Freelancers

Newsletter Archive

FREELANCERS #43 - 05/15/25

Hello!

Hope you liked seeing the straw that broke Fhenriss last month. Will be interesting to see where her new direction takes her. That story's getting into running parallel to the timeline in Phoenix Company Book 1. Would be fun to see those two groups link up.

Quick progress update this month, then some non-spoilery gushing about Andor and Star Wars.

Progress/Life Update

I had some inspiration to get back into my Brooklyn 99 inspired story, Nexus 99: First Impressions. Will be working some of that comedy/cozy mystery into the writing rotation for the next little while.

Nothing to share quite yet, but have also gotten back into cover art for the Freelancers Anthologies: Vol. 1. I tend to get in my head a bit more with art since I'm less practiced and confident with it, but I'll climb over that mental mountain soon enough. Should have a work in progress at least to show next month.

It's been a somewhat long ride, but Andor is done. I've been skeptical about new Star Wars properties since most of the Disney era stuff hasn't hit with me (I more or less pretend the sequel trilogy didn't happen), but there have been a surprising few standouts that I enjoyed.

Mandalorian had some fleeting moments of being awesome in a sea of what felt like uninspired meh. Some of Bill Burr's segments come to mind. Didn't realize he could act as well as he did. I can't say it was great, but Solo had some excellent character moments as well. The climax with the main antagonist might have seemed a little anti-climactic, but it was such a perfect Han moment that it elevated the whole rest of the film. Rogue One gave a glimpse of what a more intense, grounded Star Wars story could be. Writing a whole story from an almost throwaway line in episode 4 regarding how they got the death star plans and the cost involved must have been a hard sell to executives, but they did a great job.

It became a meme that people like stormtroopers couldn't shoot, despite Obi Wan noting their accuracy in A New Hope, so it was nice to see them show how dangerous and scary the Empire really was in Rogue One.

Then Andor came out.

Another notion that must have been a hard sell to executives, but I'm so glad they greenlit it, and gave the creators what they needed to make it right. Can confidently say that it's some of the best sci-fi intrigue I've ever seen. It's funny to think that it could've stood on it's own, perhaps even flourished more, if it was in its own universe, untethered from Star Wars.

I almost bounced off of it because it's paced pretty slow in the beginning, but I soon came to appreciate how deliberate it was. The creators knew what they were doing and asked the audience to trust them through the journey. I need to give it a rewatch after looking at Rogue One and A New Hope with fresh perspective on what it cost to reach that point. A prequel story really does its job when it makes everything that happens later in the timeline that much more impactful. I noticed some small setups that get paid off much later, and am looking forward to catching more.

While some might argue that Andor's serious and grounded tone takes away from the grand heroic space opera with wizards and plasma swords that is pretty foundational to Star Wars, the IP has elevated into the realm of myth at this point, and I appreciate a divergence in that universe as long as it's done with love and care, which this definitely did. Things like Andor and the recent video game, Star Wars: Outcasts, really nailed the aesthetic and feel of Star Wars, which is a pleasure to vibe with.

Though I loved the original trilogy as a child, the Knights Of The Old Republic video games stand out as more seminal Star Wars media for me. Those took a more nuanced look at what it meant to be Jedi or Sith than the more black and white interpretations in the main episodes, so I appreciate what things like Andor did in showing a more realistic inside look at the strife and complications the Rebel Alliance faced against what seems like an insurmountable foe.

Also, Andor's themes hit at the perfect time to feel topical as hell to real life.

All-in-all, I highly recommend Andor. Even for those not into science fiction, it's a exceptionally well-written, acted, directed, shot, produced show that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Stay tuned for a cool story next month! Will see what kind of mood I'm in, but I had an idea to showcase an elven mercenary monk on a personal mission.

Here's the link to the archive of newsletters in case you missed any.

Talk to you next month. Have a good one!