#sweu critical

[anghraine]

elwing replied to this post:

2 comments: first I can't imagine the type of people who legit leave comments CORRECTING stuff in the fic, but it does figure it would be people who are not actually as well versed as they think they are

I don't mind it when it's an honest mistake or point of confusion (like, I got an Italian plural wrong in a Borgias fic and I appreciate the person who let me know!), but it is deeply annoying (for me, anyway) to be lectured about my fic being "wrong" because it doesn't incorporate someone's preferred canon byproduct or fanon derived from it.

P&P 1995 + Star Wars Expanded Universe fandoms are especially bad about this, in my experience. No matter how clearly I say "my SW fic is based on the films and scripts only" there's always someone who's like "well actually in the novelization" or whatever.

Second, #19 please keep queen of Attolia on your thoughts……….

Oh, it is! I've got a page of pretty straightforwards Gen/Irene fic already written, so I didn't think of it for #19 purposes :D

#anghraine babbles #respuestas #austen fanwank #sw fanwank #sweu critical #this is an attolia irene appreciation blog

[absolutebearings]

im rereading the sweu because the ‘canon’ sequel trilogy failed me for the last time and there’s this little scene in the joiner king where han and leia are trying to negotiate with the chiss and it’s just really nice reading them working together and being on the same wavelength, there’s some snark and banter but it’s obvious its coming from a place of intimacy and love. it’s not like they haven’t gone through anything so their marriage hasn’t endured any strain, they lost chewie and their youngest son but they’re still together, working together and growing strong, and it’s just nice to read that, like a couple you rooted for taking refuge in each other despite what life throws at them. we really could have had it all with the sequel trilogy but instead they went with this ‘we separated and reverted back to our pre-OT development and took a giant fucking dump on one of the most enduring love stories in western cinema because our son is evil’ like they did that a billion times better in the sweu already!!! thanks for nothing disney!!!

#cello salts #star wars critical #sweu #i got like one hour of sleep and i'm in a real bad mood lmao #doesn't really help that kylo is a boring cheap imitation of jacen #i said it #i know these books aren't perfect but goddamn they sure do hold up especially in comparison to what we got from nu!canon

[thatginchygal]

33 and 34!

Thanks, @cooldoyouhaveaflag!  From the Fanfic Writer Ask:

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

I’m often (across fandoms) complimented on characterization.  That’s always a huge compliment to me because I want the fics that I write to be in-character and to represent the characters that I love.  

A more specific compliment that I’ve gotten is on my Star Wars Expanded Universe fic Echoes of Always.  The story was written in a divisive time in the fandom, after a beloved character had been killed off.  Many people stopped reading the SWEU books at that time (including me).  The compliment is that many people have read the fic and found a type of closure in it, which means a lot to me because it is my ‘love letter’ to those SWEU characters.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

I haven’t gotten too many criticisms that were harsh. I’ve gotten a lot of concrit, which I welcome gladly.  I guess the harshest criticism also came on Echoes of Always, in that a reader took exception to a scene in which I had Luke Skywalker bringing down a flying vehicle.  I had Luke struggle with it a bit (as in the SWEW his Force powers were great but not god-like) and the reader accused me of emasculating Luke.  The reader and I spoke eventually and had a conversation over it and the reader kept reading and, I think, enjoyed the fic.  I think perhaps their crit was more aimed at Mara’s character (speaking of divisive!) and not at my story particularly, but I felt it needed to be addressed and did so and was glad that I did.

Another criticism was also in SW fanfic, and it was that I wrote too much ‘fluff’ (or as we were calling it… mush (mushy stuff! haha!).  The problem with this criticism was that it was a mod directing the flame at me and a group of friends.  It was ridiculous and blew over.  Fanfic is for fun. If you want to write fluff and sweetness–do so!  If you don’t–don’t!  Read, write, and enjoy what you like!  

#fanfic #ginchy fic

[kindabraveandlittlestupid]

It seems Disney underestimated the power of the Dark Side of its fan base with the box office failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story. It shows a fracturing among viewers and how future movies will be received (or not received) by audiences around the world. The major issue with the fans isn't that people outright hate the new direction of the series but many are upset that the universe they know and love for long is changing before them. Some of those changes are for the better with new stronger female leads in the movies (which was needed) and then there are changes that for the worse such as changing the established lore of the force and cutting back the extended universe, which ironically took dozens of strong female characters with it. So yay! Progress?

So I plan to make the case for being critical of the new movies. I plan to also chastize those jerkoffs who decided to attack female actresses for being role models for young girls. I plan to make a rational argument for the removed content cut away by Disney writers. I also plan on talking about how we can bridge these divides and bring everyone back together. You might not agree with everything I say or maybe you will. Most people almost never share 100% of their opinions with another person which was kind of the problem in all this... dissent was widdled down to either or and those fans with legit criticisms were pushed into the camp of those assholes who hate women and the concept of social justice/equity. Because there was no discourse or room for dissent, Disney Ultimately gambled on that disgruntled fanbase not being as influential as it is and they were wrong.

No Room For Dissent

This is a common problem in society these days, where we view things in absolutes; be it politics, movies, religion and so on. Perhaps we have always been like that (I only been around since 1985) but it feels pretty bad these day especially in regards to politics being so divisive or movies that look to present more female roles and ethnic roles in their casts taking so much flak. While I might make some political parallels to create examples, I intend on focusing on the cultural divides taking place in these popular movies.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the tribal mentality that comes when critiquing a movie. Studios benefit from having a cultural high ground because it's easier to say “You’re being sexist or racist” instead of handling a critique and having to answer for poor choices they made while making the movie. I imagine this is what happened in the case of the Ghostbusters reboot, some people asked why the black character wasn't the scientist and the studio reacted with “Why don't you like women?” A kind of deflection mentality that avoided a valid critique of the movie and shames the critic from raising his or her voice again.

The blame also falls at the feet of the very worst patrons of our society. On one side you have the army of trolls of the web who are by far the worst people the interwebs (and the world) has to offer. These are the sort of guys who see any female lead role as an insult and seek out to harass them in the real world forcing the said actresses to abandon social media. These sort of people (most of them male) leave me gritting my teeth because this isn't so much a passion of a fandom they want to protect as it is a lifestyle of attacking people who are not them. Everything is a fucking battle and anything that progresses or enhances another race/gender/sexuality beyond their own is considered a threat to their manhood.

On the other side, we have people who you would call PC and they are sometimes PC to a fault. I tend to find myself agreeing with people on this side more often than not but even then we have our moments where I am wondering what the fuck the objective is. They become advocates for a worthwhile cause but become blinded to valid points or arguments. Back to Star Wars, I wondered why Admiral Holdo was even in the movie because she was killed right away and Akbar or Leia could have had the noble death. The response is defensive of the female role simply because it's a female role. Studios obviously love these advocates because they still don't have to answer the questions and its a private army of people to protect their franchise.

The last group is fans which is a wide spectrum of people from little girls who see Rey and get excited to see a girl kicking ass on the screen to long-term fans who have questions about the lore of the movies being changed or questions why the movie changed directions. Most of us reside here between the two extremes; the PC movie defenders who see the film as a tool to improve society and those little troll fuckers who want to see the world burn.

The failing in this discussion about the movie is the fact those two polar opposites dictated the discourse for the rest of us. You either accepted the movie as it was and enjoyed being on the moral high ground or join the trolls if you have any small critiques of the movie whatsoever. Perhaps we more moderate critics failed a bit by letting the trolls become the loudest voice in the room and let them write letters where they basically bashed women became the only thing people could see. Much like a peaceful protest where 97% of the people are there to say their piece with civility and clarity but its those 3% (the Trolls) throwing trash cans thru the window that get the cameras on them and they define the protest with the media coverage. 

I blame also the Directors and Disney for playing this absolutist mentality where they say anyone who is complaining about the movie is a baby, sexist, racist or some other insult. They didn't seem to want to have any criticism and why would they?! Having a golden franchise that can basically prints money and where you can say anyone who dissents against us is a bigot of some sort, is a hell of a defense. No one wants to be with the trolls and be labeled as chauvinist or racist but because there was no spectrum or room for dissent they ultimately pushed critics and concerned fans to that side.

Respecting The Lore/Establish A Vision

Disney may not realize this but they fucked up pretty bad by cutting away the extended universe. I understand WHY they did it; thousands of characters, hundreds of worlds, dozens of stories to consider compiled over 40 years? I imagine the collective writers of Disney who saw the scope of what other people had built together and collectively shit their pants. It's a massive undertaking to try and apply the lore in a way that fans might enjoy or explore plots that we would love to see executed. The problem is instead of looking at this expanded universe as a foundation to build their movies on, they decided to slice it away and leave nothing but the core movies and a cartoon. I will try and break down why that was a mistake.

Fans Invested Most of Their Time Into The SWEU

What they may have not realized is the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy was not where fans invested most of their time. Yes, we loved those movies for being the gateway into this great fictional universe but ultimately watching the 6 films would take only 13 hours. Knights of the Old Republic a single game of that Star Wars Universe (that they cut away), takes at least 28 to 48 hours to complete. Then you add on other games Knights of the Old Republic 2, The Old Republic MMO, Shadows of the Empire, Battlefront 1/2, The Force Unleashed, Rogue Squadron, Empire at War, Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, Jedi Academy, Republic Commando and so on you are now looking at hundreds of hours invested to a single play thru or more likely THOUSANDS of hours for true gamers play each game a few times.

This is where the true long-term fans who buy Star Wars merchandise over a lifetime instead of a holiday season reside. It stays fresh in our minds as books, comics, games, and yes the movies become part of regular media diet. Disney perhaps felt overwhelmed by it or perhaps wanted to reboot the universe decided to take the vast majority of where our love resides in the Star Wars Universe and scrapped it. Like it or not this is where they lost most of their following and since they did it just before the release of the The Last Jedi they have since been dealing with the fallout of loyal fans who feel betrayed and I am not talking just about the bitchy trolls from online either.

Removal of Strong Female Roles

I like seeing Ray as a strong female character and we all, of course, we all love Leia as well. There is no doubt the Star Wars movies while centered around some strong female characters have been pretty much been male-dominated for those first six films. So the change is not only warranted but welcomed.

What is a shame as while that was true for the movies it was far from the truth for the SWEU content where there were literally dozens of strong female leads they could have been explored by Disney.

Meetra Surik

Mara Jade

Bastila Shan

Mission Vao

Juno Eclipse

Iden Versio

Jaina Solo

Maris Brood

Visas Marr

Jan Ors

And so many more...

These women come different walks of life being the daughter of Han and Leia (Jaina Solo), plucky engineers who travel with a Wookie (Mission Vao), former Sith turned to the Light Side (Mara Jade), former Imperial Pilots and Soldiers fighting for the Rebellion (Juno and Iden), or even one of the most powerful Jedi’s in the Galaxy (Meetra Surik). I suppose what is best about them being fictional is that they still exist and if Disney wants to start mending bridges they should star readapting these characters into the canon universe.

The Best Stories Exist Before And After The Movies

I suppose for some the story of Skywalker family struggle was enough for them but the bigger stories existed long before the Empire/First Order and greatest conflict took place years after. The Mandalorian Wars, where warriors raider world after world forcing the Galactic Republic to step in. The Great Galactic War pitting the Sith against Jedi across the galaxy. The Invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong leaving trillions dead across hundreds of worlds and nearly destroying all life.

These stories are part of that extended universe and far more compelling than the recycled Death Star plot we saw in 4 of the 10 Star Wars movies. The audience craved to see the Jedi at their peak when they maintained peace across the universe, or they wish to see the Sith exist not in pairs but as an Empires themselves. If Disney wants to explore this franchise than embrace the stories that have not yet been shown on screen.

Establishing A Vision

Disney has enjoyed great success with the MCU and dozens of movies its created. They also managed to get their mittens on the Star Wars Universe and seek to milk it much the same. The problem is they don't seem to have a clear idea where they want to go with the movies or what they should do with it. I already discussed how complex the universe is with all its lore but you (Disney) have control over the movies. The rights to the toys, games, books, comics and films an like it or not we are at your mercy of where you decide to take it. 

I suppose I am advocating having a vision for the future of this series. Marvel Cinematic Universe works because the stories were planned out with a sort of climactic point to be explored (IE the Infinity Wars) so we know you can practice good foresight. On the other hand... John Carter, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and the Lone Ranger display a carelessness of other franchises. Not trying to be mean, just stating a fact. We saw it happen with other movies like Batman in the 90′s where the objective was selling toys and not making a quality film that could encourage people to buy merchandise for decades. I guess what I am trying to say is Harry Potter this franchise, treat it with love and care that the fanboys and fangirls so we can go with you on this adventure into a galaxy far far away.

A Letter to You Troll Douchbags

Some of us critics truly love movies. We see the flaws as they are and we want to be able to say our views with other people around a table. I had my issues with the magical properties of the heart-shaped herb in Black Panther. I wish they continued Ghostbusters 3 with Oscar (Jason Gordon Lovitt) taking over and having some young black scientists (played by Donald Glover and Jessica Williams) being the Ghostbusters (and Role Models) in the movie. I have some issues with The Last Jedi and how they changed the flow of the movie from one director to the next but you little bitches keep making these debates about race and fucking gender every fucking time. You see a woman on screen and you write up a review of a movie that isn't even out yet because you’re somehow afraid of the 50 movies released over the year you somehow won't be represented.

Cut your fucking shit out you little pricks. We cant make honest critiques now because you’re the first fucking twits to review a film and all you spew is the vial fucking hate raging against everything that isn't you. Honestly, the rest of us just want to enjoy ourselves, we are grown up enough to know white isn't the only skin color in the seats of the movie theater and male isn't the only gender of a hero (we call them heroines) in movies.

I picked these movies on purpose because they were topical and I had my issues with them (and I have my issue with every movie save Shaun of the Dead which is fucking perfect). I wanted to write reviews that were balanced because I want to believe we can have that discourse again where we can chat why a movie works or doesn't work without the risk of having labels like sexist or racist applied to us because you want to act out. So please for the love of god either commit to shoving your head further up your ass so we can't hear you or pull your head out and join the rest of the world. Either way, I am tired of having to apologize and denounce your rhetoric... it's honestly fucking exhausting.

Regards Michael California

#Star Wars #Disney #The Force Awakens #The Last Jedi #Star Wars Expanded Universe #Personal Rant #MovieReview

[getthrawnin]

OOC: Our Twitter is @ThrawnStarWars the reason why we have not upgraded Tumblr is for sentimental reasons. We specifically requested a blue man with red-in-red eyes (Chiss) that was cut with muscles, tall and sexy. We did not want a sloppy villain in appearance. Thrawn is NEVER EVER that in the books, but they could have added a physical flaw. They did with the Inquisitor with jagged teeth. The reason why we wanted it is to cause “moral quandary” -- subconsciously, people are less apt to “villainize” someone when they appear “attractive”...even though Thrawn is known to do very bad things. That makes for good storytelling. Our early art shows Thrawn’s built chest. His uniform is formfitting for his shoulders and biceps. Most fan artist who draw Thrawn shirtless draw him with muscles both in abdomen and biceps and neck. For all purposes, they give Thrawn a very attractive look. That was done on purpose. That’s why Alex Gutierrez (DEEGOOTS) called what we did as “fan servicing”. Dave Filoni did reach out to fans on this one. It’s been a good choice. They have another novel coming out. The link was written in 2015.

#thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #ooc #get thrawn in star wars rebels

[anghraine]

I sometimes enjoy SW content from outside the films, but I can rarely really buy it as actually belonging to the same story lines and characters as in the movies. I loved Fallen Order and had a lot of fun watching Kenobi, but I can't quite believe they're really happening in the same universe as the OT, even though I think they're good.

In part, it's because the stakes of the OT are lowered by the various paracanons, and the OT (with a side of Rogue One) is at the heart of my SW fannishness. But partly it's because ... well, vibes. The TV shows, the novelizations, the comics, etc feel like the Earth 2 of Star Wars to me, whereas the PT, whatever its flaws, feels to me like it's part of the same primary continuity. It's not just a Lucas auteur thing, either (RO, to my very great relief, also worked this way for me).

...that said, the deeply flawed Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978)—which was made even more deeply flawed by the movies' retcons—introduced the idea of Luke learning obscure languages out of boredom and this is 100% canon in my head.

#multilingual luke skywalker rights! #anghraine babbles #sw fanwank #sweu critical #deep blogging

[anghraine]

For no particular reason: a grab-bag of answers to questions I've gotten, usually more than once, on my SW fics. Austen ones later!

Lucy Skywalker:

1— Why did you use "Lucy" for your female Luke Skywalker instead of something more space-like/Star Wars-y?

Because "Luke" itself isn't that kind of name. It's the perfectly common English form of a real, old, familiar name. I was looking for something analogous—a name with a common English form, something that's been around for a very long time, ideally with a similar appearance to "Luke." I stand by my opinion that "Lucy" is the closest fit, not something "spacier."

2— Why are Lucy and Leia seventeen c. ANH instead of the canonical nineteen?

Because Star Wars "canon" is a shape-shifting void beast and I stick firmly to the films and sometimes scripts. The movies don't give Luke and Leia's ages at any point in the OT, but the ANH script says Luke is eighteen and Leia is about sixteen. For the Lucyverse, I averaged them out to seventeen.

3— Why is the wampa episode different, with Wedge Antilles captured first?

The pervasive misogyny of most GFFA societies in the Lucy fics led to Lucy being ultimately accepted into Rogue Squadron but not as leader; Wedge occupies Luke's role as commander and even gets his shifts. Consequently, he's the one in place to get mauled by the wampa, but he has less options for escape and would have died if not for Lucy and Han's impromptu rescue mission.

The other reason is that the changes to the sequence made it more interesting to write about than just ... novelization-style with a pronoun switch, which I'd already done through much of the first fic.

4— Speaking of the pervasive misogyny of the GFFA in the Lucy fics, why is that a thing?

When I look at the roles of women in the prequels and then at the near-total dearth of them in the OT, the difference is very glaring. Maybe this is just a relic of the respective times in which they were made, but idk, it feels like the domination of white human men during the Emperor's reign has a certain resonance with Imperial era politics. That includes the fact that (as depicted in the OT) the military arm of the Alliance is scarcely better in this regard. It genuinely feels to me like there's been real, in-world, large-scale change from the PT era.

And I generally prefer to lean into fucked-up aspects of a canon and underscore what's wrong with them rather than to headcanon them away. So that's what I was doing there.

And the idea that the particular misogyny of the Empire flows down from Palpatine and this minefield changes Anakin/Vader's approach to Lucy (and hers to him) was far more interesting to write about than "everything is basically the same, lala what systematic misogyny." The events of The Jedi and the Sith Lord were always part of my plan for the fic and one of the main things that made it interesting to work towards.

SW: Rogue One

1— The idea of Cassian being from Alderaan is, um, interesting, but according to the Expanded Universe—

The extent to which I do not care about the SWEU can hardly be overstated. Please feel free to stop correcting my fanfic with SWEU/TV show factoids.

(Sidenote: I only wrote Alderaanian!Cassian in the ad astra verse, though he speaks Alderaanian in all of them.)

2— Will you ever finish per ardua ad astra?

Yes. I'm sorry it's taking so long, but I will if it kills me.

3— You've talked about Leia/Jyn/Cassian, but ...

I do actually have two fic ideas for it. I've written some of one, but not the other (and of course, I prefer the scenario I haven't written). I do hope to write some, someday.

4— Will you ever finish the Persuasion fusion with Wentworth!Jyn and Anne!Cassian?

Probably not. ;_;

SW: Other

1— Your Skywalker headcanons about Tatooine slave culture are interesting. Are you going to do more with those?

My Skywalker headcanons are not Tatooine slave culture headcanons. The enslavement of Shmi and her surviving people happened in her young adulthood in nearly all my fics.

I will do more with my headcanons about the Alsarai, though!

2— Will you ever write the sequel to Revenge of the Jedi?

Probably not. I had it planned and outlined, but a lot of the ideas got absorbed into other fics, and I'm not feeling it these days.

3— Will you ever continue the one-shot fic where Vader defects with Luke in ROTJ?

Yes and no. I can't really say more.

4— Is Anakin really Leia's stepfather in Redemption?

Yes.

#anghraine babbles #fic talk #i really need a star wars tag #fic talk: lucy skywalker #genderbending #sw fanwank #death star au #leia x jyn x cassian #the inverted persuasion au #alsaraic fic #fic talk: redemption #fic talk: but thou didst not leave his soul in hell #long post #sweu critical

[anghraine]

Luke and Mara?

This is an easy one, I'm afraid! I do not ship them even a little bit.

1- Why don't you ship it?

For one, I didn't read most of the material they were even in. I'm into the films, and ships that involve characters that aren't even in the films are intrinsically not interesting to me (and I've never bought into the idea of "no actually there are all these other Force-users floating around as Imperial policy", then or now).

For another, I headcanon Luke as asexual, and usually as aro/ace + happily celibate and "alone" for a Skywalker value of alone. I see his bonds to Leia, Han, and Anakin (two of which are literal psychic bonds) as the most important in his life. There are some Luke ships I like in fanfic, but as far as canon goes, I don't like the idea of him in a romantic relationship with anyone and after ROTJ especially, I can't really see it.

On top of that, certain parts of the fandom pushed the pairing really hard in my first few years in SW fandom. I did not appreciate being corrected, pressured, and sent outright hate over not being into Expanded Universe-only stuff and over headcanoning Luke as aro/ace. I've never gotten more unbridled hatred in my asks over anything and I try not to let that shape what I think, but it certainly did not soften my feelings.

2- What would have made you like it?

It would really need to have been woven into the films in a satisfying way that didn't sideline Luke's other critical relationships. Mara would probably have needed to be there from ANH or at least early in ESB—not necessarily "there" in scenes with Luke, but established with a role of her own in the story so it didn't feel tacked on or obligatory. And Luke's vibes in ROTJ would also have to be pretty different.

A pretty steep task, obviously. But I've always really loved that the resolution of Luke's arc in the OT doesn't involve "getting the girl", or getting anyone in that sense. For him, the happiest possible ending is all about his relationships with his father and his sister and his friends, and it's honestly still refreshing for me to see that. So it'd have to be incredibly good in the films for me to actually ship it, even if some specific things could lessen my dislike.

3- Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

From what I can tell, Mara is a pretty cool character in her own right, and her books do seem to be among the better ones. The general outline of the dynamics between Mara and Luke as far as I've osmosed them seem like they could make for a really compelling kind of enemies -> battle couple pairing if I were into that for Luke.

#brambleberrycottage #respuestas #sweu critical #sw fanwank #luke x mara critical #meme prattle #long post #anghraine's headcanon

[anghraine]

Sometimes I remember the (male) classmate who questioned me about the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Legends) to make sure I was worthy of doing the Star Wars part of our group project, which did not in any way touch on the SWEU. The whole thing happened irl and I tried to be polite despite not only knowing about the SWEU but passionately loathing the vast bulk of its choices as well as its existence as handled by Lucasfilm and SW fandom, so I was “allowed” to go forwards. A formative fandom experience tbh.

(The project was for a class on feminist theory, incidentally.)

#that dude was kind of the platonic ideal of 'patronizing fellow fan assumes i don't know the lore' but the experience is evergreen #anghraine babbles #sw fanwank #sweu critical

[anghraine]

I’ve gotten a few bookmarks/kudos lately on my old post-ROTJ fics from before the ST. I was even grumpier back then about the fandom shoving the expanded universe down everyone’s throats, so it was doubly enjoyable to defy fandom dictates and do things my own way—but I’d have had a lot of fun with it, anyway.

I had this idea before I knew about the EU’s take that one of Han and Leia’s children would go awry for a time. I ended up envisioning her (naturally, the child was a girl in my imagination) as growing more and more absolutist and ruthless as a young Jedi, and I specifically had the idea that this would coincide with an increasing preoccupation with her Skywalker heritage. 

This isn’t an aristocratic thing fwiw, since the Skywalkers are nothing to the Organas in those terms. But it’s something she’d be dealing with as her temperament tips her into dangerous territory. However, I couldn’t see Anakin twiddling his ghost thumbs while that's happening—or, in general, Anakin being less attached to the living and proactive than Obi-Wan or Yoda. 

So the way I imagined it, ghost!Anakin has a stern chat with Lyra (the girl’s name in my pre-Disney headcanon—between TFA and RO, I was a bit bemused by their choices!). It doesn’t just magically smooth out her entire personality, but it’s a pretty sharp reality check in terms of the path she’s on and where it leads. And nobody’s playing mind games on her or anything like that; she struggles because of who she is as a person and the legacies she’s trying to deal with, but I imagined that she’d be able to adjust course and more or less make things right with her family.

The part I managed to get down implied this much, I think, but it was all told from the POV of Lyra’s much more even-keeled younger sister in the course of a conversation with Luke.

So—there actually is some overlap with Disney canon but it ultimately took a very different direction. It’s interesting, then, that people still read that old stuff sometimes! I’m glad, though; I was really fond of it.

#anghraine babbles #deep blogging #fic talk #fic talk: quality of mercy #/ #// #/// #//// #///// #lyra organa #anakin skywalker #sweu critical #st critical #vaguely but... yeah #in any case #in retrospect i wish i'd gotten more of my ideas down before the great acquisition #i mostly /like/ disney's sw and in some cases love it but i did enjoy coming up with my own ideas #star wars

[anghraine]

TROS wank

I was pretty meh about TROS and Not Happy about the treatment of the Skywalkers as a family generally, buuuut I’m also really ‘meh’ wrt the posts about how Leia’s true calling is politics and giving her Jedi training and a lightsaber reduces her agency and collapses her path into Luke’s because JJ/whomever didn’t respect her independently of Luke/the Jedi stuff generally/whatever.

IMO there is very little evidence in the films that Leia’s true calling is politics. ANH doesn’t tell us why she became a senator, but I think it’s pretty clearly implied that the main function was shielding her activities as a Rebel agent. She’s a major figure in the Rebellion, but in ESB what we see is her giving orders to troops (making it reasonable enough that she would end up as General Organa). 

By ROTJ, she’s taking orders as part of a strike team (and seems much happier for it tbh). Yoda’s dying words to Luke are about training Leia. Luke tells Leia that she’s his twin and will learn to use her abilities, too, and she is at some level unsurprised. Near the end of the film, she begins to use her Force abilities consciously. It is entirely possible that all this would ultimately lead to actual Jedi training.

Sure, there’s a tradition of politician!Leia in the expanded universe, but directors/writers/producers/Lucasfilm powers have always been free to use or overwrite the EU as they see fit. And they’ve all done it, many times! George certainly torpedoed EU material whenever he felt like it, including EU material that had come from him in the first place. 

That is, LF has set up this system where fans are supposed to accept the labyrinthine layers of EU canon, but the directors/writers et al can do just about whatever they want with it. I’m not saying this is unproblematic, bc it’s actually at the base of a lot of my reservations about SW and canonicity. But in terms of precedent, JJ & Co were entirely within their rights to go, “huh, there’s a whole thing about Leia being trained as a Jedi in ROTJ and we can see it. Let’s do that instead.”

It’s fine if you like the pre-TROS EU version better (I don’t know what acrobatics they’ve done to make it work currently) or think it really does make more sense for OT Leia’s character. But JJ & Co were no more beholden to it than the other writers and directors were to the EU material that they threw into the blender. It’s nothing new. And it’s not really fair to assume that Jedi trainee Leia is something that they made up out of the ether because they couldn’t see beyond Luke’s storyline, when it is explicitly and repeatedly brought up in ROTJ.

#sw fanwank #tfa for ts #/ #// #/// #//// #///// #star wars #leia organa #sweu critical #tros positivity #i guess lol #but seriously it is /entirely/ possible to see leia's jedi training as the natural follow-up to rotj #and they've all discarded eu stuff whenever they wanted so whatever #anghraine babbles #anghraine rants #anghraine's meta #not sure which to use so i'll just throw them all in

[anghraine]

*after discussing SW for an hour and a half*

me: honestly, I’ve had people ask me questions about the expanded universe to prove my nerdiness.

best friend: ...you really don’t need to prove that.

me: well, there’s the thing where you’re less of a fan if you don’t know about the EU, even though my thing is that I do know about it, I just dislike it.

best friend: you own and have read Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. I think you’re good.

me: it’s bad, though. Just ... interestingly bad.

*cue discussion of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye for twenty minutes*

#anghraine babbles #deep blogging #/ #// #/// #//// #///// #star wars #sw fanwank #sweu critical #splinter of the mind's eye #it is in no way canon but nobody will tear luke's space duolingo account from my headcanon

[anghraine]

I am not a fan of expanded universes generally and the SW ones in particular, but otoh ... I absolutely love the idea from Splinter of the Mind’s Eye that Luke was so incredibly bored on Tatooine that he downloaded Space Duolingo and learned a bunch of languages for the hell of it.

#i mean. i headcanon that he was brought up bilingual anyway #but that aside i'm genuinely delighted with the idea of luke getting so bored and irritated that he was like #running through huttish conjugations in his head #owen: *lecturing about the importance of hard work and discipline* #luke: wait blast it that one's irregular #anghraine babbles #splinter of the mind's eye #OBVIOUSLY it has......other issues but i do like that detail #star wars expanded universe #sweu critical #but not really! #on this one special occasion! #star wars #luke skywalker

[anghraine]

The last chapter of your fic reminded me of one of SW comics, Darth Vader Annual #2. If you ever decide to give it a chance you can easily find it to read online. But summarizing it, Vader had a hand in the destruction of the Death Star. He was the one who told (or more accurately, made a droid tell then auto-destruct itself) Galen Erso’s wife about the Empire’s plans of destroying planets so she could inform Galen. He didn’t do it out of goodness, only out of spite and resentment, but still.

Hmm. I’m torn, because on the one hand, I’m always for anything that acknowledges and emphasizes Vader’s antipathy towards the Death Star (however it’s attributed!), but on the other, I don’t care for the galaxy-shrinking explanations for everything that prevails in the SWEU. IDK.

#anon replies #respuestas #/ #// #/// #//// #///// #star wars #anakin skywalker #sw fanwank #sweu critical #Anonymous

[anghraine]

today in why doesn’t fandom cater to me discourse:

Unrelated, but a post on my dash just reminded me of how much I dislike the tendency to recuperate problematic elements of a text by trying to get rid of them. It’s the “oh but we can assume they’re there offscreen” or “what if the narrator is unreliable tho” or “well if you squint you can see it as actually empowering” or whatever. 

I mean, how many kittens do I have to murder to get “okay, this is present and fucked-up, let’s explore that”?

I suppose it’s part of the reason I’m so annoyed by the EU’s secondary (if not primary) function as SW fix-fic shoved down everyone’s throats until LF changes its mind again. But the fix-fic approach to all problematic (or simply questionable) content is there with just about every fandom I’m in. 

If anything, Tolkien fandom is the ultimate UM WELL ACTUALLY one. SW at least is leaning on something with some connection to canon, but the Middle-earth Well Actuallys are ?????? 70% of the time. 

It’s fine to go LALA IT’S NOT THERE FOR MY FANDOM EXPERIENCE if that’s your deal (that is, if you don’t constantly well actually people who are trying to discuss their issues w/ the thing). But I do wish it wasn’t seen as the One True Way to engage.

#my rebellion will continue to be overwhelmingly male dominated because hey! obvious systematic misogyny! #and it's cool to be 'my rebellion is going to assume they're offscreen bc i don't need that shit in my space opera experience' #not cool: 'well actually they're just offscreen all the time' #also some are just inherently kind of awful #usually of a 'well if she secretly wants it then her no doesn't count and she's just trying to make dude jealous' flavour #to make the man or ship look better (this is not solely about the one that it is obviously about) #but headcanoning away the bad things isn't wrong in itself #it's just #not the only way and treated as such a default #tldr fandom does a thing i dislike wah why don't they do the thing i like #anghraine rants #sw fanwank #legendarium fanwank #sweu critical #general fanwank

[anghraine]

I don’t read that stuff. I haven’t read any of the novels. I don’t know anything about that world. That’s a different world than my world.

George Lucas

Genuinely friendly reminder: your fic is not any more or less legitimate for expanded universe content/adherence. 

If the EU is your thing: cool, bring in whatever you want!

If you don’t have time for it/don’t care but like checking Wookieepedia: nice! Enjoy yourself!

If you just feel obligated: you aren’t! Do like George and imagine what you like!

SW fandom: seriously, create whatever world makes you happy.

#okay friendly to everyone except everyone who goes around using the eu to police people's fic/headcanons/true fannishness #they can go fuck themselves :) #anghraine babbles #i am not generally a well of encouragement but i do feel very strongly about this one #nobody gets to dictate to fandom how we can interpret and imagine #much less when their own creators can reject their dictates at any time #hierarchies of creativity are bullshit thanks and goodbye #sweu critical #not content but sure as hell the system #star wars #sw fanwank