#the old republic encyclopedia

[swtechspecs]

Sith Lightsabers

Source: The Old Republic Encyclopedia (Dorling Kindersley, 2012)

[archeo-starwars]

You wouldn't happen to have an extensive layout dissection of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant? Or even a list of all notable and obscure sections of the Jedi Temple? OR or even labelled areas that are public and reserved for only temple residents. Both from canon and legends, please and thank you!!!

The best I managed to find comes from Star Wars Complete Locations - you may check out the whole archived version here. The “zoom in” option is pretty good for reading details. Below the pages (I suppose the best is to open them in new tab for better reading):

As for the list of locations, I recommend wookiepedia's list. Plenty of data, both for Legends and New Canon.

Additional sources worth to check out:

Jedi Temple Locations & Jedi Temple History - both published as official material on star wars.com in regard to prequels and New Canon sources. Pictures and references to various places inside Temple.

Star Wars.com's The Clone Wars episode guide + videoclips from the series, like

A) Jedi Archives Tour (the entrance to one of the most restricted areas of the temple: The Holocron Vault).

B) Layout of Jedi Temple Library (source)

C) Jedi Temple funeral room + environment illustration by Tara Rueping (source)

Old Data Bank for Jedi Temple

HoloNews mentioning "a mob of 20 university students attempted to infiltrate the Jedi Temple" and "managing to get as far as the Second Atrium Lobby"

Star Wars Battlefront (2) game wiki provides some map and location description

and if you have time (and patience) you can watch gameplay from 501st Legion's mission in Jedi Temple for reference, like this one

The wookiepedia's articles should give enough good idea of the rooms, their location and functions, but I'm adding a few source pages:

STAR WARS: FACT FILES #36 provides a lot informations what and where was inside the Temple and some general data about visitors, security, Grand Balcony, Grand Corridor & Towers. Not all is super specific, but worth checking out for sure.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia mentions this:

and for Jedi Temple entry:

As for the named locations that are public or reserved for only temple residents, there is definitely a division like that, however I'm not sure if this issue was very well explained. The source gives us some ideas, like for example, Jedi Archives have data accessible only for Jedi with rank of Master or higher (thus most likely separated areas to study). At the same time, Fact Files #25 says that Jedi Archives offers an "excellent resources to researchers, including star-map hologram consoles", but also an access to entire scientific and historical knowledge of the Republic

so non-Jedi were allowed to use Jedi Library/Archives for their own research and work-related needs. We also must remember that the Jedi Order had various scientific branches, including archaeology, exploring unknown regions, and medicine, so logically thinking Jedi worked with other, non-Jedi specialists of many fields.

We also know from various sources, that politicians and important guests were invited for various occasions. We could see in Republic comics series that Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and senator Ask Aak were allowed to listen to Jedi reporting before High Council about his last battle

or attending Jedi Funeral like Duchess Satine and Padme Amidala did for the (fake) Obi-Wan's one or just visiting as a friend/comrade-in-arm

I would need to make more research about this issue as there is plenty tie-in material to Jedi Temple on Coruscant that would take a lot time to study, but at this moment, I think the best is assume how far a non-Jedi may walk into Temple will depend greatly who is that person and what is nature of their business with Jedi.

At the same time, Purge: Seconds to Die has this line "Clone Troopers? This deep in the Temple? Not permitted."

The Jedi was in Archives herself, so it is worth to take into account that clones could have more limited access to Temple than the average guest before war did. At the same time, clone troopers could make a report before Yoda and Mace Windu/High Council, as was presented by Star Wars Tales (Honor Bound):

so it is not like they were outright forbidden to enter the temple either.

Hope it will help!

[gffa]

WHAT WE KNOW OF THE KIFFAR PEOPLE:

I was never sure (not having read all of Legends) but going through the High Republic Character Encyclopedia and Dark Disciple, it's (Disney) canon that Kiffar markings are definitely tattoos and they receive them in childhood. It seems they receive them at least before the age of four years old, as Vildar has his in a flashback he has to when he was that age, in his birth village:

There also seems to be some variety in them--Vildar's are white, Quinlan's are yellow--and possibly further tattoos, as Quinlan has a yellow one on his arm as well:

And it makes sense that these are probably clan-related, which the Star Wars Databank backs up:

"Kiffar seem human in appearance, but are identifiable from facial tattoos which indicates their clan affilation [sic] on their home planets of Kiffu and Kiffex."

And while psychometry was not limited to just the Kiffar (as there's no indication that Cal Kestis was Kiffar and Karr Nuq Sin from Force Collector definitely wasn't Kiffar, Rey and Ahsoka both seem to have some level of ability to do it), it seems like it's slightly more common in their population:

Which tracks with that Vildar and Quinlan both had the ability (though, Vildar only uses it rarely, possibly because he's not as gifted in it as Quinlan is):

[persephoneggsy]

went down a deep rabbithole of thinking about blorbos, and my SWTOR blorbo is Quinn, so... I made him a little family :3 I like to think about them interacting with my Sith Warrior, Nes'ria, who also has a decently-sized family, so when she and Quinn get married it's just a huge clan now lmao

All of them except for Rymar are OCs; Rymar we know the name + rank + death of from the SWTOR Encyclopedia under Quinn's entry. I did make up what I think he looks like, though.

miscellaneous facts about the Quinn clan that I couldn't fit in the headshots:

Solesta has a dislike of droids, finding them creepy. She also dislikes cybernetics and cyborgs. Ironically, and unbeknownst to her, her grandson Malavai will eventually end up with a woman whose family owns a large cybernetics company.

Solesta disappeared during a top secret mission when Malavai was around 15 years old. She and her crew were declared officially dead a year after her ship disappeared.

Solesta's husband passed when their kids were young. I imagine he was on track to being a rising star in the Imperial military, but he was cut down by a Jedi or something.

Rymar and Ridal are twins (Rymar is the older one).

Ridal disapproved of Rymar’s marriage to Mianna, believing she was too fragile for him. Despite this, she helps her son care for Mianna.

Ridal is lowkey disappointed that neither her son nor her nephew followed her footsteps into Imperial Intelligence. She doesn't know Halic refused to, given what happened to his father (murdered by a petulant Sith Lord). At least in the medical corps, any Sith he deals with are unconscious or too weak to threaten him.

Halic calls Malavai his baby cousin, despite only being a few months older than him. It annoys Malavai, who nonetheless reciprocates Halic's familial affection.

Halic jokingly complains that Malavai slept with a Sith before he could. He privately thinks Malavai is insane for falling for a Sith in the first place, and worries about his cousin (he later learns he doesn't have to, given Nes'ria's equal devotion to Malavai).

Halic has flirted with every member of Nes'ria's crew. Vette thinks he's a riot, Jaesa was flattered but embarrassed, and Pierce is debating sleeping with him to piss off Malavai.

Mianna witnessed her husband's death at the hands of the Republic force, and the trauma of that, plus her subsequent injury, rendered her largely nonverbal. She has only spoken Rymar or Malavai's name since being admitted to the hospital. The rest of the time, she communicates via either writing or signing.

Many Imperials view Mianna's situation with disdain, describing her as weak-willed and a drain on resources. It's only the lingering prestige of the Quinn family name, combined with threats from her sister-in-law Ridal, that keep such whispers behind closed doors.

There was a brief period after the Battle of Druckenwell that the family feared Malavai had been killed in action. It wasn't until a few weeks after the battle that he contacted them from Balmorra, informing them that he'd been court-martialed and demoted by Moff Broysc.

Ridal assists Malavai in bringing down Moff Broysc, using her old Inteligence contacts to help him abduct the Moff.

My personal headcanon is that Malavai knew Baras would go after his family if he didn't follow his orders, hence the betrayal. After Nes'ria spared him, he reached out to Halic and Ridal, warning them to watch out for any signs of retaliation from Baras. Nes'ria used her family's connections to have Malavai's family taken to a safe place until Baras was defeated.

[notapaladin]

I was inspired by an old "your OCs as companions" meme template I found and decided to combine it with an official-encyclopedia-style blurb. Highly recommend it tbh.

(Font: Liberation Sans 9 pt)

Text below the readmore:

Sidebar

SPECIES: Human

HOMEWORLD: Dromund Kaas

AGE: 22

HOBBIES: Historical research, gardening, archaeology

PREFERRED WEAPONS: Matched set of single-blade sabers with ornate golden details; they are family heirlooms given to her by her father upon her acceptance to the Sith Academy on Korriban YAELLIA IVROS

A BRAVE AND HONORABLE SITH WARRIOR, Lady Yaellia – just Yaellia, to her friends – is the only child and heir of the noble Imperial House Ivros, which was founded by a freed slave and therefore has some...unorthodox views of Imperial policy. The family history which was instilled in Yaellia from a young age granted her a sense of cooperation and fairness unheard of in many other members of the Sith hierarchy. Unfortunately, this has not made her or her family popular among their peers. House Ivros is under constant threat from its many enemies, and before Yaellia was ten years old she’d already survived numerous attempts on her life.

When Yaellia was accepted into the Korriban Academy, she became determined to uplift her family at any cost, barring the sacrifice of her principles. Though these principles successfully prevented the poisoning of her entire dorm suite by a rival class, they also nearly got her Force-choked to death by one of her teachers; she was only saved by the timely intervention of Lord Alanais Venditor, and has looked up to him ever since. Though he wanted to mentor her, Darth Baras made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Being chosen as Darth Baras’s apprentice was the highest honor she or her family could have ever hoped for. Even though she loathes him personally, her personal opinions don’t matter next to her family’s status and safety. Accordingly, she has set out aboard the ship he gave her, a Fury-class Interceptor she has dubbed Zhasanai’s Grace, to do as little of his dark bidding as she can get away with. Rumors of her involvement with the Revanite cult remain unsubstantiated.

Likes: Honor, mercy, preserving historical sites, loyalty, animals Dislikes: Cruelty, collateral damage, dishonesty, eye contact

AS A COMPANION

Selection lines:

“My sabers are yours.”

“Can I help you?”

“Leave it to me.”

“It is an honor to fight by your side.”

Battle lines:

“I am your end!”

“For the Empire!”

“Come, face me!”

Exiting battle:

“I didn’t even break a sweat.”

“What a shame. What a waste.”

“They died well.”

“Where’s our next target?”

KO’ed/Low health:

“A little help?!”

“Ah...I’ve miscalculated...”

“Can’t...breathe...!”

“I don’t like bleeding my own blood.”

Resurrected:

“That was a fluke.”

“Time to reenter the fray!”

“One day I will die, but not this day. Thanks to you.”

Misc. click lines:

“Are you quite alright?”

“Remind me to catch up on my reading.”

(on Dromund Kaas or other wet planets) “Ahh, the scent of home!...lake water and rotting vegetation. Lovely.”

“The Empire cannot rise to greatness on the backs of slaves.”

“Oh! Did I tell you about the holocron I found the other day?”

“Take a holo, it lasts longer.”

Gifts:

Cultural Artifacts, Imperial Memorabilia [favorite]: “This is wonderful! Thank you, I’ll treasure it.”

Courting, Luxury, Delicacy [love]: “Oh, you’re terribly kind to think of me.”

Military Gear, Weapon, Republic Memorabilia [like]: “Thank you.”

Underworld Good, Technology, Maintenance [indifferent]: “...I...thank you. Truly.”

[xunzilla]

Having resolved to investigate the dubs vs. subs question, the DYEWSPH2TER SOCIETY watches the new Dungeon Meshi.

IZUTSUMI (DUB): The name of your race is pretty strange. I heard it came from your kind getting one of their legs chopped off for committing too much thievery!

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: She would not say that.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: Why not?

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: "Committing too much thievery"? She's a slave bought from a freak show and she speaks fluent Ciasslcal English?

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: Is the language of the island diglossic?

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: They're ruled by the elves. But let's not get into translatology. (A horrid, ill-formed word: two parts Latin, one part Greek.) The manga renders Senshi's dialogue in an atrocious fantasy accent, but it makes clear a nuance of the original: he's a weird foreigner who lives alone in a cave and his only friends are orcs.

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: Does Izutsumi's country have a different language?

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Izutsumi's country is fantasy Japan. Look at their names. "Shuro" is a mispronunciation of a name Laios is unfamiliar with.

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: The dwarves' names also fit Japanese phonology. Senshi, Namari...

DICTIONARY: 鉛 なま̅り̅ nàmárí, lead (chemical element). Perhaps related to Goguryeo 乃勿 *namur; cf. Korean nap, OC (Zhengzhang) ra:b.

TYPESETTER: U+0305 COMBINING OVERLINE should render above the characters ま and り, but on some systems may display as spacing characters following them. We apologize for our inability to reliably display simple linguistic text without platform-dependent markup in 2024. 😔👎💩

ENCYCLOPEDIA: Vowel length in Zhengzhang Shangfang's reconstruction of Old Chinese represents Type A syllables.

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Izganda?

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: Is that an official name? The scan thought Laios and Falin Touden were Laius and Farlyn Thorden.

ENCYCLOPEDIA: Lajos is a Hungarian masculine given name, cognate to English Louis. People named Lajos include Lajos Kossuth, who in 1849 presented the Hungarian Declaration of Independence. A bust of Lajos Kossuth was added to the Small House Rotunda of the United States Capitol Building in 1987.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: 1987?

ENCYCLOPEDIA: "A Gift to the People of the United States from the American Hungarian Federation"

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Did you think he was more important? At any rate, he was a nobleman.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: It sounds Greek to me.

HANPHECIUS HUMBUG: Hungarians don't have saunas.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: Didn't you think he was Faroese? It's a fantasy west.

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Why would Japan care about Hungarian names? But this is a stupid diversion. Where were we?

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: Dubs vs. subs.

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Of course! A critical matter. A noble pursuit. In this fallen world, in which the noblest by nature are forced to toil in drudgery while petty-minded merchants build generational fortunes that their mediocre heirs piss away, many are unfortunately unable to read Japanese. So we debate dubs vs. subs.

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: I grew up on 4Kids. I can't stand the English VA voice. The Japanese one is bearable.

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: Thank you for your valuable contribution.

VRISKA: why do you all have the same voice

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: We live in a bourgeois republic.

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: Let's grant that Izutsumi's country speaks a different language. "Committing too much thievery" is a clumsy phrase. "Thievery" sounds silly compared to "theft". And it's a vague Latinate verb that lets the noun carry the meaning - very indirect! We don't live in the kingdom of nouns.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: Why couldn't Asebi, Toshiro's retainer, have been taught to speak like that? Toshiro went to the island for training. But would they pay real islanders to teach them the nuances of the language?

SIMPLICIO J. RHETORICUS: She was bought at the age of six; even if the circus had the same language as the island, that's well within at least the tallman critical period.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: She would've been taught out of dictionaries, which don't say anything about connotation.

VRISKA: okay not to be rude but can i say something about some of the papers i've read

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: I didn't pay that much attention to "thievery". It's simpler, more regular. For all I know "theft" might be too hard a word to put in a mass-market translation. "Committing too much theft" would still sound too classical. It seems like the wrong intent.

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: Why couldn't a slave learn the acrolect?

GIANLUCA D'BOVRIL: How broad-minded. Would your escaped slave also write her own sermons?

VRISKA: oh my god shut up

VRISKA: what does the sub say

IZUTSUMI (SUB): That odd name for your race. I heard it's because lots of you got a foot lopped off for stealing.

VRISKA: the manga?

IZUTSUMI (MANGA): I hear that the reason your race got that name is because a bunch of halflings got punished for theft by having one of their feet cut off! Guess they had to deal with having half as many, huh?

VRISKA: yea the dub is bad

ZEPHANIAH EZEKIEL THUD: It could be a deliberate choice. I personally think that "thievery" is awkward, but it's a possibility to keep in mind. We'll see if what follows bears it out.

VRISKA: marcille sounds like a college republican horse girl

VRISKA: #notwrong

[polarisbibliotheque]

*Explains in Gale of Waterdeep*

So, my sister took some pics of me on Christmas while I was blabbering about the differences of life between West Germany and East Germany (and how friggin' close to us this huge historical thing is: it wasn't like 50 years ago, the Wall fell only 5 years before I was born; German Republic as one country is almost as old as Brazilian Republic - and both are SO YOUNG. For a government and a country to be a little older than I am, it's absurdly incredible.)

And now she sends me the pics I had no idea she was taking, and lo and behold, for my fellow Baldur's Gate 3 fans, I am Gale of Waterdeeping.

I have even my best company along in the form of a dog I lovingly call 'my little fox'.

The doggo belongs to my sister's boyfriend, but little fox always lays down by my side/at my feet to sleep and I always die 🖤

In DMC terms, Vergil would probably approve and want to talk about everything that happened while he was marinating in Hell, Dante would be semi-asleep on his desk joining the subject every now and then - V would be fighting to let him talk about all the random things with the random walking encyclopedia 🫠

Nero and Nico burning the kitchen down while trying to help Kyrie, poor angel

But eh, just felt like posting this so you guys know how your pocket writer ~kinda~ looks like and some more about said eldritch writing creature. A little hello to you all and happy holidays wishes in the most librarian sort of way - this is a bibliothéque after all hahahaha

Plus, it's a cute fox-doggo pic. Look at him. He's so chonky and cozy. Peacefully sleeping while the eldritch wizard overlytalks in the background. Those little paws that look like he's wearing socks. Tucked in and sleeping after all the food :3 It's always worth it 🖤🖤

I love little fox. Such a cutie. Such a chonky cupcake. He deserves all the highlights. His name is Kobe and I call him everything but that, even Kibe.

And I told you guys almost my entire closet is blue, right...? It wasn't a joke. Almost everything I own is blue, I did it before Vergil and I'll die on this hill.

[gemsofgreece]

Now stfu. Thanks :)

Oh wow. I kinda expected, you know, a page in an encyclopedia or any other page with educative content about Greece or geography in general, but you come proudly with a random Turkey vs Greece article by a David dude.

Honey. You will find anything spelled out on the Internet, including actual mistakes. That's why we check our sources. In fact, this article has many other mistakes as well.

False. Turkey gets more tourists than Greece.

False. The Turkish Republic is exactly 100 years old and the Ottoman Empire lasted about 600 years.

Where to start with this one... If Greece is famous for anything, that's not its urban locations.

Mistake #1: Aya Sofya is not famous because of its minarets and Mistake #2: Ephesus was built in the 10th Century BC, so its heyday or point in time it should be referred with was at least 900 years before the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. Although granted, a lot for its preservation was done in the Roman era.

OMG American mistake #18361986: Greece is NOT a tropical country and HAS ZERO tropical islands

Built by WHOM of WHAT? Perhaps David meant King Antiochus I Theos of Commagen, check an actual source for once

David is straight out pulling facts out of his ass, isn't he

"The major cities like Istanbul and Santorini" the guy is either trolling or hasn't stepped one foot in Greece ever. Santorini is a tiny island and its "major city" Fira has 1,600 residents LMAO my grandparents' godforsaken village has more than that

The guy does a super delicate trolling, I give him that. The guy says things like oceans and tropical and major city of Santorini but has also come across Slav-Macedonian. Amazing combo. David is a man of contrasts. For the record, I haven't come across it and I have lived all my life here. I mean, it exists but you have to struggle to find its speakers and they are all bilingual anyway.

Overall David, that international traveller, does not really mean bad... apart from this????

That was very professional there. But even though he says this, he proceeds to say equally good stuff about both countries, I 'd say. The article is a confusing text by a confused man. But that's not the point. The point is his myriad of inaccuracies and mistakes (as called out in several of the comments), some very typical of Americans, like mistaking Greece for a tropical destination or confusing oceans and seas.

Which brings us to you @libbyhaiku .

I believe, very politely, I added in the tags of that damn post this:

That really set you off. You sent me an ask, telling me to fact check in google... what... whether the country of which I am a native has seas or oceans?

And I did! Even though I don't need to fact check whether Greece has oceans. And once again every website of any actual integrity, apart from the David dude, repeats this over and over. Greece has seas. Which I told you.

Furthermore, @jamy-libations searched for it on their own accord, and to my understanding they are not Greek or native Greeks, they told you and you responded as you responded to me.

I wonder, did you tell them to shut the fuck up too in your message?

So, here's the answer. You and David are making a very typical American mistake, or maybe its not a mistake within your very own borders, which is that because the USA is surrounded by oceans, you think ocean is the standard generic term for sea.

In fact, the word ocean can be used in two ways: either as THE Ocean, which is the entire body of saltwater of the earth and derives as a concept from the Greek mythology, just like the very word derives from Greek so I know well what it means, or to describe the five major bodies of water: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arctic, the Indian and the Southern ocean.

Greece, unlike the USA, is surrounded by neither. Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and its adjacent smaller seas like the Ionian, the Aegean, the Libyan, the Cretan, the Myrtoan, the Ikarian, the Karpathian Seas. While the Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the very narrow strait of Gibraltar, it is so enclosed by land and it exchanges so little water with the Atlantic that it is both traditionally and scientifically considered its own body of water, a Sea, and not just a general area of the Atlantic Ocean.

Here's to explain to you the difference between an ocean and a sea by an actually serious source.

Here is a map of the Mediterranean Basin. As you see, it is almost entirely enclosed and it does not earn the status of being an ocean, let alone containing a multitude of them. Greece is also in the far end of the Mediterranean, as apart from the Atlantic as possible. None of the countries in the Mediterranean Basin have access to an ocean or oceanS, apart from Spain, France and Morocco, as evident here.

Now, I would honestly have not cared or written so much if you didn't throw a tandrum for a tiny tag in a post I reblogged in a positive manner. Unfortunately, you chose the asshole way.

And since we're at it that photo was actually taken in the Italian....... oceans

and it's edited... but whatever, we have this species too.

[borgiabeacon]

Pharaohs and Dictators: Unbelievable, Honey

So they say Pharaoh Pepi II had slaves coated in honey to attract flies away from him (c. 2278–2184 BCE).

The story lacks solid historical evidence, so we do not believe it easily.

In the last few decades, mainstream media have been terrible at implying that Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic was a dictator practicing cannibalism, and that Idi Amin Dada didn’t deserve to be called the "Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular."

Some russophobic and treacherous commentators claim that Vladimir Putin tried blood baths made of deer antlers as a source for prolonged youth, four thousand years after Pepi II was alive.

We condemn these rumours.

Pepi II's long reign saw the decline of the Old Kingdom. The weakening of centralised authority led to increased power for local governors, or nomarchs, resulting in political fragmentation and the kingdom's eventual collapse shortly after his death  (Encyclopedia Britannica)  (Wikipedia)  (Encyclopedia.com) .

What would you do first, if you were a pharaoh?

[tremendouskoalachild]

short high republic characters!!

(info taken from the high republic character encyclopedia)

Shug Drabor (Anzellan mechanic in Midnight Horizon) is the shortest at 23 cm! He is also the only sapient and organic individual on the list shorter than Yoda and Yaddle.

Then we have Banchiians (from Edge of Balance), Ximpi (from THR 2021 first issue), the bonbraks, Cham Cham (Zeen's pet), Yaddle, Yoda, ZZ-10, Cippa (the kiddo in Cataclysm), Griswal (old Jedi in Kantam's baking story), Nubs (blue furry thing in Young Jedi Adventures) and Ceeril (from a short story).

Both Chadra-Fans (Uttersond and Beesar) are exactly 1 meter tall.

Nan is tiny at 1.5 m, poor girl.

[cienie-isengardu]

A bit about The Mandalorian s03′s take on mandalorian culture

As much as I like the concept of Living Waters, I do not like how the third season of The Mandalorian presents Mandalorian culture overall. I wasn’t happy with the characterization in the previous two, but the current take is even worse. Major reason for my disdain  stems from the too medieval climate - Bo’s castle, throne, the royal family and its subjects, the baptism-like ceremony, all of this is opposite to Legends!Mandalorian for whom personal skills stood above any blood-connection in regard to their rulers thus no aristocracy was ever needed. The New Mandalorians’ royalty was a good concept in The Clone Wars as it stood in clear contrast to Death Watch’s old warrior faith and added an interesting edge to the destruction of Mandalore and following Republic occupation (that may have never truly ended by the ~700 years). In The Clone Wars, Death Watch was Bo-Katan’s major tie, but since Rebels, the focus is put on her sisterhood with Satine and the royal family status and The Mandalorian season three expand this even more - she lived in castle, sit on throne, had ceremonial “baptism” as princess and so on. At this point I really miss the “barbarian” feeling of Death Watch even more since Bo’s own Mandalorian warriors were removed from the story, leaving us with one lone Bo-Katan, Boba Fett on Tatooine or whatever he is as I don’t follow his TV series and cult-ish Children of the Watch. Which is pretty irritating, I won’t lie, especially since later seasons of TCW, Rebels and now the TV series don’t bother to even mention Pre Vizsla or Bo’s criminal past - and mind you, this is no “Bo shouldn’t have her redemption arc” - which she arguable already had as freedom fighter against Empire and more complain that Disney/New Canon on purpose erase problematic or nuanced elements of its own worldbuilding. Like, mentioned Bo’s past and her part in the fall of Mandalore or how she was elected/accepted by clans because now Darksaber can be only passed through the fight? And why? Because Mandalorians can’t make a sensible choice about whom they should follow? Because they can’t stick to an ideological case that was important in the previous season but now Bo has no darksaber so her own clan abandoned her to be mercenary? Like, seriously? What happened to the Mandalorian loyalty to the family? Bo may have lost the status of Mandalore, yet Din did not make a claim to be new sole leader so why Koska - described in Character Encyclopedia as “loyal member of Bo’s Mandalorian gang” ditched her companion? 

Seriously, at this point I admire Bo-Katan’s loyalty to Pre Vizsla as she threw away the ancient laws out of window the moment Maul killed her leader / friend and sure, she came with the no outsider is allowed to be Mandalore argument (something that from historical perspective is not true, as in ancient times Ulic Qel-Droma dueled with Mandalore and his success was accepted by warriors) but The Clone Wars made it pretty clear Pre’s death was an emotionally wrecking moment in her life. Arguably more than Satine’s death yet the newest animations and TV series mentions only her sister in passing but not a man that clearly meant something to her. Which is, again, an irritating aspect of Disney’s New Canon. 

There is also no mention of Satine as pacifist / New Mandalorian leader, no mention of Pre Vizsla (who in contrast to Din was capable of using darksaber which is pretty hilarious side-effect of switching lore about this weapon from “ancient item passed in Clan Vizsla” to “well known Mandalorian attribute of power” ) or Death Watch in general. Instead we have this cult-ish Children of the Watch with the weird rule forbidding members to remove the helmet even in presence of their own family and who seem to care more about if the helmet was removed than about Creed itself as was seen with Bo accidentally joining this group. A rule that A) feels to be a rip-off from Sand People’s culture (except Tuskens are allowed to see the face of their spouse) B) has no sense because it is not the armor that makes anyone a Mandalorian but personal deeds. And sure, beskar’gam always played an important role in Mandalorian culture yet at this point I’m truly tired of putting so much focus on armor rather than the soul of a Mandalorian warrior. Armor can be destroyed and rebuilt after all but what counts are the people who wear it, not the other way.

For me, Children of the Watch worked in the previous season because we still had Bo’s clan and Boba Fett (loner) to somehow balance the overview of Mandalorian culture yet in the third season the different types of Mandalorians were removed from the story. Boba is out of the picture, Bo was abandoned by her own people and so there is only Din and Armorer’s tribe  that is too frustrating for my taste. I like the religious aspect it brings to the show but it is hard to take seriously this group as representative of Mandalorian people with their silly rule about not removing helmets (how do they even take care of their personal hygiene then? How do they cut their hair? What about deaf members? How can they learn to read from lips or read anything from facial expression if other members can’t show their face? I know Din communicated with Tusken via hand signals but since children grew up around masked adults how does the communication work exactly? What about an intimate relationship? Or growing up and not having a clue how your mother’s face looks under the helmet? Or father, older sibling, other clan (family) members? What about providing medical assistance in the event of a head injury?). Not to mention the whole weird deal with Armorer who has such great knowledge about Mandalorian lore but doesn’t teach it unless the situation requires her to give a proper explanation? Mind you I did not rewatch the previous seasons so my memory may be a bit rusty but Din did not even know who the Jedi were even though they have special place in Mandalorian history (usually negative in the sense they are the enemy hard to defeat in fair fight) and it was pretty common thing for “normal” Mandalorian to teach their kids about the danger coming from force-sensitive people? And sure, Jedi were supposed to be dead but if Din was a bounty hunter how he has never heard about them with the Rebellion having this one special Jedi in their rank who also happened to be the most wanted man by the Empire?

The Mandalorian TV series creates a long list of question I have about its worldbuilding around Mandalorian culture that somehow switched from Legends “only the best can be Mandalore” and “Mandalorians believe in loyalty” to Disney’s “royal families” and “let’s ditch our leader and our cause just because someone’s else has darksaber yet makes no claim about leadership”. Or let's use a cool looking darksaber as a haunted item that for no real reason is also a symbol of leadership because the Jedi weapon is the most Mandalorian symbol of all possible choices apparently.

And you know what was great about Fenn Shysa and his protectors who fought against the Empire in the older source material? That the fight against imperial enslavement truly united Mandalorians to the point that even former Death Watchmen joined his group. As much as I like Bo-Katan’s comment about how Mandalorian fight against each other often for weird reasons, it truly saddens me that in Disney’s canon even the common enemy like Empire did not manage to unite Mandalorians. Because it is better drama when everyone bothers with some random mystic item than actually working together to take your freedom back and rebuild your world. But sure, whatever.

I seriously miss Legends Mandalorians because Disney’s take on them is so frustrating.

[swtechspecs]

Sniper Rifles

Source: The Old Republic Encyclopedia (Dorling Kindersley, 2012)

[archeo-starwars]

Hi!

Just wondering if you had any information about active Republic naval and military academies like in any time in the prequel movies' era. I am writing a fic and I would like to know if you had a list of them on which planets because I really would not like to create an academy is there are already ones existing.

Please and thank you!

Sure thing! Didn’t have time to check out all possible sources and sadly, so far it seems the majority of mentioned academies either refer to unspecified places or those from the Empire Era who could easily exist before Palpatine took over, but could also be freshly established institutions for the needs of the new regime. But worry not, I found some data about widely understood military Academies that operated during Prequel Movies Era:

[The very best] Naval Academy on Coruscant

Side note: Based on Admiral Ozzel's Fact Files entry from issue #04. Ozzel served during the Clone Wars in a rank of Captain in the Grand Army of Republic [TCW: In the service of Republic], so he needed to end the school before or just during the war and the Academy was later renamed as Imperial Navy Academy. Additionally, the same source mentioned Ozzel taught at this Naval Academy the naval history and languages.

Raithal Academy

Source: The New Essential Guide to Characters

Source: The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Brionelle Memorial Military Academy

place: Hanna City, the capital city of planet Chandrila.

Source: The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Source: Coruscant and the Core Worlds

Prefsbelt, Carida, Corulag, Anaxes

(The three first Academies + mentioned before Raithal are better known as Imperial schools have "deep roots in the Republic Military'' so logically thinking those should operate during Prequel timeline. Additionally Caridan Military Academy was quite often mentioned in The New Essential Guide to characters, although at the time of publication, the sourcebook usually meant Imperial Academy from what I gathered).

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare

Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare

Some more general informations (The Old Republic Academy, The universities of Garos, Alderaan, Sanbra and Byblos)

Not specifically military schools but prestigious institutions offering a wide range of courses that could include military education.

Source: From Galactic Education - Hard Lessons [Fact Files 136]

Hope it helps but if you need more information, lemme know, I will see what I can find more :)

[jamtooast]

Christmas List 🥱

I was tired of seeing Christmas lists on the internet titled "What To Get Your 9-13 Year Old!" and it literally just being makeup products and electronics, so I made my own-

A Christmas List for all ages, any and everyone, made by a 14 year old. Without all the beauty stuff, below is the full written list :)

🪼🪸🚀

•Merch For _Your/Their_ Fandom (Clothes, Dolls, Etc)

•Books (Graphic Novels, Chapter Books, Comics, Encyclopedias)

•Stuffed Animals (Wild Republic, Squishmallows, Beanie Boos)

•Board/Card Games ( Monopoly, UNO, Etc)•Cozy Clothes (Sweaters, Warm Dresses, Coats, Hats, it's cold...)

•Toys (Legos, Figurines, Dolls, You're never too old!)

•Paint Sets & Art Supplies

•Sketchbooks (Barnes & Nobles has some very pretty ones!)

•Funko Pops

•Posters (Bands, Shows, Books, Etc)

•Fun Jewelry (Beetle Earrings, Spider Necklaces)

•Video Games (Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, OMORI, Zelda, Mario, Planet Zoo)

•Rollerskates, or even Ice Skates! (It'd make for a fun winter activity ❄️)

•Concert Tickets

•Movies

•Instruments

•Keychains (Cloris Creates has some adorable animal ones!)

•Cosplay Accessories ( I personally would love to get goggles for a Varian cosplay! )

-Feel free to add to it!-

[sugar-free-daddy]

What's your favorite video game? Judging by your banner I'll guess it's TF2, but I dunno

You know it’s hard to answer. Halo 2,3 ODST has a huge place in my heart where when I was growing up we would bring Xbox and 360 consoles and TVs together and play death match, CTF, SWAT rules, and we would have 6-10 people playing together in junior high and high school. We loved forge in Halo 3, we made Some of the best nights of of my life for sure. Most of my lifelong friends are from that circle. We’d also play Gears of War and other games but we called them “Halo Nights”. Of them maybe Halo 3 is the best overall with all it offers. Halo:CE campaign is the best. I remember being maybe 10-11 and playing Guilty spark 343 for the first time and scared so shitless doing so. The music and ambient tracks still scare me to this day like nothing else.

For individual gaming experiences, maybe Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Mass effect didn’t end well, and KOTORs system is quite aged, but if you are playing FEAR, and if you love good story based RPGs you would love that. Pillars of Eternity is incredible on that same vein. Loved STALKER, look forward to the new one. All amazing but for the above reasons has to be Halo. I’m gutted by what’s happened to my childhood game now but it’s not Bungie at the reins.

The funny thing is when I see what kids are often socially pushed into as gaming like Fortnite Valorant and the excessive advertising and gambling I feel like I came into the golden age of gaming as a young kid, so in many respects I’m quite fortunate. But now I think there’s a huge encyclopedia of games that you can look back on, that graphically have aged but their mechanics and storytelling ring pure to this day.

[brookston]

Holidays 12.6

Holidays

Abolición del Ejército (Costa Rica)

Adore You Day

Armed Forces Day (Ukraine)

Christkind (Central & Southern Europe)

Dia de la Constitucion (a.k.a. Constitution Day; Spain)

Dogecoin Day

Dubrovnik Defenders’ Day (Croatia)

Ed Tech Appreciation Day

Encyclopedia Britannica Day

Give a Secret Gift Day

Gorse Day (French Republic)

Gospell Day (Marshall Islands)

Gramophone Day

Halifax Explosion Anniversary Day (Canada)

Ice Cube Day (Astronomy Club)

International Bad Hair Day

International Desk Day

International Femicide Remembrance Day

International Memecoin Day

International Sweater Vestival

Main Directorate for Drug Control Day (Russia)

Miner's Day (West Virginia)

Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies Day (Azerbaijan)

Mitten Tree Day

Musical Instrument Gift Day

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women (Canada)

National Microwave Oven Day

National Miner's Day

National Pawnbrokers Day

National Sunnies Day (Australia)

National Tell Your Best Friend You Love Them Day

National Travis Day

Prosecutor’s Day (Kazakhstan)

Put On Your Own Shoes Day

Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day (Pakistan)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Make & Bake Day

National ‘Cook For Christmas’ Day

National Gazpacho Day

Pizza Day (Google)

Samichlaus Day

Independence & Related Days

Åland Islands (from Russia, 1917)

Bophuthatswana (from South Africa, 1977)

Constitution Day (Spain)

Finland (from Russia, 1917)

Ireland (from the UK, recognized in 1922)

Kingdom of Titan (Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Quito Day (Ecuador)

Western Province Day (Solomon Islands)

1st Friday in December

Bandcamp Friday [1st Friday]

Bartender Appreciation Day [1st Friday]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Eccentric Day (Bell's Brewery; Michigan) [1st or 2nd Friday or Another Day]

Farmer’s Day (Ghana) [1st Friday]

Faux Fur Friday [1st Friday]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Gospel Day (Marshall Islands) [1st Friday]

International Sweater Vestival [2nd Friday after Thanksgiving]

National Salesperson Day [1st Friday]

Open It! Weekend begins [1st Friday]

Purple Friday (UK) [1st Friday]

Saba Day (a.k.a. Flag Day; Netherlands Antilles) [1st Friday]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning December 6 (1st Full Week of December)

Deck the Halls Weekend (Seneca Lake region, New York) [thru 12.8]

Festivals Beginning December 6, 2024

Candlelight Christmas Walk (Augusta, Missouri) [& 12.13]

Christmas Town Festival (Bethlehem, Connecticut) [thru 12.7]

Colisium International Music Forum (Novosibirsk, Russia) [thru 12.7]

Country Christmas Lighted Farm Implement Parade (Sandusky, Michigan) [thru 12.7]

German Christmas Market (Augusta, New Jersey) [thru 12.8]

Gingerbread Celebration and Holiday Mart (Gettsburg, Pennsylvania) [thru 12.8]

Gingerbread Village (Caro, Michigan) [thru 12.7]

Kimmswick Christmas Festival (Kimmswick, Missouri) [thru 12.8]

Medora's Old Fashioned Cowboy Christmas (Medora, North Dakota) [thru 12.8]

Night of the Proms (Munich, Germany)

Oslo Christmas Market (Oslo, Norway) [thru 12.7]

PAX Unplugged (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) [thru 12.8]

Salon du Cheval de Paris (Paris, France) [thru 12.8]

Southport Holiday Stroll & Cocktail Crawl (West Lakeview, Illinois)

Stockbridge Main Street At Christmas (Stockbridge, Massachusetts) [thru 12.8]

St. Paul Ice Fishing & Winter Sports Show (St. Paul, Minnesota) [thru 12.8]

St. Petersburg Fall Seafood & Music Festival (St. Petersburg, Florida) [thru 12.8]

Tree Lighting and Holiday Parade (Batesville, Indiana)

Feast Days

Abraham of Kratia (Christian; Saint)

Aemilianus (Roman Catholic Church)

Akibasan Gongen Hibuse Matsuri (Fire & Water Festival; Japan)

Bodhi Season, Day 6 (Buddhism; Secular Date) [Leading Up to 12.8] (a.k.a. ... 

Principles: Perfection

Secular: Trip to Your Bodhi Day Place

Eightfold Path: Awakened Effort

The Heart Sutra: Issue Me Ke Kanaka Wai Wai (Jesus and the Rich Man)

Crossover Doozer (Muppetism)

Day of the North Wind (Pagan)

Days of Reckoning Begin (Shamanism)

Denise and companions (Christian; Saints)

Dionysia, Dativa, Aemilianus, Boniface, Leontia, Tertius, and Majoricus (Christian; Martyrs)

Doug Marlette (Artology)

Eliot Porter (Artology)

Frank Springer (Artology)

Frédéric Bazille (Artology)

Gamera Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Henk van Woerden (Artology)

Insult a Religious Fanatic Day (Pastafarian)

James Bernouilli (Positivist; Saint)

János Scheffler (Christian; Blessed)

Joyce Kilmer (Writerism)

Mall Nukke (Artology)

María del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras (Christian; Saint)

Masami Kurumada (Artology)

Math Ap Mathonwy (Celtic Book of Days)

Nicholas of Myra (Christian; Saint) [brewers]

Nicola De Maria (Artology)

Peter Paschal (Christian; Saint)

Pirate Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Rudolf Schlichter (Artology)

Shio Satō (Artology)

Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch (Christian; Saint)

Thor's Day (Norse)

Turnover (The Seasons of Earnings begins; Church of the SubGenius)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [35 of 37]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [28 of 30]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [56 of 60]

Premieres

Adaptation (Film; 2002)

Aeronauts (Film; 2019)

As Good As It Gets (Film; 1997)

Beggar’s Banquet, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1968)

Bullseye Bullwinkle, or Destination Moose (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 3; 1959)

Cinderella (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1922)

Cock-a-Doodle Dino (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Day Tripper, by The Beatles (Song; 1965)

A Dopey Hacienda (Tijuana Toads Cartoon; 1970)

DuBarry Was A Lady (Broadway Musical; 1939)

Dumb and Dumber (Film; 1994)

Ferry Cross the Mersey (Documentary Film; 1964)

The Fox and the Grapes (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1941)

Gimme Shelter (Concert Film; 1970)

Going To A Go-Go, by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (Song; 1965)

The Hand of Oberon, by Roger Zelazny (1976) [Chronicles of Amber #4]

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, recorded by Bob Dylan (Song; 1962)

The Hep Cat (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1946)

Hip Hip-Hurry! (WB MM Cartoon; 1958)

King-Size Canary (Tex Avery MGM Cartoon; 1947)

The Lake District Murder, by Ernest Elmore, writing as John Bude (Novel; 1935)

Live at the BBC, by The Beatles (Compilation Album; 1994)

Mary Had a Little Lamb, recorded by Thomas Edison (Song; 1877) [1st Recording of the Human Voice]

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree (Muppet TV Special; 1995)

The Night Before Christmas (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1941)

19th Nervous Breakdown, recorded by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1965)

One Droopy Night (Droopy MGM Cartoon; 1957)

Out of an Old Man’s Head (Swedish Animated Film; 1968)

Popeye (Film; 1980)

Red Bank Boogie, recorded by The Count Basie Orchestra (Song; 1944)

Rubber Soul, by The Beatles (Album; 1965)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Animated TV Special; 1964)

Running on Empty, by Jackson Browne (Live Album; 1977)

Sixteen Stone, by Bush (Album; 1994)

Smoke on the Water, recorded by Deep Purple (Song; 1971)

Squeeze Play or Invitation to the Trance (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S1, Ep. 4; 1959)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Film; 1991)

Still Crazy After All These Years, by Paul Simon (Album; 1975)

The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin (Short Story; 1894)

The Stroll, by The Diamonds (Song; 1957)

Sympathy for the Devil, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1968)

Tommy Tucker’s Tooth (Disney Cartoon; 1922)

Turn! Turn! Turn!, by The Byrds (Album; 1965)

We Can Work It Out, by The Beatles (Song; 1965)

Whole Lotta Love, by Led Zeppelin (Song; 1969)

Today’s Name Days

Denise, Henrike, Nikolaus (Austria)

Nikola, Nikolai, Nina (Bulgaria)

Nikica, Niko, Nikola, Nikša, Vladimir (Croatia)

Mikuláš (Czech Republic)

Nikolaus (Denmark)

Klaus, Laas, Laus, Nigul, Nigulas, Niilas, Niilo, Nikolai, Nils (Estonia)

Niila, Niilo, Niki, Niklas, Niko, Nikolai, Nikolas (Finland)

Nicolas (France)

Denise, Henrike, Nikolaus (Germany)

Nikolaos, Nikoleta, Nikos (Greece)

Miklós (Hungary)

Nicola (Italy)

Klāvs, Niklāvs, Nikolajs (Latvia)

Bilmantas, Mikalojus, Norvydė (Lithuania)

Nikolai, Nils (Norway)

Dionizja, Emilian, Jarema, Jarogniew, Mikołaj (Poland)

Nicolae (România)

Mikuláš (Slovakia)

Nicolás (Spain)

Niklas, Nikolaus (Sweden)

Nicholas (Ukraine)

Claus, Ira, Nicholas, Nichole, Nicholet, Nick, Nicklaus, Nickolas, Nico, Nicolas, Nicole, Nicolette, Nikki, Niko, Nikolas (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 341 of 2024; 25 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 49 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 13 of 28]

Chinese: Month 11 (Bing-Zi), Day 6 (Jia-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 5 Kislev 5785

Islamic: 4 Jumada II 1446

J Cal: 11 Black; Foursday [11 of 30]

Julian: 23 November 2024

Moon: 29%: Waxing Crescent

Positivist: 5 Bichat (13th Month) [Römer / Bradley]

Runic Half Month: Is (Stasis) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 75 of 90)

Week: 1st Full Week of December

Zodiac: Sagittarius (Day 15 of 30)