#me: CORRAN HORN APPRECIATION TIME

[joellesolo]

I know I didn't make a follow up post about Disneyland, but long story short, I survived, and it was incredible. I wish instagram still was connected to tumblr, you would've seen all my updates. If you want to see the pictures I posted, here's my instagram (you have to scroll a little because we celebrated both Easter and Lily's fourth birthday since we've been back) but it was amazing and I've since been suffering from the post-Disney blues more like depression 😭 since we've been home.

Galaxy's Edge was the BOMB and I just had to share my freaking ROGUE SQUADRON HELMET that I didn't even know EXISTED, because I wore my HU rogue squadron tank top (with the hoodie that you can't see) of course on Star Wars Land day (our last day) and it was just too perfect to pass up. It is so cool you guys. I AM SO COOL NOW. I CAN BE ROGUE NINE WHENEVER I WANT. I'M BASICALLY CORRAN HORN NOW!!

The blue milk was delicious! I wish I could've tried the green milk because it's supposedly even better, but it has grapefruit in it (damn you psych meds!!) so that was a bummer, but oh well. The x wing was SO COOL, and so was the Millennium Falcon (again, go to my instagram to see it (am I fishing for likes?! maybe 😉)) and while we couldn't ride the Rise of the Resistance because they don't do single riders, I was an engineer on Smuggler's Run and the group I was with was really welcoming and it was pretty fun! Also, my R2D2 ears were SO cute but SO uncomfortable which was a bummer, I had been wanting them for months and ended up preferring the cheap etsy ones I got me and the girls (you can see them in the instagram pics from the first two days!). But we met R2 while I was wearing the R2 ears, so, you know, that was PRETTY FUCKING COOL 😱

Last but not least, we found these amazing ILYIK spirit jerseys and while I typically am not a fan of the spirit jerseys I just couldn't pass these up. We have ILYIK engraved on our wedding bands, they were on my R2 wedding heels, on our cake topper, and on our third anniversary we painted this which has been above our beds ever since (this fall is our eighth anniversary)(look at us, what babies!):

We did rope drop to fireworks every single park day, with one rest/pool day, and fuck it was exhausting and I was in soo much pain and so exhausted, but it was so damn worth it. SO WORTH IT YOU GUYS. I cried when we left the gates the last night, because it had been soo magical and such an incredible time and I had been so happy and... when am I going to be that happy again?! Fuck if I know. Seriously 😭 hence the post-Disney blues/depression...

It was just amazing. Magical. Everything you could've hoped for. The girls had the best time. I was so stressed out and sure, I forgot ninety percent of my personal hygiene stuff because I had to pack everyone else's shit but hey that's motherhood for you.

Okay, this was supposed to be a Star Wars souvenir appreciation post but it's getting away from me a bit... anyway. I survived Disneyland 2024. I wish I could go back. Someone take me back?!

[girlbossk]

ok so while nen yim is objectively the best yuuzhan vong, i think (aside from her) the two most impressive vong are shedao shai and czulkang lah just because they each just got a duology and yet they stand out so much more clearly in my memory than tsavong lah (arguably the main villain everyone is facing for most of the series) or nas choka (notable for losing coruscant to kre’fey and... nothing else?) and yeah nom anor is big but less impressive because he’s supposed to be big and these guys... aren’t

especially shedao shai. like, czulkang lah i think got described as the vong’s garm bel iblis and was unique & i liked him but. shedao shai. i didn’t like his chapters in the book but that might have been bc it’s literally book 3 of the series, and the second one where we get vong pov. either way, he was immensely interesting and let’s just say... elegos.... corran...... the battle of ithor............. the BATTLE OF ITHOR. the DUEL. and then of course his underling had to go and fuck things up and wipe out ithor and get corran accused of... ??????? he won the battle. he WON the BATTLE. and then he went to become a gunrunner in his shame. shedao shai managed to turn corran horn to smuggling. that is the true accomplishment of all nineteen books of the new jedi order series

[gffa]

Btw I only got sucked into the prequels fandom a couple months ago, and I was super fortunate to have found your blog rather early on... It meant I quickly realized I had some misconceptions and internalized weirdness from just western / Christian society and growing up on Legend's New Jedi Order stuff. (It's not that I ever disliked the Jedi, but I definitely didn't understand the difference between love and attachment and was otherwise mostly apathetic about them as a Culture... If they weren't Mara Jade, Jaina Solo, Corran Horn, or Luke Skywalker, I didn't particularly care about them at all).

Anyway my point is that I'm super thankful your blog came up soon because I am now very firmly in the Pro Jedi camp and am glad I only got a minimal amount of sw fandom toxicity about the Jedi before having my eyes gently opened to reality.

Best part is tho, I had a friend ask me a week ago for some star wars information. Her brother apparently was assigned to write about the differences between the Jedi, Grey Jedi, and Sith in a class about differing religions and ideologies (which... In and of itself is actually a rather fascinating concept for a school paper). Anyway I had fun linking a whole bunch of your meta posts and going "Respect the Jedi, they're absolutely wonderful! Grey Jedi aren't actually a thing - it's just video game mechanics and misconceptions! Sith are evil and if you write them as anything but I will hard-core raise eyebrows at you and want to throw hands!!" And such... Probably went more than a little overboard but she was appreciative.

My point in all this word vomit (dang my adhd is really prevalent rn isn't it) is that I wanted to offer some encouragement because I've learned the pro Jedi camp is a lot smaller than it should be and maybe sometimes feels like it's the same 20 people on tumblr? Your collective efforts as the Jedi Defense Squad are successful and I know that, personally, my life will forever be changed for the better. Bless y'all and keep fighting the good fight!

You didn’t even know it was my birthday yesterday and yet you sent me once of the nicest things I could get despite that! I admit that the pro-Jedi corner of fandom feels very small sometimes, especially because Tumblr is generally the only place where we’ve gotten together (COME HELP ME LOVE THE JEDI ON TWITTER, YOU GUYS, I NEED PEOPLE TO HAVE SILLY LOVE BOMB FESTS WITH), that sometimes it can feel very overwhelming the second I step one inch off my dash, but also I wouldn’t trade this corner for anything. I hope that I can not just explain why I love the Jedi and why I see them as being perfectly in balance with the core themes of Star Wars, but that I can help make being a pro-Jedi fan a fun experience.  I hope I can make meta about them interesting, jokes about them fun to play with, the pain of their slaughter and the genocide of their culture dig into our feelings the way the best of Star Wars does. If I can help kindle love for the Jedi in you (and I am certain I did not do so alone, there are so many really incredible people, every time I get to reblog Jedi content from more than a dozen people now I get this shimmer of joy in my soul, I didn’t always have that! I get to reblog art and fic and essays! people have such good thoughts and incredible ways with words! they’re coming up with adorable skits and AU scenarios! so many in this fandom work so hard to give us these delightful things and I am so overjoyed to get to reblog them), then I have passed on what was given to me and that makes it worth it. I am further delighted to help provide framework for writing papers about the Jedi, because one of the things that surprised me when I first started really digging into those Lucas interviews and behind the scenes/making of books is: Yeah, Star Wars is often silly, but it has themes and George Lucas stuck to them.  He thought about his mythology and what messages he wanted to convey, and whatever things he tweaked along the way, the core themes have always remained consistent. Star Wars is often imperfect, no creator is ever going to be perfect, but Lucas knew he wanted to tell a story about letting go and about good vs evil and choosing the light made the world work better and that we should care about each other and our communities, not just break the rules and do whatever we felt like, that you’re supposed to love people but you have to accept that life is impermanent, because you’ll suffer if you try to hold on too tightly. And everything of his Star Wars stuck to those themes and I really, really like those themes. My life has been made better by getting to know the story of Star Wars and getting to meet so many kind, thoughtful fans and getting messages like this, and so please know that this is incredibly uplifting and encouraging.  To be able to spark joy in someone else about these silly space psychic wizards, to be able to share that, it makes the whole Being A Fan Of A Thing a great experience.

[ouradmiraldaala]

Some of my favourite lines / quotes from the Thrawn Short Story “Side Trip”

I reread “Side Trip” today and had totally forgotten how much I enjoyed this story! We have (undercover) Thrawn, Vader, Veers, Black Sun and Smugglers! I mean how could that not be good? Anyway, here we go:

1. "I believe (…) I can find my own way to be a hero." (Maximilian Veers, Side Trip)

2. "Art? You think the defacement of buildings is art?" (Thrawn, Side Trip)

3. “Loyalty is one of the two qualities I value most in my subordinates and colleagues." "And the other?" Niriz asked, pouring a glass for himself. “Competence." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

4. "I sense that this Rebellion is more powerful and better organized than perhaps Lord Vader realizes.” His glowing red eyes glittered as he took a sip from his glass. "But that's not our concern. At least for now." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

5. “The Unknown Regions are calling.“ (Thrawn, Side Trip)

6. “Your concern is noted," Grand Admiral Thrawn said, running a gauntleted hand through his blue-black hair. "And appreciated, as well." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

7. "When hasn't something you planned gone as anticipated?" he asked dryly. Thrawn smiled faintly in return. "Any number of times, Captain," he said. "Fortunately, I've usually been able to improvise an alternate approach." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

8. Thrawn smiled again. "Don't worry, Captain, I'll be fine.“ (Thrawn, Side Trip)

9. “Leave it and go. If you don't (…) I promise you will regret it." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

10. "We'll finish this some other time." (…) "Whenever you're tired of life." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

11. "The show's over," he announced, looking around at the bystanders. "Stay and buy a drink, or get moving." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

12. "We'll take the long table in the back (…) and some privacy." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

13. “Chassu's Selonian nudes (…) displayed for a private reception (…). Four hours, ten thousand credits per person.” (…) „I'll have to see if I can obtain an invitation to it.“ (Thrawn, Side Trip)

14. "I thought I would appeal to Thyne's sense of justice." "You'd have an easier time finding the Katana fleet." (Corran Horn, Side Trip)

15. It seemed as if Thyne's definition of art was intimately wrapped up with the concepts of nudity, excess and a color scheme that relied heavily on pinks, purples and an irritatingly vibrant shade of green. Some of the statuary-what little of it actually could have found a home in the Museum of Fine Arts-had been garishly corrected by application of this color scheme, with excess paint having spilled down the walls. The paintings showed Corran a view of models he thought more appropriate for xenobiological textbooks and the holographs seemed the visual equivalent of a high-pitched scream. "How much were you going to offer me to kill him?" (Thrawn, Side Trip)

16. "Come see me (…) when your boasts are not idle." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

17. "Of course, handling things in a diplomatic manner works best (…). Then again, there are times when one has to be undiplomatic." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

18. “Someone with such inferior taste should not be hard to catch.“ (Thrawn, Side Trip)

19. “I am not of a mind to let someone else eliminate annoyances from my life." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

20. “You may be good- you may even be better than I give you credit for being-but I'm still better." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

21. “I'm all that stands between you and your freedom.” (Thrawn, Side Trip)

22. "Don't push it, Niriz." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

23. "I need you less than you might think," Niriz retorted. "Certainly less than you need an Imperial pardon for that mess you left on Borkyne." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

24. "I know that what I'm doing violates the law, but I do it because that's what I do. I take the risks, I make some money, or I get sent to Kessel. It's all very straightforward. (…) The Rebels, they do everything I would do, but they say they are entitled to do it because the law is wrong and the Empire is wrong. They're really just making excuses for their actions so they can feel they're noble when they're really no better than I am." (Corran Horn, Side Trip)

25. ”Thyne is Black Sun?" "Claw-picked by Prince Xizor.” (Thrawn, Side Trip)

26. “Mark their name well, Captain: the Noghri. I guarantee you'll be hearing more of them." (Thrawn, Side Trip)

27. "What did you think of Palpatine Triumphant?""The throne being built of bones gave me nightmares." Corran shivered, knowing the nightmares had not come from the skullsand shattered bones, but the homicidally gleeful expression of joy on the Emperor's face. "As a final masterpiece it does the job, but I would have liked to see him return to Selonian studies.""His loss was a pity."(Thrawn, Side Trip)

[captaingondolin]

Quick question: How do you feel about Corran Horn?

Is this for the swrarepairs? Okay, maybe not, I know I yell about him a lot in general on this blog. 

Short answer: I love him!

Longer answer: it took me some time to warm up to him, mainly because he is a pov character in a 90s sci-fi and sometimes all the slender women running around drove me up the wall. I haven’t read I, Jedi yet, and I’m only on Bacta War of the X-Wing series, but I have spoilers from all over the EU, idgaf about spoilers at this point. I like him and Mirax (which reminds me, I have got A BILLION screencaps about the two of them being cute in Bacta War) and I think they are both very level-headed and reasonable and I had a whole thing about how I was afraid they were going to give me much romantic-related drama, but actually they talk things out like grown ups?? Amazing. And even though he might not like being wrong, he learns from his mistakes?? What is this maturity, the prequels fandom did not prepare me for this (sorry, Anakin, I love you too).

I love how ready Corran is to fight for what is right, and to sacrifice his life for his friends (yeah, he thinks he’ll die so many times I kinda wanna get inside his head and yell “you’re the main character, YOU’LL BE FINE, you Force-enhanced drama queen” but... /shrugs) and my favourite thing so far has been him showing up to the trial for his own murder, after escaping brutal captivity, to defend Tycho (look, I SHIP THEM A LOT, it started as a joke and now I can’t get out). I love his relationship with Whistler (because I am predictable and love droids, but also because Whistler has been giving him attitude since the first book and he is The Best). I make fun of his daddy issues a lot, but I do appreciate a tragic backstory as much as the next Star Wars fan. And at the moment I can’t wait to see how his relationship with/use of the Force evolves, how his sense of self works with the newfound knowledge about his family.

(and if this is indeed someone from swrarepairs, know that despite signing up for very few pairings, the list of my ship is nearly infinite and I am not opposed to poly or open relationships or background pairings of any sort)

And, finally, I quite like making fun of him. Corran shitposting brings me great joy and I shall continue doing it, with @danniquee‘s support and hopefully many more book shenanigans.

...sorry, this was not a quick answer to your quick question.

[onimiman]

Review: Star Wars: I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole

For years, I’ve heard that Michael A. Stackpole’s Star Wars: I, Jedi was one of the greatest Star Wars novels ever written. So, finally, this past week, I took time out to finally read it, and what do I think?

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, many of the elements here are very well steeped in the mythology of Star Wars, namely, but not limited to, the neverending struggle between good and evil. The action sequences are more less well-detailed and engaging, which is something that I’ve found that Stackpole has always lived up to. The characters are very fleshed out, especially its first-person narrator protagonist, Corran Horn, which is something to also always expect from Stackpole. And the novel is also quite unique in that, while it does have an overarching plot concerning the villainous Invidious Admiral Leonia Tavira, it focuses more on Corran’s journey into rounding himself as a more complete person as he embraces his Jedi heritage. So, in this regard, it actually has two stories, with one of those stories admittedly feeling more like a sidequest. And that story is, of course, the retcon of Corran being in the Jedi Academy trilogy during the conflict against Exar Kun. I’ll admit it’s been a few years since I’ve read the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson so I’m not afraid to admit that my memory of that trilogy is a little hazy. With that being said, I can’t think of anything overt that Corran’s presence could have contradicted when it came to that trilogy’s coverage of the academy itself, but then I would think that even back in the 90s, when canon was a lot looser in Star Wars than when it came to the 2000s, there had to have been people over at Bantam who looked over Stackpole’s work and said, “That’s good, it doesn’t contradict what happened in the Jedi Academy trilogy.” Then again, I’d also think Stackpole had done his research thoroughly and made sure Corran’s presence wouldn’t have contradicted anything of significance from that trilogy, so kudos there. I also appreciate the meta-commentary Corran brings about Kyp Durron’s guilt in destroying Carida and how lightly he got off for that atrocity, even if it was an Imperial planet.

My negatives, however, stem from a few things that are part of the positives listed above. As much as I applaud this novel its focus on characters, the problem here is that, like with previous Stackpole SW novels, they tend to get too character-heavy and psychological in a way that makes things seem unnatural and not very Star Wars-like. And moreover, I hate how the black-and-white certainty that Corran holds over good and evil is never truly challenged in any significant way, especially when it comes to the novel’s villains. While Exar Kun is more or less consistent with the over-the-top villain he was in the Jedi Academy trilogy, I also find him to be way too cringey as a villain not just here but in general. He offers no real challenge to Corran’s morality beyond a momentary glimpse of power for him and a real chance at getting Mirax back from captivity. Kun is way too much of a Saturday morning cartoon villain, and Leonia Tavira honestly fares little better. She just comes off as an Ysanne Isard clone, only more competent and having more sex appeal, but beyond that, there’s nothing that interesting about her. I honestly would have preferred if she had actually managed to succeed in emotionally breaking Corran into sleeping with her so that Corran could have wrestled with having to admit to Mirax that he had to violate his vows to her just to save her. It might have been a little bit out there, but the rest of the novel is just so light and cheery that I would have preferred Tavira to make up for Kun’s own failings as a villain.

I also find it amusing just how much Corran’s Jedi backstory is elaborated there are so many contradictions in that regard that came about because it came out prior to Episode I’s release just a year later. The time confusion as to the placement of the Clone Wars, for instance, is just one such contradiction that even Wookieepedia remarks that by the time Corran would have been born, his own dad would have been ten, which isn’t exactly a suitable age for a human male to become a father. I could buy that Corellian Jedi would be more isolated from the rest of the Jedi Order, not unlike the Altisian Jedi, which is why Nejaa Halcyon would have had a family, even if it were going against the mainstream Jedi Order’s forbidding of non-attachment (and, in fact, the Clone Wars novel Jedi Trial does help retcon this). Of course, I did shake my head at the notion that the Jedi still had quite a bit of time after the Clone Wars before the Jedi Purge came about when we now know that the Clone Wars pretty much ended with the Jedi Purge commencing via Order 66 and the Republic fell probably a couple days or so afterward. 

Aside from these retroactive contradictions that probably made Stackpole quit writing Star Wars because of the prequels, I actually did like his Jedi backstory; I especially appreciated his connection to Rostek Horn and how much their relationship had developed because of his retaining everything that had belonged to Nejaa Halcyon when the latter died. But, of course, even Corran and Rostek’s relationship got a little too mushy at times. However, if there was one relationship I actually did appreciate, it was the one that Corran developed with Elegos A’Kla, and it’s one that actually does make me appreciate the state of their friendship and has me flashback to when Corran was horrified at seeing Elegos’ decorated remains returned to him by Yuuzhan Vong Commander Shedao Shai in Dark Tide II: Ruin.   

All in all, I give I, Jedi 7/10. It’s alright, but not a novel I’d rush to go back to reading.

[atamascolily]

A Natural History of Tatooine, part 11/?

In which Luke returns to the Jedi Academy on Yavin with Mara and Callista. Despite being forewarned, everyone on-planet is weirded out about seeing somebody else walk around in the body of their friend and colleague. Awkwardness ensues.

(Previous installments)

Flanked by Mara and Callista, Luke walked down the gangplank of the <i>Hunter's Luck</i> to where Corran and several students were waiting for them. Luke's throat tightened as he saw how many people had turned up to meet them, and he reached for Callista's hand, not sure which of them he was attempting to reassure.

In retrospect, it made sense for Kyp and Cilghal to be there; they were Mara's proteges now, and of course they would be eager for her return. In her absence, Mara had left Kam and Tionne in charge, with Corran as a resource in case of an unexpected crisis, but somehow he hadn't expected any of them to be waiting for him now.

"I thought you told them what happened," he said quietly to Mara.

"I <i>did</i> tell them," Mara said, not breaking stride. "But you have to admit, it sounds kinda crazy. You can't blame them for wanting to see it for themselves."

No. No, he really couldn't. Callista had wanted to come to Yavin with him, to see the Academy, and this was a hurdle she had to pass through. He'd warned her about it before their departure and she had set her chin and declared that she could handle however his students might react to her presence there.

After all, it wasn't every day that they met a spirit from the past animating the body of their dead friend and colleague, who had been an intimate part of their circle since joining the academy. Luke expected his students to be open-minded and welcoming, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to awkward, especially at first.  

Corran saw Luke reaching for Callista's hand, and stared. While his outward expression didn't change, his eyes read "hypocrite" and his disappointment in Luke was palpable. Luke didn't have to use the Force to see the wheels turning in his head, all the skepticism and cynicism from his days with CorSec coming right to the fore: <i>Religious leader has power go to his head, hooks up with attractive young follower, returning to the fold to assure his congregation that all is well and the gods smile upon his behavior--</i>

Corran was a good man to have at your back in a fight, and a competent Jedi and instructor, but he was also a real asshole when he wanted to be. Luke hoped he could disavow the other man of his suspicions without actually coming to blows. Why Corran couldn't take the situation at face value before jumping to conclusions was beyond Luke's ability to fathom--

In constrast, Tionne Solustar, wedged in between Corran and Kyp, didn't see Callista until they were halfway down the gangplank. As soon as she did, a smile lit up on her face and she bolted towards them at a run, her silver hair streaming like a comet behind her.

"CRAY! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

And before Luke or Mara could stop her, Tionne had reached them and swept Callista up in a welcoming embrace.

Callista froze, but Tionne didn't seem to notice in her rush to greet her friend, her words coming out in one long, headstrong, rush. "They told me you were dead, but I didn't believe it, and here you are at last, and oh, <i>Cray</i>, it's so good to see you, I was so <i>worried</i>--"

Tionne stopped abruptly and pulled back, staring into Callista's eyes. For a moment, the two women gazed at each other, while everyone around them stared in awe and horror at the unfolding scene.

"Oh," said Tionne softly, and Luke's heart broke at the pain and loss conveyed in that single word. "Oh. I'm so sorry. I don't know you at all."

"My name is Callista," Callista said, her words intended for Tionne, but loud enough so everyone else could hear. "Cray and I fought together aboard Palpatine's rogue warship. She saved my life the only way she knew how."

She looked around at the others waiting at the bottom of the gangplank, and met each of their gazes in turn. "I was a Jedi once, a long time ago. One day, I might be a Jedi again."

There was a long, agonizing pause as Luke's mind caught up to everything that was happening and he opened his mouth to say something--

--only for Tionne's face to light up like a firecracker at a Corellian harvest festival and beat him to it. "Oh! A Jedi from the Old Republic! How wonderful! I can't wait to hear all the wisdom you have to share with us--not to mention all the songs and stories-- Master Skywalker, can I take her to her rooms?"

Luke nodded. "Please give her the tour and make her feel welcome." He'd intended to do it, but perhaps it would be easier to introduce Callista to the other students if Tionne was there as a bridge.

"Of course!" Tionne reached for Callista's hand, and led her down the gangplank, her warmth and candor returning in earnest at the thought of another source to interview for her beloved history work. "But first, you'll want to meet everyone here. This is Jedi Corran Horn, one of the instructors here--"

"I go by 'Kieran' these days Tionne, thank you very much," said Corran disgustedly, as he stepped forward to shake Callista's hand. Fearful of assassination and kidnapping attempts on his family, Corran was doing his best to remain incognito; although given how frequently Tionne forgot, Luke thought that Corran's delusions of anonymity were doomed to frustration.

"Pleased to meet you," he said to Callista. "I--admit, I didn't believe Mara until I saw you just now.

Callista nodded. "I understand."

Well, that was as close to an apology as they were going to get from Corran, so Luke counted that as a win. No beatings required. Good. He could relax a little.

"And these are Jedi Jade's students, Kyp Durron and Cilghal," Tionne said, indicating both the dark-haired young human and the Mon Calamari who stood on Corran's other side.

Kyp bowed. "Honored to meet you, Callista. Thanks for taking those Imperial bastards out with you. The last thing this galaxy needs is another one of their superweapons."

Coming from Kyp, who had once threatened to rampage across the galaxy in one as revenge for his shattered childhood, the irony was profound. But he'd calmed down since Mara had taken over his training after the defeat of Exar Kun, and had stayed firmly in the light after his near-disastrous brush with the dark side.

Cilghal nodded. "Pleased to meet you as well. And thank you for taking such good care of Master Skywalker when he was injured."

"Yeah, well, Cilghal, I want you to look over both of them completely and make sure everything has healed properly," Mara interjected. "They've  come a long way since I pulled their escape pods out of vacuum, but I thought they were both dead when I first saw them. It's a testament to the power of the Force that they're <i>both</i> still with us."

"But, the tour--" Tionne said.

Time for an executive order. "I'll go with Cilghal first, Tionne, and she can meet with Callista after you've finished. Neither of us are going to drop dead immediately."

Cilghal nodded. "I'll wait for you at your quarters so we can have privacy," she said, in a masterful display of tact, and left. She had been a diplomat and an ambassador before she'd become a Jedi, two skill sets that had served her equally well at the academy.

With a nod to Luke, Callista and Tionne followed at her heels.

"Well, back to business," Corran said with a shrug. "Good to see you, Mara, Luke, even if trouble does follow you both like a pack of saber-tigers after a wounded nerf." He nodded at them both, and turned to leave.

Kyp looked first at Corran's retreating figure, then back to Luke and Mara. "I'm surprised neither of you have killed him yet," he observed.

"Yes, well, he has his uses," Mara said shortly. "And it's not like you're anyone to talk." She turned to Luke. "I think we should have a memorial service for Cray and Nichos tonight. Otherwise--"

Luke nodded. "I was going to suggest that myself, actually. It'll be good to have everything out in the open as soon as possible. They were both so loved here--"

"I still can't believe they're gone," Kyp said. "Seeing Callista here--I know it's Callista, master, you told me, but I swear when I saw her just now, it took a moment for my mind to catch up with what my senses were telling me."

Mara nodded. "Well, everyone's just going to have to get used to it. You and I will make the arrangements. Skywalker--get yourself over to your quarters and let Cilghal work on you."

Luke let out a breath in relief. He ought to have known Mara would have his back. "Thank you, I appreciate this--"

"I'm doing this for the academy, not for <i>you</i>, Skywalker,"  Mara said. "Not to mention saving all of us some trouble later on. That's what I'm here for, to think of the consequences, right?"

"Right," Luke said. There was more depth in her words than he was capable of unpacking right now; the most important thing was that any crisis was, for the moment, averted. "I'll see you both at dinner, then."

But she was already walking away with Kyp even as he spoke, leaving him alone in the docking bay with the <i>Luck</i>, its gangplank already closing automatically behind them as the maintenance droids swarmed the ship for a tune-up.

[djemsostylist]

When FanBoys Write

I made a post a while back about why Tim Zahn, despite being the first EU Star Wars author, was not the best Star Wars author.  At the time, I was mostly talking about personal taste–having made it through only the first and part of the second of the Thrawn trilogy books, my dislike of Zahn was mostly that he was boring, his characters lacked feeling, and I wasn’t hugely fond of his view on the Force. 

I’ve since read 16 books which followed the Thrawn Trilogy, plus an additional 12 that came chronologically before (although were published after) and I have just started the first of the Hand of Thrawn Duology.  I am not quite 6 chapters in, but I already hate it.  Loathe, actually, might be the closer word.  It’s not just bad…its insultingly awful, and it makes me eternally grateful that he never wrote for Del Rey.  

See, I’ve read a LOT of Star Wars books.  At this point, I’ve read close to 80 Star Wars books, written by 20+ authors, and somewhere around 10 (?) or so comic series.  I’ve read a lot of Star Wars.  Most of the these books span a variety of years, and cover a variety of subjects.  Some I’ve loved, some I’ve hated, some have left me mostly bored.  The one thing about all the books, however (and again, it should be noted that I do not include any of the post NJO books here as I never finished those series plus they actually invalidate everything I’m going to say here fuckyoutroydenning), was the amount of, I guess you could call it respect, the authors had, not only for each other, but for overall plot and character, and an overarching idea. 

Like, Bantam was not one big plot, like the NJO.  Each author sort of did their own thing, had their own special OCs, invented their own alien species, focused on their own plots.  But they never invalidated anything done by other authors, they never made their OCs equal in importance to any of the actual main characters, and they played nicely in the playground.  Take Stackpole, who’s books are mostly written about Corran Horn.  Corran is an OC, and those novels do center around him and his life.  But he doesn’t interact much with the mains (yes he goes to the academy but he’s mostly unremarkable and leaves pretty soon after and Luke has to save his ass).  Corran could be called a “Mary Sue” except that he’s not really, because ultimately…he doesn’t really matter.  If you never read Rogue Squadron or I, Jedi, you’d literally miss nothing.  Also, he’s literally written as a mediocre everything, so… 

Then we have Zahn.  His OCs are the coolest, nicest, smartest, best, most awesomest people in the universe.  Talon Karrde?  Basically Han, but better.  A smuggler with a heart of gold, who helps people and saves the New Republic and is friends with Jedi and runs a huge spy network and has the best intelligence/hackers ever.  Grand Admiral Thrawn, who’s basically Vader, but better.  Smarter, more intelligent, a master planner, a perfect tactician–but he was ignored because he was an alien, sadface.  Mara Jade (who I do love and adore) is like, I mean, she had red gold hair and a dancer’s body (this is an actual Zahn quote I don’t make this shit up) and is also the Emperor’s Hand, like she was hand picked by him to serve and like, she is super smart and strong and a spy and a smuggler and like, she could defeat Luke Skwyalker.  And literally, reading HoT, within five pages, I feel like I watched Zahn walk in, and just sweep his hand across the desk, and knock everything the Bantam writers have done to the floor so he can continue the story the way HE wanted. 

Luke has spent the past 16 novels grappling with his Force use and his place in the galaxy.  And while he isn’t totally sure of his place, he certainly is sure of one thing–he is not afraid of the Dark.  He has gone up against countless Darksiders and truly evil people–and he emerges himself, every time.  In fact, just three books prior, he was literally willing to Obi-Wan himself to Kueller just because he couldn’t bring himself to use the dark to strike him down.  But suddenly, he’s grappling with the Force and having visions of the Emperor laughing at him.  Oh, and he apparently never flies X-wings anymore, despite the fact that again, like three books ago he successfully piloted/bailed out of a crashing X-wing, and a major plot point of the Black Fleet books was him trying to get used to flying an E-wing because Ackbar wanted him to upgrade, and he liked his x-wing better. 

Or we have Leia, who has fought countless fights to maintain the Presidency (she has been Chief of State for the majority of Bantam) including, again, just prior to this, overcoming two votes of no confidence, an Imperial plot, and a Corellian conspiracy, only to suddenly resign in HoT and turn to the presidency over to Gavrisom, some senator we have literally never heard of, despite spending almost 20 books with actual members of the inner circle of the New Republic who apparently don’t matter.  

Or, I dunno, Mara, who left Karrde behind to start her own business (and have a fling with Lando along the way) only to have her suddenly back with Karrde, and when Leia asks why, Karrde (and god I hate this word) like literally steps in front of Mara to mansplain about how her business was actually Karrde’s business and she was just like, trying out being a leader for a while because she will probably take over Karrde’s enterprise someday actually (and I can’t wait for the wanky explanation of how she wasn’t actually sleeping with Lando it was all part of a long con).  

Like, you can literally feel the fanboy rage as he forcibly puts things back the way he wants.  We aren’t even two pages in and we’ve got Pellaeon rubbing one out to Thrawn’s perfect memory, Leia is vacationing on Wayland with the Noghri, and Karrde is already popping up to save the day twice while Luke grapples with how much Force is too much???? 

It’s like, I know people complain about fanboys, but honestly, until Zahn, I never felt it in Star Wars.  At least, not from the materiel.  The majority of the books were written by men, but I never really really felt it, ya know?  Like, yeah, I definitely appreciated having women write (Hambly in particular wrote some really poignant moments I don’t think could have been eloquently captured by a man (the whole thing with Cray Mingla turning her dying boyfriend into a robot but saving his face and hands I don’t think would have been the same if written by a dude)) but we got plenty of great characters, prior plots were always respected, and character development as a whole continued–it never went backwards.  But with Zahn, you get the overwhelming feeling he’s pissed someone wanted to play in his playground and mess with it, because they just don’t understand.  

[lesabear]

I want to know *all* about your creation process for Ayrs and Amurri (either all, or just the ones you feel like answering ;P)

(:p). I actually had this almost done and then accidentally backspaced out of it, so I hope you appreciate the effort i put into this!

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Ayrs is a mix of my boyfriend, Alistair from Dragon Age and some smaller influences for short bits here and there (like I stole a joke I used for him meeting Elara’s dad from Corran Horn in the X-Wing/Rogue Squadron books).

Amurri’s kind of a generic stoic warrior but I took her revenge plot from a variety of sources (it’s a popular trope!) and I guess her big sister act toward Mako/Torian is a bit of a gender inversion of that trope.

3. How did you choose their name? 

I mentioned Ayrs already but Amurri is one of several OCs named after my World of Warcraft characters (also Malicineve and Amitia, who in turn is named after a real life friend)

11. Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

Yes to Ayrs given his existence is explicitly due to his romance. Amurri would be a no - most of my initial brainstorming/creative work was fleshing out her personal/revenge arc and how to make it fit as best I could into the class story. I did realize that she’d be too old for Torian, but that was about all the thought I gave her romance or sexuality at first (though I’ve since developed it somewhat).

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

Main Fic!Verse wise, they’re two of my characters with the most detailed/furthest planned arcs (especially Ayrs, as he’s the only character I have with a set in stone “They lived happily ever after” deal). In AUs, things are different depending on the AU and character (especially for Amurri, whose personal arc is more…troublesome…in certain AUs).

15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh? 

I’m biased since I write him, but I think Ayrs’ humor (and the situations he finds himself in sometimes) is pretty funny. Amurri, on the other hand, really isn’t funny at all apart from occasional moments in her stories (I’m fond of her ship being damaged when it collides with Treek’s corpse in deep space but that might just be me).

16. What is something about your OC can make you cry? 

That I don’t write them enough! And also like Veresia, Amurri’s pretty self-destructive and not heading down a good path for her long-term.

Ayrs is generally a pretty happy/positive character, though there is one AU where...

17. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story? 

I don’t regret adding it, but I messed up some of my worldbuilding for Ayrs’ academy days - both in terms of the characters I included but also in terms of not necessarily planning it out well timeline wise (since his homeworld is attacked while he’s there and so the timing is pretty important for deciding how and when other things happen). I’ll have to do some significant editing whenever I get around to posting I Remember Me on Ao3.

For Amurri - again, I don’t regret it but her backstory makes fitting her into the in-game BH role impossible and even getting her to fit the story in a “oh she’s undercover/faking it/whatever” sense is really hard. Granted, I don’t have to follow it or anything, but I do prefer using class stories as a framework when possible and then getting creative with them.

[onimiman]

Review: Star Wars: X-Wing - Wraith Squadron by Aaron Allston

X-wing: Wraith Squadron is, so far, my favorite of the X-wing series so far by either Aaron Allston or Michael A. Stackpole, yet, paradoxically, I find it to be the least memorable of the whole series.

I find this book to be the best (again, so far) out of the series because of this one thing: out of the entire series, including Allston’s own Mercy Kill, Wraith Squadron actually feels like the most natural in terms of character dynamics and dialogue. Whereas Stackpole’s first 4 novels in the series have been incredibly top-heavy when it came to having characters like Corran Horn spout out psychobabble even when they’re not psychiatrists or psychologists, characters like Kell Tainer have their personal problems spoken of in a more natural and fluid manner. How these characters speak compared to how Stackpole’s characters speak about their follies is like the difference between how the characters between Tim Burton’s Batman and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight speak of their problems; the former has it so that you could actually see real human beings say these lines while the latter have it in a way that, as I said in my review of The Bacta War, comes off as an analysis that you’d see someone on this site would write (granted, I think Nolan did top-heavy psychobabble in The Dark Knight better than Stackpole in his X-wing novels, btw).

Characters like Kell Tainer, Runt, Tyria Sarkin, Ton Phanan, and Grinder were a lot more memorable than the characters that Stackpole wrote of. When it came to Stackpole’s X-wing novels, it was really only Corran Horn, and maybe Wedge Antilles and Tycho Celchu, who got a whole lot of attention; I mean, seriously, can anyone tell me a thing about, say, Aril Nunb aside from her call sign and the fact that she’s a Sullustan female? Here, in Wraith Squadron, however, not only is Kell Tainer a much more interesting Corran Horn, but he’s actually surrounded by a cast of characters I kind of give a shit about; hell, I actually cared when certain characters here actually died. Ton Phanan, for instance, is a character I very much appreciate being someone that Kell could hang around with naturally. Admittedly, though, Tyria probably came closest to being Stackpole-esque, but even then, it didn’t go to ridiculous levels like it did with Corran or Mirax Terrik. As well, the villains of the book, Zsinj and Trigit, were much better antagonists than that fucking moron Isard; at least when Zsinj and Trigit were being fooled, they didn’t look like complete idiots; just partial ones. At least Trigit nearly caught Face Loran at a lie, which is more than Iceheart (or Dumbass) probably would have done.

So why do I find this entry less memorable than Stackpole’s entries prior to this? It’s primarily because of this reason: this novel feels much more episodic than even Rogue Squadron. While my memories of Rogue Squadron are somewhat hazy, what with me having last read it a couple years ago or so, even that book had a more focused straightforward plot in that Wedge Antilles and his titular fighter squadron were doing what they could to get to Borleias so they could start their campaign to get to Coruscant for the next book. Here, however, Wraith Squadron’s goals weren’t as well defined when it came to trying to defeat Apwar Trigit (who, I will say, is fairly forgettable, even if he is still smarter than Isard), so the connections between missions felt a lot more tenuous than the ones that Rogue Squadron had been engaged in and they seemed to be more of an excuse for Wraith Squadron to get into situations where they had to come up with fun, creative solutions. Wraith Squadron’s episodic feeling is further supported in its forgetfulness by the action sequences, which I would consider to be on par, if only slightly better, than Stackpole’s action sequences. Admittedly, however, Wraith Squadron is, so far, the most naturally-flowing SW novel that I’ve seen from Allston in terms of prose, which I think is a problem that Allston would suffer from in his later books in the franchise, in which I found his description of action scenes to be rather stilted and blocky (though, not as much as, say, Chuck Wendig’s prose in Disney canon); but even here, I will admit, there were times that I was confused about how an action scene would be playing out in my head.  

Overall, I had a fairly pleasant time reading Wraith Squadron, even with some shortcomings that I felt stemmed from most of the novel’s action scenes, and I award it a 7.5/10.       

[onimiman]

Review: Star Wars: X-wing - The Bacta War by Michael A. Stackpole

The Bacta War, although not necessarily the conclusion of the X-wing series, does act as a very satisfying conclusion to Michael Stackpole’s Isard arc (even if he gets one more out of her with Isard’s Revenge, but I’ll get there when I do). The novel retains the same feelings and themes that its three predecessors had, and while it is mostly for the better, there is quite a lot of stuff that I have problems with. And yes, they are problems that I’ve had with the previous three X-wing novels, and they’re problems that I can articulate now that I’ve been so long from Legends canon.

Stackpole is very descriptive when it comes to his action scenes, so the thrill factor is there, but that also acts as a detriment. However much as the benefits outweigh the cons when it comes to Stackpole’s action sequences, primarily the dogfights (which are, of course, the majority of the action since this is an X-wing novel), I think that Stackpole becomes a little too descriptive. And what do I mean by that? I mean that I don’t need to know every single detail that characters like Corran Horn and Wedge Antilles do when they pilot their ships; I can get the idea of what they’re doing when they move their ships, Mike. No need to overdo it. Still, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the action scenes, because I did. However, having read the books of Disney canon, I can easily say that when there isn’t as much detail when it comes to action in that material, I gotta admit that it doesn’t really bog the action down too much or drain away much excitement. In a way, if the action is left a little bit more vague, I feel like I can allow my imagination to fill in the gaps and craft a much more entertaining scene in my head than the ones that Stackpole constructs with his own meticulous writing. I know it’s weird that I’m criticizing Stackpole’s abundance of detail as a flaw, but again, it is something that takes me out of his action scenes, even if only a little bit.

But I can forgive Stackpole’s verbiage and description in his action scenes if I enjoyed the characters. Honestly? I actually don’t care much for the characters here. I don’t much care for Corran, Wedge, Mirax, Booster, etc. even though I read at least three previous books showcasing these characters. Why? Because they don’t feel much like real people speaking to each other, either when they’re in battle or when they’re just talking to each other socially. At least most of the time. Here’s the problem: They speak to each other more as if they’re all somehow amateur psychologists, especially Corran; I always feel like I’m reading a psychological examination of this character from a realworld analysis (i.e. like one here on Tumblr) than dialogue that would more naturally come from characters who inhabit more naturalistic characters like OT Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, or Princess Leia. That being said, I didn’t outright hate our protagonists, I just didn’t feel invested in them as I might have with the OT characters (or even some prequel characters like Obi-Wan or Palpatine). I will say, though, I could at least see how Stackpole put the effort into crafting a character like Corran Horn, even if I thought he was a bit overdeveloped when all is said and done. So I can’t really say I don’t appreciate what’s done here, and it’s because of that appreciation for this sort of craft that admittedly kept me reading even if I didn’t like the characters too much.

As well, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really fucking hate Ysanne Isard as a villain, and not in a good way. Maybe it’s just me, but she’s one of the biggest idiots I’ve ever come across in this franchise. People like to criticize the prequels for having stupid characters, well, look no further than Iceheart, who should really be named Fartbrain. Virtually every decision she makes, not only in this book but in the previous three entries, have just been idiotic mistake after idiotic mistake with Stackpole trying to justify her mistakes based on her characteristic rashness and reliance on political maneuvers than military tactics. The problem is, she’s terrible in even those areas, and it doesn’t really serve to make Wedge and the Rogues look good either. For example, at this point, with the Rogues being the threat they are to Isard for fucking up her bacta shipments and whatnot, Isard knows that their next rendezvous will be at the Alderaan Graveyard. But instead of throwing virtually everything she can at them as Flirry Vorru suggests, she decides to send one Star Destroyer and its complement of TIEs there, and I slap my hand in my face, thinking, “This is the fucking organization that has foiled even your plan of making sure that the New Republic can’t hold onto Coruscant as the New Republic, and look where that got you; THROW EVERYTHING YOU CAN AT THEM, DUMBASS!” Oh, and that’s another thing; Isard thinking it was genius of her to let the Rebels actually have Coruscant with the presumption she’ll have it back just because she has a virus there. Fucking brilliant. I’m sure Thrawn would love to have such an equally tactically brilliant mind in his presence; no wonder Flirry Vorru and Elisi Dlarit were like, “Fuck this witch, let’s get outta here.” The only bigger dumbass villain in this fucking franchise is Darth Caedus.

So, yeah, aside from my gripes about the characters and the action, I gotta say, the book is still not without merit. Like I said, it was satisfying as an X-wing book, but here’s the caveat; it’s satisfying in terms of the standard of the books that came before it. And while that might not be saying much, I did have enjoyment from the action (again, even with some over-description) and there were some good (albeit overdeveloped) character moments that were some good payoffs from developments that built from the previous entries. Thus, with all that said, I award X-wing: The Bacta War 6/10.