ST It Takes a Galaxy: What's your favorite holiday memory?

History of Darth Sidious

 

Lords of the Sith. Best book? No way, but it's the one I enjoyed the most.

I'll give a shout out to Kenobi. A simple wild west tale that started at a snail's pace but managed to keep me engrossed.

 

I am very Vader-biased, so my most of favorite SW stories tend to include Vader in it (not all, but a large chunk of them). My favorite Rebels episodes are, of course, the Siege of Lothal the Twilight of the Apprentice.

But I have to say, even though I read most of the Vader-including material in Legends and for a long while Luceno’s The Rise of Darth Vader was my favorite non-movie story ever, the new canon comics with Kieron Gillen’s Vader run has now taken first spot. Not only Vader is depicted perfectly, but Gillen managed to introduce an original character to play off Vader (Aphra) that I actually cared about and even rooted for her to outsmart Vader. Which is unusual for me.

Lords of the Sith was also pretty good. Honestly I love Disney Vader.

But for non-Vader stories, the Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes short in From a Certain Point of View has to be my favorite.

 

Daley's Han Solo adventures. Those are more canon than the PT, to me.

 

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. The book is basically a meta exploration of fan-fiction and the more cliche elements of the old Expanded Universe stories. What's better still is those themes play directly into the conclusion of the story and how Luke manages to resolve the crisis.

The fact that it's no longer canon itself anymone, only really adds to the charm.

 

I've actually been meaning to read it for a really long time. I've heard the tone described like a tongue-in-cheek take on the old Han Solo and Lando Calrissian books from the early '80s, which I love.

 

I'd say tongue-in-cheek is a fair description, it's very self aware.

 

Favorite non-film Star Wars story...so tough...

It has to be the entire story arc of Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume from Rebels. How he went from a scared Padawan on the run, to an alcoholic miner, to fighting alongside Hera, to the reluctant master of Ezra, to the father figure/balanced Jedi Master we all know and love. He's my second favorite Jedi (behind Luke), and seeing him go tore my heart out. But, now this is what Fan Fiction is for...writing/reading the stories we wanted.

 

Alright, I admit it... I've been incredibly lazy with updating this thread. I beg your forgiveness, but I do not expect it. My penance is your ire. Anyway, a few of you requested that the next topic be favorite Star Wars video game. However, since so many of you responded to the last topic ("Whats your favorite non-film Star Wars story?") with video games, I didn't want to post a topic that could potentially be too similar. So I dug around in my brain a bit, and decided on one that should be obvious. We all have hobbies and interests outside of Star Wars, whatever they may be. Sports, politics, knitting, jogging, whatever.

So that's the topic: What are your primary interests outside of Star Wars? What else are you invested in, what gets you excited? Open up, and share a lil' bit. We're all friends here.

 

Oh boy, well I'm glad you asked.

Mine are pretty diverse. I've been interested in politics since I was a kid, and I regularly keep myself updated on both US and international political affairs. I'm a huge comics nerd, I love both Marvel and DC, and I also try to keep abreast of the indie and DIY comics scene (I have ordered way too many comics off of Etsy). I’m an avid reader (I think my favorite book may be The Picture of Dorian Grey). I like old video games. I like bands like The Strokes, the Cure, the Smiths, and Arctic Monkeys. I’m into sports, but I’ve never been the kind of person to memorize stats or even most players’ names. I follow the Yankees, the Heat, the Giants, the Maple Leafs, Manchester United, and I’m rooting for Egypt in the World Cup. I play bass. I write, although not as much as I should.

And I think that’s enough to be getting on with for now. Now, you all try!

 

I really like movies in general, but none specifically nearly as much as SW... it's not like I really have other franchises that compete with it much at all. But I will say that Jaws is one of my favorite movies. I really like music, especially rock, and I play the drums (in bands in high school and college, now just occasionally for fun). Other varied interests of mine for many years now include things like animals, cars, literature, history, and art. For sports, I am really into soccer (yes, rest of world, I know it's actually "football" ). I played it a little bit as a kid, but my wife and I have really gotten into it over the last few years since our son and daughter both play it at a pretty competitive level (much better and more competitive than when I played). So going to their games, going to professional or national team games, and watching it on TV... love it all.

 

Jaws is the perfect summer movie. I'm planning to watch it the weekend before July 4. Actually, most of Spielberg's big blockbusters are perfect summer movies.

 

A couple years ago we were on Cape Cod for the 4th of July, and a local theater was showing Jaws. I had seen it countless times before, but never in a theater. Seeing it that weekend (when most of the movie takes place) and on Cape Cod (where it was filmed, even though it was set on the fictional nearby Amity Island) just made it even cooler.

 

Jaws is a single, standalone movie. There are no sequels to it. NONE.

 

I'm ashamed to admit that Jaws: The Revenge was the first film in the series I saw. I never saw the second, and I've only caught bits of the third on TV while flipping through channels. But Jaws: The Revenge was my first. I was, like, four or somewhere around that age, and I didn't see the original until I was six or seven years old.

That reminds me of something else I like doing: watching godawful movies with groups of friends. Last year, I was with ten or so friends watching Alien: Resurrection while we all got progressively drunker. The issue is there's no level of intoxication that makes it any less painful to watch. Laughter is the only alleviator.

 

Further interests: Halloween. I start seriously planning decorations and my marathon list around June/July of every year. My girlfriend teases me about it, but I can't help it; I like the spooky season.