#Solo: A Star Wars Story Cos

[stra-tek]

Random spoilerific reasons to read Star Trek novels, with little to no context:

Ro/Quark is a thing

A Jem'Hadar joins DS9, tries to fit in but eventually snaps and tries to kill everybody

You learn the origins and final fate of the Borg

A thinly-veiled Dr. House clone joins the Voyager crew

Geordi briefly has 2 girlfriends at once (due to different writers not co-ordinating enough, but still)

There's a TOS book that's a musical

There are YA stories about Jake and Nog making mischief on DS9

YA stories about Worf, Geordi, Picard, Beverly, Kirk, Spock and McCoy at SFA

YA series about the Kelvinverse gang (including Gaila!) as cadets, taking on a drug problem at SFA and a very unique Borg scout in San Francisco

We very briefly meet the people who are to Q what the Q are to humanity

Janeway/Chakotay is a thing

Kirk's first mission in command of the Enterprise! Erm, at least twice.

Kirk was married between TOS and TMP

Her name was Lori

In the future, you have yearly marriage contracts that you either update or you don't and I think that's amazing

Trip didn't die! He faked his death to join Section 31 and go undercover as a Romulan

It's not great, tbh

The ENT books get better after the Romulan wars though, it's proper founding of the Federation stuff

We meet Jack Crusher (erm, the OG) when 4 timelines start overlapping and he's a bit unhinged

Teenage Kirk stole a car and his choice was go to jail or join Starfleet

What happened when Voyager got home? Seven broke up with Chakotay like 30 pages in

Kirk gets cloned, and his clone becomes the sub of an evil invincible super genius and its all very gay

George Kirk was Robert April's first officer on the first ever mission of the unnamed starship with the Naval Construction Contract 1701

Robert is a hard-core pacifist and has to turn command over to George whenever it's time to fire weapons

Data becomes fully human for a couple of days and it's really sweet

They never say "wristwatch" or "phone", it's always "wrist chrono" or "personal comm"

There are gays but they don't say that word because it's the 1990's and Rick Berman runs the franchise

Spock has a son in the past with Zarabeth

Everyone in the post-Nemesis era does spy missions all the time non stop, as if Starfleet has abandoned exploring the cosmos for doing Space Mission: Impossible

Bashir does it better than anyone else, he takes on Section 31 from the inside

Remember Control? It's from the novels, except the novels do it SO MUCH BETTER.

Remember how we never found out who Future Guy was? We do.

It's very underwhelming, nobody we know

We find out how the Romulans and Vulcans split

Surak was a Vulcan internet blogger

A Borg Cube eats Pluto

Janeway dies

Janeway gets better

At least one TOS book features a wizard

There's a Star Trek TOS/Here Come the Brides crossover novel

It had cameos from The Doctor (as in, Who), Han Solo, Starbuck and others

Whole book series about Section 31

Whole book series about the Department of Temporal Investigations

One time they do the Bill and Ted thing to escape confinement and it works

Wanna know how Riker and Troi met?

Wanna know what Picard got up to on the Stargazer?

Andorians have 4 sexes and it's very complicated

Data comes back from the dead as Data 2.0, and it was fresh and exciting because it happened long before ST: Picard did it twice.

Lal comes back too and we get father/daughter android stuff! They have a home and everything but keep having to save the universe

One time Mirror Seven is led around on a leash naked on Terok Nor

Geordi becomes captain of the USS Challenger, decides it's not for him because plot, and goes back to engineering on the Enterprise

Kirk is shot on the bridge and dies

Kirk gets better

They watch 3D holos of old Doctor Who episodes in the Enterprise rec room

The Enterprise also has an AI named Moira, which was Zora long before Zora

The TOS crew get together for one last mission. About three times.

There's a Perry Mason book except it's about Kirk's lawyer from that TOS episode

Data 2.0 owns and runs a massive gambling empire on Orion

Spock keeps randomly showing up everywhere in the TNG era

Scotty keeps randomly showing up everywhere in the TNG era

Bones keeps randomly showing up everywhere in the TNG era

You're on Tumblr so you already know about Killing Time

There's a guy named McKenzie Calhoun and he's a total badass and captains a ship of weirdos and misfits

Kirk comes back from the dead, saves the galaxy repeatedly, has an intersex child (who identifies as male) with a Romulan/Klingon hybrid

Kirk beats up Worf

Kirk's child has superpowers

Kirk's child saves the galaxy at age 6

The Kirk stuff is 100% ignored in the other novels

About 50% of the novels are ignored in the other 50%, and the ones that are meant to be in direct continuity with each other aren't always quite

Just like the TV shows and movies, then

Lwaxana Troi meets Q, and it goes as well as you'd expect

Someone tells Data, yes you idiot you had emotions all along and he's like, oh shit you're right

McCoy is left in command of the Enterprise as a joke by Kirk, who is then immediately kidnapped

Ro Laren is captain of Deep Space Nine

Picard/Beverly is a thing, they get married and have a child named Rene. No running away and raising your kid in secret here

Riker and Troi are married, serve on the Titan together with a bunch of adorable weirdos and have a daughter named Tasha

You get to watch all the 24th century characters die horribly in the end along with their entire universe. Holy fuck it's a bleak horror show. Personally, I love it. But if that's not your cup of tea I'd skip the Coda trilogy

#star trek #star trek novels #star trek novelverse #star trek books #kirk #spock #picard #riker #troi #star trek tos #star trek tng #ds9 #Voyager #enterprise #add your own

[leofrith]

obviously the quality of all these shows is suffering from the fact that their primary function is to provide the setup for future star wars projects (mcuification, baby!!! who's ready for the infinity war style team-up movie where the gang takes down thanos—i mean thrawn?). but i also think a big part of why the book of boba fett, mando s3 (and to a slightly lesser extent, s2 as well), and ahsoka all suffer from the same issue of having their main protagonists cast aside in favour of side characters—which in itself might not be as annoying as it is if those stories were even remotely interesting or well-written—is because filoni & co. want to be making an ensemble piece. but instead, they're stuck having to make a bunch of solo projects that are ostensibly about individuals or smaller casts of characters, which they then stumble their way through in the most half-assed, half-hearted way possible because it's all just setup for the "mandoverse movie," a phrase which makes me want to projectile vomit.

#also heaven forbid the 'rebels sequel' be in the same medium as fucking rebels lmao #disney's continuing need to focus all their energy on live action projects that have already been done better in animation is insane to me #like i know WHY but when your la projects keep being panned for sucking and/or just generally feeling like soulless cash grabs #i feel like maybe you should just. try something else. #but yes i know i'm expecting too much of the mega corporation that cares about making obscene amounts of money and absolutely fuck all else #ky posts text #ahsoka spoilers #not really but you know #sw.txt

[unexpectedreylo]

So, It Wasn't Planned After All

https://x.com/RichEisenShow/status/1734703529552699725?s=20

While Adam Driver is making the rounds to promote "Ferrari," he drops by the Rich Eisen Show and when asked about Ben Solo during the True or False segment, Adam spills the tea.

He doesn't get asked much about Star Wars so this is the first time I think he's talked about his character arc since TROS was unleashed upon us 4 years ago. And he drops the bomb that the Ben Solo thing wasn't planned from the beginning. That's right, Bendemption happened late in the game. He says that JJ Abrams told him the idea was Vader In Reverse (starts out vulnerable, ends entrenched in the dark side) and he kept that concept in mind throughout the time he filmed the ST, until they changed it with the last film. Adam has alluded to the concept of Vader In Reverse before but this is the first time he's gone into greater detail about it, including the revelation that the decision to turn Kylo from the dark side came during the third film.

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone who read the Duel of the Fates script and it explains why Ben hardly says a word during his scenes on Exegol. Abrams and Co. conceived of Kylo Ren as an evil bastard whose destiny was to get eviller; killing Han Solo was meant to be what sent him down the path of no return. Then two things happened: TLJ and Driver's commitment to humanizing Kylo Ren. People loved Kylo and Rey together (hence Reylo exploding in popularity) and they fell in love with Adam. They empathized with Kylo. So they changed course with TROS, a little. Kylo returns to the light as Ben but he is quickly dispatched once the big battle is over. I believe Ben's death was for two reasons: one, they were less invested and focused in Ben's part of the story than we were and two, there was always the intent to end the Skywalker line so Star Wars could focus on new characters. Remember, Rey essentially turned Skywalker into a title that could be transferred to anyone.

That the story changed over the course of the trilogy isn't that big a deal. There was no Chosen One prophecy until the prequels. Leia wasn't Luke's sister until Lucas wrote ROTJ. Han wasn't guaranteed to get out of carbonite because nobody was sure if Harrison Ford was going to come back. Instead of a tyrannical, ruthless bastard like Lee Pace's emperor in Apple TV's Foundation show, Kylo Ren gave us quivering lips, teary eyes, and mooning over the heroine who is supposed to be his enemy. When Rian Johnson introduced the bond between Rey and Kylo, Abrams and Terrio explained it as a dyad and made it prominent in the film. The kiss got put in because Reylo was so popular. Okay, fine.

The problem was they never should have made the Jedi Killer from early drafts Han and Leia's only child. As an old Star Wars fan who saw every film since 1977 and followed the Skywalker clan for over 40 years, I didn't want to see Anakin Skywalker's grandson end up even more evil than he was. What a huge bummer that would've been, even worse than if Rey was killed off. (For the record, I hated the whole Darth Jacen thing so much in the legends books I stopped reading them.) Abrams and Terrio probably realized it was going to be a problem returning to the idea that Ben was too evil to save; TROS already comes off as a tragic ending rather than a happy, triumphant one. And it goes against the whole message of Star Wars. So it ends up being Vader 2.0 and fans hoping Ben would survive were disappointed. I wasn't fond of the idea of exile or something as Ben's fate prior to TROS, but now I think that probably would've been the best outcome. It would've left a lot of possibilities to explore in future SW stories without having to come up with a convoluted explanation for bringing him back.

As much as they fumbled the ball, I'm glad they at least spared us Evil Kylo 4 Ever and Adam's turn as Ben was great even without anything to say besides "Ow." Adam sounded a little disappointed to me but maybe I'm just reading into it too much. In any case he has also stated in recent interviews he would be open to returning to Star Wars, so I guess we can still be hopeful even if he doesn't appear in the upcoming film. (Just don't wait 30 years, okay?)

#adam driver #kylo ren #ben solo deserves better #ben solo #reylo

[kaijukyru]

Kylo Ren was a son of the smuggler-turned-jaeger superstar, Han Solo. He had changed his name when he got the chance after distancing himself from his family so he didn't have to worry about being grouped up on his father's reputation. Hell, he didn't even want to be a pilot. All he wanted to do is to stay at the shatterdome to help where he can. Armitage Hux is a son of one of the best pilots ever known, Brendol Hux. Living up to his father's name is no easy feat, especially when he still have yet to find his drift compatible match. As a Jaeger was being repaired after its two previous pilots died, Hux is tasked to find his co-pilot before the repairs are complete. He meets Kylo and, in Kylo's personal opinion, it all went down from there.

...I was inspired to make an aesthetic, had star wars on my mind, a friend mentioned Kylux and here we are.

I have way too much fun making aesthetics of AUs (mainly) and thinking up summary of stories to go with them.

#aesthetic #kylux #kylo ren #ben solo #armitage hux #star wars au #pacific rim au #star wars #pacific rim

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Could you recommend me some enemies to lovers? I love this trope! Thanks for your work ^^

Here's quite a few suggestions, I forgot how much I love this trope. ~Jen

True Like (or Looks Can Be Deceiving) by dualwielding

Kurt loves his job at the off-Broadway theater. As for Blaine Anderson, Kurt might have to work with him, but he doesn't have to like him.

~~~~~

Feel my heart's intention by @kurtsascot

Blaine started to hate Kurt on his first day. And it was a shame, really, because they could have been cute together. 

~~~~~

Clinging to this hating game by notarelationship (justpracticing)

Based on this prompt from the Klaine-prompt-a-fic blog on tumblr:

Kurt and Blaine couldn't stand each other in high school, maybe one was a jock/cheerleader and the other a nerd/glee clubber. Or they were bitter rivals for competition solos if they were both in glee club. Now they both live in NY and their friends set them up on a blind date, not knowing they went to the same high school.

~~~~~

Home away from Home by @lilyvandersteen

Cooper buys a hotel sight unseen and asks Blaine to run it for him over the summer. Only, the hotel is a health and safety hazard and Inspectors Hummel and Abrams are hell-bent on closing it down. Can Blaine spruce the hotel up in time and save Cooper's investment?

~~~~~

Make Food and War by @kirakiwiwrites

What if Blaine and Kurt met another way?  AU Meetings with the theme of: Food. We all know how our boys met on the show. For this creative challenge, let's play with how the boys might have met in alternate universes. And this time, use the topic of food to be the through line of your creations.

~~~~~

Living Haphazard By @shame-is-a-wasted-emotion Anna_Timberlake

Have you ever thought of getting cheated by a house broker and getting to know that you had to stay with another stranger who was also cheated? What if you are getting stuck up with the stranger in the apartment due to unavoidable circumstances? What if you hate him as well as have a crush on him? What if you had to fight your inner self and the stranger? What if he agreed on helping you which can only happen in dreams? This is a real living haphazard, isn't it?

~~~~~

The Hating Game by orphan_account

Blaine can count on one hand the amount of people he has hated in his life. But Kurt Hummel is definitely The Worst.

Or: That co-workers AU where they hate each other (until they don't)

~~~~~

Anyway, Here's wonderwall by @honeysucklepink

Inspired by the story of the Oasis cover band and pub goers who got stranded at a pub in a snow storm.

Adam Crawford is the proprietor of a tavern and music venue in the English countryside. Just before Christmas, he hosts a Battle of the Bands, unaware of a forecasted winter storm. A blizzard traps the patrons, the final bands standing, One Three Hill and The Warblers, and their bickering leaders, Kurt and Blaine. The two have been rivals since their NYADA days, but their friends and bandmates can smell the unresolved sexual tension a mile away. If circumstances had been different, so too would their relationship. So their friends decide to give fate a little nudge...

~~~~~

About-Face By @quizasvivamos

At the start of the Marching Band season his sophomore year, Blaine is the youngest Drum Major in McKinley High history. However, none of his peers believe he deserves the title, especially a handful of embittered upperclassmen, including one particularly stubborn Color Guard Captain, who challenges him in more ways than one.

~~~~~

Mendacious By @forabeatofadrum maanorchidee

Blaine Anderson is McKinley’s biggest star. Everyone in school loves him. And he’s gay. Blaine Anderson has what Kurt Hummel wants. When Kurt finds out that Blaine’s hoping for the same scholarship at the prestigious NYADA, Kurt knows for sure that he deserves it more, but no one seems to agree. There has to be something wrong with Blaine. If Kurt could expose that, it’ll all be over for him. With a scholarship at stake, Kurt’s willing to go very far to find some dirt on everyone’s favourite student.

~~~~~

Turn Into a Pose by @little-escapist

Singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson wants to come out of the closet. When his publicist sets him up with movie-star Kurt Hummel, he’s ready for anything, but the last thing that Kurt wants is a relationship with anyone, let alone Blaine. He hates his publicist for setting him up, hates the idea of lying to the world, and hates letting the world invade his personal life. But maybe Blaine Anderson is exactly what Kurt Hummel needs.

~~~~~

French fries and Milkshakes by BlurglesmurfKlaine

Cheerio!Kurt and Nerd!Blaine don't exactly get along. So what happens when they get paired for a glee club assignment? They're polar opposites. They're voices shouldn't work together, neither should their personalities. Or their chemistry, for that matter. They're two very different things that shouldn't blend together, but do. Kind of like French Fries and Milkshakes.

~~~~~

Bites by foxxed

Kurt Hummel is a Chef de Cuisine with a tongue as sharp as his knife. But when the restaurant across the street finally opens, Kurt is confronted with an old culinary school rival - the always smiling and opera-singing Italian Chef Blaine Anderson and things are about to heat up faster than the average stove.

#klaine fanfiction #fic finder #enemies to lovers

[gffa]

Hi!  I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be because my view of the sequel trilogy lives in kind of a nebulous space, where I really like the characters and I actually like a lot of the potential of the storyline, but I dislike TFA, greatly dislike TLJ, and was actually pretty okay with TROS all things considered. I don't want to dig too deep into the negativity of my feelings but they're basically - TFA was too much of a repainting of ANH for me, the initial shine of it was through its potential, but when that didn't pay off in the other movies, the shine came off TFA, too. - TLJ was set too close to TFA, Finn's character should have been tied into the Canto Bight plot (which was exhausting as it was), as a stolen child soldier he has the most reason to hate the rich, but absolutely nothing was done with him, Luke being on that island for that long was out of character for him, Rey's entire story became wrapped up in Kylo Ren, neither of those characters had nearly enough connections with others despite having very good reasons to, like why do we not spend more time on Luke & Kylo?? and it played at being subversive but it absolutely was not, it's all been done before (and I really hated the way Force abilities worked in the movie) and killing off your main villain in the second act was a baffling decision - TROS' biggest problem is that it should have been two movies instead of one, it was a series of trailers rather than a story with breathing room, and it suffered the most from the lack of planning + the main villain being killed off in the second movie But here's why I still like The Rise of Skywalker the best:  The bones of what's there are a pretty good Star Wars story!  Yes, Rey Palpatine came out of nowhere and was very silly, but if you can't handle silly, I don't know how you can make it as a Star Wars fan, it's such a silly franchise! I'm not afraid to love a scene I laugh out loud at--and, yeah, I laughed RIGHT OUT LOUD the first time Kylo dramatically said, "You're a Palpatine."  I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes and let me tell you, I fucking LOVE that scene now. Or how the last words of any Skywalker, the last word Ben Solo/Kylo Ren ever says in the movies' franchise is, "Ow."  I am laughing RIGHT NOW, please, p l e a s e, that is so on-brand, I can't handle it, it's too funny. But I also like the basic storyline because Rey's story in TROS is her struggling with her own inner darkness, that she feels there's something dark in her soul because she's Palpatine's granddaughter.  The movie isn't saying that's true, but that Rey struggles with thinking it's true, and she has to wrestle with her dark side, just like every Jedi before her has as they're coming into their power. Anakin wrestled with his dark side and lost in Attack of the Clones and even worse in Revenge of the Sith. Luke wrestled with his dark side in the vision he sees of himself in Vader's helmet in the cave in ESB and in the climactic scene of ROTJ, where he nearly hacks his father's arm off in rage after his sister and friends are threatened.  He has to claw his way back out of that. Ezra Bridger struggles with the dark side in Rebels as he comes into his power and he has to claw his way out of it as well. Rey has to struggle with her own lure towards the dark side as she comes into her power--she rips a ship apart in the sky because she was so determined that Chewie was hers, she was so angry at Kylo that Force lightning burst out of her.  She's seeing Sith visions of herself on the wreckage of the Death Star.  This is a theme that has been there since the very beginning, that Jedi have to struggle through a temptation to the dark, and her relation to Palpatine preys on that. That's kind of why I wound up loving Ben's scene with Han as well, because that was an entirely imagined scene, but it represents that the way the Force works, you have to dig yourself out of the hole you're in, that Ben using the memory of his father, the last moments of connection he had with his mother, to pull himself out of the dark, really worked for me.  And I'm okay with his death, because this is Star Wars, people die before they should all the time. I even liked the political message of the final movie, yes, Rey vs Palpatine was the big Jedi vs Sith showdown, but the main galactic battle?  Had people showing up.  Just... people.  One of the themes I've talked a lot about, especially because The Clone Wars kind of has it as a running theme is that the average galactic citizen doesn't do jack shit about the state of the galaxy they live in.  The Rebellion had people starting to stand up, but it was an organized effort, it recruited people. TROS had just people showing up, that Leia and the Resistance had been trying to rally the cause, but ultimately it was the galactic public finally, finally saying, "We have to stand up and fight for ourselves, not depend on other people to do it."  Was it ham-fisted and not nearly as polished as it should have been?  Oh, no doubt.  But the message.  Just people showing up to fight against the First Order that was trying to bring back the Empire.  That meant a lot to me. And I loved Luke's character here, that he admitted when he was wrong, and gave us that banger line that's spot on:  "Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi."  Yes.  Yes.  FUCKING YES.  LUKE SKYWALKER AND JEDI PHILOSOPHY.  MY HEART.  Nailed it. Does this movie hang together as well as it should?  Absolutely not.  It needed a stronger writer, it needed more time than it got, and it needed better build-up.  But the bones of what was there were actually pretty good and, man, any movie that has Daisy Ridley in that white outfit with the hood where she looked practically ethereal cannot be all bad, in my opinion.

#rey #the rise of skywalker #meta

[paralleljulieverse]

Come taste the wine... : 70th anniversary of Julie Andrews's 'cabaret debut' at the Café Dansant, Cleethorpes, 3 performances Easter, 14-17 April, 1954

This week, seventy years ago, Julie Andrews made her official 'cabaret debut' at the Café Dansant in Cleethorpes. While not a major milestone in the traditional sense -- and one that seldom features in standard Andrews biographies -- the Cleethorpes appearance was nevertheless a significant event in the star's early career.

For a start, it was Julie's first appearance in cabaret -- the theatrical genre that is, not the Broadway musical which is a whole other Julieverse story. Characterised by sophisticated nightclub settings with adult audiences watching intimate performances, cabaret emerged in fin-de-siècle Paris before expanding to other European cities such as Berlin and Amsterdam (Appignanesi, 2004). Imported to Britain in the interwar years, cabaret offered a more urbane, adult alternative to the domestic traditions of English music hall and variety with their family audiences and jolly communal spirit (Nott, 2002, p. 120ff).

Julie's debut in cabaret was, thus, a significant step in her professional evolution towards a more mature image and repertoire. By 1954, Julie was 18, and well beyond the child star tag of her earlier years. Under the guidance of manager, Charles Tucker, there was a calculated strategy to reshape her stardom towards adulthood.

The maturation of Julie's image had begun in earnest the previous summer with Cap and Belles (1953), a touring revue that Tucker produced as a showcase for Julie, comedian Max Wall, and several other acts under his management. Cap and Belles afforded Julie the opportunity to shine with two big solos and a number of dance sequences. Much was made in show publicity of Julie's new "grown up" look, including the fact that she was wearing "her first off-the-shoulder evening dress" ('Her First Grown-Up Dress', 1953, p. 4). The Cleethorpes cabaret was a further step in this process of transformative 'adulting'. Indeed, it was something of a Cap and Belles redux. Not only was Max Wall back as headline co-star, Julie even wore the same 'grown up' strapless evening gown. In keeping with a cabaret format, though, Julie was provided a longer solo set where she sang a mix of classical and contemporary pop songs including "My Heart is Singing", "Belle of the Ball", "Always", and "Long Ago and Far Away" ('Cabaret opens', 1954, p. 4). That Julie should have chosen Cleethorpes for her cabaret debut might seem odd to contemporary readers. Today, this small town on the north Lincolnshire coast is largely regarded as a somewhat faded, out-of-the-way seaside resort. In its heyday of the mid-twentieth century, however, Cleethorpes was a vibrant tourist hub that attracted tens of thousands of holidaymakers each year (Dowling, 2005). With several large theatres and entertainment venues, Cleethorpes was also an important stop in the summertime variety circuit, drawing many of the era’s big stars and entertainment acts (Morton, 1986).

The Café Dansant was one of Cleethorpes' most iconic nighttime venues, celebrated for its elegant suppertime cabarets and salon orchestras. Opening in the 1930s, the Café was a particularly popular haunt during the war and post-war era when servicemen from nearby bases danced the night away with locals and visiting holidaymakers to the sound of touring jazz bands and crooners (Dowling, 2005, p. 129; Ruston, 2019).

By 1954, the Café was starting to show its age, and incoming new management decided to shutter the venue for several months to undertake a luxury refurbishment (‘Café Dansant closed', 1954, p. 3). A gala re-opening was set for the Easter weekend of April 1954, just in time for the start of the high season (‘Café Dansant opens', 1954, p. 8). Opening festivities for the Café kicked off with a lavish five hour dinner cabaret on the evening of Wednesday, 14 April. Julie was “one of the world famous cabaret stars" booked for the gala event, and she received considerable promotional build-up in both local and national press (‘Café Dansant opens', 1954, p. 8). There was even a widely circulating PR photo of Julie boarding the train to Cleethorpes at London's Kings Cross station. In the end, Max Wall was unable to appear due to illness, and Alfred Marks -- another Tucker artist and former variety co-star of Julie's (Look In, 1952) -- stepped in at short notice. Rounding out the bill were several other minor acts, including American dance duo, Bobby Dwyer and Trixie; novelty entertainers, Ruby and Charles Wlaat; and magician Ericson who doubled as cabaret emcee.

Commentators judged the evening a resounding success. The "Cafe Dansant has got away to a flying start, after probably the biggest opening night ever seen in Cleethorpes," effused one newspaper report (Sandbox, 1954, p.4). Special mention was made of Julie who “received a great reception when she sang a selection of old and new songs, accompanied at the piano by her mother” (‘'Café Dansant reopening’, 1954, p. 6). 

Following her performance, Julie joined the Mayor of Cleethorpes, Mr Albert Winters, in a cake-cutting ceremony and mayoral dance. Decades later, Winters recalled how he still “savour[ed] the memory of snatching a dance with the young girl destined to be a star… [S]he seemed very slim and frail,” he reminisced, “but she was a great dancer and I thoroughly enjoyed myself” (Morton, 1986, p. 15).

Julie stayed on in Cleethorpes for two more performances on Thursday 15 and Saturday 17 April respectively, before returning to London with her mother on Easter Sunday, 18 April. The very next day she commenced formal rehearsals for Mountain Fire, Julie's first dramatic 'straight' play and another step in her professional pivot to more adult content (--also, time permitting, the subject of a possible future blogpost).

A final noteworthy aspect about the Cleethorpes appearance is that it was during this weekend that Julie made the momentous decision to go to America to star in The Boy Friend. In what has become part of theatrical lore, Julie had been offered the plum role of Polly Browne in the show's Broadway production sometime in February or March of 1954 while she was appearing in Cinderella at the London Palladium. To the American producers’ astonishment --- and manager Tucker’s horror -- Julie was initially reluctant to accept, fearful of leaving her home and family. She prevaricated for weeks. Finally, while she was in Cleethorpes, Julie was given an ultimatum and told she had to make her decision.

In her 1958 serialised memoir for Woman magazine, Julie recounts:

“Mummie and I went to Cleethorpes to do a concert. It was a miserable wet day. From our hotel I watched the dark sea pounding the shore with great grey waves. I was called to the downstairs telephone. “Julie,” said Uncle Charles [Tucker]‘s voice from London, “they can’t wait any longer. You’ll have to make your mind up NOW.” I burst into tears. “I’ll go Uncle,” I sobbed, “if you’ll make it only one year’s contract instead of two. Only one year, please.” … Against everyone’s judgment and wishes I got my way…None of us knew that if I’d signed for two [years], then I should never have been free to do Eliza in My Fair Lady. And never known all the happiness and success it has brought me” (Andrews, 1958, p. 46).

The Cleethorpes ultimatum even found its way into an advertising campaign that Julie did for Basildon Bond stationery in 1958/59, albeit with the telephone call converted into a letter for enhanced marketing purposes. Framed as a choice between going to America and the “trip [that] changed my life” or staying at home in England “and go[ing] on in pantomime, concerts, and radio shows—the mixture as before,” the advert highlighted the “sliding door” gravity of that fateful Cleethorpes weekend (Basildon Bond, 1958). What would the course of Julie's life been like had she said no to Broadway and opted to remain in the UK?

It is a speculative refrain that Julie and others have made frequently over the years. “If I’d stayed in England I would probably have got no further than pantomime leads,” she mused in a 1970 interview (Franks, 1970, p. 32). Or, more dramatically: “Had I remained in London and not appeared in the Broadway production of The Boy Friend…who knows, I might be starving in some chorus line today” (Hirschorn, 1968).

In all seriousness, it's doubtful that a British-based Julie would have faded into professional oblivion. As biographer John Cottrell quips: "that golden voice would always have kept her out of the chorus” (Cottrell, 1968, p. 71). Nevertheless, Julie's professional options in Britain during that era would have been greatly diminished. And she certainly wouldn't have achieved the level of international superstardom enabled by Broadway and Hollywood. Who knows, in a parallel 'sliding door' universe, our Julie might have gone on playing cabarets and end-of-pier shows in Cleethorpes...

Sources

Andrews, J. (1958). 'So much to sing about, part 3.' Woman. 17 May, 15-18, 45-48.

Appignanesi, L. (2004). The cabaret. Revised edn. Yale University Press.

Basildon Bond. (1958). 'I had 24 hours to decide, says Julie Andrews'. [Advertisement]. Daily Mirror. 6 October, p. 4.

'Cabaret opens Café Dansant." (1954). Grimsby Daily Telegraph. 15 April, p. 4.

‘Café Dansant closed.' (1954). Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 28 January, p. 3.

‘Café Dansant opens tonight – with world-famous cabaret’. (1954). Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 14 April, p. 8.

‘Café Dansant reopening a gay affair.’ (1954). Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 15 April, p. 6.

Cottrell, J. (1968). Julie Andrews: The story of a star. Arthur Barker Ltd.

Dowling, A. (2005). Cleethorpes: The creation of a seaside resort. Phillimore.

'Echoes of the past, the old Café Dansant'. (2009). Cleethorpes Chronicle. December 3, p. 13.

Frank, E. (1954). Daily News. 15 April, p.6. 

Franks, G. (1970). ‘Whatever’s happened to Mary Poppins?’ Leicester Mercury. 4 December, p. 32.

'Her first grown-up dress.' (1953). Sussex Daily News. 28 July, p. 4.

Hirschorn, C. (1968). 'America made me, says Julie Andrews.' Sunday Express. 8 September, p. 23.

Morton, J. (1986). ‘Where the stars began to shine’. Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 22 September, p. 15.

Nott, J.J. (2002). Music for the people: Popular music and dance in interwar Britain. Oxford University Press.

Ruston, A. (2019). 'Taking a step back in time to the Cleethorpes gem Cafe Dansant where The Kinks once played'. Grimsby Live. 12 October. 

Sandboy. (1954). 'Cleethorpes notebook: Flying start.' Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 19 April, p. 4.

#julie andrews #cleethorpes #cabaret #1954 #british theatre #cafe dansant

[spotaus]

💙Pinned Post 💙

Hey folks! I'm Spotty, I'm an artist just doin' art things! I go by any pronouns (<- nb/a-gender/general gender tom-foolery) and I'm Ace. I've got this side-blog running for UTMV posts I wanna reblog, as well as my personal art for old projects! I don't go here as much as I once did, but utaus were a huge part of my artistic journey so uhhhh, I'm still kickin'.

If ya want to see my art, check #Spot!Drawn

Yes, I do take Requests, and they are Open

This blog is a Side Account! If you are followed by @spotlightstudios that is me! We might be mutuals, but it only shows properly on my end :')

[Info about Projects, AUs, and OCs below the cut!]

Projects:

If you see me posting about these, they're personal projects! (Usually a solo-act, but a few have co-creators.)

#Eternal Ashes is a 2nd Gen story about the ship-children of the Multiverse! Kane, elder son of Reaper and Geno, is killed in a battle between the Star Sanses and Night's Gang. This send the multiverse into a forced truce to avoid more crossfire killing, and Reaper's wrath... Only, Reset, Reaper and Geno's younger son, isn't satisfied with his brother's death. He and Orchid (daughter of Error and Nightmare) team up to bring Kane back to life, and end up settling into motion a multiverse-wide murder spree that spans years.

#DoppleTale is an AU I finally brought to existence recently. The monsters of the underground are all shapeshifters who fed on human flesh, until they were locked away in the mountain. With Humans becoming rarer by the day the monsters feast on Monster Candy and practice desperately to perfect their human disguises (which only get worse the less they remember what humans look like). <- This story is #Pretender!Sans 's origin au!

#Catacombtale is the oldest remaining AU that I have. It follows the story of a Human Hero who is sent to the catacombs of Mt. Ebbott to face the gods trapped within. Of course, sone if the gods are helpful, others can't forgive humanity for dethroning them. (Most of the story is pre-entrapment lore, with worldbuilding and a focus on #Ichor!Sans, my special-est tired old immortal guy who loves mortals more than he should on every given occassion.)

#Ec4o.verse is a multiverse world (kingdomtale style?) where the earth, in a stage of Robot/Monster/Human co-existance suddenly went into a war. It wiped out a lot of people and places, and sent the world into chaos. Ec4o.verse follows Blue, a young mechanic (Techie) who's skilled in the old ways of robot repair and creation, uncovering the secrets of what started the war he's known all his life. (<- This one is both my pfp, and I draw dustedafterdeath for it pretty regularly.)

And for the record:

Yes, I do takes requests (They're currently open! Send me an Ask w/ an AU, Oc (<-with ref), or UTDR character!) but I don't always actually complete them. Motivation as a uni student is few and far between.

Yes, you can draw my ocs. I don't think anyone would, but you're welcome to if you get the urge! Just, be sure to tag me! (And obviously don't claim them as your own. That'd be shitty.)

Yes, I do chat. I'm a very anxious person, tho. If you start a conversation or tag response or smth, I'll be ecstatic!

Yes, I have apparently developed a trend to draw dtiys challenges? Idk, found this one funny, but I love the way they function + it gives me a chance to draw everyone's wonder ocs or poses or interpretations of things!

This blog is (as far as I know) going to remain SFW. I don't intend on reblogging nor creating graphic content, especially not of these god damn skeletons, so this is more or less a safe space 👍

#pinned post #utmv #eternal ashes #ec-4o.verse #catacombtale #doppeltale #happy day for the pinned post #finally got around to it! #spot!drawn

[cantsayidont]

October 2000 and May 2001. The Dark Horse STAR WARS TALES anthology had a very high dross-to-gems ratio, but it did feature one of a handful of SW stories drawn by Argentinian artist Carlos Meglia, best known as the co-creator of CYBERSIX with Carlos Trillo. Originally published in STAR WARS TALES #5, "Lando's Commandos: On Eagle's Wings," written by Ian Edginton, seems to have been intended to kick off a new series focused on Lando Calrissian and a group of misfit pilots doing special missions in the wake of RETURN OF THE JEDI, although it didn't catch on like the Mike Stackpole Rogue Squadron series did. Meglia also drew STAR WARS UNDERWORLD: THE YAVIN VASSILIKA, a five-issue miniseries with Lando, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and various other nefarious characters engaged in a treasure hunt for a mysterious artifact the Hutts are after (whose actual purpose is finally revealed at the end). It's fluff, but it has a sense of humor (dishearteningly rare in the Dark Horse SW comics), and Meglia's fluid, cartoony artwork is a joy.

#comics #dark horse star wars #star wars tales #star wars underworld #the yavin vassilika #lando's commandos #ian edginton #mike kennedy #carlos meglia #lando calrissian #han solo #chewbacca #firmus nantz #star wars expanded universe

[emilykaldwen]

thanks so much for the tag @theladyelizabeth!

tagging: @acrossthesestars, @stannisfactions, @arrthurpendragon, @mercurygray, @alicentive, @nyctophilic0vitnir, @selfproclaimedunicorn, @themaradwrites, @lya-dustin, @dragonsoftheeast

1. How many works do you have on AO3?: I have 9 so far! I ended up deleting some old works that were abandoned and didn't have a lot of interaction that were over a decade old (and they didn't have bookmarks either so I wasn't worried)

3. What fandoms do you write for?: Currently, House of the Dragon is the hyperfixation

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Maiden and the Drowning Boy - HotD Canon Divergent

Soulmates Never Die - The Borgias (my oldest fic)

Fight For Me (If It's Not Too Late) - Teen Wolf

Boy With a Broken Soul (Heart With a Gaping Hole) - HotD Fae AU

You're the Lighting of the Blaze - Hotd Canon Divergent

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Always! (and if I don't it's legit cause I forgot/thought I did and AO3 ate the comment). I love the community aspect of fic writing so if you take the time to leave me a comment, I love to engage. I especially love it when commenters ask questions and look for discussion.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably one of the old Prequel Star Wars Fics I wrote way back in the day.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Right now, it's a tie between You're the Lighting of the Blaze and Bright Star

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not on my fics directly but I have gotten some rancid hate in my inbox re: Abby (And then that escalated to telling me to end myself so). This is why I now have anons turned off. Sorry guys.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do write smut! I'm not sure what it means by 'what kind'? I've done a few solo smut-shots, and Maiden will have a few explicit scenes when this arc is completed. I'm definitely someone who loves Plot with a side of Porn, and as long as the smut flows well and isn't overly repetitive, I'm here for it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have written a crossover! I had a mini-series of Whedon-verse/Supernatural called It Must Be Tuesday back on LiveJournal. Sam and Dean meet River Tam in a bar and the apocalypse happen. Dean and Buffy hooked up. I was acutally very proud of that LOL

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not stolen but I did have some concepts lifted from a Once Upon a Time fic

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Soulmates Never Die was co-written with a friend at the time (we've lost touch since then), and then when I was in the Charmed fandom, I adopted out an abandoned fic of mine and was the beta/co-writer on a big future Fic series with Wyatt, Chris, and Chris' friends. Those were some fantastic stories.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? Oh man. I really love me Jacelaena and Helaemond still has a soft place in my heart (but the trajectory of a lot of the fics has just been... a turn off). Harry/Luna will always be warm and fuzzy for me (I used to be the ship captain back in the Fiction Alley days). Buffy/Angel was my first real Fandom OTP.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Hmmm... I don't have anything right now that fits that. I did have Isabelle Martin's Life is Totally Over which was a Derek/Lydia future Kid fic that I was actually enjoying but the fandom was such an utter turn off by that point.

16. What are your writing strengths? God fuck if I know. I think I'm really good at tying things together/call backs and really emphasizing those themes. I like to think I'm thoughtful at cause/effect of character action and consequences. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I feel like my descriptions are lacking and I get lost in the weeds. I struggle with finding the stakes in a story. Conflict is difficult. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? me crying with dote on doing some appropriately translated high valyrian for Maiden instead of just copy/pasting from one of the online translators. Only very, very, VERY few people will know that they're grammatically correct and honoring the original development of HV, but it was important to ME.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Star Wars back in the late 90s.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Maiden obviously holds my heart and soul, and it's always going to be everything for me, but I'm actually incredibly proud of Fight For Me (If It's Not Too Late). It was a two parter, and I wrote it in the span of a week? Maybe two weeks? and it was the last thing I wrote for a very long time.

#this was fun thank you!

[legendscon]

Today we remember author Ann Crispin on what would have been her 73rd birthday. Ann is best known to the Star Wars fandom for penning The Han Solo Trilogy, Lucasfilm's first official origin of the Galaxy's #1 scoundrel, an epic tapestry interweaving film and Expanded Universe.

Ann also wrote two anthologized short stories: "Play It Again, Figrin D'an" for Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina; and "Skin Deep: The Fat Dancer's Tale" for Tales from Jabba's Palace, in which she subverted body shaming inherent in Return Of The Jedi's end credits and beyond.

Throughout her award-winning and bestselling career, Ann was an advocate for aspiring and career writers alike. She taught courses; co-founded Writer Beware, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's scam watchdog committee; and served as SWFA's Vice President.

The world lost Ann C. Crispin ten years ago after a prolonged struggle with cancer. She is survived by family and friends, and by the impact of her voice.

#AC Crispen #The Han Solo Trilogy #Han Solo Trilogy #Han Solo #SWEU #LegendsCon #expanded universe #star wars legends #star wars expanded universe #star wars books #burbank california

[preseriesdean]

happy ww svenja! time to put sam and dean in more situations. if you could make them play the main characters in a different story, in which tv series/movie/book/whatever would you put them? any specific scene you’d love to see them do?

happy wincest wednesday suzy!!

i love this question 💗 and if anyone knows anything about me at all my answer will come as no surprise, because it’s star wars. maybe a bit uninspired (considering kripke literally called spn "star wars in truck stop america") but i am just... not an au person, have never really been, so for something like that to work for me it has to be as seamless as possible, which i think it could be, and it has to be something i love already anyway. (i may or may not have thought about this before, lengthily, in my notes app) it’s very self-indulgent and mainly an aesthetic (which is one of my main sources of enjoyment anyway) change, but hear me out.

and it’s not a crossover, which i fuck with even less than aus (criminal minds being the only acceptable option. maybe the x-files if i had watched it). i don’t want samdean to meet princess leia or fight palpatine or anything like that, and i don’t want dean to be han solo or sam to be luke (which-- sam is obviously anakin, but that’s a different post that is still half-finished in my drafts somewhere). i just want to pluck them from the highway and drop them in the star wars universe and have them roam around the galaxy in their old but perfectly-working ship and be the outlaws they are, in some indeterminate era. i need their backstory to be much of the same to keep the isolation and codependency of their childhood that is crucial to them and my interpretation of them.

they’d be something like bounty hunters? the backstory would still fit: mary is killed and john makes it his goal to find the ones responsible, and then sort of just branches out and becomes a hired gun, taking his sons with him. the grit and grime and rest- and homelessness that i love about the early seasons can be found in the outer rim, and i can so see how dean would feel right at home in that dark and messy underbelly of civilization. he takes care of their ship and has known like fifty evasion maneuvers since he was twelve and is notoriously good at sabacc. sam gets attached to certain planets until he makes himself stop; lived in the core worlds for a couple of years, but that didn’t work out, obviously.

there’s also something to be said i think about him being force-sensitive (again. hello anakin) and either fated to fulfill some sith destiny or somehow tempted by the dark side. i mean, sam full of rage and energy with yellow eyes and towering over dean, rocks and debris floating or whirling around him while smoke rises from flames licking at the ground around them, and dean just looking at him on his knees and going “come back to me, sammy” and sam actually managing to find his way down from that force-induced hysteria? or NOT finding his way back, killing the one he loves most (love that little padme moment for dean)? it’d work.

and since it’s wincest wednesday (because they would be allowed to be in love on this show that’s airing inside my head, obviously) and i love cheesy things sometimes: another scene i’d love to see is them running guns blazing from some sort of enemy to their ship, dean powering it up and sam shooting until the doors close, climbing into the cockpit as dean takes off into the air, entering hyperspace a little early but he knows what he’s doing so it all works out, and them looking at each other with the lights of a billion stars breezing past, leaning across the little gap between the pilot and co-pilot seats and grinning into a kiss all high on adrenaline, riding off into a bright blue-white sunset <3

#asks #horrorshow #this is me trying to unapologetically enjoy things sdajkfs #i love sw and samdean and my two pages of messy notes and headcanons :') #star wars /

[themirokai]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged in this by the incredible @pellaaearien . Thank you so much, dear! I really did start working on it when you tagged me and have picked away at it ever since. It’s quite long!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

49

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

122,560. I write short things.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

In chronological order I have written:

BBC Sherlock- Mystrade only

James Bond

Doctor Who

Star Wars

Person of Interest

Arcane

Cats the Musical

Sandman

In theory I’m open to writing in any of those again and any others as the inspiration strikes.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5 - Worship (Sandman, Dreamling), also received the comment that inspired my first tumblr post to breach containment.

4 - Who He Is (Mystrade), my first fic on ao3 besides the ones I moved to the Other Account. I’m a bit surprised by this honestly. It’s got age on its side but my writing has improved a lot since then. It reads as a bit clunky to me now.

3 - Loverboy (Sandman, Dreamling + Matthew the Emotional Support Raven), first time I brought my 2 Sandman series together and my first multi chap Sandman fic.

2 - The Century Gentleman (Sandman, Dreamling), I got this written and posted pretty soon after the show aired when there was a massive demand for Dreamling content and before there was a tidal wave of content to meet the demand. I have mixed feelings about it now.

1 - Sort It (James Bond & Sherlock crossover, 00Q + Mystrade), fills the niche of “Q is a Holmes brother” + fluffy Mystrade. I do still really love this story.

5. Do you respond to comments?

My rule is that I do. And I’ve generally been very diligent about it. But I burnt out a little while writing Grave and I currently have an embarrassing number of unread comments in my ao3 inbox that I keep telling myself that I need to respond to…

So if folks have commented on my stuff in the last month or so, I’m very sorry I haven’t responded.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Sequenced Proposals. No contest. Look, the character is terminally ill in canon and it’s a lawyer AU so it wasn’t going to end with him becoming a cyborg. I cried a lot while writing it. Apparently a lot of people cried while reading it. Technically he’s still alive when the story ends.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

With the one notable exception discussed above I pretty much exclusively write warm, fluffy, occasionally funny stuff. They pretty much all end happily. I am a quokka of fan fiction.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven’t! Someone called me a bitch in a Sequenced Proposals comment but even though we had never interacted before, they meant it positively.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not on this account. 😏

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I’ve written 2: Sort It, as mentioned above, and Dreaming of Leverage, which is a Sandman & Leverage crossover. I’d say the latter is crazier.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nooooo. And I can’t see ever doing it. Writing is very much a solo activity for me.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I can’t pick a favorite. I adore every ship I’ve written.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I will probably not finish Law School Days. I know how the story ends and that’s good enough for me and no one was clamoring for it. I still like to think I’ll finish Lonely Two-Legged Creatures some day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’m good at dialogue, especially dialogue in which characters talk about their feeeeeelings. I guess I’m also good at emotional intelligence in stories. And creating the warm & fuzzies.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot and description. I almost exclusively write very short things because I am incapable of plot that would carry a longer story. Also, if I’m being honest, one of the things I like about writing fan fiction is that I don’t have to describe what anyone looks like or sounds like! Y’all know that already. But I do get the flop sweats if I have to describe someone wearing clothing that is not a t-shirt and jeans.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I wish I could! More than 15 years ago I was basically conversational in Spanish, but now I’m functionally monolingual. I do appreciate when people who do this provide translations.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

As a kid, before I knew what fan fiction was, I wrote at least 100 pages of what was essentially OCs in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar. The first fandom I intentionally wrote and posted fic for was Mystrade.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Can’t do this, sorry. There are some of my stories that no longer resonate with me the way they did when I wrote them, but they’re in the minority and of the rest it’s impossible to pick a favorite.

Phew! That was a lot. Whenever I tag people in these I always say no pressure but really and seriously this time there’s no pressure and you don’t need to tell me why you’re not doing it. Just ignore. ALSO, if you’ve already done it and I missed it, apologies! With that said @once-in-a-blue-moon-rising @lavenderandvanilla @ml-nolan @mashumaru @ibrithir-was-here @karalynlovescake @stormofsharpthings @argylepiratewd

#tag game #long post #no pressure tags #mirokai writes

[unexpectedreylo]

TLJ Revisited

TFA did not blow me away when it came out in 2015.  As a long-suffering prequels fan I didn’t like the anti-prequel dog whistles in the months leading up to the film, I didn’t like a lot of the crazed fanboys gushing how it was the best SW movie ever and thank goodness they wrested it away from that horrible George Lucas.  I didn’t like that Disney took Lucas’s outlines and for the most part trashed them, which publicly made Lucas unhappy.  While watching the flick, I was like a bitter ex noticing every flaw of the new trophy wife.  The story structure was not nearly as good as any of Lucas’s six films.  It was too derivative of ANH.  And worst of all, I had a real yucky feeling about what this trilogy was all about.  There was a nihilistic subtext to the whole thing:  Luke failed as a master, Han and Leia failed as parents, and the only scion of the Skywalker clan was almost certainly doomed for death since he was a bad guy and killed Han Solo.  It seemed like a setup so that new heroine Rey would essentially take over the story.  I couldn’t understand why it seemed I was the only person who seemed to notice this.

Then, five years ago, TLJ came out and for two years I had hope, even certainty, that maybe I’d misread the trajectory the trilogy was taking.

Dammit, I hate being right.

That said, TLJ remains something of a slightly nicked masterpiece.  It is the best film of the sequel trilogy, that’s for sure.  I liked the film when I first saw it.  I was pleasantly surprised and well, we all know how I feel about Reylo.  Yet when I look at what I wrote about the film right after seeing it, it seems like I was still pretty tough on it.  I think in retrospect I was still annoyed by a lot of aspects of TFA and the story elements it introduced.  

So five years on, I thought I would take an honest reassessment of the film.  The good, the great, the bad, and the ugly.

First I want to address the perpetual controversy around TLJ.  The curious thing about TLJ is how much anger it still inspires, to the point of irrationality.  It’s one thing if it’s not your favorite SW film or if you didn’t love it.  It’s one thing if you have problems with it.  But I make no secret of what I think of TROS and I still don’t hate everything about it nor do I spend all of my time complaining about it.  It’s almost as though a lot of the narrative and characterization problems TFA raised were ignored when the film came out and then when they inevitably materialized in TLJ, Rian Johnson got blamed for them.  Luke exiled himself to that island for a reason and Johnson had to find a pretty extreme reason to explain why Luke would take that drastic of an action.  The Luke in exile thing was one of the few aspects of Lucas’s outlines that actually made into the movies; he was set to go Col. Kurtz regardless.  But angry fans don’t care about any of this.  They think Johnson is some iconoclast who’s just tearing down Luke because he can.  Mark Hamill’s public complaints about it didn’t help.  The rest of it was anger over dashed theories over where TFA was going to go next.  Really, it’s nuts.  Who gets this excised over a movie?  How does any honest person sincerely believe Rian Johnson is a mean, hateful person who only wanted to destroy someone’s cherished memories of Star Wars?  

Okay, on to the movie itself.

A lot of what I still find flawed about the film comes from what was flawed about TFA.  The whole galactic set up made no sense to me and while Jason Fry’s TLJ book explains it to some degree, that explanation is missing from the film.  Lucas and Co. were great at worldbuilding while telling a story about a core of characters at the same time.  The sequel guys, not so much.  It’s just Empire vs. Rebels 2.0 without going into the how's or why's.  It still makes little sense to me is Luke saying he didn’t want to be found, he just wanted to live out his days on Ahch-To, yet there’s a map to find him.   

Another problem is how TLJ picks up immediately after TFA.  Johnson didn’t really have much of a choice because of how TFA ended.  So unlike the other SW films, there’s no narrative “breathing” room with this one.  There’s no opportunity for the characters to grow or relationships to build or even for the characters to process what has happened to them.  Compare that with TESB, where you can see Luke being a committed Rebel or a blossoming relationship between Han and Leia.  Or with AOTC, where Obi-Wan has been master to padawan Anakin for 10 years and Padme has become a senator.  I think that serves the Star Wars story better.  This way makes the ST feel like a movie adaptation of a really long book they broke into two or three parts.  And because Johnson had no idea what they were going to do in IX, his hand was forced to put everyone still alive back in their corners at the end of the film.

If I wasn’t going to include more of Rey and Kylo Ren, I would’ve included less of the rest of crew with the exception of Rey’s scenes with Luke.  Simply put, Reylo is by far the most interesting aspect of the sequel trilogy and TLJ’s scenes with them are so compelling it’s easy to lose patience with the other threads.  I don’t mind the Canto Bight stuff or Poe’s catfight with Holdo.  I love Rose.  But there seems to be a requirement that every sequel film must firmly focus on the Rebels because that’s who we’re cheering for.  The problem is that in TLJ, you have two elder Skywalkers with a smaller role and their only scion is “the bad guy” who has less screen time than any of the major heroes.  This continued the problem I had with TFA, that the Skywalkers were kind of side characters in their own saga.  Johnson tries to take Finn and Poe and craft actual story arcs for them but it was always a little unclear as to what their role was in the bigger scheme of things.  I guess we’re supposed to understand Poe is something of Leia’s heir apparent in the Rebel leadership but he’s also the house flyboy.  As I posted in my original review, Poe is Wedge Antilles with a bigger role.  Finn has a kinda clingy relationship with Rey and this bromance with Poe but he has no real connection with Luke, Leia, or Han.  There are good things about his arc in this movie but it doesn’t answer the question, what’s he doing there?  What does he bring to the table?  I wish they’d kept the stormtrooper rebellion in this film or in TROS.  And there’s no indication at all he has any affinity for the Force.  There seems to have been insufficient communication all around as to who these characters are, what they’re supposed to be doing or what they're supposed to become.

I’ll never understand why the sequels avoided any “alien” seen in episodes I-VI like the plague.  I never found the designs in the ST to be anywhere near as good, even factoring in the Rick Baker masks in ANH.

And if I may be so nitpicky, I don’t like the use of “big ass door.”  It seems too much our world, not the GFFA.

Finally, I find it interesting that after noting both sides use war profiteers and Rose delivers an eat the rich (profiteer) speech about Canto Bight, we got a might makes right conclusion where it’s all about kicking the bad guy’s butt.  The war’s on, baby!  Look, if your message is the bad guys are evil and it’s a cancer that needs to be removed from the galaxy, stick with that.  The other stuff is kind of a distraction that ultimately doesn’t mean anything to the narrative.

Okay, on to what I like/love about TLJ.  Namely, it’s a brash, bold, beautiful film that in a lot of ways was just what Star Wars needed.  I really worried this was going to be TESB Karaoke, and thank goodness Johnson had more sense than that.  It’s a movie that parallels TESB and AOTC with occasional nods to each film; Johnson understands the difference between homage and just repeating what some other movie did.  TLJ still feels like its own thing while adhering to the rhythm of the prior trilogies.

Johnson’s wisest decision was to get Adam Driver out of the Kylo Ren mask and take full advantage of Driver’s talent.  Sure, it probably made the marketing department mad but man, what a performance.  Today, I think that the timing of the film’s release and the trophy crowd’s disdain for Star Wars other than for the technical stuff, as well as other factors, hosed Driver out of a deserved supporting actor nomination.  Kylo Ren was popular before TLJ but this film turned him into one of the most memorable and complex characters in the nine film saga.  It also IMO made Adam Driver a bonafide star.

But Johnson is one of those “actor’s directors,” coaxing very good to terrific performances from his other cast members.  Daisy Ridley’s Rey in TLJ is absolutely luminous:  emotional, curious, occasionally funny, vulnerable, impulsive, compassionate, and in the heat of battle, feral.  In her scenes with Kylo/Ben, she meets him toe-to-toe whether as enemies or as allies with the hint of something else brewing between them.  As I’ll get to in my upcoming Reylo Heresies, I think we tend to forget that she commits wholeheartedly to Rey, which for a whole list of reasons isn’t an easy thing to do.  

Well, here’s another heresy for you...I think TLJ remains up there with TESB as Mark Hamill’s best turn as Luke Skywalker.  For all of Hamill’s kvetching and fanboy rage their hero was besmirched by that dastardly Johnson, Hamill did a great job.  Luke’s scenes with Rey are great and his cranky reluctance to embrace his destiny were well performed.  His great sadness at his own downfall and his wise wariness of a quickie conversion for Kylo add new depths to his character.  His final duel with Kylo is an amazing cap to his legend.  A lot of old fans like me were never happy that the ST set up our gang as failures and Luke’s behavior seemed a little harsh to me the first time I saw the movie.  Then through subsequent viewings it didn’t seem so bad.  I guess some fans never got over their initial shock.

Like I said, Johnson admirably sets up character arcs for newbies Poe and Finn while introducing new characters like Rose, DJ, and Admiral Holdo.  I’m happy to see Laura Dern in anything.  What a get.  Same deal for oddball Benedicio Del Toro as DJ.  Kelly Marie Tran got too much stick from idiots on the internet; her Rose is a delightful, charming character who teaches Finn what heroism really means and how to embrace something bigger than himself.  Domhall Gleeson gets some fun moments as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie drops by for a compelling final battle with Finn, and BB-8 is as adorable as ever.

This was Carrie Fisher’s last actual performance in Star Wars and there’s something fragile and vulnerable about her turn in this movie.  Few things can beat Luke’s reunion with Leia on Crait for pure poignancy.

Johnson also excels at visuals.  It’s a beautifully shot movie, whether its the harsh interiors of the Supremacy, Snoke’s red throne room, Ahch-To, or Crait’s salt plains.  The scene where Kylo and Rey touch hands is one of the greatest demonstrations of the need for connection and belonging I’ve seen in any movie.  I also love the part where Holdo goes into hyperspace right through the Supremacy, splitting it apart just as Kylo and Rey “come apart” and the Skywalker lightsaber is split in two.  I could go on and on about the many great shots in this movie.

Thematically, TLJ is very much in line with Johnson’s brand of populism.  While the Skywalkers struggle with the weight of legacy, Johnson elevates “regular” Rebels like Rose and establishes that Rey--everyone’s last hope-- is...nobody.  TLJ makes the case that anyone could come from anywhere and be a hero.  Even the “villain” could be heroic for a minute or two if he lets himself.

It also makes the case that the purpose of legends is to inspire those people in the first place.  This is demonstrated at the end of TLJ, unique among SW films in that it doesn’t feature the main characters in its coda.  A slave kid on Canto Bight is inspired by Luke’s story, telling his friends about it as they play with their action figures, then holding up his broom stick like a lightsaber.  TLJ is unique in that it’s the only SW film to basically comment on SW itself.  

As for Reylo, I think TLJ accomplished two things by emphasizing and building upon their relationship.  One is that it made each character more interesting.  Prior to TLJ I found Kylo the most intriguing of the newbies but I wasn’t terribly invested in him or Rey until this film.  The other is putting them together opened so many possibilities.  It’s tragic in retrospect that TROS didn’t take greater advantage of them.  Reylo isn’t just hot or sexy, it’s also mythic.

So that’s my look back at TLJ.  Stay tuned for the heresies!

#reylo #the last jedi #fifth anniversary #tlj #rian johnson #star wars #sequel trilogy

[terreisa]

I would like to take a moment to talk about Andor.

First, let me preface this by saying that while I’m a fan of Star Wars I’m definitely not an uber fan. I haven’t watched any of the animated shows, I haven’t read the books or the comics. I’ve pretty much just kept it to the Skywalker Saga films (plus Solo and Rogue One) and the live-action Disney+ series that have been released. Second, there are much better analyses and deep dives on the themes of the show out there and this is definitely not that. This is just me putting my thoughts out into the ether because my usual cadre of nerds either aren’t watching it or are several episodes behind which is annoying when it’s all I want to talk about.

Okay, here we go:

I think Andor is the best piece of Star Wars media that’s been released in recent years.

Don’t get me wrong, I love The Mandalorian. Go through my archives and there’s no doubt about that.  It’s a great story that’s full of drama and humor and deep emotion but it hinges on a pretty big conceit. Without Grogu there is no show or at least not one that has pulled in as many viewers as it has. There’s also the fact that it still tentatively ties itself to the Skywalker Saga, which is a thing for someone else to unpack. Same with Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, they had a built in hook to grab those viewers, though with varying degrees of success.

Andor doesn’t have that. It’s main character is a man that clearly operated in a morally grey area whose fate had already been shown to audiences six years ago. I was excited to watch the show mostly because Rogue One is my favorite Star Wars movie and I loved how Diego Luna played Cassian. That we were getting his backstory was interesting but as with the other shows I was going to watch it regardless because it was expanding the universe, which always interests me.

But dear god, what we got and are getting is so much more. The themes of morality and the cost of rebellion along commentaries on the state and actions of humanity and the tightening fist of fascism woven into the plot elevate the show to a whole different level. Not to mention that it expands the universe on so many different facets it almost boggles the mind how rich and complex this one show is making the galaxy that’s far far away.

Saying that, let me share why I decided to write this:

I work at a grocery store and the other day I was ringing up a woman's groceries and my Star Wars super fan co-worker was bagging for me. She had a Mandalorian bag and we asked if she enjoyed the show, which she did, and if she was watching Andor, which she was. She then proceeded to say that Book of Boba Fett was her favorite of the shows because it was fun and funny and Andor was boring and had no story. My co-worker and I were flabbergasted, and he'd only watched the first four eps of Andor at that point. When I told my sister the story later she said that maybe the woman only liked positive stories, ones that made her feel good and didn't dig too much into deeper themes.

That, I realized, was exactly what sets Andor apart and raises it above the other series and films that I'd seen. There are no dazzling, elegant lightsaber fights, the fights are chaotic and exact a heavy toll. There's no jokey levity from droids or side characters. The show is unflinchingly bleak and any victory, small or large, is tempered by the harsh reality of swift retaliation from the Empire. An entity that has always been known to be evil but through the lack of empathy, expanding overreach and harsher punishments, and the continual implied violence against innocents showcased in the series shows the depths of their atrocities in a way that can't be ignored or shoved aside. Even the barest thread of hope is hard to come by but it's there even in the smallest act of rebellion.

The biggest thing that sets Andor apart is that we know exactly how it ends. This story doesn't have a traditional happy ending. Cassian's fate is sealed, we are merely watching as he walks the path towards his inevitable death. And somehow it doesn't detract from the series at all, it makes his struggles much more compelling and tragic.

All this and I haven't even touched on the brilliance of Luthen and Mon Mothma's own underground moves against the Empire.

This show goes beyond every expectation I had for it and elevated it into a completely different stratosphere for the Star Wars universe. After I finish each new episode I'm practically vibrating with amazement at how each one is better than the last.

Andor is a feat of storytelling that I will shout about from rooftops whether people are listening or not for a long time coming.

#andor #andor series #cassian andor #mon mothma #luthen rael #star wars #rogue one #andor analysis #this got wordy but it could have been longer

[linuxgamenews]

Unveiling Primal Planet: A Metroidvania Game Worth Checking Out

Primal Planet is a new metroidvania game that's due to make its way onto Linux and Windows PC. The exceptional talent of solo developer Seethingswarm deserves our gratitude. Due to evolve on to Steam next year. Today, I'm diving into something different – Primal Planet. This solo-developed title is a thrilling mix of exploration and survival, and it's due to release in 2025. It's part of the Dinos vs. Robots Fest on Steam, and the first trailer just got released. Trust me, it's a metroidvania you'll want to check out. But first, let's talk about native support:

I use Godot to develop Primal Planet, but it's totally do-able.

This title is being crafted using the versatile Godot engine. With a bit of collaboration from the Linux community for testing, Seethingswarm can export the title. So, it's not just possible, it's due to happen. The game takes place in a world where dinosaurs rule, and ancient mysteries are just waiting to be uncovered. That's Primal Planet for you. It's a story-driven adventure where the visuals do all the talking – no need for words. The creator, Seethingswarm, has a real love for dinosaurs and alien enigmas, and this project is a labour of love that brings these elements together. It's about delivering a story that packs an emotional punch, inspired by epic tales like Star Wars.

Primal Planet - Official Reveal Trailer

Now, let's talk about what you'll be doing. Your role is a cave dweller, fighting tooth and nail to protect your family. Trying to also survive a T-Rex attack and unravel a story that perfectly marries the wildness of a prehistoric world with sci-fi elements. You'll need to craft tools, weapons, and healing mixtures to stay alive and upgrade your skills. All due to face the challenges of this Primal Planet. Exploration is a big part of the experience. You'll venture through different biomes, each with its unique set of challenges and secrets. And the dinosaurs? They're incredibly realistic, each adapted to its setting in amazing detail. Primal Planet combat is a mix of brains and brawn. You've got to be smart with your tactics, using crafted weapons, traps, and stealth. Due to get the upper hand against both regular and boss enemies. And there's also local co-op mode. You can team up with a friend, with the second player controlling a quick sinosauropteryx. It's all about teamwork to solve puzzles, tackle obstacles, and beat the dinos. So, are you ready to join the dinovania group and dive into the secrets of Primal Planet? This is not just a metroidvania game; it's an experience that promises adventure, challenge and a whole lot of dino-action. Due to making its way onto Linux and Windows PC. So be sure to Wishlist it on Steam.

#primal planet #metroidvania #linux #gaming news #seethingswarm #ubuntu #windows #pc #godot #Youtube