January 2016 Newsletter

Aloha kakou,

Welcome to my newsletter article of reflection and navel gazing. 2015 was a jam packed year for FISD and the Legion as a whole. It is an amazing time to be a Star Wars fan, and more so for the extreme versions that we are.

I will not be running for Detachment Leader in 2016. I need a break. I am a forum admin and run the web server. You likely won't be rid of me after the new DL is elected. FISD is my home on the legion internet. As I'm fond of saying, my heart is made of cold hard shiny white ABS even when I wear all black. I do not know what 2016 will bring for me, but I suspect I will not be able to stay away from Legion leadership in some form.

From a Detachment Leader's perspective here are my highlights of 2015:

Star Wars Celebration 7 - I have never been more proud to be the DL than at C7. To feel the brother/sisterhood of our community in person was enough to make me well up now and then. In Hawaii they call it the spirit of Aloha. The spirit of FISD's Aloha is a powerful force. I loved walking around the con (ok maybe I spent more time in the hotel lobby than in the con) spotting our racing shirts and feeling free to harass that troper. But to meet and hug many of the screen names that have flowed through this forum over my years as a member was a thrill. The kind words and gratitude from everyone was overwhelming too. You know FISD has a positive impact by seeing the results of everyone's build threads. To hear actual testimony while looking into someone's eyes reinforced my resolve to carry on our mission here. The other thing I noted was that when the FISD staff gathered, it was as if we had known each other for years, because we have. Those nerds were so easy to be around and laugh with I only wish we could gather more often.

The Force Awakens TK - While the subject is fraught with drama that continues to poison the legion, we still managed to make a CRL (Costume Reference Library) go green before the movie even came out. Why is this important? We set a paradigm in motion that is now the norm for new costumes to the Legion. A CRL must be created before anyone is approved in it. What this means for FISD and other detachments is that CRLs may be authored by the community. A DL may choose to write it themselves without buy in from their detachment, but that is not how we do. We have two new CRLs sitting and waiting for me to put them on the wiki. Phasma and the Battlefront Shocktrooper. I hope to finish them as my last act as DL.

FISD also became the defacto source for help in building a TFA TK under our mission of Troopers Helping Troopers. I believe that FISD is perfectly equipped to provide that help and is the best caretaker of the related CRLs. What is in a name? That which we call a stormtrooper. By any other name would it still be able to aim and shoot a rose?

Expert Infantry - We hit 500! We keep trucking along. We should not lose sight of why the EIB program was created. It should be an easily attainable way to ensure that your basic TK not only looks good but the same as the next trooper. Back in the day of prolific FX armor EIB was a quick jump into a better look. EIB is less about accuracy and more about just looking good. The difference between those two notions is subtle. Meaning that you can still look great as a TK without being the pinnacle of accuracy. The reality of EIB in this era of easily available accurate armor is that most new TKs that want EIB can easily do so. Additionally if you want to go EIB, Centurion is not a big leap.

Web Server Move - Damn you Celebration and The Force Awakens! Our site was too slow. We moved yet again to a new server with more resources to accommodate the extra traffic. Soon there will be hoards of people looking for help to build yet to be shipped armor. I hope the forum is up to the task.

I will just leave these stats up here for those that care.

Merch - This year saw a really great run of First Order TK coins this year. I have no great affection for coins and I have to admit this coin was rad. Patches are now more available than ever too. And we did two massive runs of the FISD racing shirt that nearly caused a two separate nervous breakdowns from stress. Unfortunately we did not produce the amount of merch I planned when I was elected. Hats, bottle openers, and lanyards were on my list. I hope the next DL will find willing members to manage these runs, which was the hardest part of merch.

Elections and Detachment Affiliation

Elections are approaching. That means it is Legion roster update time. The only reason you affiliate yourself with FISD on the legion web site is for voting.

We are working on automated system to approve people's FISD affiliation on the Legion site. Most do not know it but to be able to vote in a detachment election you must have logged into the forum in the last year. After you request affiliation the DL or XO must check your last login and approve accordingly.

I suspect what will happen is that many of you will lose your detachment affiliation while we work on the automation. I will be sending a mass mailing out right before elections occur as well a posting a thread about it.

Please have patience with the Legion Data Droid and me as we work out the wrinkles of this new system.

Hopefully this year's election process will smooth and drama free. I urge everyone to vote for a candidate that has FISD's best interest at heart. Please vote for somene who will best carry on our founder's vision of transparency and Troopers Helping Troopers.

Thank you all for making FISD the best detachment forum community in the Legion. I remain proud of all of you for what we collectively accomplish on a daily basis.

With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty,

Eric Brager
TK-9674 "Darth Aloha"
FISD Detachment Leader

Everyone seems kind of down lately, and trooping enthusiasm seems to be at a low. I thought it might be that the holidays are behind us, and the cold and dark winter ahead, but I couldn't help think it might be more. Then it dawned on me...we've been carrying TFA for over a year, and now it’s passed.

We’re suffering from post premier depression!

To learn more about this condition, and what to do, I turned to the experts over at the Canadian Mental Health Association. Here are some helpful insights from their web site (albeit, altered very slightly for continuity)…

Post Premier Depression

Bringing a new episode into the franchise can be challenging at the best of times, both physically and emotionally. It is natural for troopers to experience mood swings, psyched to get out there and troop one minute and staying home and eating Cheetos the next. These feelings are sometimes known as the “blue harvest blues,” and often go away soon after the premier. However, some troopers may experience a deep and ongoing funk that lasts much longer. This is called post premier depression.

What is post premier depression?

Post premier depression is depression that may start during marketing or at any time up to a year after the premier of a new Star Wars film. Signs of post premier depression include feeling bad about the plot, that the whole franchise is worthless, hopeless about future instalments, guilty for not seeing it enough times, or anxious about initial comments (and stuff you may have posted on Facebook). Some feel irritable or angry, but those troopers just need a snack. Troopers lose interest in things they used to enjoy and may curb their Battlefront play time.

A trooper with post premier depression may not enjoy The Force Awakens and have frequent thoughts that they’re a bad fan. They may also have scary thoughts about abandoning the franchise altogether. Although it’s rare for a trooper to act on these thoughts, this situation is serious and requires urgent viewings of the original trilogy. If you believe that a trooper is at risk, don’t hesitate to take them out for beers and reminisce about how awesome that Tantive boarding scene was.

How can I help a fellow FISD member with PPD?

- Make sure your own expectations of your fellow trooper’s opinions and day-to-day comments are realistic. But also feel free to hammer on them until they see things your way. After all, that’s what makes us fanatics.
- Remind them that every episode is unique and it’s not useful to compare two movies. If they insist, buy them another round. Eventually they’ll give up and start appreciating TFA objectively, or possibly barf and pass out. Either way . . . problem solved.
- Accompany the trooper on troops, bait them with chicken wings, if it’ll get them out there. Remind them that staying home, and not trooping, only let’s their significant other win, and what kind of precedent would that set?

Remember, the best cure for a lackadaisical trooper is the smiling face of a fan, so get out there and troop! If that still doesn't shake off the post premier meh, don’t forget, we’re knocked up again. This one’s due in 11 months, and it’s a rogue!

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Danny
TK-66668 "MechaPumpkin"
FISD Executive Officer

Calling all Imperial Citizens who like to take part in the Imperial Propaganda Machine (IPM)!
One of the IPM's duties is to inform the masses of our latest news and to remind that the Emperor's will is supreme. This is done by releasing our newsletters. We are looking for loyal citizens who would be willing to contribute to the Newsletter Team through writing articles or thinking up of new ideas. Please send me or any of the staff members a PM if you're interested!

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Evan Loh
TK-24127 "evan_loh"
FISD Public Relations Officer

Storming Australia's Scott Loxley Update

For all of you who donated to the Armor Needed For A Trooper campaign for Scott Loxley (Storming Australia) earlier in 2015 and wondered where is he now and did he ever get his armor replaced, the answer is YES.

Scott was approved with his First Order Stormtrooper on 3rd December

Seen here at Kidsflix - Richmond (Hoyts Cinema) Saturday 5th December, his first official troop in the armor

Congratulations again Scott and well deserved

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Glen "Q" Rhodes
TK-85421 "gmrhodes13"
Imperial Propaganda Department

A collection of troops attended by members across the globe at Christmas

South Dakota Christmas Parade: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34212-south-dakota-christmas-parade/

Clermont FL. Christmas Parade: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34217-clermont-fl-christmas-parade/

Armadale Christmas Parade: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34232-armadale-christmas-parade/

Toowoomba Christmas Wonderland: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34487-toowoomba-christmas-wonderland-18122015/

Salvation Army Bell Ringers: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34318-salvation-army-bell-ringers-greenwood-sc/

A Star Spangled Christmas Parade: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/34169-a-star-spangled-christmas-parade-ninety-six-sc/

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Glen "Q" Rhodes
TK-85421 "gmrhodes13"
Imperial Propaganda Department

This month we have Rod and Leanne from Blue Milk Special. If you haven't heard of them Blue Milk Special is a non-profit and donation-based web-comic strip series by Rod and Leanne that parodies Star Wars starting from A New Hope.
They are now halfway through ROTJ. They are also honorary members of the Legion and are very familiar with it; even immortalizing a few of the Legion members in their web-comics as characters. We have been slowly releasing some of their comic strips to lead up to this interview. I always been fond of their humor and how they love to just mash up other franchises. I reached out to them because I wanted to discover how Star Wars has become such a big part of their life. BMS has been around for a long time and they have been so emotionally invested in their work through the ups and downs of Darth Life. I find that their comic strips are an easy distraction at work and they always cheer me up.

We also have a competition for you readers! Rod and Leanne have been kind enough to gift a personal BMS sketchcard of a Stormtrooper to the winner!

This is what you would have to do: post a photo of yourself in the comments with your Stormtrooper armor with or without your helmet doing something funny or posing in a wacky manner! Only 1 entry per reader.

Without further ado, welcome Rod and Leanne!
IPM: How did you get into illustration and comics?

Leanne: I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and even when I was very young I gravitated toward comic books and action cartoons. I eventually started creating my own characters and drawing my own comics, and as I got older that love for comic books never faded. I went to college and graduated with a degree in Illustration, and made some great friends and contacts over the years. After I graduated, I moved to Virginia and became an illustrator and editor for MVCreations, where I was able to really live a dream and be involved in the comic book industry. In addition to doing work for toy company Hasbro, I also worked on comic properties like Masters of the Universe, Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, and worked with musician Rob Zombie. Over the past several years I have been doing freelance illustration work in addition to working on Blue Milk Special, of course!
Rod: To keep this answer short, being married to Leanne helped me out!

IPM: What was your first Star Wars experience?

Rod: I was three years old, sitting on my potty in front of the television screen as my parents and I watched Star Wars screening live on UK television, probably around 1981. I remember I had a knitted black afghan wrapped around me. The stormtroopers burst through the doorway of the Tantive IV and Darth Vader emerged from the smoke. I'm pretty sure I thought that my black afghan made me look like Vader. As he marched down the hallway, I know I had no trouble at all using the potty.
Leanne: I first remember watching A New Hope when I was very young, but it wasn't until the films were re-released in the late '90s that I really got into Star Wars and the mythology behind it all. Then it just snowballed from there.

IPM: How did BMS first come about?

Rod: We were looking for a way to work together without it being a project so big that it would take time away from Leanne's professional paying work. It just so happened that we'd been viewing Star Wars together at the time when inspiration hit. I was doing my usual thing, speaking all the dialogue in each scene, but giving it a silly twist. Then I thought how funny it would be to capture some of those alternate takes in the form of a comic strip. Leanne already had a really cool cartoony style she had been toying with and it seemed like the perfect blend for the sort of spirit we wanted to go for.
The reason why we decided to go ahead with a webcomic project was the concept of re-using stock artwork to help save time. We envisioned a paper doll method where Leanne would not need to draw brand new panels for every strip if I just made the odd tweak here and there. It helped cut down on the scale of the project, however it ended up finding other ways of growing in scope to nullify our best intention of economy. I think most 501st Legion members can probably relate. You start out with an Imperial Crewman, but you end up with multi-layered Snowtrooper before you know it.

IPM: Who are some of your favorite characters from the sci-fi universe and why?

Rod: For me it is Leia. I think she is criminally underrated and had a personality and story every bit as compelling as Luke's if Lucas had chosen to explore it. I think what Leia was put through in the films is also a tragedy on the part of good storytelling. She was dealing with a lot of heavy stuff and I think she should have ultimately been allowed (by the writers) to at least be involved in the final confrontation with her father. Consider what he personally put her through, including the destruction of her home planet. It doesn't change the fact that Return of the Jedi still gave us an incredible finale, but I just think Carrie Fisher brought so much spirit to the role that she had earned herself a more satisfying ending than what Leia ultimately got.
I also love Biggs Darklighter. That Tatooine costume of his. It says so much. It gave Biggs a whole new life in our comic.

Leanne: Probably years ago it was Darth Vader, but the prequel films really sapped my enthusiasm for him. Nowadays, especially after working on BMS, I really find myself enjoying the characters that didn't get much screen time. Biggs Darklighter is an absolute favorite and we were so thrilled that he became so popular in our webcomic. Dude's awesome. But I also love the mainstays, of course, and I am a total Han/Leia fangirl.

IPM: How have you interpreted your favorite characters into BMS?

Rod: Leia is a modern day girl. She loves her smart phone, a bit like Leanne. And much like Carrie Fisher, she's got only a passing interest in sci-fi and everything going on around her. The BMS Leia is much more interested in her phone's games and social media than she is in defeating the Empire. And after the loss of Alderaan, Leia becomes a caricature of Carrie Fisher, whose autobiography and comedy standup talks about her vices of smoking and drinking.
In order to try and keep her nerves together, BMS Leia becomes a heavy chain smoker. Our strange circular homage to Carrie Fisher. I'll just add that neither Leanne nor myself smoke or endorse it.
Vader is another favorite. BMS Vader is basically a big kid. There was just something about the way Leanne drew the eyes on his mask them. It gave him this surprised but happy sort of look. We thought it would be funny if we made him hold a coffee mug to help illustrate his casual attitude towards his position and Rebel hunting mission. It was Leanne's idea to add the Star Trek Federation logo to the mug. Star Trek is one of BMS Vader's obsessions. We know for some fans Star Trek is a divisive subject, but that makes it even more fun to toy with as an interest for Vader. And fun is what drives every strip we do. BMS Vader is also less willfully violent than his film counterpart. The only time I can remember that we had him kill anyone was an accident owing to too much coffee that morning.

IPM: What were the inspirations for your character parodies? The actors themselves or self-made ones?

Rod: Carrie Fisher was the most obvious inspiration for any of the characters. Her personality kind of overwrote Princess Leia's as the story went along. Grand Moff Tarkin wore the slippers that Peter Cushing wore on set during half his scenes. We also drew from the Expanded Universe, notably with Tarkin, who was having an affair with his mistress, Admiral Daala. We chose to show his actual wife, Thalassa Tarkin and create a bit of a sitcom on the Death Star. With Chewbacca, we were inspired by the outtakes from A New Hope that showed Peter Mayhew delivering his lines before they were overdubbed with the famous Wookiee growls. We opted to have all of Chewie's dialogue translated, and in some cases, have him deliberately steal Han Solo's lines. Boba Fett is an object of idolization in BMS, much like he is among Star Wars fandom, to the point that his underperformance in the films is endlessly justified by those who witness his actions. The closest parallel I can think of would be the character Mr. Satan (Hercule) from Dragon Ball Z.
For the most part, we draw upon obscure Star Wars trivia and a host of comedy films and television that we grew up with. The Three Stooges, Red Dwarf, Airplane, Monty Python, Spinal Tap, Blackadder, MAD Magazine and South Park. We've soaked up a lot of material, across a multitude of sci-fi properties in our time and it's fun toying with tropes and cliches, especially subverting expectations. That's kind of necessary nowadays given how many Star Wars parodies and jokes are now out there after 40 years.

IPM: Biggs Darklighter somehow survives the Battle of Yavin and becomes an unsung hero in BMS. He still continues to save the day from time to time and has become a favorite of your readers. What made you choose Biggs?

Rod: I think it was his costume that did it. Not many people outside of Star Wars fans have any clue who Biggs Darklighter is. If they do know of him, they probably only know him as a Rebel Pilot. Few people recognize who he is when he is wearing his costume from the deleted scene at Anchorhead. In a way, it's a sort of secret code that we die hard fans have. Just like when you buy a T-shirt with an obscure Star Wars reference, you know that only the people who love Star Wars as much as you do are going to recognize it, compliment it, and strike up a conversation with you. In some cases, the little badges of our nerdiness that we wear can lead to long term friendships. Biggs is a little like that for BMS.
Practically no one has done anything with Tatooine Biggs. Yes, he's been given a brief nod in an issue by Dark Horse, but he and his heroic costume deserve more. I hope, through BMS we have improved Biggs Darklighter awareness.
To return to the question, Biggs' costume and the cape defined how I wanted to approach the character. He was going to be the guy who thought he was the star of the show. The goofy knight in shining armor, who is a little slow. Heck, he always arrives late to the rescue! Too late...

IPM: You travel quite a bit for conventions. What were some of your best moments in a con?

Rod: We travel a lot less than we used to these days for health reasons. However, I remember one time a guy emptied a box of paper cuttings onto our booth table. Each piece of paper had a nose drawn on it. He told us he figured we could use them. It took me a second to get the joke, but it was in reference to Leanne's noseless art style for the cartoon strips. That was memorable for it's strangeness.
In terms of the best moments, there was the thrill of meeting Garrick Hagon (the real Biggs Darklighter), when we were at Jedi-Con. He was thrilled with what we were doing with his character and that he was getting so much love through the strip.
But even that can't compare with having a fan come up to our table and tell us they flew all the way from Australia to meet us. I still find it hard to get my head around the fact that our silly cartoon strip can mean so much to people.
The best feedback we get is that Blue Milk Special is a bright point in the working week for some of our readers. For others, it helped draw them back into Star Wars, or helped them rediscover a side of the hobby that takes itself less seriously.

IPM: BMS has started from A New Hope and is now halfway into Return of the Jedi. Is the prequel trilogy something BMS would venture into? Maybe even the upcoming Star Wars films?

Rod: We get asked about a Prequel parody a lot. But it's no secret that I'm not exactly inspired by the Prequels. I like there to be a positive undertone to everything we do and I've always feared that if we did delve into the Prequels, I might get too critical and use it as an outlet simply to vent. I know plenty of people love the prequels and others grew up with them, creating an attachment I will never have. If we did go in that direction, I can promise it would be in an abbreviated fashion. Perhaps only a few select scenes. The trouble is, if we keep going chronologically, then next up would be Heir to the Empire, OR Force Awakens. The question for us is whether Leanne and I can afford to keep doing this in our free time indefinitely? It's our hobby, it's fun, but you have to pay the bills and you can't do that with fandom.

IPM: Do you have any Star Wars costumes? If not what character would you like to be?

Rod: Not a single costume, yet. I've talked with our friends in both the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion about the possibilities, but right now all our resources go into keeping Blue Milk Special going out of our own pocket. I would LOVE to be a Stormtrooper. I know it's hot. I know it's sweaty. I know you can't see a thing in those helmets. But has any footsoldier in sci-fi history looked cooler? I'd say classic Cylons are close, but that's the wrong universe. Biker Scouts, TIE Pilots... I love them. The trouble is, because of my neck arthritis I know I would rarely be able to wear a heavy helmet. And I've never been big on Jedi since I like being able to hide my face, and robes are just a little dull compared to shiny armor. Just remember guys and gals, you may not be able to sit down properly as a stormtrooper, and you may reek, but you look INCREDIBLE on the outside, and that's all most of us general public ever see.
Leanne: I don't have a Star Wars costume (for the reasons Rod mentioned), but I'd love to be an Imperial officer if I had to choose. Though if I had to pick a second choice, I'd probably go with the costume Felicity Jones is wearing in the promotional photo for the upcoming Rogue One film. Really fantastic stuff.

IPM: How often do BMS strips get released and how is it funded?

Rod: We try to keep a regular schedule and publish twice weekly on Monday's and Friday's. The webcomic is free and we don't publish in print. Because we are a fan project, we do not seek to make any profit off any of the licensed characters belonging to LucasFilm, unlike some others out there. While we do sell T-shirts with our own logo design, we don't use the characters as products. We've always been respectful of Lucasfilm and their intellectual property rights and treat BMS as part of a parody of pop culture in general. That being said, everything we do from hosting, time spent creating, traveling, buying table space at shows, etc, comes out of our own pocket, which is sometimes very difficult to maintain. Another reason we do conventions less often now. Thankfully we get the generous support of long time readers through donations that have helped us handle many of the expenses over the last six years and without them, we would never have made it this far.

IPM: What other works do you produce?

Rod: I was part of the Mice Templar comic series for Image Comics with Mike Oeming, Bryan Glass and Victor Santos which is wrapping up this year. We won two Harvey Awards for the project which was huge for us. I also regularly contributed to the UK animation magazine Cereal:Geek. We published our first children's storybook, Hickory Hippo and the Snow Mystery this year, a perfect Christmas gift for any little one's in your life. I'm currently nearing completion of a children's novel. We have a few comic projects in development as a husband and wife team, but as you can imagine, juggling the time and still producing BMS means something has to give. Our main goal right now is to complete the journey we set out on and reach the conclusion of our Return of the Jedi parody before making any momentous decisions on the future.

Leanne: In addition to working on comic projects in the past, I have done illustration work for properties like My Little Pony, Weebles, Duel Masters and B-Daman. Rod and I released our first children's book called Hickory Hippo and the Snow Mystery last year, which we hope will be a long-running series. In between working on BMS, I do freelance work for MVCreations and Hasbro, and have been coloring a lot of Transformers lately.

This ends the interview but if you enjoyed their work I will be posting more comic strips in the following newsletters!

Or you could always binge on all their comic strips in their very own website: Detachment Merch section to order yours today! Please do note that you would need to be a 501st member to have access to that forum section; in addition to that the coins are only available to Expert Infantry Badge members and Centurions and are limited to 1 coin per member.

This month the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment would like to congratulate:

Expert Infantry Badge Award:


Roy Ice "IceStormTK" TK-93500
Jose Cespedes "Draco" TK-9369
Davide Pedullà "lorddavids" TK-92011
Derek Lotz "Dlotz" TK-26212
Andrew Ledford "fokker210" TK-22308
Rui M Leal "ruimleal" TK-13208
Jose Manuel "DonPolvoron" TK-31191
Erik Duane "GunnerD" TK-71823
Ben DeVries "Buttons" TK-76327
David E Bellimer "davebellimer" TK-10175

Centurion Award:


Chris Ward "CWard" TK-81477
Rui M Leal "ruimleal" TK-13208
Jose Manuel "DonPolvoron" TK-31191
Andrew Ledford "fokker210" TK-22308

Stand tall and be proud of what you have achieved troopers. You will now be deployed into the First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Advanced Tactics Roster. Make us proud troopers!

The FISD is always looking for new applicants for our Advanced Tactics program so please do not hesitate to apply if you meet the standards! Our Deployment Officer and armorers are here to help and guide you through to success!

Feel like your armor is up to standards and worth of recognition? Apply for the Expert Infantry Badge Program now!

Want to go the extra mile, raise the standards of Stormtrooper armor, and be the envy of your peers? Apply for the Centurion Program now!

Note: Applicants need to be EIB approved before applying for Centurion.

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Evan Loh
TK-24127 "evan_loh"
FISD Public Relations Officer

Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor
If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories!

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Instagram: www.instagram.com/501stfisd

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

Evan Loh
TK-24127 "evan_loh"
FISD Public Relations Officer

On behalf of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff and the Imperial Propaganda Department,

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