Star Wars Brainrot

Contents: Chiss obsession and The Gays // ao3: queen_saule

[gothicakvtagawa]

things thalias deserves:

- to say fuck

- a nap

- a massive bottle of red wine

- to shoot that old man

[queensaule]

The Glass Abyss!

I needed a Star Wars audiobook in my life and settled on The Glass Abyss, which came out several months ago while I was very much in High Republic mode. (I don't want to listen to Wayseeker until after Trials of the Jedi, just for like... continuity?)

So I'm now 19 chapters in and I think it's really good! Much love to all the Star Wars authors but it's nice to get a new voice (although this author did write like two Legends books).

I think it kind of forms a loose trilogy with Master and Apprentice and The Living Force- it would be the third one chronologically as well as in release order. I'm calling it the "People Do Things Because Of Qui-Gon" trilogy. He's a major character in Master and Apprentice, and his words set the main characters on their plot trajectories in the other two. I'm so glad we are getting some more Qui-Gon love lately, what with him appearing in the Obi-Wan show and Tales of the Jedi.

These three books could also be considered the (chronologically) last three High Republic books. Master & Apprentice takes place when Obi-Wan is about 18, then The Living Force and Glass Abyss take place right before and after Phantom Menace respectively. Most official timelines mark Phantom Menace as the end of the High Republic era, which makes sense.

All three books could be very vaguely summed up as "The Jedi have to go deal with some powerful organization(s), meet some regular people just trying to make it, and see the trees instead of the forest for at least a little while." They all show how the Jedi should not be political or soldiers, they are at their best when helping the "little people," and the Living Force is just as important as the Cosmic Force. You see just how tragic it is that the war makes them something they were never meant to be.

(Also Editor Tom said on Twitter that The Living Force and The Glass Abyss would "play well together." I did not see that until I started writing this post so I'm glad we agree!)

[queensaule]

In case anyone is confused about the dates, 0 BBY and 0 ABY are the same year, which basically starts with the Battle of Yavin. The events of Andor 2.10-2.12 and Rogue One happened right at the end of 1 BBY. Think of it as December 31st of 1 BBY, and then January 1st of 0 B/ABY.

[queensaule]

Ah I see that Cassian learned from the Luthen Rael school of how to deal with freaked-out informants

[thevalleyisjolly]

"average rebel goes rogue 3 times a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average rebel goes rogue 0 times per year. captain cassian andor, who lives in a jungle yurt & goes rogue on death star business whenever the rebel alliance isn't keeping up with the intel, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[peachandpinwheel]

one of the hundred things I love about Andor is that in the end, all the villains were destroyed not in an epic showdown with the rebels or whoever but by the machine that they worked for. syril was a faceless casualty of the genocide he helped create. dedra was done in for putting ambition over conformity to the machine, and she took down partagaz, who essentially created her, along with her. even heert was quite literally killed by his own droid and his own men. all of them were crushed by the wheel they dedicated their lives to keep turning. it's just so deeply deeply satisfying.

[queensaule]

Dedra's ending was so damn satisfying. She didn't get some blaze of glory, she just faded away.

[magicoleanders]

I love how s2 of Andor shows us how all the sacrifices the Imperial characters make for the Empire are ultimately worthless. Syril, Dedra, and Partagaz all have different variations on the same ending. and to them Krennic is the big bad guy who represents the Empire but then in Rogue One we learn that essentially he’s in the same situation: giving everything to the Empire and it amounting to nothing in the end.

[thewistlingbadger]

I love Andor for giving their antagonists shitty endings. We follow Dedra and Syril for such a long time that there are moments where we kind of root for them or feel bad for them, even though we know they're terrible people. Andor creates situations to put ourselves in their shoes AND it treats these characters as they should be treated- as villains. There is no "she was just misunderstood" or "there was good in him." These bastards are straight up, unrelentlessly evil, and their endings reflect that. Syril's death is overshadowed by the cleansing of the ghors. He's filthy and at a low point and fighting a man who he's convinced is the enemy, even though the man has no idea who the fuck Syril even is. Dedra, who's whole character revolves around her ambition with her career, ends up being arrested for overreaching on her job. She ends up in a max security prison, not for the crimes she's genuinely committed, but because she disrespected the chain of command at work.

These are genuinely some fucked up endings for these two characters and I love it so much. These bitches got exactly what they deserved, I've never seen karma and justice work so swiftly.

[bo-katan]

HIGH REPUBLIC NATION STAND UP

We got a Lina Soh memorial hospital 🥹🥹

[rochenn]

Obsessed with the portrayal of the Force in Andor leading up to Rogue One. Like it's not all action and coolness and lightsabers. For the average person it's just... uncomfortable? Piercing? Unsettling? An encounter with a stranger who knows too much about you? The Force actually feels mystic and vast when that Yavin healer speaks. Really shows how the rest of the galaxy at large, trillions of people who are unfamiliar with it, deals with its power outside of the very, very few who get to be Jedi. It's so cool and interesting!!

[queensaule]

Some people are complaining like how dare you bring the Force into MY Star Wars but like.... this is a Rogue One prequel essentially, and we got some cool-ass non-Jedi force shit in Rogue One. So why the hell wouldn't it also be in Andor. I think we need MORE casual Force content. Jyn's mom was a Force believer, that's why she has a kyber necklace.

There have to be plenty of people who are Force-sensitive but like, not Jedi levels. And with the Empire hunting down Jedi, of course those people would end up in the Rebellion.

[queensaule]

Mon Mothma is so powerful and brave and said what so many people wanted to say and hear

AND ALSO

It's important that we saw the conversation between her and Bail. We need the people who make the big statement and leave the system in a blaze of glory, and we also need the people who quietly stay inside the system while working to take it down. The time-buyers. The stallers. The ones with plausible deniability.

The galaxy won't realize everything that Bail and Breha did until they are long dead. Mon will live long, long after them, and work with their daughter to pick up the pieces. The Organas quietly give their daughter, their lives, their planet to save billions more, and only a very few people know they're doing it.

[doodlebethel]

Cold adapted tooka cats

I based the legs off of snowy owls

[queensaule]

Ok hear me out: Star Wars murder mystery show set at the White Lotus Niamos

[queensaule]

that episode had two instances of bury your gays, cinta and then whatever mon mothma was doing to krennic

[erilanya]

Chandrila weddings are something else. Things I have noticed!

One braid is shorter, to signify her betrothal I reckon?

Best advice, because there will be a marathon of performances expected xD

It's never just finger foods and a glass of bubbly in a meadow with these guys huh?

Well, if you don't like your intended, there's always the chance they might run into an 'accident'

They went all out with the decor.

Sagrona Teema. It gives me Quarian vibes for some raison.

Not dad telling his girl to basically start daydrinking to deal with marriage.

Cult vibes, but what a shot. Pure cinema.

Would be beautiful, if she weren't a child bride. 'ShE wAnTeD tHiS' Oh hush, she's a teen that does the opposite of what mom wants.

Yikes.

Even Mon Mom had to put her veil on for the ceremony.

As your future parents-in-law we solemnly swear to always try and trip you up. I mean, it's probably some symbolic threshold, welcome to the family dear, make sure that pretty dress doesn't snag on the branches...

Seems all ladies are veiled. Another fine performance coming up.

She does, that's why she's so horrified.

And we'll have a Beyblade match!

Or a cage match. Either works. I had Klingon pain stick gauntlet visions when they started to circle each other.

Pretty rude, to your new father-in-law, but alright. Veiled Vel bonus.

Fantastic thing to say to a young teen that's shaking out of his boots with nerves.

Second braid cut. What is it with Star Wars and cutting people's braids off.

Oh look, even Plavalaguna showed up!

Her dress reminds of Rebel Leader Mon and Throne room Leia at the same time.

That's great. We get a marble force Ghost that's bigger than us. No doubt scaring the living bejeepers out of everyone sneaking to the kitchen for a midnight snack.

I retract all my statements about over orchestrated opening dances ever. This one takes the cakes. At this point, they must have learned a phonebook's worth of rituals by heart. (For everyone that isn't ancient, that's a huge book you would receive with everyone's phone number AND address (at least in my country) in it. It's so wild that that was a thing.)

Ev-er-y-thing is a performance here. The quick, awkward hand grab. People are watching honey...

Dead inside.

Disco droid I can dig tho. What a banger!

Yes yes, show everyone how happy you are!!

Yeah, I was bobbing along at this point, while being horrified. The quick succession of horrible things happening at once. This was an experience.

I'm going to watch this a million times, so I'm sure I will edit this post :D Thank you!

[clonehub]

The empires "sustainable/unlimited" energy initiative is exactly like imperial nations using cobalt and other materials to build their electric "environmentally friendly" vehicles and tools. So many local indigenous people are going to suffer IMMENSENSELY from this massive resource extraction effort.

[queensaule]

I agree with your point in general, and this is absolutely what's going to happen, but it should also be known that this "energy initiative" is actually a cover story for the Death Star. That's how they got Galen Erso to work on it in the first place. Extra layer of evil! (Catalyst is a great novel highly recommend)

[queensaule]

One fun thing about reading way too many Star Wars novels is that you notice when authors make up something and then mention it in other books they write. I always go "That sounds familiar" and have to look it up, only to find out it's from a different book of theirs that I read.

So anyway, here are some Claudia Gray Specials from Into the Light:

Planets:

Pamarthe (and port-in-a-storm): First appeared in Bloodline because one of the main characters is from there, also showed up in Leia, Princess of Alderaan

Paucris Major: From Leia, Princess of Alderaan- the rebel fleet was being refurbished there

Zeitooine: First appeared in Lost Stars

Sibensko: From Bloodline, some big plot moments happen there. The first mentions of the Amaxine Warriors are also related to Sibensko!

Gatalenta: This hardly even feels like a Claudia Special but it is! First mentioned as the home of a main character from Bloodline, and then established as Amilyn Holdo's homeworld in Leia, Princess of Alderaan!

Other stuff:

Meryx gems: In Master & Apprentice, the requisite lovable rogues are jewel thieves who named their ship the Meryx because it is so valuable.

Muunyaks: Pack and wool animals that Ciena Ree's family owns in Lost Stars

Buttersweet Puffs: Given as a gift to Leia in Bloodline, and already established as something Affie Hollow loves

Toniray: This makes at least two drinks that Claudia has named that are served at Galaxy's Edge, and Toniray is in plenty of things that she didn't write, but it is largely in her books! And guess what, first mentioned in Bloodline.

And a little bonus, Czerka Corporation: Not really a Claudia Special, as it's from Legends, but she's the one who pulled it in for Master & Apprentice, where it is a major player!