Star Wars Weekends Episode II: Celebrate the Love

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Welcome to May 22-24, the second of five wonderful Star Wars Weekends! This was a pretty special weekend for us. Not only was it a weekend that featured the likes of Warwick Davis, Silas Carson, and Vanessa Marshall, but it was also our anniversary.

We were fortunate to stay at the Swan and Dolphin resort hotel on Disney’s Boardwalk area. Nestled between Hollywood Studios and Epcot, it’s a perfect location with the perfect price point. Because it’s not technically a Disney hotel, it comes in much cheaper than the majority of the park-owned properties but still maintains all of the perks and quality you’d come to expect from a stay at the Walt Disney World Resort.

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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

A Newbie’s Guide to Star Wars Weekends

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Amy Ratcliffe recently attended her first Star Wars Weekends and if her coverage is any indication, she had a fabulous time. Check out her write-ups of the Rebel Hangar lounge experience, all the tiny desserts, the plethora of specialty drinks, and meet and greets with Star Wars characters.

We also recapped our time at Weekend 1, and stay tuned for our recap of Weekend 2!

TFN’s Jedi Council Forum Lifts LGBTQ+ Restrictions

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Yesterday morning, first word came that the TFN forums were in the process of making a big change: finally ditching the ban on same sex relationships. Initially, there was concern that this change would only apply to original characters and not established characters. Later in the day, however, these concerns were put to rest thanks to one of the moderators in their communication forum.

I can now announce that MS has decided that the lifting of the same-sex romance ban applies to canon and EU characters as well as original characters — it’s a full lift, in line with the existing PG-13 rules about opposite sex romances. I’m sure we’ll have something official-ish soon, but we thought you all should know ASAP so there’s no uncertainty that this is a full lifting of the ban.

For better or worse and despite all odds (considering the competition from the likes of AO3 and Fanfiction.net), the TFN fan fiction forums continues to really be the hub for written fanwork in the Star Wars community.

It’s rather easy to be cynical about this and say that they’ve finally stepped into the year 2003, but you know what? I’m just not going to listen to that cynicism. One of the biggest touchpoints and indisputably the biggest written fanwork touchpoint has changed their rules to create a much more inclusive environment for fans.

On my Twitter timeline last night were folks who had left TFN ages ago or had never even bothered to join because of these rules. Those folks are now looking to to back or join for the first time. They feel welcome there.

Speaking for myself, I know I feel the same way. I may just start posting there with some frequency again.

Tosche Station: One Year and Counting

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38 years ago today, Star Wars was born into the world.

1 year ago today, Brian and I got married.

The matching anniversaries are not a coincidence.

When Brian and I got engaged, we immediately knew we wanted to have our wedding on the real Star Wars Day, aka May 25. Given that date fell on a Sunday, as well as during Star Wars Weekends and Memorial Day Weekend in particular, it was the easiest decision to make of all the wedding planning. We were able to have our ceremony and reception in the morning/afternoon, eat delicious brunch foods, and then head over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the evening for James Arnold Taylor’s show and the Symphony in the Stars fireworks.

Anniversaries are a time for reflection, and since we never shared our Star Wars wedding photos on the blog, you’re getting them now. The official photos were taken by Brian’s brother, who is an amazing photographer, and the others come from my iPhone and Bria’s camera.

We’d also like to thank Robin Smith of Rhapsody in Blooms, our wonderful wedding planner, Shannon Donahue of Tulle Box Details for all of the fabulous artwork, Emily for serving as our officiant, and Shane for being DJ. Not to mention all our family and friends who celebrated with us and were in the wedding party.

Star Wars might just be a movie series, but the connections Brian and I have made through fandom have been invaluable. I don’t know what my life would be like without Star Wars, nor do I want to think about it. So thank you, George, for everything, and Happy Birthday Star Wars.

And Happy Anniversary, Brian. “I know.”

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Legends Recs: If You Like Rebels, You Should Read Wraith Squadron

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We’re starting a new series here at Tosche Station: Legends Recs. While we support the new Story Group era canon and are super excited for new stories like Aftermath and The Force Awakens, the old Expanded Universe holds a special place in our hearts. But we know that as long as we keep reading, these stories will never die. To that end, we’re offering recommendations for Legends stories based on what people enjoy in the new canon. Up first, we explore one of the best novel series in the EU that also paved the way for a new group of Rebels. 

rebels logoThe second season of Star Wars Rebels premieres on June 20. The series has done extraordinarily well, and has surprised a lot of viewers (myself included) with how high the stakes have grown in just 16 episodes. I loved the Ghost crew by the end of “Spark of Rebellion,” and after “Fire Across the Galaxy” the Specters felt just as familiar to me as EU characters I’d loved for over 20 years.

One of the reasons Rebels resonates with me so much is the aspect of the crew as family. They’re together, flying across the galaxy, looking for different jobs and ways to fight against the Empire. And they remind me of another group of characters who excel at creating their own special brand of chaos: Wraith Squadron.

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Tosche Station Radio #117: Luke Skywalker and Beyond

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Heath joins us this week for a discussion of all things Luke Skywalker!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Nanci recapped Week 1 of Star Wars Weekends. Bria reviewed Star Wars #4 and #5, Princess Leia #3, Kanan #2, Darth Vader #5. Go/No-Go for Lords of the Sith and a more in-depth review from Brian. Sho wrote about Moff Mors and the importance of first impressions. In Celebration of the Kentucky Derby, Carr resurrected Bake it So with Boonta Eve Podracing Pie. Celebration odds and ends: Cosplay Roundup, What Celebration Taught us about The Force Awakens, What Celebration Taught us about Rogue One, What Celebration taught us about Rebels, Celebration Anaheim Publishing News, Interview with Jason Fry. Thank You, Kathleen Kennedy. And finally, Tosche Station goes to Disneyland

In Fixer’s Flash, the hosts have been busy at Star Wars Weekends. Dragon Con 2015? Booked.

In Deak’s Dirt, we’ve learned that Star Wars Rebels returns on June 20. Meanwhile, Wired has the definitive oral history on ILM.

Biggs’ Bull#&$*! starts with a lot of Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair photo spread, JJ Abrams interview in Vanity Fair, Interview with costume designer Michael Kaplan, Interview with Lawrence Kasdan. Interview with Pip Anderson about his role. According to the Japanese press event, Daisy Ridley was trained in bōjutsu, which means she’ll be using that awesome staff! Oscar Isaac in his base jumpsuit. Gird your wallets, Force Friday coming September 4

This week’s Camie’s Concerns is all about Luke Skywalker. What are our hopes and expectations for him in the Sequel Trilogy and beyond?

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

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Review: Star Wars #5

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The battle against the Empire is far from over as our Rebels continue their search for a new base planet. They’re not the only ones with a mission though as Boba Fett, tasked by Darth Vader, hunts for the pilot who blew up the Death Star. Star Wars #5 by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday arrives in comic stores today, bringing your own search for a new issue to a close.  For this month at least.

This is an issue that will probably make the Boba Fett fanboys very happy. Not being a particular fan of the Fett myself, I can’t say for sure but this is definitely the most we’ve seen of him in the new canon thus far. That said, it does feel like a bit of a departure from the previous versions of Boba and like Jason Aaron is having fun with getting to really create and expand upon the characterization of a character who, quite frankly, didn’t do much more then stand there and look badass in the films. (Warning for the more sensitive: there are a few pages that get fairly violent.)

Bounty hunter aside, this issue does let us get another look at our favorite trio. Luke’s off on his own, headed back to Tatooine in search of answers while Leia convinces Han to be her co-pilot on her latest mission for the alliance. It’s fun to see the beginnings of the antagonistic banter between Leia and Han in the years before it fully develops into the routine arguments that fellow Alliance soldiers just walk through on Hoth.  The relationships between all of the main characters are where Aaron really thrives with this book.

On the art front, I continue to enjoy Cassaday’s work and will definitely miss him when he leaves the book. There’s just something about reading a book where you can tell the artist is loving every minute of his work.

Star Wars #5 continues this book’s trend of being solidly enjoyable and gets another recommendation from Tosche Station.

 

Star Wars Weekends Episode I: The Humidity Menace

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May 15-17 marked the first weekend of Walt Disney World’s annual Star Wars Weekends, held during five weekends in May and June at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. Given our love of both Star Wars and Disney World, our close proximity to the parks (about 10 minutes from our garage to the DHS parking lot), and our status as annual passholders, it’s a no-brainer that we spend at least some part of every weekend at the park.

This year Brian and I decided to take off work on Day 1 in order to kick off the festivities with a bang. Week 1 also marked the first ever appearance of Ian McDiarmid at Star Wars Weekends!

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Review: Darth Vader #5

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The owner(s) of the lightsabers on the cover of this issue has been the subject of conversation for weeks and now the time has finally come for all to be revealed.  Darth Vader #5 by Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca arrives in comic stores today with the definitive answer to that debate.

Vader has an army.  And two murderous droids.  And the assistance of Doctor Aphra.  And the location of this facility where he suspects Palpatine is training his replacement.  It’s not difficult to predict his next course of action.  But when Vader arrives, lightsaber blazing, not everything is quite what it seems…

Darth Vader #5 has the distinct honor of being the first issue of the new Marvel comics to leave me going “Wait what?” and scratching my head while I try and figure out what’s going on.  Palpatine quietly training a new apprentice definitely seems logical and quite frankly, easy enough to hide in plain sight given that Inquisitors are a part of canon.  Without going into spoilers, the last half dozen pages or so has definitely left me not quite tracking Gillen’s plan here.  That said, this isn’t a black mark against the book.  I have no doubt that more will be revealed in the coming issues and quite frankly if I could predict everything that happens in this book, I’d get bored rather fast.

We don’t get to see as much from Aphra or our murder bots this issue (although Triple Zero does have a few great lines) but given that this a book about Vader, I’m content to see him be the star for an issue.  There’s actually not tons else to say about this latest issue though.  Darth Vader continues to be an enjoyable book with great art by Larroca who’s the perfect fit for this series.  Again, those final few pages left me both on the edge of my seat and scratching my head with confusion.  The next issue’s going to be an interesting for sure!

In the mean time, go pick up a copy of Darth Vader #5 as this book continues to get my stamp of approval!