A Galaxy Far, Far Away

A Star Wars geek shares her obsession with the world. Star Wars all day, every day.

[lieselsolo]

Leia on Rebels

So, Leia's going to be on Star Wars Rebels. And I'm insanely behind on my Rebels viewing, so I'd better catch up. Honestly it's been a bit hard to get high on Star Wars ever since TFA ripped my heart out.

[lieselsolo]

Han Solo Petition Is UP

THE FORCE AWAKENS SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I said I would do it, and I did it. Project #SaveHanSolo is officially underway with the launching of the petition to bring Han back in Episode 8 or 9.

If you're a fellow Han fan who was angry and depressed when he died, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sign the petition and spread the word. Reblog this post so as many Han fans as possible see it.

https://www.change.org/p/lucasfilm-kathleen-kennedy-disney-harrison-ford-bob-iger-bring-han-solo-back-to-life?recruiter=21244974&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink

[lieselsolo]

An idea so crazy it might work

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS.

So yeah, I'm still ultra depressed about Han's death, still grieving him like a close friend died . . . but I've also started thinking about something so incredibly crazy that it just might work.

There are certain fictional characters that you can't get away with killing, even if their canons try to kill them off. Sherlock Holmes, for example, or Spock, or Superman. When their respective canons killed them off, the fans raised such an outcry that they HAD to be brought back to life.

What if Han Solo were one such character?

Hell, Star Wars has brought back dead fan favorites before - the Expanded Universe got Boba Fett out of the Sarlacc and Clone Wars brought Darth Maul back to life.

Could they do the same thing to Han?

Okay, yes, a lightsaber through the heart  - not likely that you'd survive that, but this is Star Wars. This is a universe where a guy can be burned alive and live (albeit having to wear a breather suit for the rest of his life, but I digress). What if something broke Han's fall and then someone from the First Order somehow healed Han's wounds for whatever reason?

Yes, I know Leia felt him die, but what if the dark side or something clouded her senses and only made her THINK she felt him die?

No, I'm not talking about a fanfiction here - I'm talking about ACTUALLY campaigning to bring Han back to life in Episode 8 (or 9, don't care which). If enough fans raised enough of an uproar, maybe Disney, Lucasfilm, and even Harrison would have to listen. So what if it would be fanservice? I've seen fanservice plenty of other times and it's time for THIS fan to be serviced.

So I'm starting this campaign by creating a trend. I'm calling it #SaveHanSolo and I urge every fellow Han fan who was outraged at his death to start using it. I'm also planning on starting a petition and if anyone has any other ideas, feel free to let me know.

Han never went down without a fight. Neither will this Han fan. We don't have to just lie back and accept that our favorite scoundrel is dead. We can still change things.

[lieselsolo]

Would someone who read my TFA review please message me? I feel like I need to talk to someone about it.

[lieselsolo]

SPOILER-FILLED The Force Awakens review . . . of sorts

I know the world will get angry at me for spoiling it, but I literally cannot review this movie WITHOUT spoiling it, so here it is, <big>HUGE SPOILER WARNING, DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS.</big> Okay, so TFA was kind of a big deal for me. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge Star Wars geek (to put it mildly), so naturally, I did what any geek would do. I bought my ticket the instant they became available online. I bought the merchandise. I got all excited every time a new trailer debuted. When the day finally came, I wore my Han shirt and my Vader earrings and covered my shirt with Star Wars pins and I brought my little plushies of Han, Leia, and Yoda, along with my action figures of Luke and Chewie and my new action figures of Poe and Finn. And before the movie, everything was awesome. I felt a similar Star Wars high to the one I felt when I went to the Star Wars Weekend at Disney World. Almost three hours before the movie started, the theater was PACKED WITH GEEKS. There were people dressed as Jedi, little kids in stormtrooper shirts, Star Wars shirts of all kinds, people with Chewie hats and Darth Maul face paint and EVERYTHING. The excitement was almost tangible. The local ABC station even interviewed me about my love of Star Wars. I felt comfortable striking up conversations with fellow geeks as we all sat in the theater awaiting the big moment. Then the movie started. At first it was as if I were in some other world and I was loving it. The audience applauded the instant that familiar Star Wars title came zooming through the stars and they kept applauding every time someone familiar showed up. I merrily applauded with them and I was having a blast, even though things were pretty familiar. (How familiar? Well, the movie opens with a fighter for the Resistance sending off some vital information with a cute little droid before getting captured. Yeah, that familiar.) I was liking the new characters and enjoying the action and when Han showed up . . . well, my heart fluttered and I applauded and cheered with the rest of the audience. I'm rambling, but anyway, it's impossible for me to review this movie objectively. If I were reviewing it objectively I'd probably say it was really good, or maybe I'd be pointing out flaws, or I don't know, but Star Wars is a personal, emotional world for me and I can only look at this movie from the perspective of my geeky self. Anyway, I should have been angrier about the lack of Han/Leia moments and the implication that they split up after their son turned to the dark side (Yes, I put a spoiler alert up there, so don't complain - Kylo Ren is Han and Leia's son. There.). I should have been FURIOUS, but I guess I was still in the Star Wars high. Speaking of which, the revelation was just . . . meh. Remember the "I am your father" scene? That scene has a huge impact even when you already know the secret (I already knew it when I first saw the movies, in fact). But Kylo's revelation . . . it was basically just "Hey, you know how Han Solo's your father. . ." Before I go on to the part that REALLY prevents me from reviewing this movie objectively, let me say that I guess what really keeps this movie from being satisfying is the question of WHY? Why did Kylo destroying the new Jedi Order make Luke abandon the galaxy's ass? Why is there a freaking MAP to where he is? Why did Kylo turn to the dark side in the first place? Why does Finn refuse to kill the villagers if he's been programmed since birth to kill (His story was REALLY underplayed)? Why does Kylo idolize Vader - didn't his parents and Luke tell him about how Anakin returned to the light side? Hell, why didn't Anakin's ghost appear to Kylo before he went dark side and tell him the dark side isn't all it's cracked up to be? Why did R2 go dormant when Luke disappeared? If Luke was looking for the old Jedi Temple, why didn't he look on CORUSCANT - the place was pretty damn prominent there? If there's a new Republic in charge, then why did the First Order become so powerful? My God, yes, I know there are two more movies coming, but it felt like they were throwing whatever ideas they came up with together without thinking about whether or not they made sense. Okay . . . (takes deep breath) . . . yeah .. . . the part that absolutely prevents me from reviewing it objectively . . . that part . . . gah . . . I can barely talk about it . . . yet alone type . . . HAN FUCKING DIED!!!!< I can't . . . I just . . . I don't even know how . . . I can't . . . After that, I went numb. Nothing else that happened afterward mattered. Yeah sure, the Resistance destroyed the First Order's not Death Star and Rey found Luke (I'm gonna go out on a limb and predict that REY IS LUKE'S DAUGHTER - the movie seemed to all but admit it. In fact, I was expecting the movie to end with Luke saying, "Rey, I am your father."), but I didn't care. I was too numb. I didn't cry in the theater, but in the mall afterwards the impact hit me and I came home crying and shaking (thank God I wasn't driving). Yeah sure, I've had fictional characters I love die before . . . but not like THIS. I never loved any of them like I love Han. Han is part of me, and a part of me died with him. I don't even fucking care who thinks I'm nuts for it. I don't care if Harry Potter or Game of Thrones fans call me a wimp. I don't fucking care - my Han is FUCKING DEAD and I'm GRIEVING. Literally GRIEVING. Grieving for someone who never existed. My head knows Han isn't real, but my heart doesn't. And he can't even come back as a Force ghost. Nope, that's one thing I've never liked about the Star Wars afterlife - non-Force-sensitives get left behind. Han's soul got absorbed into the Force and his individuality doesn't even EXIST anymore. He's GONE. GONE!!! God, yes, I know I'm taking it too seriously, but this universe is real for me. And to add insult to injury, the movie didn't even handle his death right. Leia got sad when she sensed his death, but she didn't say ONE WORD about it. Not ONE WORD. Han didn't even get a fucking FUNERAL. Nope, instead of giving him the dignity of a funeral, let's be happy that OOH R2 WOKE UP! That's MUCH more important, right? Han's dead. How can I get high on Star Wars again? How can I get excited about the upcoming movies? Part of me wants to go all Annie Wilkes on Abrams or Harrison or whoever's responsible and another part wants to put away all my Star Wars stuff and another part just wants to dismiss this movie as not being canon. I never ever thought I'd say this, but bring back the Expanded Universe. Bring back Sith Lord Jacen Solo (since Han and Leia's kid turning to the dark side happened anyway) and Chewie being dead (at least it's not Han), hell, even bring back that shitfest that is The Courtship of Princess Leia. Yeah, THAT'S how fucking depressed I am. Han's dead. I don't know how to write Star Wars fanfiction anymore. I don't know how to geek out on Star Wars anymore. HAN'S. FUCKING. DEAD!!!!

[lieselsolo]

In defense of Jar Jar Binks

I have a confession to make.

I like Jar Jar Binks.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. NOBODY likes Jar Jar Binks, right? After all, he's the worst character ever created in the entire history of fiction and everyone with half a brain wants him dead, right?

Wrong.

In fact, I've even met other people who like him.

"But he's annoying as hell!" Yeah? Guess what - that's completely SUBJECTIVE. Some people might find 3PO annoying and others might not. Some people might find Chewie annoying and others might not. It. Is. Subjective. Honest to the Force, Jar Jar doesn't annoy me one bit. I was expecting to REALLY hate him when I first saw TPM, since I saw it after Jar Jar had been declared a menace to Star Wars, but then I realized that not only was he not annoying me, but I actually thought he was  . . . cute.

"But he's RACIST!!!" And what's your logic there? Because he speaks in a weird dialect? Because he was played by a black guy? I never, ever, EVER thought he was racist and I don't think most people would without the internet's help. Jar Jar doesn't speak in a "black" accent - he speaks in a GUNGAN accent. I seriously think this argument was just made up by people who want to see racism in everything and/or want to make Jar Jar look as bad as possible.

"But he's pointless!" To that I say an absolute no. He's a very well-known character type - the misfit. He always tries to help out and do good, but his clumsiness gets in the way and often ends up causing trouble. In fact, I can identify with him - like him, I'm not the most coordinated individual and I have a tendency to not fit in. But like all good misfits, Jar Jar keeps trying. He still wants to do good, and there's something poignant about that.

"But he was created to please kids!" Okay, this is probably true. So what? Star Wars ITSELF was originally meant for kids. Family friendly movies have comedic side characters ALL THE TIME and kids love them. Does that mean adults can't enjoy Star Wars too? Of course not! I'm an adult and I love Star Wars AND Jar Jar.

That said, I'm sick of the vendetta the fandom has against him. If he personally annoys you, fine, but there's no reason to overreact. Let's look at a similar example - before I saw Star Wars, I used to be very involved with the fandom for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Many fans don't like the gargoyles in HoND - they think they detract from the movie's dark tone and are generally pointless. But guess what? The fandom wasn't always on a vendetta against them. They weren't making ten million YouTube vids and other skits about killing them. They simply acknowledged that they found the gargoyles annoying and moved on. Why can't the Star Wars fandom be that mature?

But then again, this is a fandom that frequently wants the creator of the thing they supposedly love so much dead, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[lieselsolo]

Daaaaaaaaamn, is it the 17th yet? I'm really wanting to see old man Han. It looks like he might be a mentor of sorts to Rey and Finn.

But PLEASE don't let Han die. Please God or the Force or whatever, DON'T LET HAN DIE!

[lieselsolo]

The home stretch

Well, it's finally here.

December.

After over three years of waiting and wondering and worrying, we're in the very last stretch before TFA comes.

I have seventeen days before I see the new movie.

To quote Padme, "Suddenly I'm afraid."

So anyway, what are YOU doing to prepare for The Force Awakens?

[lieselsolo]

I got an email from Harrison Ford!

Okay, okay, it was a form mail sent to me because I donated at the last Force for Change event, but he still wrote it and I still geeked out when I got it. God, I wish I could've been one of the fans in this vid.

Anyway, donate to Force for Change - I totally am, it supports a whole bunch of awesome causes ...  and a chance to go to the Star Wars premiere is in there too.

[lieselsolo]

Eep, every time there's a new trailer or TV spot I get so excited.

Are Finn and Rey going to be a couple? It would be super awesome if Star Wars had an interracial couple! (And no, I'm no just saying that because I paired Luke with a black woman in my fanfics, oh no.)

[lieselsolo]

After seeing this, I'm almost certain Rey's the protagonist. And holy shit, was she flying the Falcon? Maybe she IS Han and Leia's long-lost daughter after all.

[makingstarwars]

Star Wars Weekends Officially Cancelled. #StarWars #StarWarsWeekends

This is very sad news for me to report. Star Wars Weekends has officially been cancelled. I am extremely saddened by this because of how wonderful that event is, every year i go down to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios to have a great time with fellow Star Wars friends as well as all my Co-Hosts at The WolfPack Podcast.

[lieselsolo]

Only one thing to say about this. In the words of Luke and Vader, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lieselsolo]

Star Wars Rebels

Star Wars Rebels has been freaking AWESOME lately. It looks like Rex has officially joined the crew of the Ghost - yay! I really hope we see more of Ahsoka soon - especially more of her conflict with Vader. Hmmm, two more Inquisitors, this should be interesting. For a while I was sure the female Inquisitor would turn out to be Ventress (why else would they hide her face at first), but no, it wasn't. I'd love to see what Ventres is up to, though. And of course, Hondo's always fun. Maybe he'll be a recurring character on Rebels like he was on Clone Wars.

[sailorswayze]

go see a star war

[letalestrange-deactivated201905]

[lieselsolo]

I know what my next fanart will be. It will be my all-time favorite couple in their old age.

[lieselsolo]

This trailer . . .

GODDAMNIT, THIS FUCKING TRAILER!

My mouth went dry when I saw it (which was two days ago, but I haven't been able to write about until now). The movie looks more and more awesome with each trailer and this one . . . it's hard to even put into words how awesome it is.

Well, it looks like Rey might not be Han and Leia's daughter after all (unless she was stolen as a baby or something and doesn't know her parentage). OR maybe she's LUKE'S daughter. Maybe Luke doesn't know she exists. For that matter, where the heck IS Luke? All we've seen of him is (presumably) a silver hand. Leia and Han seem to be doing their thing fighting for the Resistance (sheesh, why don't they just call it the Rebellion, since it seems to be the same thing for all intents and purposes?), but what's Luke doing? Maybe he's living as a hermit on some distant planet ala Obi-Wan and he'll only show up at the very end of the movie when the galaxy needs him most.

Judging by the trailer, it looks like Rey lives alone with only her droid BB8 for company on that planet that looks like Tatooine but isn't Tatooine (forgetting the planet's name right now). Finn was a stormtrooper whose TIE Fighter crashed on the planet and now he's stranded and he's had time to reflect on what he's been doing. Then one day the Falcon lands there and Han tells the two of them about the Resistance and flies them to that Yavin 4-ish looking planet where their base seems to be.

And I'm 95% certain that the protagonist is either Rey or Finn, which means we'll either have a female Star Wars protagonist or a black one. Either one would be awesome, but my preference is Rey, since Star Wars has been seen as a male-centered fandom so often (guess what, we girls love it too!). Plus we need more major franchises with female protagonists in general.

Going off on a tangent here, given that it's extremely likely that the protagonist is either female or black, I have to wonder why I've seen more Poe merchandise than I have of the other two. I mean, given that Poe is tiny on the poster and he's only glimpsed in the trailer, I'm pretty sure he's the supporting hero (like Han in the original trilogy and Obi-Wan in the prequels). So why have I seen more figures of him than of the others? Is it because they think a white male will sell better than a black person or a girl? Given that it took a petition for the Disney Store collection to include Leia, I wouldn't be surprised. Sometimes people still refuse to be progressive.

Oh, and the trailer gave us a glimpse of Han and Leia hugging! (eep!) I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope this means those rumors about them being split up are bullshit.

Anyway, I already bought my ticket for the very first showing at my theater - 7PM on December 17th. The clock is ticking.

[lieselsolo]

I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote this song parody. I guess I was thinking that I can totally imagine Han betting his soul on his beloved ship. It doesn't stray too far from the original lyrics but whatever, here it is.

"The Devil Went To Corellia"

Tune: "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band

　

The Devil went to Corellia, he was lookin' for a soul to steel

He was in a bind, cause he was way behind

And he was willin' to make a deal

When he came across this young man flyin' in a starship and flyin' it hot

So the Devil snuck up into the cockpit up front

And said "Boy, lemmie tell you what

I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a starship pilot too

And if you care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you

Now you've got a pretty fast ship there boy, but give the Devil his due

I'll bet a blaster of gold against your soul

Cause I'll bet I'm faster than you"

The man said "Name's Han Solo, and it might be a sin

But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret

Cause the Falcon's sure to win"

　

Han you'd better watch your mouth

And hit that hyperdrive

Cause hell's broke loose in Corellia

And the Devil wants your life

And if you win you get this shiny blaster made of gold

But if you lose the Devil gets your soul

　

The Devil jumped into his ship and he said "I'll start this show!"

And fire flew from his thrusters as he reved it up to go

And he activated the hyperdrive and it made an evil hiss

Then he vanished into hyperspace leaving Solo in the mist

　

Han shouted into his mouthpiece,

"Well that's pretty fast, old son

But you just hold onto your horns

And I'll you how it's done"

　

Solo you've really gone astray

The Devil's in a galaxy far far away

If he beats you what'cha gonna do?

Boy is Leia gonna lecture you!

　

The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat

And he laid that golden blaster on the ground at Solo's feet

Solo said "Devil just come on back if you ever wanna try again

Cause I told you once, you son of a bitch

The Millennium Falcon always wins"

　

Solo you've really gone astray

The Devil's in a galaxy far far away

You won the race, the Falcon pulled through

But Leia's still gonna lecture you!