#CAVAN SCOTT I WANT ANSWERS

[dapurinthos]

wait wait is lene kostana hundreds of years old? because saber for hire 1 (c. 221bby) has a little force-sensitive purple kid named lene with white hair and there is only one other lene in star wars, who is also purple-skinned and has white hair.

STAR WARS IS THIS MY COOL AUNT'S MOTHER AND BABY SISTER?

[monsterblogging]

List of Official/Official-Adjacent Pacific Rim Media

Here's a list of Pacific Rim media for y'all Pacific Rim fans who want to check out as much of it as possible!

PACIFIC RIM (2013 FILM) Usually considered the primary text of this franchise. Pacific Rim fans mostly agree it's good.

PACIFIC RIM NOVELIZATION BY ALEX IRVINE The novelization of the 2013 film. The book's writer, Alex Irvine, had texts from Legendary Pictures work with, but some of the information was outdated. Furthermore, the book has a cynical, smug tone and comes off like it's written for the type of audience who thinks CinemaSins is actual media criticism. The only thing it's really good for is for scraping out lore, but it's full of contradictions and occasionally uses outdated lore, so you have to compare/contrast it with other materials.

TALES FROM YEAR ZERO Authored by Travis Beacham, this comic explores the origins of the PPDC and the Jaeger program. It's interesting for lore, but story-wise, it might not be engaging if you aren't into Travis Beacham's particular romantic storytelling tastes. Also, if you're a puritan who gets offended when main characters are kinda fucked up people, this isn't for you.

TALES FROM THE DRIFT Authored by Travis Beacham, this comic tells the haters-to-lovers story of Duc and Kaori Jessop, pilots of Tacit Ronin. Mildly interesting for lore, and another romance-oriented story. (Beacham loves those.)

PACIFIC RIM: MAN, MACHINES, & MONSTERS The official artbook. Has some interesting information and lore, though it also contains a few typos and references outdated worldbuilding.

TRAVIS BEACHAM'S TUMBLR After Pacific Rim's release, Travis Beacham answered many fans' questions. While he was often cryptic and straight-up refused to answer certain questions for fear that he'd spoil a future story, he still provided quite a bit of insight. You can visit his old blog at travisbeacham.tumblr.com

PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING Largely panned by fans of the original film. Partway through production, the sequel to Pacific Rim was handed off to another director, and many plot elements were hastily changed with little to no regard for the rich worldbuilding developed by Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro, or even story coherency. The film never gives really your brain space to breathe, so it's very difficult to follow the story. Moreover, it misses the thematic and allegorical tones of the first movie, and lacks its occult influences. Overall, it's a hollow followup to Pacific Rim.

PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING NOVELIZATION BY ALEX IRVINE Fundamentally, it's the same story as Pacific Rim: Uprising. The upside is that Alex Irvine's writing is significantly improved, and the story is much easier to follow in novel format. The downside is that you don't have John Boyega's acting talent.

PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING JUNIOR NOVELIZATION BY BECKY MATHESON It's more or less the same as above, but edited down for a younger audience.

THE ART AND MAKING OF PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING The PRU artbook. I've never read this one, so I couldn't tell you what's in it aside from the very obvious.

PACIFIC RIM: AFTERMATH A prequel comic to Pacific Rim: Uprising written by Cavan Scott, Aftermath tells two stories: one focuses on Jake Pentecost and his relationship with his father; the other on what happened to Hannibal Chau and Joshua Griffin (one of Vulcan Specter's pilots) after the kaiju war. The comic makes excellent use of the lore, and the stories are great.

PACIFIC RIM: AMARA A prequel comic that focuses specifically on Amara Namari. I have mixed feelings about it; the mini-Jaeger designs were great but I felt that the actual storyline was a little melodramatic. I dunno, read it for yourself and see what you think.

PACIFIC RIM: ASCENSION A prequel novel to Uprising by Greg Keyes, this story gives life and focus to many characters who didn't get a lot of attention, including the Kaidonovskys and the cadets. Mako Mori is given the narrative respect she deserves, and Hermann Gottlieb's characterization is top-notch. The author makes use of the lore provided by Legendary Pictures to weave a rich and fascinating narrative that puts the actual Uprising film to shame.

MAKING OF/BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE There's a number of videos out there on YouTube, which you can find by searching up.

PACIFIC RIM CONCEPT ART There's quite a lot of concept art out there. You can start here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, or search Pinterest or whatever search engine for Pacific Rim concept art.

PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK A cash grab produced by Netflix, The Black disregards Pacific Rim's rich worldbuilding and follows bland, generic cartoon protagonists through a bland, generic cartoon plot loosely - loosely, mind you - based on the films. It tries to be dark, but it has all the skill of a sixteen year old edgelord about it. Also, the production values are nonexistent. You will miss absolutely nothing worthwhile by skipping over it. If for some reason you really want a Pacific Rim story where child soldiers are framed as a good thing, just read Pacific Rim: Ascension. If you want dark, watch Pulp Fiction or From Dusk 'Til Dawn. If you want a story where somebody makes a religion out of turning people into monsters, watch Midnight Mass or play/watch a no-commentary playthrough of Resident Evil 4 or 8. If you want an AI that looks after two stranded children, watch 3Below. Seriously, there is nothing The Black does that something else doesn't do infinitely better. "But most of these aren't Pacific Rim stories-" Wrong. Any story can be a Pacific Rim story if you're not a coward. And just about anything is a better Pacific Rim story than The Black.

PACIFIC RIM: BLACKOUT Prequel comic to Pacific Rim: The Black. Haven't read it, but it's written by the same guy who wrote Aftermath so it's probably a sight better than The Black.

[bikananjarrus]

I want to read High Republic books but I don't know where to start. Help!

hi bran! i would be happy to help! 💜

(*disclaimer to start: i am still in the process of reading the high republic books myself, so this is just based on what i have read so far. also, this might get a little long, but there's a lot of material and i know it's a bit confusing, so i'm hoping a more thorough breakdown helps a bit!)

To start, the High Republic books have been published in three phases:

Phase 1 (Light of the Jedi) takes place about 200 years before The Phantom Menace.

Phase 2 (Quest of the Jedi) takes place roughly 150 years before that, so ~350 years before TPM.

Phase 3 (Trials of the Jedi)* goes back to the Phase 1 timeline, so ~200 years before TPM. (*this phase is still being published, and is set to be finished in 2025).

Each of these phases has a mix of books, comics, manga, and audiodramas. For the sake of this post, I will just be talking about the main storyline novels, which consist of adult, YA, and middle-grade books.

Do you need to read ALL books, including YA and middle-grade?

Short answer: it depends! If 19 books (and counting; and those are just the main books) is really daunting, or you just aren't sure you're going to have the time to dedicate to all of that, i would say no, you don't have to read everything. You could just read the adult books (which are the main-main storyline for everything), and be just fine!

However, if you are looking for a more well-rounded, full picture of this story, more characters to enjoy, or just want to read as much of this era as possible, than yes, i definitely recommend reading everything! the YA and middle-grade books have been just as well-written as the adult ones, and while you don't need to read them to understand the main storyline, they fill some gaps in and introduce a lot of really fantastic characters. those books just make the story as a whole more full and fulfilling.

Now, where to start?

I definitely recommend starting with Phase 1, Book 1: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule.

This was the first book to be published, and is 1) a fantastic book, and 2) a great introduction to the galaxy at this time.

From there, I recommend going in order of the Phases, which would also essentially be publishing order.

(Secondary disclaimer: i have not read Phase 2 yet. I finished Phase 1, and then skipped ahead to Phase 3, because I was impatient and wanted to get caught up to the new book that came out a couple weeks ago lol. I am about to circle back to Phase 2, which has important background information and history for some of the things happening in Phase 1/3. so i did things a little different, but i think most people recommend the 1-2-3 Phase/Publication order.)

List of Main Books in Each Phase:

Phase 1

Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (adult)

A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland (middle-grade)

Into the Dark by Claudia Gray (YA)

The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott (adult)

Race to Crashpoint Tower by Daniel José Older (MG)

Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland (YA)

Mission to Disaster by Justina Ireland (MG)

The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray (adult)

Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older (YA)

Phase 2

Path of Deceit by Justina Ireland & Tessa Gratton (YA)

Quest for the Hidden City by George Mann (MG)

Convergence by Zoraida Córdova (adult)

Quest for Planet X by Tessa Gratton (MG)

Cataclysm by Lydia Kang (adult)

Path of Vengeance by Cavan Scott (YA)

Phase 3 (so far)

The Eye of Darkness by George Mann (adult)

Escape from Valo by Daniel José Older & Alyssa Wong (MG)

Defy the Storm by Justina Ireland & Tessa Gratton (YA)

Temptation of the Force by Tessa Gratton (adult)

Beware the Nameless by Zoraida Córdova (MG) [publishing Aug. 27, 2024]

Tears of the Nameless by George Mann (YA) [publishing Sept. 24, 2024]

There are a lot of lists out there with the reading order, but I have found that the High Republic Wikipedia page has been the most helpful, because it breaks down the different categories (novels, comics, etc.) really clearly.

As mentioned, I’ll be starting up the Phase 2 books, but I’m also currently working my way through the Phase 1 comics. So if you would like a breakdown of the comics as well, I can do that too!

i hope this was helpful! and i really hope you enjoy delving into these books! Light of the Jedi sucked me into this era of star wars so quickly, and i've just gotten more insane about them since lol.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Was wondering who's your favourite Jason Todd writer. (Maybe least favourite too)

Oooh this is a tough one! In part because I'm not entirely sure who to count as a Jason Todd writer, and in another part because I'm trying to pick someone other than Winick bc saying it's him feels too obvious lmao

The joke answer is Bruce Jones, because I genuinely adore Nightwing: Brothers In Blood, though I uhhh- look I GET why other people do not xD

But really maybe I should just bite the bullet and say it's Judd Winick. I do love what he did with the character and I can say with confidence that I'm not just listing him cause of Under the Red Hood. Seeing Red in Green Arrow (2001) is like my favorite comic run ever. Jason's appearance in Outsiders (2003) is great. Streets Run Red in B&R was solid. Lost Days remains my favorite interpretation of the time after he came back, despite the fact that I have some criticisms.

That being said, I do think I mildly prefer him in an anti-hero role rather than Winick's sympathetic villain who can sometimes be reasoned with, and I quite like what Rosenburg has been doing with him.

It feels like Rosenburg has a really solid idea in his head of who Jason is and why/how he clashes with the other bats. I enjoyed The Man Who Stopped Laughing way more than I thought I would. Taskforce Z has definite merits. Gotham War was a complete clusterfuck and horribly organized, but I do think I see what he was going for there and was interested even though it clashed badly with what the other writers were doing.

So yeah, I guess that's my answer. Rosenburg is my fav modern Jason writer so far and Winick remains the heavyweight champion of Jason writing overall.

My least favorite on the other hand isn't any of the usual suspects (Starlin, Morrison, and Lobdell)

Starlin seemed to want to write vicious, seedy thrillers about realistic serial killers and the worst that humanity has to offer and was instead stuck writing Batman and Robin lmao. Should he have just found other employment instead, or knuckled down and written to the tone of the material at hand? Probably! However, putting Batman and Robin in a world that was patently unfit for their type of heroics was interesting to read for me, and frankly, most of what I love about Jason wouldn't exist without it.

Morrison was certainly unfavorable to Jason, but using Jason and Dick as opposing ideas of what it means to be Batman is honestly really cool, and idk I think if you can get passed the aesthetics this version of him works.

Lobdell... might actually just be bad at writing entirely? But! Lobdell has a lot of good ideas and can write something that's fun. There are several more competently put together stories that I can't say the same of.

So yeah, it's none of them, because Cavan Scott was the one who wrote the worst rendition of Jason I've ever had the misfortune to read.

Even mother fucking Battle for the Cowl did a better job with Jason! Just by giving him character motivations and a reason to be in the plot! Titans United Jason is a complete asshole to everyone around him despite having reasons not to be. Like, not even for no reason! For negative three reasons!! There are many different roles he could have taken in this comic that would have been interesting, but instead he is "thug who insults Connor Kent and is generally useless and incompetent".

Though to be fair to him, Titans United was a tie in for a TV show that has very, very different histories for all of the characters involved. It was basically a commercial and as far as I can tell this author wasn't involved in the show or any of the characters outside of this one comic. It might honestly be unfair to call him a Jason Todd writer at all.

And if we don't count little one offs like that then... yeah I don't really know who my least favorite would be *shrug*

Anyhow I feel like I've rambled more than long enough, hope this was an interesting read and thank you thank you for sending the ask :3 !

[gffa]

Kind of a fun question, kind of also searching for information for something I'm writing: is there anything you know of that says one way or the other if Jedi can have pets?

No pressure to answer ofc you're just the best person I can think of to answer who won't just give me weird fanon or assumptions

You know me, I can't resist giving source material examples if there are any to be had. :D And I have an answer for you on this! In the High Republic, Bell Zettifar has a charhound named Ember that he keeps as a pet, but if you're looking for prequels era Jedi, yeah, they're absolutely allowed to have pets:

(Padawan by Kiersten White)

(Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott) One assumes they would follow the usual rules--you can't be willing to let people die for the sake of your pet, etc.--but otherwise the Jedi have friends and personal relationships, of course they can have pets, if they want them and will be around enough to take care of them.

[thedroidsyouarelookingfor]

2021 Reading Challenge:

Star Wars - Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott

★★★☆☆

My thoughts below...

This was first produced as an audio drama, but the script was released later in hardback. As an audio drama it fails miserably, to me at least, at the most important aspect: Dooku’s voice. I believe we can all agree that Christopher Lee’s voice is iconic. Corey Burton did a fantastic job at capturing that voice in the Clone Wars animated series, but for some unknown reason he is not used here. Instead of getting someone else who could at least bare a passing resemblance to the character, we get a random male British accent. There is no resemblance to Christopher Lee whatsoever. This made it extremely difficult for me to connect this character with the Dooku we know from the films and animated series, and also made it difficult for me to tell who was speaking at times. Mind you, this is a full cast audio! Not getting Dooku right is really unforgivable. Still, overall the voice acting was fine. But there were some really bad moments...special mentions to the terrible line delivery of the Jedi Master who sounded comically snooty regardless of what she was saying and the “Doo-doo-Dooku” song that made me want to cut off my ears.

This isn’t a bad story necessarily, but it felt kind of pointless. It’s told to us through Ventress, as she reads Dooku’s journals and watches old holo messages. He gives her these sources as a means of research to aid her in a search for Dooku’s sister. How they actually could have helped is completely without answer, but whatever. We see Dooku as a youngling, a padawan, a master, a council member, and finally as a Sith (this last time period only directly though Ventress’ first hand interactions). The problem here is that there was never really a good balance to any of these time periods. The first third of this book focuses on his youth, and almost every bit of it felt like a Harry Potter rip-off. Then we see him become Yoda’s apprentice, but don't really see their relationship develop. Then there’s an abrupt time skip and we see Rael Averross (who continues to be gross) already a Knight himself and referring to his time as Dooku’s padawan. We get a brief moment with Qui-Gon as Dooku’s apprentice. Then in the last act, Dooku (probably pretty old at this point and a member of the Counsil) disobeys the Council’s orders and goes to his home planet to help his sister. Some stuff goes down, he kills his brother--whom we never really got to know, and Dooku leaves the Order. He had moments of Darkness at this point, but he didn’t “fall” as I would have thought. We didn’t see him “turn” in this book at all. Instead, it felt like watching a clip show of little moments that made him who he is, but without the big missing piece at the end of the puzzle. The story completely skips the character development from “guy who ignores Jedi council in order to save his sister” to “guy who tortures Ventress then makes her kill his sister” ...which I think would have been more useful to understanding the character than just seeing him disagree with the Council a few times.

Harry Potter parallels: There is literally a scene in this story where two boys sneak into the forbidden section of the Jedi library in the middle of the night. Arguments between Jedi masters on whether “defense against Sith artifacts” should be taught. The Jedi have four founders. Dooku can hear a creature that no one else can hear. Jedi younglings are placed into “clans” that have titles like “Hawkbat.”

High Republic references: This is super weird, but the Jedi make busts of the members they “lost,” hence the title of this book. Yoda refers to the bust of a “Master Trennis” and remarks on how tragic this story was. Keeve Trennis is a Jedi Knight in the Marvel High Republic series. The Ataraxia ship is referred to in this book. It is new at the time of the High Republic, meaning this space vehicle would be nearly 200 years old during the events of Jedi Lost. The actual term “High Republic” was used in this story to refer to the lives of past Jedi and I find that a little odd. This story takes place during the days of the Republic and the characters in this story would not know that the Republic’s days are numbered. I do wonder if we will eventually see the people they referred to though, especially the one who was rumored to have had an affair with the Chancellor’s secretary. 

Nitpicks: 1. Dooku is an idiot to not sit down and meditate with Yoda on his first day of training. You really gonna tell me this boy was too thick to realize this and instead just yelled at Yoda for a month straight?? I hate how prequel Yoda is written, but Dooku was an idiot here. 2. When Dooku sends a message to his sister apologizing for what happened at their mother’s funeral (a mother who was literally not in the story at all before this point), Dooku straight up mentions accidentally knocking the dead body out of the casket, even though that would be extremely insensitive to include in your apology and just make it more traumatic for his sister to relive again. It should have been in his journal instead, as it would not make sense for him to retell the story in such detail to his sister, WHO WAS THERE! 3. The agricultural planet that had the storm come in and knock out all their tech really didn’t have a fail safe in store? Their entire population resides on elevated platforms and they don’t have a backup plan in case of a power failure? Hard to believe... 4. Qui-Gon sounds like an old man even though he’s supposed to be a young teen. 5. Dooku’s sister is an old woman at the end of the story, but she sounds the exact same as she did when she’s first introduced as a child. It makes the story even harder to follow, as the passage of time is handled clumsily. 6. Sifo-Dyas loses his mind at the end of this story, but he supposedly hasn’t done his business with the clones yet, so how does that work?? His portrayal here does not seem to match up with other canon appearances at all. He would have been darn old during that, and in Clone Wars his hologram was youngish. 7. Dooku’s daddy literally threw him out of the house when he realized his child was force-sensitive. We do not see Dooku’s mother agree with this or be sorry or anything. She is not present at all until Dooku goes to her funeral! But anyway, we aren’t really given any idea why Dooku’s daddy is such a booty. Why does he feel force-sensitivity makes his son a freak? We’ll never know.

In conclusion, I really can’t say this story was worth listening to. Even if you love Dooku as a villain, we are missing key parts of his story here, and not hearing him sound even remotely how we are used to hearing him makes him seem like a different character altogether. The version of Dooku we are presented with here rarely feels like the same person we know from other media, and I don’t believe this story did as good a job of connecting Jedi Dooku to Sith Dooku as it could have. It was boring at parts and lacked a lot of character development. The Ventress connection felt like another missed opportunity. We get glimpses of her traumatic backstory, but nothing substantial. She’s really just a vehicle for learning about Dooku’s past. Her involvement with the overall story is minimal. I’d say the cover is a bit misleading.

[starwarsforcestuff]

Can you do number 4?

Number 4 was fave/least fave character. So I believe this needs to be divided up into Movies (Prequel, Original, Sequel), Books, Games and TV shows. Star Wars is such a vast universe that breaking it down like this actually helps me.

Prequels

Obi-Wan Kenobi is my favorite prequel character, hands down. Part of it is his sass but, the biggest reason is his persistence and will to stand up for what he believes in, be that the Torce, Anakin, Democracy or his promise to his dying Master to train Anakin against the wishes of the Council. Obi-Wan is a person you can rely on.

I didn’t really have any specific character that was my least favorite, but if I must I’ll just post them and you all can attack me. 

Jango Fett. Hyped over nothing. The only thing remotely interesting about him is the fact that he was the clone template. Even Mandalore was like “We don’t know him.” 

Now I know what you’re thinking. Why Darth Maul? How could you? Maul is the coolest! You’re not wrong, but you are also probably allowing the comics and TV shows to enhance this character. This is purely based on what we see in The Phantom Menace. He let his arrogance get the best of him and Obi-Won kicked his ass. That is all. However, his story and Dathomir and the Nightsisters are pretty cool. If you don’t know anything about it I HIGHLY suggest you look it up. It is equal parts interesting, cool, and tragic.

The Original Trilogy

Yoda is my favorite. He may be my favorite of all time. Through the entire Skywalker Saga Yoda has been wise and powerful. He is deeply devoted to the Force and is wise enough to admit when he was wrong and learn from his mistakes. While I was not a fan of The Last Jedi I thought having Yoda come back and tell Luke to learn from his mistakes because failure is the greatest teacher was just very profound. In a way, Yoda was also telling Luke to learn from his (Yoda and the old Jedi Order’s) mistakes. 

I don’t have a character that is the least favorite for me. I think all the characters for the OT were influential and interesting and original for the most part. That being said Lando Calrissian would have to be one of the characters I just don’t particularly care about. My thoughts are neither overwhelmingly positive or negative for this character.

Sequels

Rey. She is not a very original character. Most of her journey is remarkably similar to Luke’s, but then again, Luke is not the most original character. They both follow the Hero’s Journey as illustrated in Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero With A Thousand Faces. (If you are unfamiliar with the Hero’s Journey please click the link. It will bring you to a very short youtube video that explains it really well with examples.) Either way, Rey makes her own mark in the Star Wars universe. She is powerful, motivated, and fights for the light despite the tragedies that have surrounded her.

General Armitage Hux was a character I absolutely could not stand. Part of it was a devotion to The First Order, part of it was he was just an unlikeable person. That being said, I loved that I hated him. I was really disappointed when he died. So anti-climatic, I wanted a better death than to just be shot. Maybe a full-on execution or maybe he could have gone out Kamakazi style trying to sabotage Kylo Ren’s plans. 

Books

Vi Moradi from Black Spire by Delilah S. Dawson is a complicated character that fights her own inner prejudice to help establish a resistance base on Batuu while helping a former First Order officer, CD-O922 “Captain Cardinal” aka Archex recover and adjust to life in the resistance after torturing her in a previous book (Phasma). That being said, 

Captain Cardinal aka Archex. Another complicated character who sometimes struggles to shake the brainwashing of the First Order and recover from an injury received by Captain Phasma. He is one of my favorites due to his self-sacrifice. To ensure that the First Order believes there is no resistance on Batuu, he sacrifices himself to blow up a First Order ship after sending an all-clear message to the First Order to make them think it was a malfunction.

There is no picture for him, but Winshur Bratt from Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse was truly a terrible person. He kicked a girl close to near death and didn’t even care. He was power-hungry and had some major childhood issues he needed to resolve, but thought that joining the First Order would have helped that. 

Games

Cal Kestus from Jedi Fallen Order. A Padawan during Order 66, he survived due to the sacrifice of his master and has lived in secret ever since, until he is discovered by the inquisitors. Cal relearns the ways of the Force and meets new friends along the way. What I like most about him is how he stood by the principles of the Jedi even when he had nothing to lose from going to the dark side.

Carth Onasi from Knights of the Old Republic. I just think he is really annoying. In all fairness, I’ve actually not finished playing the game so I can’t say much, but I just find him annoying most of the time. 

TV Shows 

The Child aka Baby Yoda. That’s it. We don’t know much about it other than he is 50 and it is Mando’s job to take care of him, but he is so cute. 

Like Darth Maul, cool, but ultimately I just don’t like her. The Jedi Lost book by Cavan Scott really kinda ruined her for me for some reason. 

Well, this lasted much longer than I anticipated. Let me know if any of my answers match yours!

[tsgneworleanslouisiana]

Celebrate Local: New Orleans Hosts The Scout Guide Editor Conference

May was a big month for The Scout Guide New Orleans! The Scout Guide hosted its annual editor conference in New Orleans. Sixty TSG Editors from across the country traveled to the Crescent City in search of endless inspiration...and of course, a good time. Mission accomplished thanks to the incredible small business owners who make New Orleans the most exciting place to live and visit. 

Christy Ford and Susie Matheson, Co-Founders of The Scout Guide and TSG Charlottesville Editors with Jane Scott Hodges, Founder of Leontine Linens and Taylor Morgan, Editor/Owner, The Scout Guide New Orleans

In true New Orleans fashion, we experienced a feast for all of the senses at the home of Jane Scott and Philip Hodges. Discussed the state of our brand and what makes a beautiful book at our NOLA Headquarters, Windsor Court. Engaged with business owners while shopping local on Magazine Street. And celebrated local at three of my favorite eateries, Arnaud’s, Cavan, and Brennan’s.

Tablescape designs by Jane Scott Hodges featuring Leontine Linens and a collection of tabletop goods including fabulous flower vases from Malachite Home

Leontine cocktail napkins pair beautifully with Patti Constantin, Designs in Catering, hand blown glasses.

Fried oysters and Cajun Caviar by Patti Constantin

Laura Kocher, TSG Headquarters, Stacey Leuliette, TSG Palm Beach and Nantucket, and Jen Stolp of TSG Wilmington

Black Magic Drum Line surprise editors courtesy of Jane Scott and Philip Hodges

New Orleans wasn’t just selected because its a fun place to be — I was one of the very first franchise owners to establish The Scout Guide outside of home base in Charlottesville, Virginia. For our first road show, co-founders Susie Matheson and Christy Ford wanted to share with our young Editors the experience of what The Scout Guide can be in a community. 

Building a brand doesn’t happen over night, but it sure does seem like ours did. Since 2010, TSG has grown to a network of 60 city guides dedicated to celebrating and supporting over 3,000 small business owners who keep communities unique. TSG combines print, online and a national network making it a pretty powerful platform for local businesses to shine.

Eight years ago when I first brought The Scout Guide to New Orleans, I had this one little blue book, The Scout Guide Charlottesville. There was no Instagram, barely a website or blog, definitely no searchable directory, or a network of 60 Editors to support local. I was selling my passion for New Orleans and desire to create a visual for our city to shine on a national platform (at a time when we were still convincing people we were open for business.) 

A collection of city guides - The Scout Guide book bar on display at Perch

From top to bottom: TSG Cleveland, TSG Northwest Arkansas, TSG Park City, TSG Little Rock, TSG Omaha, TSG Cincinnati, TSG Cleveland, TSG Fort Worth and TSG Wilmington

I had big dreams for my small business, but I am not sure I visualized a union of our powerful network in my own backyard. So when I looked around in a room and saw all the people gathered based off of something that I built, it was a pretty moving experience. 

Ralph Brennan shares the history of Brennan’s along with some lessons in business with our group of young entrepreneurs

Autumn Allen, TSG Washington, DC, Sarah Phillips, TSG Alexandria, Nelina Loiselle, TSG Hunt Country

Jane Scott Hodges, Patti Constantin, and Ralph Brennan were not only instrumental in the success of the Conference, but they have been crucial to the success of our brand. These uniquely New Orleans business owners, along with Ashley Longshore, Melissa Rufty and Adrienne Casbarian, Neal Alford, Roy Dunn and Stephen Sonnier, Alexis Walter, Lynn Morgan, Mia and Justin Devillier, and the Windsor Court team answered the call in my first year, trusted me to represent their brand in places near and far, and remain with me on the journey today. They have become our very own TSG celebrities so it was fun to finally introduce them to their fan club in real life. 

Adrienne Casbarian, owner of Malachite Home, Susie Matheson and Christy Ford, Co-Founders of The Scout Guide and Taylor Morgan, Editor/Owner of The Scout Guide New Orleans

Mariah Walton, owner of West London Boutique, signs her page in The Scout Guide New Orleans 

The Scout Guide is about people. We love connecting businesses to businesses, so I hosted a happy hour at Cavan to introduce New Orleans business owners to Editors in other cities. Kathy Slater who showcases her work in Dallas, Houston and Atlanta had the opportunity to meet the respective Editors. Susan Zackin who plans parties in New Orleans and Palm Beach (and everywhere in between) met her champion on the ground in any port of call. Interior Designer Shaun Smith and Restaurant Owner Robert Leblanc shared with Editors how The Scout Guide has supported the growth of his business.

TSG Naples, TSG Edmond, TSG Jackson, TSG Plano & Frisco, TSG Mobile Bay, TSG Dallas

Rebecca Vizard carved time in her schedule to share her story with TSG before darting to Baton Rouge to receive the Louisiana Legend award later in the evening

Today I have represented over 200 small business owners in New Orleans. I adore being their champion and I do experience some pretty cool things. But let me let you in on a little secret: you, too, can continue to peel back the layers in our city just by walking in the front door of these local businesses. 

Natalie Erwin Art pairs beautifully with Leontine

Flowers, antiques and gifts all under one roof at Dunn & Sonnier

Ashley Nettleton, TSG Edmond, Suzanne Dildy, TSG Park City, Susu Stall, owner of SOSUSU Boutique, and Susie Matheson, Co-Founder of TSG and Editor of The Scout Guide Charlottesville

Cole Pratt’s Erika Olinger shares with Christy Ford her art + technology exhibit 

TSG Headquarters Team with Shane Guidry of Pippen Lane

But where would we be without you, our reader? Thank you so much for supporting these small business owners. All a TSG Editor can hope for is that you find something you love here, visit the store, meet the owner, learn something new and buy local what you want (and of course, tell them scout sent you!). By doing so, you will have a profound impact on your local community.

Hopie Avery, TSG Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Leigh Ann Kalman, TSG Austin, Leigh Brown, TSG Fort Worth, Cheney Edmunds, TSG Richmond and Meredith Kallaher, TSG Miami shopping local at West London Boutique, Pilot + Powell, SOSUSU, Tasc and Villa Vici

TSG loves Ashley Longshore Art

Cozy conversations at Cavan with our newest editors TSG Phoenix and Tuscon at the head of the table

The experience of a French Quarter balcony at Arnaud’s

Champagne sabering every week day in the courtyard at Brennan’s

And just when I thought I had seen everything this city had to offer, TSG Co-Founders, Christy Ford & Susie Matheson, gifted me with a glittered field commander hat that they scouted at Peony. Certainly, there couldn’t have been a more perfect gift for the person leading the trombone parade of sixty lovers of local, and clearly, they had to stake their claim as the original scouts!

TELL THEM SCOUT SENT YOU!

—TAYLOR MORGAN, Editor/Owner, THE SCOUT GUIDE NEW ORLEANS

Most photos by Paul Morse Photo and a few by yours truly, TSG New Orleans. 

Enjoy TSG Miami’s recap of The Scout Guide Editor Conference on her You Tube Channel. 

Interested in becoming a member of The Scout Guide? Find more information here. 

[bananaairplane]

Another World

Over the months since I left the mountain, I have gained a traveling companion and have been through several addresses. At the moment, though, I am standing in front of our Airstream trailer, eating roasted corn on the cob and looking out over Lake Champlain at a set of wind turbines rotating on a hillside in the purple distance. I said it looked otherworldly, and Cavan said it looked like somewhere else in the world. Tucked up near the Canadian border in Northern Vermont, we could be in Denmark. It does feel like we pulled a lever and tumbled out of a chute into a foreign land. Gentle slopes of grass run down to the deep blue water; the shoreline is green and fringed. Sunsets over the Atlantic are orange and purple, but here on the lake they are denim blue and pink.

I intended to pick grapes on my year of adventure, a plan that got sidetracked by the Coronavirus. A year later, I’m at a biodynamic vineyard in Vermont. As a new year begins I am coming full circle on the old one, but also pondering what to call a year of adventure when it is no longer a year. What I initially thought of as a interlude to “real” life is becoming durable enough to be a reality of its own. I don’t have any desire to “go back” to anything, not after a year feeling the onward pull of my journey. There have been times, looking out of the trailer at dinner time toward a rain-soaked grill, or sitting on the concrete floor of a friend’s garage during a failed passenger window motor replacement on my Camry, that I’ve thought: I want to go home. At this point, I don’t even know where that would be.

This year was, itself, another world, and as it extends into a second— as it begins to feel indefinite— my unmooring from whatever the world to which this is other is feels more complete. On the one hand, I feel like I’ve opted out of the early midlife that surrounds me: career, kids, couch. In this sense, I am in another world, a parallel one, that feels almost unseemly in its lack of responsibility. On the other hand, this world feels as real and intense as any other I’ve inhabited. I’ve discovered new abilities and I’ve uncovered new failings to distract me from the familiar ones.

“I don’t want a career, I want to sit on the porch.” This was a tweet that got picked up by an Op-Ed in the New York Times, the point of which was to highlight a trend of people walking walking away from overly demanding jobs and reorienting their life goals. The piece resonated with me for obvious reasons— I left a highly competitive, passion-driven career and, as a result, have watched the sun rise and set numerous times this year. As a year of adventure stretches into something longer, what it is I am doing is looking less like a career transition and more like a a change in life goals. At the moment in this country, that raises lots of ugly questions: How will I pay for health insurance? What about when I get older? What happens if I’m injured and can’t work anymore? One answer would be, get a job, a real job. Don’t be a lazy bum opting out of society and pay your way. But if picking grapes for 10 hours a day doesn’t count as work, I’m not sure what does. Sitting at a desk for a few hours and then going to some meetings was much less onerous— physically, at least. Our ideas about work in the US seem to be laden with moral judgments that don’t resolve into anything that makes sense. In any case, it seems that we should all have the freedom to build the life we want, and that everyone who works should get the same benefits: access to medical care and to support in old age being two major ones,.

Tomorrow we will pick grapes again. In the morning we start at 8:30, loading on to the golf cart or walking down among the vines to the place we left off yesterday, or to some new area to pick. Today we continued picking the same grapes we had been working on yesterday. It was just four of us, not the usual crew of six or eight. It was just Cavan and me and Handsome Nick with Kendra, the vineyard owner. Usually Missy and Tim are there, too, and Scott. Lately Missy’s boyfriend Jonathan has been joining us, too. Sometimes Kendra’s husband Rob picks, too, when he’s not being a professor. You lift the net in front of a plant and discover what awaits you— beautiful clusters dangling from the vine, or a sparse set of small clusters wrapped around vines and tucked up among the leaves. As I cut the grapes from the vine with a pair of office scissors, I drop them into the yellow plastic lug— a tub with holes in it. Sometimes we play music on the Bluetooth speaker, but either way there is general conversation in the vines. You chat with the person next to you, or on either side, or listen as others around you talk. When you finish your plant and move on, conversation ends abruptly, potentially to be picked up later when you find yourselves side by side again. As you pluck the rotten berries out of a cluster bugs may come surging out at you— a little gray spider that jumps, or a squirming earwig. Bees burrow into the grapes and get drunk, then buzz around angrily when they are dislodged with the tip of a pair of scissors. I never see the ones that sting me— it happens as I lay may hand on a cluster, or once through the hole in the lug as it bounced against my body while I carried it down the row. My fingers have been in various states of swelling and itchiness throughout harvest. At lunchtime we sit at the picnic tables up by the tasting room and Kendra brings out a bottle from the cellar. Throughout the day the angle of the sun over the vines changes, throwing shadows first in one direction and then another; the clouds overhead are brushed or daubed over the sky, spreading far off over the lake toward Mount Mansfield and the Adirondacks. Mountain asters, Queen Anne’s Lace, Goldenrod, and all kinds of grasses and grow up among the vines and brush against my legs as I walk, and my pant legs accumulate fluffy brown nettles from the Burdock plants. My fingers sticky with grape juice at the end of the day; I feel acutely that nature provides but that it also stings, pokes, and scratches.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 4 September 2017

Three comics made the favourites list this week. Made Men #1 from Paul Tobin and Arjuna Susini, Seven to Eternity #9 by Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña, and Star Wars: Captain Phasma #1 by Kelly Thompson and Marco Checchetto. Published by Oni Press, Image, and Marvel respectively.

Made Men #1 is a mix of a crime drama and horror, introducing us to the world of Jutte Shelley (nee Frankenstein), a cop who tried to leave behind a world of monsters.

While the story did grab me, what really made this book stand out was the artwork by Arjuna Susini. He has a style I’ve been seeing pop up more again recently, that shows a certain influence by Bernie Wrightson, but also artists like Richard Case, Bill Sienkiewicz, Sam Kieth, and Kelley Jones, and it’s just wonderful. Dark and evocative with nice use of cross-hatching and some hard angles, Susini probably veers closer to the Richard Case end of the spectrum. Still realistic and not nearly as stylized as Kieth or Jones. It’s very impressive work.

The introductory narrative from Paul Tobin, gives us a first-person narration by Jutte that is fairly direct, clinical, and visceral in its description of what’s going on and allows for a distinct window into the procedural way her mind works. It really aids in driving home the cop drama aspect to the story and provides an interesting lens to perceive the carnage.

Needs more talking cats, though.

Seven to Eternity #9 concludes the second story-arc of the series. And hoo, is it a doozy.

In many ways, this series has been telling the story of the fall of a hero. Or at least someone who sets out in the first issue on what seems like a hero’s journey. What Rick Remender really seems to be writing about is how the protagonist, Adam Osidis, has become potentially compromised and has begun a spiral into selfishness over the steadfastness of his father. 

Especially as a large part of this issue is a discussion on the nature of good and evil, and of how whispers and rumours--the weapons of Adam’s antagonist and current travelling companion/hostage, the Mud King--and thereby perception shape the reality of an individual. And then, of course, there’s a climactic magic battle.

All of it made beautiful by Jerome Opeña and Matt Hollingsworth. It’s nice to see Opeña back after a couple issues by James Harren--to his credit knocked it out of the park as well--as this series remains what’s probably the best looking book on the shelves.

The only downside to this issue is that we now have to wait until February 2018 before the series starts up again.

Star Wars: Captain Phasma #1, or more accurately the unwieldy title of Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Star Wars: Captain Phasma, is a direct continuation from Star Wars: The Force Awakens chronicling what happened to Captain Phasma, the First Order Stormtrooper played by Gwendoline Christie in the film, in the destruction of the Starkiller Base. Wacky hijinks ensue.

Okay, maybe not.

Although certainly a matter of coincidence in timing, Kelly Thompson’s narration for Captain Phasma serves as an interesting comparison to Tobin’s in Made Men. It too is clinical and succinct, but where Jutte is no nonsense and direct in her observations, Phasma is cold and emotionless. Both characters adhere to a certain type of ruthlessness, but one is seeking vengeance for a wrong-doing and the other is taking a pathological approach to covering her tracks. It’s interesting to see the difference in a similar narrative approach in how it relates to ostensibly a hero (Jutte) and a villain (Phasma). 

Beyond just that comparison, this first issue is compelling in its own right. There’s a nice bit of humour in juxtaposition of Phasma’s log recording of the events of the destruction of Starkiller Base and what was actually going on, deadpanning much of the explosions.

This issue also features what is probably the most gorgeous art in one of Marvel’s Star Wars titles yet. And that’s saying a bit since they’ve had artists such as Kev Walker, Phil Noto, and Salvador Larroca working on them. The art here from Marco Checchetto and Andres Mossa is just breathtaking. 

Quick Bits:

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #9 begins telling the story of what exactly happened to Groot to make him into Baby Groot at the beginning of this volume. Aside from corporate synergy with the second Guardians of the Galaxy film that also saw the rest of the team more reflect their cinema brethren. The answer Gerry Duggan gives in the story is interesting, adding a new wrinkle to the Guardians’ tapestry.

| Published by Marvel

Astonishing X-Men #3 continues the Shadow King’s game with the X-Men trapped in the Astral Plane, this time focusing mainly on Old Man Logan. Ed McGuinness tackles the art this issue and I’m still wondering about how the overall arc will read in one go. Unlike the past two issues, though, this one doesn’t necessarily play to McGuinness’ strengths. The art is still good, but I would have expected something more bombastic or action-oriented from the story.

| Published by Marvel

Black Bolt #5, like every issue preceding it, features some excellence in storytelling from Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward. There’s also a nice four-page sequence illustrated by Frazer Irving that gives a summary of Lockjaw’s relationship with Black Bolt. 

| Published by Marvel

Daredevil #26 kicks off the three-part Land of the Blind story-arc with the return of Ron Garney on art, delivering some absolutely gorgeous work.

| Published by Marvel

Elsewhere #2 continues Amelia’s Adventures in Wonderland, with the revelation that she’s apparently going to end this world and summarily sent to be executed. Jay Faerber’s story is still a bit of a slow burn in introducing this world, its people, and what exactly is going on, but it remains interesting.

| Published by Image

Giant Days #30 deals with the fallout of Ingrid and Daisy’s relationship. It’s a funny, but sometimes accurate, look at how a first love--or even just a new love--can affect a broader friendship dynamic.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Hawkeye #10 reminds you that you should be reading the series if just for Leonardo Romero’s artwork. Even if the story from Kelly Thompson wasn’t entertaining in its own right, Romero’s visual storytelling from page layouts to character work to panel transitions is just a visual treat. But the overall story is entertaining too, with some fun dialogue, humour, and an interesting take to see Madame Masque as Not-Kate.

| Published by Marvel

Iron Fist #7...just look at this spread from Mike Perkins with colours by Andy Troy. This issue is a feast.

| Published by Marvel

Royals #7 continues Al Ewing’s trip through obscure(ish) Marvel cosmic and Inhuman continuity, deftly weaving past tales into his ongoing narrative that seems to be his signature. Not to mention some great character moments and development.

| Published by Marvel

Scales & Scoundrels #1 was very nearly my fourth favourite book of the week, it’s a damn impressive debut. Sebastian Girner has offered up another winner after his Shirtless Bear-Fighter a scant few week ago. As its title suggests, this is a fantasy book taking after traditional Dungeons & Dragons tropes, but like other recent series like Night’s Dominion and Ladycastle, it seems primed to turn some of those conventions on their ear. This issue is full of humour, action, and an interesting protagonist in the titular scoundrel, Luvander.

The art by Galaad is also magical. It’s deceptively simple, reminding me of a more abstract Albert Uderzo, and it propels the story nicely.

| Published by Image  

Star Wars: Darth Vader #5 is Charles Soule’s third book this week, after Astonishing X-Men and Daredevil, and it’s another solid read. There’s an interesting missed path What If...? in the issue as Vader works to construct his lightsaber. Giuseppe Camuncoli’s artwork is fantastic as usual.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars Adventures #1 is good all-ages fun. There are two stories here, both written by Cavan Scott. One focusing on a young Rey on Jakku as a continuing story and the other a “Tales from Wild Space” tale of Obi-Wan one and done. If you like Star Wars and want to share with your kids, this isn’t a bad choice.

| Published by IDW

Thor vs. Hulk: Champions of the Universe #1 is a digital original on Comixology and Kindle from Jeremy Whitley and Simone Buonfantino. I’d consider it more light-hearted, out-of-continuity, all ages fun, probably meant to be collected in time for the Thor: Ragnarok release. It features Thor Odinson and Bruce Banner, so if you’re missing the classics, this is a good get.

| Published by Marvel

Venomverse #1 is every bit as good as the preceding Edge of Venomverse mini-series of one-and-done stories introducing some of the players in this event. Cullen Bunn and Iban Coello deliver an entertaining first chapter here, setting up not just a playground for alternate Venoms, but also a series of adversaries in ever more alternate Poisons.

| Published by Marvel 

The Woods #35 has all of the chickens coming home to roost. This penultimate issue of James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’ series is epic. After this, I can’t wait for the conclusion.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Other Highlights: 4 Kids Walk into a Bank #5, Ab Irato #5, Animosity: The Rise #3, The Greatest Adventure #5, Harbinger Renegade #7, Inhumans: Once & Future Kings #2, Jessica Jones #12, Kingsman: The Red Diamond #1, Lazaretto #1, Millennium: The Girl Who Played with Fire #1, Motor Crush #6, Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie #6, No World #5, Outcast #30, Postal #22, Rocket Girl #9, Spider-Man #20, Spider-Man/Deadpool #21, Usagi Yojimbo #161, Venomverse: War Stories #1, The Wicked & The Divine #31, World Reader #6

Recommended Collections: Black Beetle: Kara Bocek, Extremity - Vol. 1, Iron Fist - Vol. 1: Trial of the Seven Masters, Kong of Skull Island - Vol. 2, Manifest Destiny - Vol. 5: Mnemophobia & Chronophobia, Pathfinder - Vol. 1: Dark Waters Rising, Throwaways - Vol. 2

d. emerson eddy knows where the bodies are buried. Which bodies? The ones that hit the floor in 2001.

[gffa]

Hii I'm new to the Fandom and I'm obsessed with your blog! I ADORE your point of view really its making me love star wars more and more, my question is do you have any recommendations on which books to read to understand more about the lore and where cannon is right now??

Hi!  I’m glad if I can help you like SW lore more and thank you for such kind words, I deeply appreciate them.  And, oh, what a tricky question that is, without meaning to be!A lot depends on which part of the SW lore you’re looking for–are you looking for technical terms or character backstory tidbits?  Lore on Force woo?  The stories that help better inform the structure of Star Wars?  Because I feel like my answers would be different for each of those!So, I’m going to do a “here’s what I think is the best places to start when getting into SW supplementary material” list:1.  THE TV SERIESIf you haven’t watched The Clone Wars and Rebels yet, those should be first on your list!  TCW is there to help give you the bigger picture of just how awful the Clone Wars were, how politics dragged everything down into the mud, and will give you a ton of feelings on established characters.  I’m currently in the middle of a rewatch and its kicking up all these feelings I had and you can really tell that this is what George Lucas’ world looks like when they have the time to explore it.  (Though, hell, even with this show, it only covers things in broad strokes, especially because it is still aimed at younger audiences, too.)And Rebels is just a really great series by itself, but it also does a fantastic job of showing you just how complicated the war against the Empire was, how hard it was to wind together these various minor factions into one bigger Rebellion, as well as it does a lot to show what it’s like for Jedi after the genocide of their people.  It also has some killer cameos and resolution to things started in TCW and moments of confrontation for all the characters.Both of those really only have minor moments of exploring the Force Woo Lore (but there’s really not one singular place that explains it, imo, it’s something you have to piece together to see the bigger picture), but they’re fantastic for echoing the narrative structure of Star Wars and its themes.2.  THE COMICSThey’re the next best stop, they are also really great stories in terms of the character arcs, as well as the next best place to get more on the themes of Star Wars.  There have been so many moments, more than anywhere else, that I have wanted to just absolutely (virtually) SCREAM, because HOLY SHIT THAT WAS A HELL OF A MOMENT or HOLY SHIT THAT UNDERSTOOD STAR WARS SO WELL or just had really amazing moments.  I would recommend starting with:- The Star Wars 2015 comic (by Jason Aaron) and read it concurrently with Darth Vader vol. 1 (by Kieron Gillen), as they’re meant to go together.- Then read Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (by Charles Soule)- After that, in any order:  Age of the Republic comics (by Jody Houser), Obi-Wan & Anakin (by Charles Soule), Jedi of the Republic - Mace Windu (by Matt Owens), and Kanan: The Last Padawan (by Greg Wiseman).- I also really enjoy the Star Wars Adventures comics from IDW, the Poe Dameron comics (by Charles Soul) are incredible and give a lot of context to the sequel trilogy and Shattered Empire does a lot in the same vein.3.  THE NOVELSNovels are trickier, because some are good for lore but aren’t necessarily stories I would recommend to new fans, others are amazing stories but don’t necessarily have a lot of lore.  So, I’m going to focus on the books that I think do the most bridge work and help you understand the bigger picture of Star Wars:- The Star Wars Battlefront II video game (okay, not a book, bear with me) does an amazing job of giving more context to how the Empire ended and how it connected to the First Order.  You can do a search on YouTube for “Battlefront 2 game movie” or similar search parameters and watch it like a movie, it’s about two hours and it’s wonderful.  Fall in love with the characters with me, understand why Jakku was important, and get some amazing cameos (and stunning planets) for the OT trio!- The Aftermath trilogy by Chuck Wendig also does a ton of showing how the Empire’s fall wasn’t instantaneous after Endor’s moon, as well as the faltering early steps of the New Republic, and a ragtag bunch who hunt down Imperial war criminals and all come to love each other AND I LOVE THEM, sobs.  I would add in the caveat that I think these work massively better as audiobooks, so check if your library has them and maybe you can check them out on-line and be prepared to give the books a little time to grow on you.- Bloodline by Claudia Gray shows Leia six years before TFA and the New Republic still faltering and how she discovers the early origins of the First Order and loses her position in the Senate and starts up the Resistance.  It’s at its best when it’s a Leia book, but it also does do a lot of groundwork for the connections between the OT and the ST!- From a Certain Point of View by various authors, is a collection of short stories, many of which are hits and many of which are misses, but the hits are amazing.  If nothing else, “Master & Apprentice” (by Claudia Gray–not to be confused with the full novel of the same title), “Time of Death” (by Cavan Scott), “There Is Another” (by Gary D. Shmidt), and “An Incident Report” (by Daniel Mallory Ortberg) are all MUST READS.  I read all of them and I’m glad I did, but if a story isn’t gripping you, feel free to skim over it for the next, they’re only connected by theme, not events.- I loved both Spark of the Resistance (by Justina Ireland) and Resistance Reborn (by Rebecca Roanhorse) as books set between TLJ and TROS, where I grew even more fond of the characters getting to have adventures together.  I also thought the Dooku: Jedi Lost audiodrama was probably the best PT era canon book to recommend, too.4.  THE GUIDEBOOKSGuidebooks are more fun when you’re already invested and just want to look up a thing or two, but there’s at least one that I think is a must-read from cover to cover:  Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy by Pablo Hidalgo.  It doesn’t sound like it would be that interesting–a history told through art?  But it’s an absolutely stellar bird’s eye view and explanation of how things happened in the GFFA, how the Clone Wars happened, how the Republic fell, how the Empire rose, how the Rebellion fought back, how the New Republic rose, how the First Order knocked it all down again.5.  ANYTHING ELSE?I love the game Jedi: Fallen Order and I think it does an amazing job of staying true to the Jedi Order, their culture, and the themes of Star Wars.  You can do the same thing of looking for a movie-version on YouTube, it should be about four hours long to cover the majority of the game, and I absolutely fell in love with the characters and the world, it was clear they really cared about the story and the lore and making this feel like a game where you got to experience becoming a Jedi.This isn’t a list of “stories I thought were good” but ones aimed at establishing the best understanding of the bigger galaxy, as well as stories that I thought were really good for new fans!  While I put them generally in the order I would suggest them, if something’s not working for you, feel free to drop it and move on to another thing, either coming back later to the dropped one or not, because this should be fun and not boring work.HOPEFULLY THAT’S A GOOD PLACE TO GET YOU STARTED and if someone else would suggest a good Starting Place For A New Fan, feel free to chime in!

[gffa]

Dooku: Jedi Lost | by Cavan Scott This was an interesting minor note--Dooku is immediately drawn to Jenza, there’s something there that pulls her to him.  There’s no real answer for this, it’s not like we see many other instances of Force-sensitives being drawn towards biological family (that don’t have other reasons for noticing them) but we don’t have many examples of it not happening, either. It fascinates me because, is it a quirk of psychic space wizards who recognize biological relatives?  Is it the Force drawing them together for a reason?  Is it Dooku feeling the path he’s wanting to take, underneath everything else?  Some combination of the above that can’t really be wholly explained? There’s so many possibilities, that I keep thinking about @glompcat‘s post about how time is non-linear in Star Wars, so is Dooku sensing what his future choices are going to be, thus is drawn to Jenza because it’s already been decided?  Is it that his heart has already left the Jedi and wants the biological family, so he’s drawn to her?  Is it that biological family members make space psychic wizards lose their shit because they can’t handle the overwhelming tug tug tug on their psyches around them?  Is just sheer coincidence for storytelling purposes, just a quirk of artistic license? This is the same day that Dooku follows Jenza into the shrine on Serenno, where a vision screams its way through his mind, and the place shakes apart, burying him and Jenza under rubble.  Whatever is happening, Dooku is drawn to the statue of Tirra’Taka like he literally can’t resist, he hears its roar in the back of his head, then the whole place shakes apart. Was he meant to be lured to that place?  Was it his Force connection that set off something that non-Force-sensitives wouldn’t trigger?  Is this part of why the Jedi are so cautious around such intense connections, because people can (and do here!) get hurt by them, lose control over them? IT’S FULL OF POSSIBILITIES AND NO CONCRETE ANSWERS AND I LOVE IT, BECAUSE THE FORCE IS STILL SO UNKNOWABLE AND MYSTERIOUS.

[gffa]

I WOUND UP KIND OF REALLY LOVING THIS??  IT’S SUCH A FASCINATING PARALLEL TO A BIGGER THEME IN STAR WARS, OF THE JEDI LEGENDS AND MYTHS IN THE TIME OF THE EMPIRE. I know the Aspectu Ordu will come up again later (though, I don’t know how prominent they are in later issues of the Doctor Aphra comic) but I’ve read the first arc about Aphra’s father’s search for them and how they get some answers, but don’t really know.  What I love about this is that it’s another instance of how much of the Jedi and their history has been utterly lost. Is this an instance where the Aspectu Ordu was just a difference form of Jedi and those mean, terrible orthodox Jedi didn’t like what they were doing?  Or did the Aspectu Ordu kidnap Jedi padawans for horrible experiments and the orthodox Jedi were coming to put a stop to the shit they were up to?  Did any of this even exist or was it just an argument between Jedi grammarians?  And there are red lightsabers in there, was this really about the Jedi or was this about a branch of dark siders? The two versions of events being told here are a great nod to how the stories told about the Jedi--that aren’t from the Jedi themselves--are warped and twisted.  Whether directly from Palpatine’s lies and propaganda (like the TLJ novelization shows us, like the Propaganda book shows us, like the Battlefront II storyline with Luke shows us, etc.) or whether a less direct effect of their genocide and it being basically illegal to talk about them openly, the point is that the people of the GFFA in the time of the Empire have no way of knowing the truth.  (Setting aside that this is a story set from thousands of years ago, even without the Jedi genocide, reliable information probably would have been scarce!)  Seeing two different versions of the story, seeing Rur-AI tell us a story that is clearly bullshit, it paints this bigger picture/parallel/echo of how unreliable these things are about what really happened. Ultimately, the only answer we really get is that something happened and it was Some Real Bad Shit.  Whatever ghost was left in the machine of their citadel, it wanted to form an Empire, it wanted to punish the living people that had nothing to do with any of this, it wanted servants and worship of it.  It could protest all day long that it was the true Rur, the other one was an evil fake, but the narrative makes it clear that’s a load of bullshit.  Whatever the Aspectu Ordu was up to, it was really bad news and clearly did need to be stopped. What also intrigues me about this is that it’s very similar to the Tales from Vader’s Castle issue with the Rebels crew, which is a story being told thirdhand by Crator, who was told it by Chopper, who was telling it as an in-universe story, but there’s a lot of similarities going on:

Both are evil entities that spent centuries locked away, defeated by the Jedi, both are a glowing green that is able to take over machinery, both want revenge/to punish someone for being locked away, and whatever presence was on the Ghost (assuming we can trust a thirdhand in-universe telling of the events) was that it was once able to manipulate the Force.  Which a machine couldn’t do, but a machine that believed it was once a person might believe such a thing. Do I think it’s narratively meant to be connected?  Hmm, I wouldn’t put money on it being the intention, but I like the connection and my headcanon is that the entity that the Ghost crew ran into was the Rur-AI, until I see something from Kieron Gillen or Cavan Scott that contradicts it! Also, a really cool detail, in the Yavin 4 Temple, the floor reflects that same “time and the Force (and Star Wars) are a connected circle” thing that the various Jedi Temples and Force Priestesses and Force Beings have going on:

THERE WAS CLEARLY SOME LEGITIMATE FORCE WOO GOING ON THERE AND CONNECTIONS ALL OVER THE GALAXY. However much was or wasn’t intended by the author, I love that there are connections and similarities to be drawn here, that maybe they’re meant to be narratively connected, maybe this is just how Force woo stuff presents itself, maybe literal ghosts in the machine are a thing in Star Wars now, maybe both of those were Rur-AI, maybe a lot of things! And teasing all those maybes and what-ifs out is so much fun.