For the author ask: 16) are there any characters that haunt you?
Oh you mean besides Mara Jade? about whom I have written nearly 40 fics? Not obvious enough?
But "haunt" is such a dramatic word and I don't know if it applies to my relationship with star wars characters. I guess the closest character who came to haunting me was Jysella Terrik. A dead star wars mom who isn’t even named in the books, Jysella haunted me until I wrote her story in Pour Away the Ocean. She's essentially an OC, but I'm very proud of how the character developed based on fragments of background info on the Terriks and sw worldbuilding.
Thank you! This is actually the next chapter of Twin Hearts of Kyber, the fic that was meant to be a one-shot and became a two parter, but I couldn’t just leave Han out so it’s now turning into a much bigger fic.
How to bring him into the twins’ orbit when he wasn’t needed for transportation to Alderaan and why is what I’m still struggling with, but I have bits of the first interaction written:
He scrutinised her again; she had an aristocratic bearing her brother lacked; reserved where he was effusive, analytical where he was emotive, every move and look and word schooled and deliberate. Such mannered ways were not learned in the Rebellion.
Han leaned in to mirror her. “Because Leia Skywalker ain’t your real name either, and this,” he made a sweeping gesture, “is all a fraud; a role you’re playing.”
He could tell he had surprised her, even if her expression had not changed a bit.
“You’re very astute Captain Solo.” Her voice was hushed so not to be overheard. “Have we met before?”
“Believe me sweetheart, I’d remember if we had.” He winked, and she continued to stare back at him, seemingly immune to his charm.
“If I told you my real name, could I trust you with it?”
“What discretion being the better part of valor and all that?”
Leia gave a small snort. “That’s not what that means.”
“Well la de dah, I didn’t go to posh fops finishing school.” Han scratched the side of his neck absently. “As long as I get paid, you can trust me with anything of yours you like.”
Apologies for the uber late reply to your asks, but I wrote the answers and then hit backspace and my tumblr browser KILLED my reply and well, I almost lost the will to go on. 😊 So here is Take Two.
4. which character is the most misunderstood?
The most misunderstood character…I am gonna say Luke Skywalker.
Hear me out—we are all in our Luke stan bubbles here and we know he’s the most brilliant character to ever be dreamt up, plus he’s gorgeous, but I digress.
The sad truth is while in 1977 he was the undisputed hero and popular dude from the films, when Empire and Jedi came out (when he was really evolving and struggling, etc.), Luke took a backseat to Han and Boba Fett and Darth, etc. and the ensuing years have not been kind to him in pop culture. But merchandising didn’t feature him as much, even Leia, I remember when Jedi came out, it was HARD to find Luke stuff. But Leia, Han, Boba, Jabba, Darth, even Chewie, seemed ubiquitous. WHY?! IT’S HIS STORY!
I think the average casual SW fan tends to think of Luke as whiny or boring or uninteresting and are more drawn to the rogue that is Han or the bad guys. (Not even talking about ST fans who mostly think of Luke/Jake as a grandpa.) They mock the whole kissing his sister thing, they quote the power converters line, they DON’T UNDERSTAND his amazing.
So there is a movie, As Good As It Gets, and there is a great scene, the gist of which is Jack Nicholson’s character tells Helen Hunt’s waitress character that all the people in her restaurant, they go about their day not realizing that the most amazing woman in the world waited on their table. But he gets that, he knows that about her, he SEES it, and that makes him feel good about himself, makes him happy that he understands her awesomeness. And that is sort of how I feel about Luke. Disney may have betrayed his character, but I never will. And that makes me feel good about me!
16. what’s the saddest moment in star wars?
For the saddest moment in Star Wars, that is hard. I discussed this with my mom, a big SW fan, last night. She picks Vader’s daddy reveal, but while I think that is the most dramatic/traumatic moment, I think for saddest moment I would probably choose Vader’s death, when Luke is all “I’ve got to save you” and his hand, his prosthetic hand that Vader chopped off, is on his dad’s shoulder…
*reaches for tissue*
Luke never knew his daddy, then he found out his daddy is evil and mean, and then he gets back the daddy he always wanted and loses him again. It’s just…so sad. So so sad. And I really give props to those actors in that scene because it makes me sad every time I watch it.
And Mark Hamill probably never looked as good in his life as he did in this scene and the one immediately after (in the Lambda shuttle) and I DON’T KNOW WHY because he just had this horrible trauma and loss but he looks incredible. So that’s an added bonus to the saddest scene in Star Wars. Honestly ridiculously hot. Excuse me while I go swoon a moment.
There are a lot of sad moments in Star Wars, the OT. But that is the scene where I think Luke MOST needs some hot chocolate, a hug, and maybe some sexual healing. I can assist, Luke, I can assist.
OK and your substitute ask since I already answered #15 was #6…
6. which canon event do you most disagree with/dislike?
At the risk of beating a dead tauntaun, I will just say the Sequel Trilogy as a whole (yes I’m including the new one I haven’t seen yet because I fear I know where they are going and *cringe*) for how it robs the victory of the OT without explaining how our heroes turned into such failures, and in particular the betrayal of Luke’s character. I blame the role of money in the making of the films, something that is blatantly obvious if you watch the Blu-Ray documentary The Director and the Jedi, but for the purposes of this ask, lemme just summarize from a previous rant or else we’d be here all day:
1) The most optimistic guys in the galaxy who believed he could redeem the most evil guy in the galaxy or die trying would not give up on/try to kill a child riddled with Darkness (never mind that it’s his own nephew). The End. Would. Not.
One of the scenes that pisses me off so much is when Luke force-appears to Leia at the end of TLJ and says basically "your son is gone" and she's like "i know" and i'm like WHERE ARE LUKE AND LEIA AND WHO ARE YOU HORRIBLE PEOPLE. Anyway, I digress....2) Luke is all about helping people who need him, rushing to save them even when totally unprepared/warned against it, etc. This idea that having failed his Jedi students that Luke would decide to retreat, abandon his family, his friends, his Rebellion, and become a hermit is counter to everything we know about him. If he decides the Jedi are evil, just STOP BEING A FUCKIN JEDI. It’s not like a disease you can’t get rid of, just stop using the Force etc.
3) Death. I know some people think this ties in to the whole "balance in the force" thing. This concept is a whole other issue, because it implies there is no good and evil, as far as the Light and Dark, they have to both exist in equal strength/parts and the good becoming powerful will give rise to the evil becoming equally powerful, which makes EVERYTHING sort of pointless. (Like, why even try to save the galaxy if it's impossible for good to triumph? you will win for a couple years and then the baddies come back--if that is the true nature of the Force, the idea of morality just goes out the window, but that's a whole other tangent).
So why does Luke die? He's not sick, he's not old, the idea that using the Force in the way he has took so much out of him that he's weakened to the point of death is counter to canon (size matters not etc), and the galaxy still needs him. He just proved that. Yet we are expected to believe in a sense that Luke thinks the galaxy would be better off with him as a mythic, martyred hero rather than a flesh and blood leader. This also makes no sense to me.
Luke Skywalker rises to the occasion in the OT, even when it's hard, he has a strong sense of responsibility and personal morality. Jake…Jake is different.
I think a lot of work would be required to turn OT Luke into TLJ Luke...It's not impossible, nothing is, with smart writing and character development, but that's not what we were given. Too many off-notes for me to find it remotely believable, and there are so many little snarky additions to his character that also are so weird that I just can't...
The new trilogy just sort of robs the victory/finale of the OT without enough explanation for why it was a failure....in a perfect world they would have just turned The Thrawn Trilogy into films. I thought the EU gave us a rich explanation and continuation of that world in a way that was far truer to the characters. I wouldn't even have minded them recasting our heroes, cause time/age. looks for time machine
I follow you because I need to know there are other people out there who miss SW Legends, even with all it's flaws, as much as I do. So love seeing your Legends mood boards and posts!
thank you :)). we all know that the eu wasn’t perfect at all, but with all its flaws, it was awesome too and way better than disney!star wars lol
Ok, from the WIP Title meme, I must know more about Screwball Rom-com Murder Mystery in SPACE
I really wish I had the chops to actually write a Screwball Rom-com in SPACE, rather than wistfully title my WIPs after dreams. (It would also be a house party murder mystery in SPACE. in my dreams). I just don’t know if I can pull all of those concepts off at once.
What’s in the wip file at the moment? A bunch of notes and half written scenes for a story featuring Mara and Lando, undercover as a couple at a fancy to-do (on a mission for Karrde). Someone gets murdered, I assume? Hijinks ensue, obviously. Dancing, probably. Mara is annoyed at everything. Karrde sweeps in and sweeps Lando off his feet (as much as Lando is ever swept off his feet)--there’s the rom in your rom-com.
I want to write Mara and Lando having heart to hearts! I want to write Lando and Karrde flirting! I want to write jokes! But honestly, this story scares the shit out of me which is why it’s never gotten further than a pile of ideas.
15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. Which fic would you want it to be?
Oh no, fics are not for the big screen! It would have to be in a world where disney filmed wild AUs just for the hell of it (I suppose they have done that with the MCU, so maybe such a world is possible). Choosing one of my fics is tough! Even though I definitely borrow story-telling techniques from movies and tv, I don't think any of my fics are structured like a movie would be. I think Common Hazards of the Penumbra Sector would be really fun to watch, though. The racing scene would be great onscreen (and definitely in the tradition of a star wars movie), and I'd love to see what a talented production crew could make of the Coruscant underworld.
@jadedjo asked: For the fanfic ask 13 and 5 please.
Thank you for asking!
You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?
Is it a shippy adventure story starring Mara and Luke? That would do it, probably.
I do have small tics that I notice, but I'm not sure anyone else notices. Phrases and rhythms I repeat. I notice them when I'm writing/reading over my fic, but I haven't made a list of them, and I'm not sure I'd want to share it. If I tell you the tic, you'll always notice it too.
Name three favorite characters to write.
This one seems pretty obvious to me, but: Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker, natch. Han Solo, which was a surprise to me when I started writing. Talon Karrde, my other Legends fave. And this might be a cheat: Meena clan Skywalker, my Legacy OC.
My least faves (...to write, I like them as characters) tend to be: Vader, Yoda, and Leia (I love Leia, but she intimidates the hell out of me).
