#like one of the more recent rereads like Oh Of Course x (probably) accidentally killed his y & z took the fall & that's a binding secret...

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Lackadaisy Enrichment

[onwardintolight]

In which Onward rereads the Thrawn Trilogy and writes a massive review (and some other related stuff)

Alright, so I know I said that the characterization vs. plot thing in new canon vs. Legends was a rant for another time, but I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since and I really need to get a few thoughts out, so I guess this is that time, lol.

I’ve recently been diving into some of the Legends books for the first time in years. Partly because I’ve started listening to audiobooks and can get a whole lot more reading done in a day than I was able to before, and partly... well, I’m just curious to revisit it. I read a number of books from the old EU as a kid, and I definitely had mixed feelings back then. On the one hand, I was delighted—more Star Wars! Yay! On the other hand are the mixed feelings, which have so faded from memory over time that all I can remember anymore is that I didn’t like how the books portrayed Leia.

So anyway, I’ve been curious to give some of them a shot again, and see what I think now (all except COPL. I’m never going back to that one). I started with two that have come on my radar through the Han x Leia fandom, Tatooine Ghost and Razor’s Edge. They were wonderful! I absolutely loved Tatooine Ghost, especially. Razor’s Edge was super fun and had some truly fantastic moments (including some unforgettable shippy ones), but it felt more plot-driven than I tend to prefer (give me ALL the deep character stuff!). Despite that, I still loved it. I already own Tatooine Ghost and I plan to get my own copy of Razor’s Edge, too.

Then I decided to revisit the Thrawn trilogy. 

Oh boy.

Before I dive into that, though, I first want to say that I have many friends on here for whom the old EU is their Star Wars. I have the utmost admiration for you all, and I mean no disrespect. I support you in this being your Star Wars 100%. I’m not seeking to get into any big arguments or flame wars. In fact, I will put most of my ranting about Heir to the Empire et al under a cut, so please feel free not to engage if that sort of thing bothers you. 

Honestly, I’m a big fan of focusing on positivity in fandom, of focusing on what I love and not harassing others who enjoy things I don’t. That being said, I do support a good critique. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m not trying to force my views on anyone, but I can certainly express them in my own space and support other people’s right to express theirs in their space. What better space to do so than on my tumblr?

Before I go under the cut, I have one last question for my old EU stans. Based on my enjoyment of Tatooine Ghost and Razor’s Edge, and knowing I’m a particular sucker for character-driven stories, especially if they involve Leia and Han (and/or their ship), are there any other Legends books you’d recommend? Please let me know because I would love to discover more of that goodness!

Now, onto the Thrawn trilogy....

(It probably goes without saying, but major spoilers ahead)

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Disclaimer: I’m sorry if I get some of the details wrong; I listened to the audiobooks and don’t have access to the books themselves right now so i’m writing out all these thoughts from memory

About Leia

So, it turns out that little me was right. Older me had the exact same reaction upon reading the Thrawn trilogy. What the heck did Zahn do to Leia? She seemed so diminished, shrinking. Hardly like Leia at all. If I had been reading a physical book, I would have been tempted to throw it numerous times.

First of all, she was set aside almost entirely for the first book. Despite the fact that the Empire was looking for Luke too, Luke got to be free and keep roaming the galaxy, doing his thing, and Leia was forced into hiding. If I remember right, it wasn’t really her choice (I believe it was Han who refused to take her no for an answer), nor did she argue it much. She just kind of followed the men in her life and let them do all the leading and galaxy-saving. Sounds a lot like Leia, right? *rolls eyes* Overall, she didn’t do much, and she didn’t have any part in the big climactic battle. 

(On another note this reminds me a little of one of Zahn’s new canon books, Thrawn Alliances. SPOILER ALERT: at a key moment, Thrawn pleads with Padme to talk with Anakin and try to convince him not to do something really terrible and disastrous that probably will result in people dying, and Padme basically just sighs, throws up her hands and says something like “It’s no use. When he gets this way no one can convince him of anything” and I just want to SCREAM BECAUSE NO THAT’S NOT THE FREAKING PADME I KNOW AND SERIOUSLY???)

Anyway. *calms down* 

In Dark Force Rising, Leia had a much more interesting plotline as she wins the allegience of the Noghri. I liked her better here, and she seemed a tiny bit more like the Leia I know. But it still just felt... lackluster. 

In The Last Command, she’s once again pushed to the side thanks to the men in her life making the decisions in the name of protecting her. True, I understand that for the majority of these books, she’s been pregnant, and so it’s not just about protecting her, but about protecting the twins. But that didn’t stop her from doing what she felt she needed to in Dark Force Rising. And in this book, she’s already given birth. Winter’s there; she can take care of the twins (as she eventually does). When the heroes assemble and go to Wayland for the big climax of the trilogy, she’s convinced by the men to stay behind (*cue me throwing imaginary book across the room*). Honestly, it felt contrived for the sake of the plot (she has to be there for what happens next) and more than a little bit sexist. 

She does eventually go, however, which made me want to cheer. I would have hated it way more if she hadn’t gotten to participate in the big last battle with C’baoth, particularly in light of the way the books had set her up as a Jedi-in-training (not very far along, but still). I was excited because surely this must mean she plays a big part in that, right? 

...She does not. She basically shows up and then gets trapped, doing hardly anything. Plot-wise, she’s pretty much there to provide an extra lightsaber and moral support of the Force-user variety. I’m glad she got to be there, but... yeah, overall, I’m really not happy with how these books treated my favorite character, and one of the actual main characters of the OT. It kind of felt like she was replaced by Mara, tbh. Which leads me to...

About Mara

Mara, like Leia used to be, is a very angry person, and for good reason. But her anger came off in these books as rather petulant and irrational. Once again, it felt a bit sexist. I hope I’m wrong, but the trajectory seems to be a trope that Leia has already been subject to (in ROTJ, as much as I love that movie, and with the job finished in this trilogy): Soften the angry woman. Make her pleasant and pliable and a little bit subservient. Legends fans, PLEASE tell me this doesn’t happen to Mara. I hope she continues to be a sarcastic, independent woman who takes no sh*t. I hope she loses none of her power, even as she loves and marries Luke. 

Mara had probably the biggest character arc of this entire trilogy. Unfortunately, that isn’t saying much. I really felt like her story had a lot of potential and could have been really compelling, but Zahn just doesn’t seem to know how to write characters with depth. In the end, her big moment of throwing off the Emperor’s power over her honestly just felt kind of contrived and shallow. Oh look, here’s a clone of Luke she can kill instead. That will magically make it all go away. Convenient. 

I wanted to love her. I think I probably could love her, if I read good fanfic. The problem is that the source material leaves all depth to the imagination.

About Everything Else

I mentioned that Mara seems to have the biggest character arc, but that wasn’t saying much. I had a lot of trouble distinguishing any other character arcs at all. The characters all seemed to be caught up in this big plot, carried along with it and deposited victorious at the end, without any obvious growth or change (except, again, for Mara). 

I suppose you could say that Luke learned to stand on his feet without the help of Ben’s Force ghost. But that was given such minor emphasis that I didn’t even think of it until this moment, weeks after finishing the book. 

Aside from my rage at the misogyny, I think this gets to the heart of why I disliked these books. The motivations and emotional/personal journeys of the characters are of utmost importance to me. To me, they’re the whole point. When a book is all plot and little character, I just... don’t care. It doesn’t feel real or relevant. It doesn’t show me that I can slay dragons, too.

I know that theoretically, I could imagine those character journeys. I could fill in the blanks in my mind, or through fic. I have a big imagination; I’m really pretty good at such things.

But tbh, when it comes to these books, I don’t even want to. To me, the plot itself felt pretty lackluster. I keep using the word “contrived” but it fits so well. Things happened and decisions were made that didn’t make much sense, just so the plot could go the way Zahn wanted it to. Now of course the same argument could be made for new canon (particularly, imho, the ST movies), but at least with new canon, there’s a deliberate and largely persistent focus on character. (And less sexism.) 

Other complaints: 

- I got sick of C’baoth in the first book. His villainy was not the least bit fearful or intimidating. His nearly prevailing over the heroes at Wayland felt more accidental than anything.

- Don’t get me started on stupid Bel Iblis and his stupid hurt manly pride that the women in power have to coddle and bow down to before he will lift a finger to help during a genuine EMERGENCY when he was desperately NEEDED (*cue me throwing the imaginary book across the room yet again*) (I think Leia would have had a few more choice words for him than she did in this book. They instantly presented themselves to my mind, at least)

- I can understand why Thrawn was such a big deal when these books first came out, but I think Thrawn is kind of oversaturated these days, and tbh I’m kind of sick of him (I’m going to blame the more recent canon Thrawn trilogy for that). While I like a good Sherlock Holmes mystery, I’m not too big on admiring that sort of “man as a machine” type character. Rationality is not everything, not by a long shot. It is empty and, frankly, shortsighted on its own. The best part about Thrawn’s story in these books for me was seeing him make mistakes (actual mistakes! yay!) and meet his end, perhaps in part due to that over-reliance on rationality and arrogance in his own abilities.

A few things I did like:

- another main female character, yay! Two if you count Winter

- I thought Talon Karrde was an enjoyable character and I’d love to see more of him

- I remember loving the vornskrs as a kid and a little bit of that adoration returned when I read this, bringing with it all sorts of happy nostalgia

- some parts of the plot were fun and exciting, and I could understand why they might feel iconic and Star Wars-y to others

Overall, however, I think Thrawn as a character kind of represents these books as a whole. It’s all very cerebral and practical. There’s art but it only serves the purpose of the rational. To me, these books felt like they were all mind, no soul.

I know that those of you who hold these books dear may disagree, and that’s fine. Honestly, despite my serious problems with them, I don’t hate these books. I might even read them again someday, maybe. I may be convinced to appreciate them more once I read people’s headcanons and hear what people love about it. So with that said, what DO you love about it? Where do you see these books’ soul?

[moonlights-inkwell]

Nothing’s Gonna Change My World

Summary: When Damian’s late for a date, you begin to reevaluate your entire relationship with him, but waiting at home is a revelation you never expected. 

Damian Wayne x Reader

Word Count: 2044

Work, exams and life nonsense means I haven’t been able to write recently, but now that it’s all out of the way I promise that I’ll be able to post regularly. So to celebrate, here’s a spiritual successor to Across the Universe.

He's late. No, not late, late implies ten or fifteen minutes after your intended meeting time- not coming up to an hour. Your eyes flit up from the lightly glowing screen on your cell phone, only to see your waitress once more. She makes uncomfortable eye contact with you once more (for what must be the hundredth time in the past hour), causing you to breathe in shortly trying to keep the tears from flowing onto your face. You sigh quietly, searching out your bag from under the table before standing up, finally tired of the waiting that's become all too common to you. Looking around the restaurant, you pick up on the other patrons who's eyes are fixed onto the empty chair across the table from you. The restaurant had been his choice- the site of your first date together, an expensive and beautiful Italian restaurant with candlelit tables. But now, sat on the same table where the two of you had once been, it feels like every single person around you are judging you for having sat there all alone for almost an hour. You hope to god that they don't know who the hell you are, but know that you're hoping against hope. The pictures of you and him that have been plastered across the Gazette- ensuring that all of the people in Gotham know that you're Damian Wayne's girlfriend. And now all the people in the restaurant know that you're Damian Wayne's girlfriend waiting alone in a restaurant, dolled up but looking more and more like every second is drawing you closer and closer to tears. You keep a finger under your eye, hoping to catch any of the tears that slip down your cheeks and stare back down at your phone. No new messages, no missed calls, no voice mail. Not even a god damn snapchat or email from Damian to explain where the fuck he was. Your fingers dart across the screen, typing frantically and hoping that you could reach out to him. [Y/N]: Dami?? Where are you?? Are you coming? It's been almost an hour. [Y/N]: Damian? No reply. What the hell were you supposed to expect? You try to reason with yourself that Damian must be still at work, that there was a meeting that was going on for too long. That Wayne Enterprises were just expecting too much of Damian now that he was in charge of the company, subconsciously cursing at Bruce for leaving the company to Damian for him and Selena to work on charity work throughout the city. This does little to calm you. Damian always messages you when he has to work late. Your thumb swipes up the screen, allowing you to see an older message on your phone from the last time that this happened to him. Damian: Habibti, I will be working later tonight. Something has come up in the office. Please do not wait for me, I will be home before you wake up. Sleep well, my Beloved.   You reread that text message, feeling tears well up once more, breathe in sharply, then stand up. You walk calmly towards the door, breathing in deeply, but once you find yourself outside in the cold air of Gotham in mid-March the tears begin to fall freely.

At 8:50 in the evening in a place like Gotham, the night is almost pitch black and unbearably cold. Gotham is cold, despite it being mid May, and your shoulders shake through a mixture of cold and sadness. Without a jacket, or the person who almost always gave you his jacket, you can't help but sigh sadly, watching the puff of breath form a small cloud of steam in front of your face. The long walk home through Gotham is hellish; cold and lonely in a way that feels strangely alien to you. You've lived in the city all of your life, a labyrinth of Gothic structures, apartment blocks and business buildings- and were sure you could live there all of your life without ever seeing all that the city had to bare. You've seen something sanitised, the things that your parents, teachers, friends, Damian, wanted you to see; something pleasant enough but not really Gotham. It feels like a mask. A facade. In all of your life in the city, You've never felt quite so isolated, like everything you've ever known has been a lie. This has never come to mind before, but now abandoned by the person who promised to be with you at this moment, you feel like a stranger in your own city, or like your own city is a stranger to you.   The fluorescent orange of the garish street lamps overhead light your way, casting harsh shadows both on both you and the street. The city feels strangely empty; there is no people around you, and the streets are lacking in the usually frequent passing cars as if everyone around you has disappeared- like the rest of the world was left behind in the restaurant with what remains of your happiness. The criminal aspect of the city means nothing to you as you find yourself walking near aimlessly, torn between walking home (the home you share with the one person who you really do not want to see right now) or making your way to one of your friends' houses and pleading to to stay the night. As much as you haven't really noticed the lack of criminality, you've never really been quite so grateful for the City's Criminal-Punching Furry, because Lord knows if some idiot lowlife tried to mug you right now, you don't know whether or not you'd kill them or bust into tears. After a few minutes of silent deliberation, you find yourself outside of your apartment building. The hotel attendant smiles reassuringly, calling over pleasantly to you to have a lovely night, and you force a smile back to him, letting out a quiet reply along the lines of the simple, "Thanks, Mister Carter. You too." You walk aimlessly, pushing a hand through your hair as you find yourself pulled towards the elevator; cursing in your mind at the small cluster of people waiting for the lift. Of course you couldn't even go up to your apartment alone. Taking a deep breath and holding it until you feel lightheaded, you walk closer to the elevator, feeling people stare at you- a vision with nowhere to go but home, and home alone.

The first thing you notice when you get to the door to your home is that the door is still locked, but when you open the door to the penthouse, all of the lights are on, despite the fact that you're certain that you turned all of them off before you left an hour and a half ago. Flicking the switch on and off for a few seconds, you narrow your eyes when the lights flicker off and on in time. The large window in the living room is slightly ajar, just to the side of the large television hanging on your wall, something you'd never do. Damian had drilled that into your head after you left it open once; that leaving it open is just going to lead to a break in. The cool breeze drifts in through the window, making you shiver once more. He's home. That much is sure, and the tears that had been filling your eyes are quashed by the overwhelming feeling of rage. Because if he's home, that means he deliberately didn't come to the restaurant, and that it's likely that he even saw your texts and ignored them. Your clench your fist but breathe in sharply and release the tension at the sound of scrabbling nails against the hardwood floors, the sight of your excited pug running and skidding towards you makes you relax slightly. From Brutus's trajectory path towards you, you know he's running to you from the bedroom, and the only person who lets Brutus onto the bed is Damian. Brutus barks excitedly as you walk to the bedroom, eerily silent in contrast with the puppy's excited yipping. "Brutus, be quiet." Comes the weak, but familiar, call of Damian; his voice tinged with something similar to tiredness; and your heart wrenches. Was he overworked? Had he not come to the restaurant because he was just tired? He had been working late recently, and though you don't know much about Wayne Enterprise you know it has to be hard work. But why the hell didn't he just message you? You shove the door to the room open, and your eyes widen in complete shock. Sat on your bed is Damian, clad in a Batman costume, hair plastered to his face with sweat, and a large gash cut into his stomach. He looks up at you, the dark skin of his jaw mottled black, blue and green with bruises while his shaking hand attempts to stitch up his wound; his bright jade eyes blown wide at the sight of you. On any ordinary day you probably would have screamed, but that blood- thick... viscous... clinging to the black fabric around Damian's abdomen and dripping towards the bed sheets kept you from screaming, and made you run towards him. "...Hababti?" He whispers, eyes focused on your face as you gently touch the uneven stitching at the tip of the wound. "...You... Oh Beloved-" "...Is this why you've been coming home late?" You whisper, tears dripping down your cheeks. "...This why you've been so busy?" "...I... I'm sorry-" He began, hair hanging into his face, clearly expecting the worst. "...I never meant to deceive you, Hayati." He whispers but stiffens when you gently retrieve the needle from his hand. "...I understand if you wish to end our courtship-" "...I'm not mad, Dami." You reply softly, gently rubbing your thumb across his jaw as you attempt to stitch him up as neatly as humanly possible. "...You... You've been running around saving people..." Of all of the ideas that had filled your mind in the time it took you to travel home, you had gone through several ideas for why Damian may have not shown up, but none of them included his being Batman. The idea that Damian, you're boyfriend who hand feeds you Baklava after date night and once cried because he accidentally stood on his puppy's paw, is Batman never once entered your mind. And all at once you feel all of the rage that had accumulated over the evening fade away into an awed wonder, that you had been in love with someone who was willing to die to protect other people, and never even realised it. "...I missed our engagement this evening." He mumbles, in the closest thing to shame you've ever heard him come to. "...I... I hadn't planned to." "...Who did this to you Damian?" You whisper, and he shakes his head slowly. "No one of importance. Not like you." He sighs softly, a hand sliding up from his knee to cup your chin, and run a thumb across your bottom lip. A small amount of blood is smeared across it from the pads of his glove, but you don't complain or make any moves to wipe it off as you continue your stitching. "...You aren't angry?" "...I'm angry. I'm just not... mad." You sigh, and look up at him with a weak sigh. "I'm not about to berate you for being a crazy furry vigilante while you're bleeding out on our bed. Gimme like a week to let you heal and I'll give you a rant about being safe and lying to me and missing date night."  He smiles at that, and leans down slightly to press his lips to your own. "And I'm sure as shit not about to break up with my crazy, fucking selfless boyfriend just cause he missed out on a date to save people." You mumble against his lips. He pulls back sharply as blood trickles down onto your fingers with sickening speed and your fingers instinctively pull back. The deep red substance clings to your fingers, and you grip the needle tighter. "...No kissing until we finish your stitches." "You strike a hard deal, Beloved." But he’s smiling, wide and beautiful and like home, and finally everything seems familiar again.