Laughter and Levity can Cut Through Darkness

Posted on by

It was just last night on the podcast Nanci and I were jokingly talking about how awesome it would be for Aaron Allston to write a second Starfighters of Adumar book in which Wedge, Tycho, Wes, and Hobbie run off to play diplomat again and mutter “we’re too old for this shit.” If anyone could have made that setup work, it would have been Aaron Allston. His ability to tap into the humor of Star Wars (and life in general, really) was unparalleled. If there was one lesson you could take away from his works, it was that there was always room for levity and laughter.

(Continue reading under the cut, warning for discussion of depression and suicide)

Continue reading →

Yub Yub, Aaron Allston

Posted on by

This is not a post any of us ever wanted to have to write. Aaron Allston, prolific Star Wars author and all-around awesome human being, passed away last night after apparent massive heart failure.

It’s safe to say that without Aaron, many of us wouldn’t be SWEU fans. It’s also safe to say that several of us wouldn’t have stayed SWEU fans without Aaron. No matter what he was writing, he had the ability to make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the same page, and then make you laugh through those tears. He created some of our most favorite characters, some of the SWEU’s best moments, and kept it fun through dark times. Several of us name Starfighters of Adumar as our favorite SWEU book of all time.

Aaron was a presence at many conventions, including Celebration and Dragon Con, where he ran writing workshops with Mike Stackpole. I participated in several of his seminars; not only was the man a great writer, but he was a great teacher, too. He always treated everyone like a friend, whether you’d known him for ages or had just approached him to ask him to sign one of your books. Aaron also contributed to several of my favorite panels at Dragon Con, where he had the audience in stitches. As Timothy Zahn said last night on Facebook, “The Aaron, Mike, and Tim show, as we called it, has come to a sad close.”

Brian and I had the honor of interviewing Aaron on the podcast, only our second interview (after Stackpole, fittingly), and were quite nervous to do so. He put us at ease and, needless to say, the interview ended up being informative and full of laughter. Probably my favorite interview we’ve ever done.

Star Wars will not be the same without Aaron Allston. Yub Yub, Commander. The Wraiths are flying in formation in your honor today.

Allston's Wraiths

edit: Brian posted his own thoughts here. 

Tosche Station Radio #81: Rebels and Rumors

Posted on by

ToscheStationbig

Play in new window | Download

This week on Tosche Station Radio, we’re joined by Brian from EUCantina to discuss Star Wars Rebels and diversity!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog. Emily reviewed Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #2. Bria reviewed Legacy #12. Bria also traveled further on the Hondo Caravan and learned that people like to put Anakin in bad situations. Bria reported on her weekend at Katsucon.

In Fixer’s Flash, the hosts have kept busy by going to Disney Parks (naturally) and reading Honor Among Thieves.

Deak’s Dirt is light this week. Netflix released a trailer for The Clone Wars: Lost Missions. Star Wars Weekends gets biggest, James Arnold Taylor confirmed as host.

New on the podcast is an all new feature we like to call Biggs’ Bull$#!^. Variety reports that Adam Driver will play the villain. Lucasfilm.com relaunched and teased some Episode VII concept art including the Millennium Falcon. MarketSaw claims an exclusive source tells them all sorts of stuff and things.

Camie’s Concerns this week looks at all the Rebels news and looks at the marketing of the upcoming show. Required reading for this discussion: Amy Ratcliffe’s article about marketing and female characters from The Mary Sue, Dunc’s article about female action figures from Club Jade, and Mia Moretti’s article about why owning diversity is important from Eleven-ThirtyEight.

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.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

Review: Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #2

Posted on by

Serenity 2 coverRunning out of money.  Running out of time.  They’re running out of places to hide, and they ran out of friends a long time ago.  And now, Malcolm Reynolds and crew are finding themselves not only between the proverbial rock and hard place–but between the hard place and the vacuum of space.

On the heels of Leaves on the Wind #1, things are just getting worse for Serenity‘s crew, and now Mal’s having to make decisions that will leave readers shocked–and that’s not even the worst part.  Old enemies have returned.

If possible, the writing has gotten even better in this issue, and Zack Whedon has a plot that will keep you hooked on every issue moving forward.  I’m still not a fan of the art, but there are panels that look much better than in the first issue, so it’s also improving.  But while I’m not a fan of the art, the writing Whedon is doing is amazing enough that I would pick this up even if it was drawn with stick figures.

Review: Star Wars: Legacy #12

Posted on by

Ania’s been kidnapped by someone she thought was a friend!  Issue #12 of Star Wars: Legacy by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman is out today and now almost everyone in the galaxy is looking for one Ania Solo.  (Honestly, can this woman’s life get any worse?)

Betrayed by her friend Ramid, Ania Solo finds herself stuffed unceremoniously into a storage locker with no comlink and therefore no way for her real friends to track her.  Ramid, on the other hand, is holding a grudge against her for leaving him for dead outside a prison camp and he’s happy to hand her over to the Triumvirate in exchange for a sizable bounty.  Across the galaxy, Master Val learns that he’s not in nearly as much trouble as he expected for his actions on Dac and that the Imperial Knights have a new mission he doesn’t quite agree with.  Meanwhile, Jao, Sauk, and AG-37 are doing everything they can to find Ania and get her back but they aren’t the only ones in pursuit.

Continue reading →

Hondo Caravan: Let’s Put Anakin In Bad Situations

Posted on by

I feel like I should say this right off the bat: this is a disc of episodes in which people make really stupid decisions.  Like… really stupid.  But it’s okay.  Our heroes survive.  More or less.  We pick up with the story arc from the last episode of the previous disc which means… slavers.

Slaves of the Republic
I love this episode purely because it’s the reason why we get to hear Obi-Wan use the words ‘High Class Scum’ and also because Ahsoka got to throw some subtle shade at Anakin about him not being very convincing as a Master.

I would “never” question the wisdom or the judgment of the Jedi Council in all their… uhh… wisdom but could they really not find anyone better to send on this mission than Anakin Skywalker?  Why on earth would you put a former slave on a mission to a planet full of slavers?  Anakin is far from being the calmest Jedi out there and putting him into an emotionally charged situation like this is just plain stupid.

And while I’m on the subject on ranting, why did it have to be Ahsoka who was put into the slave girl role?  More specifically: why does it have to be the show’s lone female lead who is put into a slave girl outfit?  So help me, this had best not happen in Rebels too.

At least we got a fun parallel to Return of the Jedi with Artoo tossing lightsabers to the Jedi on command.  At least.

Other things happened in this episode such as the plan failing miserably but I’m honestly too off put by Ahsoka being dressed up as a slave girl and the Jedi Council putting Anakin into a situation like this to have really took notice.

Continue reading →

Katsucon 2014 Report and Cosplay Roundup

Posted on by

Another February means another Katsucon.  It’s one of the largest anime conventions on the East Coast and makes its home at the Gaylord Hotel and Resort in National Harbor, MD, just outside of Washington DC.  This year, it was quite the frozen convention to say the least (you’ll get that pun in a minute) with a massive snow storm bringing the East Coast to a standstill.  Hundreds of eager con-goers found their travel plans suddenly thrown into chaos as flights, trains, and buses were cancelled right and left.  While there are undoubtedly plenty of attendees who weren’t able to make it, the convention was still rather filled with more and more people trickling in over Friday and Saturday.  Friday was, however, a good day for costumers who wanted to get pictures in the famed gazebo.

Continue reading →

Star Wars Weekends gets another weekend, James Arnold Taylor returns to host

Posted on by

Star Wars Weekends fans, rejoice! The ever-popular Star Wars event that takes place every May-June at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is back and is now boasted a fifth weekend. Additionally, James Arnold Taylor is back as the celebrity host.

As the Rebel Alliance continues its fight for freedom and democracy in the Star Wars galaxy, the phantom puppetmaster himself, Darth Sidious (aka Emperor Palpatine), has issued a new galactic decree about Star Wars Weekends 2014 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

While some of his blue-hued holographic transmission was garbled, the Emperor has ordered his Galactic Empire to create a demonstration of force and power that can be seen high above Disney’s Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends 2014. This has caused much talk in the galaxy that a gala fireworks show featuringStar Wars music will be presented each evening this year.

When consulted, several protocol droids further translated the Emperor’s message. These translations reinforced the conclusions that there will be a new evening experience for Star Wars Weekends guests on Hollywood Blvd. in the Walt Disney World Resort theme park.

However, that’s not the end of this story.

When the Rebel Alliance secretly learned of the Emperor’s plans from a hidden message decoded from an astromech droid, they decided to extend the galactic gala one more weekend in 2014.

In order to convince more guests to join the Rebellion, a 5th weekend is now being added to Star WarsWeekends 2014. The new event dates are every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May 16-June 15, 2014. The theme for this year’s event is, appropriately, “Join the Rebellion.”

Disney also released a promotional poster for this year’s event. SWW144-poster

 

It probably goes without saying that both Nanci and I will be in attendance.

Final Rebels Reveal: Meet Hera, Pilot Extraordinaire

Posted on by

Hera

EW wraps up the Rebels character reveals with Hera, a Twi’lek pilot voiced by Vanessa Marshall.

She’s a Twi’lek (having those long head-tail things) and is voiced by actress Vanessa Marshall (The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy). “She is a very strong-minded character,” says Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni, “kind of the heart of the group, keeps everyone together when they would otherwise fall apart.”

“Every time we get a script I’m breathless with anticipation,” Marshall adds, “because I want to see where we’re going too.”

Head to the link above for the introductory video.