#wookiee myths

[crispyjenkins]

Chosen-One!Obi-Wan x Jango where Jaster finds Obi-Wan after he’s lost(somehow lmfao,, idk maybe connecting ships like a connecting flight?) on his was to bandomeer and adopted by a haat’mando’ade advisor of Jasters?

(this would have been out on monday except i rewrote it twice T◡T this is by far the best version i already have a few haat mando’ade Obis so i gave this one a twist (ゝω·) thank you for the prompt, anon! i started planning this one as soon as it came in, i’m so happy to finally be able to get to it (ノ*´◡`) i hope you like it!  i am now inordinately attached to the idea of a wookiee raising obi, and wanted to do so much more with chalmun but it did not work out by rewrite three. someday, friend (๑o﹏o๑)

  When Obi-Wan meets the Mand’alor on Bandomeer, wearing his failures like funeral garb, Jaster calls him Haar Gaanla. The Chosen.

  Obi-Wan never makes it to the Agricorp outpost, he doesn’t even make it out of the spaceport; the moment he steps off the transport from the Temple, the Force all but takes over his feet, humming in happiness as it leads Obi-Wan further and further into the port, until it pulls him to a stop in front of a Nova Courier starship.

  A Mandalorian without a helmet turns around from stocking his cargo hold, and knows from one look that there’s something not quite right about Obi-Wan, that the way the opalescent Force ripples around him is not the way it surrounds others. 

  “Haar Gaanla,” the man says, as the Force whispers Mand’alor, as Obi-Wan says,

  “I’m coming with you.”

  Jaster lets him sleep in his bunk the whole way to Concord Dawn.

-

  When Obi-Wan meets the Journeyman Protector Chalmun, the Wookiee stepping out of his terracotta dugout home on a farmstead that looks like it’s drowning in blooming behot, he calls Obi-Wan Haar Gaanla. The Chosen.

  Obi-Wan smiles around his missing tooth, and calls him buir.

-

  The prophecy of The Chosen One is not specific to the Jedi, Chalmun has heard it all over the galaxy from as many peoples as he has bowcasters — which is to say, a lot. Mandalore has had their own prophecy from as far back as the Taung, and Obi-Wan doesn’t know what that means for him, somehow raised a Jedi first, but Mando’ad now.

  His first night as Chalmun’s foundling, he tells Obi-Wan the story of the Wookiee warrior that carried her people into the trees and showed them the sky, before giving them her bones to build the first treehouse. Her name, Otwiyaddirm, came to mean freedom, choice, and has a variation in all Wookiee tongues. 

  Chalmun tells him more stories like that while he teaches him how to farm and how to grow, how to care for the behot leaves that are their main income, but also the root vegetables planted at the bushes’ base. Master Tyvokka spoke Shyriiwook when Obi-Wan was in the Temple, but Obi-Wan’s crèchemaster was one of his apprentices, and she taught their whole clan Xaczik instead, partly just to piss her old master off.

  Obi-Wan knows the Force likes to mess with him, lead him to believe one thing before spinning him 540º to another answer entirely, so he knows there is very little in his life that the Force does not have a hand in; that Chalmun speaks Xaczik rather than the far more common Shyriiwook? Well, it’s not as if Obi-Wan is surprised.

  Before Jaster, Obi-Wan had only interacted with one Force user that was not a Jedi, a Zebraki woman that had come to study the architecture of the Coruscant Temple. Obi-Wan had snuck out of bed and was on the run from Master Oraruu when the Zabrak had found him and crouched in front of him — she called him Uifri with a sort of fond awe, and walked him back to the crèche with an impossibly gentle hand in his. Knight Kolar told him later that the closest word in Basic is Chosen.

  Master Plo had called him ‘a lantern in the Force’ when he first brought Obi-Wan to the temple, and the description stuck far into his initiate days. Quinlan would tease him about it, saying he ran a few degrees hotter than other humans, because to Quinlan, he was warmth more than light.

  So Obi-Wan isn’t unused to epithets and comparisons and whispered names in languages he doesn't speak, but he doesn’t know what to do with himself when his new buir starts to affectionately call him Otwiyaddirm, just as often as he calls him cub.

  It certainly confuses Jaster’s foundling the first few times the Mand’alor checks in on Obi-Wan and brings Jango along, who despite being a few years older than Obi-Wan and Haat Mando’ad to boot, can’t pronounce Obi-Wan’s Xaczik name and instead just calls him Nau’ika. Little Light. 

  Even after Jango learns Obi-Wan has a name in Basic, the nickname stays, because though his midichlorian count is lower than even Jaster’s, Jango can still see his light in the Force. Mando’a doesn’t have a word for the sorts of open-flame lanterns Master Plo had referred to, but Jaster says he thinks Nau’ika suits them just fine. 

-

  “Can you feel it?”

  Jango looks up from the stone wash basin outside by the greenhouse, where Jaster had assigned the two of them to wash tubers for thirdmeal, but he finds Obi-Wan resolutely focussed on the blue tuber he’s scrubbing. He’s rolled the sleeves of his red linen shirt up past his elbows, arms toned from working the farmstead, and Jango has half a mind to be amused by Montross’ insistence that Journeyman Protectors and their clans simply can’t compete with Supercommandos — Montross has obviously never seen the size of the sacks of behot leaves Obi-Wan and Chalmun regularly sling from the barn to their speeder.

  “Feel what?” Jango asks, while Obi-Wan works at a particularly stubborn spot of dirt with his reed scrubber. 

  Obi-Wan doesn’t answer immediately, but his expression is relaxed and thoughtful, so Jango doesn’t press, just waits quietly at his side. He had grown in leaps and bounds under Chalmun’s careful rearing, strong and smart and kind, and he looks almost nothing like the tiny Jedi imp that Jango had met six years before. 

  His hair is redder now, baked under Concord Dawn’s blue sun until it’s almost copper in the summers. Farmer-tanned skin is spattered with freckles and blemishes where he had been pale as a wampa in a snowdrift when Chalmun had first taken him in; Arla had been like that, too, and something in Jango aches.

  “Me.”

  Jango blinks, quickly returning to his own scrubbing when he realises he had been staring. “You? Oh, you mean the light thing?” Obi-Wan nods once. “Of course I can, everyone above Force-null can.”

  His relaxed expression tightens, lips pressed thin as the water in the basin moves preternaturally. “Everyone keeps saying that,” he says softly, “even the other Sensies here think I’m special.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  Obi-Wan shrugs, pushing his hair out of his face with the back of his wrist; it still leaves water running down his forehead, and Jango’s brain short circuits, just a little. “I don’t know. The Jedi certainly didn’t think so.”

  “And we’re supposed to care what those shabuire think?” Jango scoffs. “They must be even better at sticking their heads in the ground than I thought, if even the children couldn’t feel you.”

  “Wouldn’t they have wanted me if they did?”

  Ah, well, perhaps Jango should have expected this.

  He can count the number of times Obi-Wan has talked about his time in the Temple on one hand, despite Jaster checking in on him every few months for the last six years. He’s said that his destiny was not with the Jedi in this iteration of the universe, that he knows the Force had not led him astray, and Jango knows he’s genuinely happy here with Chalmun and the Mando’ade, but he also understands that line of thought.

  “Would you go back to them if they asked?”

  Obi-Wan finally looks at him, wide-eyed. “What? Of course not.”

  “Then does it matter knowing what they thought back then, when you don’t care what they think now?” Jango takes the tuber from Obi-Wan’s hand and drops it in the drying basket with the rest, before pulling the stone stopper from the bottom of the basin to drain the water into a pipe that would take it to the reprocessing tank to be reused in watering the fields. “I’m Haat’ad, Nau’ika: I know droidshit about the Force and Force users, and even less about this prophecy nonsense our buire seem to think is important.” He hefts the basket onto his hip and waits for Obi-Wan to hang the scrubbers over the side of the basin to lead them back to the dugout house; he kicks open the door and holds it with his foot for Obi-Wan to duck past him. “I just know you don’t feel like anything else in the galaxy, that people will always want to take advantage of that power, and that you are far safer all the way out here than in the Core.”

  Their conversation falls off as they remove their shoes to join Jaster and Chalmun in the kitchen, and though Obi-Wan doesn’t bring it up again that night –or any time after– Jango knows he thinks about it still.

-

  When Jango’s starcruiser drops out of the sky over Concord Dawn, crashing into the behot fields and cutting a furrow of flying dirt and flowers right across the farmstead, Obi-Wan is already calling on the Force, oily-black and opalescent and warm, to drag Jango from the wreckage. Obi-Wan wraps it heavy around the both of them, as he kneels in bloody, screaming mud with Jango’s head on his shoulder, as he holds his hand heavy, warm, oil-slick against Jango’s throat until his dead pulse jumps underneath his palm. 

-

Mand’alor —  “Sole ruler”, contended ruler of Mandalore. Haar Gaanla — “The Chosen”, fan creation for a Mandalorian Chosen One myth behot — an herb with a citrus taste and mildly stimulating properties, most often infused into shig, a Mandalorian beverage used similarly to caf buir/e — “parent/s”, gender neutral  Haat Mando’ad/e — lit. “true children of Mandalore”, True Mandalorians (slang shortened to Haat'ad/e)  Nau’ika — “Little light”, nickname for this specific Obi, which becomes new Mando’a slang for open-flame lanterns shabuir/e — an extreme insult, mostly accepted in fandom to be an insult of an individual’s ability to parent (from buir), which is an intrinsic part of Mandalorian psyche and identity  Uifri — “Chosen”, Zabraki (found with this translator) Otwiyaddirm — name meaning “Choice”, “Freedom”, Xaczik (made by combining names with this generator; myth is my own)

*my understanding is that blue suns supporting planet life is impossible, but i raise you: rule of cool. and does concord dawn even have a blue sun in disney or legends canon? i dunno, but you can’t stop me*

[phoenixkaptain]

I don’t think I can get over Luke being portrayed as ominously hooded because it is genuinely so funny to me and I can’t even explain why. Luke saw Boba Fett in the Faithful Wookiee and went “Yeah, that’s a friend shape” so I can only imagine- like- do you think that’s what he thinks friendly people dress like? Does he think he looks trustworthy? Does he think the way to make people trust the Jedi is to be a cloaked specter that most believe is only myth??? That would really explain some things…

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Lasat

Lasats were native to the planet Lira San, beyond a collapsed star cluster in Wild Space. At an unknown point in time, a group of Lasats colonized the Outer Rim world of Lasan, and over the years their homeworld was reduced to myth. While the Lasats did not take part in the Clone Wars, a galaxy-spanning conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, at least one Lasat was a member of the Jedi Order, Jaro Tapal.

At the war's conclusion, the Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire, and during its reign the Empire devastated Lasan, destroying the High Honor Guard, the royal family, and killing nearly all members of the species, despite the attempts of the Wookiees to prevent the massacres, often at the cost of their own lives. Since then, Lasats were rarely seen in the galaxy, and none remained on their homeworld. In their conquest of Lasan, T-7 ion disruptor rifles were used extensively by the Empire. This led to a strong hatred and distrust of such weapons by Lasats. Many of those who survived the fall were enslaved by the Empire.

Following this, Lasat culture fell into decline, with few remaining who could properly speak their native tongue, and the bo-rifle became, like the lightsaber of the Jedi Order, another symbol of a dying age.

Fifteen years after the birth of the Empire, three of the last remaining Lasats in the wider galaxy embarked on a quest to find the legendary Lira San with the help of the rebellion. They succeeded, using ancient Lasat technology in a Bo-rifle to shield the Ghost from being torn apart by the collapsed star cluster blocking their way, and with the help of Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus, guided them through the Force to the true homeworld. The Lasats in the wider galaxy regained contact with their original homeworld and Lira San became a safe haven for survivors of the Lasan genocide.

Within the species, those with fighting skills were highly respected, often being members of the Lasan High Honor Guard, a group of highly trained, highly intelligent warriors sworn to protect their homeworld of Lasan. Bo-rifles were a long-standing tradition in Lasat culture, used exclusively by the Honor Guard of Lasan. The warrior way of the Lasat was the Boosahn Keeraw. When a Lasat was bested by a superior opponent in combat, they would give them their weapon.

Facial hair was an important status symbol in Lasat culture. Those with green eyes and prominent purple stripes were considered to be attractive by others of their species. Juvenile Lasat were noted to climb tree branches. The species spoke Lasat, a language whose r's were difficult to replicate by most other species.

On Lasan, time was measured by counting how many of their homeworld's dust seasons they had survived through. The Lasat believed in the Ashla, a "spirit of the galaxy" and a personification of the Force. Using a Bo-rifle, a Lasat was able to channel the Force to see past and future events. The spiritual leaders of the Lasat people on Lasan were called the Revered Masters, who often carried around Ashla Staffs—staffs with a special connection to the Ashla.

A humanoid sentient species, Lasats were notable for their impressive height, strength, and agility, with their muscular digitigrade legs enabling them to run faster, jump higher and farther, and move more quietly than humans.

Their large finger pads and prehensile toes assisted them in climbing. In addition, their large eyes and ears afforded them superior sight and hearing over humans. They had the strength to open a powered-down blast door. A height of two meters tall was considered below-average for a Lasat.

The fur patterns of a Lasat varied from individual to individual, and could change suddenly as they aged. Some humans considered a Lasat's strong odor unbearably offensive.

An average height for a Lasat was aboowe 2 meters or 6.6 feet.

Lasats age at the following stages:

1- 9 Child

10 - 17 Young Adult

18 - 44 Adult

45 - 69 Middle Age

70 - 84 Old

Examples of Names: Boscoface, Chava, Davin, Gron, Garazeb Orrelios.

Languages: The Lasat spoke Lasat, a language whose r's were difficult to replicate by most other Species.

[ebenenoir]

I love TBOBF personally and was shocked to read it’s the lowest rated SW show (I think) and that even fans on here have mixed feelings. As a disabled indigenous person, I’ve been really vibing with the representation and love letter to both groups of people! But after watching Episode 5 I think I finally can put to words why TBOBF may not be as well received as Mando despite how much I love it.

As much as I’m enjoying TBOBF, it is slower and more drawn out than Mando and we’re getting flashbacks to things we were able to piece together on our own while watching Mando so it feels a little like “yeah we got that” but also Boba doesn’t have a lot of stakes, or stakes that are high enough for people to be even more invested. Like Din lost his kid, his ship, became the reluctant king of a dead planet and dying people, has to take the bus to get work, knew finding his people would mean losing them by being honest, and is having an existential crises regarding his helmet and creed. Boba is just vibing as a non violent crime lord trying to get his town to get along while also warning their respect and not losing his throne. Mando had more development and more at stake in one episode of a show he’s a side character in than boba has in 4 episodes.

I think, despite loving the show, they should have given him more to lose that he can’t afford to because I feel like Boba would be fine if he lost everything again because his character is built on loss and grief. I’d love to see him challenged in a way that makes him more proactive as a character, but I don’t fault the show or the character, just the writers and show runner. It’s why episode 5 felt like a ride compared to the last 4 episodes, the cameo was great but if you rely on a side character filler episode to tell someone else’s story then their story is probably really weak. I agree with another account on here, as much as it’s great to get Din back it should have focused on Boba and Femnec tracking Din down and making it an adventure rather than waiting for him to show up on the bus.

However, people also need to respect that Boba’s story isn’t Din’s. They’re two different people which means their shows are going to feel different. Tow siblings may be related and grew up in the same house but their rooms are still going to be unique. And also, Boba has been through a shit ton of bullshit since he was a kid. So his show may feel mundane compared to what he went through in the past with The Clone Wars and Attack of the Clones. He’s an old man now who still kicks ass, even if his biggest problem is dealing with a murder Wookiee and obese space worm twins.

I totally agree with what you say. You sum up the situation well.

Honestly, I try to watch tbobf without comparing to the mandalorian, so I think that's what helped me not to see the slowness of the first episodes in a bad light. There are shows that are boring at the beginning and become very interesting at the end. I know some fans defend the show by saying it's slow because they want the build the character but it's Boba Fett, I don't think he needs that development.

Now I can understand why people compare the two because both series are about Mandalorians, both were the first series to be derived from the Star Wars world and the first one was a big success.

"but I don’t fault the show or the character, just the writers and show runner."

I agree with what you say. At first I thought the reviews were harsh with tbobf but even Temuera doesn't seem to be particularly happy with the way Boba was written.

The advantage with the Din character is that he was created recently and it's easier to create his story while respecting the Star Wars universe. Whereas the character of boba already has his history and his myth. When you want to continue the story of such a famous character, you have to understand the character and sometimes the actor understands it better than the writers

This is a big problem for the writers of star wars since the sequels.

[disneyschedules]

Coming to Disney+ in April 2021.

Here's a look at what's coming to Disney+ in April 2021. Source: decider.com

April 2

Secrets of Sulphur Springs: "No Time Like the Present" (S1)

Walk the Prank (S1-3)

Higglytown Heroes (S1-2)

The Island at the Top of the World

Third Man on the Mountain

The Last Ice

Made in a Day (S1)

Secrets of the Zoo (S4)

Sharks of the Bermuda Triangle

The Big Year

Night at the Museum (2006)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984)

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985)

Star Wars: Clone Wars – (Vol. 1-2)

Star Wars: Ewoks (S1-2)

The Story of the Faithful Wookiee (From The Star Wars: Holiday Special, 1978)

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Episode 3

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Episode 2

April 9

Future-Worm!

Kick Buttowki: Suburban Daredevil (S1-2)

Secrets of Sulphur Springs: "Time After Time" (Season Finale)

Man of the House (1995)

Mark Twain and Me (1991)

Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994)

Cesar Millan: The Real Story

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Episode 4

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Episode 103

April 16

Treasure Buddies (2012)

White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf

National Geographic: Earth Moods Volume I

Primal Survivor (S5)

The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

Rio (2011)

Big Shot: Episode 101, "Pilot" (Series Premiere)

Earth Moods: Premiere

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Episode 5

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Episode 104

April 22

Secrets of the Whales (2021)

April 23

Puppy Dog Pals (S3)

Disney Liv and Maddie (S1-S4)

My Music Story: Sukimaswitch

Being the Queen

Baby's Day Out (1994)

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Finale

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Episode 105

Big Shot: Episode 102

April 30

Adventures in Wonderland

DuckTales (2017) (S3)

Mira, Royal Detective (S1)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Marvel Studios: Assembled

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers: Episode 106

Big Shot: Episode 103

[choco-glow]

Just One Yesterday

“Commander…Master…um…” The scarred man in the dark, hooded robes, his mask laying in his lap, chin resting on his gauntlet, glanced up over his knuckles and quirked an eyebrow, dark eyes bloodshot and exhausted…And the young Jedi gulped. “I um…Master…Master Oteg wishes to speak to you?” He only nodded, waiting for the young man to scamper off, and lifted himself from the chair, stealing another glance back out at the stars. It had become a comfort to see the stars outside the clear bulwark; three long, horrific centuries he’d been held in that prison of body and mind, and yet, the stars had changed little in all that time.

He left his mask hanging on his belt (Mandalore’s mask, a dozen lifetimes ago, made his when he’d fought back the Clans, when he’d first fallen…) and made his silent way through the ship, footfalls as light as the wind on Manaan. The meditation chambers were…oddly comforting, and Revan breathed in the rich scent of the vilian flowers, their crawling vines hanging heavy all about the room. It smelled like Dantooine, like home; Tython had been the ancient home of the Order, long ago, and he’d been there once upon a time as a young Padawan himself in distant, blurred memories, but Dantooine was far stronger in his heart, far fresher in his memory…and stolen moments with his friends, his crew, had made the pastoral planet a home that before, he hadn’t had.

“You are so much stronger than me, and you returned from the dark side. I too can do the same, with your guidance, Master Revan…”

“Maybe you’re smarter than I thought, taking advice from an old man like me…been a long while since I came back home…Don’t make my mistakes, young’un.”

“Kinda nice place, reminds me of Telos, of home…Y’know, you’re the first real friend I’ve had that cared about what happened to Morgana and Dustil…”

“Check it out, Big Z! This place is pretty cool…Let’s go up there! C’mon, Zaalbar, let’s go explore! You can eat later!”

“Arrrghh, rrraagh rrrrrh!” *

“Heh, never thought I’d get a taste for the quiet life, and yet, here we are…aliit ori'shya tal'din, Jetii.” **

”I…know you can’t possibly forgive us for what we’ve done to you…and I won’t make excuses for it. But I’m glad you’re back. I really am…”

“Master Revan Shan.” He blinked, shaking his head free of the voices, long, long dead and gone, and found himself staring down at a very, very familiar face…and he swallowed. This Master Oteg…he could have been a dead ringer for Master Vandar, but Vandar Tokare was dead, betrayed on a far away planet long ago, and a sudden surge of homesickness and sorrow flooded Revan’s heart and mind…And the kindness he felt through the Force, through Oteg’s aura, undid him completely. It pushed away the darkness he felt in his very soul, and he reached for it, for the Master before him.

He collapsed though, tears streaming down his face, and for as small as the older Master was, now Revan was the pupil before him, prostrate with grief and longing. The elfin creature, his wrinkles marking his age, his green eyes soft, laid a gentle, clawed hand on his shoulder and drew him close, comforting the broken man as though he were his own Padawan. “Oh my boy…for all that you’ve a century on me, you’ve been so lost…” He wept, unashamed, three long centuries of death and despair and Vitiate’s claws in his mind, and Revan clung to Oteg through the storm of emotions, until the winds finally faded.

“How…how did you know my surname? No one knew I took Bastila’s name…she wanted it that way, and I didn’t dare risk our babe…All I had of her was the dreams and our dyad, our bond…and even then, I couldn’t look too hard, for fear of him…” He whispered when the sobs eased, when he managed to speak again, his voice hoarse and aching, and Oteg hummed, patting his hair with a gentleness that Revan didn’t feel he deserved…but he accepted it gladly, desperate for any sort of contact. It was a parent’s touch, and he closed his eyes, leaning into it.

“Bastila told me. Well…not in person. Not the way she wanted to. But she did tell me about you…and her love for you.” Revan’s heart ached at that, but he eased back, rubbing the tears off his face and taking a long, deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. “As for the rest…I know what was done to you. What you lost in memory, and in your life. Very many do know the basic facts…and the rest, much like many other legends deep in the galaxy, have myths to lean heavily on. But we in the Jedi, and even a bare handful of Sith, know the truth of who and what you were after the Masters erased your memory…but we don’t know who you were before that. Much…was lost, both accidentally and otherwise.” Revan nodded, lips twisting a little with anger.

“…I have a few memories. Vitiate…well, I won’t say he kept me sane, because he…nothing that was done in that hellish fortress was sane. But there was one Sith, a pureblood, who had no name as we know it, but he knew me. He knew me very well, and he knew how to retrieve memories, even those thought to be erased…and in return for my aid in influencing Vitiate’s mind, he helped me retain my sanity…and regain some of my loss. Not all of it…I don’t know my old name, nor my birthplace, or even my true age. I don’t have a birthday…but I have the memories of the Star Forge, how I got it rebuilt, how I used it…and how I fell.”

“And you have Bastila.” Revan closed his eyes at that, tears burning under his eyelids, and oh, he had Bastila…those memories, the dreams he’d watched over her in, with Scourge’s help, he’d kept from Vitiate, kept everything from the monster in regards to his son, to his heart, to his friends…Carth had lived on, Mission and Zaalbar had survived. Juhani, Canderous, Jolee…Even HK had survived. Teethree…He ached at the loss of the little droid, that night he lost Meetra too, and a touch of the Force soothed his grief, Meetra’s ghost giving him that one last lingering gift yet still.

“…My friends and my love. But…They are gone now, long gone. What can the Council ask of me now? I’m a broken husk of what I once was…” He murmured, meeting Oteg’s eyes once more, though tears still burned down his cheeks, his scars aching as much as his heart. Oteg only smiled, and with a gesture of the Force, brought over a set of tea cups, and a kettle, still steaming from the range nearby.

“For now, they ask me to heal you, as much as you can bear; of heart-wounds as much as the Force-depletion and literal physical wounds you’ve endured too. And they ask you to rest; even with hyperdrives, it’s a long, long way back to Tython.”

“…Not Coruscant?”

“No. For one, the Jedi Temple is still in ruin there, from the war, and for another, I will not allow the Senate to inflict itself on you. Tython is not Dantooine, and sadly we’ve not rebuilt the enclave on Dantooine for many reasons…but it is largely safe, and the Order is many, many more Jedi strong now. There is darkness there…but I trust you. As does the Grandmaster and the rest of the Council.” He blinked at that, and when Oteg offered him the fragrant tea, thankfully not from Dantooine, Revan managed to even sip it a little, rolling the strange, interesting spices on his tongue. It wasn’t the same…but different wasn’t bad, either.

“…I appreciate that. I truly do. For now…the rest…it is very deeply needed. I hope…perhaps I may be allowed to lay out a bedroll here? The vines…remind me of home.” He swallowed the rest of his statement, and Oteg smiled, broadly now.

“I don’t mind in the slightest, but I have a spare bedroom too, with the vines inside as well. You’re welcome to rest there as long as you need to. Dantooine was under my watch for many years, and I grew these vines for much the same reason Bastila did; for the comfort they brought me. The tea is a healing herb from Tython, with a bit of root from my favorite spot on Alderaan to gather flowers and other plants, and will help settle your stomach to handle food that’s more solid than an intravenous line.”

“…Thank you. I suspected I’d be on mush for a while.” Oteg chuckled at Revan’s wryness, and Revan’s lips quirked up, just a little, before he sipped his tea again. The Master shifted away and began puttering about the place, and Revan settled back against the cushions of a rounded lounge seat, tilting his head back and just…breathing. Closing his eyes, with the breeze off the vents, he could just about pretend he was back on the Khoonda Plain, out under the biryan trees, his crew dozing all around him. Canderous snoring, Carth humming softly, Bastila’s soft breathing, her hand just touching his…Jolee’s quiet reading, turning page after page of a well-worn book.

Zaalbar grooming his fur, making the soft little Wookiee noises that one might chitter at a cub, while Mission dozed against Carth’s side with Zaalbar at her back, curled up and breathing so lightly that you couldn’t hear her hardly at all. Juhani practicing her Force manipulation by healing the very earth around her, in apology to her last master and the darkness she’d sought there, and of course, the distant sounds of blaster fire as HK and Teethree hunted for dinner. And Revan, in the center of it all, soaking up the sunshine like a flower that had been buried for far too long, his heart full of light and love, the darkness banished…Another tear slipped over his cheek, and he let it fall, let them all fall, as he gave into the slumber carrying him off into his memories once more.

I love you all so much…I miss you…

A week solid of rest, good food, and healing had brought Revan back to the living nearly completely, and he ignored the hollow ache in his very soul as he stepped off the shuttle onto the first planet he’d seen in three centuries. The Force healing had done wonders for his connection to the ancient power, and already, he could feel the shades of light and dark in the Force on Tython, just as Master Oteg had said. The Rakatans weren’t wrong…I wonder how much of the past the Jedi really know? Because the Rakata Elders had known so, so much…even with as much as was lost, they told me everything…

“Master Revan.” He paused, his mask now hidden behind his breastplate, his hood drawn back despite how it made him feel too visible…and looked up at the man standing before him, a human male with a simple cut to his brown hair and deep lines from what looked to be a near constant frown. He sensed annoyance, no little anger, and a certain amount of frustration at having to greet this particular guest, and Revan smiled, just a little, though there was no humor in it. Let him be angry; he’s not half the fighter I am, for all that I’ve been in stasis for so long, and he damn well knows it.

His lightsabers, saved by Scourge long ago, had been battered and broken, but Oteg had been kind enough to provide him with the tools and crystals to restore them…and Revan had them now on each hip, a purple one…and a red one. He’d hesitated over that crystal for a moment, feeling the weakness in the green, blue, and yellow ones…and finally, he closed his hand around the gem…and felt the Force hurtle through him, tasting the power on his tongue. Perhaps it is too much of a temptation… He hadn’t gotten this far by taking the easy path, though, and he was more than strong enough to handle that power.

Oteg…hadn’t commented on that. Revan found that he was grateful for it. This man, though…Revan bowed, slightly, keeping his attitude to himself for the time being, and opting for aloof and mysterious. There was a darkness here that seeped into the very heart of the Temple; he could sense it, though it was far older than Vitiate, far baser and weaker…but it had survived much in the many, many millennia since the Jedi had left. The ruins at Kaleth are what Oteg warned me about; someone’s been poking where they shouldn’t.

“I am. And you are, Master…?” His tone was perfectly polite, crisp and just a touch of that ‘Alderaanian noble’ air, which had the exact effect Revan intended. He’d had it for years before his fall, and rebuilt it with Carth’s help during their fight against Malek, and after; it served him in good stead now. The man straightened, anger flashing in his blue eyes, and his lips twisted before he spoke again, his voice acidic enough that Revan smiled even more. Bingo. Little prick makes me miss HK all the more. What I wouldn't give for a classic "Meatbags." comment right now.

“Master Jaric Kaedan. This way, if you so please.” He whirled and stomped off, and Revan followed along behind him, his ancient styled robes billowing in a way that seemed to startle the Jedi they passed. Master Kaedan kept a brisk pace, but looked unnerved when he glanced back to find Revan keeping pace with him, hands tucked in a hidden set of pockets, his footfalls just as silent as before on the ship, and Revan’s smirk only grew. Brat. If only he knew the truth…but then, I’ve fallen, and I’m wearing the shadows of what I once was. I suppose I can forgive his anger.

The Padawans and trainees they passed didn’t know what to think of the scarred man in long, tattered black robes; he’d been given the option of clean, more neutral ones from Oteg, but he’d only cleaned his old ones, and pulled them back on, taking comfort in the Star Forge’s armor. Pity my white robes are long gone, because they would have been far better for this, but I don’t want to lose myself yet again, this time in the Jedi once more.

The great room with the enormous Force-driven rotating holocron in the middle was oddly calming, and had Revan a minute to spare, he would have lost himself in watching it, drinking in the healing calmness of the Force that radiated from the enormous dodecahedron. But Kaedan was too fast, and Revan bit back his annoyance, following the impatient man to the Council doors. There, he opened the smaller entrance door, ushering Revan inside…and for the first time in a long time, Revan stopped dead, his mind reeling at the sheer power contained in the room. Oteg really meant it…Atris had betrayed the Jedi, evil bitch that she was, she decimated us…but this…

Hope swelled in his heart, for the first time in…well, centuries, and Revan eagerly stepped forward, feeling his fear and anger melt away, joy making a smile touch his lips as he made his way to the Masters lined up before him…

SLAP.

The blow struck him perfectly from the handsome woman who stepped up to him, her long braids still swinging from the gesture, blue-gray eyes furious, and Revan brought a gloved hand up to his jaw, moving the joint to make sure it wasn’t broken. He studied her, eyes wide, shock freezing him in place, and he swallowed, a sinking feeling in his gut now.

“…You…look awfully familia-”

SLAP. The second slap had a stinging burst of power behind it, and it knocked Revan off his feet, tossing him back with an ease that made his heart absolutely drop into his boots…and he gazed up at his descendant with a gulp, shrinking a little under the gaze all Shan women perfected long before they reached adulthood. He could see where time and DNA had changed the look of her, but those eyes, those eyes were all Bastila’s legacy, and Revan felt another pang for the woman he’d loved so much, and the son he’d never known.

“…Shit.”

“You selfish son of a bitch, you’re damn right I look familiar. I am Grandmaster Satele Shan, of the Jedi Order. And on behalf of my great-grandmother, I deliver this message.” She snarled out, eyes flashing, all sense of calm lost in a sea of anger…and she held up a holocron…no, a Noetikon. A Noetikon that Revan hadn't ever seen before...but he could feel the power stored within it deep in his very soul. Revan’s eyes widened as a figure appeared, all in the soft blue of the hologram…but he knew that face, that body, those eyes anywhere.

“…Bastila?” He whispered, and she gazed down at him, her expression a mixture of sorrow and anger…and reached out a hand to him. He couldn’t take it, knew he couldn’t feel anything…but he reached for her too, his whole being yearning for her.

“Revan…” She murmured, and he choked on a sob, fingers closing on air and light, fighting to keep his composure before all these strangers. Oteg had been safe, had known many of the surviving masters, had even been mentored by Jolee…and he’d known Revan’s true self. These people didn’t. “…you know, I had a whole rant saved up, after all this time, how you abandoned us, how you left me without an explaination, how you were so damned selfish…”

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…I was selfish, I was a selfish bastard, and I deserve everything that I’ve been punished with…but I didn’t want to see you suffer more, and I couldn’t trust the Council…I couldn’t trust anyone but Carth, Jolee, and Juhani to keep you and Vaner safe…and I needed the others to keep each other safe, as best they could, and live the lives they deserved. Atris…I saw what she was becoming…”

“I know.” It was so simple, so poignant a sentence, and he froze, heart in his throat, eyes wide. “In uploading my consciousness to this Noetikon, enough to reason and think, I was also able to listen, to learn…and to understand. I’m still angry with you…but I love you enough to forgive you. You knew just how powerful Vitiate was…even if you didn’t remember entirely, you knew he was coming back. You knew…and you fought back the best way you knew how, but you had us to protect…and you were right. I was in no shape to fight alongside you, and neither was Jolee in his old age. Juhani and Carth gladly would have, and could, but…you were right again there.

“Had they left us, Jolee and I would have been found. Vaner…our little boy, he would have died…But he built a family of his own, and they continued that proud tradition, defying the Order in the one way that mattered to all of us…we chose love. I never regretted that…I never regretted you. I still don’t.” He drank in that forgiveness, those words, and laughed, aching, but real, blessedly real, when she chuckled a little. “I’m still mad, but I got over it pretty well, I think. Our children’s children, however, you’ll have to earn their forgiveness.”

“I…suspected as much. Bastila…I know this isn’t the same as a Force Ghost, nor are you entirely you, as you were…but I love you. I love you, and I am sorry…and I hope, I hope that matters at least a little.” The hologram smiled, soft and sweet…and winked out, leaving Revan to blink up at his descendant, confused and heartbroken…when a soft, ethereal voice filled the room, and it was Satele’s turn, along with the other Council members, to go wide-eyed in shock as they started at something behind him. Revan breathed in the scent of vilian flowers and a touch of leather, his heart leaping now as he slowly stood, turned…and there she was, not the older woman in the hologram, mature and long into her life…

“It always mattered.”

But his Bastila. His beautiful wife, her ponytails a little messy, her old robes shabby from sparring and exploring, her smile blinding in its joy. She was a ghost, that much was certain; the glow made it obvious, and though she had color in her skin and hair now, her clothes were a pale gray…he knew from experience that a ghost could only project so much. But when he wrapped his arms around her, she was firm to the touch, her curves fitting perfectly against his angles, and he buried his face in her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her with a shaky breath.

“Revan…”

“Bastila…”

“I can’t hold this for long…but the power here is enough to give us this.” She whispered, and he brought his head back up, pressing his forehead to hers, hugging her tight.

“It’s enough. It’s enough for me, to see you, hold you…” He murmured back, and they clung to one another. He augmented his power into hers, willing her to stay, just a little longer, and she relaxed in his arms…And it was Master Oteg, wise, good Master Oteg, who ushered the rest out of the Council chambers, letting Revan guide his beloved back to a small loveseat at the rear of the chamber, the two of them curling up together. They spoke of their son, a lifetime of memories that Revan had seen only in her dreams, of their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, of Tasiele and Satele, and Theron, Satele’s SIS agent son.

Time became meaningless once more for Revan, for Bastila, for both of them, and when words began to fail them…they simply let their hearts say the rest, slow kisses and touches bleeding into one another. But their time was growing short…Revan could feel her slipping back into the Force, feel her strength waning…and when she gazed up at him, the color draining away, her eyes growing sad and weary…Revan kissed her, soft and sweet and lingering.

“It’s alright, love…”

“I have missed you so much…it’s too cruel that we only get this…” She murmured, and he tucked her under his chin, wrapping around her the way she wrapped around his waist and chest, hugging her tightly as he could.

“It is too cruel…but we were never graced with much luck, were we, my heart…” He whispered back, his voice hoarse from the long hours of talking, and the tears.

“…No, we never were. But we had one another…” He smiled at that, and she glanced up, smiling back. Revan touched his forehead to hers again, and Bastila sighed a little, fingers tightening in his robes, his chestplate and back armor long banished to the floor. “I love you, Revan…”

“I love you too, Bastila. It’s alright…you can let go…I’ll follow you soon. I promise. I…there isn’t much of me left, despite what they’ve done to heal me…” He whispered, and she opened her eyes, those gray irises just as captivating as the day they’d met on his flagship, all those long years ago…and when they met again, him fresh off the swoopbike and her fresh out of a fight, the two of them angry and a little in love already.

“…I’ll be here for you. Always.” She murmured, resting one hand on his heart…and with a sigh, she became nothing once again, the warmth of her hand lingering still over his heart, the touch of her lips still on his…and the scent of vilian flowers filling the air. He stared into space for a long, long time…and when he rose again, he buckled on his armor in silence, and with a gesture, opened the doors to allow the other Jedi to come back in. But before he turned…he took out his mask, and stared down at it.

The long lines of red and black, the smoky visor; he’d worn it when he went after the Emperor, after augmenting it with as much tech as he could to keep the monster from infiltrating his mind. But that hadn’t helped him when Meetra was murdered, when Teethree was cut down…and though he hated Scourge for what he’d done, he knew it was on Vitiate’s orders. And he knew too, could sense it, that the Emperor still held power, even now. …I cannot be a Jedi again. Be it my own darkness, or the taint of the Emperor’s mind, there is little of the light left inside me now…and he still lives outside the Force. His power is too much for these young Jedi to handle…But I know it well.

He knew it better than any other, Jedi or Sith, even the Emperor’s Wrath, and he knew too how he could destroy Vitiate. Forever. I suspect I know what they will ask of me…and yet, I have so much more to do. I cannot leave him to continue destroying the galaxy…But I will hear them out. I owe my Bastila, and my descendant, that much.

Revan donned the mask once more, fitting it with ease, and turned, crossing his arms as he planted his feet, his voice deepening as he spoke.

“Grandmaster Shan, I believe you had a task for me…”

[introvertguide]

Star Wars (1977); AFI #13

In honor of May 4th and the original movie that started it all, the group reviewed Star Wars (1977). Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning 6 with one extra special achievement award for Sound, this is perhaps the most highly decorated science fiction movie of all time. The special effects and the music were especially moving making the Star Wars experience something amazing to behold. I was lucky enough to see one of the re-releases in the theatre back in the mid 80s. In fact, I might well have seen the film 100 times over my life. The music might be the most well known soundtrack globally. With inflation, this is the 4th highest grossing film of all time. It is truly a fantastic work and I would like to now spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Let me start with the usual:

SPOILER WARNING!!! I DON'T THINK THERE ARE MANY WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM, BUT FOR THOSE FEW THAT DON'T KNOW, I AM GOING TO RUIN THE PLOT!!! STOP NOW AND GO WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!!

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Amid a galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a massive space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Imperial Senator Princess Leia of Alderaan (Carrie Fisher), secretly one of the Rebellion's leaders, has obtained its schematics (this entire effort was originally a throwaway concept but was completely fleshed out in Rogue One almost 40 years later) , but her starship is intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of the ruthless Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones). The movie is just starting and the odds against the rebels are shown by the scale of the two ships. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid called R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), who flees in an escape pod to the desert planet Tatooine accompanied by protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).

The droids are captured by Jawa traders (little shiny eyed beings who are now meme legends), who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, part of a holographic recording of Leia starts playing a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi where she requests his help ("Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!"). Later, after Luke finds R2-D2 missing, he is attacked by scavenging Sand People while searching for him, but is rescued by elderly hermit "Old Ben" Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), an acquaintance of Luke's, who reveals that "Obi-Wan" is his true name. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as one of the Jedi Knights, the former peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who drew mystical abilities from a metaphysical energy field known as "the Force", but were ultimately hunted to near-extinction by the Empire. Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars (another throwaway concept that was eventually fleshed out) until Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his father's old lightsaber, the signature weapon of Jedi Knights. The connection between Darth Vader and Luke's father is explored in depth during the next eight films.

R2-D2 plays Leia's full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Although Luke initially declines Obi-Wan's offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force, he is left with no choice after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle and destroyed their farm in their search for the droids (cue the Academy and Grammy Award winning theme music composed by John Williams). Traveling to a cantina in Mos Eisley to search for transport, Luke and Obi-Wan hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford), a smuggler with a price on his head due to his debt to local mobster Jabba the Hutt. Pursued by stormtroopers, Obi-Wan, Luke, R2-D2 and C-3PO flee Tatooine with Han and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) on their ship the Millennium Falcon. As they reach the planet's orbit, two Star Destroyers try to intercept them, but Han is able to jump to hyperspace by reaching lightspeed.

Before the Falcon can reach Alderaan, Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) interrogates Leia about the location of the Rebels's secret base, with the threat of destroying her home planet, and, when she answers that the base is on Dantooine, he orders Alderaan destroyed simply as a show of force. As the group arrives in the asteroid field that now stands in place of Alderaan, Han spots an Imperial TIE fighter and is taunted into chasing it and shooting it down, allowing the Falcon to be captured by the space station's tractor beam. Inside the Death Star, Obi-Wan attempts to disable the tractor beam, and Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia after discovering that she is scheduled to be executed. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan sacrifices his life in an epic lightsaber duel with Vader, allowing the rest of the group to escape the Death Star with Leia. Using a tracking device, the Empire tracks the Falcon to the hidden Rebel base.

Leia's schematics reveal a hidden weakness in the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, which could allow the Rebels to trigger a chain reaction in its main reactor with a precise torpedo strike. While Han abandons the Rebels after collecting his reward for rescuing Leia, Luke joins their starfighter squadron in a desperate attack against the approaching Death Star. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses as Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters against them, but Han unexpectedly returns to aid them in the Falcon, narrowly managing to save Luke before Vader can shoot him down. Guided by the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke turns off his targeting computer and uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, destroying the Death Star moments before it fires on the Rebel base. In a triumphant ceremony at the base, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.

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I want to explain the connection between this movie and the Joseph Campbell version of the hero's journey that so many people have pointed out. This journey starts out with a call to adventure that is refused and then forced (Luke is given an opportunity to leave, he declines, the death of his family pushes him forward, he leaves with his team). Campbell then predicts an initiation that involves meeting a woman and gaining weapons, a meeting with an incredible power, and an achievement of the hero's power (goes to star destroyer, meets Vader and loses Obi-Wan, gains power over force). The story ends with a refusal, a magic flight, a rescue from without, and a hero's return (Luke goes to attack the Death Star, Han refuses and then eventually saves him, and the day is saved so the heroes are rewarded). It is a story that is called the Monomyth and has been recognized in Greek myths that are thousands of years old. It is a good story that has been proven to work and it makes for one of the most enjoyable movies of all time.

There was some negative opinions of the film because it is such a simple old story that became extremely popular and film goers would no longer be interested in intelligent thinking movies. It is kind of the truth because blockbuster summer films are full of explosions. The highest grossing films since then have tended to be highly explosive action films. Films like Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones are a lot of fun, but they are not super deep. They are easy to understand at surface level, but they can also be interpreted to mean much more significant things. The choice of the viewer about whether the story has deep inner meaning or is just the Odyssey in space is personal and likely colors opinions about how good it is. Some people think it is stupid fun while others have actually formed religions around the idea of the force.

One thing is for certain, the formula worked amazingly well for a large group of people and this made movie producers want to copy it. This is what is generally called a watershed moment because the look of movies changed significantly. There were so many more space operas and they all had that worn post-apocalyptic look to them. Star Wars and Mad Max combined to give a different look of what futuristic was. There was advanced tech in some cases, but there was a scorched Earth that had run out of resources and people suffered. Think about how many movies and television shows there are that have come out since the 80s and combine industrial tech for space and distressed almost Western appearances for the planets. The movie changed the way many people see the future.

One thing that is inarguably great was the score. I am not going to try and describe it with words, I am just going to put links to the different themes here so you can hear for yourself:

Star Wars Main Theme (Full) - YouTube

Star Wars- The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) - YouTube

Princess Leia's Theme - YouTube

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (1977) Soundtrack 11 Cantina Band - YouTube

This is somewhat strange for the AFI so I went back and checked, but I believe that this is the only film with a ranked villain (Darth Vader), hero (Han Solo), and theme song (Main Theme). Even if it is somewhat simplistic from some perspectives, the story and the songs and the sounds and the characters speak to those who watch it. Seeing the movie is an incredible experience and I envy those who get to see it for the first time.

I am a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and I could completely nerd out going over all of the little things throughout the movie, but this is not a deep dive but instead an overall review. So does it belong on the AFI top 100? Maybe more than any other movie. It is an epic tale that changed the way movies were made across multiple genres. We could probably look at all science fiction films and put them as before or after this one. It is an important piece of American film and (no matter what anyone thinks of the other Star Wars films or George Lucas) it is a masterpiece. Would I recommend it? I cannot say yes enough. It is part of my culture as a California movie nerd and understanding this film is understanding some of the basic knowledge I grew up with. All sticks are swung around like light sabers. If I say "Princess Leia hair," everyone around here knows exactly what I mean. If something is impossible but still needs to be done, we tell people to use the force. I have lived in the Bay Area for 20 years and I can still reference a location by how close it is to Skywalker Ranch were George Lucas worked on movies. Please check out this film and you will know why I am such a fan of movies.

[benperorsolo]

I promise I am not sending this in bad faith but it kind of surprises me that so many intelligent and well-read people in the Reylo fandom did not see Ben’s death coming in a mainstream American piece of media aimed family audiences. Unfortunately, a (redeemed) murderous villain settling down with the heroine was never a realistic expectation to have from such a massive franchise. Especially not on screen. But I can see them bringing him back in a book with a niche readership.

Not meaning to be rude, but it 100% was a reasonable expectation to have. Star Wars is (was) very unique among American franchises. It already eschews many models of American storytelling.

The entire Force in the OT is based on your "feelings", a concept ridiculed by modern unsentimental storytelling and culture. Luke is told to "trust his feelings." Luke wins not because he physically overpowers Vader or Palpatine but because he throws away his weapon because violence will only turn him to darkness, declares that he won't fight Vader because he "is a Jedi, like his father before him", and is saved by Anakin coming to his senses and redeeming himself by protecting Luke after Luke shows true love and compassion for his father. The day is not won by punching a guy, as it usually is in American storytelling. The day is won because a son refused to fight and instead merely reminded his father that he loved him.

Star Wars is explicitly based on mythic storytelling as interpreted and given lens by Joseph Campbell. As in, Lucas was friends with Campbell and literally told Campbell so. Lucas intended, very clearly, to make a story in the fashion of old myth. And in the fashion of old myth, old men may die, but youth must live. Lucas even is quoted as saying, "I believe you are redeemed through your children." Ben, being young, being the child in this scenario and not the father, 110% should have lived under SW's original mythic logic.

I have explained why Ben needed to live here in this pre TROS post and I stand by the logic which TROS abandoned and which therefore breaks the integrity of the story. Anakin did not die as Vader because it was punishment. It was framed as a release for an old man who had suffered for twenty years in a broken body. Obi Wan, Luke, and Han dying also do not die to be punished because they are old men who lived their lives fully and now die with purpose. Ben is none of these things and his death is a cynical exception.

It is pandering to the lowest common denominator to act like SW was always this way. Original Star Wars was created explicitly to counter the cynical American storytelling you are talking about.

"Rather than do some angry, socially relevant film…I realized there was another relevance that is even more important — dreams and fantasies, getting children to believe there is more to life than garbage and killing…Once I got into STAR WARS, it struck me that we had lost all that — a whole generation was growing up without fairy tales. You just don’t get them anymore, and that’s the best stuff in the world — adventures in far-off lands. It’s fun.” (x)

"You can’t, and how do you explain a Wookiee to an audience, and how do you get the tone of the film right, so it’s not a silly child’s film, so it’s not playing down to people, but it is still an entertaining movie and doesn’t have a lot of violence and sex and hip new stuff? So it still has a vision to it, a sort of wholesome, honest vision about the way you want the world to be.” (x)

Anyway. I am trying not to be aggressive but I have answered so many asks on this topic in the past. Those of us who insisted that Ben needed to live did not do so with some blind spot in our literary vision. Star Wars, until TROS, was not a Marvel movie, was not an "American story", was very explicitly textually by its creator built on ancient myth and non-cynicism. Ben dying breaks the integrity of this ancient myth logic and it therefore breaks star wars. SW wasn't about, in George's words, "garbage and killing." That it has now betrayed itself isn't my problem or our fault for believing in the shape of George's vision, not sorry.

[geo-winchester]

YOU’LL BE BACK (2)

A/N: Hi! So here’s the second part of this story, I’m sorry it took me a lot of time to write it, but here it is, I hope you like it! I had a lot plan of this story so I hope it would be series just like the other I have (the one I promise I’ll post another chapter soon!), any way I also hope that you stay safe from the COVID-19!

Part 1

Tag list: @heda-mikaelson

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Finn was the first one to wake up from the crash, he look around him as he try to find the others, it didn’t take him a long time to find one of his friends, he run to the Yn, she was lie back with her mask still on, his first instinct was to take the mask off and start shake her, when she finally open her eyes he stop and help her to get up.

-Are you ok? Where’s Dameron?- she ask.

-I don’t know, I can’t found him.

Suddenly the hear an explosion, they found the ship where they were traveling on fire, Yn try to go closer to found Poe but Finn pull her over.

-Let me go, he could still be out there...

-You can’t go in there, it’s probably too late, we need to get out of here- he said and after a few seconds she stop fighting and she nod.

-We should throw the masks to the fire, if we’re lucky they will found them and think that we die on the fire- He nod and do what she said, Finn found Poe’s jacket and give it to her.

-I think he would like you to keep it...

-Why would you think that?

-Come on, you two were flirting with each other.

-What? Are you nuts? We hate each other...

-Yeah right, that’s why you almost walk to the fire for him- she scoff.

-I’ll do the same for you too.

-Yeah, right...- he said as he handed the jacket, she take it and put her on.

-Come on, we need to found that droid and a way to get out of this place.

They walk for a while through the desert, every now and then they look around them to try to find a town or someone who can help them but they didn’t found them. After a few hours Yn start to feel how the sun burn her face, she use the jacket as an attempt to protect her of the sun, she look at Finn who looks just as thirsty as her, she offer him a space in the jacket. As they keep walking they start to talk about their lives, she felt sorry for him after he told her how he join to the first order.

-I’m sorry- she said.

-Why? It wasn’t your fault...

-But still, I wasn’t the best person with any of you- she said.

-But you weren’t the worst- he said -at least you were the cutest... no wait, I’m lying, the cutest was Hux- Both of them laugh.

-I know what you mean, those eyes are dreamy- she said with sarcasm.

After a few more hours they finally see a little junkyard, both of them look at each other before they run as fast as they could and they start to search for water, Yn got lucky and some of the old women’s of the junkyard give her a bottle with water, but No one help Finn so when Yn found him, he was drinking water from the pit, she was about to make fun of him but they hear the scream of a girl, Finn try to help her but he stop when he saw that she was capable to fight them. They saw how the girl kneel in front of the bag a droid, Yn recognize it, but before she could said a thing Finn took her hand and start to run through the tents, but in a blink of an eye the girl was in front of them and she hit them with a stick making them fall to the grown, BB-8 roll to them an give Yn and electric shock as he start to beep.

-What the hell?- Yn said.

-what’s your deal thieves?

-Thieves?- Finn ask.

-The jacket... the droid said you stole it- the girl said, Finn try to explain themselves but the girl speak again -Where did you get it? It belong to his master- Finn and Yn look at each other.

-Poe?- Yn ask.

-Poe Dameron, that was his name right?- Finn asked to the droid -He was capture by the first order, we help him to scape...

-I’m sorry buddy- Yn said to BB-8 -We try to save him- when BB-8 understand what happened, he slowly rolled outside of the tent.

-so are you with the resistance?

-Obviously, yes I’m with the resistance- Finn said, Yn shook her head.

-I‘ve never meet someone of the resistance before- she said and she turn to the droid -BB-8 said he’s on a secret mission, he has to get back to you base-

-Apparently he has the map that lead to Luke Skywalker- Yn punch him in the arm before the girl turn to them.

-Luke Skywalker?- she whisper -I thought he was a myth...

BB-8 came to the tent beeping fast about something outside, when they saw what was going on they realize that a couple of stormtroopers were looking for them, some guys point at them and the stormtroopers start to run to them, Yn was preparing to fight them but Finn took her and the girl’s hand and they start to run, the girl lead them to one of the tents, and Finn and Yn start to search the place for something they could use to fight back.

-They shoot to all of us- the girls say a little freak out.

-Yeah, they saw you with us, your marked.

-Well thanks for that- she said, Yn keep an eye on the outside and she had an idea.

-Hey, it’s there any ship we can use to scape?- she asked to the girl after a few moments she nod -great, go there, I’ll buy you time...

-What? no!- Finn start to protest.

-I’ll find you, just wait for me- she said and turn to the girl -Can I borrow that?- she point as the stick she had, Rey give it her without hesitate -thanks, see you in a beat.

Yn run through the tents as she look for the stormtroopers, she saw them not so far from where they were hiding, she slow down and hide in front of a pile of spare parts , when she hear them getting close to her she attack them, they try to shoot her but she hit them with spear, she thank snoke for all the training hours, when she knock them out she hear the Ties flying above her, she look for the others and saw them running to a ship she go after them and she stop when she saw part of the millennial falcon.

-Yn! Come on!- Finn scream to her, one of the ties shot landed close to her, when she get to the ship she sit on the copilot chair.

-you know how to fly?- Yn ask to the girl, she give her a quick nod -Ok let’s go, I turn on the shields.

They flew through the planet trying to lose them, Finn start to shoot at them but they were faster and they were giving him a hard time, the girl took them to an old ship from the empire and she tried to make one of the ties crash with the ship but it didn’t work, the Tie was still follow them, Finn took the opportunity to take one of it and he shot at it making it crash in the sand, the three of them celebrate but it didn’t long when they saw the other Tie start to follow their tracks as he shoot at them, one of the shots give it to the canyon of the ship.

-The canyon is stuck in front position, I can’t move it- Finn said- you got to lose it.

-Get ready!- The girl said as she fly to the inside of the battlecruse.

-Are we really going to do this?- Yn asked, she nod in response -Ok, Finn be prepared, if you got a chance to shoot that tie, take it!

-Don’t worry I’m going to give him that chance.

She keep going and suddenly she make a turn getting out of the cruise, she fly up and turn off the engines giving Finn the chance he need, he wait until the Tie was in his radar and shoot. When they thought they were safe, they put the automatic pilot and made their way to the crew compartment to meet Finn.

-That was amazing!- Yn said.

-Did you see me shoot at those Ties?- Finn ask.

-Yes, your getting pretty good at this- Yn said -And nice flying by the way!

-How did you do that?- Finn ask to the girl.

-I don’t know- she answer.

-You never fly before?- Yn ask.

-I flew some ships but never leave the planet before- she said -That last shoot was amazing!- BB-8 beep making them to look at him -You’re ok, they’re from the resistance- BB-8 look at the others -We’re going to get you home- she turn to the them -I don’t know your names.

-Finn- he said.

-Yn R...- she stop before she say her last name -what’s yours?

-I’m Rey.

-Rey...

Finn start to said but something on the ship blow and they could see the gas coming from the grown, Rey go to the hide compartment and try to fix it, she was giving instruction to Finn as they keep working, Yn took the BB-8 a little far from them and she try to convince him to tell them the location of the resistance base, but the droid was hard to break, he told her that she look familiar.

-Ok, buddy I’ll tell you the truth, but only if you promise me to tell me the location after I finish- the droid accept -Yeah you right, You meet me before, My name is Yn Ren- she whisper, the droid start to panic -Shhh -She try to make him be quiet, but the droid keep beeping -Come on that was months ago...

-You said it was weeks ago- Finn said whispering.

-Ok Two weeks, but I didn’t kill him, I try to save him...

-Yes that was right, she was going to walk through the fire to save him- Finn said with a grin, the droid told him that Poe once told him that he thought she was pretty.

-I told you he was flirting- Finn said.

-Yeah right, that’s why he want to leave me behind...

-Do you know where the base is?- Rey interrupted them.

-Yes, come on BB-8, tell her- Finn said, but the droid keep watching them, until he finally beeps.

-The illenium system?

-Yes the illenium system, get us there as fast as you can- Finn said.

-I’ll drop you in the Panima terminal, I need the bond tape, hurry- Yn took the tape and give it to her.

-What about you- Finn ask.

-I got back to Jakku.

-Back to... why is everyone want to go back to Jakku?- he said but suddenly the lights from the ship went off, they look at each other.

-I can finish this, take us out of here- Yn said to Rey.

They went to the cockpit as she keep working on the leak but they didn’t went for a long of time, after they explain her what was going on they gave her a mask. After a few seconds of tension they hear a couple of footsteps, in that moment Yn feel him, a man that she didn’t see for a long time. Rey was about to unsolved the leak but Yn stop her, in that moment a Wookiee and an old man found them. Han look at the three of them but she stop on Yn, Chewbacca Roar, making Rey and Finn to step back.

-Hi chewie...

-You Can understand that thing?- Finn asked her

-And that thing Can understand you, so watch it- Han step back so they could get out of the hole -What are you doing here?- Han ask his daughter and he start to walk around the room.

-You know him?- Finn ask him.

-Yeah... he’s my father- she told him.

-Where did you get this ship?

-Niima Outpost...

-From Jakku? That junkyard?

After Rey told Han who had the ship, he walk to the cockpit follow by Rey but instead of follow them, Yn sit on the dejarik board, Chewbacca sit next to her and roar.

-I been fine, Chewie, I miss to play with you too, I think I’ve been the only one who can beat you- she said with a smile, Han come back to the room and look at her daughter, but he didn’t look at her in the eyes, chewie roar again.

-That’s right you didn’t answer my question...

-I would if you weren’t more curious about the ship.

-I’m hearing you now- he said, she take her time to answer him.

-I... can’t do it anymore... I didn’t want to follow him...

-Your going home?- he ask and she scoff.

-I think I just going to take that droid to the resistance and disappear.

-Wait who’s jacket is that?- BB-8 answer him before she could -Who’s Poe? Am I suppose to know who the hell is him?

-He’s just a pilot from the resistance, this is his droid, he died when we scape-She said.

-Well at least it wasn’t my fault, anyone who try to get close to my little girl, he had to pass through me- she roll her eyes.

-I’m not a little girl any more...

-I don’t care... I’m just glad that you’re back, kid... you’re back right?

-Yeah, I think so.

-Good, I miss you.

-I miss you too... dad- she said with a weak smile.

[sheshallfromtimetotime]

The specific language of the original Star Wars is successful for the same reason that its visual universe is coherent: a mix of the familiar and the new. Whereas 2001, Star Trek, and Space: 1999 showed only gleaming white, clean spaceships, Star Wars showed us something that seemed both strikingly original and intuitively right: old and beat-up spaceships and robots along with junk and clutter familiar to anyone who has a garage.

The arc of the story resonated easily with audiences because George Lucas mixed the old and the new in perfect proportions. From his sources of movie inspiration (like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and westerns) to his love of midcentury car culture (celebrated in his earlier film American Graffiti) to his use of archetypal myth and comparative religion, the plot was familiar enough that the imaginative new specifics were details, not distractions.

The same is true for the famous John Williams score. Whereas Star Trek went for the otherworldly with its theremin-like female vocal, the music from Star Wars, like the film itself, was a compelling blend of pastiche and fresh ideas, wrapped in big symphonic orchestrations that borrowed heavily from Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, and Holst. And the costumes, too: no sleek bodysuits in this space movie. Instead, Obi-Wan wore a monk’s robe and the Imperials wore barely disguised World War II German uniforms, up to and including Darth Vader’s helmet.

And so with language: stormtrooper taps into terrifying chapters of 20th-century history from its use in World War I for Germany's shock troops and later for Nazi paramilitaries. Bounty hunter comes straight from the westerns that inspired Lucas, if not the Wild West itself, since the term used in this way only dates back to the early 1950s.

Death Star, lightsaber, landspeeder, sand people, star destroyer, moisture farm, power converters, bowcaster, tractor beam, the dark side, and Millennium Falcon are made up of familiar parts. Existing terms like light speed, blaster, knight, Rebellion, and Imperial were used for important story elements. Luke uses meter as a unit of measure. And droid shows brilliant faux linguistic aging of the shortening of a familiar word (android), which sometimes happens when they become quotidian and familiar; think of bus from omnibus.

These terms don’t distract us like the made-up phaser or warp speed or tribble (in Star Trek) or centon (a unit of time in Battlestar Galactica). Of course places and creatures require imaginative new names in science fiction, but while Klingon and Vulcan were central to the Star Trek narrative, similar invented names like Corellian, bantha, or womp rat are words of secondary importance in the Star Wars universe. Even in this category Lucas took much inspiration from reality: Wookiee came from the name of a real person and Tatooine was named for a Tunisian town, Tataouine.

Lucas named the most powerful element in his film with a perfectly ordinary word: the Force. The use of the Force as a pseudo-religion is further underscored by the somber salutation "May the Force be with you," an echo of the kiss of peace in the Catholic Mass (“peace be with you”), with its vaguely archaic and ceremonial subjunctive.

This very grounded use of language plays a big role in giving Star Wars a ring of truth. Even if parsec is really a measure of distance, not time.

[letitrainathousandflames-archive]

Hc: B.D doesn’t actually exist, he is just a myth concocted by the clones to fuck with their respective Jedi, the only one who knows outside of the clones is Asoka and she relishes it.

Cody, drunk as fuck: hey Rex, you know what would be hilarious?

Rex, equally drunk as fuck: what

Cody: so. What if there was a vod whose ceetee number was 6969?

Rex, snorting: nice. Oh, oh. And his name would be... uh... wait wait lemme think... “Bigdick”

Cody, cackling: ... B.D. for short! Stars, this is the best thing we came up with, I wish I could tell Kenobi.

-silence-

Rex: what if you did?

Cody: wha...?

Rex: no, like. What if you told him one of your boys chose bigdick as his name? It’s not too out there, one of mine is still trying to get everyone to call him Hotstuff.

Cody: *snorting* wait wait. Oh my. We could actually build a whole story around him. Like. He’s huge. Like, heavy gunner genes, but bigger.

Rex, downing his beer: yep. Also he’s all big, get it? His codpiece is custom made to fit.

Cody: *almost falling off his chair laughing* some people are dying to sleep with him, and others are frankly a little scared.

Rex: *crying with laughter* ok but how to spread this story? We need someone with a no-nonsense reputation to back us up.

Wolffe, banging his empty shot cup on the table, completely stone-faced: Sergeant B.D. of the 212th served with my men during a rescue mission in Endor. Brave trooper. Almost as tall as a Wookiee.

Rex and Cody, high fiving: Wolffe we love you so much.

(Also yeah ahsoka definitely Knows and she laughs her ass off at anakin believing in every single detail lol)

(Also please welcome Hotstuff, I guess he’s a new oc now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

[crispyjenkins]

hi! i am just very confused about one of ur posts with the mandalorians and cultural genocide and was wondering if maybe you can explain more? i thought mandalorian culture was about like family and arts with the colors and stuff? is it really just about war? i know a lot of people headcanon that the clones are mandalorian but now i feel uncomfy about putting a warrior culture on characters played by a maori actor, whose people still struggle with martial race stereotypes today :(

hello!! i am absolutely not an authority on this topic, so i’ve compiled a bunch of posts that explain it better than me, but short answer is: mandalorian culture is not all about war. there is a ton of intention put into mandalorians (specifcially not death watch, who literally fought in the civil war because the true mandalorians were like “maybe stop pillaging and killing people for no reason” and they didn’t want to stop; or the new mandalorians who threw out every god and myth important to the true mandalorians, as well as its language, cultural importance/sacredness of armor, religious customs, etc, because Satine interpreted true mandalorian culture as nothing but war, but that is extremely extremely not the point of the resol’nare or the codex) and how they draw on Māori culture and customs, because temuera morrison played jango fett in the prequels.

your concern is so so valid and absolutely something to keep in mind when interpreting “canon” and “legends canon”, but satine’s take on true mandalorians is inherently false.

links under the cut with a lil explanation for each! (edit: this is long as fuck, i’m so sorry 🥲)

we’ll start with this one which is from star wars insider issue 86, because it covers a lot of the basics of how eu and legends wrote mandalorians. HOWEVER, also keep in mind this groundwork was all laid by karen traviss who is a racist, sexist, classist, homophobic dirtbag, like i don’t even know where to begin with her, but her early work for jango fett in the republic commando novels is still important to understanding mandalorian culture in current continuities. (i also believe this issue was from before clone wars began airing)

this one goes more in depth than the post i recently reblogged which i think you’re referring to, about the imperialism of the new mandalorians and their cultural genocide of true mandalorians more or less based on satine kryze’s experience with death watch, a splinter cult off of the true mandalorians (i’m using cult intentionally here, btw) who literally just didn’t want their murdering and stealing to be regulated.

this post is about mental illness in true mandalorian society, which is intrinsically tied to the root of true mandalorian and early mandalorian religion and daily culture, and the concept of fighting stagnation and destruction/war against the things that are choking you and stopping self growth, it’s not about conquering people or planets, it’s about bettering oneself constantly, based on the mandalorian creation myth ( @izzyovercoffee goes more in depth with this in the post). death watch, and many fans, interpret this ideology as the right to violence and the destruction for destruction’s sake, which isn’t what it’s about at all.

alright this one is directly related to the concepts of the last one, and surmises a lot of the points, and is maybe the easiest post in my list for a quick understanding of mandalorian philosophy?

here’s a shorter post that gives a little more insight/reiterates new vs true mandalorian ideology, because lord knows my autism brain likes more than one way of explaining something.

this one is an interpretation of canon and new mandalorian imperialism, which is technically headcanon, but boy howdy does canon not disagree with it, and forms the basis of my own interpretation of mandalorians as a whole

here’s a cool post going into the language mando’a and how it cannot be separated from culture, which i think is incredibly important to keep in mind when looking at new mandalorians and how they don’t use mando’a.

more explanation and interpretation of new manadlorians and their portrayal in the clone wars, and why it’s important against all the canon content we got before clone wars aired

this one is from before boba’s return to “canon” material in season two of the mandalorian where he and jango were reconfirmed as mandalorians, but is still super, super, super important in relation to mandalorian diaspora, and the way writers cannot separate mandalorians from their roots in māori culture, when it was created because temuera morrison played jango fett and his clones. also goes into how important “family without blood” is as the basis of mandalorian family and cultural structure, which explains a lot about the show the mandalorian!

this one’s just a cool take on the parallels between mandalorians and jedi, who are also rather disgustingly misinterpreted by fans (interestingly as the opposite, as complacent and too bureaucratic vs the violent and imperialist take most have on mandalorians).

here’s a post going into how din djarin’s tribe/sect in the mandalorian tv isn’t a cult, and how that relates to bo-katan kryze, her position with death watch, and her connection to the new mandalorians because of it.

okie the next few are about how māori customs, things of cultural significance, etc are intentional in the portrayal of (true) mandalorians

this one is about the keldabe kiss or the kov’nyn, forehead-kiss, headbutt 

this one is a video of boba fighting set to te reo māori thrash metal, and a short explanation of the importance of the battle its about, which i think is important in remembering that while the māori people today do suffer from awful marital stereotyping, you cannot divorce them from their own form of warrior culture without erasing that history or importance; there isn’t anything inherently wrong in warrior cultures, just how white people interpreted and appropriated it.

THIS ONE I LOVE and is mr morrison himself bringing the traditional māori dance the haka into boba’s fighting style in the mandalorian tv, as well as the use of māori-style weapons 

which also relates to this post by @catboydindjarin

and sums up my feelings on associating mandalorians and the māori people, how important jango and boba fett have been to people like temuera morrison and daniel logan (who played lil boba in atoc) and bodie taylor (who played the mid-20s clones). as a white person, it’s incredibly important for me to remember the stereotyping and violence still being done to indigenous and first nations people, and to be aware of and respectful of how i use and take pieces of the those cultures in anything, but especially fictional aliens. but to pretend forms of battle, pretend weapons and songs and philosophies that do involve violence were not and are not still culturally important to those peoples is erasure, and is what satine kryze chose to do when faced with a completely different people’s violence.  to separate (true) mandalorians from the māori people is to erase them from the narrative completely.

so!! on a lighter note, here’s a post with bodie taylor and captain typho’s actor��jay laga’aia performing haka with mr morrison during an aotc press event

here’s an excerpt from one of the repcom novels about jango being a Dad and how important children are to the true mandalorians 

it won’t let me upload gifs at the moment so here’s a post of several delightful gifs of mr morrison on set for aotc with a rainbow umbrella

here’s one that touches on the importance of armor color as you mentioned in your ask

this wonderfully funny textpost from @letitrainathousandflames that illustrates more of the mandalorian parental instinct (which is shown time and again in extended/legends canon to be more important than “war” or battle)

here’s some highlights from the eu about boba reconnecting with his mandalorian heritage after jango’s death

this one is a short post by @jester-mereel about what jango chooses to be jaster’s legacy, which is vital because jaster mereel the one who created the super commando codex and the true mandalorians, is the one who looked at how people like tor vizsla were using their heritage and thought “we can do and be better than this”

here’s the wookieepedia article on jaster mereel (all wookieepedia stuff should be taken with a grain of salt, of course, especially in regards to the jedi order but that’s another matter)

here’s the wookieepedia article on the supercommandos, which is what earlier material referred to the true mandalorians as, basically the commandos that followed jaster and the supercommando codex

here’s the one on the codex if you want to jump to that specifically

this is an actual copy of the basics of the codex as well as the resol’nare or six tenants, which existed far before jaster, but what jaster used as the ethical basis of the codex (the site is written from the point of view of a supercommando, just a heads up if that’s confusing)

here’s the wookiee article on death watch, i trust you to keep an open mind and don’t take anything said by the vizslas or bo-katan at face value, because, again, they splintered from the supercommandos because they wanted to keep stealing and killing people just because, and used the “savage warrior past” of mandalorians to excuse it

here’s the mando’a dictionary that’s most accessible, also remembering that translations are interpretations (specifically the discourse about “k’atini” comes to mind) and is constantly being revised

and then some of my favorite excerpts from it, in relation to what mandalorians actually find important:

“Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad” | adoption vow - lit. “I know your name as my child.” (meaning adoption is no less important than blood heritage, and in some interpretations is actually more important)

mandokar | the *right stuff*, the epitome of Mando virtue - a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life (and aggression does not always mean violence)

“Gar taldin ni jaonyc; gar sa buir, ori'wadaas'la.” | “Nobody cares who your father was, only the father you'll be.” (Lit: Bloodline is not important, but you as a father are the most valuable thing.) Mando saying emphasising the importance of a father's role, and that a man is judged more by that than his lineage. (this dictionary chooses to gender things unnecessarily, when words like “buir” are gender neutral, but you get the gist: parenthood is very important to mandalorians, which is of course the entire basis for the mandalorian tv plot) 

demagolka | someone who commits atrocties, a real-life monster, a war criminal - from the notorious Mandalorian scientist of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, and a figure of hate and dread in the Mando psyche (again, children being more important than violence)

bajur | education, the raising and nurturing of children - a wider meaning than just school work, includes preparation for life and survival Aliit ori'shya tal'din | Family is more than blood.

shereshoy | lust for life and much more - uniquely Mandalorian word, meaning the enjoyment of each day and the determination to seek and grab every possible experience, as well as surviving to see the next day - hanging onto life and relishing it. An understandable state of mind/ emotion for a warrior people. Closely related to the words for live, hunt and stay safe - and, of course *oya*. All from the same root.

and since you mentioned color, this post is so feckin cool as it talks about white =/= purity, and goes into quite a bit about the “destruction” in mandalorian culture being about the rebirth, not the violence

and then here’s a few links to content in the mandalorian tv

“the poc experience of keeping ur mouth shut bc ur too tired to argue w/ a white person“ about boba downplaying his mandalorian-ness to bo-katan, a known violent xenophobe 

more on din’s sect the children of the watch not being a cult vs death watch

some cool thoughts on the differences in how boba and bo-katan interacted with din during season 2 which i think is important in terms of illustrating the differences between death watch and true mandalorians, again

a cool dialogue on din and removing his helmet in season 2 and his religious/cultural views in relation to being mandalorian

i spent like three hours on this and i definitely only meant to give you like. five links. but uhhh i hope this helps!! feel free to shoot me further questions, but just keeping in mind i am not māori and cannot speak to the māori experience in fandom or in regards to jango fett and the clones.

i hope you’re safe and well!! 🌻

[otterandterrierwrites]

{Hungry hearts} X. Sahbiye

A/N: Happy May the Fourth and Scoundress Saturday, and welcome new followers! Like I mentioned in the snippet I posted last week, this story it’s set right before the start of the Annual #3 comic. I’m not crazy about how it turned out, but I’ve been wanting to use this dish from “Honour among thieves” almost since the beginning for reasons, and sadly, it also turned into a bit of an homage to Peter Mayhew and our beloved Chewie. We’re getting closer to ESB so things are turning undefinably weird between Han and Leia!

‘So this,’ Leia said, opening her arms to encompass the desolate landscape before them, ‘is your brilliant secret lair?’

‘It’s not “my lair”?’ Han grunted, coming down from the Millennium Falcon’s ramp behind her. ‘Welcome to Odona, Princess.’

Leia threw him a wary look before stepping down into the dusty land and examining their surroundings. Here and there, crumbling stone structures rose from the ground, looking even older than the Massassi temples on Yavin IV. Massive pillars and half-standing statues guarded the dark mouths of the caves Han had pointed out as one of the key features that made Odona the ideal planet for a new military base.

It hadn't been easy to relocate after Yavin. Dantooine had been the Alliance’s first headquarters, and they had lasted a whole two years there. On Yavin IV, it had been a year and a couple of months. Afterwards, they had split and moved between their other, smaller bases, but this arrangement kept their forces too scattered across the galaxy to launch any major attacks. Leia had hoped that destroying the Death Star had been an opening, a victory important enough to let them strike at a weakened Empire until it fell---but while they’d had a few more wins, they seemed to never make much of a dent. She hoped that would change if they could find a base large and isolated enough to safely concentrate a large number of troops.

Han had mentioned that one of Odona’s polar continents was an abandoned rock with a maze of caves favored by pirates and smugglers to escape Imperial detection, and that it was big enough to establish a new base. The only problem, he’d said, was its extreme weather.

Leia and the rest of High Command had decided it was worth checking out, and that it would be more practical if it was just a small team going in and out quietly. If it was risky, it would be easier to get out. The idea had been to have a commander accompany Han and Chewbacca to Odona. Han had insisted he wouldn’t take any other rebels on his ship but Luke or Leia---and Luke had been away on a different recon mission. When she walked into the Falcon, Leia passed Chewie on his way out. For some reason, the Wookiee was not going with them.

‘The weather is nice,’ Leia commented. The pale blue sky was mostly clear but for wispy clouds, and the morning breeze was pleasant. Nothing seemed to hint at a treacherous climate.

‘Yeah, for now,’ Han warned. ‘You got layers?’

Leia assented; he had insisted on the vitality of wearing layered clothes and carrying warm coats besides.

‘Let's go,’ Han said, and closed down the Falcon before they set out towards the nearest cave, rucksacks on their backs.

They did the trek in silence. Things had been strained lately, more so than usual. Generally, she and Han had a disagreement that became a loud blowout, they spent a few days avoiding each other, then she’d go and ask him to run a mission or he’d invite her and Luke to his ship after dinner and things would go back to normal. For some time, they hadn’t even fought, only bickered, which often turned into friendly banter. Han made her laugh---genuinely laugh---and, surprisingly, he could keep his mouth shut when she just wanted to share a drink with someone and not talk about anything---although they often ended up talking anyway. He was also one of the best partners she’d ever had in the field.

Something had shifted recently, though, and she couldn’t put her finger on what or when it had happened. It was closer to the way they were in the beginning, except back then, she hadn’t cared much whether he stayed or left for good. Now, there was a tension between them while they fought, as if there was something fragile on the line, ready to come crashing down at the slightest wrong maneuver.

The last time they fought, Leia was so angry afterwards. They had been cooking together, talking---she was sure he’d even shared something very private with her---and suddenly he was getting up in her space, acting like he was trying to pick someone up in a bar. When she had pulled back from whatever the hell he had in mind, he’d walked away from her and left her with half a dozen star fritters to finish and a kitchen to clean.

‘Are you sure these structures won’t fall down over our heads the minute we step in?’ she asked as they stood on the threshold of the cave, dark and jagged like the maw of a waiting beast.

‘If they ain’t fallen down in a snow storm, they won’t fall down now,’ Han said, surveying the antechamber-like space that narrowed down into a tunnel. He took his blaster from its holder and turned on his flashlight, then motioned for her to follow. ‘C’mon, get yours.’

Alarmed, Leia drew her blaster and asked, ‘Already?’

‘Just in case we need to clear this out.’

‘I was under the impression there were no living beings in this continent.’

‘Well, you know what happens when you assume things,’ Han said in a tone too flippant to be genuine. Without waiting for her, he crossed the chamber and stepped into the tunnel.

Leia hurried to follow, annoyed.

‘So just to be clear, what kind of beings can we expect to run into?’

‘Hopefully none.’

‘Will you cut out the crap?’ she snapped with an angry huff, tugging at the collar of her shirt. It was no wonder she’d started to feel hot: besides the flush her irritation at Han induced, she was wearing a jacket, a long-sleeved shirt and a tank top underneath.

Han stopped and turned to give her a tired look.

‘Look, Princess, we can stand here fightin’ about what hypothetical creatures might live here or we can get on with the recon and worry about them when we have to. If we have to,’ he added.

‘You should know by now that the way we operate is, we lay down all the intel we have on a planet before we get there,’ Leia retorted, glaring at him.

‘I don't have any intel!’ Han raised his arms in exasperation. ‘It's just stupid rumours!’

He glared back, his jaw tight, and then he breathed out forcefully.

‘It’s been years since anyone’s seen them---no one I talked to was sure they even exist. If you gotta know, some folks talk about big blobs covered in eyes and teeth lurkin’ in these caves. Never met ‘em myself. See why I didn't think to mention ‘em? They're probably a myth, no more’n that.’

It was hard to decide whether she was relieved by Han’s assessment that the creatures were likely to be a fantasy, or worried by their description in case they were real, but at least he was being honest.

‘Let’s move,’ she said, with a nod, and began to walk.

The deeper they went into the cave, the hotter it felt. If Leia didn’t know better, she would have believed they were walking straight into the planet’s core.

‘Are there… thermal pools nearby or something?’ she asked, taking off her jacket. Han did the same.

‘No, this ball’s just starting to heat up.’

Less than twenty minutes later, the cave felt like a furnace.

‘Kriff,’ Han said, wiping off his sweaty brow with the back of his wrist. He stopped and took off his vest, then pulled his shirt over his head and stuffed both of them inside his rucksack. ‘You’ll wanna lose some layers.’

Silently, Leia thanked the heat for justifying her blush. After stripping off, Han was left wearing a plain white vest that clung to his skin in all the right places. She’d seen him wearing less, but that didn’t mean she underrated the image in front of her. And just like she was watching him, wouldn’t he watch her if she took off her shirt? Leia wasn’t vain, but she wasn’t oblivious to her features, either.

‘I’m fine,’ she said, and kept moving forward, pointing her flashlight at crevices she feigned interest in.

It was far from fine. Her clothes stuck to her armpits, her back and belly, and she felt as if even her hair was starting to sweat. They were rationing their water: she couldn’t afford to dehydrate just for the sake of her… modesty or whatever ridiculous nonsense was keeping her fully clothed.

Slowing down discreetly to fall behind Han, she dumped her rucksack to the ground and stripped off her shirt, tying it around her waist. It was inevitable that Han turned to check on her when he noticed she was lagging behind, but Leia looked straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge his expression.

The cave seemed all right... at first. Her instruments didn't register radiation or poisoning elements. If Han was right about them being frequently beaten up by storms, then he also had to be right in thinking they were solid enough to not crumble down on them. It seemed that the weather (or perhaps something else) did take its toll on them, however: here are there they began to find sections where the roof had caved in and huge rocks blocked the passages, forcing them to take a different route.

Leia was growing concerned. The cave was more labyrinthine than either of them had prepared for. Han kept insisting that he would not get them lost, and she wanted to believe him, but they’d had to stray off the main tunnel and had taken so many twists and turns, she couldn’t be sure she’d know which way they had come. She’d taken out her handheld navcomp, but it was having trouble reading the complex terrain. On top of it, the heat was almost suffocating. It was getting on both their nerves.

‘It gotta be that way,’ Han said.

‘Why? Because that rock seems more promising than this one?’ Leia snapped as they stood at a crossroads.

‘Because we don’t know which one to take so we might as well go that way and see!’

‘So if I say let’s take this tunnel instead, you’ll follow?’ she asked, raising her eyebrows.

‘No, ‘cos you’re just bein’ difficult.’

‘Oh, really? I’m being difficult just for suggesting a different route than the one you pulled out of your ass? How manly of you.’

‘I'm just sayin’ that's not what you want!’ he said, refuting her accusation with a raised finger.

‘What do you know about what I really want, Han?’ she spat out. She knew she was blowing things out of proportion, but she was tired of the encompassing darkness of the cave, of its confusing bowels, of the perspiration that covered her head to toes, and she was tired of letting Han lead this dance around each other.

‘Guess I don’t have a kriffin’ clue!’ Han groaned in frustration and turned around. The tired sigh that followed seemed to discharge him of his anger, and when he spoke, it was in a measured tone. ‘Alright, why don’t we stop for a bit? Let’s take a breather and have a bite, and then we’ll discuss which way to go.’

She resented that his alternative to taking her route was basically to let her cool off so that they could go the way he wanted. She wanted to keep yelling at him even if she wasn't very clear on what exactly to yell at him about. The diplomat in her reasoned that she couldn't know that was his plan, and that he was proposing a truce, so she should meet him halfway.

Taking a deep breath, she slid her rucksack off her shoulders and sat down without a word.

‘You said you’d pack lunch for both of us,’ she said dryly. ‘I hope you remembered, or else---Force help you.’

Han snorted. ‘Some faith you have in me, Your Worshipfulness.’

He sat down on the ground next to her, their bare arms brushing. Leia bit down on her lower lip to keep a shiver at bay while Han took out a portable cooler out of his bag, and retrieved a smaller container.

‘Sahbiye,’ he told her, pointing at a mix of soft green leaves and meat bathed in a golden sauce. ‘Chewie made it. Haven’t been cookin’ much myself ‘cos the thermpad’s been actin’ up more’n usual and it drives me crazy, but he said he’d make this for us---uh, well, actually for you.’

‘For me?’

‘You hadn’t tried his sahbiye yet, he said. He doesn’t make it very often. He must like you, Princess.’

‘That’s very kind of him,’ Leia said, taking the fork he offered her. She speared a piece of meat and scooped up some greens, and took a bite. The flavours were rich and comforting, making her tension ease up a little.

‘That’s Chewie. Can’t shake ‘im off once he’s decided to look after you,’ Han told her. ‘Even though you weren’t very kind to him, in the beginning,’ he added.

Leia frowned in confusion. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘You called him a walking carpet. When we were tryin’ to get outta the Death Star.’ Han looked at her. ‘You don’t remember?’

She shook her head, then raised an eyebrow at him. ‘I was a bit too preoccupied with other things at the time as to remember everything I said to anyone.’ Leia looked away for a moment. ‘It wasn’t anything personal. I didn’t expect to get out of there alive, and when the possibility seemed real, I wanted to get back to the Rebellion at any cost, because maybe---maybe I could help them when I---’

When I couldn’t help Alderaan, she thought, but she couldn’t say it out loud. She looked at him again. ‘So I’m sorry if I was a bit---’

‘Pain in the ass?’ Han asked through a mouthful of sahbiye.

She made a face that meant “don’t push it”, but nodded. They’d never talked about it, about what had happened in the Death Star (except for Ben Kenobi’s mysterious, sudden death) and about those less than ideal first impressions. The day had seemed a blur to her afterwards, an overwhelming, deafening whirlwind of experiences, most of which she wanted to forget.

‘Even if I don’t remember what I said, I am sorry to have treated him badly. There’s no excuse,’ she said.

Han shook his head. ‘Not me you have to apologise to. Chewie’s probably forgotten, anyway.’

‘Maybe, but I hope he knows how much I appreciate him. He’s a good fighter… and a better friend.’

‘And a great cook,’ Han added.

‘I wholeheartedly agree.’

A chilly breeze swept through the cave, and she put her fork down to rub her arms. ‘Is it cooling down or am I imagining it?’

‘Weather's turnin’ fast. That's how it is around here.’ Han put on his shirt again and set his jacket and parka out next to him in preparation.

Leia looked at him in disbelief, but she too re-dressed herself as the gust of cool wind on her damp skin had given her goosebumps.

‘We should get outta here in case there’s a snowstorm,’ Han suggested, standing up and packing their things.

The crossroads still lay before them, two different paths to choose from, each with their own undiscovered possibilities.

‘So, which way?’ Leia asked, turning to look up at Han.

‘Back the way we came,’ Han said gruffly. ‘Can’t be worse than anything else.’

[thisdayinfavrd]

January 27, 2009

When the only tool you have is a chainsaw, every problem looks like a busty co-ed.   @sween (Jason Sweeney) – 73

"Um, waiter? You've spilled bacon in my coffee." "So?" "So, HERE'S A HUGE TIP, YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD."   @Tony_D (Tony Delgrosso) – 51

I'm why I can't have nice things.   @bcompton (Doom Nibbler) – 49

Got on the elevator, woman in it had pushed 4. I pushed 3. On 3 she gets out, I ride up to 4. In the stairwell we're like WTF just happened?   @Moltz (Moltz) – 48

The bad news is we had to let go of about 8,000 clone troopers today. The good news is it really only counts as 1.   @darthvader (Darth Vader) – 45

The first 3D adult film will provide the illusion that you aren't living with your parents and masturbating while wearing goofy glasses.   @thedayhascome (Josh Hopkins) – 44

I want my epitath to read: "Here lies a humble man who had the largest penis ever seen."   @SeoulBrother (SeoulBrother) – 44

Nutella is so awesome they should call it Bust-a-Nutella.   @tehawesome (Henry Birdseye) – 40

What's that, Flirty Girl Fitness DVD? For $19.95 I can dance like a whore to tone my abs and butt? So basically, you're sending me a flask.   @Jessabelle2o7 (Jess) – 38

Why haven't Jimmy Beam & Jimmy Dean introduced a breakfast meat fortified with bourbon?   Dammit, do I have to think of EVERYTHING myself?!   @tj (Fun Size Bytes) – 38

When I click the "Why don't we show the price?" link on certain Amazon items I expect to go to a page that just says "Because we are twats."   @tehawesome (Henry Birdseye) – 38

My wife's pregnant boobs are getting so large I am convinced she is carrying extra babies within them. Boob Babies.   @awryone (Josh Donoghue) – 35

Spent the morning constructing three wookiees and one ewok from the hair under my desk, all to scale. I need an etsy account.   @CcSteff (Stephanie) – 35

"On February 6th, Amerca will FALL IN LOVE with being just not that into things."   @lonelysandwich (Adam Lisagor) – 35

Why do I have the feeling that Don Draper would take one look at the kitten stickers on my monitor and just kick my ass?   @sween (Jason Sweeney) – 34

Cow tipping is a myth. It's well known that cattle don't leave respectable tips. It's udderly ridiculous.   @thedayhascome (Josh Hopkins) – 34

"There are unused icons on your desktop."  Yes, it's called Internet Explorer.   @giromide (Pantse Macabretoe) – 32

Jenna Jameson says she's having twins at an LA hospital in April, but I imagine she'll be at RiteAid one day & they'll just kinda fall out.   @hoosiergirl (hoosiergirl) – 29

If you have herpes, don't explain Linux to people. They're just going to cringe every time they think you say "open sores software."   @tehawesome (Henry Birdseye) – 28

I told him to grow a pair and now he's out shopping for bras. This is going to be a really awkward meeting.   @trelvix (Trelvix) – 28

[argeiphontes-cosplay-hh]

20 Questions

 This is long overdue, sorry for the delay, @hufflehermione (who tagged me days ago and I have no excuse!)                                                            

Rules: answer these 20 questions, then tag 20 people you want to get to know better.

Nickname: Honestly most people just call me by my name, but some friends call me “Helmsman” and I dig that.

Height: 5′9″

Last movie I saw: In theaters? I think Venom. That was fun!

Last thing I Googled: “Chicago Stags shirt”  (and man it’s worth googling.)

Favorite musician: Keith Richards.

Song stuck in my head: “One Bad Apple” by the Osmonds. (Thanks @a-sirius-s-o-b it’s your fault.)

Other blogs: my main blog is @shoeboxofphotographs12 (It’s random nonsense and hyper-fixation of the week).

Do I get asks: lol not many, I’m brand new, but my askbox is open and I’d love to get some.

Following: 688 people

Amount of sleep: usually 8 hours a night, but once in a while I go wild and only get like 4.

Lucky number: 13

What I’m wearing: Leggings and a tee shirt.

Dream job: I want to be in a history documentary

Dream trip: Australia/New Zealand

Favorite food: Paneer Masala, or Thai Red Curry yum yum

Play any instruments: Not really. Little guitar, little drums, that’s it.

Languages: English, a little French, and an even littler Ancient Greek.

Favorite songs: "Shine a Light” by the Rolling Stones, “Brandy” by The Looking Glass, and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.

Random fact: My dog is named Wookiee.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: Christmas lights, wax seals, peonies, oil lamps, oak, incense, stacks of books, mismatched teacups, Tricorn hats, feather pens, stained glass, inkwells, tube amps, brown, green, maroon, teal.

Tagging: @a-sirius-s-o-b, @shark-myths, @iluvharrypotter172 @just-a-fangirl-in-a-dreamland, @idkmaybenotthatcool, @petals-to-fish, @claud-illich, @jenlizrose, @frankyiscrazy, @asklilyevanss, @lureadwright, @smolbeanbella, @acb-cafe

Anyone else who wants to do it!

But don’t feel pressured if you’re not in the mood

[benperorsolo]

Can we really call SW a fairy tale? Because the modern understanding of the fairy tale is very much shaped by Disney and that’s just in the 20th and 21st century. Older fairy tales tended to be a lot darker if I’m not mistaken, and SW always seemed to draw on older things like myths and heroic journeys. I’ve listened to the commentary where JJ said “if” SW was a fairy tale, but I think he was making a comparative point about how it wasn’t a fairy tale. I don’t know I’m probably wrong

Yes, we can call it a fairy tale. George Lucas has called it a fairy tale multiple times.

“Rather than do some angry, socially relevant film…I realized there was another relevance that is even more important — dreams and fantasies, getting children to believe there is more to life than garbage and killing…Once I got into STAR WARS, it struck me that we had lost all that — a whole generation was growing up without fairy tales. You just don’t get them anymore, and that’s the best stuff in the world — adventures in far-off lands. It’s fun.” (x)

“I realized a more destructive element in the culture would be a whole generation of kids growing up without that thing, because I had also done a study on, I don’t know what you call it, I call it the fairy tale or the myth. It is a children’s story in history and you go back to the Odyssey or the stories that are told for the kid in all of us.” (x)

“Well, I had a real problem because I was afraid that science-fiction buffs and everybody would say things like, “You know there’s no sound in outer space”. I just wanted to forget science. That would take care of itself. Stanley Kubrick made the ultimate science-fiction movie and it is going to be very hard for somebody to come along and make a better movie, as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t want to make a 2001, I wanted to make a space fantasy that was more in the genre of Edgar Rice Burroughs; that whole other end of space fantasy that was there before science took it over in the Fifties. Once the atomic bomb came, everybody got into monsters and science and what would happen with this and what would happen with that. I think speculative fiction is very valid but they forgot the fairy tales and the dragons and Tolkien and all the real heroes.” (x)

“Indeed, it was his fascination with children and his penchant for looking at the world as if he were still a child himself that led him off on his whole “Star Wars” odyssey. And it was in no small measure because he had young children of his own that he continued trying to see the world through youthful eyes. It was from this impulse that what he calls his “modern day fairy tale” – formed out of a transnational pantheon of mythological figures that became the serial morality play known as “Star Wars” – continued to develop.” (x)

Additionally, George talks often about how Star Wars is not meant to be realistic but rather irrationally romantic and idealistic:

“So I made my bid to try to make everything a little more romantic. Jesus, I’m hoping that if the film accomplishes anything, it takes some ten-year-old kid and turns him on so much to outer space and the possibilities of romance and adventure. Not so much an influence that would create more Wernher von Brauns or Einsteins, but just infusing them into serious exploration of outer space and convincing them that it’s important. Not for any rational reason, but a totally irrational and romantic reason.” (x)

“You can’t, and how do you explain a Wookiee to an audience, and how do you get the tone of the film right, so it’s not a silly child’s film, so it’s not playing down to people, but it is still an entertaining movie and doesn’t have a lot of violence and sex and hip new stuff? So it still has a vision to it, a sort of wholesome, honest vision about the way you want the world to be.” (x)

“I wanted to make a kids’ film that would strengthen contemporary mythology and introduce a kind of basic morality. Everybody’s forgetting to tell the kids, ‘Hey, this is right and this is wrong.‘” (x)

So.

Yes. Star Wars is a fairy tale. Period.

Not only is it a fairy tale, but it is a fairy tale that does not even pretend to be real science fiction. George expresses total disinterest in making Star Wars anything resembling ‘hard’ sci fi, as well as a total disdain for realism. Star Wars, as George says, is planetary romance in the vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter, etc) whose purpose is to uplift children (yes— Star Wars is for children) with a modern fairy tale that touches them the same way campy pulp like Flash Gordon touched George Lucas. Star Wars is supposed to inspire children and the child in all of us to aspire to a better, more moral way of life. It’s supposed to make us believe, as George says, that ‘there is more to life than garbage and killing’; to remind us ‘of the possibilities of romance and adventure.’ Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you think the definition of a fairy tale is. This is what George means when he talks about Star Wars being a fairy tale. Pulp, romance, and idealism taking people to the stars. There are so many quotes by George detailing this from one article that I quoted alone that I couldn’t fit them all. To claim that Star Wars ever was about realism or some sort of gritty dark mythos in outer space is just ignorant. 

Additionally, I think you are making a false dichotomy between myths and fairy tales. They are the same thing. Fairy tales are an iteration of mythology. Older mythology is not magically darker than current mythology— the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are not the only people who ever wrote fairy tales, and frankly speaking, they are early modern authors from a historical standpoint. To set up the Hero’s Journey in contrast with the optimism of modern fairy tales is also just…factually not correct. The basic steps of the Hero’s Journey are in Campbell’s own words:

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (x)

The structure of the Hero’s Journey is one of leaving the ordinary world, encountering trials and suffering, reaching the Abyss (this is Campbell’s term) or lowest point, overcoming this abyss, and then returning to the ordinary world full of wisdom to share with your fellow man. To suggest that this journey is a) separate or different than the structure of the fairy tale or b) more ‘realistic’ or ‘darker’ than a fairy tale is incorrect. Fairy tales are examples of the Hero’s Journey, and the Hero’s Journey basically outlines a happy ending: the hero overcomes his demons and returns victorious back to his home to share what he has learned with others.

Lastly, I don’t agree with your interpretation of JJ’s commentary quote. The quote is:

“For example, we looked at it like a Western, or a fairy tale…You’re probably going to have a castle and a prince and a princess, if you’re looking at a fairy tale. We wanted to have these fundamental, not cosmetic, but prerequisite elements, these locations in which we can set our new story and our new characters…But when his mask comes off, you see Adam Driver, and he just looks like a sort of prince.“ (x)

So, not to be rude, but I think you’re just not interpreting this quote correctly. JJ didn’t say, ‘If this were a fairy tale x would happen, but it’s actually y so z will happen.” He explicitly said —like literally, I have it bolded—:

“We looked at it like a Western, or a fairy tale.”

JJ is explicitly saying that they viewed TFA as a fairy tale, and because they viewed it as a fairy tale, they included elements like castles, and princes, and princesses, and then goes on to say Adam Driver is made up to look like a prince. He’s saying: if Star Wars is a fairy tale, then it must have these elements, and then goes on to explain how it does, as a direct consequence of intentionally shaping it to be one.