carefully set his prized stereo on the ground. He crouched before it, still feeling the eyes of King and his subjects on him, to fiddle with the dials. He'd put together a compilation of songs he thought might appeal to the nutty King.

After all, words were not his forte by any margin. But he could do wonders with music.

Silently, Bop pulled a tape from his back pocket and popped it into the casette player on the stereo. Snapping it closed, he switched on the power and cranked the volume dial up to the max. He'd just replaced the D batteries so it shouldn't run out of juice any time soon. Pressing the play button, Bop stood and picked up the boom box. He turned it to face the tree, holding it high over his head like some lovesick teenager serenading their crush on a Saturday night.

The opening notes to Cotton Eye Joe began blaring from the speakers, immediately drawing the attention of King and his curious subjects. Several birds fled from the tree and the surrounding lot, startled by all of the noise. Bop hoped this didn't count as disturbing the peace.

Hoping to lure King down with the music, Bop continued to stand there silently on the grass, letting the music play. It killed him not to sing along or dance to the catchy beat, but he placated himself by bouncing his head. At least he had King's attention. The older ego was leaning out from the branches with slightly wide eyes. Bop was certain if he had ears similar to his furry subjects, they would be perked with curiosity.

However, the song played through, and King hadn't actually budged from his perch. Bop internally sighed. Hopefully his second selection would be more successful. Sorting out what kind of music would meet King's standards was hard, but if there was one thing Bop prided himself on, it was all things music.

The chipper, high-pitched tones of the legendary Hampsterdance began to play and immediately Bop noted a more significant change. The squirrels, previously just staring with interest, were now gathering on the boughs closest to Bop. It was a swatch of fur in all shades and hues, with their King right at its epicenter. He was so far out on his branch Bop feared the entire thing would collapse.

It didn't, and Bop could just spy King bobbing his head along to the beat. It was almost as if the ego was entranced. Some of Bop's trepidation melted away at the sight. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could be the first to bring King down from the tree without the use of force.

He beamed, even as the song ended and switched over to the next. This was his trump card. If King was already into Bop's ruse, then this would surely seal the deal. There was no way he could resist.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

Bop couldn't help but bob his entire body to the beat of this song. It was just too catchy. He would probably spontaneously combust if he didn't move. Skillfully, he dropped the boom box to his shoulder, balancing it with one arm so he could happily dance in place. This wasn't such a terrible task, after all. Bop wished all the requests he had to deal with included simply playing music.

Best yet, King was attempting to come down from his tree. Clearly, he was having some difficulties, but he was trying. A few of the squirrels had even clambered down to sit on the lawn instead, still watching Bop dance around. It was only a matter of time now. He had this one in the bag-

"WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?!?!"

Oh. Crap.

Bop stumbled to a halt as one song ended and flipped over into another. A track he'd added in case he needed a last ditch effort to get King out of the tree. He'd completely forgotten about it, in his revelry. He winced and grimaced as the chorus of "who" rang out like gunshots in the otherwise quiet of the lot.

As expected, rather than scaring King down out of the tree, he promptly scrambled back up into its deepest branches with a shrill scream of terror. Bop could hear him rambling fearfully about dogs and wondering where on Earth they'd come from while his subjects scattered anxiously around him, disturbing the leaves. Bop sighed and hung his head. So much for that progress.

Behind him, one of the windows on the side of the building shot open, and Ed stuck half of his body through it to emphatically shake his fist in the direction of all the commotion.

"Turnit down! I can't hear mah NASCAR! Crazy teenagers!"

Lucy and Paul Winchell

S5;E4 ~ October 3, 1966

Synopsis

Lucy convinces ventriloquist Paul Winchell to appear at the Annual Banker's Banquet.  When Winchell is running late, he asks Lucy to stop by and pick up his dummies.  When she accidentally leaves them in a taxi the understudy 'dummy' has to go on – Lucy!  

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Gale Gordon (Theodore J. Mooney)

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane Lewis) does not appear in this episode but Lucy does have a phone conversation with her.

Guest Cast

Paul Winchell (Himself) was born Paul Wilchinsky in 1922.  Coming into the public eye in 1948, he became one of the most famous ventriloquists since Edgar Bergen.  He hosted the enormously popular children's television show “Winchell-Mahoney Time” (1964-68) in which he shared the spotlight with Jerry Mahoney, one of his most popular characters. Sadly, in a legal dispute over the syndication rights to the show, all nearly 300 episodes were destroyed.  Winchell is fondly remembered as the voice of Winnie the Pooh's pal Tigger and (later) Papa Smurf. He returns to “The Lucy Show” to play Doc Putnam in two linked episodes, “Main Street U.S.A.” (S5;E17) and “Lucy Puts Main Street on the Map” (S5;18), as well as doing two episodes of “Here's Lucy.” Surprisingly, Winchell was also an inventor who is credited with the artificial heart, among other innovations. He died in 2005.  

Snitchy the Snail appeared with Winchell on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” six months before this “Lucy Show” appearance.

Tessie Mahoney was Jerry's platinum blonde cousin.  She was named after Winchell's wife Tessie Nina Moore.  Many accused Tessie of just being Jerry Mahoney in drag!  Like Winchell, Tessie was from Brooklyn (and sounded it).  

Jerry Mahoney (above left) was 'born' around 1935.  He was Paul Winchell's co-host on “Winchell-Mahoney Time.”  Jerry Mahoney was named after Winchell's grade-school teacher, who encouraged him to pursue ventriloquism. He was carved by Chicago-based figure maker Frank Marshall. The original Marshall-carved Jerry Mahoney is now 'living' at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.  

Knucklehead Smiff (above right) was 'born' in 1951, sculpted by Winchell from a copy of Jerry Mahoney's head. He co-starred with Winchell and Jerry Mahoney on “Winchell-Mahoney Time” and many other shows. Like Jerry Mahoney, he now resides at the 'Smiffsonian' Institution, although neither are currently accepting visitors!

Sid Gould (Show Announcer Voice) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. He also did 40 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Gould performed this same kind of uncredited voice over introduction when “Lucy and George Burns” (S5;E1) performed together.  

Marge, a voice on Lucy's intercom is uncredited, as is the female voice of the long distance operator.  Marge was also the name of Lucy Carmichael's sister, a character seen in “Lucy's Sister Pays a Visit” (S1;E15).  

Having Paul Winchell as a guest star was Lucille Ball's attempt to attract younger viewers to “The Lucy Show.”  

Lucille Ball seems to be having occasional vocal problems during this episode.

Upon meeting Paul Winchell, Lucy says “I always read your column” mistaking him for journalist Walter Winchell.  Paul Winchell quickly corrects her. She then says “I just get hysterical watching you and Charlie McCarthy” mistaking her for ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.  Again, Winchell quickly corrects her. Walter Winchell (1897-1972) was the narrator of Desilu's “The Untouchables” and did the same function for a parody episode on “The Lucy Show” titled “Lucy the Gun Moll” (S4;E25).  Edgar Bergen (1903-1978) appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1941 film Look Who's Laughing.

Lucy explains the bank's interest rates to Paul Winchell:  

Lucy gave away toasters for new savings accounts back in Danfield when “Lucy Takes a Job at the Bank” (S2;E21).  

In the previous episode, “Lucy the Bean Queen” (S5;E3) Lucy was redecorating her apartment.  The reveal is delayed as this episode has no scenes taking place in Lucy’s home.  

Mr. Mooney returns to the office after failing to find a celebrity to entertain at the Bankers Annual Banquet show.  Bob Hope is doing a show for the Girl Scouts in Pismo Beach; Jack Benny is on a tour of Fort Knox; Dean Martin just had an operation to remove a brass rail pressing on his foot. All three of these performers have guest starred on “The Lucy Show.”  Pismo Beach was thought to be a funny sounding name and was often used as a punch line in comedy.  Fort Knox is an Army base in Kentucky where much of the nation's gold supply is held, so the reference trades on Jack Benny's characterization of a being a miser. Dean Martin's comic persona was that of a heavy drinker, so the reference is to the foot rail found at bars.  

Lucy: Oh, gee, aren't there any other movie actors you could call? Mr. Mooney: Yes, yes, but they're all too busy running for public office.  

Mr. Mooney is likely referring to Ronald Reagan, who ran for Governor of California in 1966 and won (after this episode aired).  He held office until 1975 before setting his sights on the Presidency.  In 1980 he was elected 40th President of the United States, an office he held until 1989.  His screen acting career began in 1937 and lasted right up until he became Governor. Reagan appeared with Lucille Ball on two episodes of “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the mid-1950s.  

Paul Winchell gets a phone call from someone named Gary asking him to play golf.  This is probably and inside joke about Production Consultant (and Lucille Ball's husband) Gary Morton's fondness for playing golf.

In the opening scene at Paul Winchell's home, his character Irving Think (a mouse) is standing next to the telephone and Ozwald (with another figure's head attached) is propped up on the sofa. Ozwald was a commercially available doll resembling Humpty Dumpty that required the user to paint eyes and a nose on his or her own chin and hang the puppet upside down to create the character.  

After Winchell offers to lend Lucy one of his dummies, Lucy and the episode enters (what Winchell later calls) “the twilight zone.” Winchell's most famous dummies, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, become animated on their own, without any help from Winchell (although he may still be providing the voices live).  It is a surreal moment for a show that tries to keep one foot in a somewhat farcical version of reality (except perhaps for “Lucy the Superwoman” S4;E26).  

Lucy describes her boss as Diamond Jim Mooney after Winchell says he sounds like “the last of the big spenders.”  James Buchanan Brady (1856–1917) was an American businessman, financier and philanthropist of the Gilded Age who had a particular affinity for precious stones and jewelry.  His had a longtime relationship with actress and singer Lillian Russell. At one point, a TV biopic was planned starring Jackie Gleason with Lucille Ball as Russell, but it never came to pass.

Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff have a food fight with spaghetti, eggs, and cream pies, something they often did on “Winchell-Mahoney Time.”  

Mr. Mooney gets a telephone call from his boss, Mr. Cheever, a character who won't actually appear until the end of the season (played by Roy Roberts).  

Although Lucille Ball was game to conquer any comic task the writers created for her, becoming an accomplished ventriloquist in a week was a tall order, so Mrs. Carmichael's lips move when manipulating the dummy she borrows from Paul Winchell as workplace therapy.  

The Bankers Annual Banquet and Show is being held at the Beverly Ritz Hotel. Backstage there is a Fallout Shelter sign. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1961 (the beginning of the 'Cold War' between Russian and the United States), President Kennedy instructed that sturdy large-capacity structures be designated fallout shelters in case of attack. The yellow and black sign with three triangles inside a circle was used to alert the public that the building was designated such a structure.  The saloon door scenery used in the silent movie sketch of “Lucy Meets Mickey Rooney” (S4;E18) is also there, although the painted side is turned away from the camera.

As Tessie Mahoney, Lucy suggests that they sing “Your Dime is My Dime” because they are performing for an audience of bankers. This is a pun on the song “My Time is Your Time” written by Leo Dance and Eric Little in 1924. It was made famous by Rudy Valle who guest starred as himself on “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (1957), the first “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” and does so again in a 1970 episode of “Here's Lucy.”  

Winchell (voicing Lucy / Tessie and himself) sings “What Does This Audience Want?” an original song written especially for this episode.  The lyrics reference Milton Berle, who appeared in “Lucy Saves Milton Berle” (S4;E13).  

Callbacks! 

Ventriloquist Max Terhune played himself in "Ricky Loses His Temper” (ILL S3;E19). Terhune was a skilled vaudevillian who specialized in ventriloquism. On the Orpheum Circuit his dummy was known as Skully Null but was re-named Elmer Sneezeweed in the movies. Terhune was listed as one of the top ten money-making stars in Westerns for 1937, 1938 and 1939, appearing as Max ‘Alibi’ Terhune in a string of B-movie 'oaters.’  

Actually a call forward – to the stage and film musical Chicago in which a woman (Roxie Hart) becomes a ventriloquist's doll during the musical number “We Both Reached for the Gun.”  Here, Lucy takes on the persona of Tessie Mahoney, sitting on Paul Winchell's knee wearing a platinum blonde wig and pink dress singing “What Does This Audience Want?”

Blooper Alerts

Paul Winchell wants to open a savings account at Westland Bank.  Although certainly this is within the bounds of reality, it is likely that a big star like Paul Winchell would have his finances administered by a Business Manager and would not be going to a local bank for a savings account.  

Mr. Mooney's Dictaphone explodes just by Lucy touching it.  

None of Lucy's file cabinets are labeled.  With Lucy's wacky filing system it doesn't really matter anyway!

“Lucy Meets Paul Winchell” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5 

21 Fantasy Hockey Rambles

Every Sunday, we'll share 21 Fantasy Rambles — formerly known as 20 Fantasy Thoughts — from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's ‘Daily Ramblings’.

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

  1. Vegas is a team I really struggle with. Their top two lines, one of which Alex Tuch is a part of, are incredible. I know the top line has struggled to score this year but that’s more luck than anything. The second line has been great, particularly when Brandon Pirri was there.

Unfortunately, it’s not a situation where they’re given huge opportunities for success. For example, no forward this year is averaging 19:30 of ice time per game, only three are over and/or around 19 minutes (William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. They also spread out the power-play minutes between eight forwards: 2:00 to 3:00 PPTOI/game.

So, without loads of ice time and heavy PP usage, can Tuch be a 70-point player? Well, the top line did it last year. Why not the second line this year (or in future seasons)?

Tuch is a very, very good real-life player and a very, very good fantasy option, particularly in leagues that count hits. He’s only 22 years old and has seemingly locked himself into top-six minutes plus one of the power-play units. Maybe he doesn’t hit his true ceiling, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be very valuable in the fantasy game. (jan17)

  2. Speaking of guys who produce good-but-not-great numbers because of a lack of power play production (and minutes):

I understand that 26 points in 48 games isn’t a great fantasy campaign for Travis Konecny owners, but he’s second among the team’s forwards in points/60 minutes this year, trailing only Claude Giroux.

He’s also first among their forwards in shot attempts/60 minutes. And he does everything we look for in a player’s underlying metrics: drives the play, shoots, looks for exits/entries with possession, and knows how to find his teammates.

Konecny is a burgeoning star. This is a guy fantasy owners who are currently way out of the league race should be targeting. You can probably get away with a very good roster player and a draft pick to get him. I would be at least inquiring. This kid is going to be a very, very good fantasy asset for the next decade. (jan17)

  3. I’ll admit I’d been a bit underwhelmed with Jonathan Marchessault’s production entering Saturday action (31 points in 49 games), especially since I’d used a draft pick just outside the top 50 for his services.

If you felt the same way, you were relieved to see Marchessault score a hat trick against the Penguins. Marchessault entered the game with just one point in his previous seven games, so you could argue that he was due. His 182 shots places him in the top 10 in that category. However, despite his hat trick, his hat trick his 17 goals still doesn’t even place him in the top 50 in that category. Expect a stronger second half from him. (jan20)

  4. Since the team-imposed suspension on Sergei Bobrovsky, Joonas Korpisalo has started four of the past six games for the Blue Jackets. A three-game winning streak might have had something to do with it, but Korpisalo had that streak snapped on Friday against Montreal. Bobrovsky was back between the pipes against the Wild on Saturday.

With Bob’s future likely not to be in Columbus after this season, this is a situation worth monitoring. I don’t see Bobrovsky being traded at the deadline, though. Not with the Jackets in a battle for first place in the Metro Division (which the Islanders now lead!). (jan19)

  5. It couldn’t have gone any better for coach Barry Trotz in his return to Washington on Friday. Thomas Greiss stopped all 19 shots he faced in the Isles’ 2-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions. Greiss has struggled at times this season but he’s allowed just one goal with a .983 SV% over his last two starts. Like Robin Lehner, he’s benefitted from the Trotz/Mitch Korn influence.  (jan19)

  6. Speaking of Lehner, there were plenty of comments about him on Ramblings and Facebook this week. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s important to bring up the drug addiction and mental illness that he has overcome as key reasons for his breakout season. Along with the Vezina Trophy, Lehner should definitely be considered for the Masterton Trophy. If you have an Athletic subscription, take the time to read this October 26 piece on his addiction and bipolar diagnosis.

Someone commented that they weren’t sure what Lehner’s value would be next season with him only being signed to a one-year contract with the Islanders. That’s a very good point, because the Isles also own the rights to Ilya Sorokin, who is dominating the KHL (32 GP, 1.17 GAA, .942 SV%). According to writer Arthur Staple, Sorokin would be on a one-year, waiver-exempt deal if he decided to come over next season (which he is reportedly interested in), although it’s no sure thing when it comes to the KHL. There are also the Sergei Bobrovsky rumors, which you can read more about in the article. Either way, it’s not looking good if you’re holding out hope that Greiss will be the starter. (jan19)

  7. One Panthers’ scoring center returned to the lineup perhaps earlier than expected late this week. Vincent Trocheck recorded an assist on Friday, while dishing seven hits in his first game since fracturing his ankle two months ago. (I sure didn’t have that recovery time when I fractured my ankle!) Trocheck played on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, although he skated on the second-unit power play. (jan19)

  8. In spite of his rough start, Nick Leddy has collected eight points (all assists) over his last 11 games. Even though his overall production (one goal and 18 points in 47 games) might not cut it for your team, he is still receiving first-unit power-play time for the Islanders. It might only be a matter of time before he is moved off the first unit, considering that the Islanders’ power play is in the bottom third of the league. The last time I checked, though, first-unit power-play time matters for defensemen.

Leddy has reached the 40-point mark in each of his previous three seasons, so he’ll be doing his job for your roster if he assumes a half-point-per-game pace for the rest of the season. I think that’s worth a buy-low pickup. (jan18)

  9. The Wild didn’t go ‘wild’ in the scoring department on Saturday, but they scored enough to defeat the Blue Jackets by a score of 2-1. One particular line of interest featured two new members of the Wild: Pontus Aberg and Victor Rask, the latter who was playing in his first game with the Wild.

Both Aberg and Rask assisted on the game-winning goal scored by new linemate Zach Parise, who has now reached 20 goals. This line combination could be positive for Aberg and Rask while giving the Wild three solid scoring lines. Aberg is already on his fourth NHL team in three seasons, while Rask was a huge disappointment this season (six points in 26 games in Carolina), so both players clearly have something to prove here. (jan20)

More about Aberg: He was often deployed with Ryan Getzlaf while in Anaheim, it seems as though teams are willing to try him with their top scorers. But if he’s not scoring, teams don’t want him in their lineups. I added Aberg for a few weeks during his run in Anaheim, but I’d be looking for continued ice time with Parise and consistent scoring before adding him again. (jan18)

  10. One day after being traded for Victor Rask, Nino Niederreiter made his Hurricanes’ debut. He was held without a point, took four shots on goal, and skated a total of 16:57 on a line with Justin Williams and Greg McKegg, which also included some second-unit power play time.

Obviously this is a fluid situation as Niederreiter adjusts to his new team, but this doesn’t seem like the kind of usage that would motivate me to add him right away (24 percent owned in Yahoo leagues). For more on Thursday’s Hurricanes/Wild trade, see our Fantasy Impact article. (jan18)

There’s still time to save your fantasy hockey season and purchase your copy of the 2019 DobberHockey Midseason Fantasy Guide for immediate download! Details at the Dobber Shop.

11. John Gibson owners can breathe a sigh of relief. The Ducks’ overworked goalie stopped all 37 shots he faced in picking up the shutout on Thursday, and then held the fort for another win on Saturday, 3-2 against the Devils. Since his last game off on December 18, Gibson had appeared in 11 consecutive games and not picked up a single victory – a span of nearly an entire month.

The Ducks are in a logjam for one of the final two wild card spots in the Western Conference, so it’s clear that Gibson will need to carry this team if they are going to make the playoffs. But in the meantime, he may continue to have a tough time earning wins. (jan18)

  12. Part of the Ducks’ shakeup this week involved the recalls of prospects Max Jones and Troy Terry. It just so happened that Terry scored both his first NHL goal and added his first NHL assist on Saturday afternoon.

The punchless Ducks (30th in the NHL with 2.35 GF/GP) could use Terry’s offense, as he now appears to be NHL-ready (37 points in 32 AHL games). Terry lined up with Jones and recently reacquired Derek Grant, giving the Ducks what is truly a brand new line. That might be what the Ducks have needed, as they have now won two games in a row after losing 12 in a row before that. (jan20)

  13. Peter Cehlarik was called up by the Bruins earlier this week and immediately skated on the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk in his first game. This is important because it resulted in the healthy scratch of David Backes.

I had hopes that Backes could flourish alongside a playmaking center and a talented, young scoring winger but he’s simply floundered. Some of his play-driving metrics were strong as recently as last year, so I don’t think he’s fallen off the map as a player.

With that said, the 20-goal, 50-point seasons are long gone. If he can be a solid two-way, bottom-six winger for the balance of his contract, I think that’s the best Boston can ask for. (jan17)

  14. Jordan Binnington has literally come out of nowhere to be one of January’s hottest goalies. With a 28-save win against the Senators, Binnington now has wins in four of his last five games. He has now at least forced a timeshare with the struggling Jake Allen, although there is definitely a case where he should be the outright starter in the short term while the Blues try to climb back into the playoff race.

Ville Husso was assumed to be the goalie-in-waiting for this team, but Binnington has posted better AHL numbers this season. He is deserving of this opportunity and making the most of it. (jan20)

  15. Apparently, general manager Peter Chiarelli is ready and willing to make a splash. Rumours have swirled of late that the Oilers are willing to move this year’s first-round selection to push for a playoff spot. And according to Elliott Freidman on the NHL Network, Jesse Puljujarvi has joined in on the fun as an official trade chip.

Firstly, if ownership allows Chiarelli to destroy their future even further by dealing that pick or Puljujarvi, then there must no longer be any doubt; Chia has some disgusting dirt on Daryl Katz.

Whatever happens in Edmonton (and I assume it’ll be an unmitigated disaster), Puljujarvi getting out of town seems like the best hope for his fantasy value moving forward. Either that or a locked in spot next to Connor McDavid. A scenario that does not appear to be in the cards. (jan16)

  16. Back in the middle of November, I wrote part of a Ramblings on three young defensemen with standout starts to the 2018-19 season: Thomas Chabot, Miro Heiskanen and Henri Jokiharju. Since then, none have proven themselves anything other than standouts.

Though Chabot just returned from injury, Heiskanen is playing for a boring team, and Jokiharju’s ice time is declining, the results have still been very good for all three since the time of writing. It’s truly a triumvirate of talented defensemen, all of whom could be in the upper-tier of blueliners in a few years’ time (Chabot may already be there). (jan15)

  17. Nolan Patrick’s two-goal, two-assist game earlier this week was his first point(s) of any kind in 10 games, his first multi-goal game of the year, and his first multi-point game since November 1. I will say, the young Flyer has looked better than his points give him credit for. He just needs more time. (jan15)

  18. Carl Soderberg now has 16 goals on the season, which ties a career high. He’s also over two shots on goal per game for the first time in his career, and the additional shots are leading to goals. Who knew. (jan15)

  19. I don’t care how great Thatcher Demko is, I am the lone wolf of the DobberHockey writers – Demko isn’t going to usurp this.

Jacob Markstrom is posting stellar numbers, he was a highly-touted prospect (more highly-touted than Demko is now, even), and yes, he had some rough years and took six years longer to ‘make it’ than we wanted – but he’s getting it done and he’s making $4 million next year.

So, he’s getting all the starts he wants for the next year and a half. And you know what? If he keeps posting a 0.920 SV% as this team gets better, the best prospect in the world isn’t going to take it from him. I’ve seen it before and I’ll see it again (remember Jonathan Bernier was the next big thing, but couldn’t wrench the job away from a fella named Jonathan Quick who got there a year earlier).

If Markstrom continues to play above average and gets paid $4 million next year, what if they extend him in the summer? You know the Canucks will try to lock him in, so what if he gets extended for even higher salary for three or four more years? Then what happens to Demko then? I’ll tell you what happens – he gets the Schneider treatment. An extra couple of years too long in the AHL, plus far too long as a backup goalie.

So, here I am. The lone wolf. I think highly of Demko and his upside. I would trade him away in my keeper league because I want someone who will actually play a lot in the next couple of years. (jan14)

  20. Blue Jacket Kevin Stenlund played his first and second career NHL games last weekend. He’s a solid middle-six prospect that had a great training camp and, as an AHL rookie, was heading toward a 20-goal season until his recall. He was plunked on a line with Alexander Wennberg and Anthony Duclair in his debut weekend. (jan14)

  21. Chasing backups is something that I don’t do in keeper leagues unless I see a chance at the player becoming a starter. I had mild interest in Casey DeSmith, now that interest is gone. I have interest in Collin Delia, I have interest in David Rittich, and I like Cal Petersen over Jack Campbell. That’s it. (jan14)

  Have a good week, folks!!

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles/

Meet the gatekeepers to South Florida’s Amazon HQ2 bid

From left: Mikey Finney, Kelly Smallridge, Bob Swindell, with Jeff Bezos in the background (Credit: Getty Images, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons)

Amazon’s search for a second headquarters may be shrouded in secrecy. But in South Florida, three power brokers have a direct line to the e-commerce giant as they make their pitch to host HQ2.

Mike Finney, president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council; Bob Swindell, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance; and Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, are the gatekeepers for the regional proposal. They — not the elected officials, developers or real estate agents — are the ones who deal directly with Amazon in the battle for the grand prize: the $5 billion second headquarters complex.

Combined, the three players have decades of experience luring companies and helping them expand in South Florida. Their focus now is on Amazon, after the tech giant announced last month it had whittled down 238 proposals to a shortlist of 20 cities, including Miami. Observers say the city remains a long shot, with locations like Dallas, Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee;  Montgomery County, Maryland; and Northern Virginia as prime candidates. But South Florida officials say their submission is still very much in the mix.

Amazon has touted big numbers for HQ2: 500,000 square feet of office space by 2019, and about 8 million square feet of space by its planned completion in 2027. The campus will create 50,000 new jobs in the chosen location, the company said.

But it went dark after naming the finalists, and didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story. Finney, Swindell and Smallridge were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep details confidential.

Yet there are morsels of information that indicate Amazon continues to pare down the list from Miami’s initial regional proposal, which included eight sites. There were five sites in Miami-Dade, two in Broward County and one in Palm Beach County.

That has now been scaled back to “a lesser number based on feedback from the client,” Finney said. He declined to specify how many prospective sites remain. In Miami-Dade, the original locations included three in and around Overtown, including the Miami Worldcenter site, as well as Downtown Doral in Doral.

Finney, Swindell and Smallridge say they have not been told of Amazon’s planned timeline. But if you’re hoping to be Amazon’s developer or broker, here’s what you should know about them.

Mike Finney, Miami-Dade Beacon Council

Finney serves as Amazon’s main point of contact, the “quarterback” driving Miami’s tri-county proposal, Swindell said.

Finney’s role has been to ensure that South Florida is ready to respond to requests for proposals, serve as a conduit and lead the process as it moves forward.

“It’s fair to say this is a top priority for us,” he said. “It would be an understatement to say we have put a lot of time into it.”

The project includes work by the Beacon Council’s business development, marketing and research departments and there are dozens more who have contributed to the submission, including county and city politicians and staffers, developers and educational leaders.

Finney, 61, has headed the Beacon Council for seven months, after moving from the Midwest. Previously, he was senior advisor for economic growth in Michigan and president and CEO of the state’s Economic Development Corporation. A commercial aimed at wooing tourists to the state, called “Pure Michigan,” was created under his watch. Before that, he was an economic development leader in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Rochester, New York.

Amazon’s second headquarters represents the biggest deal Finney has worked on because of its potential for job creation. But other projects in Michigan involved more economic investment, land or square footage, including various research, assembly and components plants for General Motors, Ford and Fiat/Chrysler. He also helped lure Toyota to a 700-acre research campus, did the same with Google AdWords for an office campus and got Clements Food Group to occupy a pork processing facility.

Kelly Smallridge, Business Development Board of Palm Beach County

As the head of Palm Beach County’s economic development agency, Smallridge has kept local officials updated on the Amazon proposal.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything as large as this,” said Smallridge, who joined the Business Development Board in 1988. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and very few projects are this transformational.”

In choosing the county’s proposed site, Smallridge used the organization’s three real estate databases. “Whatever we don’t have, developers make sure we know about their properties,” she said. “So nothing was left out.”

Smallridge, 51, plays up the regional aspect of the proposal. “When you look at a project of this magnitude, there is no way one county can accommodate [it],” she said. “Wherever Amazon would go, every county would benefit.”

She cites Brightline, All Aboard’s new high-speed commuter rail that will eventually link Orlando to Miami, as key to the proposal, because it will open South Florida’s workforce to job opportunities across county lines.

Florida’s lack of a state tax, a population that is 53 percent bilingual, with 375,000 college students, as well as the quality of life, beaches and culture also are all pluses in winning the bid, Smallridge said.

“I think we absolutely have a good shot,” she said.

Smallridge led business recruitment, retention and expansion efforts before becoming president in 2004. She helped bring in two of the world’s largest bioscience organizations to the state: the Scripps Research Institute, from San Diego, and the Max Planck Society, from Germany.

Bob Swindell, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance

For Swindell, joining forces with the other county development agencies was a no-brainer.

“All three of us thought we would have the strongest proposal if we worked together,” he said, citing the combined area’s 6 million residents, 3.1 million member workforce, four research universities and three international airports.

Swindell, 56, has headed Broward County’s economic development arm since 2009, after joining in 2003. Before that, he had his own manufacturing business for 20 years. His experience is deeply rooted in real estate as a property owner and evaluator.

At the e-commerce giant, Swindell said the initial work is being handled by a site selection team of real estate professionals who “know what they are looking for.”

“There’s no company in the world that has access to more data than Amazon,” he added.

So far, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has had no direct involvement with the South Florida group, Swindell said. But, he added, the team is ready to convince Bezos, a 1982 graduate of Miami Palmetto Senior High School, that his former hometown is the right choice for Amazon’s HQ2.

“We’re using every means at our disposal,” he said.

from The Real Deal Miami https://therealdeal.com/miami/2018/02/12/meet-the-gatekeepers-to-south-floridas-amazon-hq2-bid/ via IFTTT

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for guidance, all along the treeline, creatures both large and small cowering beneath my finty gaze, twin chips of ice peering out from my coyote skin cloak guest cabin habt with the snowmen before i attempt to speak and let him know im right behind him im close enough i could bayonet him and must resist the urge my voice cracks in an attempt to say helo from long under use thought i was going to get fired, and nearly dd, but ater he asked about everything that went on and seeing that tha ranch was in perfect order he decided that as long as i showared i could keap the look and we incorporated a whole "mountain man workshop" for the guests, teach them a lttle bushcrat, simple survival stuf and i got a raise out of t. i)00 23.10 No 1:17:42 No.20980609 (36 KB i would gueSS Bam was gambrel style, lot has hay and feed storage, snow pilled to the sides and with a ltle work i managed to build a set of stairs to the pesk and set up a smal snow hut, just big enough for me, my mosin and some smal snacks to lay down in. had small windows al around soi being alone for that long does strange things to you, you gain an intimate knowledge of everything around you. the moment somathing doesnt jve, you are instantly aware of it >be chilin ith my newest addition to coyate fur cloak up on the roof, chowing dowm on some jerky, almost late aftemoon, overcast can hear the satt movements af the horse herd below me a tant knacker n0w and then maxed with their ating and breathing -hear one of them give a brief snort and the rest go silent, no movement giancing to my left i can see one of the roans looking intently to the southwest, into the wind an instant later it hits me, a smell lie rotten meat mixed with an teenagers gym clothes locker that got left over the summer with some kind of a musk to it as well -crouching in my snow hut i pull out my monocular and scan the treeline on the other side of the pasture to the south, that last coyote i bagged was in that direction i find the spot where i had skinned it out, and i know right where the carcass should be i look down the the horses and can see them ail still looking in that direction, not moving no neighs or even nervous wickering between them > pop open the ammo can i keep up there, grab a few fresh stripper clips to tuck into my coat and slide down the slope i set next to the stairs on the north side of the bam snowghost my way along the fence line still keeping my ears open, the smell has faded somewhat, but the musk still lingers like greasy ingerprints on a reshly poished 1911 at a store malke my way to the southen Sence lne, al i can make out is the faint indentations of where snow has fallen to cover my tracks from two days ago yards away, c decide tuck it and walk over to where the coyote was, i can see the drag marks clearly, right over the tracks of whatever grabbed it stracks are deep, but obscured by the drag and whatever took it left by the same path i arrived, cutting east, deeper into the woods, you go far enough and you hit the bob marshall that deep musky scent is stil strong, sticks in your nose the the ofactory equivalent of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth, but not nearly as tasty can see from the way the tracks are spaced whatever it was had a long, bipedal stride, sinking almast twice as deep as my own bootprints into the snow fuly intended to leave the carcass tor scavengers and the like, but seems we have a new player n the game made my way back to the bam,horses are stil fiocated on the southerm pasture line, figure ill stock a few provisions in the haylaft othis marks the start of many a night spand buried in the warm hay pretty used the the night noises around the place, coyotes yowing, maybe a cat screetch and owls caling out dead fucking sience, even the horses kept close to the bam and quiet as snowal didnt get much sleep that night, that musky smell had finally worn off by about dark next few days were uneventful, not a whole hell of a lot happening. second wave of snow fascists attemped to take the stronghold that is my snow fortress and were repelled by a wave of glorious 7.62x54 musk smell slamming crouched low and took a snow trench to the bam stairs and made my way fort, peering over the edge i could see something movng by the treeline down had dark brown fur coering t at least thats what it looked ike, it stayed low whle it moved othe head appeared elongated ending in a blunt muzzle, almost like a bear, but almost like if you took a rottweilers head, took off the ears, scaled R up and covered it in coarse brown hair a deer fronm son of a bitch, that one was MINE exe and its up and looking around, stil with a slight hunch but this thing is BIG, like &- after a momenttgrabs its prize around the nock with a single long arm and takes of into the woods again, i give it a whle before investigating fuck trying to find this thing in >茁the same time, im pissed this thing has the GALL to malest my territory, a strange thought comes into my mind this is my tentory ill mark it how i like, right slong where ts tracks go from the treeline to the clearing before the fence, i piss all along it, took a steaming dump right in one of its foot prints over the next couple af days wat and observe the whole time i cant shake the feeing that im being watched as well also starting to figure out why the boss managed to buy this ranch bunk house making some combread to go with my chǔ when i hear the horses start raising 9 lands of hell, 2 types of chaos and a side of mayhem throw on my coat, grab my mosin and afix the bayonet as i charge out the door towards the corrals in almost knocked ormy feet by the smell first of. smells like a wookie in heat, but i cant see anything looming まof the growing darkness o i make it the main corral attached to the bam and i can see all the horses are panicking, shying away from one side of the comal, the one part of > cant be sure but i would bet money ts he head of the same one i saw it take a few days ago, trn of the neck、just below the head -looking to the treeline i can see a form fading into the pines >bury the head and get the horses calmed down, head back to the cabin othis spooked my horses, made me bum my combread and kiled a deer in MY temitory the next day i keep an eye out, head towards the northem pastures and manage to back another coyote, but i bring the whole carcass back with me this time mother fucker >skin it out carefully, made sure to leave the guts intact, save the hide for later use and bury the carcass underneath some old straw to let it ripen bloated and mpe cayote gather a few pine bows and use an E tool, did a bed to lie down in, cover my tracks with the pine boughs and line the bed with them >Open up cayote and leave it about 10 ft in front of me, cover up my last tracks, fox bayonet, chamber a round and cover my sef with snow now the wating game begins >manage to get used the the rotten coyate smell ater awhile, toes are cold but not the numbness that heralds the numbness of hostbite, thank god for redwings the my □ Anonymous 02/19/16(Fn)03 1056 No 28981228 File its footsteps were barely making a sound in the snow with that musky odor getting stronger with each footfal a hard time controlling my aven wth could see moving through the trees now but my first thoughts on a bearike or dog head and muzzle were wro g. andi ealized where had sr elled something like this musk before long legs and torso leading to powerul shoulders what i guess at a hunch was the neck of an oversized goat head, easily almost 3 meters tall black beady eyes wth a malevolence in themn and stumpy homs pushing theough the hair above ts brow i could see the greasy hair of its chin dripping with saliva leaking from the coners of its mouth as it snifed the air sounding for all the world ike an enormous set of bellows it snorted out a fetid plume as it raised it head and looked past my position to the bam and ranch seemingly satisfed, it stepped out of the trees, crouched and moved towards the coyote, i wated as it got closer 30 s15 sucking in as much air as i could i leap from my concealed position, bringing my mosin up over my head and shouted for all i was worth that sound that came out ofl me i dont think i could ever replicate, Ei did it would have t everything was contained in that scream, every shouted order to for bayonets and charge, every screaming bails on fre rush across no mans land, every howl of fury as blades met, and every roar of primitive fury that another dare take what is mine stopping dead in its tracks i reared up to its full teerible height, almost twice mine in boots and coyote coat >summoning up another shout i shouldered the rifle and took a pace forward, how, i dont know, i was ready to piss mysef with my own stupidity this was something alse, this was a force of nature, and i was going to stand aganst it File ducking its head it glared at me with those obsidian orbs of primordial hunger, this creature was contesting its claim s own, the bass loose the tenuous hold i had u ears i couldet move forward everything in me was screaming to cut an run, but as i stood there gazing down the abused wooden length mosin, the dings and pts in the stock stood dont lonow how, i dont know why, but i took strengh in that, this weapon had faced monsters before, faced an unstoppable machine and brought with a snort of fetid breath it moved to take another step forward anawering with another cro-magnon hol i stode forward, standing over the offending ple of guts that had become the Ine in the snow a scarce few yards from me stood a creature out of forgotten legends, a nightmare made mandest glaring at me with hatred a low rumbling growl bat that i could feal in my chest as its lips skinned back over foul teeth in twisted parody of a grin, baring teeth that had no business in even an over sized goats mouth a third primitive scream escaped my lips as i sighted just over its shoulder and ired my mosin erupted from the i stepped forward, past the coyote, and raised the rifle above my head, stretching upwards on the balls of my feet for as much extra height i could muster, screaming at the top of my lungs for whatever reason, that was enough, backing up and fnally tuning around, it stalked off into the woods somehow deep down in that primitive part of my bran knew i had won, but the ratonal part of my brain stil wanted to piss myself 02/19/16(Fr003 40 50 № 28981350 the barn with a bottle never came across another kill anywhere on the property ater that, found tracks, but never aywhere near the perimeter clearing between the fence and the tree line. even sighted it from a distance a few times after that, but alwarys from a long ways i made the barest mention to the boss ater he had been back for awhile, but he just chalked it up to al the other crazy shenanigans id been up too while i held down the fort for 2 months, but wasnt realy interested. tried talking to a few tribal elders, but none of them wanted anything to do with me thats pratty much it for spooky stones from that tima gave each other a fairly wide berth.

Solid State Radars – the White Paper

lang: en_US

Our first captain-requested White Paper, investigating tech products for the Winter Refit 2017/18.

For those considering a refit for their superyachts this winter and beyond, switching to solid state radars is likely something you have tossed back and forth. However, with so much information on the topic and not much time to read it all, weighing up all the options can be a hard graft. The SYT News team has investigated the pros, cons and legalities of solid state vs. magnetron and put it all in one place, so you can easily decide for yourself what would be the best fit for your yacht. Speaking to experts from the big three companies currently producing solid state radars – Garmin, Furuno and Navico/SIMRAD – as well as an IMO representative, we talk specifications, opinions and legislation.

What’s out there?

Furuno

It has an open array FAR3000 range, which includes an S–Band radar that uses solid state technology for long range detection and an X-Band solid state radar. The latter is marketed for smaller vessels (under 30m), though it has the potential to also be used on superyachts for short range applications. Furuno’s solid state technology uses the doppler effect, meaning it can represent a target coming towards you or moving away in different colours. Dan Conway, Area Sales Manager at Furuno, said: “It is designed for maximum user-friendliness; the idea is you don’t have to do a whole new radar training course to get up to scratch with how to use solid state if you are used to magnetron.” Its S-Band has an output power of 250w, with different models of the X-Band transmitting at 20w.

Whilst Conway says there will be bigger X-Band models coming from Furuno that can legally cater for superyachts and bigger vessels, currently the company is awaiting IMO requirement change, meaning its development (or at least the release) of this is on pause for the time being. Prices are on request. The IMO ruling will be covered in more detail further on.

Simrad

It currently offers a range of X-Band HALO open array solid state radars, which come with either a 3ft, 4ft or 6ft antenna. Simrad product line director for Navico Steve Thomas advises that generally the larger the array, the better distance performance you get, meaning that for a superyacht the HALO-6 would be preferable. Simrad’s largest antenna offers a range of up to 72 nautical miles radius, and the HALO range has a transmit power of 25w. Its website advises that though the HALO-6 Radar meets tough IEC 62388 Annex D target detection specifications, this excludes the beacon and RACON triggering requirement.

The company currently doesn’t use doppler effect technology in its solid state products. It will however be introducing this into their open arrays very soon, with the aim of having this updated product ready to promo at Fort Lauderdale this year. The HALO-6 has an SRP of £6090,00. 

Garmin

Its X-Band open array Fantom offering comes with either a four or six-foot antenna, and reaches up to a 70 nautical mile range. However, Garmin’s Marine OEM Product Support Manager Bob Fry pointed out that maximum range is not always that critical. “It is seldom for the need to switch up to a 70nm range, however power is important to detect those weaker targets at the max range possible, typically 12 to 13 nm to the radar horizon,” he said. He advises that the maximum range a superyacht would commonly use is 24 to 36 nm ranges, unless they were tracking rain storms.

The Fantom range have a transmit power of 40w – equal to 5kw traditional pulse radar – and use the doppler effect through Garmin’s MotionScope technology. The Fantom-6 is currently retailing at $7,999.99 USD.

Standalone product?

When solid state radars for the marine industry were discussed in 2016, there was a consensus amongst manufacturers that their magnetron radars would by no means go obsolete as a result of solid state. Producers instead saw them as a compliment to traditional systems, which until the next technology leap should not act as replacement. However, one year on the mood has begun to change, at least for some.

Furuno’s Conway maintains that most boats will still end up with both, as currently the IMO require larger boats to have a function that triggers racons and beacons, which solid state radars cannot do effectively. However, he believes a lot of superyacht owners will still want to invest in the new tech to stay ahead of the curve. “It’s a fair way down the line that magnetron would be completely obsolete, not in at least the next ten years,” he said. He also pointed out that currently solid state radars are more expensive than magnetron as the technology in marine usage is still relatively new, though the prices will fall as the tech ages.

Speaking to Thomas, there was less hope for magnetron’s future. He thinks that eventually we will have to leave it behind because, especially from a recreational point of view, solid state has so many advantages. “At some point the IMO will be forced to take a look at their [carriage] requirements,” he said. 

Thomas agreed that there is a slight premium for solid state radars, but thought that it was still very much affordable for the target market, and so wouldn’t be an issue for superyacht owners.

Garmin’s Fry was the most pessimistic about magnetron. He said that relatively soon we would see the death of the traditional radars, drawing from the example of the avionics industry which switched to solely solid state about 5/6 years ago. Indeed, he said that the only reason companies had not been building solid state into marine radars was because the prices were so high for the technology that most owners would not have bought them. However, now that prices have come down enough to make the products viable he imagines boats may well only use solid state radars in the future. “Magnetron radars generally warrant up to 3000 hours, but they are under a lot of pressure as they are constantly working hard. This makes them unreliable and their longevity questionable. Solid state should be a lot more reliable,” he said.

An IMO review of the performance standards for radar equipment in 2004 proposed that magnetron radar technology was reaching its limits at the time, now 13 years ago.

Biggest advantages for superyachts

All three of our experts agreed that there were really no disadvantages of replacing magnetron with solid state (other than uncertainty around the current IMO ruling).

Safer and longer-lasting

Solid state is safer than magnetron. Simrad’s Thomas explained how with the traditional radars, standing directly in front of them is dangerous because of the high levels of radiation they give off. However, because solid state gives off so much less power and targets radiation more efficiently, this is no longer a problem. Thomas said: “From an RF perspective solid state technology is also better, because magnetron radars tend to burn out quicker because of the power usage so it means less maintenance.”

Lower energy output

Even Conway, the most pro-magnetron of our experts, firmly believed in the significant transmitted output energy reductions advantages of solid state radars. “Our X–Bands have up to a 96 nautical mile range, which magnetrons can do but would require much more transmitted output energy – and this is transmit power, not usage power, so essentially wasted energy. Solid state is much more efficient,” he said. 

Better target separation/tracking

Our experts all agreed that the new technology allowed for improved tracking and clarity in the display of other vessels, meaning that real targets are distinguished above clutter.

Collision reduction?

This was the only slight area of contention. Simrad’s Steve Thomas thought that when it came to preventing collisions and storm recognition, all radar technology was equal. He said: “Radars in general reduce collisions, but I don’t know that there is anything specific around solid state.” Fry agreed that at the time of writing it was too early to tell. However, he did say that in theory, with doppler technology showing different colours for approaching vessels, it should further aid prevention. “We only brought it out 18 months ago so we really can’t comment, but the technology certainly should help [reduce collisions],” he said. However, he pointed out that even the best tech doesn’t prevent user error. 

IMO rulings

The key issue is that solid state radars don’t trigger racons (radar beacons) effectively enough to meet IMO requirements for X-Bands on larger boats such as superyachts. These racons are typically on buoys outside harbours and vessels use the racon to identify the harbour they are arriving at. Solid state radars use one long low energy pulse rather than a short large energy pulse radar, and transmit a lot less power, so although the technology can sometimes trigger them the radar would have to be very close to the target and it is not guaranteed.

The last set of performance standards for radar were adopted in 2004, in response to the earlier mentioned proposal which argued that the requirement for future S-Band radars to trigger and display radar beacons should be discontinued, to allow for the development of new and improved radar technologies. However, it was agreed that X-Bands should continue to be required to trigger these racons. This was to ensure development was spread out over a few years, as it was thought radar manufacturers would need the freedom to develop new technology, but beacon manufacturers would then need some years to develop new beacons capable of responding.

Navigators can recognise harbours, just in different ways. For example, they can use an AIS (Automatic Identification System) as the signal to do this. Furuno’s Conway therefore pointed to the need to reconsider these requirements. He said: “Essentially, the legislation hasn’t kept pace with radar technology. It’s not for me to say whether [solid state is] as safe or whether the laws should change, but they do seem slightly behind with current technology.”

Fry believes that despite requirements a lot of larger vessels will have already made the switch to solid state, and that magnetron won’t be around for much longer. “There’s enough alternative Nav-Aids out there now. AIS is much more reliable anyway, so why not just use it?” he said. 

Simrad is currently trying to adapt its solid state products to fit these rulings. The company is trying several – currently confidential – approaches to make its radars trigger racons, in order to overcome this issue in future models.

Thomas also agreed though that as tech evolves regulatory committees should make sure their legislation still make sense. 

We asked an IMO representative to explain to us the reason behind the current requirements, as seen below: 

“The radar, combined with other sensor or reported information (e.g. AIS), should improve the safety of navigation by assisting in the efficient navigation of ships and protection of the environment by satisfying the following functional requirements: – in coastal navigation and harbour approaches, by giving a clear indication of land and other fixed hazards; – as a means to provide an enhanced traffic image and improved situation awareness; – in a ship-to-ship mode for aiding collision avoidance of both detected and reported hazards; – in the detection of small floating and fixed hazards, for collision avoidance and the safety of own ship; and – in the detection of floating and fixed aids to navigation. 

The carriage requirements for radar are set out in SOLAS Chapter V.  They don’t specify solid state or magnetron, so it would be down to the flag State to decide if the radar is acceptable and meets the standards. 

If Member States Parties to SOLAS want to amend or change the regulation or performance standards, they would need to bring the proposal to IMO.”

Summary

We hope this paper has been helpful in breaking down some of the basics of solid state radar technology, and how it can work for superyachts. If you require any further information, please feel free to contact the author at [email protected], who will do her best to try and answer your questions.

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on SuperYacht Technology.

Read Full Content Here

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on YachtAweigh.

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Solid State Radars – the White Paper

lang: en_US

Our first captain-requested White Paper, investigating tech products for the Winter Refit 2017/18.

For those considering a refit for their superyachts this winter and beyond, switching to solid state radars is likely something you have tossed back and forth. However, with so much information on the topic and not much time to read it all, weighing up all the options can be a hard graft. The SYT News team has investigated the pros, cons and legalities of solid state vs. magnetron and put it all in one place, so you can easily decide for yourself what would be the best fit for your yacht. Speaking to experts from the big three companies currently producing solid state radars – Garmin, Furuno and Navico/SIMRAD – as well as an IMO representative, we talk specifications, opinions and legislation.

What’s out there?

Furuno

It has an open array FAR3000 range, which includes an S–Band radar that uses solid state technology for long range detection and an X-Band solid state radar. The latter is marketed for smaller vessels (under 30m), though it has the potential to also be used on superyachts for short range applications. Furuno’s solid state technology uses the doppler effect, meaning it can represent a target coming towards you or moving away in different colours. Dan Conway, Area Sales Manager at Furuno, said: “It is designed for maximum user-friendliness; the idea is you don’t have to do a whole new radar training course to get up to scratch with how to use solid state if you are used to magnetron.” Its S-Band has an output power of 250w, with different models of the X-Band transmitting at 20w.

Whilst Conway says there will be bigger X-Band models coming from Furuno that can legally cater for superyachts and bigger vessels, currently the company is awaiting IMO requirement change, meaning its development (or at least the release) of this is on pause for the time being. Prices are on request. The IMO ruling will be covered in more detail further on.

Simrad

It currently offers a range of X-Band HALO open array solid state radars, which come with either a 3ft, 4ft or 6ft antenna. Simrad product line director for Navico Steve Thomas advises that generally the larger the array, the better distance performance you get, meaning that for a superyacht the HALO-6 would be preferable. Simrad’s largest antenna offers a range of up to 72 nautical miles radius, and the HALO range has a transmit power of 25w. Its website advises that though the HALO-6 Radar meets tough IEC 62388 Annex D target detection specifications, this excludes the beacon and RACON triggering requirement.

The company currently doesn’t use doppler effect technology in its solid state products. It will however be introducing this into their open arrays very soon, with the aim of having this updated product ready to promo at Fort Lauderdale this year. The HALO-6 has an SRP of £6090,00. 

Garmin

Its X-Band open array Fantom offering comes with either a four or six-foot antenna, and reaches up to a 70 nautical mile range. However, Garmin’s Marine OEM Product Support Manager Bob Fry pointed out that maximum range is not always that critical. “It is seldom for the need to switch up to a 70nm range, however power is important to detect those weaker targets at the max range possible, typically 12 to 13 nm to the radar horizon,” he said. He advises that the maximum range a superyacht would commonly use is 24 to 36 nm ranges, unless they were tracking rain storms.

The Fantom range have a transmit power of 40w – equal to 5kw traditional pulse radar – and use the doppler effect through Garmin’s MotionScope technology. The Fantom-6 is currently retailing at $7,999.99 USD.

Standalone product?

When solid state radars for the marine industry were discussed in 2016, there was a consensus amongst manufacturers that their magnetron radars would by no means go obsolete as a result of solid state. Producers instead saw them as a compliment to traditional systems, which until the next technology leap should not act as replacement. However, one year on the mood has begun to change, at least for some.

Furuno’s Conway maintains that most boats will still end up with both, as currently the IMO require larger boats to have a function that triggers racons and beacons, which solid state radars cannot do effectively. However, he believes a lot of superyacht owners will still want to invest in the new tech to stay ahead of the curve. “It’s a fair way down the line that magnetron would be completely obsolete, not in at least the next ten years,” he said. He also pointed out that currently solid state radars are more expensive than magnetron as the technology in marine usage is still relatively new, though the prices will fall as the tech ages.

Speaking to Thomas, there was less hope for magnetron’s future. He thinks that eventually we will have to leave it behind because, especially from a recreational point of view, solid state has so many advantages. “At some point the IMO will be forced to take a look at their [carriage] requirements,” he said. 

Thomas agreed that there is a slight premium for solid state radars, but thought that it was still very much affordable for the target market, and so wouldn’t be an issue for superyacht owners.

Garmin’s Fry was the most pessimistic about magnetron. He said that relatively soon we would see the death of the traditional radars, drawing from the example of the avionics industry which switched to solely solid state about 5/6 years ago. Indeed, he said that the only reason companies had not been building solid state into marine radars was because the prices were so high for the technology that most owners would not have bought them. However, now that prices have come down enough to make the products viable he imagines boats may well only use solid state radars in the future. “Magnetron radars generally warrant up to 3000 hours, but they are under a lot of pressure as they are constantly working hard. This makes them unreliable and their longevity questionable. Solid state should be a lot more reliable,” he said.

An IMO review of the performance standards for radar equipment in 2004 proposed that magnetron radar technology was reaching its limits at the time, now 13 years ago.

Biggest advantages for superyachts

All three of our experts agreed that there were really no disadvantages of replacing magnetron with solid state (other than uncertainty around the current IMO ruling).

Safer and longer-lasting

Solid state is safer than magnetron. Simrad’s Thomas explained how with the traditional radars, standing directly in front of them is dangerous because of the high levels of radiation they give off. However, because solid state gives off so much less power and targets radiation more efficiently, this is no longer a problem. Thomas said: “From an RF perspective solid state technology is also better, because magnetron radars tend to burn out quicker because of the power usage so it means less maintenance.”

Lower energy output

Even Conway, the most pro-magnetron of our experts, firmly believed in the significant transmitted output energy reductions advantages of solid state radars. “Our X–Bands have up to a 96 nautical mile range, which magnetrons can do but would require much more transmitted output energy – and this is transmit power, not usage power, so essentially wasted energy. Solid state is much more efficient,” he said. 

Better target separation/tracking

Our experts all agreed that the new technology allowed for improved tracking and clarity in the display of other vessels, meaning that real targets are distinguished above clutter.

Collision reduction?

This was the only slight area of contention. Simrad’s Steve Thomas thought that when it came to preventing collisions and storm recognition, all radar technology was equal. He said: “Radars in general reduce collisions, but I don’t know that there is anything specific around solid state.” Fry agreed that at the time of writing it was too early to tell. However, he did say that in theory, with doppler technology showing different colours for approaching vessels, it should further aid prevention. “We only brought it out 18 months ago so we really can’t comment, but the technology certainly should help [reduce collisions],” he said. However, he pointed out that even the best tech doesn’t prevent user error. 

IMO rulings

The key issue is that solid state radars don’t trigger racons (radar beacons) effectively enough to meet IMO requirements for X-Bands on larger boats such as superyachts. These racons are typically on buoys outside harbours and vessels use the racon to identify the harbour they are arriving at. Solid state radars use one long low energy pulse rather than a short large energy pulse radar, and transmit a lot less power, so although the technology can sometimes trigger them the radar would have to be very close to the target and it is not guaranteed.

The last set of performance standards for radar were adopted in 2004, in response to the earlier mentioned proposal which argued that the requirement for future S-Band radars to trigger and display radar beacons should be discontinued, to allow for the development of new and improved radar technologies. However, it was agreed that X-Bands should continue to be required to trigger these racons. This was to ensure development was spread out over a few years, as it was thought radar manufacturers would need the freedom to develop new technology, but beacon manufacturers would then need some years to develop new beacons capable of responding.

Navigators can recognise harbours, just in different ways. For example, they can use an AIS (Automatic Identification System) as the signal to do this. Furuno’s Conway therefore pointed to the need to reconsider these requirements. He said: “Essentially, the legislation hasn’t kept pace with radar technology. It’s not for me to say whether [solid state is] as safe or whether the laws should change, but they do seem slightly behind with current technology.”

Fry believes that despite requirements a lot of larger vessels will have already made the switch to solid state, and that magnetron won’t be around for much longer. “There’s enough alternative Nav-Aids out there now. AIS is much more reliable anyway, so why not just use it?” he said. 

Simrad is currently trying to adapt its solid state products to fit these rulings. The company is trying several – currently confidential – approaches to make its radars trigger racons, in order to overcome this issue in future models.

Thomas also agreed though that as tech evolves regulatory committees should make sure their legislation still make sense. 

We asked an IMO representative to explain to us the reason behind the current requirements, as seen below: 

“The radar, combined with other sensor or reported information (e.g. AIS), should improve the safety of navigation by assisting in the efficient navigation of ships and protection of the environment by satisfying the following functional requirements: – in coastal navigation and harbour approaches, by giving a clear indication of land and other fixed hazards; – as a means to provide an enhanced traffic image and improved situation awareness; – in a ship-to-ship mode for aiding collision avoidance of both detected and reported hazards; – in the detection of small floating and fixed hazards, for collision avoidance and the safety of own ship; and – in the detection of floating and fixed aids to navigation. 

The carriage requirements for radar are set out in SOLAS Chapter V.  They don’t specify solid state or magnetron, so it would be down to the flag State to decide if the radar is acceptable and meets the standards. 

If Member States Parties to SOLAS want to amend or change the regulation or performance standards, they would need to bring the proposal to IMO.”

Summary

We hope this paper has been helpful in breaking down some of the basics of solid state radar technology, and how it can work for superyachts. If you require any further information, please feel free to contact the author at [email protected], who will do her best to try and answer your questions.

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on SuperYacht Technology.

Read Full Content Here

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on YachtAweigh.

source http://yachtaweigh.com/solid-state-radars-the-white-paper/ from http://yatchaweigh.blogspot.com/2017/07/solid-state-radars-white-paper.html

Solid State Radars – the White Paper

lang: en_US

Our first captain-requested White Paper, investigating tech products for the Winter Refit 2017/18.

For those considering a refit for their superyachts this winter and beyond, switching to solid state radars is likely something you have tossed back and forth. However, with so much information on the topic and not much time to read it all, weighing up all the options can be a hard graft. The SYT News team has investigated the pros, cons and legalities of solid state vs. magnetron and put it all in one place, so you can easily decide for yourself what would be the best fit for your yacht. Speaking to experts from the big three companies currently producing solid state radars – Garmin, Furuno and Navico/SIMRAD – as well as an IMO representative, we talk specifications, opinions and legislation.

What’s out there?

Furuno

It has an open array FAR3000 range, which includes an S–Band radar that uses solid state technology for long range detection and an X-Band solid state radar. The latter is marketed for smaller vessels (under 30m), though it has the potential to also be used on superyachts for short range applications. Furuno’s solid state technology uses the doppler effect, meaning it can represent a target coming towards you or moving away in different colours. Dan Conway, Area Sales Manager at Furuno, said: “It is designed for maximum user-friendliness; the idea is you don’t have to do a whole new radar training course to get up to scratch with how to use solid state if you are used to magnetron.” Its S-Band has an output power of 250w, with different models of the X-Band transmitting at 20w.

Whilst Conway says there will be bigger X-Band models coming from Furuno that can legally cater for superyachts and bigger vessels, currently the company is awaiting IMO requirement change, meaning its development (or at least the release) of this is on pause for the time being. Prices are on request. The IMO ruling will be covered in more detail further on.

Simrad

It currently offers a range of X-Band HALO open array solid state radars, which come with either a 3ft, 4ft or 6ft antenna. Simrad product line director for Navico Steve Thomas advises that generally the larger the array, the better distance performance you get, meaning that for a superyacht the HALO-6 would be preferable. Simrad’s largest antenna offers a range of up to 72 nautical miles radius, and the HALO range has a transmit power of 25w. Its website advises that though the HALO-6 Radar meets tough IEC 62388 Annex D target detection specifications, this excludes the beacon and RACON triggering requirement.

The company currently doesn’t use doppler effect technology in its solid state products. It will however be introducing this into their open arrays very soon, with the aim of having this updated product ready to promo at Fort Lauderdale this year. The HALO-6 has an SRP of £6090,00. 

Garmin

Its X-Band open array Fantom offering comes with either a four or six-foot antenna, and reaches up to a 70 nautical mile range. However, Garmin’s Marine OEM Product Support Manager Bob Fry pointed out that maximum range is not always that critical. “It is seldom for the need to switch up to a 70nm range, however power is important to detect those weaker targets at the max range possible, typically 12 to 13 nm to the radar horizon,” he said. He advises that the maximum range a superyacht would commonly use is 24 to 36 nm ranges, unless they were tracking rain storms.

The Fantom range have a transmit power of 40w – equal to 5kw traditional pulse radar – and use the doppler effect through Garmin’s MotionScope technology. The Fantom-6 is currently retailing at $7,999.99 USD.

Standalone product?

When solid state radars for the marine industry were discussed in 2016, there was a consensus amongst manufacturers that their magnetron radars would by no means go obsolete as a result of solid state. Producers instead saw them as a compliment to traditional systems, which until the next technology leap should not act as replacement. However, one year on the mood has begun to change, at least for some.

Furuno’s Conway maintains that most boats will still end up with both, as currently the IMO require larger boats to have a function that triggers racons and beacons, which solid state radars cannot do effectively. However, he believes a lot of superyacht owners will still want to invest in the new tech to stay ahead of the curve. “It’s a fair way down the line that magnetron would be completely obsolete, not in at least the next ten years,” he said. He also pointed out that currently solid state radars are more expensive than magnetron as the technology in marine usage is still relatively new, though the prices will fall as the tech ages.

Speaking to Thomas, there was less hope for magnetron’s future. He thinks that eventually we will have to leave it behind because, especially from a recreational point of view, solid state has so many advantages. “At some point the IMO will be forced to take a look at their [carriage] requirements,” he said. 

Thomas agreed that there is a slight premium for solid state radars, but thought that it was still very much affordable for the target market, and so wouldn’t be an issue for superyacht owners.

Garmin’s Fry was the most pessimistic about magnetron. He said that relatively soon we would see the death of the traditional radars, drawing from the example of the avionics industry which switched to solely solid state about 5/6 years ago. Indeed, he said that the only reason companies had not been building solid state into marine radars was because the prices were so high for the technology that most owners would not have bought them. However, now that prices have come down enough to make the products viable he imagines boats may well only use solid state radars in the future. “Magnetron radars generally warrant up to 3000 hours, but they are under a lot of pressure as they are constantly working hard. This makes them unreliable and their longevity questionable. Solid state should be a lot more reliable,” he said.

An IMO review of the performance standards for radar equipment in 2004 proposed that magnetron radar technology was reaching its limits at the time, now 13 years ago.

Biggest advantages for superyachts

All three of our experts agreed that there were really no disadvantages of replacing magnetron with solid state (other than uncertainty around the current IMO ruling).

Safer and longer-lasting

Solid state is safer than magnetron. Simrad’s Thomas explained how with the traditional radars, standing directly in front of them is dangerous because of the high levels of radiation they give off. However, because solid state gives off so much less power and targets radiation more efficiently, this is no longer a problem. Thomas said: “From an RF perspective solid state technology is also better, because magnetron radars tend to burn out quicker because of the power usage so it means less maintenance.”

Lower energy output

Even Conway, the most pro-magnetron of our experts, firmly believed in the significant transmitted output energy reductions advantages of solid state radars. “Our X–Bands have up to a 96 nautical mile range, which magnetrons can do but would require much more transmitted output energy – and this is transmit power, not usage power, so essentially wasted energy. Solid state is much more efficient,” he said. 

Better target separation/tracking

Our experts all agreed that the new technology allowed for improved tracking and clarity in the display of other vessels, meaning that real targets are distinguished above clutter.

Collision reduction?

This was the only slight area of contention. Simrad’s Steve Thomas thought that when it came to preventing collisions and storm recognition, all radar technology was equal. He said: “Radars in general reduce collisions, but I don’t know that there is anything specific around solid state.” Fry agreed that at the time of writing it was too early to tell. However, he did say that in theory, with doppler technology showing different colours for approaching vessels, it should further aid prevention. “We only brought it out 18 months ago so we really can’t comment, but the technology certainly should help [reduce collisions],” he said. However, he pointed out that even the best tech doesn’t prevent user error. 

IMO rulings

The key issue is that solid state radars don’t trigger racons (radar beacons) effectively enough to meet IMO requirements for X-Bands on larger boats such as superyachts. These racons are typically on buoys outside harbours and vessels use the racon to identify the harbour they are arriving at. Solid state radars use one long low energy pulse rather than a short large energy pulse radar, and transmit a lot less power, so although the technology can sometimes trigger them the radar would have to be very close to the target and it is not guaranteed.

The last set of performance standards for radar were adopted in 2004, in response to the earlier mentioned proposal which argued that the requirement for future S-Band radars to trigger and display radar beacons should be discontinued, to allow for the development of new and improved radar technologies. However, it was agreed that X-Bands should continue to be required to trigger these racons. This was to ensure development was spread out over a few years, as it was thought radar manufacturers would need the freedom to develop new technology, but beacon manufacturers would then need some years to develop new beacons capable of responding.

Navigators can recognise harbours, just in different ways. For example, they can use an AIS (Automatic Identification System) as the signal to do this. Furuno’s Conway therefore pointed to the need to reconsider these requirements. He said: “Essentially, the legislation hasn’t kept pace with radar technology. It’s not for me to say whether [solid state is] as safe or whether the laws should change, but they do seem slightly behind with current technology.”

Fry believes that despite requirements a lot of larger vessels will have already made the switch to solid state, and that magnetron won’t be around for much longer. “There’s enough alternative Nav-Aids out there now. AIS is much more reliable anyway, so why not just use it?” he said. 

Simrad is currently trying to adapt its solid state products to fit these rulings. The company is trying several – currently confidential – approaches to make its radars trigger racons, in order to overcome this issue in future models.

Thomas also agreed though that as tech evolves regulatory committees should make sure their legislation still make sense. 

We asked an IMO representative to explain to us the reason behind the current requirements, as seen below: 

“The radar, combined with other sensor or reported information (e.g. AIS), should improve the safety of navigation by assisting in the efficient navigation of ships and protection of the environment by satisfying the following functional requirements: – in coastal navigation and harbour approaches, by giving a clear indication of land and other fixed hazards; – as a means to provide an enhanced traffic image and improved situation awareness; – in a ship-to-ship mode for aiding collision avoidance of both detected and reported hazards; – in the detection of small floating and fixed hazards, for collision avoidance and the safety of own ship; and – in the detection of floating and fixed aids to navigation. 

The carriage requirements for radar are set out in SOLAS Chapter V.  They don’t specify solid state or magnetron, so it would be down to the flag State to decide if the radar is acceptable and meets the standards. 

If Member States Parties to SOLAS want to amend or change the regulation or performance standards, they would need to bring the proposal to IMO.”

Summary

We hope this paper has been helpful in breaking down some of the basics of solid state radar technology, and how it can work for superyachts. If you require any further information, please feel free to contact the author at [email protected], who will do her best to try and answer your questions.

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on SuperYacht Technology.

Read Full Content Here

The post Solid State Radars – the White Paper appeared first on YachtAweigh.

from http://yachtaweigh.com/solid-state-radars-the-white-paper/