Author Archives: Nanci

Fanservice vs. Objectification: Why Shirtless Thor Wins and Slave Leia Loses

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So let’s talk about Slave Leia.

I know, I know. Star Wars fandom has certainly voiced its share of opinions about Slave (or Huttslayer, if you prefer) Leia over the past several weeks. From the “concerned” dad at Target to Amy Schumer’s GQ photo shoot, at times it felt like 1983 all over again. And honestly, during most of the debate I felt like sitting back and yawning. Not because the topic isn’t pertinent to me — I can rant about Slave Leia with the best of them — but because I’m so bored of it. It’s like being forced to sit through American History 101 when I should be leading graduate level seminars.

This is not another column all about why Slave Leia is or isn’t bad. This is a column about objectification vs. fanservice, and why one is bad and the other is harmless fun. It’s about why I can swoon like a schoolgirl when Thor takes his shirt off, yet make the biggest side-eye when Carol Marcus strips down to her underwear in Star Trek Into Darkness. It’s about the differences between men and women in science fiction and fantasy, entertainment in general, and how we still have a long, long way to go.

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Go/No-Go: Under the Empyrean Sky

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nasa-mission-control-3I was super excited earlier this month to learn Chuck Wendig would be writing the entire Aftermath trilogy, and I hadn’t even read any of this books yet. Chuck is a delight on Twitter, and his blog is super informative for writers and always full of interesting stories and commentary on current events. I grew even more excited after reading the Aftermath excerpt. His prose seemed tight and catchy, and the present tense singled it out from all the other Expanded Universe books.

I wanted to check out some of Chuck’s fiction, to get a better sense of what he’d be bringing to the Star Wars Universe. The first two books of his young adult series were recently on sale, in anticipation of the release of Book Three. And since Chuck himself has suggested that series for people wanting to see how he’d handle Star Wars, that series became the logical choice.

Brian and I both finished the first book and are onto the second. What did we think? Our opinions after the break!

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The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic Con

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The Force Awakens panel happened last night at San Diego Comic Con. Harrison Ford was there, and then they brought everyone to a concert that ended with fireworks.

They also showed a Behind the Scenes video, which you can find on YouTube.

The entire panel is also now on YouTube.

There’s also a ton of galleries, live blogs, and analyses online: Variety, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Tor.com, io9, The Verge, and screenshots from Star Wars New Zealand and Collider.

Edit: Added articles from Vanity Fair and a photo gallery from Entertainment Weekly.

Chuck Wendig to write Aftermath Trilogy

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AftermathEntertainment Weekly has confirmed our suspicions: Chuck Wendig is writing the entire Aftermath Trilogy. No word yet on the other book titles or when they’ll be out, but it’s very nice to see a single author handling a series in the post-RotJ timeline again.

Also revealed earlier today is the Chewbacca comics miniseries, written by Gerry Duggan with art by the awesome Phil Noto.

Aftermath is released on September 4.

Go/No-Go – Star Wars Rebels: Servants of the Empire: Imperial Justice

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nasa-mission-control-3Servants of the Empire: Imperial Justice, out July 7, is the third installment in the young reader tie-in series to Star Wars Rebels. The first book, Edge the Galaxy, introduced us to Zare Leonis, his sister Dhara, and soon-to-be girlfriend Merei Spanjak in the year before Zare entered the Imperial Academy on Lothal. Rebel in the Ranks picked up the story with Zare as a new Imperial cadet and followed him as he tried to learn the truth about what happened to his sister. In Imperial Justice, Zare has to contend with antagonistic fellow cadet and superior officer Roddance, who want to prove he’s a traitor. Meanwhile, Merei is in trouble of her own, working for a criminal boss on Lothal as payment for him helping her snoop into the Imperial network in Rebel in the Ranks. Not to mention, her security genius mother is the one assigned to investigate the breach.

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Why Science Fiction Must Err on the Side of Diversity

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On Friday the Supreme Court made an historic 5-4 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage throughout the entire United States. Although there is still much to be done, this is a huge step forward in the gay rights movement. Heck, it’s a huge step forward in the quest for human rights in general.

But Tosche Station isn’t a blog focused on current events or politics or even social justice (as much as some people would like to believe). We’re a blog about Star Wars, about fandom, about geek culture. That includes science fiction which, believe it or not, is a genre greatly affected by the Supreme Court ruling. Because from now on, if you create any sort of Earth-based science fiction set in the near or far future and you don’t include married couples of both the same and opposite sex, you’re doing it wrong.

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Star Wars Weekends Episodes IV & V – The Heat Awakens

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SWW2015_MerchandisePoster (1)The last few days of Star Wars Weekends are always filled with an odd combination of melancholy and relief. Melancholy because Star Wars is about to be ripped out of your life again; relief because that means you get your weekends back to do adult things. Not only that, but it’s hot. Really, really, really hot. I always tell people to not let the heat and humidity get in the way of attending Star Wars Weekends, and I mean that with all my heart. But I still can’t over-emphasize how darn hot it feels after five straight weekends spent at a theme park where nearly every event takes place outside. Star Wars Weekends is so much better with an indoor theatre and I hope and pray we get a return to air conditioning next year — if there even is a next year with all the rumored construction coming up at Hollywood Studios.

Despite the heat and general malaise, the last two Star Wars Weekends were tons of fun, and included a first-time, amazing guest. Stories and pictures under the cut!

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Why The Rebellion Leaders Need to be in Rebels

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Rebel_Leaders

Season 1 of Star Wars Rebels didn’t pull any punches when it came to raising the stakes. The season finale, “Fire Across the Galaxy,” changed the landscape of the show in several ways. It killed off the Inquisitor, setting the stage for Darth Vader as the new Big Bad of the series. It revealed Ahsoka Tano as Fulcrum, Hera’s contact in the nascent Rebellion, and established her as a recurring character. Most important, however, was the return of Bail Organa (in hologram form), in which he informed the crew of the Ghost that they were, indeed, their very own Rebel cell.  

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Andy Serkis is Supreme Leader Snoke

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The Official Site has a great interview with Annie Leibovitz about her Vanity Fair photo spread.

Included in that interview is a previously unseen photo of Andy Serkis rigged in mo-cap gear, and they also dropped his character name: Supreme Leader Snoke (of the First Order?).

Leibovitz also had some nice words about Adam Driver, who plays masked villain Kylo Ren.

snoke