My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend, Star Wars friends!

This week I found myself in the middle of four different books (!): Out of the Shadows, a Star Wars High Republic YA novel; I Was Anastasia, the book I’m reading for my sister’s book Club; Freefall, a Poe Dameron YA novel I’ve been working on for a few weeks; and Mischief Maker, a book about mythological Loki. Whenever I find myself in this situation, I have to discipline myself and just pick one to focus on, then move to the next, and then the next, or I just find myself all over the place, lol.

So I focused on the Loki book, since that appealed to me the most (I’m ahead of the game with the book club novel), and I have to say it’s not bad. It’s by Bruce Nesmith, who’s worked on several video games, so I didn’t go into it thinking it would win any writing awards (no offense, Mr. Nesmith). But despite several annoying typos (in the Kindle version, at least), it’s pretty entertaining.

After Ragnorok, Loki was exiled to Midgard, and he’s been living here for over 900 years. He’s working as a magician in Chicago at the beginning of the book, but his past won’t leave him alone, and he must travel Yggdrasil to several of the Nine Realms to figure out who’s trying to kill him and why. He ends up preparing for a second Ragnorok against Thor, who’s a brutish bully in this story. I haven’t quite finished it yet but it’s a fun romp through a re-imagined Nine Realms, and a Loki who is blonde, likes playing harmless pranks, and rides around on a motorcycle wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. I can totally see it (except the blonde part; that’s hard to imagine after having Tom Hiddleston’s black-haired Loki burned into my brain, lol). Oh, and he’s got Munnin, one of Odin’s ravens (Memory), along for the ride. Oh, and the author knows his Norse mythology, many stories of which I recognized through my reading of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (another book I’m only halfway through, lol).

On the Marvel front, I’ve decided to wait on the Agent Carter series for now, but I have watched the first What If? episode. I think this is going to be a fun and interesting series, with explorations into the multiverse that perhaps Loki’s show has created. I have to admit, it was weird seeing Agent Carter turn into the super soldier instead of Steve Rogers–weird, but also very cool. And at least Steve gets a primitive Iron Man suit so he’s not left behind. Can’t wait to see what they have coming next.

So, on to some some actual Star Wars: the season finale of The Bad Batch. Spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch Recap & Spoilers: Season 1 Finale, 'Kamino Lost'

The Batch, along with Crosshair and the droid AZ, have been trapped on Kamino while the Empire blows up the facility. The whole show is how they escape and get back to the Marauder, which was actually pretty nail-biting most of the time. The really interesting part was Crosshair–it turns out, his chip was removed, apparently, a long time ago, and he claims that his allegiance to the Empire is his own decision. Not sure how much of that I believe, as I remember the chip’s functions being enhanced exponentially by the Empire, so why then take it out? Unless he clawed it out himself (and the ugly scar on his head makes it look like that), but still, maybe the damage has been done to his brain? I don’t know. But he claims he’s made his decision, and he decides to stay on Kamino and wait for rescue rather than go with the Batch. So they’ll be crossing swords with him again in Season Two, but I’m curious how it will play out. I thought the first season was quite good, despite some flagging in the middle, but I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to Star Wars, lol.

Seems all of these characters this week–Loki, Peggy Carter, and Crosshair–have been flipped on their heads and are not what they seem, or what we’re familiar with. I like that change-up!

So that’s been my entertainment week. What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

I missed a Marvel show? And can you really have too many Lokis?

Okay, so I just finished my second viewing of Loki (bravo!), and I thought, well, that’s it until something new comes up. And then I go back to the Disney+ home page, and what do I see?

Agent Carter. Two seasons. A Marvel show I (apparently?) missed. How come I didn’t see this? How come it wasn’t in the Marvel timeline? Okay, so it’s not a direct storyline for the Endgame universe, but it concerns Cap’s love interest. I had no idea it existed, lol.

So I guess I’m watching another Marvel show. I also saw one called “Inhuman” but I don’t think it has anything to do with our heroes (please let me know if I’m wrong!).

Anyway, speaking of Loki, I’ve discovered there’s tons of novels out there about him. I’ve already read and written briefly about one, called Loki: Where Mischief Lies, by Mackenzie Lee. This one’s put out by Marvel, and deals with our Marvel Loki at a different point in his life. I loved it. I’ve just found out there’s a new one, a sequel called Loki: Where Mischief Ends, by the same author, and I so want to read it! I just see it in paperback, so I’ll wait and see if it goes to Kindle anytime soon (since I read the first one on Kindle. If I buy the paperback, then of course I must have the paperback of the first one, too, lol.)

However, there are other novels about Loki–not the Marvel version, but a version based on the Norse myth. I’ve recently downloaded one to my Kindle called Mischief Maker, by Bruce Nesmith, and it sounds pretty neat (Loki is blonde in this one, which is a little weird to picture). There’s also a trilogy about mythological Loki called The Nine Worlds Rising Trilogy, by Lyra Wolf, which I’d also love to check out. (Truth and Other Lies, The Order of Chaos, and That Good Mischief). OMG, so many, many more! The God of Mischief is quite the thing right now, lol, and I totally get it.

Mischief Maker: A Norse Mythology Contemporary Fantasy by [Bruce Nesmith]

This blog seems to be turning into a Marvel/Loki blog, lol. Maybe I need to do some remodeling, to encompass my expanding interests and obsessions. It’s either that, or start a new blog about Marvel and/or Loki, but if I keep doing that–starting new blogs about new passions–I’ll have dozens of blogs, lol. Maybe that will be part of my new Fall plan–reworking the blog. We’ll see.

Anyway, just thought I’d riff on these new discoveries. Have you watched Agent Carter? Is it any good? Read any Loki books? Any advice on the structure of the blog? I’d be happy to hear it. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

Brief thoughts on my Marvel movie marathon.

So because of my absolute love of the D+ show Loki, I’ve decided to catch up on the Marvel Universe and watch all the movies. I initially watched the movies with Loki in them (the three Thor movies, and 3 of the Avenger movies) but because the show Loki has consequences for Marvel movies moving forward (and assuming I’d want to watch them) it was time to play catch up on everybody that came before.

Using the D+ list of Marvel phases 1-4, I began. Here’s a few lines on what I though of each movie.

Iron Man. Very cool. Tony Stark is annoying at first, but he grows on you.

Iron Man 2. Kind of boring, actually.

Thor. Absolutely loved. I’m more into mythological magic users than superheroes, so this made me happy.

Captain America: The First Avenger. Steve Rogers is such a good guy. But I wonder if Agent Carter would have fallen in love with Skinny Steve Rogers, lol. Kidding, I know she liked him. Loved seeing Hugo Weaving.

Avengers. Fabulous. Loki is so wonderfully evil in this one. And it’s this Loki that ends up at the TVA.

Iron Man 3. Better than 2. I love that Pepper gets to kick some ass at the end. And I love Guy Pearce.

Thor: The Dark World. This one’s great, too. Loki’s reaction to Frigga’s death is heartbreaking.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Also kind of boring. SHIELD is compromised by HYDRA, yada yada. I like what they’re doing with Bucky, though.

Guardians of the Galaxy. This one was goofy and fun. Kind of a breath of fresh air after all the (sometimes boring) earth stuff. Good soundtrack.

Avengers: Age of Ultron. This one was pretty good. The Romanov/Banner romance kind of came out of left field, but it’s sweet. Vision and Wanda intrigue me.

Ant-Man. This one was really fun, too. I REALLY don’t like insects, but the ants in this were kind of cute. Kind of.

Captain America: Civil War. This one was actually quite good. Seeing the Avengers turn on each other is painful. I loved Daniel Bruhl in The Alienist series, and he’s a good villain here. I think there’s more of him in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Doctor Strange. OMG, I absolutely LOVED Dr. Strange. The mystical magic users are more up my alley (which is probably why I like the Jedi so much). I can’t wait to see more of Dr. Strange, most likely in connection to the events of the Loki series (I think??).

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. Another fun ride, another great soundtrack. Baby Groot is probably the cutest thing pre-Grogu.

Thor: Ragnarok. My absolute favorite Thor movie. The relationship between Thor and Loki is wonderful here. And it’s really funny. Jeff Goldblum almost steals the show.

Black Panther. Perfection. That is all. Except “Wakanda Forever!”

Avengers: Infinity War. Loki’s death in the first ten minutes of this movie is very, very painful to watch. But knowing he went out a hero in trying to kill Thanos is poignant. This movie is really when shit gets real, and what all the movies that came before were leading up to. And I love how Thor calls Rocket “Rabbit.”

Ant-Man and Wasp. I really like Scott Lange. I think he’s the only (sort of) Avenger with a child (until Tony has Morgan later). He’s funny and down-to-earth and a little star-struck by the Avengers, and I think the audience can really relate to him. And Paul Rudd is the perfect actor to play him.

Captain Marvel. This one was fine. At first, I felt like it didn’t have much to do with, well, anything. The Cree and all that, but honestly, who cares? But then Nick Fury and Agent Coulson came along, and that was neat, I guess. I loved the cat Goose, or whatever it was, lol. Oh, and Ben Mendelsohn. He’s great.

Avengers: Endgame. Truly epic. I gotta admit, I got a little weepy this second time around when Tony dies at the end. Leaves me with a couple of questions: where’s Gomorrah? How did she just disappear from the battle? Guessing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will find Quill looking for her. And I love that Thor’s with them, but what does that mean for Thor: Love and Thunder? I know that Jane Foster will become The Mighty Thor, but where does that leave our Thor? And what about Mjolnir? Cap brought it with him back to the past when he brought the Infinity stones back, but he only brought his shield back for Sam. Where’s the hammer? And Loki–well, we know what happened to Loki, lol.

Wandavision. At first I thought, What the hell am I watching? Lol. I figured it would make sense eventually. Pretty entertaining. But what happened to White Vision? Hoping he shows up somewhere in future content.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. For the first few episodes, this one was a little dull for me, but it got really good towards the end, even quite moving. It was obvious Steve wanted Sam to be the new Captain America, but I guess he had to get there on his own. I was mostly there for Bucky and Zemo, though, lol.

Loki. The show that started this madness for me, lol. I love the direction Loki’s character is going here. Simply wonderful, and psyched there’s a Season Two. And we’ll probably see Loki in some future movies, and I’m so there for that.

Black Widow. I probably won’t see this one until it’s removed from Premiere access, but that’s okay. She’s a cool character, but not at the top of my list.

So I don’t see any Hulk or Spiderman movies on D+ (who knows why, probably licensing stuff), so I may have to look elsewhere for those, and I’m not really sure where they fall in the timeline, but whatever.

I really thought Star Wars was complicated and comprehensive (and if you include the books, it is), but cinematically, Marvel takes the cake. It’s really incredibly ambitious, and I never knew how interconnected it all was. In the past, I’d see previews for yet another comic book movie, and I thought, ah geez, another one? Lol. But I’ve been converted. I’ve seen the light. I’m a true believer, and can’t wait to see what Marvel has up its sleeve for the future.

Padawans, Super Soldiers, And A Russian Princess

Happy weekend, my Star Wars friends!

I thought I’d change the title of these weekend updates and make them more tuned to what each post is about.

So I’ve gotten a few chapters into Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to like this book. I’ve heard a few complaints about it, that it’s more talky and slow than previous books, but that’s okay by me. Between Star Wars and Marvel, I think I’ve had enough explosions and battles to last me several lifetimes, lol. This one focuses on the Padawans and younger Jedi, like Vernestra Rwoh, Reath Silas, and Imri Cantaros. I’m a big fan of Reath ever since Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. He’s a bookish type, more into research and scholarship than the whole Jedi adventuring thing, and I can relate to that, lol.

On Kindle, I’m still working on Freefall, about a young Poe Dameron, but it’s recently taken a back seat to a non-Star Wars book called I Was Anastasia, by Ariel Lawhon. For the past few years, my sister and niece and I have done a little book club together, on and off throughout the year, and after some time off, we just started up again. The book we chose was this one about Anna Anderson, the woman who had claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, the supposed only survivor of the slaughter of the Romanov family during the Russian Revolution. I’ve always been fascinated by the subject, and probably saw a movie or two back in the day about it, but I don’t quite remember all the details. I think it was fairly recently established that she was NOT Anastasia, but again, I’m not sure. Even if that’s true, people still want to believe, I think. It’s a tragic, sensational story, and people respond to that. It’s in novel form, so it’s “fiction,” but I’m sure the author has done her research. Really intriguing.

The Bad Batch penultimate Season One episode, “Return to Kaminoa,” is what I’ve been waiting for this show to do for a while now: go back to compelling story-telling. I won’t go into spoilers in case you haven’t seen it yet, but this Season Finale Part 1 is fantastic, and I can’t wait to see what happens in Part 2.

On the Marvel front, I’m a few episodes into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Admittedly, I’m not as invested in this one, although I think the character of Bucky Barnes is interesting. And the return of Zemo is great. But after the quirkiness of Wandavison, and the sheer enjoyability of Loki, this one’s a bit dull, lol. But I’ll soldier through, and then rewatch Loki, of course. And then I’m done with the Marvel universe (unless I look around for Hulk and/or Spiderman movies, which I may or may not do). I may catch Black Widow in the theater next week. There’s a few Marvel movies coming out later this year, like The Eternals, but I have no idea what it’s about, lol, or if it’s connected at all with what I’ve been watching. Oh, and the Shang-Chi guy. I can’t keep track, lol. What I’m waiting for are the next Dr. Strange and Thor movies, and I think another Wakanda movie is coming out next year. So I’ll stay tuned.

That’s about it for entertainment. My family and I still haven’t done half the summer stuff we wanted to do this year yet, but next week is our 23rd wedding anniversary and I took the week off from work, so maybe we’ll get some fun stuff in. We’ve been talking about ziplining, so maybe we’ll actually get to that! I’ll let you know next week. See you then!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend, my Star Wars friends!

So I FINALLY finished The Rising Storm, and I have to say that, although it seemed to take me forever, it was a really good book. Well, the first half of the book took a little too long to get going, in my opinion, but once it did, it was great. The main Jedi of this book were Stellan Gios, Elzar Mann, and Padawan Bell Zettifar, all great characters; but I especially find Elzar Mann interesting. The leader of the Nihil, Marchion Ro, continues to be intriguing and mysterious, and I want to know more about his history with the Jedi. One of the themes of the High Republic novels seems to be how the Jedi of this period deal with temptation, attachment, grief, anger, and the pull of the dark side, and I find it fascinating.

I’ve just started the YA book of “Wave 2,” Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland, and can’t really tell you much about it yet. Recently there was an announcement about the “Wave 3” books coming out next year, and I’m excited that Claudia Gray will be writing the adult novel, called The Fallen Star. I’ve loved everything Gray has written in Star Wars, and I’m certain this book will be no exception.

On Kindle, I’m about two-thirds of the way through Freefall by Alex Segura, a YA novel about a young Poe Dameron during his spice-runner days. It’s pretty good, fairly entertaining, and delivers what most YA books do: a young person finding out who they are and what they want, a little bit of romance, and a whole lot of adventure. A fun book.

The latest Bad Batch episode “War Mantle” was quite good, after a few weeks of “meh” episodes. I won’t go into details in case you haven’t watched it, but I finally feel like we’re getting somewhere here, lol.

On the Marvel front, I’d say I’m about two-thirds of the way through my Marvel movie/show marathon. I just finished Black Panther last night, and it’s truly exceptional. I’d heard great things about it when it came out and I thought I’d go see it, but I’m glad I waited until I’d seen the other movies for context. Just fantastic. I just started re-watching Avengers: Infinity War, and will probably finish that tonight. Loki’s death in the first ten minutes just deflates me, but it’s still a great movie, even though they fail at the end, lol.

I’m hoping to finish my Marvel journey by the time my daughter goes back to school in September (which I think will happen), and then I’ll start my “Fall Plan.” What I want to do is to get back into writing in some way, and usually my first steps into that is by journalling and doing some writing practice (I’m a bit rusty, lol). I want to write a few hours in the morning after my daughter goes to school, and then go hiking with my husband (when neither of us is working, that is, lol). Hiking is something we used to do all the time before we had our daughter, but since her birth 12 years ago it’s dwindled down to almost nothing on my part. I miss it. I’m hoping the weather in the fall is much drier than it’s been this summer.

Anyway, there’s a book that’s been on my shelf for a long time that I want to use for my writing practice, called A Writer’s Book of Days. I love it. It’s got essays on writing and the writing life, author quotes, and most importantly, writing prompts to use. I’m so ready to get back into it. I LOVE blogging, and will continue to blog about Star Wars, but will scale back on it significantly. I’ll probably do what I’ve been doing lately: a weekly post on what I’ve been reading and watching, and anything else that proves interesting to me. I will certainly continue to read Star Wars books, and look forward to all the Star Wars shows that will be coming out in the future, and I’ll definitely write about those here (and probably Marvel, too).

So a lot to look forward to, and a lot of fun to be had, with Marvel, Star Wars, and writing!

What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

I don’t have much to report on the Star Wars front at the moment. I’m still slogging through The Rising Storm. I’ve gotten to the more exciting part, but for some reason I’m just not feeling it. Maybe it’s me; I’ve been distracted by other things. I still love these characters, especially Elzar Mann and Stellan Gios. Just because I don’t speed through a book doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I’m hoping to get through it by next week, in time for the next YA novel, Out of the Shadows. And I still plan on doing review posts for the books I read.

On Kindle, I’ve been reading Freefall, a YA novel by Alex Segura, about 16-year-old Poe Dameron. It mostly tells the tale of how he spent time with the Spice Runners of Kajimi, and met Zorri Bliss, events alluded to in The Rise of Skywalker. I’m enjoying it so far.

The Bad Batch continues to be fine, but I feel like it’s getting a bit soggy in the middle. It started off so strong, but lately it’s just been ho-hum. The latest episode, Infested, was fine. Cid is starting to grow on me, and she’s certainly not the worst of the dredge out there. And she’s got a soft spot for Omega. For all of them, really. I like her nicknames for them. I just wish, I don’t know, that the writers could tighten it up a little bit. I’d rather have 8 extraordinary episodes than 16 that are just so-so. Maybe we’re just spoiled, lol.

As you may know, it’s the Marvel universe that’s been distracting me from Star Wars lately. I’ve been doing a Marvel movie marathon for the past couple of weeks, and I’m up to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Some of these movies are great, some are just so-so, but I’m enjoying getting to know this universe and its characters. I’ve got a post I’m working on as I go along, jotting down my thoughts on each movie, and I’ll post that when I’m done (probably several weeks from now, lol.)

And by the way, on Disney+ there is a “Making Of Loki” special that just dropped, and it’s great, so if you liked the show, check it out. There’s also a making of Wandavision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which I’ll watch once I’ve seen these shows. They’re under the title “Assembled.

So that’s been my week in entertainment. My family and I have been wanting to enjoy the summer, but it’s been raining so much here in New England that we haven’t even gotten to our favorite lake yet. 😦 I wish we could send some of this water out west to put out those terrible fires. Even here, across the country, our sky was hazy from the smoke blowing our way.

On a more fun note, and just because he’s cute, here’s a pic of our kitten Cosmo:

May be an image of cat, laptop and indoor — Couldn’t drink my coffee for a while, lol. That’s my favorite Barnes and Noble mug, btw; it’s got famous classic authors on it.

What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

So this week I’ve done my usual attempt to keep up at my reading, and not quite getting where I’d like to be, lol. I did finish the middle-grade book “A Test of Courage,” by Justina Ireland, and it was quite good and kept my interest despite being for kids. I just can’t seem to make any headway with The Rising Storm, for some reason. Well, I am about halfway done with it, but it feels like I haven’t gotten to the good parts yet. At this rate I don’t think I’ll be finished with it by the time the next High Republic YA novel comes out later this month (Out of the Shadows, by Justina Ireland).

But that’s okay. I’ve decided that for the rest of the summer, I’m going to dial it back on the blogging, and just read, watch Marvel movies, and spend time with my family. Soon enough, my daughter will be back in school, and we have a list of things we’d like to do this summer before that happens. Which includes going to the lake and sitting on the beach reading books!

And now that Loki is done (my brief thoughts on that below), I’ve decided I need to catch up on the rest of the Marvel movies if I’m going to watch going forward. Because it seems like what happened in this series will tie into the movies in the future, including Ant Man and Dr. Strange, and I haven’t watched those yet, just the ones with Loki in them. So last night I began with the first Iron Man movie, and will continue with ALL the Marvel movies (and Wandavision and the Falcon and the Winter Soldier) until I catch up. That’s a lot of hours, lol. And it seems like summer is a great time to do it, since there’s not a lot of Star Wars going on except the Bad Batch, and whatever books I’m reading.

So not too many posts from me for the next month or two, but I will probably do a weekend update sort of thing, just riffing on what I’ve been reading and watching. I haven’t been doing much with the podcast recently, either. I just feel uninspired there, and it bores even me, lol. I’m hoping by fall I’ll have a new plan, new ideas, new inspiration for the blogs. Once my daughter goes back to school, I’ll have more time.

So–Loki! OMFG, what an amazing series. Loki is, by far, the most interesting Marvel character to me, and I just love where he’s gone in this show. And that finale–so not what I expected, but I really had no idea what to expect anyway. It had way more talking and less action than I thought there would be, but it didn’t matter–I was glued to the screen. And my heart is utterly broken for Loki, who now finally understands what it means to be betrayed (tricked? I’m not sure which word to use here), how much it hurts. It’s a lesson he inevitably needed to learn, but my heart aches for him, anyway. And what a hot mess the universe is now (thanks a lot, Sylvie!). And now Mobius doesn’t even know him. He is, as always at the end, alone. But I think he’s ready to do what what’s right, what needs to be done to make it right. I think so, anyway, lol. Can’t wait for season two. What did you think of the series?

Loki' Season 1 Ending Explained - What Happened in 'Loki' Finale? — Loki’s always been a little broken, but not like this. Feels!

What have you been up to lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Star Wars: The Bad Batch–Devil’s Deal

I was a little surprised at the latest episode of The Bad Batch, but not in a strictly bad sense. The episode concerned mostly the political doings on Ryloth and what a young Hera Syndulla was up to, which was great, but I really did miss the Batch. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting this series to deviate from the main characters, like Clone Wars occasionally did. I don’t think Rebels strayed too far from the Ghost crew, from what I remember (I could be forgetting an episode or two, I don’t know). So I’m not sure how I feel about it, exactly, lol.

I suppose it was interesting to see Hera as a child, growing up in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, and seeing her relationship with her parents. We know that her mother is killed at some point early on, and this seems to drive a wedge between father and daughter, which isn’t resolved until well into Rebels. We know that her father, Cham Syndulla, was the leader of the Ryloth resistance against the Empire, so it was interesting to see him giving the Empire a chance here at first. He’s so tired of war, and wants what’s best for his young daughter, he’s willing to give peace a chance, so to speak. But clearly that will change, perhaps after his wife’s demise.

I’m just not sure we really needed to see all this. It really adds nothing to what we already know. Hera yearns to be a pilot, she gets involved in the Rebel movement early on, yadda yadda. Don’t get me wrong; I love Hera, and am a huge fan of Rebels. But this isn’t Rebels, this is The Bad Batch, lol, and I wanted more of them. And I’m sure they’ll come roaring back next week to help save Hera from the Imperials.

I do have to say I loved Captain Howzer, a Clone who is different from his comrades. He’s the only one who still wears colors, takes his helmet off, and clearly is fond of the Syndulla family after helping them during the Clone Wars. He’s hesitant to arrest Hera or her parents, and I’m thinking that he’s a Clone who didn’t follow Order 66, but somehow got away with it. I’m guessing he’ll help the Batch save Hera, and possibly find Rex to join the fledgling Rebellion. If he survives, that is.

I did like how Hera was speaking in the French-like accent she grew up with, and only occasionally slipped back into in Rebels (mostly when speaking with her father); and also seeing her mischievous droid “Choppair”, lol. I liked her meeting Omega and talking about being a pilot.

It was a good episode and I enjoyed it, I just don’t know how important it is in the scheme of things. I don’t usually complain about this kind of stuff, because I enjoy all Star Wars for what it is. Guess I’m just missing the boys and Omega, and have probably seen enough cameos for the moment.

What did you think of the latest episode? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Star Wars Weekend Update

Happy weekend my Star Wars friends!

This past week I’ve been mostly trying to keep up with my reading. I was so excited to get The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott but it’s been slow going, mostly because I’m (of course) reading other things at the same time. It’s also off to a slow start, though still quite good, and from what I understand it’s the second half of the book that really packs a punch. And I’ve finally gotten to a Loden Greatstorm chapter, so very happy about that, although things are looking quite grim for him just now 😦

On my Kindle I’ve been reading A Test of Courage, by Justina Ireland, the middle grade book that came out in the first wave of the High Republic books. I wasn’t planning on reading it, but I mentioned last week that I accidentally bought it on my Kindle, so figured I might as well read it. And it’s quite good, considering it’s for the 8-12 year old market. A fairly simple story of a group of kids, some Jedi, some not, stranded on a challenging planet with some Nihil. I’m glad to get to know Jedi whiz kid Vernestra Rwoh, the youngest person ever to make Jedi Knight at 15. She hasn’t been in the adult or young adult novels yet, although I think she’ll be in the next YA novel Out of the Shadows, again by Justina Ireland, coming out later this month (which I’ve pre-ordered, of course).

The third book I’ve been paging through is Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman, which I also mentioned last week. I’m about halfway done with it, and it’s quite entertaining to me considering my newfound obsession with the subject, which stems from my love of the new Disney+ series Loki. I have a bit of Swedish blood in me, so I feel that my interest in all things Norse is quite natural and right, lol. I had this crazy thought the other day that maybe I’ll study some kind of northern European language like Swedish, Danish or Finnish, but really my inspiration came from this scene in Loki (which is actually Norwegian):

Loki’s not drunk, he’s “full.” Very full.

Translated to English, the lyrics are:

In storm-blackened mountains I wander alone

Across glaciers I travel forth

In the apple orchard the fair maiden stands

And sings “When will you come home?”

It’s very haunting and beautiful, and I can’t stop thinking about it, lol. And I’ve wanted to do something different, something that’s fun and interesting and that will challenge my mind a little bit. Or a lot, lol. We’ll see.

Anyway, loving Loki and kind of sad that the last episode is coming up, but I’m dying to see what happens. I have this feeling that events will somehow segue into future films, but all I really want is for Loki and Sylvie to live happily ever after, and for Mobius to finally get his jet ski. Is that too much to ask? (Probably).

Hope you guys have a great weekend, and let me know in the comments what you’ve been up to!

Star Wars: Kylo Ren Fan Art

I know I just did a post on fan art, but I saw this Kylo image on Pinterest, and absolutely loved it and wanted to share it. I love how the artist filled his scar with gold the way the cracks in Kylo’s broken helmet are filled in with red. It’s inspired by the Japanese process of “Kintsugi” wherein the lacquer that fills the cracks in broken pottery is brushed with gold; the point being that the breakage is part of the piece’s history and should be celebrated, instead of something to hide. Beautiful.

I also love Kylo’s fabulous blue hair!

What do you think of this image? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!