My Entertainment Weekend Update

Happy weekend my friends!

So I finally finished the High Republic middle-grade novel Race to Crashpoint Tower, by Daniel Jose Older. I generally enjoy the middle-grade novels, especially the High Republic ones, and this one was no exception (although I think I liked A Test of Courage from Wave One a bit more). This one naturally was a story concerning a few Padawans, namely Ram Jamoram and Lula Talisola, doing their part to help during the Nihil attack on the Republic Fair on Valo.

Star Wars: High Republic - Race to Crashpoint Tower: read the first excerpt - Polygon — Lula and Ram on Ram’s modified flying droid, V-18.

Ram prefers tinkering with machines and droids and engines, rather than dealing with people; and Lula, though she’s tangled with the Nihil a few times (mostly in the comics), must deal with some jealousy over Vernestra Rwoh (about her own age, but has already made Jedi Knight), and her own courage during the conflict. The story centers on the two Padawans, and Lula’s Force-sensitive friend Zeen, getting to the communications tower on Valo, which has been compromised by the Nihil, to send a message for help. They have to confront the Nihil, as well as the Drengir, to accomplish their goal, and they all do a splendid job. The story takes place concurrently with the events of the adult novel The Rising Storm. I don’t think I’ll do a separate review on it, so just consider this my little mini-review.

So now I’m just waiting for the YA novel Midnight Horizon, also by Daniel Jose Older, which takes place concurrently with The Fallen Star. The book was released February 1st, and it should be coming in any day now. I’ve heard very good reviews about it, and I can’t wait, especially since it concerns my favorite Jedi and Padawan pair, Cohmac Vitus and Reath Silas.

The Book of Boba Fett Episode 6, “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” was fantastic and made this Star Wars fan very happy. If you missed my review of the episode, you can read it here.

In Marvel, I don’t have much news except it seems that Loki Season Two will begin filming this summer, for a release date sometime in 2023. I don’t think I have to tell you how much I’m looking forward to this! (Check out my Marvel Rankings for proof). Luckily there’s enough Star Wars and Marvel stuff going on this year to keep me busy until then, because it seems so far away, lol.

And that’s really about it this week. I’ve been trying to get back into journalling (inluding my awesome Inner Jedi notebook), get back into my fanfic idea I keep going on about, and maybe some freelancing ideas. Busy, busy.

What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Loki Fan Art

I haven’t done a fan art post for awhile, and considering my interests lately it seemed logical to put together some great images of our favorite God of Mischief, Loki Laufeyson (or Odinson, if you prefer):

A collection of images wouldn’t be complete without Loki in the Horns (although they’re kind of cropped out here). I like his magisterial, slightly condescending look in this one.

The Jotun within wants out!

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it’s a striking portrait of Jotun Loki.

The King of Jotunheim is magnificent.

Love is a dagger…

There’s something about TVA Loki that I just adore–maybe it’s the fact that he can make those boring suits look fabulous, lol.

I love every incarnation of Loki, no matter what universe he’s in, and these artists captured some of my favorite aspects of him. What do you think of these images? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Happy weekend my friends!

In books this week, I’ve finished Loki: Where Mischief Lies on my Kindle. I’ve since ordered the sequel called Loki: Where Mischief Ends, and since it’s only available in paperback, I ordered the first book in paperback, too, for a matching set, lol. Can’t wait to start the second book.

I’m about two-thirds done with The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. I love this book; it’s lovely and strange and keeps you wondering “What is the truth?” I’ll probably finish it by Monday, when we have our first book club meeting about it.

Well, unfortunately I’ve set Revan aside for now. I’m just not into it right now. It’s the first time in over a year and a half I’m not reading a Star Wars book. I’d been looking forward to Queen’s Hope, by E.K. Johnston, the third in a Padme Amidala trilogy. It was originally set to come out this November, but it’s been pushed up to April 2022. 😦 So now I’m not sure what’s next for Star Wars reading. Stay tuned.

Why Tajin From Star Wars: Visions Sounds So Familiar — The Elder was one my favorite shorts from Visions. I love this Jedi Master (whose name I can’t remember, lol). He reminds me of Qui Gon Jinn, who is one of my favorite Jedi.

So I’ve just finished watching Visions, and it was…interesting. As I’ve said before, I’m not an anime fan, so it was mostly out of curiosity that I watched. And as I suspected, it was hit or miss with me. There were a few that were quite good and that I enjoyed: The Duel, The Ninth Jedi, and The Elder were my particular favorites. Only one was painful to watch, and that was Tatooine Rhapsody. Unbearable, lol. The rest were fine, but didn’t wow me overmuch. I know there’s a novel called Ronin that will continue the story began in The Duel, and it may end up on my Star Wars reading list. We’ll see. I’m probably going to do a brief post of my thoughts on each short sometime soon.

So, Marvel: I absolutely loved the latest What If? episode, about party boy Thor. It was light and funny, and Frost Giant Loki is probably the best thing ever, lol. But it really punctuates how relationships have a huge impact on who we become. Without Loki as a mischievous brother competing with him for their father’s attention, it was Thor who became the mischievous, irresponsible one. And his relationship with Frost Giant Loki, his “brother from another mother” is swell. And Loki actually seems happy for once (thank you, Marvel!). I got a hoot out of Captain Marvel’s “Hey Whitesnake!” which you probably won’t get unless you’re familiar with 80’s hair bands. It was just a fun romp, the total opposite of the tragic Dr. Strange episode (which I also loved). This show can really do anything, and it’s gold, lol. Oh, and I have no idea what those robots at the end were. Even the Watcher was surprised.

How Did Thor Grow Up Without Loki on Marvel's What If..? Episode 7 — This made my heart happy.

So my X-Men marathon isn’t quite complete, but I’ve watched all the major X-Men-centric movies, up through Dark Phoenix. I haven’t watched The Wolverine, Logan, or the Deadpool movies yet. Since they’re not on Disney+ I have to pay for them individually on Youtube, which is fine, but I’ll space those out more. Really enjoying these movies, no matter how corny some may be. I’ll watch anything with Fassbender in it, lol.

Finally, I just want to do a shout-out to our lovely Ewan McGregor for winning the Emmy for Halston. The series isn’t for everyone, but I loved it, and there’s no denying he fully deserved the award for his amazing performance.

That’s it for this week. What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

My Entertainment Weekend Update

Happy weekend, my friends!

So my book club picked a new book to read this coming month, and it’s The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey (and yes, she was named after the Tolkien character). It was a finalist for the Pulitzer in Fiction, and it’s about a childless homesteading couple in Alaska in 1920. Life is hard, but in a moment of levity they build a snow child during a snowstorm. The next day, the snow child is gone, but a real child appears seemingly out of nowhere to enter their lives. It just sounded intriguing and magical to me, and I’m a few chapters in and I like it already. I can’t wait to dig deeper into this story and find out what happens.

I’m sad to say I haven’t gotten very far in the Star Wars book Revan. It just hasn’t captured me, at least not yet. I’m going to continue trying to get through it, just out of pure stubbornness, but we’ll see how it goes.

Another book that I’ve been reading that definitely captures me is Loki: Where Mischief Lies, by Mackenzie Lee. I read it a few months back and really enjoyed it. I’ve since read a few other Loki books and want to write a post about them, but wanted to refresh my memory on this one. I’d also like to read the sequel soon, called Loki: Where Mischief Ends. These are books about Marvel Loki, who we all know and love, and really is my favorite version of Loki, though he’s only very loosely based on mythological Loki (who is also quite fun and naughty, of course).

In other Marvel news, the latest What If? episode concerns Killmonger. I never liked Killmonger at all, and I still don’t. What a jerk, lol. Like every episode, it was still quite good, but the only question I have is….then what? Pepper and Shuri are on to Killmonger, and that’s great, but I want to know what happens. And because Tony is dead (again) does that mean they’re doomed by Thanos? Probably, like all the other timelines. We need Tony to snap his fingers.

In my X-Men marathon (in release date order), I just finished X-Men: First Class, the first one with the young Charles Xavier and Magneto, played by the lovelies James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. I loved it, though it introduced a few inconsistencies with the original movies; I can live with them, though. Next is The Wolverine (not to be confused with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which came just before this–also great). I’m really enjoying this marathon!

Lastly, I want to mention the Hawkeye trailer. I’m so happy that Hawkeye is getting his own show, he’s one of my favorites. I think it takes place when Clint absents himself from the Avengers during Infinity War to be with his family. But of course, it’s not all domestic bliss, as he seems to be pulled away from them by more bad guys. And he’s training someone new to take his place. I love the Christmas vibes; and is that an Avengers musical I see? Lol. Awesome. I think this one will be somewhere below Loki and Wandavision, but above The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Can’t wait!

That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Burning Sylvie Questions

It’s no secret I LOVED the Loki series, and I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about it, lol. Some of the things that I think about concerns Sylvie, and while we all still have questions about her and her life, I thought I’d articulate mine here:

Did Sylvie have Thor for a brother? We only have a little bit of information about Sylvie’s childhood, and she herself says she doesn’t remember a lot. One thing she doesn’t mention is Thor for a brother. In fact, I get the feeling she was an only child. Adopted, yes, and Odin and Frigga told her she was adopted (unlike Loki). But she never talks about siblings, which is something I think she’d remember. Without a brother like Thor to compete with (as Loki did continuously), her childhood was probably idyllic. Probably why she’s so furious it was taken away from her, understandably.
What was Sylvie’s nexus event? This is an obvious question that we have no answer for, but we can speculate. She must have done something to cause the TVA to come after her. I’ve seen fans consider the idea that Sylvie (probably as a result of her happy childhood; see above) was on track to be a good Loki–in other words, a Loki who doesn’t cause trouble, who isn’t a villain that makes others become their best selves. And the Sacred Timeline demanded that Loki do this, that he/she be the villain. I feel like there’s more to it than that, though. Sylvie asks Renslayer what her nexus event was, and Renslayer replies, “I don’t remember.” But we know darn well she remembers, she’s just not saying. Ironically, if Sylvie was going to be a good Loki, it’s that very thing that causes the TVA to rip her from her childhood and create the vengeful, perhaps even selfish, being that she is. They created a monster that tore them down, out of something good.
Does Sylvie really love Loki? Clearly, the mission has always been more important to Sylvie than anything or anyone else. She’s focused like a laser on her vengeance. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have feelings for Loki (grudgingly). But it seemed to me at first that Loki had more feelings for her than she had for him, and it didn’t bode well. I just knew his heart was going to get broken, lol. When Loki gets pruned right in front of her, there’s almost no emotion on her face. And he was just about to bear his soul to her, and she had no idea what he was talking about, lol. Later, when she’s talking to Renslayer, Renslayer says “What if I told you we could get Loki back?” Sylvie says she doesn’t believe her, but even so, how will that help her find who’s behind the TVA? Or when she’s in the car with Mobius, and he says maybe Loki is still alive, she replies “It doesn’t matter.” She’s so focused on the mission, I just don’t see any room for love. Yeah, she kisses him, but was it real or just to distract him while she grabbed the tempad to throw him back to the TVA? Believe me, my sentimental heart wants to believe that she does love him–in her own way, I guess. But Loki wanted nothing more than for her to be okay, and she–well, she threw him away. It all makes me want to get on board with the Loki/Mobius shippers, lol. On the other hand, when Renslayer asks her if she has any good memories, Sylvie replies “Just one, really.” And we’re to assume it was the moment she and Loki held hands and looked into each other’s eyes on Lamentis, seconds away from destruction and death. So my verdict is that she cares for him, but isn’t willing to go any farther than that, at least until the mission was finished–when she killed He Who Remains. But after? We’ll have to see in Season Two!

Those are my main questions about Sylvie, and I really hope we get more answers and insight in Season Two. Hurry up, Disney+!