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Editorial – The Force of Star Wars Fan Fiction

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“The Force of Star Wars Fan Fiction”

By Michelle Wittlich

 

I was a Star Wars Original Trilogy (OT) generation kid who was young enough in 1977 to have no memories of life pre-Star Wars. I also REALLY love the Sequel Trilogy (ST). I love it a lot. One might say I am obsessed. One would not be inaccurate if one used that term. I love “The Force Awakens” (TFA), but Holy Hello There, do I adore “The Last Jedi” (TLJ). I have no qualms calling it a Star Wars masterpiece.

However, am I EVER disgruntled with the current rift in fandom and the oft-discussed toxicity problem. We all know about that big ol’ “The Last Jedi”-shaped sinkhole that sadly opened up beneath us on or shortly after December 15, 2017. Most fans ended up on one side or the other of that sinkhole. I have close Star Wars friends who were also OT generation kids who simply do not understand how I can love TLJ with the passion that I do having been raised loving the OT. They feel differing degrees of betrayal for most of the same reasons other fans felt that way….Luke Skywalker’s character development and death, Canto Bight being a waste of time, a lack of Snoke’s backstory/importance, Rey’s lack of significant lineage, Yaddle, Yaddle, Yaddle. I have had a general theory on our divergent opinions on TLJ since the first times we talked following our first viewings….in my opinion, it was all about how they had expectations to which they were unable to let go and a sense of entitlement vs how I was able to let go of my expectations and had no sense of entitlement. What expectations I had (mainly, that Rey HAD to be a Skywalker), I was more than willing to let fall by the wayside in acquiescence to Lucasfilm’s and Rian Johnson’s engaging storytelling.

How can this be? Why am I so willing to let go of my expectations while my friends were unable or unwilling to do so even to the detriment of their Star Wars enjoyment?

I know what my friends think of me….I’m an OT traitor. They look at me like I am gleefully stabbing them in the back while I go on and on about my adoration for Rian Johnson, his carefully crafted script, his artful direction, and my favorite feature of all….the character developments of Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. Honestly, I know they would feel justified in revoking my Star Wars card for actually being happy about and grateful for Luke’s arc.

Let me start to get to the point. There is a thing in TLJ that really got me. It got me BUT GOOD. The surprising development of the relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren, ie Reylo, stunned and delighted me. Shamed I will not be for “‘shipping” Reylo, so useless the attempts are. That is a defensive statement because I have found that for….reasons, Reylo, like other features of TLJ, bothers some people. If you happen to be one of those people, don’t be too deterred about continuing to read because, really, this is not about Reylo, per se. It is more about Reylo fans, our expectations, and our solution for disappointment.

Reylo fans have been around since TFA. However, I didn’t get on board until Rian “Reylo” Johnson told me to. He seriously looked RIGHT AT ME and said, “Reylo is an actual thing I’m doing, and it is your new Star Wars obsession.” “OK, Rian.”, I answered. “I am ready, able and willing to drive this Reylo train to the ends of the galaxy!” I can talk about Rey and Kylo for hours. I can talk about how, together, they are the will of the Cosmic Force. How they will bring perfect balance to A Galaxy Far, Far Away. How only together can they achieve the balance that the Force has been striving for the entirety of the Star Wars saga. How, as the kids say, “Reylo is endgame.” How I believe Ben Solo will be redeemed through his love for Rey, with a Cosmic Force assist, and once and for all will close the circle of Anakin Skywalker’s and Padme Amidala’s tragic story through the selfless love between their grandson and his Force-chosen equal, through forgiveness, atonement and hope for the future (ie, Reylo babies). Beautiful, isn’t it? I think so.

But, wait. I just wrote that I am sure that the underlying reason my friends and a lot of fans are dissatisfied with TLJ is because they went into the theaters married or at least betrothed to theories and expectations about everything from Luke’s predicted badassery, Snoke’s backstory, Rey’s lineage, etc. So, then, why would I walk purposefully into the same trap for Episode IX? Am I not setting myself up to be a hater? Am I not going to be outraged and making YouTube videos about how J.J. Abrams ruined the entire saga by not following my carefully constructed head canons?

Full disclosure time….I would be disappointed if Ben Solo is not redeemed and Reylo fails to happen in some capacity. I understand that I might momentarily raise my fists to the sky and bellow, “WHYYYYYYYY????”. I might even be temporarily sad enough to binge on gluten-free cupcakes.

But I can also promise that I would NOT let that ruin my Star Wars joy for long. And here is the secret (It’s not a secret. Literally, huge numbers of people know about it.) that will keep me from contributing to bitter toxicity…..STAR WARS FAN FICTION.

Go ahead and make faces of skepticism. Look down your nose at me. Snicker. Chuckle. Eye roll. I’m used to it, and I’ll wait.

But here’s the thing. The fan fiction readers and writers that I know all agree on this. If one ever has feelings of disappointment with canon, fan fiction is a soothing balm for those feelings. It’s actually kind of magical. Deep within the safe confines of the internet lie thousands of fan fiction stories at archiveofourown.org. Some have blissful endings. Some are riddled with angst. Whatever kind of story you prefer (alternate universe stories, stories that stay true to canon, stories that are in the Star Wars universe but veer off into a whole other direction than canon) someone has probably written it. And if one had an idea but felt unsure about writing it, one could actually commission a writer to write that story. It is a glorious world of boundless Star Wars imagination. I am not exaggerating at all when I say fan fiction is the reason that I will not become a grumpy, Episode IX-hating ogre if Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams decide that Reylo isn’t a thing after all, and Kylo Ren is just a run-of-the-mill villain who should bleed his own blood and die unredeemed and evil. I know many Reylo fan fiction readers who feel the same, and I think we would all cope with any Episode IX disappointment just fine by delving into any number of literally thousands of Reylo-centric fan fictions.

Why do I and others seem to catch a lot of guff because we very much enjoy Star Wars fan fiction? I have my theories on that. I think some people assume that fan fiction is not good quality writing. That is false. I have whipped through 30 chapter fictions like a crazy person because the writing was so wonderful. Often, I have been blown away at the writer’s creativity. I also think some people assume fan fiction is nothing more than gratuitous, romantic “‘shipping” stories. Granted, there is a lot of that if that is one’s jam, but there are all kinds of stories. I also think critics and skeptics assume fan fiction is only written by women and for women. I’m not a man, so I can’t say whether a man would enjoy any of the fictions I have enjoyed, but I would be interested to find out what kind of fictions men DO enjoy.

Am I saying if more fans enjoyed fan fiction, the backlash to TLJ would have been lessened? The split in fandom wouldn’t be so gaping? Well, yes. I guess I am theorizing that if more fans were accustomed to reading/writing many various takes on Luke Skywalker, fans may have had a less entitled and proprietary attitude towards that character’s arc and fate, and therefore may have been less angry and bitter when TLJ didn’t fulfill the fantasies in their heads. They may have grumbled for a bit, but then perhaps sat down to read or even write a satisfying tale where Luke is a Jedi god and lives so long he starts to resemble Master Yoda, and as a result, may have felt less hostile towards TLJ.

Also, guess what? Reading Star Wars fan fiction is just a fun, fun time. It’s fun to talk about with other readers. It’s fun to imagine all the alternative “what-ifs” in the vast Star Wars universe. It’s fun to discover a great, new fiction and recommend it to others. And it is super fun when a favorite, ongoing fiction finally posts a new chapter.

Speaking of which, enough writing for me for now. If you’ll excuse me, I have some fan fiction chapter updates to devour. May the Force be with you all.

Episode 89 : Force Friday 2 = T.G.I.F.F. 2 (Thank George it’s Force Friday 2)

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FORCE FRIDAY 2017!  Join Jason & Gabe as they tell the stories of their Force Friday 2 experiences!  The highs, the lows, the interviews with people in line & more!  What did they pick up & why is Jason considering just getting a Klondike Bar next year?  And just what do those new CommTech “Force Link” things say and what super secrets to they reveal?  As you could guess, we listen to almost ALL of them!  As if that wasn’t enough, there’s Force Friday voice message stories sent in by listeners all over the world!!  It’s a full force Force Friday Celebration as they tell you all about their stories in this yearly Star Wars ritual!  (Force Friday stuff starts at about the 14:40 point)

AND before all that, there’s some Last Jedi stuff with talk on how bad we want a new trailer, Snoke’s giant ship and a new ship’s rad name that makes Jason & Gabe really, really happy, some surprise messages from a couple very familiar voices and so much more!

So stare at a Jango figure, make some lasagna & celebrate the love with BLAST POINTS!!

More Force Friday Interviews:

Interview 1

Interview 2

Interview 3

Interview 4

 

Editorial – It’s So Much Bigger

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It’s So Much Bigger
By Jason Gibner

I can freely now admit that I have a problem.  That problem is the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi.   Now, I definitely do not have a problem with any aspect of that first look at the next chapter in the Star Wars Saga.  My problem is that I just can not stop watching it and non stop thinking about it.  I try to do work and all I can do is think about is that handful of brief images that were first shown to me at Star Wars Celebration.  I try to clean the house and all I do is think about just what is happening there on Ahch-To.  Ancient books about The Force in trees, weird tree caves, multiple islands… as someone who usually trips out about any kind of talk about the will of The Force, the whole thing has got me straight up bugging.

Now this morning as I replayed the teaser in my head, as all normal people do, one moment and one line in particular really hit me.  Rey describes her vision into the Force as seeing the light, darkness and the balance.  As we hear the old master Skywalker say, “It’s so much bigger”, we are shown the beautiful and instantly iconic shot of Rey on edge of a mountain practicing with the saber of The Chosen One as Luke stands behind and above her watching on.   In this moment, Rey and Luke are shown as being very small against the massive sight of the Ahch-To waters and mountainside.   As I thought about this, my mind immediately went back to my college and my endless amount of art history classes I took and i realized the rest of my day may be shot.

One of the more interesting classes was an Asian art history class where we looked at countless very old Japanese works of art where one of the overriding themes was that nature was always presented as being bigger and more powerful than people.  In so many of the pieces my professor showed, if there were people in a piece they were tiny compared to the majesty of the wave or the mountain or the trees that were so often depicted in the art.  Now we know the Force is an energy field created by all living things and it surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together, right?  As Luke may reference at the end of the trailer, the will of the Force in the future of the saga may be something bigger than any Jedi has ever recognized before, thus calling for a whole new way of thinking about and/or using the Force.   This moment, at the side of the mountain perfectly speaks to that as an important as Rey and Luke’s story may be going forward, they are still very small next to the power of nature or The Force.   Like Luke reminds us, “It’s so much bigger.”  The true nature of the Force may be a greater power then any Jedi has felt before.

I admit, I’m getting carried away here but all that got me thinking too about some of the other important symbols in Japanese art like shape, balance, animals, birds, mountains and waves.   The uneasy balance seen in The Last Jedi poster of Luke and Kylo’s faces with Rey’s gleaming saber of light separating the two.  The combination of hard and soft lines in both Rey and Luke’s very grey costumes.  The birds that rumored to be inhabiting the island with Luke.  The mountain, which in Japanese art represents the unmovable and power almost being a symbol for The Force itself.  The waves that crash into the island, which Rey stares out to in teaser, representing power, strength and the very unpredictable aspect of nature.   Rey, perhaps being very much the unpredictable new vessel for the Force which may have the power to move the unmovable mountain?

It’s clear that this island, which may have be the location of the first Jedi temple, has quite a bit more going on in both story and symbolism then what we saw with our brief look at it in The Force Awakens.   Much like Dagobah, Mortis or Moraband, Ahch-To is seemingly a planet that has a deep connection to The Force just as The Last Jedi appears to have a connection to the Japanese art and cinema style that got George Lucas going all those years ago.   Until December or our next look at the film, we will have to “breathe…. just breathe…”