#Legends continuity

[cheemscakecat]

Y’know Luke, Leia and Han all met while they were madly stressed and at their worst.

Luke: Only just found out Imperials are the bad guys when he saw the dead Jawas.

Tried to warn his Aunt and Uncle, only to find their burning corpses dumped on their lawn. Is next on the hit-list because of the droids.

Ends up stuck on the Death Star, Obi Wan leaves to do who knows what. Realizes this lady Leia will also die if they don’t at least try to rescue her.

Leia: Her whole crew got slaughtered. She’s been captured and tortured for being a Rebel.

Watches everyone she knew and loved on Alderaan get destroyed in an instant. Isn’t sure the intel or Obi Wan will make it.

Her rescue is literally three randoms with no idea what they’re doing, none of them know where Obi Wan is on the Death Star. The droid with the intel is also here, which is just great!

Han (And Chewbacca): In massive trouble and debt with gangsters because he ditched cargo. Doesn’t want to get killed or hunted by Imperials.

Alderaan is literally gone??? And now he’s stuck on an Imperial ship. Old man is probably crazy and going to die trying to get them out.

Farm kid insists they need to rescue some rebel princess on board. He fumbles the reply on the Imperial intercom and now they’re on high alert.

Like… Luke is complaining and freaking out, impatience and impulsiveness dialed up to 100 because of all this fresh trauma.

Leia is angry and extra bossy and roasting these two, because the Empire is far more dangerous than even she knew, and her only hope is these non-rebel strangers and Obi Wan if he’s still alive.

Han is super snarky and flighty and off his game, because he tried so hard not to get in trouble with the Imps, and now he is because of these whiny bozos.

They were getting on each other’s last nerves.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

You Have My Attention: X-Wing Series First Lines

In the many, many series that comprise the Star Wars EU (the Legends Canon since Disney decanonized it in 2014), the X-Wing series is an interesting case because it is fairly cleanly bifurcated between two X-wing squadrons and two authors, and yet the series as a whole--and the characters who cross over between authors--feel remarkably consistent. That's a feat in and of itself, as anyone who has read over the shift from Robert Jordan to Brandon Sanderson in the Wheel of Time can attest.

My clear preference is for Aaron Allston's writing style and the Wrait Squadron missions, but I know readers who dearly love Stackploe's Rogue Squadron as well. So let's take a look at how these authors grab readers with their first lines!

"You're good, Corran, but you're no Luke Skywalker."

-- Rogue Squadron

"Even before his X-wing's sensors had time to scan and identify the new ship, Corran Horn knew he was in trouble."

-- Wedge's Gamble

"Commander Wedge Antilles would have preferred the ceremony to be private."

-- The Krytos Trap

"Somehow the dead of night amplified the lightsaber's hiss, allowing it to fill the room."

-- The Bacta War

"Twelve X-wing snubfighters roared down into the atmosphere."

-- Wraith Squadron

"He made no pretense at being fully human."

-- Iron Fist

"Naval Lieutenant Jart Eyan looked rested and cheerful."

-- Solo Command

"Sithspawn! When his X-wing reverted to realspace before the countdown timer had reached zero, Corran Horn knew Thrawn had somehow managed to outguess the New Republic yet one more time."

-- Isard's Revenge

"She was beautiful and fragile and he could not count the number of times he had told her he loved her."

-- Starfighters of Adumar

"Imperial Admiral Kosh Teradoc paused, irritated and self-conscious, just outside the entryway into the club."

-- Mercy Kill

[cheemscakecat]

So in the X-wing books, some of the Wraith Squadron have nicknames! ☝️🤓

Garik “Face” Loran- Former child actor from Imperial propaganda. Ended up getting a scar on his face and leaving it unfixed because he feels guilty.

Hohass “Runt” Ekwesh- Thakwaash (horse alien) who is tiny for his species. But still barely fits in an X-wing and can easily sling unconscious humans over his shoulders.

Voort “Piggy” saBinring- Gamorrean who was biologically experimented on to be way smarter than the rest of his species, with a translator installed in his throat.

Idk why Derek “Hobbie” Klivian is called that, but they’ll probably say. I’m only just starting book 7.

Every "cool" clone name should come free with an embarrassing backstory imo. Nobody's gonna reverently call you "Rex" because you did something impressive, I mean, come on

[irregularm4ngo]

*looks at you with my big evil eyes*

click on the pics for better quality

[ester-galls]

thinking about the hug after viktor exits from the cocoon..

[theegh0st]

[good-advice-ganondorf]

[chaellooo]

The duality of a man

[daiisiy]

big fan of the way soocharu draws kremy

[cheemscakecat]

At his core he is silly.

Disregarding Disney’s attempt to slander this man like Scrappy Doo in the live action Scooby Doo movie:

Luke Skywalker is fundamentally a silly goofy goober. Experiencing the horrors and becoming a powerful Jedi changed him, but at his core he will remain an optimistic and whimsical little creature.

Like, in the third movie he’s doing these epic kickflips off Jabba’s skiff to escape the Sarlacc. Defeating a bunch of Stormtroopers with his new skills.

Then proceeds to make 3P0 float to get the Ewoks to quit being hostile, instead of letting Han shoot at them. And pulls up to meet Vader with the “I believe there’s still good in you, I came here to talk”.

Beyond the obvious Mustafar PTSD from Padme dying, I imagine Luke’s whole demeanor has the opposite effect he wanted it to. To us he looks all serious and grown and composed, but Vader is his dad. To Darth that fella looked 12 years old, coming there all hopeful and standing at the window in his little sweater.

Look! Vader’s just standing there like:

“That’s… you can’t… I don’t know what made you think that was even an option.”

I think it genuinely surprised and rattled Anakin that the terrified, angry kid who jumped off Cloud Bespin came in with an olive branch instead of guns blazing.

It’s the opposite of what anyone else would do. Obi Wan and Yoda told him it was a bad idea. Leia definitely thought it was a bad idea. It looked like they were right.

But after 20 years of being a depressed, bloody enforcer under Palpatine’s boot, the fact that someone tried at all was startling. Not as a fake nicety to lure Vader into a trap, or to spy, or to get a better trade deal. That, and it was his own child who had every reason not to try.

Yes, Skywalker can throw hands and will if he needs to. But don’t forget that it is in his nature to do the right thing, and to look for the good in people, and be silly. The Kylo Ren disaster is not in his nature, and neither is running away for 14 years instead of dealing with it. Let Luke be Luke.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

What is a Wraith, Anyway?

Ok, so I am primarily a Jedi girl when it comes to Star Wars, but snark-ass Corellian pilots also occupy a very soft spot in my heart. Han Solo is now and forever the GOAT Corellian smuggler and pilot, but Wedge Antillies--particularly as he is expanded in the EU books--is absolutely in the top 5 favorite pilots. I'm not overly fond of Rogue Squadron, if we're being honest, but I adore the antics and missions of Wraith Squadron. So let's talk Aaron Allston's Wraith Squadron.

*Spoilers below, so beware!*

Wedge Antillies.

Wes Janson.

Myn Donos (and Shiner).

Kell Tainer.

Garik "Face" Loran.

Falynn Sandskimmer.

Jesmin Ackbar.

Voort "Piggy" saBinring.

Hohass "Runt" Ekwesh.

Ton Phanan.

Eurrsk Thri'ag.

Tyria Sarkin.

This is Wraith Squadron, Wedge's pet project that pulled together competent officers who might have been bad at office politics or made a few too many mistakes or whose careers were otherwise dead and would jump at another chance to fly. Wedge's plan was to create an experienced, multi-talented squadron to take on the jobs for which the venn diagram of piloting, ground skills, and espianage is a circle. And while he did do that, he also somehow managed to take a bunch of hard case and traumatized pilots and transform them into a family.

The progression of the transformation though, is beautifully paced. We spend the early sections of the novel learning about each individual pilot's personal (or not so personal, given Tainer's near-paralyzing fear of Janson that tends to read as aggression) issues or motivations and getting some tentative interpersonal bonding. Interestingly, Face and Jesmin aren't hard cases or screwups. Face is tying to atone for having been the Empire's golden boy child actor in their propaganda films--although I wouldn't ever have recovered from having to sit in Ysanne Isard's LAP while she told me I was a good imperial citizen. Jesmin, however, is simply trying not to be a waste of her training because as Admiral Ackbar's neice, no commander has ever been willing to put her in actual danger.

Jesmin is, unfortunately, the first casualty of the squadron, and during the mission where she is lost, Myn Donos's R2 unit, Shiner, is unfortunately blown to peices. Myn has some seriously unresolved trauma (and arguably PTSD and survivor's guilt) from being the sole survivor of his former squadron, and Shiner's loss absolutely breaks him.

Ultimately, however, it's the loss of one squadmate and the threat of losing a second one that really cements Wraith squadron as a unit. This begins with medic Ton Phanon (attempting to) hiding the extent of Myn's breakdown from Wedge and Wes. The rest of the squadron then works to cover his shifts and duties, trying to give him time to snap out of it on his own. Eventually though, Kell overhears Wes and Wedge privately plotting how to keep buying Myn time and preventing the breakdown from landing on any official reports or paperwork.

This neatly severs the Gordian knot of Kell's fear of Wes, and ultimately gives the squad the courage to stage an intervention for Myn.

Having saved the squadmate they could, the Wraiths go on to become a tightly knit family and scary effective squad of pilots with commando skills.

I love this book. The team dynamics and the journey to find those dynamics are beautifully plotted and written, and the book flies by.

[gamelpar]

[arcanegifs]

ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS S1 EP5 ↔ S2 EP9 (2021-2024)

[pinkysberg]

mel studies bc she consumes all my waking thoughts (even some of the resting ones)

close ups:

[beegs-bugs]

“I struggle not to lose hope…”

Monstrosity was literally peak btw, here’s this sketch i started when the trailer came out