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Aren't the villains of the 2nd arc literally called the diversity alliance? How ahead of the time to make an enemy of woke.
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Jun 7, 2023 14:16
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Crystal Star feels like somebody dared the writer to submit a book with no plot where nothing happens. KJA may be a crappy writer, but there's a structure and a story beat every 20 pages, I'll give him that.
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Jun 7, 2023 14:52
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Crystal Star was one of the handful of books I skipped when I did my multi-year EU reread. I got like 50~ pages in and it was just so boring and bland and I wanted to move on to stuff that seemed better.
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Jun 7, 2023 15:01
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bunnyofdoom posted:Aren't the villains of the 2nd arc literally called the diversity alliance? How ahead of the time to make an enemy of woke. I miss the Empire being explicitly sexist and racist and speciesist. Aligning those values with a pure evil fascist dictatorship just made so much sense in the long-ago times of the 1990s.
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Jun 7, 2023 15:01
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feedmyleg posted:I miss the Empire being explicitly sexist and racist and speciesist. Aligning those values with a pure evil fascist dictatorship just made so much sense in the long-ago times of the 1990s. Andor at least seemed to gesture at sexism with Dedra having a tough time making it in the boys' club that is the ISB. Come to think of it, Andor is also the only time I can recall (human) race playing a part*; isn't there something in the APB on him calling him a "Kenari male" like cops use "number one male?" I'm pretty fine with the Empire being real-world diverse simply because it doesn't excuse Disney from casting a bunch of white people in their productions. Them being human supremacists is enough of a metaphor while not locking a bunch of people out of roles they could be playing. * the famous SMG post excepted
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Jun 7, 2023 18:30
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I got the impression the ISB wasn't so much explicitly sexist (the way they're speciesist) but there's still very much a boys club mentality going on. Idk if the "Kenari male" thing was supposed to be explicitly racist- especially since his origin is a plot point- though we do see Imperial officers holding the human Aldhani in contempt
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Jun 7, 2023 18:52
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fartknocker posted:Crystal Star was one of the handful of books I skipped when I did my multi-year EU reread. I got like 50~ pages in and it was just so boring and bland and I wanted to move on to stuff that seemed better. But you apparently miss werewolves and centaurs! Also the Solo kids getting kidnapped. Again.
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Jun 7, 2023 19:33
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I think the "Kenari male" thing was a combination of socio-economic factors and hinting at racial profiling without actually fully embracing it. It seems that Cassian is from a backwater low-tech planet so it's a multi-purpose way to say "the guy from the rural shithole" as well as indicating it's the guy wandering around asking about other people from Kenari. Also it's hinted that the only reason they know he's a Kenari is because he's asking about other Kenari, so it's left vague if they'd have figured it out otherwise. It's almost like he's Sentinelese.
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Jun 7, 2023 19:34
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Didn't they explicitly associate something like "dark hair" or "dark skin" with the Kenari male description? I have that in my memory of the show but now I'm doubting if I made it up. I know in the old EU a lot of fans thought that the Korunnai were all Black, but I think Shatterpoint explicitly describes at least one of them as being pale skinned. Oh, and who could forget the Epicanthix? https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Epicanthix
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Jun 7, 2023 20:10
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I struggle to reread YJK these days -- changing my literal actual legal name to Jaina makes seeing the name in text so so so much weirder haha
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Jun 7, 2023 22:50
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Chairman Capone posted:Didn't they explicitly associate something like "dark hair" or "dark skin" with the Kenari male description? I have that in my memory of the show but now I'm doubting if I made it up. He's referred as a "male with dark features" before they get the Kenari lead from the madame
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Jun 7, 2023 23:32
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The guy doing the fan animation of Dark Empire released the latest episode, part 1 of the issue 3 adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS5UUCcNvAY
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Jun 10, 2023 16:44
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Episodes 1 & 2 to catch up/refresh as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lADCO-Ar76U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIM76LKh6zs The Holiday Special Han design works better than it has any right to 
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Jun 10, 2023 16:48
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These are really well done but it's always a little funny how awkward some of the radio drama dialogue is in this context Luke deflects blasterfire with his lightsaber Han: Look Leia, Luke's deflecting blasterfire with his lightsaber! 
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Jun 10, 2023 17:32
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Vinylshadow posted:The Holiday Special Han design works better than it has any right to I like how it uses the Holiday Special cartoon as a baseline, but also includes visual nods to the prequels and sequels, like the Coruscant scavenger droids being the prequel B-1s, and resurrected Palpatine using the Episode IX look (along with using the Resistance theme for the New Republic). Just like the Dark Empire audio incorporated a few more nods to the EU, I think this adaptation benefits from feeling like it draws from the full scope of Star Wars.
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Jun 11, 2023 00:38
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I reread X-Wing: Rogue Squadron for the first time in about two decades. The thread is rather down on Michael A. Stackpole's X-Wing novels in comparison to Aaron Allston's, but I found this novel an enjoyable read.
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Jun 11, 2023 21:04
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I don't know if anybody is down on Stackpole (well, Isard's Revenge isn't very good) so much as they're up on Allston. The worst you can say about the Stackpole books is that he's a little too in love with Corran, but they zip along at a great pace, successfully juggle a large cast, and have memorable main and supporting villains. Now does Wraith Squadron do all of that, but better? Sure.
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Jun 11, 2023 23:08
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stackpole's books are still among the best of the old EU, they're just easily overlooked because corran's personal life is top gun wish fulfilment stuff and the fact that stackpole is creating enormous swathes of the EU's background details as he goes (in conjunction with zahn) isn't necessarily obvious if you aren't reading star wars books chronologically. they were very pivotal books for setting the tone of the EU
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Jun 11, 2023 23:28
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Like, if you say Yub Yub, Commander to a star wars nerd they will instantly know what you're talking about! But with Corran...uh... he gave people targeting coordinates alot? He has a cool swoop bike handle lightsaber that he used in a 1v1 duel in NJO. He can't do telekinesis force stuff. That's about it.
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Jun 11, 2023 23:54
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I also read Rogue Squadron recently and while Stackpole isn't really a good writer he's perfectly adequate rather than offensively bad, and I really liked the feeling of these guys just being a cog in a massive war that's much bigger than them. Like there's no galaxy ending threats or even much of a personal arc, theyre just here to do a job
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Jun 12, 2023 00:04
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I'm rereading the Stackpole books now too and also enjoying them. It is kind of funny and a little excessive that Corran is an ace fighter pilot and a top cop and a secret Jedi and he has two sexy ladies competing for his attention in the earlier books. Stackpole's approach to writing Star Wars feels like a slightly lesser version of Zahn; he's going for those big movie-like archetypes in characters and plots and generally succeeds, but his characters don't quite hit the same level as Zahn's, the hand of the author is a little more obvious in his plotting, and his movie references feel a little more forced. And probably the thing that sets him the most apart from Allston, if you're not one of the half-dozen main characters, he doesn't particularly care to spend much time on you; I'm halfway through Bacta War and I'm not sure I can tell you a single thing about Rhysati other than that she's dating Nawara. All that said, he still hits that indescribable "Star Wars feel" and I think that helps iron over a lot of the rough patches.Jazerus posted:stackpole's books are still among the best of the old EU, they're just easily overlooked because corran's personal life is top gun wish fulfilment stuff and the fact that stackpole is creating enormous swathes of the EU's background details as he goes (in conjunction with zahn) isn't necessarily obvious if you aren't reading star wars books chronologically. they were very pivotal books for setting the tone of the EU
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Jun 12, 2023 00:08
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The first X-wing book is a pretty good read. Wedges Gamble and Krytos Trap were both just regular pet-character 90s EU and probably why Stackpole's books are less fondly remembered. The Bacta War is just a series of cool battles and payoffs from those books though, resolving everything really well (from memory). Of course then Isard's Revenge happened so... Also I think if Aalston hadn't also used Wedge as a main character the comparisons wouldn't be as strong. Aalston's Wedge is one of the highlights of the EU - especially in Solo Command and Starfighters of Adumar.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:15
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The Shame Boy posted:Like, if you say Yub Yub, Commander to a star wars nerd they will instantly know what you're talking about! But with Corran...uh... he gave people targeting coordinates alot? Corran Horn hosed an otter.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:30
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Which is the one where Jedi Corran goes up against I think Tycho Celchu in the simulator and gets schooled on why the Force can only do so much for you and at some point skill matters?
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Jun 12, 2023 00:36
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Weird little thing: in Rogue Squadron, Isard mentions sending a Super Star Destroyer to pick up Derricote, and as far as I can tell this is never addressed in continuity again. It's not Lusankya (that's still buried), it's not at the battle of Coruscant or in her fleet later, and at a glance through Wookieepedia it wasn't retconned to be any of the other SSDs floating around in this period.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:40
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Lemniscate Blue posted:Which is the one where Jedi Corran goes up against I think Tycho Celchu in the simulator and gets schooled on why the Force can only do so much for you and at some point skill matters? That was "I, Jedi", and it was real world (he was undercover as a pirate when Rogue Squadron attacked said pirates). The book made it very clear he had to work hard for his survival, yeah, I think he at least partly won (i.e. survived) because he knew how the Rogues flew if memory serves.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:53
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MadDogMike posted:That was "I, Jedi", and it was real world (he was undercover as a pirate when Rogue Squadron attacked said pirates). The book made it very clear he had to work hard for his survival, yeah, I think he at least partly won (i.e. survived) because he knew how the Rogues flew if memory serves. Ah, thank you. I've been intending to pick that one up for a while just because of how it's supposed to poo poo on KJA's trilogy.
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Jun 12, 2023 00:56
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Lord Hydronium posted:One of the odder things about this is how relatively late X-wing came in the Bantam run. Rogue Squadron was almost five years after Heir to the Empire and just three years before Del Rey took over. Not only in all that time did they never tell the story of how the New Republic took Coruscant (or any of those early events between Bakura and Courtship), but also it's pretty impressive how easily characters like Corran, Isard, Booster, etc. became fixtures of the EU even with such a late introduction. One thing that’s an artifact of that late publication is how some of those background details that X-wing later fleshed out changed. For example, in Heir to the Empire Luke reflects Eaton that Coruscant had only recently been captured from the Empire, something I think the Dark Empire Sourcebook also had gone with.
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Jun 12, 2023 01:03
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My issue with Stackpole's writing is that he's just not very good at fight geometry so I have a difficult time visualizing most of the dogfights in his Rogue Squadron books.
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Jun 12, 2023 01:29
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fartknocker posted:Corran Horn hosed an otter. I thought that was Han Solo in a different book? Or did he just punch one?
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Jun 12, 2023 01:46
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The Shame Boy posted:I thought that was Han Solo in a different book? Or did he just punch one? Yep, Han punched, Corran hosed, and turns out he's allergic to their fur and his sweat irritated their skin He still enjoyed it though
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Jun 12, 2023 01:56
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The Shame Boy posted:I thought that was Han Solo in a different book? Or did he just punch one? Corran goes on for an extended period how hot he found said otter in a slinky dress before they did the Dark Side tango. This became funnier when Selonians were more depicted as just upright otters. (The same is true for Gavin Darklighter when Bothans suddenly got a muzzle in their depictions.) I remember enjoying Rogue Squadron on the whole, even if trying to shoehorn in the fighter jock terms felt clunky and for some reason Corran constantly referring to telekinesis as 'teke' - which by the way he wasn't good at - were irritating to me even then.
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Jun 12, 2023 09:26
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Arc Hammer posted:My issue with Stackpole's writing is that he's just not very good at fight geometry so I have a difficult time visualizing most of the dogfights in his Rogue Squadron books. Allow me to recommend the Alphabet Squadron books to the thread. They're good Star Wars books so far as characterization and general writing go, but when it comes to space combat you can see the briefing animation play out when they're setting up a battle. I'd have done terrible things for a Squadrons DLC of SP Alphabet Squadron missions.
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Jun 12, 2023 10:13
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Shouldn't it be Aurabesh Squadron. Now that I've noticed this it's going to bother me forever!
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Jun 12, 2023 13:09
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General Battuta posted:Shouldn't it be Aurabesh Squadron. Now that I've noticed this it's going to bother me forever! No it shouldn't. Alphabet/=language. For instance here om Earth we say, for example, the Japanese Alphabet or the Roman Alphabet etc. Alphabet is more a collection of letters instead of a language
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Jun 12, 2023 13:20
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The Roman Alphabet's called High Galactic in a galaxy far far away We've also got Domabesh  and Dishabesh  Which are just different fonts for Aurebesh, and were made for Rogue One since Edwards didn't want a galaxy with only one font typeface
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Jun 12, 2023 14:31
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There’s also the Corellian alphabet invented for TLJ and Solo but it’s basically invisible on screen.bunnyofdoom posted:No it shouldn't. Alphabet/=language. Aurebesh is the alphabet, Basic is the language/English.
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Jun 12, 2023 14:53
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mllaneza posted:Allow me to recommend the Alphabet Squadron books to the thread. They're good Star Wars books so far as characterization and general writing go, but when it comes to space combat you can see the briefing animation play out when they're setting up a battle. I'd have done terrible things for a Squadrons DLC of SP Alphabet Squadron missions. While the combat scenes were fun. I really disliked most of the main cast of Alphabet Squadron.
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Jun 12, 2023 17:47
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OhFunny posted:While the combat scenes were fun. I really disliked most of the main cast of Alphabet Squadron. semi off topic, that was kinda my feeling about alot of the cast of squadrons game. like the new republic characters were just boring noble bright happy palidans of light who would never stop smiling or making the same 2 jokes and not bossk gambles. the imp were at least interesting in the sense that they were all super broken people who were either some sort of sociopath or broken sunk coster who kept coming back because they were either a Cop or some poor gently caress who got glued backtogether 30 times. anyway, new star wars games star wars outlaws. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF0kMT39GNY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7K2TA0bBpY&t=5s
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Jun 13, 2023 02:36
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Outlaws' lead writer was the head writer on Far Cry 6 and Watch Dogs: Legion, didn't play either of those but seems like the stories of both weren't great, but I also can't really remember the last Star Wars game with a really good story (haven't played Jedi: Survivor yet so can't comment on that).
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Jun 13, 2023 03:14
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