#chiss ascendency

[uwingdispatch]

New merch!!!! I made these cute little mini pouches for y'all! They're 4" in dismeter and the perfect size for things like loose change, jewelry, earbuds/airpods, small charging cords—anything you carry that you don't want getting lost in the bottom of your bag! Featuring the skura, Bazil, and Qimir from the Acolyte, Nix from Star Wars Outlaws, and, of course, THRAWN. I hope you love these. Shop is here.

[heirtotheempire]

As I read through the Ascendency trilogy, it is becoming more and more clear that the Chiss Ascendency is as hateful as the Empire. And it's odd how few people call that out. I think it is because Zahn does a fantastic job at hiding it through Chiss POV, but even then, the Chiss are still incredibly xenophobic and controlling. Yes, this includes Thrawn, he isn't the saint that so many people like to paint him as and frankly could be argued as worse.

I keep thinking about Ar'alani admitting she never saw non-Chiss as people. She is brilliant and kind, but only to other Chiss. We view her in a purely positive light because the POVs in these books are primarily Chiss, who agree with her. Of course her mindset is normal amongst Chiss, of course it isn't questioned, of course Ar'alani herself never questions it despite her experience off-world. It takes a direct and pretty personal interaction for her to think twice, and even then it is difficult for her to accept the humanity of a non-Chiss. They are lesser in her eyes. They are lesser in the eyes of most, if not all, of the Chiss.

It is fascinating, it really is. It's an interesting look into a xenophobic society without the initial hate from the reader. Because xenophobia is born out of misunderstanding and perpetuated systems of ignorance. If a similar situation was told but through the eyes of Imperial officers, fewer people would be willing to see the nuances. Because Empire=Bad and anyone associating with it is also Bad, right?

But, propaganda and cycles of ignorance are also to blame. Not every Imperial Officer was born hating aliens. Hell, even TARKIN started out incredibly sympathetic to alien species according to the canon novel by James Luceno. But his family taught him otherwise, just as the Chiss Ascendency teaches its own children see other species as lesser.

This mentality from the Ascendency is also seen in Thrawn: Treason with how Eli Vanto is treated simply for being human. The majority of officers hate his existence, insist he must prove himself (despite being at a lower rank than he was at when with the Empire), and are distrustful of him. Very similar to how Ronan treats Thrawn in the same novel.

This isn't, like, a call to love Chiss characters any less, but it's a bit odd to imply that Thrawn, or any other Chiss, would be against the Empire for the same reasons the Rebellion is. The Ascendency doesn't like the Empire because it could encroach on their rule, their space- not because it's xenophobic and oppresses too many people to count. The two systems are remarkably similar, which may be part of why Thrawn was inclined to help the Empire. It is familiar, and a system Thrawn himself has never opposed, even without taking Legends into account.

(SIDE NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT BRING UP SPOILERS FOR GREATER GOOD OR LESSER EVIL ON THIS POST. I AM STILL READING THOSE BOOKS AND WOULD LIKE TO ENJOY THEM SPOILER-FREE)

[anemictoad]

Compilation of Star Wars Rebels and Chiss sketchbook art.

[spicynectarines]

I like how the chiss uniforms are just slightly cuntier versions of the empire uniforms

[gia-batmm-crickle22]

Okay, it says in the Wookiepedia that Vurawn was 20 during his rematching to the Mitth Family (or estimated 20? Given that it says he was born on 59 BBY and the rematching was somewhere 39 BBY)

[empress-violetlight]

For ask meme - Thrawn x Xelarra - What is something they can never agree on? How do they meet in the middle?

I've been trying to think of how to answer this for a while, because there's actually very little Thrawn and Xelarra disagree on. Especially when they're exiled -- they literally have only each other to confide in for the first 9 years they're in the Empire. They're a team, mostly because they want to be, but also out of necessity.

After forming the Empire of the Hand in 10 BBY, they have an unspoken agreement -- Xelarra never interferes in military matters, and Thrawn agrees she can run Nirauan however she sees fit. They work as a team as more planets join up with their offshoot Empire, as it grows more distinct from the Lesser Space version.

I guess one thing they do disagree on is how to deal with the Chiss Ascendency. The Ascendency stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the Hand as a government in its own right. Thrawn says it doesn't matter -- he doesn't need the Ascendency's permission anymore to protect the Chiss people, and has his forces protect them from outside the CA's space, with some cooperation from the few friendly faces in the CEDF (especially Ar'alani) when he can get away with it. Xelarra thinks they shouldn't let the CA dismiss the Empire of the Hand's non-Chiss members the way they do, and should be more strict with their dealings.

Xelarra mentioned a few times that with their superior forces, they could just annex the CA into their Empire -- for their own protection, of course. Thrawn is against that, saying the last thing they want is to make an enemy of their own people. Besides, if a dire enough threat arises (like when the Far Outsiders finally make their move), the Chiss people, if not the Ruling Families on Csilla, are likely to invite the Hand to take over when they see that the Hand can and will protect them when the Ruling Families will turn a blind eye to the threat until it's too late. They both agree that the whole Family system needs to be reformed sooner or later (if not outright demolished), so the Chiss are no longer trapped by a system that rewards those who only look out for themselves, over the Greater Good of their species as a whole.

Together, as Empress and Grand Admiral, they will make the Galaxy a better place (whether it wants it or not).

[shoppingbaag]

some more about ar'alani and chiss ascendancy, love her so bad TT...

(so I've got a lot)

[netmors]

Night drop of sketches with Eli Vanto.

In addition to the canonical appearance, I sketched a version of the “commodore” from my Eleventh Fleet AU.

Because we need MORE bearded Eli'van'to, otherwise only Karyn with a cape :3

[spartanfoxart]

"Red suits you."

[cloudwhich]

chiss shitpost comic from earlier this year

[klazje]

hello, dave filoni. it looks like you’ve been ignoring the canon thrawn trilogies in order to change thrawn’s character into something more similar to the heir to empire trilogy that is no longer canon. i’m sure this makes thrawn fans so happy. let’s play a game: you have six books in front of you…the thrawn trilogy and thrawn ascendency trilogy. you have one hour to read these and come up with an actual understanding of thrawn’s complex motivations and personality or you will be thrown into a sarlacc pit.

[mr-thrawn]

Once i got Thrawn done, we of course need Eli too! I call this one: „I want to go home“

I believe we all miss Eli. Our poor boy

you guys are a very nice community btw!💙

[sabellart]

Eli really deserves a smoke break

[lexmiscart]

Thrawn sees Eli like that and looses all capability of rational thought

(I wanted to redraw the meme)

[diabolicallywhimsical]

Highlights of the FanX my partner @calboyvanto and I went to yesterday! Got to meet THE Timothy Z which was such an awesome experience. I was really happy to have met so many other cosplayers as well! Will certainly be doing another Thrawn, or Aralani in the future!

[littlekhada]

Studies of Magali Villeneuve's illustrations she made for Thrawn: Ascendancy trilogy. They look incredible.