Windblade - A Change of Tune

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Tales From the Shelves -- my book-sporking blog  Now sporking Revealing Eden!

New chapter of Nexus Point is up!  Enjoy!   

No new sporking post yet... hopefully this weekend.  I have a rare 3-day weekend off work for Independence Day, so I might have some extra time to put a post together.

The new additions to the collection are currently lined up on the entertainment center in the living room -- I pulled them out of my suitcase to show them to Mom and she promptly set them up there.  "Because why not, they're neat" is her rationale.    I doubt they'll be a permanent part of the décor or anything, but at least it's cool that she doesn't mind them out in the main part of the house.  Especially since we had company over last night and the figures were in full view the entire time...

In other Transformers news... so awhile back Hasbro collected input from fans to create a "fan-made" character, an Autobot jetformer named Windblade.  Initially I was just a little miffed that I had a Windblade fan character and now I was going to have to either change her name or have to explain every time that "it's a different Windblade," and I kind of rolled my eyes a bit that the official Windblade was a jetformer -- my personal vote had been for a Decepticon boatformer.  Hey, we need more boat Transformers.    That, and the official Windblade's final appearance made me balk.  What was up with her face anyhow?  What made Hasbro decide that the fan character needed to look like a geisha?  Did they just assume that this was what OCs looked like and they might as well go as Mary-Sue as possible? 

Yeah, can you tell I didn't like Windblade to begin with? 

On the recommendation of a friend, however, I decided to give Windblade's comics a shot.  Said friend assured me that despite her origins, Windblade was actually a pretty neat character, and her story was worth a read.  Plus, another overlooked femme, Chromia, was given a key spot in Windblade's story, and anything that promotes the femme-bots is a plus in my book.

My verdict?  I like Windblade a heck of a lot more than I thought I would.  Her facial design with the elaborate markings around the optics actually gets explained (everyone on her colony world wears the markings to mimic their world's citybot, Caminus), and though some might see her role and ability as a bit Sue-ish -- she's a city-speaker, one trained to talk to city-formers and serve as an interpreter for them -- it makes sense and is actually a pretty fascinating concept.  And the comic writers do a good job of making Windblade a heroic character without also making a Mary Sue out of her.  She's not super-powered or always right or constantly one-upping the pre-established characters, but still manages to pull off a heroic act in the end.  Given all this, it's hard not to like her.

I don't think Windblade's going to supplant any of my favorite characters -- and Nickel is still my favorite femme character.  But she's likable and not nearly the Sue I assumed she was going to be.  Like Drift, the comic writers have worked hard to redeem her in the eyes of the fandom, and it looks like they've done a good job of that. 

Not much else to report, so... meme time. 

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes/MP3 player on random, and take note of the first 20 songs that play. It doesn't matter how silly they are, just put them in.
2. Post the first three lines/first stanza of the songs that you hear.
3. Let everyone guess which songs the lyrics come from.
4. If someone guesses correctly, strike out those lyrics and make a note of the song's title and singer/s, and the one who guessed them correctly.
5. Try not to cheat and use Google to guess them all.

NOTE:  Please only guess three or four songs at a time for now.  If any go unguessed after a few days, I'll repost them and let folks have another shot at guessing.

Also, as usual, I'm cheating by skipping certain songs -- instrumentals, foreign-language songs, songs with the name in the first few lines, and really obscure stuff.

1.  Look down, look down
Don’t look ‘em in the eye
Look down, look down
You’re here until you die
"Work Song" from Les Miserables
Guessed by

2.  I admit that in the past, I’ve been a nasty
They weren’t kidding when they called me, well, a witch
But you’ll find that nowadays
I’ve mended all my ways
Repented, seen the light, and made a switch
"Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid
Guessed by

3.  Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone
Suzanne, the plans they made, put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can’t remember who to send it to
"Fire and Rain" by James Taylor
Guessed by

4.  No New Year’s Day to celebrate
No chocolate-covered candy hearts to give away
No first of spring, no song to sing
In fact, here’s just another ordinary day
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder
Guessed by

5.  We are young!
Heartache to heartache
We stand!
No promises, no demands!
"Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar
Guessed by

6.  This day is going to be perfect
The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small
Every pony will gather ‘round
Say I look lovely in my gown
What they don’t know is that I have fooled them all
"This Day Aria" from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
Guessed by

7.  Another day at work is nearly over
You must have seen the whole thing on TV
Seventeen more city blocks and I can almost smell you
Waiting at the windowsill for me

8.  I’m so high, I can hear heaven
I’m so high, I can hear heaven
Oh, but heaven, but heaven don’t hear me
"Hero" by Chad Kroeger/Nickelback
Guessed by

9.  Once I called you brother
Once I thought the chance to make you laugh
Was all I ever wanted
And even now I wish that God had chose another
Serving as your foe on his behalf
Is the last thing that I wanted
"The Plagues" from The Prince of Egypt
Guessed by

10.  You’re sort of famous, a minor celebrity
So it only makes sense the world would be
Obsessed with every single thing you do
They’re running ‘round with their camcorders in the night
They’re lurking patiently and hopin’ that they just might
See something real embarrassing you do
"TMZ" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Guessed by

11.  Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist
Directs you where to go
"Good Riddance (The Time Of Your Life)" by Green Day
Guessed by

12.  Dear Andre, what a splendid party!
A prologue to a bright new year!
Quite a night, I’m impressed
Well one does one’s best
Here’s to us!
I must say all the same
That it’s a shame that Phantom fellow isn’t here
"Masquerade" from The Phantom of the Opera
Guessed by

13.  I need a sign to let me know you’re here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know if things are gonna look up
‘Cause I feel us drowning from a sea spilled from a cup

14.  There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
He’s tellin’ me I’ve got to beware
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
Guessed by

15.  Just a small-town girl
Livin’ in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere
"Don't Stop Believing" by Journey
Guessed by

16.  Out the door just in time
Head down the 405
Gotta meet the new bos by 8 AM
The phone rings in the car
The wife is working hard
She’s running late tonight again

17.  Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
"Seasons of Love" from RENT
Guessed by

18.  Oh, my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside the door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it’s early morn
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could die
"Leavin' On a Jet Plane" by John Denver and/or Peter, Paul, and Mary
Guessed by

19.  Well, I had two weeks of vacation time coming
After working all year down at Big Roy’s Heating and Plumbing
So one night when my family and I were gathered round the dinner table
I said “Kids, if you could go anywhere in this great big world now
Where’d you like to go ta?”
"The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Guessed by

20.  You think I’m an ignorant savage
And you’ve been so many places, I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see, if the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don’t know?
"Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas
Guessed by

Art Feature -- Boba Fett


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