Favorite Things - #3, #4 & #5
#3 I think it should be obvious, by now, but Star Wars is a favorite thing of mine. It's literally the first movie I ever saw. It was released in 1977, and I got to see it in utero. When they rereleased it at Christmas time, my brother dragged my mother to the theatre at least twenty times, making my older sister and me, the infant baby, go along with them.
I cannot remember a time that I did not know what Star Wars was. I grew up with lightsaber battles, arguments over the Jedi Code, who was the best pilot, who was the best Jedi. Above all, it's the only time my mother could get all of us to agree on a movie. Four children, ranging apart in age over 10 years, and we only ever agreed on watching Star Wars.
Those that have met me can swear that I don't resemble a wookiee, it comes from a college roommate that I used to growl at all the time. Chewbacca isn't even my favorite character and he's the follow up favorite thing.
#4 To me, there is no greater hero in the Star Wars universe than Wedge Antilles. He doesn't, can't, rely on the Force to make him a great pilot, like Luke sometimes does. He's got his wits, his reaction time and his skill. He blows up the TIE Fighter on Luke's ass, just in time to fly through the remains in a giant blaze of awesomeness. He's sacrificed his entire future for the Rebellion and then the Republic, putting off having a life to put together Rogue and Wraith Squadrons. That he finds love is a byproduct of his devotion to the Republic, to the cause that he signed up for. In the end, he's just a man, doing a job, with no special skills or causes, just the skin of his teeth and the skin covered in calluses from logging hours grabbing a flight stick. He's never asked to be a leader and he's never wanted to be anyone special. That's what makes him a hero, to me. He's logged kills against two Death Stars, countless Imperial forces and even those stupid, fucking Yuuzhong Vong, the worst creation to ever hit the Star Wars Universe.
Which brings me to #5 The Extended Universe book series of Star Wars are amazing. The Han Solo Trilogy is a comfort series, teaching me triumph over adversity, that losses sometimes happen but they're worth it, they're fucking worth it if you make them worth it. The Wraith Squadron series. Jesus, words cannot express how much I love Face and Lara and Piggy and Jesmin and Kell and all of them. These books seem so fluffy at first. Then you start thinking about everything you've read, and everything's that's gone down and who they were at the beginning and who they are at the end. It's overwhelmingly symbolic and inspiring. These books. Then there's the Rogue Squadron series. Corran Horn might, at first, appear to be a Luke Skywalker wannabe but he's more than that. He's got so many depths to him, so much behind him. You know you've only seen the surface of him, even after I, Jedi and the rest of the books. He's just an amazing character. Tycho Celchu, too. He's just as;dlfkasfk;lj. Like, words fail me at what that man went through and what he was willing to do to be a Big Goddamned Hero to the Rebellion.
If you don't cry at the relationship between Ton Phanan and Garik Loran in the Wraith Squadron series by Aaron Allston, I do not want to know you. I read these books long before I knew what slash was but I knew that these two were lifemates, that they were It for one another (fuck the relationship with Dia) and then the way it all ended broke my heart. I had to set the book aside for weeks until I could read further. I made a complete ass out of myself to Aaron Allston at Star Wars Celebration III because I couldn't stop telling him what his books meant to me, how much I loved them and couldn't get enough of them. I'm certain that my blatant fangirling would embarrass me if I could remember anything other than an impression of others chiming in that the books meant as much to them, too. 100
So yeah, the Extended Universe books of Star Wars are some of my favorite things ever. If you have any sort of love for Star Wars, at least read those three series and let me know what you thought.
I cannot remember a time that I did not know what Star Wars was. I grew up with lightsaber battles, arguments over the Jedi Code, who was the best pilot, who was the best Jedi. Above all, it's the only time my mother could get all of us to agree on a movie. Four children, ranging apart in age over 10 years, and we only ever agreed on watching Star Wars.
Those that have met me can swear that I don't resemble a wookiee, it comes from a college roommate that I used to growl at all the time. Chewbacca isn't even my favorite character and he's the follow up favorite thing.
#4 To me, there is no greater hero in the Star Wars universe than Wedge Antilles. He doesn't, can't, rely on the Force to make him a great pilot, like Luke sometimes does. He's got his wits, his reaction time and his skill. He blows up the TIE Fighter on Luke's ass, just in time to fly through the remains in a giant blaze of awesomeness. He's sacrificed his entire future for the Rebellion and then the Republic, putting off having a life to put together Rogue and Wraith Squadrons. That he finds love is a byproduct of his devotion to the Republic, to the cause that he signed up for. In the end, he's just a man, doing a job, with no special skills or causes, just the skin of his teeth and the skin covered in calluses from logging hours grabbing a flight stick. He's never asked to be a leader and he's never wanted to be anyone special. That's what makes him a hero, to me. He's logged kills against two Death Stars, countless Imperial forces and even those stupid, fucking Yuuzhong Vong, the worst creation to ever hit the Star Wars Universe.
Which brings me to #5 The Extended Universe book series of Star Wars are amazing. The Han Solo Trilogy is a comfort series, teaching me triumph over adversity, that losses sometimes happen but they're worth it, they're fucking worth it if you make them worth it. The Wraith Squadron series. Jesus, words cannot express how much I love Face and Lara and Piggy and Jesmin and Kell and all of them. These books seem so fluffy at first. Then you start thinking about everything you've read, and everything's that's gone down and who they were at the beginning and who they are at the end. It's overwhelmingly symbolic and inspiring. These books. Then there's the Rogue Squadron series. Corran Horn might, at first, appear to be a Luke Skywalker wannabe but he's more than that. He's got so many depths to him, so much behind him. You know you've only seen the surface of him, even after I, Jedi and the rest of the books. He's just an amazing character. Tycho Celchu, too. He's just as;dlfkasfk;lj. Like, words fail me at what that man went through and what he was willing to do to be a Big Goddamned Hero to the Rebellion.
If you don't cry at the relationship between Ton Phanan and Garik Loran in the Wraith Squadron series by Aaron Allston, I do not want to know you. I read these books long before I knew what slash was but I knew that these two were lifemates, that they were It for one another (fuck the relationship with Dia) and then the way it all ended broke my heart. I had to set the book aside for weeks until I could read further. I made a complete ass out of myself to Aaron Allston at Star Wars Celebration III because I couldn't stop telling him what his books meant to me, how much I loved them and couldn't get enough of them. I'm certain that my blatant fangirling would embarrass me if I could remember anything other than an impression of others chiming in that the books meant as much to them, too. 100
So yeah, the Extended Universe books of Star Wars are some of my favorite things ever. If you have any sort of love for Star Wars, at least read those three series and let me know what you thought.