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thrawns-backrest · 10 months

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A big thank you to @anthean for letting me use their concept for a location on Csilla for this chapter! I hope I did it justice. Please take the time to read their fic hang me, oh hang me it’s an amazing read!

Title: Buried in Ice

Characters: Ronan, Ba'kif and others

Chapters: 3/?

Summary: Ronan adjusts to life with the Chiss when a sudden revelation leads him to realize that his fate is not as firmly in his hands as he'd thought it was.

___

Ronan could swear his eyes bulged out of his head.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“That’s –” he stumbled over the words, “Are you serious?”

“We need someone with a good grasp of politics and how administration systems work. That sounds to me like your area of expertise. It’s politics we need to fight the Syndicure with, not military tactics.”

“And you think they would listen to an alien?”

“Oh, you don’t have to speak to them directly.” Ba’kif waved him off. “Or be present at any of the meetings. We need people to do research and keep track of events behind the scenes. Someone to prepare our defense and make a convincing case whenever we need to go head to head with the Syndics.”

The logic seemed sound enough and Ronan fumbled, grasping for a good reason why this was a very bad idea. Because it was indeed a very bad idea.

“You forget I’m not very well versed in your language yet.” Was his best try but Ba’kif parried that just as quickly.

“You’re doing well enough. In any case our officers can handle the talking. The politics that need to go into backing them up however. That requires a different skill set.”

“I don’t see how a human with limited knowledge of your history and politics could do better than a Chiss.”

“These things can be learned.”

Ronan glared at him. Ba’kif returned his stare calmly.

He was putting up a strong front but the Chiss’ determination was beginning to worry him and felt the first signs of nervousness as a bead of sweat trickled down his neck. This whole business was a red flag. To be given that much responsibility while his relationship with these people was lukewarm at best, outright distrustful at worst. And to get himself involved in things that were so far outside his original plans…

He didn’t like this. Not at all, not one bit.

Who was to say this wouldn’t end badly for him? Politics were a slippery slope and for all that Ba’kif seemed to have this irrational trust in him, Ronan wasn’t quite so sure of himself. One misstep and he could sink into a hole too deep to dig himself out of.

And he couldn’t hope to be too careful in a setting he wasn’t completely familiar with. Sure, he could ask for time to prepare but the fact still stood that this wasn’t where he was supposed to be. His initial agreement with Thrawn was for him to go with Ar’alani and if he lost that position now, if he lost his military rank, he could lose all hope of returning to the navy and the one step closer it was to the Empire.

“In any case,” Ba’kif ploughed on, “you’ll be safely tucked out of sight and won’t suffer any of the Syndicure’s rage directly.”

He sounded almost too happy about it, a smile playing on his face and something mischievous swirling in those red eyes.

“Maybe we could even find you a cape to wear as part of your uniform,” he finished, the smile turning into a smirk and that was the final straw.

Ronan shot out of his chair as his face flushed with rage. He shoved the wildly spinning backrest aside and made his way to the door.

“Good day, General Ba’kif. I appreciate the time you took to speak with me.”

He didn’t know where this had come from – Ar’alani or Vanto – but he wasn’t going to take being humiliated like this anymore.

“Sit down, Lyron, we are not done here,” Ba’kif called after him, sounding apologetic? Exasperated? Ronan didn’t know and he frankly didn’t care. “I was being serious about giving you the position.”

“And why would you do that?” Ronan hissed, spinning around on his heel. In a flash he had crossed the distance to the desk again, his arms propped on the glossy surface. “Why would you trust a human to handle your affairs?”

Ba’kif met his glare head on, his movements slow and deliberate. As though handling a wild animal. His voice had dropped to a near placating pitch when he spoke next.

“Because Thrawn sent you to us for a reason,” he said slowly, “I just have to figure out what it is.”

And there it was, Ronan closed his eyes. He should have expected it, he knew, and yet the word still felt like a hand scooping bile out of his throat.

Thrawn. Thrawn again.

The man who had gotten him into this mess. The man who all these people seemed to trust to the point of lunacy and whom crossing paths with had only brought Ronan trouble. Trouble and worry and misery and a future ruined beyond any hope.

A sigh ripped itself out of his chest and he collapsed back into his chair, still warm from having been occupied just moments before.

“Of course…” He muttered to himself as he felt the familiar exhaustion overtake him and dropped his head into his hand.

“Of course.”

Distantly, he remembered something that almost made him want to laugh.

Ba’kif had called him by his Chiss core name. Another move meant to remind him how tightly he was bound to these people. To garner his cooperation and make him feel like he was one of them.

But all Ronan was, was tired.

He wanted to sleep. He wanted to rest. He wanted to forget about Thrawn and the fact that he was here because of him. He wanted to pretend he was back in the Empire, working on Stardust and preparing to start a new day in a place where everything made sense.

Most of all he wanted to feel like he hadn’t squandered everything he’d ever worked for and disappointed the only person whose approval mattered to him. Alas, it was probably just wishful thinking.

The silence in the room stretched and stuffed into the cracks around them.

“I hear Lakuyoo took you out to the surface the other day.” Ba’kif’s voice broke the peace.

Ronan threw him a listless glance.

Lakuyoo. The aide they’d tasked with giving Ronan a tour of Csaplar. Just so he wouldn’t become hopelessly lost on his first day there and inconvenience someone who didn’t have the time or patience to deal with him.

Of course, he said tour but what he really meant was a brisk march through the very limited places he was allowed to be in, ending with a stroll along the planet’s surface. Because they had time to spare and his guide was bored.

Ronan nodded absentmindedly, not even bothering to pretend he knew where Ba’kif was going with this.

“I also hear you barely flinched from the cold.”

“I grew up on a planet with just about the same climate in winter.” A shrug. “Maybe slightly milder.”

“I see.”

There was a loose thread at the edge of his tunic and Ronan focused on tugging on it with his nails. The mess in his head had simmered down to a low apathetic hum and there was little of his defenses left when the words bubbled up his throat.

“Tell me, General,”

The thread snapped at the next tug.

“Is there any chance I will ever go back home. Is there any point in hoping or should I just spare myself the disappointment and give up the idea entirely.”

Ba’kif was quiet for a moment – not that Ronan had expected an answer – and Ronan wondered if there would be repercussions for asking the question.

“One should never give up hope, Lyron.” He said finally and the intensity of his tone sent a shiver down Ronan’s spine. Then the spark all but vanished and Ba’kif was back to being the impenetrable military man.

“But for the time being the answer is no,” he said matter-of-fact, “I can’t let you go back. You do not trust the Chiss and the Chiss do not trust you in return.”

Ronan’s shoulders drooped further.

“Right…”

Another moment of silence where Ronan focused on a different thread and then Ba’kif was standing up behind his desk and reaching for an access card in one of the drawers.

“Come.” He ordered. “I was hoping I could show you something.”

The command was abrupt and Ronan blinked at him for a moment. But he couldn’t muster the will to protest and rose to trail after the Chiss as he walked past him and reached for a spare outerwrap robe at the door.

Ronan took it on autopilot, doing a halfhearted job of the ties.

The path they took once out of the office was a blur. At some point the metal flooring under his feet gave way to a flight of stairs and then they were walking out into the Csillan landscape, a cool wind throwing snow in their faces while a line of jagged rocks rose silently in the distance.

It was both familiar and foreign, Ronan thought as he rewound a handful of memories from his childhood.

The cold became easier to bear as they walked and the snow covered them almost gently, coming in thin wispy sheets. He almost missed it when the ice at their feet dappled with rocks but he felt the moment they entered under the shadows of the distant rock formations, the air temperature around them dropping sharply.

“Please.” Ba’kif stepped aside to let him lead and Ronan looked past him at the small well-trodden path ahead. The end of the path, when they got there, was not something he expected.

He stood there and stared up at the sheer rock face in confusion.

“I assume Lakuyoo didn’t bother to show you the sights.” Ba’kif said from behind, standing just a little ways to the left.

Ronan tried to put his scattered thoughts in order. He had a vague memory of passing by this place but the aide had indeed neglected to mention there was anything special about it.

His eyes found Ba’kif’s in a question however the Chiss had decided to be difficult again and merely waved a hand out in invitation. Ronan bit back an irritated huff and refocused on the cliff in front of him. In a minute or so he had figured it out.

He was looking at some kind of artwork, was the best way he could describe it. A natural rock formation with added chinks and gouges, artificial no doubt, where snow piled up in accordance with the wind’s speed and direction, resulting in a myriad shifting patterns.

Those patterns, he realized, were more coherent than he’d first thought and he began to distinguish images in the accumulated snow; ridges and clumps coming together to form faces, words and charts.

Each pattern made way for the next as the wind brushed it away, a new configuration of cascading accumulating snow, some snow marks holding on longer depending on the force of the gusts blowing them in, and Ronan wondered how many of them there were in total.

It was impressive but also unsettling. Incredibly unsettling, Ronan realized as the scale of the whole thing finally registered in his mind.

“There are many interpretations as to the artist’s intention,” Ba’kif said quietly, coming up beside him.

Artist, Cheunh singular. The work of just one person, Ronan swallowed.

“The one I prefer personally is that the piece symbolizes the Chiss’ ability to change and adapt while keeping our core values. How one thing can be something but also another without losing its essence. It’s a thought worth pondering, no?”

Ronan kept his eyes on the stone in front of him.

He wasn’t so far gone so as not to realize what was happening. This, all of this – dragging him out into the severe landscape, the cold, putting him at the foot of this monstrous creation – was all meant to intimidate him.

It was a completely transparent tactic. And it was also working.

These Chiss were fanatically devoted to seeing something through once they put their mind to it. Ronan remembered the way Savit had griped his arm on the bridge of the Firedrake, tightening his hold with every angry spasm Thrawn drew out of him. He hadn’t been intimidated then. Merely uncomfortable and anxious for the whole ordeal to end.

And yet he felt a jolt of something shoot up his spine as he stared up at that grand rock face, towering over them in its grim, convoluted glory.

His thoughts took a slow turn, veering back to the reality of his situation.

His performance here would determine if the Chiss could truly trust him. And that, in turn, would determine if he would ever set foot back on imperial soil. He could either give it his all and rise to the challenge or keep resisting and dragging his feet and only one of those brought him closer to his goal.

Still, if one of their enemies came and plucked him away, or if he managed to return to the Empire, that was an awful lot of information to put in his hands… But really who would come to take him away from some Maker forsaken office, buried out of sight underground?

Ronan shivered as a chilling thought suddenly hit him.

He wasn’t more likely to leave this place if he agreed to Ba’kif’s proposition. No, that was merely an illusion he wanted to believe in. In reality, working for the Chiss, going anywhere near their politics, would only pile more valuable information into his hands, further tethering him the Ascendancy, to Csilla and whatever plans the Chiss had for him.

Ba’kif’s little speech about change and adaptation confirmed it too. He wanted Ronan’s commitment and expertise but without the loyalties they came attached with. No, he wanted them for the Chiss.

Ronan attempted to swallow again and the dryness in his mouth grated against his tongue.

He would basically be signing the last of his freedom away by accepting this job. He may rise in prestige and the blueskins may be less neurotic with him if he was in a more secure place but in the end he would still be a prisoner.

And yet, something tugged at him inside as he stared up at the cold stone.

The ridges and groves and their meticulous arrangement. The shifting design and the painstaking thought that had gone into it.

There was dedication here, he concluded grimly. Dedication and diligence. Dedication and diligence that reminded him of Director Krennic and dedication and diligence that seemed really appealing if they were going to be directed towards defeating the Grysks. And if there was one thing Ronan knew – from his little adventure with Thrawn and his subsequent experience in the Chiss fleet – was that these Grysks were a grave threat to everyone.

True, Ronan didn’t know the Chiss too well yet but he could maybe see them, see himself, working toward a goal that could benefit the entire galaxy. Just like he was sure he had been doing with Director Krennic.

The wind beat at them again as Ronan steeled his resolve like a man headed for his execution.

“General,”

Ba’kif’s head tilted in his direction.

“I accept your offer.”

A moment of silence and then Ba’kif’s mouth split into a full-toothed smile, his posture relaxing ever so slightly. Satisfied with himself. Pleased.

“I am glad to hear that, Lieutenant. You will find that we appreciate and take good care of those who work for the good of the Ascendancy.”

___

“All you need is here and the file you requested will be sent to you as soon as possible. The rest is on the data cylinder Supreme General Ba’kif should have given you. Will that be sufficient?”

Ronan grumbled under his breath as he scrolled down the file on his questis.

“Yes, yes, I will look into it.”

The Chiss gave him a cursory nod and swept out the room in a flurry of robes.

Ronan didn’t bother with any parting pleasantries as he brushed accumulated flimsi and cylinders to the side and sat down to peer at the file in front of him. Just when he was catching up on his reading too…

The work was grueling, he had to admit, but at least he’d been blessedly busy and it gave him something to think about. It was still up in the air if this idea of Ba’kif’s would take off but so far they’d powered through their first cases with some partial success and partial success was better than nothing.

There was a knock at the door and he lowered the questis with a sigh, shooting the newcomer on the other side a glare.

Ba’kif had mentioned he would be sending another officer his way this afternoon. Ronan had hoped there had been a rescheduling given it was nearing evening that his point.

Did he have the patience to deal with another military snob today? Probably not. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have to, he groused to himself.

“Yes, come in,” he called, jotting down a few quick lines on the file on his screen and making a few mental notes for later.

He was just about to invite the newcomer to sit when he looked up at the stiff thin-lipped face in front of him.

…Oh.

… … Oh.

Well now, this was going to be interesting, he thought with no little amount of giddiness as a smile of pure malicious glee bloomed on his face.

“Senior Captain Aguilos,” he said, waving a hand at the seat in front of him, “please, how can I help you today?”

The Chiss’ face spasmed and twitched, much like the day he had been yelling profanities in Ronan’s face. Ronan felt his heart sing with delight.

It turned out there was, in fact, some poetic justice in the galaxy yet.

“Your case for Captain Aguilos was rather flimsy the other day. Not your best work, I must say.”

“What can I say? The man wasn’t being very cooperative. And I hear he’s a rude fellow anyway, he probably deserved that slap from the Syndicure.”

“You hear? From what source if I may ask?”

“A reliable one, General. I don’t take these things lightly, rest assured.”

___

taglist: @vibratingbonesbis @labextia

#thrawn #thrawn ascendancy #thrawn trilogy #thrawn treason #brierly ronan #ba'kif #thrawn books

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autismmydearwatson · 3 months

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My eighth fucking attempt at posting my highlights reel of Thrawn

A great tactician creates plans. A good tactician recognizes the soundness of a plan presented to him. A fair tactician must see the plan succeed before offering approval.

Those with no tactical ability at all may never understand or accept it.

Nor will such people understand or accept the tactician. To those without that ability, those who possess it are a mystery.

And when a mind is too deficient in understanding, the resulting gap is often filled with resentment.

"I'm like dropping hints that I think my boss is a fucking idiot. Anyway Rossi if you're out there--"

Eli winced. In general, not shooting a civilian population was a perfectly sensible approach to combat. More sensible, in fact, than he would have expected from a lot of Imperial officers.

THIS IS SO FUNNY I need a Live Eli Reaction to Thrawn bombing Lothal.

There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them.

THE HYPOCRISY. THE HUBRIS. MY BROTHER IN THE FORCE YOU ARE WORKING FOR AND COMPROMISING WITH THE EVIL

"Why do you seek high rank?"

It was a question many had asked over the years. Thrawn had asked it of himself. The answer never seemed to satisfy the questioner. "Because there are problems that must be solved. Some cannot be solved by anyone except me."

"I see." Vanto was silent a moment. "Senior Lieutenant Hammerly was able to stall them for a bit by telling them you were consulting with the local chief. But they expect you to call back."

"Of course." Thrawn said. "I will do so immediately."

"What will you tell them?"

"The truth."

Vanto had now asked the question. He was no more satisfied than anyone who had come before him.

Thrawn wondered if anyone would ever be satisfied. Or if they would ever understand.

There's so much going on here. The HUBRIS. THE WAR DOG COMPLEX. "Some cannot be solved by anyone except me" THE AUTISM. Important context: this happens after Thrawn burns down civilian farmland.

"I'm Arihnda Pryce. You probably won't remember, but we met once at an Ascension Week reception in the Alisandre Hotel, back when you were a senior lieutenant."

The fact that Arihnda and Thrawn keep inevitably coincidentally crossing paths in the 2017 book is hilarious. The Force is conspiring to draw them together through the machinations of the universe across time and space just so she can piss him off in Rebels season 4 by blowing his entire TIE Defender project to fucking smithereens the moment his back is turned

"But it does not matter. However these beings were pressed into service, they are now Imperial assets. They will be treated as such."

LIVE ME REACTION WHAT THE FUCKK😧😧😧😧😧😧😧😧😧

Through the west-facing window, the sun was beginning to set.

For a moment she watched, thinking back to the evening when her mother was arrested and their lives changed forever. At the time she'd thought how the people in big cities probably never saw the horizon or the sunset, and had wondered if they ever thought about such things. Or whether they even cared.

Arihnda had lived on Coruscant, in the galaxys ultimate big city.

And as she gazed out the window, she realized that she really didn't care.

Oogh. No thoughts, just. OOOOOOUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH

"I have read about the nightswan," Thrawn called after him. "Have you?"

Nightswan turns partially back. His face is obscured by shadow. His body stance again holds weariness, along with a quiet dread. "You refer to the fact that it sings only as night is falling?"

"Yes," Thrawn said. "You do not expect your stand to succeed, do you?"

"I know that it won't succeed." Nightswan said.

"That does not necessarily mean the end. I can give orders for you to be taken unharmed."

"They'll be ignored. Half the troops here are Batonn Defense, and Restos is determined to get rid of me."

"Then come with me now."

"A man must do what he must, Admiral Thrawn. Even if his stand is against the fall of eternal night."

HUARGHH. JUST. NIGHTSWAN. NIGHTSWAN SAVE ME NIGHTSWAN. GODDAMN. HE KNOWS HES DOOMED, HE KNOWS HE WONT SURVIVE THIS STORY, FOR ALL HIS GENIUS HE IS STILL A DESPERATE MAN. EVEN IF HIS STAND IS AGAINST THE FALL OF ETERNAL NIGHT AUGH

"Your report, Colonel, said his death was confirmed?"

"Yes, sir." Yularen said, "His body was found and identified in one of the outer areas, where the damage was less severe. He was probably checking on the perimeter." He hesitated. "Possibly preparing to stand alongside the defenders there."

"Yes." Thrawn said.

And so it was over. The path had ended. The pattern was broken.

The song of the Nightswan was silence. The galaxy would be the worse for its loss.

NOOOOOOOOOOO. FUCK. NIGHTSWAN WAS MY FAVORITE AND PROBABLY THE ONLY CHARACTER WITH A REAL MORAL COMPASS. FUCK. RIP NIGHTSWAN YOU SERVED SO MUCH CUNT THE EMPIRE HAD TO GET YOU KILLED BEFORE THE REBELLION COULD BE PUT TOGETHER

It is said that one should keep ones allies within view, and ones enemies within reach.

A valid statement. One must be able to read an allys strengths, so as to determine how best to use him. One must similarly be able to read an enemy's weaknesses, so as to determine how best to defeat him.

But what of friends?

There is no accepted answer, perhaps because true friendship is so exceedingly rare. But I have formulated my own.

A friend need not be kept either within sight or within reach. A friend must be allowed the freedom to find and follow his own path.

If one is fortunate, those paths will for a time join. But if the paths separate, it is comforting to know that a friend still graces the universe with his skills, and his viewpoint, and his presence.

For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.

I'm not one to claim Zahn is a master of prose but holy shit. Holy shit the final journal opening of the epilogue is pure art. He really put his whole Zahnussy into half a page of morally bankrupt Grand Admiral Thrawn (who uses lethal force against teenagers and commits so many war crimes he even pisses off Palpatine and can't understand the nuances of social interaction) talking about the value of having a real friend. Every lacking opportunity for poetics was given to the epilogue. Kinda. "When one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone" kinda. The platonic aspect of Thrawn and Elis bond is so deep and far-reaching that he's going to be HONEST about it for once?? For all how he loves Eli he also values him just for being there??? I'm gonf throw up. Imagine having a friend so dear to you that it forces you to be honest about it

#im just. im trying to emphasize that thrawn is a liar. you get it. but.#oh to love your friend so much that you simply have to be honest about it.#star wars #thrawn 2017 #omw to read thrawn alliances i guess

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gffa · 2 years

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Hey Lumi, I have a tiny itty bitty silly question. I am ashamed to admit this (there is no anon option so I have to attach my face here and I’m crying) but all the Star Wars media I’ve been consuming so far is in the form of movies/tv shows/games and fanfiction.

I know, I know. It’s horrible, I should have went straight for the good sources a.k.a comics and books the way I did with Marvel/DC. It’s just that when it comes to Star Wars I have no idea where to start from and I get overwhelmed … Does that makes sense? I guess what I’m trying to ask is… where do I start from?

Because I wanna know EVERYTHING but I wanna read the proper works and not wookieepedia. And I can’t ask my best friend, she will absolutely laugh at me if she has to make me another list with titles to read or important pop culture things to see. You are my only hope.

Hi! First of all, I am firmly of the opinion that Star Wars generally works best when watched in priority + chronological release order, because the way Star Wars stories often work is that they assume you've seen/read the previous thing to base your current understanding off the other story, even if it's set as a backstory. For example, a lot of people suggest watching the prequels then the originals and I think that undercuts a lot of what you're meant to get out of the story. You're meant to know Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader, that's a huge part of watching the prequels. You're meant to know that Palpatine is going to become the Emperor, there are all these little comments about future plans, you're meant to know what the Death Star is, so when you see the plans on Geonosis, you understand the gravity of what's happening here. This also applies to reading supplementary material, because the books and comics assume you've watched the movies and the TV shows first, often times your understanding of them is based on that knowledge. So, you're doing things right so far! And that's why I usually suggest, whatever you're looking to get into, whatever you're interested in reading, do it in order of release, because a lot of stories assume you've seen/read the stuff that's already released. The second issue is a bit more of a "It depends on what you're interested in!" one because, well, it depends on what you're interested in! XD If you're coming to me, generally, I'm going to assume you're interested in the prequels characters and my list of Must Read materials will cater to that. (I do have a more well-rounded list here, it's a bit old at this point, but honestly I wouldn't say any of the current books have been must reads in awhile, aside from maybe the Thrawn and Alphabet Squadron books. This is slightly more up to date, but has a lot of the same suggestions. XD) My recommendations are: - Darth Vader (2015 - Kieron Gillen) + Star Wars (2015 - Jason Aaron) - These two series are meant to be read concurrently for at least the first six issues, read issue #1 of SW, then issue #1 of DV, then issue #2 of SW, then issue #2 of DV, etc. They’re events crossing over into each other and are meant to be seen from different perspectives at the same time and it’s still one of the best series the Star Wars comics have had in Lucasfilm canon! Gillen’s Vader is more the mystical, unknowable nightmare version of Darth Vader and he does an excellent job of getting into that space with the character. Aaron also writes the original trio really well and it fills in a lot of the gabs just post-ANH so well, this is a great starting place for reading comics. You get to see Vader’s moment of realization of who Luke Skywalker is and it’s one of the best comic moments in all of the franchise. - Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (2017 - Charles Soule) - As tempting as it might be to read them in chronological order, I still think release order works better, and this one is set just after Revenge of the Sith and it’s all about digging into the psychology of Anakin Skywalker choosing to be Darth Vader. Choosing it over and over and over. This Vader is INCREDIBLY extra, but underneath the hilarious dramatic antics of this series (HE IS SUCH A DRAMATIC ASSHOLE IN THIS SERIES, IT’S SO FUNNY), there’s genuinely a story that looks at how afraid Anakin was to face his own choices, how Vader’s issues are Anakin Skywalker’s issues, how he goes from Anakin to the Vader we know in the OT. This is still my favorite piece of SW supplementary media, but I may be biased. - Shattered Empire (Greg Rucka) - This is a four-issue mini series that’s basically 100% pure connective tissue between the aftermath of Return of the Jedi and where things were headed to in the future. The entire point is to show a variety of characters and nothing but focusing on the aftermath, rather than too much of a plot-focus. Which makes it really satisfying, because it’s finally some breathing room for the characters--plus, it has stunning artwork to go with it. - Princess Leia (Mark Waid) - More aftermath, this time focused on Leia’s character in the days after A New Hope and the destruction of Alderaan. It includes her going to Naboo (though, she can’t figure out too much, of course, there’s some lovely nods to the Force whispering in her ear) and trying to figure out how to be a princess of a world that’s in ashes, and it’s a lovely look at her character. - Obi-Wan & Anakin (Charles Soule) - A five issue mini series set between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and when I first inhaled it, it seemed like a bit of a filler adventure, until I went back to really pay attention the second time and suddenly all these connections and all this groundwork was being laid for understanding where each of these characters was coming from. It’s a fantastic look at Anakin’s doubts about being a Jedi, that he’s planning on leaving, Obi-Wan’s interactions with him over that, and why Anakin ultimately makes the choice to stay, along with so much of Palpatine laying down groundwork to undercut everything the Jedi are helping to teach Anakin. Add in the most gorgeous artwork you’ve seen, and it’s a hell of a read. - Poe Dameron (Charles Soule) - I really did not expect to love this comic as much as I did, but it’s incredibly good character work for him (the absolute best Poe-related material) and it does a ton to set up and flesh out the story of the sequels (in as much as anything can) and it’s just very, very easy to settle in with and read. It’s got great pacing and a great plot and was really, really addicting to read. - Age of Republic (Jody Houser) - There are eight issues in this maxi series (and you can go on to read the Age of Rebellion and Age of Resistance comics, they’re in the same format--four issues about heroes, four issues about villains) and they tell stories of various characters and they’re all really solidly good. My favorite is the Obi-Wan one, it’s another great look at his relationship with Anakin, though, the Anakin one had some great character stuff and the Maul one got me in the feelings place. - Jedi of the Republic: Mace Windu (Matt Owens) - Heads up about this one, the art style is wonky as hell, including some real nightmare fuel Yoda moments, so you gotta power through that aspect of this mini series. Once you do, though, it’s a stellar look at Mace Windu’s character! It’s not necessarily plot-heavy, but the chance to understand more of Mace’s mindset, the incredible Jedi he is, the good man he is, how hard he worked to become the person he is currently, all of that was excellent. - Star Wars Adventures - The series started in 2017 and then was rebooted in 2020, all of them are very worth reading! They’re aimed at a younger audience, so you’re not going to get too much darkness in any of the stories, but that doesn’t hold them back from being some of the best Star Wars comics. They’re all little stand-alone stories with characters from all across the three trilogies and you’ll get some wonderful stuff, like Luke and Leia on Naboo, Anakin and Padme going to see a play, baby Leia being told about Padme by Breha, Mace Windu rescuing a young Twi’lek child and giving her a pep talk, Rose Tico having adventures, Obi-Wan and Dex having an adventure, etc. They’re adorable and super fun! - Kanan (Greg Weisman) - While parts of this have been a bit overwritten by The Bad Batch (to the detriment of the story, this version is so much stronger), the Kanan mini series is absolutely stellar for understanding the character, getting to see the prequels Jedi from the perspective of the Padawans, instead of just the Knights, and getting some great worldbuliding and character work. It’s split between Kanan’s time in his present with the backstory of what happened to him after the Jedi genocide and it’s brutally heartbreaking in all the right places, hopeful in all the other right places, and the artwork is just stunning. - The Clone Wars - Battle Tales (Michael Moreci) - This is in the same vein as the Adventures comics (and may even be under that label?) so it’s pretty light-hearted but it has some absolutely baller comic moments for the clones and the Jedi. It’s a quick read, but you’ll have a scream of a time doing it! Books are a more complicated issue, because a lot of the Star Wars books have moments of great quotes, but overall aren’t great stories, in part because they can’t do character work in the same way comics can and all the really good stories are being saved for potential TV series, I suspect. But two books I always recommend starting with are Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novelization (nobody has ever come close to the heights that book has achieved) and Star Wars: Propaganda by Pablo Hidalgo, which is an in-universe look at the entire timeline (such as it was at the time) and how art and propaganda shaped things and, oh, it’s so good. Other than that, I like the Thrawn books, the Ahsoka book was solid, Bloodline did a lot of character work for Leia in the sequels, the Aftermath trilogy is one I really love but I personally think you almost have to listen to the audiobook versions because the text versions just bored me while the audio versions gripped me, Dark Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemple is more “Vader being Vader” goodness, Resistance Reborn was probably the best sequels book for me, I legitimately enjoyed Phasma a ton but given how her character just kind of fizzled out in the movies, I’m not sure how it would stand up without the excitement around her character, and I enjoyed Catalyst a lot, but I’m a sucker for a book that does connective tissue stuff between the prequels and the originals. I also highly recommend looking up “movie” versions of the Battlefront II storyline and the Jedi: Fallen Order storyline on YouTube, both are excellent stories if you’re not into playing the video games yourself. You won’t get the full experience (you get much more invested when you spend a bunch of hours running around as your character, after all XD) but they will tell you the stories and they’re both very good and you’ll see connections pop up fairly often. I also loved the Vader Immortal storyline, but because it’s a VR storyline, you’ll probably only find shaky footage of it and that may hit your motion sickness. Still totally worth it even though I almost (literally) threw up trying to watch Vader be an asshole. That’s a lot to dump on you all at once, but I promise the stuff goes quicker than you’ll realize and this will give you a very solid foundation of having read the good stuff in Star Wars franchise!

#comic recs #book recs #long post #novel recs

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myevilmouse · 2 years

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One of the many fun aspects of reading Star Wars fanfic is figuring out from whence came the inspiration: EU (Legends) Canon, Clone Wars & Rebels (animated), Prequels, Sequels, Original Trilogy. I will offer up that I am from the Rebels camp, Clone Wars, and then I took the Thrawn Off-ramp, which led me to wander into EU/Legends. (I go where Thrawn takes me 🤣) all of this has taken place in the last 18 months.

Since I have dove heavily into one aspect of your catalogue - Thryce - I was initially under the impression that you may have come from the Rebels camp, too, but alas! An enormous portion of your writing includes Luke! Add to this, the most recent fic that I am reading of yours mixes both EU & Canon characters. Queries:

What are your Star Wars genre influences?

Where/when did you become interested in Star Wars

Which character do you like best (My guess was Luke)

Thank you!

Hello my friend @beebee-76 and thank you for this wonderful excuse to shriek about loving Star Wars this evening! This got very long, so let's go below the cut!

So the best way to start is with your second question, and I think you may enjoy reading a couple posts I made a while back, one about how long I’ve been in SW fandom:

and one about the experience I had as a young kid seeing Ep V in the theatre:

In summary, I grew up with Star Wars. My family was a Star Wars family. My brother had the Darth Vader action figure case, the bed sheets and bedspread (which I have now muwahaha) and stacks and stacks of Star Wars comics, the old ones, with He-Man Luke and all that late 70s madness. I had the vinyl read-along storybooks

and all that. My parents loved Star Wars too, my mom adored Han, and my sister wanted to be Princess Leia. It was a family thing.

So the where? At home.

The when is…as long as I can remember.

Next to your character ask, which absolutely you are correct ma’am, Luke Skywalker is my main squeeze.

he's so gorgeous amirite

I love him so much it fills my chest with bubbly squee just to contemplate the extent of my adoration. Luke Luke Luke. He’s the hero! He’s handsome! He’s kind! He looks soooooo good in black! Nnnnggghhhh.

You know me primarily from Thrawn/Thryce fic, but Thrawn was never a huge interest of mine apart from being a good villain in The Thrawn Trilogy. I always LIKE the bad guys but I didn’t find him particularly sexy or anything.

Evilmouse’s idea of a sexy bad guy is more typically like:

(pretty much anything combining naughty + Kiefer Sutherland)

It was fanfic, actually, that turned me on to the “new canon” Thrawn and I started with the 2017 book (which I read I think in 2019? Or late 2018) and then I -had- to see Rebels.

My sisters’ kids went through a Rebels phase, they dressed up as Ezra and Sabine for Halloween, stuff like that. I remember being like “Who?! What?!” but I am the cool aunt, the one who knows more about Star Wars than they do in most respects, so they told me about the exploits of the Ghost crew and I sort of listened without understanding anything about the characters and I was the only person my nephew knew that he could talk to about Jacen and Ben and all was cool. This was before our man showed up in Season 3...

Therefore, after reading the Thrawn book, and before the other “new” Zahn books came out (which is a discussion for another day), I had to see what the cartoon had done with this intriguing character.

Which leads us to your first question, about my genre influences.

First of all, as mentioned, I grew up with the OT. The OT is the unchangeable, unalterable, untouchable and all others are subordinate to the OT (original theatrical release, natch) canon. Also of course all the Ewok Adventures are canon and don’t you dare tell me Cindel isn’t real.

(ahahah you can tell I’m old cause I just unironically wrote ‘natch’)

Second, the Thrawn Trilogy are the real sequels. Forever and always. When Heir to the Empire came out, everyone including my mom freaked out at the fact that Lucas had PERMITTED a continuation of his saga. A continuation that felt real, true to the characters, and took us further into their galaxy and timeline where real growth and change had not made them unrecognizable, cynical caricatures of themselves, where love and kindness still triumphed, and we had a ‘hey the gang’s all here’ wonderful adventure against a worthy adversary. So yeah, The Thrawn Trilogy comes second to the OT in ‘my canon’.

You can’t erase Jaina and Jacen or Anakin or Ben or MARA or WINTER or any of these wonderful characters that lived and breathed in that galaxy Zahn allowed us to experience anew. They are and will forever be!

OK enough of that.

I stuck with the EU books for quite a while. I wanted to stay in that galaxy. I am one of the weird people who don’t absolutely hate the Jedi Academy books, mainly because I think when I read them I was like a vacuum just sucking up the worldbuilding and it’s SUCH a fabulous era for our hero. As a Luke devotee, I both wanted him to find love but was jealous of any potential mates that were presented. I remember when I finished Children of the Jedi and I was like…uh…ok so Luke’s found love but it’s suuuuuper weird and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Things were fixed what felt like 100 years later with the return of Thrawn in the Hand of Thrawn Duology. Luke recognized his soulmate at last and all was right with the world (even though Zahn still sucks at writing romance, I forgive him cause he was good at so much else).

I read a LOT of the EU books. A lot. Tales from Jabba’s Palace was one of my faves and all of those became canon in my heart too. God I love the Rancor Keeper’s Tale.

Bless you Paul Brooke.

But the numerous books started to blur and real life started to prevent me from keeping up with them. I eventually gave up I think with the gazillion Jedi Apprentice novels (I couldn’t keep up), although my mom was still reading them! She’s a major fan, guys. Major. And then the prequels came out.

I like the prequels alright, and certainly what came after put their perceived failings into a kinder perspective.

Slight tangent: I admit to being annoyed sometimes by this need to make everything in the OT "make sense" and explain it in the prequels. Like... no. Why did Leia say she remembered her mother's face? Because when they wrote that scene they didn't know ANYTHING ABOUT LEIA'S MOM AND IT SERVED THE SCENE. I understand some people need to explain things for themselves, but as someone who is old and cranky, I dislike uh...I'm not thinking of the word cause it's late, but this need to explain things in the context of "canon" that was written long after the OT was perfected. I think that's backwards. It shouldn't be like "Oh Obi Wan let Vader strike him down because of X that happened in the new TV show" it should be "X is in the new TV show because Obi Wan let Vader strike him down." Does that make sense? Maybe not. I stop before I make less sense.

More genre influences...Rogue One is good.

Video games too, bear inclusion. Star Wars video games have typically been more engaging to me than many of the books, and feel more authentic than some of the disjointed canon or EU out there. Dark Forces, Jedi Knight and Jedi Outcast, Fallen Order, Battlefront II to this day is one of my fave SW stories EVER. Del Meeko my beloved.

Hmmm….am I going off on another tangent?

So I guess here is the TL;DR because it’s already late how did this happen?!

For writing Luke Skywalker, I focus on the OT Luke and the EU Luke we find in Zahn’s books—that’s what informs my writing the most. I am not immune to Stover’s Luke either.

For writing Thrawn, I focus on 2017 Thrawn and EU Thrawn, who I believe are not mutually exclusive. I use Rebels Thrawn to inform my dialogue choices sometimes, and that voice mmmhmm thank you for the voice Lars.

I tend to think of Rebels Thrawn as like…the kids version of EU Thrawn, if that makes sense? Like he’s not entirely removed from the character but he certainly is different in many ways, mostly to simplify the good v evil aspect of the cartoon and be just incompetent enough as an antagonist that our heroes can always escape/save the day.

I don’t have a problem with him, but I think “my Thrawn” is more 2017 than anything else, since he’s most romantic version and I write primarily smut. EU Thrawn has his sexy moments and definitely has an influence on my take, though. Anytime I start thinking 2017 Thrawn is too heroic, EU Thrawn shows up to demonstrate what a bastard he really is. And he certainly has sexy bastard scenes sometimes….Anyway, I have written a couple fics where I consciously merge the two and those are some of my favorite fics.

Now I definitely have rambled too long, because this document says I’m at 1400 words so I thank you so much as always @beebee-76 for the distraction and the ask and am sending you happy thoughts and love this evening.

#luke skywalker #grand admiral thrawn #thrawn #star wars legends #legends for a reason #the thrawn trilogy #the real sequels #heir to the empire #hand of thrawn duology #star wars #original trilogy #just say no #jake skywalker #asks #i like asks #fandom #my thoughts #del meeko

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hahaha1d0that · 2 years

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I just started reading Star Wars: Thrawn (2017) and I’m really fascinated with the attention to detail that Star Wars has when it comes to characters’ accents.

The closer to Coruscant, the more regal the accent is. For example, characters from planets in the inner core tend to have English accents. In contrast, characters from the outer rim planets tend to have American accents.

Characters like Jedi, most of which were raised on Coruscant because of the location of the Jedi Temple, tend to have English accents. However, there are exceptions, such as Anakin Skywalker. I believe Anakin has an American accent because he spent his early childhood on Tatooine, which is located in the outer rim.

Because this idea of location-based accents seemed to be created during the prequel era of Star Wars production, I didn’t expect the sequels to continue with this pattern (Seeing as they hardly cared about other canon ideas, such as the Sith Rule of Two). Surprisingly, Jakku is located in the inner core, which makes Rey’s English accent support this idea.

I know John Boyega was told to use an American accent because there were “too many” characters with English accents in the films, but this may actually support this idea also. As a low ranking stormtrooper, it is less likely that he would have a more regal accent that officers, like Hux, would have.

I also think it’s is interesting that many Imperials from mid to outer rim worlds, like Tarkin and Pryce, would hide their native accents and adopt more sophisticated English ones.

The Thrawn novel states that “Arihnda [Pryce] herself had worked very hard to get rid of her own Outer Rim accent, but she still felt very self conscious about her roots” after she recognizes Eli Vanto’s “Wild Space accent” and notes how uncomfortable he feels in the higher class Imperial gala. Pryce’s homeworld is Lothal, which is in the Outer Rim. This is also where Ezra Bridger and Ryder Azadi are from, and they don’t have regal accents.

In the novel, it is explicitly and repeated stated that Eli Vanto has a “wild space accent” and he’s even bullied for it. What do y’all think the equivalent of his accent would be to us? American? Southern (yee-haw) American? Australian?

I’d love to hear yalls thoughts about this!!😳

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not-the-tie-youre-looking-for · 3 years

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Something that's been bugging me for years since the Legends finale. If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do you think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out? On the one hand, from Legends Thrawn's portrayal I imagine he would without a second of hesitation. On the other, Canon Thrawn has been much more... restrained? And on a third point, there's the fact that Legends and Canon Thrawn seem like they really could be the same person just at different points of time. cnt in next

...I'm just curious if anyone else was curious if Zhan agreed with that direction taken. Which, on that note, did Zhan ever say anything about his thoughts on how Rebels handled Thrawn? Both from a writing standpoint as well as an acting and musical one (Thrawn's various leitmotifs)?

Oh man. Ohhhhhhhh maaaaan. My friend, you have asked exactly the right person this question, because not only have I wanted to talk about this multiple times before, but I also have ~receipts~. 👀

⚠️Spoiler warnings for Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian, the canon Star Wars novels Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising, and Thrawn Ascendency: Greater Good, and the legends Star Wars novels Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and Outbound Flight.⚠️

Oh man. Where to begin.

Lets start with who Thrawn is, because depending on who you ask, you're gonna get different answers—whether you're strictly a Legends fan, Dave Filoni, a guy who's only seen Thrawn in Star Wars: Rebels, Timothy Zahn, or just a writer/artist fan like me.

To Timothy Zahn, the man behind our favorite chiss, Thrawn is a character that is constant in both attitude and personality throughout all of his content. In multiple interviews, ranging from Thrawn's debut in Rebels to the latest about the writing of the Ascendancy Trilogy, Zahn states that Thrawn in canon and Thrawn in Legends are indistinguishable.

And so I present the receipts:

In a 2017 interview with The Verge on writing the first canon Thrawn book Thrawn, Zahn is asked the following question and responds as such:

How do you navigate bringing back a character who already has an extensive backstory and audience expectations, with telling a new story that fits in the new continuity?

Actually, I didn’t find that to be a problem. I’d never written Thrawn in this part of the Star Wars timeline, so it was simply a matter of bringing him into the Empire and chronicling his rise through the ranks. It’s still the same character as in the 1990s books, just a decade or two younger and in a very different military and political environment.

In another interview with The Verge in 2018 (a few months after the finale of Rebels aired) about writing Thrawn: Alliances, he repeats this sentiment twice:

Thrawn feels like if it had been written before the canonization purge a couple of years ago, or if you squinted a bit, it would serve as a perfect setup for Heir to the Empire.

Oh, I don’t think you need to squint at all. I wrote him in these two books to fit in with everything else I’d done. So if someone at Lucasfilm snapped their fingers, and suddenly all of my other books were canon, and there would be no real retrofitting that would have to go in. It would all fit together.

Thrawn: Alliances feels more at home in the new canon, especially because Thrawn has been fleshed out a bit more in Rebels. Was there any adjustments for that?

Not really. I’m getting to play with more canon characters like Vader and Padmé and Anakin, but the character himself, I still see him as the same person. He’s got goals, and he won’t necessarily share them with you, but he as long as you’re going the same direction, he’s happy to cooperate and assist along the way.

...and this is referenced again in a 2020 interview with Polygon about writing Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising:

Along with Thrawn’s appearance in Rebels, Zahn would pen a new novel, Thrawn, that chronicled the character’s early days as an Imperial officer. Zahn didn’t have to change anything with the character, telling me in 2017 that “he’s like an old friend who I understand completely.” While Heir to the Empire was no longer canon, a reader could easily read Thrawn as a precursor to that classic novel. Thrawn went on to become a major presence in Rebels, and Zahn continued to explore his origins in Thrawn: Alliances and Thrawn: Treason.

The next day, an interview with IGN was published on the same subject:

Thrawn is an especially unique case because Zahn has been able to effectively continue the work he started way back in 1991 with Heir to the Empire. That novel may not be a part of official Star Wars lore any longer, but as Zahn explained, Thrawn himself is basically the same character regardless of continuity.

[....] The closest comparison between Chaos Rising and Zahn's earlier EU work is probably 2006's Outbound Flight, which is set during the Clone Wars and details the first encounter between Thrawn and the Galactic Republic (while also retroactively laying the groundwork for elements of Heir to the Empire). That novel is no longer canon, but Zahn told us he prefers to operate as if it were. He's making a concerted effort not to retread the same ground as Outbound Flight and to avoid contradicting the events of that novel as much as possible.

So yeah. In Zahn's opinion, Legends Thrawn is Canon Thrawn is Book Thrawn, and there is no difference whatsoever between Thrawns in, say, Outbound Flight, Heir to The Empire, Alliances, and Chaos Rising. I wholeheartedly disagree, but lets move on.

Now that the books are out of the way, its time for Rebels.

In July of 2016, after the trailer announcing Thrawn's canon debut aired, Dave Filoni had the following to say about Thrawn's character in regards to Timothy Zahn:

“I was pretty adamant with a couple of people saying, ‘Listen, we need to have Tim sign off on this. This is kind of a waste of time [otherwise],'” says Filoni. “We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns, but without Tim’s okay, what does it mean? That’s not going to be good. Once we had some stuff, we wanted to do what we thought was right and make the character. Then we brought him in. We had the production fully prepared. I said, ‘Look, if there’s something that Tim says that I think is really valuable, even if it changes something dynamically, we need to be ready for that and see what we can do.’ I wanted to make sure we did this right by everybody. We brought him in and we didn’t really tell him why. We just flew him up to Lucasfilm and sat him down in a theater and said, ‘Hey, we’re bringing Thrawn into the show.’ He was like, ‘Wow.’ and I said, ‘Yeah, wow. And I’m going to show him to you right now and you let me know what you think.'”

(Before we continue, keep that first highlighted sentence in mind for future reference. I'm going to come back to that later.)

Fortunately, Timothy Zahn was delighted at the show’s approach to the Empire’s imposing blue-skinned Chiss.

“We showed him some of the scenes with him,” Dave Filoni recalls. “He looked like a kid in a candy store. I think it meant a lot to him not just because it was his character, but because you have to imagine what he went through when it was announced that everything is Legends now, not Expanded Universe. I get that and I’ve always appreciated the work that goes into the Expanded Universe… For Tim, I think it was us saying, ‘No, no, no. We really like your character. We want him to be part of the real thing. The canon universe.'”

So in 2016, before we even saw Thrawn in action beyond a trailer, we were told that Zahn gave the OK, and he was chill with the way Thrawn was created in the show. In 2017, he gave a little more of the background of this process in an interview with FANgirl Blog:

The events of Thrawn dovetail closely with Rebels and shed light on some of Thrawn’s more seemingly surprising actions on the show, like when he appears to lose his temper and yell at Lieutenant Lyste. What was it like to see Thrawn come alive onscreen? Is he how you’ve pictured him in your head?

I don’t see my characters in terms of voice or appearance, but rather as personality or attitude. That said, I very much enjoyed the way the Rebels team brought him to life, in his appearance, voice, and actions.

I also appreciated the freedom I had to tweak certain incidents, such as the one you mentioned, and give additional or alternate explanations for the viewers who may have thought those were somewhat out of character for him.

He doesn't really elaborate on this, but we can assume he had SOME creative input on Thrawn's character, and he was overall pretty happy with the choices made in the show.

But then, we have this from that earlier 2017 the Verge article:

When did you learn that Dave Filoni was intending to bring Thrawn to Rebels, and did you have any input into how the character would be handled?

[...] I didn’t have any real input into how Thrawn was going to be handled, mainly because the lead time of an animated series is so long that much of season 3 had already been finished. But I trusted Dave and the team to do the character right. After all, why bring him into Rebels if you were going to drastically change him? Having seen the entire season now, I think we can agree that my trust was completely justified.

So... he didn't have "any real input," but was satisfied with it in the end? I guess? I don't know. We're getting into some contradictions now.

The last thing I've got in regards to Rebels is an interview Zahn did with the YouTube channel Star Wars Explained after the finale aired, where he responds to the following:

“So, maybe let's jump over to Rebels for a little bit. Now that it has wrapped up, how do you feel Thrawn was represented in Star Wars: Rebels?”

“They did a really good job—they not only understood the character and how to write for him, but they also understood the meta around how you defeat him. The only way to defeat Thrawn is to throw something at him he can't control, or can't anticipate. Given perfect knowledge and control, Thrawn will always find a way to win. But they understood, this is how you defeat him, these are the things we can use against him... so his portrayal in general, is very good; he's smart, he's anticipating, he's a step ahead of everybody, he's looking at clues and picking up on them, so I was very pleased with how the Rebels team handled the character."

I think these quotes answer many of your questions, so to answer your initial question: If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do I think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out?

Yes—but ONLY because at that point, the only established™️ Thrawn content was found in Legends, where Thrawn was a ruthless and calculating warlord.

However!

I do believe that if given the chance to re-write the Star Wars: Rebels finale using his now-canon novels as a solid background TODAY, Zahn would choose to not let Thrawn bombard Lothal's Capital City.

I believe this because he made one single very interesting creative choice when writing Thrawn that completely overwrote Thrawn's pre-established Rebels character: Thrawn was not responsible for the civilian deaths on Batonn—Pryce was.

And that's that on that.

A few months ago I would have ended it there, but today, Thrawn's story is no longer just contained in the novels and Rebels, but also in that of The Mandalorian.

This is where I will proudly say I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Before The Jedi aired, I was 100% sure that the next time we saw Thrawn, it would be nowhere NEAR the Empire, because Zahn was pretty adamant in the novels that Thrawn was only in the Empire to help. His. People.

So now he's apparently doing fuck-knows-what in fuck-knows-where and is STILL associated with the Seventh Fleet and Imperial Warlords???

Huh??? Despite the fact that he held no true loyalty to the Empire or to the Emperor??? It's been months and I'm still confused as fuck. Add to the fact that Zahn also doesn't know what the fuck is going on to the equation and we get a big fat question mark with one pretty clear answer that Filoni said himself that we have to keep in mind:

"We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns."

So I don't think Zahn has much control over Thrawn as we would all like to think. We can hope he gives us the crazy Thrawn and Ezra Space Adventure™️ novel all we want, but ultimately, Thrawn's fate does not rest in his hands.

If you guys have more to add please let me know!!! This is, obviously, a topic I am very passionate about, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

#tye answers asks #not the post youre looking for #thrawn #timothy zahn #thrawn trilogy #legends thrawn #star wars #rebels #lothal #star wars rebels #dave filoni #thrawn ascendancy #chaos rising #greater good #thrawn alliances #thrawn treason #thrawn books #wow this took a while #but I like the way this is looking

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revoleotion · 2 years

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the Alicein brothers and gifting books

I already established in this post that the Alicein brothers are fans of Thrawn for no reason other than "I want to talk about it". It all started with Mikuni's bookshelf full of legends books, now they're both in it.

Let's say the Servamp storyline happens in the early 2010s, which means that by 2017 we're already in post-canon. Misono isn't a big fan of cartoons, so he has to be persuaded to watch Rebels, but when a new canon book about Thrawn comes out, he reluctantly decides to look into it.

He likes it. He knows Mikuni likes it too. Do they talk about it? No because things are still awkward between them.

But by the time 2021 comes around and there's a new book to be released on September 1st, Misono and Mikuni both make the decision to gift that book to their brother.

Misono is very nervous about it. He knows the lengths his brother went to keep him safe, and he knows that after everything that happened, they're still important to each other. This doesn't change the fact that he knows how to send his brother a book. He ends up mailing it via many corners (by giving it to Mahiru who gives it to Tsurugi who gives it to Shuhei who ends up paying Tsurugi to give it to Mikuni). The book is wrapped into very nice pink paper, courtesy of Lily. It's the perfect present.

On September 2nd, Misono receives a package that was ordered to his address but he knows for a fact he did not order it. Lily did not order it either.

The brothers both read the book but still don't talk about it. Over the course of the next year, both the second and third book of the trilogy drop, and Misono doesn't have anyone to talk about them. Lily is still busy reading other books. Nobody else wants to get into it.

So, when Mikuni shows up to an Eve meeting, Misono approaches him with a question about the book.

(They end up talking about it all afternoon. And even after that, they frequently exchange theories and quotes and favorite moments. All it took was one book series... and nobody else to talk to.)

#servamp #servamp misono #servamp mikuni #thrawn #headcanon #no i did not finish reading the ascendancy trilogy so no spoilers please

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celinamarniss · 2 years

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2021 End of Year Fic Review

Word count, writing review, and planned fics for next year:

In 2021 I posted 3 fics at 55,788 words.

SIGH. Only 3 fics?! I feel slightly ashamed at only posting three fics, and I need to keep reminding myself that my word count wasn't shabby at all.

The main reason for this drop in the number of fics has to do with several other non-fandom artistic projects that took up my time and brainspace, and I can't regret that. That and the fact that 2021 was... you know how it was.

Previous years:

2021: 7 or 10 fics posted, 125,738 words.

2019: 7 fics posted, 72,149 words.

2018: 7 fics posted, 87,752 words

2016: 9 fics posted, 51,643 words

2017: 9 fics posted, 115,336 words

2016: 9 fics posted, 51,653 words

In total, 42 fics posted to Ao3.

Homecoming, 33,367

The beast that took up the first half of my year. It feels so long ago! It was one of those projects that was only meant to be a few chapters and then kept growing and growing.

Unnatural Objects, 21889

This fic was such a delight to write. It was one of those concepts that languished in my drafts for ages, but when I finally decided to go full steam it was so much fun to write. I love the shifts in tone. It felt like a breath of fresh air after Stormlight and Homecoming.

The Things You Find on Tatooine, 532

This was just a silly little ficlet I wrote one evening before bed.

Goals for next year:

Lando Calrissian and the Silver Citadel

This is going to be my Big Bang fic this year! I've written a short first chapter, and I'm making headway with the second. I still don't have a whole sense of the story and how exactly it will unfold, which worries me. But I'll have to figure it out! The story will post in April.

Triumvirate: Thrawn pov piece

As yet untitled series of short Thrawn POV character studies for the Triumvirate verse. I've written one, started two more.

Triumvirate Finale

As I said last year, this story is "The third major arc is the finale, in which everything comes to a head back on Coruscant, and the Triumvirate makes their play for the throne. I don’t know how it goes down yet! I look forward to finding out." I've written the first chapter! I'm at work on the second...even though still not sure about all the plot beats yet!

The Courtship of Luke Skywalker

A Courtship of Princess Leia remix! This is dumb fun and I hope to have time to write it this year.

Winter Story

I've written a chunk of this Winter Retrac character piece, which follows Winter directly after Alderaan and weaves in scenes from her past. It doesn't really have a strong structure yet, and I'm not sure how to fix that.

More Daemon fic!

I still want to write more daemon one-shots!

#year in review #blah blah blah

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fanfoolishness · 3 years

Text

Liveblog time!

Live-blogging for The Mandalorian 2x05, The Jedi, beginning now!

Almost forgot! This was my first piece of Mandalorian fanart, I think!

Calodan on Corvus is possibly my favorite planet after Sorgan. I love the misty color palette so much.

Also heeeey I’ve now seen nearly 3 seasons of The Clone Wars so Ahsoka will not be nearly so much a stranger this time around!

Calodan gives me such an Avatar-city under siege from the Fire Nation vibe, except Ahsoka’s the whole-ass Fire Nation and she’s here to save the day.

Why does the Magistrate have the beskar spear, anyway? And I wonder if it has any electronics in it the way everything else beskar we’ve seen has. I would guess not, but it would be kind of cool if it did, maybe something that actively keeps the spear well-balanced.

Look, evil lady, killing people doesn’t put the blame on Ahsoka. It just ain’t how it works. But bad guys always think that’s somehow an argument?

I wonder if the men of Star Wars are sad. Their hair is never very exciting but the women go all out.

So Din’s slightly testy with Grogu about getting back in his seat. Because... he’s fully expecting to go down to that planet and come back up again without the kid. I’d be testy too. ;_;

Oh God Grogu is even cuter than I remembered somehow. Like weeks and weeks of nothing but Mandalorian and every time I watch him he’s still just marvelous.

Love that shot of him focusing on the control knob with the pretty lights behind it. It really makes it seem magical, which to Grogu’s mind, it is

Love these weird giant creatures in the back, apparently just massacring these trees. CRONCH

I wonder how far they walked into town. I just love finding every little scrap of time between cuts that you could stuff a fic into.

I bet Grogu loves the smells of the marketplace, but can pick up on the tense atmosphere and doesn’t like it. He likes the kids, though.

I really enjoy the lighting of this episode because 1) we get to see those little lights on Din’s gauntlet easily and 2) it drives home the fact that not every world is going to have the same spectrum of light as our yellow sun. Reminds me of when I got to see the total solar eclipse in 2017. The sky seemed like daylight, but wasn’t. It was utterly unlike our world and I still get chills EVERY. TIME. I think about it.

I like her stupid guard droid. Cool color scheme.

God I wish I had a little water garden all my own.

Love the sound beskar on beskar makes.

Grogu: “Dad, this guy sucks. I can tell.”

UGH love those misty hills!!!!! So fucking pretty!

I love these trees so much. They remind me of buckberry.

Ahsoka: BABY???

Ugh the misty background is so gorgeous at night too!

Poor Din. He is so worried. Look at all this pacing when this is normally such a man of stillness and restraint.

Din: *pacing around anxiously* *kicks a cool rock* “I wonder if the kid would like this rock? MAYBE I SHOULD GO INTERRUPT THEM AND ASK oh never mind.” *back to pacing*

That smile that Ahsoka gives Grogu after she looks at Din — it’s so clear how many nice things he’s telling her about Din <3

Din is so worried. What’s she going to say? Is he doing this right? He doesn’t want to mess things up for the kid —

Can you just imagine everything in Din’s head right now? Relief at knowing the kid HAS a name, that Ahsoka can talk to him? Guilt at not somehow knowing the name before this? His heart going out to the kid, thinking of his home being taken away from him, thinking of him being in danger many times before Din could meet him or help him? Thinking this is time to say goodbye...

Awww thinking of Grogu curled up in Din’s cloak on the mossy ground while they sleep

Din is so worried Grogu won’t pass his test ;_;

Din is worried *he* won’t pass the test XD

So cute how Din kneels down to his level to encourage him to take the ball :)

Din is SO EXCITED

I love how when *Grogu* calls the ball to his hand, the musical cue plays *Din’s* motif with the recorder — a sign of their connection <3 <3 <3

Mando music is playing in the background. Grogu is NOT going to grow up to be a Jedi! I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, the title of the show might refer to Grogu :)

Ahsoka: giggling at “laser swords”

Aww man, these trees aren’t this way because of the giant animals? The Magistrate did this? Goddammit. I was hoping it was just like, a life cycle of the planet.

I like that even though Ahsoka is grownup and serious you can still see all those little smirks <3 Love that Snips!

CAN’T BELIEVE DIN TRUSTED HER WITH THE MUDHORN PAULDRON

Hey! Din learned how to drop-kick someone with the Rising Phoenix!!! Good job Din! Learning from Koska, I see. (Not as graceful as her, though.)

Huh, he still has durasteel or something on his shoulder, from under the beskar. I don’t know WHY THEY WON’T PUT OUT AN OFFICIAL DRAWING OF HOW ALL THE ARMOR FITS TOGETHER.

Look dude, don’t even mess with Din Djarin, all right? And none of this “we’re a lot alike” bullshit. But I did appreciate this guy’s attempt to “I don’t even care, bro” as foolish at it was.

WHERE IS THRAWN AWWWWWW FUCKING YEAAAAAH I still only know him from the Zahn trilogy but I’m so excited they repurposed such an awesome character.

“Wait here, I’ll... go get him.”

Din rocking him gently in the hammock back and forth ;___;

... how... long did they stay there just... cuddling... I fucking CAN’T

Ahsoka: “...it’s been like four hours. I’d better go look for them. Either Mando’s not giving the kid up or the kid doesn’t want to go. Shoulda seen that coming...”

I totally got this wrong in one of my fics. I wrote Din flying the Razor Crest back to the town. I’d forgotten HE SITS THERE SO LONG WITH THE KID AHSOKA HAS TO GO AND FIND THEM when Din was the one who claimed “I’ll go get him, wait here.” OMG DIN. JUST ADMIT YOU WANT TO PARENT THIS CHILD FOREVER.

The concept art of Din and Grogu striding off into the sunset together? My HEART

Man. I’m enjoying the Clone Wars, but I’m just so sad at all the badness that’s going to happen to everybody in them ;_; And thinking of how many things Ahsoka has gone through by this point is just... the Star Wars galaxy just hates people not being traumatized, doesn’t it?

Do I have the strength to get through The Tragedy tonight??? I mean, there’s Boba Fett and Fennec Shand being badass, and the best opening of any media, ever, but then there is PAIN and CRUELTY and it ISN’T FAIR.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian liveblog #din djarin #grogu #ahsoka tano #the Jedi #Star Wars #my mando meta

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violethowler · 4 years

Text

Death and Separation: Emerging Trends in Pop Culture Franchises

Warning: The following essay contains ending and character death spoilers for Voltron: Legendary Defender, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Game of Thrones, and everything released under the Disney umbrella since January 2017. That includes Marvel, Star Wars, and vanilla Disney movies, both animated and live action.

I’ve noticed a pattern in the last couple of years of media consumption.

Since 2017, there has been a string of major releases by major companies or networks that featured story decisions that proved controversial with audiences. Now, such things on their own aren’t really a big deal because for the most part there’s always going to be some fans who aren’t satisfied with how a story turned out, regardless of their reasons.

But what I’m noticing is that there is a pattern to which elements fans are criticizing and why.

As I became aware of this trend I started looking back at media released in the last few years and noticing that many of these stories were featuring the same plot elements, whether they worked for the story or not:

One common point I noticed is how many of these franchises have taken morally complicated characters that were popular with audiences, and permanently killed them off in ways which a lot of people have found narratively unsatisfying:

In Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Ben Solo manages to achieve his redemption and turn back to the light after all prior supplementary material showed how Snoke preyed on his feelings of abandonment to groom him into joining the dark side. After being redeemed, his contribution to the story’s climax is being thrown into a pit, where he stays until after Palpatineis defeated, and upon climbing out finds the girl he loves dead. Ben then uses the force to heal Rey and restore her to life, only to immediately kick the bucket himself, after which point the narrative ceases to acknowledge him in any way.

Loki and his brother Thor reconcile at the end of 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, only for the film’s post credits scene to herald their encounter with Loki’s former “employer” Thanos. The next time audiences see Loki in the opening minutes of Avengers: Infinity War, he’s strangled to death on-screen by Thanos following a failed assassination attempt before the film’s title card has even appeared. Despite theories that he had faked his death and would return in Avengers: Endgame, the only versions of Loki to appear in the finale of the Infinity Saga are past versions from alternate timelines, with only the characters dusted during Infinity War being brought back to life.

Gamora escapes from her abusive father figure Thanos in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and spends subsequent films building a life for herself outside of Thanos’ toxic influence, with the sequel focusing on her repairing her relationship with her sister Nebula. After being captured by Thanos and forced to bring him to the Soul Stone, Thanos flings her off a cliff to her death when he learns that obtaining the Soul Stone will require him to sacrifice someone he loves, and awakens in a pool of water with the stone in his hand. Despite theories she would be brought back to life in Avengers: Endgame, but like Loki, the only versions of Gamora to appear were from alternate timelines that lacked the dead version’s character development.

Black Widow’s defining character trait across the Infinity Saga has been her desire to eliminate “the red in her ledger” to atone for the things she did when the Red Room had raised her to be an assassin. In Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow sacrifices herself to obtain the Soul Stone in the past to give her close friend Clint Barton a second chance to come back from the brutal path of vengeance the death of his family had set him on, in the same way that he had given her a second chance to build a better life for herself when they first met.

In Voltron: Legendary Defender’s third season, Prince Lotor is introduced as a morally ambiguous figure with unclear motives. When forced on the run by his tyrannical father, he forms an alliance with the Paladins of Voltron and eventually develops a romance with Princess Allura. In the sixth season, Lotor is accused of mass murder of the survivors of Allura’s destroyed planet and their alliance falls apart. Lotor insists that his intentions for peace are genuine, but his efforts to explain himself fall on deaf ears, and after a battle, is left for dead in the Quintessence Field. The second episode of the final seasons fills in the details of his abusive childhood while showing that despite what he’d suffered, he was genuine in his desire for peace. Seasons 6 through 8 are sprinkled with hints that Lotor was innocent of the crimes he was accused of, but despite Season 8 Episode 6 Genesis depicting him being still alive after four years in the Quintessence Field, the audience is treated to an image of his melted corpse four episodes later, while his abusive mother searches alternate realities for a better version of him.

The first seven seasons of Game of Thrones depict Daenerys Targaryen as someone from an abusive family who was nevertheless determined to rise above her turbulent upbringing and make the world a better place. Over the course of the eighth and final season, her new allies disrespect her, her lover repeatedly betrays her trust, and her advisers not only question her mental stability but immediately attempt to undermine her campaign as soon as a male heir to the throne from her bloodline is presented to them. When her trusted confidant is murdered in the penultimate episode, she snaps and burns large swaths of the capitol to the ground with dragon fire. In the series finale, her remaining advisers convince her lover to kill her for the good of the realm, and her destructive rage is presented as who she always was.

In the narrative of these characters’ stories, some of these fit with the themes of that character’s story arc. Black Widow sacrificing herself makes sense because of the symmetry with what we know of her backstory. Clint Barton gave her a second chance and guided her back from the dark path she was on when they first met, and in Avengers: Endgame, she returns the favor. Her death, while upsetting to many fans for different reasons, fits within the context of her personal narrative arc from across the last decade of Marvel movies.

While Daenerys turning into a Mad Queen like her father would still be disappointing to fans hoping to see her disprove the “madness is in the blood” ideas about her family, it wouldn’t have come entirely out of nowhere. The hints that she had the potential to go down that path were there, even if many hoped it would only remain potential. One of the biggest issues is how Season 8 portrayed her descent into madness. Her cruelty towards King’s Landing is treated not as the rage of someone who has been pushed too far, but that this is who she always was.

Meanwhile Ben Solo’s death came suddenly and abruptly after repeated narrative fakeouts that he came back from. The previous films, novels, and comics had built him up as a victim of abuse and set up audiences to anticipate him breaking free of the Dark Side and finding a happy ending, likely while working to atone for his actions as Kylo Ren. But despite his actor having been promised that Ben Solo’s story would not end the same way that Darth Vader’s did, that was exactly what happened: with the redeemed villain dying to save a person they loved.

The context may differ, but there is a visible pattern of major genre franchises in the last year taking this type of complicated character and either killing them off when they’re finally in a good place mentally and emotionally, or in the case of Lotor and Daenerys, striping away their happiness to force them into the role of a one-dimensional tyrant and then killing them off. Lotor’s case is even more egregious because there were unanswered questions and inconsistencies surrounding his alleged crimes that after his death were never explained.

While I doubt the creators of any of these titles set out to intentionally hurt people who identified with these characters, their narrative choices still send very damaging messages.

These character’s backstories involve them either intentionally or unintentionally set up to fail by the people around them. Where most characters begin with a blank slate, theirs was already written in with expectations, pressure, violence, condemnation, control, manipulation, and/or outright subjugation. Fans young and old find them relatable because of similar rough pasts or trauma, often because or in spite of their grey moral compasses. This type of character resonates with audiences because they represent what it means to be human - to struggle, to make mistakes, and to have the ability to atone for them in the end.

Except in recent stories they don’t ever get that chance. Seeing Ben Solo and Lotor and Daenerys and Loki denied a chance at a happy ending tells people who identify with them that they will never find happiness. That their struggle toward the light is doomed to fail and will only end in death.

And that isn’t the only divisive trend that’s been observed in recent years. Since 2018, there have been sequels and series finales where the characters whose bond was the core of the story go their separate ways either after the conflict has been resolved or as the means to resolve the conflict:

In the series finale of Star Wars: Rebels, audience viewpoint character Ezra Bridger forces Grand Admiral Thrawn’s Star Destroyer fleet into hyperspace to protect the capital city of his planet Lothal from orbital bombardment. This separates him from his Found Family, and due to their commitments to the rebellion it isn’t until several years later that they set out to find him and bring him home.

During the course of Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2, Vanellope von Schweetz becomes enamored with the virtual world of the internet, having grown tired of the routine of her life in the arcade in the five years since the original movie. Ralph’s desire for life to stay the same and his insecurities over losing his best friend drive the plot of the movie, and the conflict is resolved when Ralph learns to let go of his insecurities and respect Vanellope’s wishes. Ralph returns to the arcade while Vanellope remains on the internet, though they stay in touch via video chat.

The series finale of Voltron: Legendary Defender depicts the surviving paladins going their separate ways after the war ends, only meeting up once a year for a memorial dinner to honor Allura’s sacrifice. Lance is depicted with the markings of Allura’s people branded on his face, grieving her as he spends his days working on his family’s farm. Keith returns to the stars to restructure the Blade of Marmora into a peacetime organization. Hunk becomes a galactic chef, while Pidge returns to Earth to build robots at the Garrison. A year after the series, Shiro retires from the job he loves and marries one of the men on the bridge crew for the Atlas.

In order to protect the dragons of Berk from Grimmel the dragon hunter, Hiccup must send Toothless away so that the Night Fury can lead the Berkian dragons to the safety of the Hidden World. Year later Hiccan and Astrid take their children to the entrance of the Hidden World where they reunite with their dragon friends and their children.

In order to defeat Thanos and his army, Iron Man uses the Infinity Stones to snap Thanos’ legions out of existence at the cost of his own life. Following Tony’s funeral, Captain America returns the Stones to their original timeline before settling down in an alternate timeline to live a peaceful life with Peggy Carter in the 1940s. After reaching old age, Steve returns to his original timeline and passes the mantle of Captain America on to Sam Wilson along with the repaired shield. Thor abdicates the throne of New Asgard to Valkyrie before setting off to the stars with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hawkeye returns to the quiet farm life with his wife and children, and the remaining heroes all go their separate ways.

After the death of Daenerys in the series finale of Game of Thrones, the Westerosi nobility decided to form an elected monarchy, choosing Bran Stark as the next king of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa returns to Winterfell, where she becomes Queen of the North, while Jon Snow is “exiled” beyond the wall, and Arya sets sail to explore lands west of Westeros.

In Toy Story 4, Woody is feeling pushed to the side as Bonny plays with him less than she does the other toys. After getting lost on a road trip, Woody is reunited with his lost love, Bo Peep, who has been living alone scavenging from humans rather than being played with by a single child. After rescuing Bonnie’s new toy Forky, Woody and Bo race to get everyone back to the RV before Bonny’s family leaves. Before boarding the RV, Woody ultimately decides to stay with Bo, and he parts ways with the rest of Andy’s toys as the film ends.

After the previous film was about Maleficent becoming a surrogate mother figure to Aurora, the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, is about Maleficent learning to let her daughter grow up and leave the nest. After Queen Ingrid’s crusade against the fairies is thwarted, Maleficent gives her blessing for Aurora’s marriage to Phillip and lets her adopted daughter go. Maleficent returns to the Moors with the promise that she will return when Aurora and Phillip have a child of their own.

In the course of uncovering and making amends for their bigoted grandfather’s actions against the Northuldra people, Elsa and Anna learn that the rumored fifth spirit that bridges the mortal and the supernatural is actually them and their bond. After breaking the curse on the Enchanted Forest, Elsa abdicated her throne and remains in the forest to continue exploring the full extent of her powers while Anna takes the throne. Thanks to the magic of the other elemental spirits, the sisters remain in constant contact, with Elsa returning to Arendelle for regular visits.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker establishes that Ben Solo and Rey are a dyad in the Force - literal soulmates. At the end of the movie, Rey sacrifices her life to destroy Palpatine, and after climbing up from the pit he was tossed into, Ben uses the Force to heal Rey’s wounds and bring her back to life, at which point he immediately dies. After a victory celebration with the Resistance, Rey travels to Tatooine and is last seen burying Luke and Leia’s lightsabers in the sands outside the farm where Luke grew up.

As with the trend of killing off morally complicated characters, some of these examples work within the context of the film.

Motherhood was an important element of Maleficent’s arc across the two live action films, and learning to let her daughter leave the nest is a classic lesson in a parental figure’s character arc.

Hiccup and Toothless parting ways fits with the How To Train Your Dragon series’ focus on protecting the dragons and the animal conservation message that comes with that.

Ezra being separated from his found family at the end of Rebels was a way to maintain Luke Skywalker’s status as the only Jedi working for the rebellion in the original movies without permanently killing Ezra off, and the show’s writers left the door open for a potential sequel focused on Sabine following his trail to bring him home.

Other examples, however, do not align with the themes of their respective franchises.

Game of Thrones spent several seasons focusing on the surviving Stark children as they find their way back to each other. Sending them all in different directions at the end feels disappointing and pointless after they had finally been reunited in the previous season.

The Paladins of Voltron finding their own careers after the war that take them to different parts of the galaxy but still making the effort to consistently stay in contact makes sense in theory, but with the death of Allura it comes across as if her passing broke the team apart.

While the original Avengers going their separate ways to let a new generation of heroes step into the limelight seems like an organic conclusion to the Infinity Saga, Captain America’s ending in particular feels like a regression. His character arc across his previous solo films has been about moving forward, and Endgame concludes with him literally going backward.

It’s been common for fan complaints over these story elements to be directed mainly at the people directly responsible for making each project - the showrunners, the movie directors, the script writers…… But I couldn’t help but notice just how many of these examples for both trends fell under the Disney umbrella.

And then I remembered that Infinity War, Endgame, and The Rise of Skywalker all had reshoots done at some point in the production process.

It really makes me wonder how much of these disliked story decisions were really the individual directors’ and showrunners’ decisions and how much were mandated by someone higher up the ladder. And I can’t help but notice the demographics of the people in charge of these companies and the people affected by them.

The demographics of fans that enjoy morally complicated characters and want them to have a happy ending, that enjoy stories where the the characters who bonded over the course of the story stay together after their mutual goal is achieved, are from what I’ve observed predominantly made up of women, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, nonwhite people, and people with mental illnesses.

And most of the people in charge of these story decisions are cis, straight, neurotypipcal, able-bodied white men. The CEO of Disney... The showrunners of Game of Thrones….. Voltron’s a little more complicated because while Dreamworks made the show they didn’t own the franchise, but the Voltron IP owner is a straight white male.

These stories are controlled by straight white men, and the audiences that have the biggest negative reactions to these story decisions are women, LGBTQ+ people, and POC.

Companies may talk about having more diversity on camera and behind the camera, but the people at the top of the corporate hierarchy - the ones with the money and therefore the ultimate control over what gets released to the public - are for the most part the same demographic as they've always been.

And all of these show finales and movies have been released within the last four years, as fandom spaces and American public discourse in general have become increasingly polarized into a black and white mentality with no room for nuance. Where someone can only be either a perfect ally or an offensive oppressor. This trend in killing off morally complicated characters in ways that don’t always work for their character arc has also coincided with the rise of fandom’s pearl clutching over moral purity and whether a villain or anti villain “deserves” a redemption arc.

Your first instinct will probably be to dismiss what I’m suggesting, insisting that these are just shows and movies and that they don’t matter. That it’s Not That DeepTM. But more often than not the media we consume is a reflection of the world around us. And we are seeing a pattern that as fandom becomes increasingly obsessed with purity and enforces a “one strike and you’re a monster” mentality, the major franchises of pop culture are producing stories where people who aren’t clear-cut Pure Good Heroes or Pure Evil Villains die.

Also, dismissing people’s thoughts about the social messages of a movie or show, insisting that we’re wrong for saying that something doesn’t fit with the story so far, is part of the problem. Having critics and other fans praising the stories we feel hurt by and dismissing our criticisms as, for example, whiny shippers mad that our favorite pairings didn’t happen, has a very stifling, damaging effect. It tells us over and over again that this is the way that stories are supposed to be, and that there is something weird, broken, wrong with us for not being satisfied with stories that break up the Found Family or kill off your morally messed up fave regardless of whether it actually makes sense for the story.

It leaves us isolated and alienated from wider fandom discussions because we’re told it again and again until we internalize it that we’re in the wrong. That people just don’t want to make the kinds of stories we want to see. That we’re paranoid for suspecting that there is a pattern when we see this happen over and over. But it’s clear from the way that some creators have acted - going from excitedly promoting their work to complete silence after the initial disappointment over the finale - that there are creators who want to tell those kinds of stories, but they are being silenced. They are being forced to change the stories they wanted to tell because someone in charge didn’t like that kind of story, and because of their NDAs are forced to either keep silent, or lie and take credit for decisions that weren’t theirs.

It’s easy to dismiss these story decisions as a coincidence. To believe that all of these creators made similar decisions on their own. That they just fucked up a beautiful story on their own with no intervention from someone higher up the corporate ladder. It’s a comforting option. It makes us feel like our criticisms have an impact. Because the alternative? That creators can and have been forced to change their stories because the person at the top doesn’t think that it’ll sell well if it doesn’t cater to the demographic they consider most important? That’s terrifying.

#media analysis #meta #trends I'm seeing in popular franchises

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mlmanakin · 4 years

Note

Okay okay king because your taste is impeccable, I need your sw book recs

to preface all of this: i recommend reading what you’re interested in. in my experience, there isn’t really any star wars book that is so exceptional that i would recommend it even if you don’t care about the main character(s) or subject(s). (i say this... but there are a few recs that i mention you should try reading even if you’re not interested in the character[s] or subject[s].)

and my book rec list ended up being (almost) every book i’ve read in recent memory, so that should be an indication of how uncritical i am when it comes to books. these books range from “must-read that i've reread too many times to count” to “i read it once and enjoyed it well enough,” so i starred (⭐) a few standouts from the list.

here’s a link to a masterpost of legends book downloads.

books

canon

⭐ the ahsoka novel. some of ahsoka’s adventures between the clone wars and rebels. bonus: audiobook is voiced by ashley eckstein. ahsoka’s story in the “present” is fine, but the real standout moments in this book are the flashbacks and ahsoka reflecting on her past.

a new dawn. some of kanan and hera’s adventures before rebels.

master & apprentice. some of qui-gon and obi-wan’s adventures before the phantom menace.

from a certain point of view. an anthology of short stories focused around a new hope, told from unique perspectives. by its nature as an anthology featuring dozens of authors, it’s a mixed bag, but worth a read - and you can always skip a story that isn’t holding your interest.

legends

⭐ all of the prequel novelizations (both junior and adult), especially matthew stover’s revenge of the sith. if you love the prequels, you’ll love them even more after reading these. if you don’t love the prequels, you’ll learn to love them after reading these.

⭐ the legends clone wars books (the clone wars by karen traviss, wild space by karen miller, no prisoners by karen traviss, stealth by karen miller, and siege by karen miller). released after the 2008 tv show began but before the disney takeover (i.e. feature ahsoka). i haven’t actually read these myself, but they are highly and widely recommended by others, so i’m putting them here. (and i have read a few bits and pieces that were... WHEW!!!!!!!)

i would recommend some more myself but my memory of the other legends books i have read is very weak, so just check out padawanlost’s book rec tag here - it’s what i’ll be using when i finally get back into legends books.

comics

canon

i’m dividing this into two tiers bc i’ve read so many. upper tier is more highly recommended than lower tier, but lower tier is definitely still worth a read.

upper tier:

⭐ the age of republic comics. some adventures of various republic era characters (qui-gon, obi-wan, anakin, padme, maul, jango [and boba], dooku, grievous, rex, asajj, mace). even if you’re not interested in the main character of an issue, i’d recommend reading it anyway. they’re very short and very good. + i haven’t read them, but there are age of rebellion and age of resistance comics as well if you’re interested in that.

the kanan comics. some of kanan’s adventures both before and during rebels.

the thrawn comics. some of thrawn’s adventures before his appearance in rebels, featuring pryce as well. an adaption of the first book in the new thrawn trilogy, which i haven’t read yet - although i plan to and it’s pretty widely praised.

the obi-wan & anakin comics. some of obi-wan and anakin’s adventures after the phantom menace.

the darth maul comics (marvel 2017). some of maul’s adventures before the phantom menace.

the star wars adventures: clone wars - battle tales comics. some of the clones’ adventures during the very beginning of the clone wars, featuring some jedi as well. currently releasing. the first issue was some superb lighthearted clone wars content.

lower tier:

the main star wars adventures comics (i.e. the battle tales comics are essentially a spin-off of this). some of (almost) everyone’s adventures all over the star wars timeline. i haven’t read all of them, but if you like the battle tales comics, they’re very similar and worked on by some of the same people.

the son of dathomir comics. some of maul’s adventures between the lawless and the siege of mandalore.

the dark lord of the sith comics. some of vader’s adventures between revenge of the sith and a new hope.

the main star wars comic series (marvel 2015). some of the original trio’s adventures between a new hope and the empire strikes back.

the main darth vader comic series (marvel 2015). some of vader’s adventures between a new hope and the empire strikes back.

legends

⭐ the legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. released before the 2008 tv show began (i.e. do not feature ahsoka). feature a variety of characters throughout the clone wars.

the other legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. released after the 2008 tv show began but before the disney takeover (i.e. feature ahsoka). each comic arc is like an arc from the tv show. includes the comic that the slaves of the republic arc was adapted from.

the other other legends clone wars comics, listed here so you know what i’m talking about. companions to episodes of the 2008 tv show, usually a more detailed prologue for the episode.

the star wars visionaries comics. the content of the visionaries comics is difficult to describe, but the comics are a mixed bag with some beautiful art by the revenge of the sith concept artists. a few very interesting stories, including maul with cybernetic legs returning to tatooine to fight obi-wan... and this was released in 2005 🤔 (although i don’t think that story specifically was ever considered canon.)

the comic adaptations of the prequels.

bonus: not books or comics

these aren’t books or comics but they’re not movies or tv shows, so i’m including them here.

⭐ knights of the old republic i & ii. excellent star wars video games. gameplay is dated, but knights of the old republic ii specifically is top-tier star wars content, especially if you’re into the force, the jedi, the sith, etc. if you’re a fan of other bioware or obsidian games (fallout, mass effect, dragon age, etc.), you should definitely try these.

⭐ forces of destiny. excellent ~2-minute animated shorts on youtube focused on female characters. superb lighthearted content. “unexpected company” is the best.

#ask #anonymous #i really don't read many books anymore #and what i do read i forget so fast #i swear this summer is gonna be my sw book renaissance #i did not go back a proofread this so...#sorry if i'm incoherent

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funeralmoons · 5 years

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Chapters: 1/? Fandoms:Star Wars - All Media Types Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017) Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo Arihnda Pryce Orson Krennic Wilhuff Tarkin Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious Darth Vader Additional Tags: Alternate Universe Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Star Wars: Thrawn: Treason Spoilers AU Rebels season 4 au inspired by treason and where things in that could go without space whales you could say this is thryce and it may come to be written like that i'm not sure yet either way it's hardly ever going to be happy thryce except that they'll have suffering headaches thanks to krennic in common also expect some blending of canon and legends and most likely writing thrawn more like his legends version or at least getting him to that point as the story progresses i.e. becoming more like the asshole we all know and love

Summary: "I think, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, it is time you be allowed to witness Stardust for yourself."

For one with such orderly thoughts so difficult to read, even for the likes of Sidious, seeing the Chiss express such a clear reaction of shock was gratifying in the extreme.

Despite bringing an end to the rebellion on Lothal, Grand Admiral Thrawn's position after the recent and unexpected encounter with his own people is, in the eyes of his Emperor, still a precarious one. Likewise, his former ally Arihnda Pryce is facing the reality that the Empire's business with her homeworld is done, and her own place in the Imperial hierarchy may be about to slip from her grasp. Desperate to prove themselves and hold on to all that they've accomplished, the two are unexpectedly brought together once again for an assignment neither of them desire, but will need to prove successful in if they wish to continue playing their parts for the Empire.

#star wars #thrawn #thrawn treason #grand admiral thrawn #arihnda pryce #orson krennic #director krennic #wilhuff tarkin #grand moff tarkin #thryce #fic #ao3 #*kicks m'leggy up* hello there

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gffa · 4 years

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There are many things about Star Wars Legends’ continuity that I enjoy and still miss being an active part of the canon, as well as I’m with Pablo on this--it doesn’t really matter if it’s Canon or Legends, only if you enjoy it as a story or not! Lots of fans do a lot of cool things with Legends and that’s great, we’re under no obligation to (or does LF even want us to) forget or never play with Legends materials! But what’s interesting to me (as someone who has spent a lot of time sort of trying to filter out all this stuff in my own mind, to highlight for myself what’s my assumption, what’s common fanon, what’s actually said by the creators, etc.) is that Lucasfilm was always pretty consistent about how George Lucas never considered any of the EU canon. Even when he borrowed elements that looked fun or cool from it, it still wasn’t canon to his Star Wars. That doesn’t make it not canon unto its own Legends self! But it wasn’t part of his Star Wars. Nor is it part of the Lucasfilm Canon now--which I think you could separate out from George Lucas’ Star Wars if you wanted (which would basically then just be the first six movies + TCW) but they’ve repeatedly said that they’re trying to stay true to George’s themes and worldbuilding as much as they can, as well as the Story Group has talked about how Legends is not a great example of worldbuilding that’s consistent with George’s, especially when it comes to the use of the Force. That’s why this collection of quotes from @grim-on-the-darkside is so fascinating and I really wanted to collect them together (from here and here) to have them in one easy to find place! How it pretty clearly shows that the EU was never meant to be canon to George Lucas’ SW, not before he made the prequels + TCW and not after. ➜ "There's this notion that everything changed when everything became Legends. And I can see why people think that. But, you know, having worked with George I can tell you that it was always very clear -- and he made it very clear -- that the films and the TV shows were the only things that he considered Canon. That was it." So everything else was a world of fun ideas, exciting characters, great possibilities, the EU was created to explore all those things. But from the filmmaking world I was brought into, the films and TV shows were it". --Dave Filoni speaking about working with George Lucas, The Star Wars Show ➜ “Lucas’ canon – and when I say ‘his canon’, I’m talking about what he was doing in the films and what he was doing in The Clone Wars – was hugely important. But what we were doing in the books really wasn’t on his radar.” --Leland Chee, 2018 ➜ "Dave Filoni is better equipped to relay Lucas’ true feelings about the EU." --Leland Chee ➜ "The terminology of 'Expanded Universe’ was a careful one; it expanded on the world created in the core stories, but was never officially meant to be Star Wars canon, according to the Maker himself, George Lucas." --Dave Filoni 2017 ➜ "The EU is a well of ideas, and there's what's on screen. They don't live in the same universe. Everyone wants to think so, I know… We just need to think of it all as a creative collection of fun ideas separate from what George Lucas has made." --Dave Filoni articulates his opinion and treatment of the Expanded Universe ➜ Pablo Hidalgo on Lucas and the EU being separate Universes: "He [Lucas] only considers his movies and TV projects as his universe, and told the Clone Wars writers to only worry about those." ➜ "In the old days, George Lucas saw his universe as seperate from publishing [EU].He wasn'tat all interested in connecting." --Pablo Hidalgo [Lucasfilm Story Group] 2016 ➜ But Lucas allows for an Expanded Universe that exists parallel to the one he directly oversees. […] Though these [Expanded Universe] stories may get his stamp of approval, they don’t enter his canon unless they are depicted cinematically in one of his projects.” --Pablo Hidalgo, Star Wars: The Essential Reader’s Companion, October 2nd, 2012 ➜ "Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the biggest education on how George Lucas saw his Universe. Over 44 hours of his storytelling compared to the 13 hours or so he spent in live action." --Pablo Hidalgo 2018 ➜ “For me and my training here at Lucasfilm, working with George, he and I always thought the Expanded Universe was just that. It was an expanded universe. Basically it’s stories that are really fun and really exciting, but they’re a view on Star Wars, not necessarily canon to him.That was the way it was from the day I walked into Lucasfilm with him all through Clone Wars, everything we worked on, he felt the Clone Wars series and his movies were what was actually the reality of it all, the canon..." --Dave Filoni ➜ "From Issue 77 Of Insider, Using Dark Empire & The Thrawn Trilogy As Examples.Those works are the creation of their respective authors with the guidance of editors at Lucas Licensing. They are not, nor ever were, meant to be George Lucas' definitive vision of what happens next" ➜ "That’s one of the biggest debates in Star Wars, what counts? The idea of what is canon? When I talk to George I know that he considers his movies, this series and his live-action series canon." --Dave Filoni, SW:TCW 2008 ➜ "This is Star Wars, and I don't make a distinction between [The Clone Wars] series and the films." --George Lucas, SciFiNow, October 2011 ➜ "'The Clone Wars' was rooted in George Lucas and his characters." --Dave Filoni ➜ "And now there have been novels about the events after Episode VI, which isn't at all what I would have done with it. The Star Wars story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. That is the story. Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married..." --George Lucas, Flannelled One, May 2008, "George Lucas", 'TF Interview', Total Film Magazine ➜ ”The novels and comic books are other authors' interpretations of my creation. Sometimes, I tell them what they can and cant do, but I just don't have the time to read them all. They're not my vision of what Star Wars is.” --George Lucas 2004 ➜ ”Those [novels] are another author's interpretation of what I've created, and not to be taken seriously, as far as what is really going on in the Star Wars world.” --George Lucas ➜ Q: “What do you think of the Expanded Universe of books?” A: "The books are in a different universe. I've not read any of them, and I told them when they started writing I wouldn't read any of them and I blocked out certain periods [they couldn't touch where the real story happens]." --George Lucas 2003 ➜ "Howard Roffman [President of Lucas Licensing], He once said to me that there are two Star Trek universes: there's the TV show and then there's all the spin-offs. He said that these were completely different and didn't have anything to do with each other. So I said, ‘OK, go ahead.’” --George Lucas 2008 ➜ "I don't even read the offshoot books that come out based on Star Wars." --George Lucas, Flannelled One, July 1999 ➜ "I don't read that stuff. I haven't read any of the novels. I don't know anything about that world. That's a different world than my world. ...When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that, like Star Trek, we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one.” --George Lucas ➜ “There are two worlds here,” explained Lucas. “There’s my world, which is the movies, and there’s this other world that has been created, which I say is the parallel universe – the licensing world of the books, games and comic books." --George Lucas 2005 ➜ "George knows more about Star Wars than we do. He doesn't see the Expanded Universe as ”his” Star Wars, but as ”ours.” I think this has been mentioned previously, maybe in other places, but it's not new info, as far as I remember." --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor), Jun 2004 ➜ “He also said that when they started doing all this (which is allowing other storytellers to tell their own SW tales), he had decreed that the Star Wars Universe would be split into two just like Star Trek (I don't know nuts about Star Trek, so don't ask me about that), one would be his own universe (the six episode movie saga), the other would be a whole other universe (the Expanded Universe). He continued to say that the EU tries a EU tries as much as possible to tie in to his own universe, but sometimes they move into a whole other line of their own." --Sue Rostoni,LLP 2005 ➜ “Working on ‘Clone Wars,’ it was always canon.” --Dave Filoni ➜ "The TV series is exactly like the movies, exactly. I mean, you can see it in the clip. It’s basically just the movies only with cartoon characters. It’s basically a dramatic series, there’s a lot of action, a bit of humor." --George Lucas, 2008 Interview about the Clone Wars series. ➜ "What George did with the films and The Clone Wars was pretty much his universe,” Chee said. “He didn’t really have that much concern for what we were doing in the books and games. So the Expanded Universe was very much separate." --Leland Chee, 2017 - SYFY WIRE ➜ "The dual universe question comes up often. I know George Lucas has mentioned it being two universes, but that’s not how I see it. His vision is definitely not beholden to ours, but ours is definitely beholden to his." --Leland Chee 2012 ➜ “The G/C/S-level canon stuff is a construct specifically for the Holocron. Non-Holocron users would have no idea what this stuff even means and I would say most of the people who use the Holocron don't use the field, instead looking specifically to the source of the material. Individual entries are not broken down by canon level.” --Leland Chee 2005 ➜ "I didn't have any direct contact with George about Star Wars. - I would see some notes based on the interviews or the meetings. But I did not have direct contact with George about Star Wars continuity." --Leland Chee 2018 ➜ “Those of us writing the EU were always told, all along, from the very beginning* (have I stressed that strongly enough?), *“Only the Movies are Canon.” Sure, it was disappointing." --Kathy Tyers, EU author [Truce at Bakura] ➜ "They’re there to be enjoyed as unofficial Legends. But, as Zahn also points out, the Expanded Universe wasn’t really ever official regardless of what the fans thought." --Timothy Zahn 2017 ➜ "In the canon debate, it is important to notice that LucasFilm and Lucas are different entities. The only canon source of Star Wars are the radio plays, the movie novels and the movies themselves - in Lucas' mind, nothing else exists, and no authorized LucasFilm novel will restrict his creativity in any way." --Steven Sansweet, EU Author - Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm Ltd. ➜ "It's not something we can really worry about, so we don't. Lots of people have been working on lots of SW extrapolations for the last twenty years, in good faith. There were never any promises from George Lucas or Lucasfilm regarding the acceptance of their work into some wider canon." --Peet Janes, Dark Horse Comics Editor, Dec. 1998 ➜ "[Steven Sansweet] was asked specifically if any of the characters like Admiral Thrawn and so on would make appearances in AoTC or the movie thereafter, and *he responded quite clearly that that all the EU material is ”taking place in a separate universe”.* [...] there were quite a few nasty mumbles from the audience when he (Sansweet) said what he said." --Steven Sansweet, EU Author - Director of Content Management and head of Fan Relations at Lucasfilm ➜ "It is unfortunate that [EU author Karen Traviss is] moving on because [of] her opinion that canon is being changed. I guess the big problem is the assumption that her work is canon in the first place. After working with George on The Clone Wars series I know there are elements of her work that are not in line with his vision of Star Wars" ~ Henry Gilroy, SW:TCW Head Write 2008 ➜ Dark Empire Introduction - Kevin J. Anderson: "When you read Dark Empire, or any of the other novels [EU] remember that although Lucasfilm has approved them, these are our sequels, not George Lucas's. If Lucasfilm ever makes films that take place after Return of the Jedi, they will be George Lucas's own creations, probably with no connection to anything we have written. But in the meantime, enjoy these graphic stories, read the novels of Timothy Zahn, Kathy Tyers, Kenneth Flynt, Dave Wolverton, and myself.[Kevin J. Anderson]" ➜ "Canon is only what's on the screen. - Episodes I-VI, TCW and what's to come." --Pablo Hidalgo, 2013 ➜ Question - "My question is, what did George's treatments for 7 look like? I would love to see if they fit the EU.” "They did not. For instance, there was no Jaina, Jacen, or Anakin.” --Pablo Hidalgo, 2017 ➜ "There was no Ben Skywalker in George's Universe. He came from the NJO team." --Pablo Hidalgo 2016 ➜ "Question from Today, but I thought this was pretty well known. George Lucas never considered Jacen, Jaina, or Mara [Jade] as part of his universe." --Pablo Hidalgo May 2016 ➜ "I had to explain to George who Han and Leia's children were once." --Pablo Hidalgo 2019 ➜ Comment - "I remember George specifically saying Luke never married or had a child, I think." Response - "That was his [Lucas] take, especially in reaction to Mara Jade. Jedi vows and all that." --Pablo Hidalgo 2019 ➜ "Fast forward to 2012, when we hear George is looking to make SW movies again, I thought 'I wonder what next Mon Calamari's gonna be. And it turns out, the Mon Calamari this time was huge swaths of the EU. There was no Jacen, no Jaina. No new Jedi Order. Chewie lived.” --Pablo Hidalgo ➜ "Does the main storyline for books and comics go through Lucas to make sure it isn't going to conflict with future movies?" "No. George doesn't give us much information about his future movies until he's making them. In general, George does not take the EU into account when he's making his movies." --Sue Rostoni, LucasBooks/LL Managing Editor, July 17, 2003 ➜ "I know that GL doens't create the storys and cocepts for the SW novels, but does anyone know if he approves overall story ideas?” “George doesn't see the overall story ideas or concepts. If there is a sensitive area, or if we are developing backstory for a character he's created or mentioned in an interview, we can query him to get more information, his approval, or whatever. And yes, we always query him if we're doing something drastic to a film character. I believe he does read the concepts for the games though." --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor), Jun 2004 ➜ “As far as ‘legitimate continuation of the films’ -- If George had continued making SW films past Return of the Jedi, I don't think they would have reflected what the SW authors have written. The books, comics, etc., are a ‘legitimate continuation’ of the Star Wars saga as we [Lucas Licensing] define it. I'm not certain of the context of your question -- somehow I feel like I'm walking into something here...." --Sue Rostoni, Lucas Licensing (LLP Managing Editor) ➜ George Lucas’ Episode VII + George Lucas' Ideas for His Own Star Wars Sequel Trilogy + The Original Plans for the Sequel Trilogy - YouTube ➜ Did George Lucas Consider the Expanded Universe Canon? ➜ “No, GWL has not given directives as to how things are entered in the Holocron." --Leland Chee, 2004.12.17 ➜ "...applies only to the Holocron, but is not the same as their standing in LFL's canon hierarchy.I'm unclear as to the definition of LFL in this case. I know of no other internal hierarchy currently in use.” --Leland Chee, 2004 ➜ Once I heard that George Lucas was asked to comment on the many interpretations of Star Wars in book, comic, record, radio and TV spin-offs that grew from his original creation. 'The films are gospel,' he said, 'all the rest are gossip.' I like that." --Andy Mangels, EU Author, Dec. 1995

#george lucas #dave filoni #leland chee #pablo hidalgo #legends #canon #long post

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alizrak · 4 years

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Chaos Rising Review (Spoilers under the cut)

Non-spoiler review:

Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy (Book I: Chaos Rising) is a fascinating new book by Timothy Zahn that takes us on a journey between the “present” and flashbacks, looking at Thrawn’s early days starting with the Academy. It’s an examination of how these experiences slowly serve to build him up as the character we have come to know in the newer “Imperial Trilogy”, as seen in Thrawn 2017, Thrawn: Alliances, and Thrawn: Treason.

“The peace of the Ascendancy, a beacon of calm and stability, is shattered after a daring attack on the Chiss capital that leaves no trace of the enemy. Baffled, the Ascendancy dispatches one of its brightest young military officers to root out the unseen assailants. A recruit born of no title, but adopted into the powerful family of the Mitth and given the name Thrawn.

With the might of the Expansionary Fleet at his back, and the aid of his comrade Admiral Ar'alani, answers begin to fall into place. But as Thrawn's first command probes deeper into the vast stretch of space his people call the Chaos, he realizes that the mission he has been given is not what it seems. And the threat to the Ascendancy is only just beginning.”

For me, this book has become a personal favorite on par with Thrawn (2017), and it does so by bringing an amazing cast of characters to life in the galaxy far, far away. Learning about them and how they interact with Thrawn and each other is the book’s greatest strength.

The way the Chiss culture is explored here feels fresh and gives the Ascendancy a life of its own. There is a tug of war going on between the military and the civilian side of their society, something I was looking for beyond the conflict of the Empire and the Rebels/Republic. This also means the Ascendancy has a “complicated” relationship with Thrawn that adds to what we already know is his weakness… politics.

For newcomers, this is a great starting point. You’ll get to the core of who Thrawn is and why he behaves the way he does during the “Imperial Trilogy”. There’s still a very marked difference between this Thrawn and the Rebels version, which makes me appreciate the books even more. You’ll root for these characters and wish things turn out well for them because we know that getting swept up in Thrawn’s plans can be a very dangerous proposition.

Thrawn’s genius still shines through during the battles and while we know he survives these encounters, there are consequences and repercussions for each of his victories and for the people around him. In any case, while you can obviously expect math and physics to play a big part during the battles, this might be the story with the most HEART of all the Thrawn books. There are moments of joy, sadness, fear, confusion, and a fair amount of HOPE, things we don’t always get from a Thrawn-centric story. It affected me deeply and I read it again as soon as I finished. Hopefully, you’ll feel the same way.

I'm so grateful to Zahn for writing this story and I can’t wait to see where it goes in books two and three. I highly recommend this book!

9/10

SPOILER REVIEW:

From the very beginning, I was swept up in the emotions of the story, something I was not expecting. The memories of young Thrawn getting thrown into the politics of the Mitth and the struggles of being a Navigator from Thalias surprised me by how much my heart hurt for them. And yet, there’s always a hint of hope and that reminder that someone in the universe does care, bringing a smile to my face.

Seeing a socially awkward Thrawn fumble his way through, even with his fellow Chiss, and trying to find his place in the world is a real treat. As someone who constantly checks herself about not rambling on about my interests, because I fear I’ll upset people or they’ll think I’m weird, it made me really identify with this younger version.

For the characters, the one I loved maybe the most was Che'ri, the nine year old navigator assigned to the Springhawk, providing us the point of view of a sky-walker. It can be difficult to read sometimes, how these children are experiencing their situation and the people around them in a very distinct way. I really felt her anxiety, her loneliness, her fear, and her hope. Zahn did a wonderful job with her and those with “Third Sight” Force abilities.

And speaking of Che’ri, we learn that she was the pilot who was with Thrawn during his adventure with Anakin Skywalker in Alliances! Experiencing that first encounter with the future Darth Vader, from Thrawn's and Che'ri's POV, was perfect and very sweet. I’m so glad that we get confirmation that Thrawn is actually very understanding and patient when it comes to kids. Indeed, he looks for ways to encourage them, to become the best version of themselves, as he’s helping anyone willing to learn.

The other equally important character is former sky-walker and Che’ri’s caregiver, Thalias. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of Thalias at first when she’s introduced to us as an adult. I loved her first encounter with Thrawn as a child inone of the “memories” chapters, but I worried for her grown-up version. I was starting to fear Zahn was setting her up just to be a romantic interest for Thrawn, and while it didn’t happen in this book, I still see the potential for that later on, especially when her goal becomes supporting Thrawn. And while it was a rocky start for me, I did come to like and appreciate her, giving us perhaps the most “humane” face of the Chiss so far. She became a favorite for me.

There was a bit about gender roles being a little too on the nose for me. It wasn't so much that it detracted from the story, but it was noticeable enough to make me raise an eyebrow once or twice. In any case, it was amazing to see how Thrawn is surrounded by capable women. The Empire Trilogy was a bit lacking with this, only having a few important females actually engaged with the main plot (Pryce, Faro, etc), but Chaos Rising was seriously an improvement.

And for people waiting for Thrass or Formbi, we don't exactly get to see them. There's one single mention confirming Thrass died but no other comment about him being Thrawn's brother or what transpired in the Vagaari incident. Instead, Thrawn mentions he believes he had a navigator older sister when he was very young and she was taken away. My mind was blown. No name was given, but I'm sure she will come up in some of the next books.

There is a callback to Outbound Flight, specifically Thrass and Thrawn’s iconic exchange about his wish to help people outside the Ascendancy. This time, Ar’alani is the one explaining they can’t do that, but she promises to support him if he gets high enough as an Aristrocra to change their policies from the inside. I think in general this sets an amazing precedent. You know me. I can't help but think about how this could influence future stories with Ezra and Thrawn. To see Thrawn's accomplishments and need to help others, even if he's forbidden to do so as well as how he risked his career again and again, going out of his way to stop these attacks, made me hopeful. I feel it resonates with what Ezra went through and reinforces in me the idea that the middle way he's looking for is them working together.

Going back to the book, while I felt the main villain (Yiv, the Merciful) was quite scary... there was something missing to make him truly memorable to me. I still can't place my finger on it. I'll need to read the book again to make a better judgement about him. In this case, I was not reading the book because Yiv felt compelling, but more about how Thrawn and company were reacting to him. And speaking of villains, the book ends with the reveal of a new enemy... but just like with Yiv, I felt disconnected from him. We only got a few lines from that one, so I can't tell for sure what to expect from him, but it seems like another guy in a long list of warlords that Thrawn will defeat. Which makes me wonder if we will get any female rivals in the following book.

In general, I loved the book. I loved the characters. I loved their struggles and how they get to solve these problems. Thrawn always has a card up his sleeve, but there will surely be repercussions for what he did at the end. We know not everyone is happy with him… but I can’t wait to find out what else he will do. In a way, this book would work as a stand-alone story if it wasn’t for that reveal at the end, so I believe anyone could grab it and have a great time.

#chaos rising #thrawn ascendancy #star wars #thrawn #review #spoilers #spoiler #chaos rising spoiler #thrawn ascendancy spoiler

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