Chat corner 53: Before the Awakening

[annathecrow]

Welcome to this week’s chat corner!

Optional prompt

This week, the topic is “Before the Awakening”, an anthology of three stories that show what Finn, Rey, and Poe were doing before the movie.

It’s a junior readers’ book, but it’s also written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Phil Noto, which are some very interesting names to see together!

Has anybody read this? What did you think?

Aside from that, this week it’s a year since Dreamwars started :) This is honestly so cool - and it’s all your work, folks, there would be no comm without the people who come and talk. So I want to say, you’re all awesome, whether you’re here every week or you commented exactly once.

And since I’m reminiscing, what has your “year in Star Wars” been like? Anything interesting that’s happened to you? New story you’ve found (be it canon, Legends, or fic), an event, a fandom interaction? Have you created something you’re proud of? I’m honestly curious!

 

Comments

[annathecrow]

And as always, here is your Dark Side post link, in case you need to get some Star Wars hate off your chest.

Happy 1 year anniversary!!

[fleurviolette]

Probably the most significant Star Wars related thing that happened to me was reading some classic EU stories.

Also I have a fonder appreciation for the original saga, particularly with the prequels because I grew up watching them in theaters.

[annathecrow]

I'm very intrigued by this book! Rucka is my favorite comics writer, and Noto is my favorite comics artist, so I'm just like "yes? For me???" Although I wonder how Rucka manages to write a young reader novel, I'd never think he'd be the type.

Slightly off-topic, but if you like reading about badass female fighters, I can't recommend Rucka enough. He does have a type, but he writes that type masterfully and it's so satisfying to read. He's the writer behind The Old Guard, to give you an example.

[yourlibrarian]

I hadn't heard of the book but was immediately reminded of a piece of fan art.

I guess my SW year has revolved mostly around seeing Book of Boba Fett, which I had been looking forward to, and reading several long running SW stories. TBH while I'm still finishing some I'm getting rather burned out on time travel stories, although one advantage these have is that they don't tend to be ship focused. I am very eagerly looking forward to Kenobi given we won't even have to wait a full year for it.

[extrapenguin]

A year?! Time flies, wow.

As for my year in Star Wars – I got into SWTOR over a year ago, but this year I've started interacting with the actual MMO bits of it. I think this is the year when I actually watched the prequels instead of just TCW? I recall watching TPM and AotC between the TPM-themed post and AotC-themed post, though I might be wrong.

In general fanwork news, I have 46 SW works written after 25.4.2021. I quite like ... a number of them! I shall organise this a bit. Some of this is popular, some of this is exceedingly niche. Click on what you wish.
Gen:
Daybreak (10k, Mace & Katooni, RotS canon divergence fixit), No Death, Only the Force (3k, AotC bodyswap fixit), Undertow (3k, Mace & Maul, post-Order 66), Deathless the Folk (10k, Meetra Surik & Visas & Bao-Dur, post-canon KOTOR 2), Souls Scattered on the Dawn Wind (5k, Anakin & air crash investigation, canon compliant), Sing Dead the Dark (25k, Anakin & R2, fixit), When All the Stars Winked Out as One (3k, Anakin & Nihilus, Nihilus turns up in the prequels era), and perhaps the most popular one, The Will of the Force (Mayday, Mayday) (2k, that day when Qui-Gon introduces Anakin to the Council except everyone save Qui-Gon is a time traveler)

Ship:
Blood as the Stone (4k, E, Acina/female Inquisitor, tomb exploration), Lightbringer (5k, T, Shmi/OFC), Running from the Half-Truth (T, 3k, Obi-Wan/Maul, comedy), and On a Beam of Light We Walk (5k, E, Anakin/Mace, xenomorphs)

Here's to hoping for an even more productive year!

[surferofdreams]

hi, Im new to the comm!

I havent read that anthology, but it sounds cool.

My year in Star Wars has been mostly a continued obsession with the clones and the Clone Wars, but I also pciked up the new Lego game and it has been really fun so far

[astromech1138]

My year in SW was a deep-dive like I haven't had since the 90s and honestly it's been a lot of fun! I reread a lot of the Legends books I read then, and some new ones (how did I miss Zahn on the first go-around?), and started listening to the radio drama (which is awesome; I've been saving the rest of it for long trips). I watched the Mandalorian and liked a new SW installment for the first time, ever lol. I rejoined fandom communities (basically, this one! ;) for the first time in a looooong time. And I started writing fanfic, which I can't get enough of. Anyway, it's been a needed nostalgic break from everyday life :)

[annathecrow]

I just couldn't get to this prompt on time, dammit.

My own year in Star Wars... it's been a lot! Randomly selected:

• This comm, obviously. XD Best impulse decision of the last... five years, at least.
• I read a lot of Legends content, to very varied results. Honestly, I was surprised! I went into it expecting that it won't be very good and I won't care much, and oh, I was wrong. XD
  • Most hated: Republic Commando
  • Most invested in despite everything: ...also RepComm, fml
  • Most loved: Battlefront: Twillight Company
  • Most surprising: the Jedi Apprentice series (which has no right to be this nuanced, omfg)
  • Most enjoyable: X-Wing: Rogue Company
• I read way too much SW fanfic :P
• I had a crapton of story ideas, and I actually wrote some of them! Amazing. And I love my WIP folder. I know a lot of those won't ever get written, but oh boy, so much iddy stuff! bliss
• KOTOR and KOTORII. I spent about 100 hours on both those games total, which is a lot.
• I finally watched Episode III :P Just what, 15 years late?
• Spent way too much time on Wookieepedia. Bless that thing. Also, relatedly, rediscovered my enjoyment of Getting the Canon Right (TM). Going through a TV show episode frame-by-frame to check for a worldbuilding detail? Oh, yes.
• Plotted and started writing a book-length fic. It's probably a kitchen sink and I enjoy it immensely.
• ...did I say this comm? Definitely this comm. I love the discussions, but looking for topics introduced me to a lot of material that I'd never even heard of! Really neat.

My favorites from the fic I've written:

• As the Desert Sang -- I love this Shmi, and the whole story, and just. Yes. (The book-length fic is a sequel to this, btw.)
• The One That Reaps The Corn -- I think this might be the best thing I've written this year, craft-wise. I'm really damn proud of the fight scenes in this! Beside that, I adore this Arla.
• Garbage Finds -- not only did I enjoy writing it, but people like it. I keep getting kudos on it and it's the best thing. :D
• Kindness of Strangers -- I wrote a smut fic, hell yeah! XD