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queer-starwars-bracket · 9 months

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Queer Star Wars Characters (Round 1): General Bracket Match 24

Lee Skillen | Identity: wlw | Media: A Crash of Fate

Lee Skillen was a Karkadoon who worked for Ohnaka Transport Solutions. She supervised the Batuu office when her boss was off planet. She established a working relationship with one of A Crash of Fate’s protagonists, Julen Rakab due to his work as a courier for Dok Ondar. In her brief appearance in the book, she refuses to give Jules the access code for the office to retrieve a package of Ondar’s he mistakenly delivered to them. While they talked, due to her stress, he was able to pickpocket the access card and retrieve the package.

Lee Skillen was overworked and quite stressed due to Hondo’s irresponsibility and all the problems he left for her to deal with. When she was stressed, she’d have her suit mist her with salt water. She also has a tendency to rant about her personal problems, including that her girlfriend didn’t like the hours she worked and her mother didn’t like her dating a Twi’lek.

Teemank | Identity: wlw | Media: The High Republic Trial of Shadows

Teemank was the wife of fellow Chandra Fan Beesar Tal-Apurna. After the Great Hyperspace Disaster, she joined the Republic Defense Coalition, despite being old and her planet not being closely aligned with the Republic. Her wife begged her not to, but she did so anyway. In her first deployment, the Battle of Kur, she was killed. This motivated her wife to spy on the Nihil Chandra Fan Doctor Uttersond.

#sw #star wars #the high republic #sw thr #sw galaxy's edge

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irrfahrer · 3 years

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Wookiepedia on the Golden Lichen

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Golden Lichen, also known as gold dust, was a type of lichen native to the Outer Rim planet Batuu. It could be used in food and as a dye. It often grew on the sides of the planet's petrified spires as well as on the sides of buildings. The crime lord Oga Garra had a monopoly on the cultivation and exportation of Golden Lichen. Many residents of Surabat Vicinity were involved in the dangerous process of harvesting it for her.

Description Golden Lichen was a species of bright golden lichen uniquely found on its homeworld of Batuu. The lichen could grow over trees, rocks and man made structures. It had a variety of uses, including use in paint and dye or as an exotic garnish or ingredient in cooking. Chef Strono Tuggs published his recipe for a type of tuile called Golden Lichen Tuile in his cookbook.

History During the war between the First Order and the Resistance, Golden Lichen could be found widespread through Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, where it was called gold dust by the locals who discovered the many uses of the lichen. It grew across the outpost's stone spires, trees, rocks and man made structures. The crime lord Oga Garra had a monopoly over the cultivation of Golden Lichen on Batuu as well as over its exportation to other planets. Many of the residents of Surabat Vicinity on Batuu were involved in the dangerous process of harvesting Golden Lichen for Garra, as it grew on the gigantic spires that surrounded their settlement. Usages of Golden Lichen: Fuzzy Tauntaun Fuzzy Tauntauns were yellow, fruity, alcoholic cocktails made with buzzz and Golden Lichen. They were named after the tauntaun species from Hoth. In 34 ABY, they were served at Oga's Cantina in Black Spire Outpost on the Outer Rim planet Batuu. Human mercenary Bazine Netal and former stormtrooper Archex were two beings who were unlikely to drink Fuzzy Tauntauns, but Weequay smuggler Hondo Ohnaka recommended them. Julen Rakab and Volt Vescuso drank them after Rakab thwarted Ana Tolla's attack on Kat Saka's farm. Description: The Fuzzy Tauntaun was a yellow-colored, fruity, alcoholic cocktail served at Oga's Cantina in Black Spire Outpost on the Outer Rim planet Batuu in 34 ABY. It was made using a narcotic substance called buzzz which had a numbing effect on the drinker, and its dusting with gold-colored flakes of the valuable substance Golden Lichen made it one of the most expensive drinks at the establishment. Named after tauntauns, a snow lizard species, Fuzzy Tauntauns were served very cold like the creatures' native planet, Hoth. In 34 ABY, the Weequaysmuggler Hondo Ohnaka personally recommended the drink to the humanmercenary Bazine Netal multiple times while she questioned him at Oga's Cantina during her search for the Millennium Falcon, a YT-1300 light freighter. She declined each time and asked him if she looked like the kind of person who drank the beverage; Ohnaka agreed that Netal did not.

#this made me laugh #I mean okay I love when star wars uses plants for food BUT FUZZY TAUNTAUN???? :DDD #what a delight #inspiration #bless wookiepedia

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rebelsofshield · 5 years

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Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate- Review

Can’t afford to make a trip to Batuu this year or in the near future? Disney and Lucasfilm are here to fix that for you with their young adventure romance adult novel, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate by Zoraida Córdova.

(Review Contains Minor Spoilers)

Izael Garcia, or Izzy, and Julen Rakab, or Jules, were inseparable as children. The two spent their days climbing the massive spires of Batuu and avoiding the attention of their parents or predators. However, a sudden change in Izzy’s life saw here carried far away by her smuggler parents. Years later, herself a member of the galactic criminal community, Izzy finds herself returning to the planet of her youth on a mysterious mission and reconnecting with a long lost friend.

The decision to make Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge not just a theme park but a depiction of a specific place and time in the history of the saga was an inspired one. Like the best of Star Wars, Batuu as a planet feels lived in and brimming with history, personality, and conflict. Also, in typical Star Wars fashion, there are numerous ways to experience Batuu through well realized media synergy. Batuu breathes and expands across novels, comics, and dynamic attractions. I happen to be one of the many Star Wars fans that likely won’t be stepping into the world of Galaxy’s Edge for quite some time so getting to taste, smell, and see Batuu through story is a strong enough alternative.

This proves to be some of A Crash of Fate’s strengths but also the source of some of its greatest struggles. Zoraida Córdova’s prose sings at describing the diverse and colorful world of Batuu. Izzy and Jules each bring their own views and understandings of the various locations and denizens of Black Spire Outpost and its surroundings and both succeed in bringing this world to life in unique ways to their character. Córdova nails these sensory details and helps to find the small personal quirks to Batuu that make it feel real.

There is, however, a cynical artificiality to it all. A Crash of Fate stumbles its way through various attractions and locales for the Disney Park and it’s hard not to feel the corporate machine spinning away behind the narrative. This isn’t to say that we couldn’t have had a rollicking, encompassing adventure through the streets of the Outpost, but the episodic nature of Córdova’s narrative can’t help but feel like it often pauses to showcase a different shop, ride, or restaurant.

There are also aspects of Batuu that feel limited in their application. While the decision to keep the conflict of the Resistance and First Order as a backdrop and not a focus of the novel is a strong one, A Crash of Fate could have benefited from a longer cast shadow for the war. It is unclear what exactly the First Order’s role is on Batuu. Stormtroopers appear from time to time and boss around the ensemble, but the extent of their authority or their effect on the citizens of Black Spire Outpost is too nebulous to nail down. A miniature fascist rally among disaffected Batuu citizens is haunting and prevalent, but proves to be little more than set dressing.

A Crash of Fate splits its perspective in a dual point of view through Iggy and Jules. As a story of childhood reunion turned into whirlwind love affair, this approach proves affective. Jules and Izzy’s different upbringings and state in life allows for some amusing moments of misunderstanding and irony and Córdova seems to be having the most fun in allowing these two young people the moment to stumble through their awkward and accidental courtship. In a relatable turn, Córdova centers A Crash of Fate around a classic “returning to your roots” story of two friends from childhood rediscovering one another and the world around them with older and more experienced eyes. It’s a smart and sympathetic theme especially for the novel’s target audience.

The difficulty comes in that only half of A Crash of Fate’s central duo seems to be carrying the story. Following her departure from Batuu, Izzy spent years on the fringes of the galaxy learning to prioritize survival and opportunity. A Crash of Fate opens with the end of her previous romantic relationship and the loss of her former crew which leaves Izzy with a jaded and reactionary worldview. The pain of this inciting treachery carries Izzy through A Crash of Fate and quickly becomes the impetus for much of the novel’s conflict. Seeing how Izzy’s more “grown up” worldview interacts with Black Spire Outpost is the most dramatically rich material as it both puts up walls but also opens doors she may have not realized had been unlocked to her.

By contrast, Jules’s uncomplicated, “aw shucks” demeanor fails to intrigue. While Izzy was off scraping by to live, Jules was forming friendships and connections on Batuu with the hopes of eventually flying away himself. While his familiarity with Black Spire and less jaded worldview offer a smart foil for Izzy in her journey, Jules fails to feel like a driving force in the narrative. His story is carried along by Izzy and her vague mission, but it’s never directly complicated by his own wants or actions. It places A Crash of Fate in a tough spot. While the dual perspectives is one of the best aspects of Córdova’s prose, Jules’s relative flatness as a character perhaps advocates that he would have been best experienced solely through Izzy’s eyes.

This is not to say that romance between Izzy and Jules lacks spark or affection. There is a certain sweet satisfaction in seeing these two separated souls find one another once again and while their coupling is clearly inevitable, it doesn’t stop the fun of the journey itself. This is good as the larger conflict doesn’t rear its head until well into the novel’s third act when Izzy’s past truly comes back to muck things up.

As a whole, A Crash of Fate proves passingly entertaining, but disappointingly shallow at the same time. Córdova offers a strong sense of place and crafts a fun young romance particularly from the point of view from its flawed heroine, but this trip to Galaxy’s Edge is a forgettable one. Whether it was a larger corporate mandate preventing the novel from exploring some of the planets nooks and crannies while demanding focus on certain locales or a bland male protagonist, A Crash of Fate feels held down by forces outside its control and sputters to right itself.

Score: C

#Star Wars #Star Wars novels #review #reviews #A Crash of Fate #Galaxy's Edge #Zoraida Córdova

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