common – Page 8 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

How long is a Podrace?

Before I went on Appalachian Trail thru-hiking blog-hiatus, some dedicated Star Wars ‘reenactors’ and I were kicking around ideas for some sort of asynchronous long-distance trek or ‘ruck’ challenge we might organize in the future. We started by brainstorming any known distances from the Saga materials, and one of the first things that came up was the Mos Espa Arena podrace circuit. We figured if the length of the racetrack could be determined, it might serve as a nice basis for some sort of virtual relay race. The question was…how long was it?

As has become disppointingly apparent in my attempts to apply the rigors of realism to the galactic setting, because 90% of stories told under the Star Wars banner are purely plot-driven, the mundane details of life are too often nonexistent. Or if they are included, it is done in the most minutiae-focused manner and overlooks the more relatable pieces of information. Or, to paraphrase Maw Installation Redditor FlavivsAetivs, “plot and visual aesthetics—not technical specifications or internal consistency—are the primary focus of Star Wars“.

Case in point: the Boonta Eve Classic podrace! I could easily tell you the names of all the formations or obstacles on the race course, the names, species, and homeworlds of each racer, which racers did not finish the race, which racers completed the course, how fast they did so, and their average speed. But I have thus far been unable to find any mention of the distance the race covered. Unfortunately for us, the Boonta is not like the Indy 500 (the distance is right there in the name). However, a little math does allow us to calculate the length of the race course!

Galactic Style Guide – Shirts III

Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more accurate ‘outer persona’! For this installment, we’re wrapping up a few upper-body stragglers which are both easy ways to add a little unconventional GFFA style to your own wardrobe.

**Center closure:** Dunlan, Astor (*The Ahakista Gambit*), Teesoo and Saya Ksi (Bounty Hunter’s Code); Biggs Darklighter (Dewback Attack-Hugh Fleming (*SW Insider* #35), Tag Rogaren (*From the Ruins of Alderaan*), colonist (FFG Far Horizons), Soontir Fel (*Rogue Squadron* #25)

Note that examples 1&2 both come from the planet Ahakista, and almost half of these use a right-over-left ‘womens’ closure!
For the reenactor with some basic sewing know-how, this is a very easy style to replicate. Because of Western fashion’s silly gender-specific closure rules, if you buy a button-down shirt of the opposite gender, you can flip-flop the front sides and get a closure without buttonholes on top. Then just add a strip of Velcro down both fronts. If you want Fel’s Mandarin collar style, it’s likewise easy to remove the fall from a shirt’s collar to leave the stand (this will still have a buttonhole at the top, however; you may be able to cannibalize the removed material to make a new, buttonhole-less stand).

you may already have our next example in your closet!

Guest Post: Is a blaster right for you?

[This submitted post comes from ‘Kantis Nolef’ of the SWLH facebook community.]

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” – Han Solo, Episode IV.

When most people start thinking of props and accessories, they tend to think of blasters first. Blasters in the Star Wars universe seem to be as common cell phones in ours, and with myriad shapes and sizes, there’s something for every species. But does your character need one? Sure, if you’re in the Outer Rim on an inhospitable planet, it’s a matter of survival…but what if you’re not? Would it be necessary for a musician on Corellia to have a rifle slung across their back? Does a cook on Sullust need a pair of Westars?

Whichever career path you choose, I can’t stop you from arming yourself. That being said, I hope I can help you get the best blaster for your persona.

Galactic Style Guide – Aurebesh II

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide (where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’) and the end of Aurebesh Month! In last week’s installment we showed how before the Disney buyout, Aurebesh words on clothing were incredibly rare. This week, we’re taking a look at some places where using in-universe lettering IS appropriate!:

**Tattoos or scarification:** Force Hounds (26,000 BBY), Morlish Veed (Legacy), Kaddak (Cry of Shadows), Enviro-suit (FFG), Sketch, Kix (The Clone Wars)

Note that while there are plenty of tattoos in-universe, these were the Only examples of letters-as-body-art I could find in the rather complete listing of Aurebesh appearances.

Galactic Style Guide – Aurebesh I

Welcome back to Aurebesh Month and our first of two installments of the Galactic Style Guide (where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’) taking a look at something that’s become really popular among the Batuu-bounding community in recent years: using in-universe Galactic Basic lettering—the Aurebesh—on kit items.

I see folks incorporate Aurebesh words into their clothing so often, it inspired me to do some digging and see how many examples I could find from the various visual media sources.
The first instances I found are all a certain segment of the galactic populace that I don’t think I’ve ever seen re-created before, but which would make for an excellent living history impression:

**PRISONERS:** from Agent of the Empire—Hard Targets and Empire: The Wrong Side of the War

I was a little disappointed that these guys are just wearing yellow/orange jumpsuits, and that there wasn’t a little more consistency between them and the more interesting prisoner uniform of the Imperial Remnant in 12 ABY (Jedi Outcast):

And speaking of Jedi Outcast…

more examples of aurebesh on clothing after the jump

Galactic Style Guide – Revealing Outfits

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, the series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help You create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! While this series is normally geared at pointing out style elements that are widely and commonly represented in the galaxy, this month we’re taking a look at a ‘style’ which is comparatively un-common. Or perhaps I should say, while we have many examples of revealing outfits, after examining the complete sample, we will see that this style should really only be worn by a limited set of character types. (For our purposes here, I’m considering an outfit ‘revealing’ if it exposes some combination of arms, legs, or torso).

scanties-Jabbas — **Jabba’s scanty retinue:** Leia, Malakili, Rystall/Greeata/Lyn Me;
Oola, Yarna d’al’ Gargan, Diva Shaliqua.

The character Jess—said to be a popular musician—while not a slave or servant, nonetheless dresses revealingly while at Jabba’s court.

far background Mos Eisley cantina patron Leesub Sirln – wearing a surprisingly futuristic-looking and revealing…leotard? (with riding boots!)

The Expanded Universe includes a number of examples as well:

keep reading

The great Twi’lek mix-up

I’ve explored the idea of Reenactorisms—the acceptance and perpetuation of an innaccuracy—several times before, but it is worth pointing out that these are not limited to fan creations: official resources can still fall into the pit.
Work on this month’s Style Guide post got me thinking about a key confusion in the depiction of the Twi’lek species: males have ears, but what do females have? The past 20+ years of visual sources suggest they all have cones where their ears should be, but prior to the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999, Twi’lek females most definitely had ears! We can trace the source of this confusing inconsistency by noting the examples of ‘cone’ or ‘ear’ as they appeared in order of release.

1983: Oola—the first depiction of a female Twi’lek—is green. The cones on Oola’s headdress are clearly white, and are also clearly part of the headdress, not protruding from within it.

January 1995: art development/pre-production begins on Episode I

Galactic Style Guide – T-shirts and tank tops

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more Galaxy-accurate ‘outer persona’! For this month’s installment, now that midsummer is here (for us in the Northern Hemisphere at least), I wanted to take a look at examples of T-shirts and other short-sleeved or sleeveless tops. What more can you say about them? On modern Earth these are among our most casual clothing, which puts them at odds with the galaxy’s overall space-fantasy aesthetic, but as we’ll see, they do occasionally show up in the EU as everyday clothing.

Short-sleeved T-shirts: Luke (Splinter of the Mind’s Eye), Dass Jennir (*Blue Harvest, Out of the Wilderness*), Aegis crewman*(Razor’s Edge), Dexter Jettster; NEGtAS Besalisk, Janks, Bandomeer prisoner (Dark Times #15), Duro in the big city (Langdon Foss), Ruusan lookout (Jedi Knight). Voren Na’al

Project: Naboo pistol retool

Near the end of last year, while scrolling through some Star Wars groups on facebook I came across someone showing off a bunch of white and fluorescent orange plastic blaster props made by Rubies. While otherwise just another pointless ‘hey look the stuff i ordered got delivered’ post, one of them was something I had no idea even existed in a mass-produced form—the Merr-Sonn Q2 hold-out pistol. (Fun fact: supposedly this blaster was designed by George Lucas himself, and was prototyped from sketch to prop in just one day). While it wasn’t made by them, as a pre-teen in 1999 such a weapon is permanently associated in my mind with Padme Amidala and the planet Naboo, especially given its decidedly un-militaristic Art Deco styling. Seeing that such a replica existed (and was readily affordable!), I realized that including a Q2 in one of my Naboo-based impressions would be a great way to better connect kit and homeworld—especially since those ‘outer personas’ diverge from what most people think of when they picture Naboo style (the typical ‘Renaissance’ style is really a nobility thing).

Since this model blaster is only ever wielded onscreen by Padme or her handmaidens, I had always assumed it was a specially-made pistol just for Royal use. However, skimming through some RPG materials I came across the Q2 included in a listing of common blasters of the Galaxy, where it was listed as acceptable for use in the pre-Empire, Imperial, and New Republic periods—perfect for any of my needs!

this was much more than just a paintjob!

Artifact ID: Driss pod

It’s been a while since our last Artifact ID post, but early May always makes me think of the Prequels, and in a bit of serendipity I was able to identify an obscure Episode I artifact while exploring an awesome plant nursery last weekend. Browsing through a display of seed packets, I noticed this gourd looked subconsciously familiar:

If you’re a Prequel aficionado like me—and have spent way too much time poring over DK’s Episode I Visual Dictionary — you might know where this is going.