I See I'm Not Missing Anything

[lazypadawan]

On Twitter re one of the recent post-ROTJ books:

Ewww gross, more Daala/Bwua'tu. I never needed to read about how her rubbing his fur always gets him going. Anyone got brain bleach?

I assume this other character is a Bothan. Has Daala ever had sex with any normal being at any time in her life? Good gravy.

Comments

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Yep, he's a Bothan. :) *Sighs* Yeah...

[trevelyanl85a2.livejournal.com]

Yes she has. It's implied she had an affair with Grand Moff Tarkin. Someone tried to jeopardise her and/or his career, he caught the guy and shoved him out of the airlock :P

And I don't mind Bothans at all. Yea they may be extreme at times (cough *borsk Fey'lys* cough) but not too bad.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Exactly my point. Tarkin was an old dude and not in a Sean Connery sort of way. It's like Angie Everhart having a fling with Montgomery Burns from The Simpsons. ::Shudder.::

[may-child.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know about "normal," but I recall she slept with a human -- she and Tarkin "became lovers." Which is gross enough.

So now she's going with the furballs, eh? I'm not too keen on interspecies sex, in fanfic or profic or anywhere else. So, I'm also glad I'm not reading this...stuff anymore.

Daala's another redheaded Mary Sue (the only woman to make it to the rank of a full Admiral in the Imperial Navy!! Wow!! So kewl!!!), as if there weren't enough of them in the EU already.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Heh heh.

Daala's tastes consist of old dudes and furries. She ought to bring Hugh Hefner to DragonCon.

[trevelyanl85a2.livejournal.com]

There actually haven't been a lot of female military commanders in the EU, still the EU is pretty exciting. I actually started with the X-Wing series.

Furries != Aliens though. Who knows, maybe aliens find something desirable in humans though.

Hell I kinda think those Twi'lek females are rather attractive. You don't know what they do with their head tails...;)

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Meh. Interspecies boinking is the LEAST of the issues I have with the EU.

[trevelyanl85a2.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I don't mind the EU too too much.

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

Heh. Actually, I despise the EU. I just won't get on my soapbox about it here. ;)

[trevelyanl85a2.livejournal.com]

Yea because I've proven you wrong and how the EU is actually pretty cool. Two words: Michael Stackpole.

[ladyaeryn.livejournal.com]

No. You can like the EU all you want, it doesn't make me wrong for thinking it's a steaming pile of horse crap.

[wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com]

See, this is the real problem with most of what I've read in the EU - not that it's icky for Daala to sleep with a Bothan, I have no position on that. But when the EU tries to give us character development/personal stories instead of details of troop deployment strategies, this is what it comes up with: details nobody wants. I have a hunch - just a hunch, mind you - that these "soft" scenes are thrown in for women readers, as a break from the wannabe hard-scifi stuff. You know, the kind of thing we write in fanfic. Except when it comes to personal stories, so far, fanfic does it better.

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

The thing is, Daala's NOT a beloved heroine. At least I hope not.

[wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I understand. Why would you think that I considered Daala a beloved heroine? Personal stories are in no way limited to heroes - just look at all the Palpatine fics out there.

[trevelyanl85a2.livejournal.com]

You know, part of Star Wars also involves good character development, not just a narrative of a RTS game lol

Also, some like the villains so it'd be good to hear a bit more about Daala.

Hell in the Tales of the Jedi series some of the female villains there weren't exactly innocent either you know :P

[wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that good character development is notably absent in the EU - although perhaps I've been following the wrong materials. The lack of enjoyable character development is the primary reason why I stopped bothering with much of the later EU stuff, and Admiral Daala's affairs are only one reason why I feel they miss the mark. (In fairness to Daala, I don't think her character was inherently less interesting than most of the others, and I did not share the objection to her hair.)

I think the EU has sort of missed the mark on character development - including details that don't help, instead of developing personal storylines that would deepen our sense of who the characters are becoming along their journeys. It's a good intention that (in my opinion) isn't well-executed.

some of the female villains there weren't exactly innocent either

I have to say, the lack of innocence seems to be rather necessary to the role of villain...

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

What I meant by my original comment is that I wouldn't want to read a bodice ripper involving a long-standing villainess and a Bothan. Maybe other people would, but not me.

[wyncatastrophe.livejournal.com]

Oh, right. *ponders the mental image* I don't know, I think I've read worse things in bodice-rippers. They're not my all-time favorite genre. But I think in any case bodice-ripping would feel a little reactionary - like swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction from the labyrinthine plots (with accompanying lack of serious character growth) that seem typical of the AU. [ETA: EU, not AU. Someone take away my typing license already …]

On the other hand … this image of Daala in a white lacy negligée is going to keep me amused for days, so thanks for that. :)