When I do something, I don’t do it small. It’s a thing with me. I’m determined to change my mind about the Star Wars prequels to the fullest extent I can–not just so I can so I can squeeze every moment of appreciation out of Revenge of the Sith when I do see it (which I haven’t yet so keep yer stinky spoilers to yourselves, flist-oids!)–but so I can geek the whole gorram series.
“Geeking” includes:
– Reading the arrogantly assuming but still informative analyses of Lard Biscuit;
– Reading the prequel novelizations (and yes, they *do* help give background I didn’t understand before, especially after reading Lard-ass Biscuit);
– Reading the prequel-prequel tie-in novel “Cloak of Deception”. And no, I usually don’t read that drivel. I stopped reading “published fan fic” a LONG time ago (like Star Trek:TOS long time ago) when I realized it could be contradicted by the actual TV shows/movies. But it was a recommendation of the elitist and purist Sith Lard Biscuit to help understand the politics of the first two prequel movies;
– watching the prequels I and II a few more times (“The Phantom Menace” actually goes down really good with the sound turned off and the closed captioning turned on. Just not having to hear Jar-Jar squeal every five seconds takes a large amount of the ick off);
– watching the “Clone Wars” cartoon series to fill in the gaps between Episodes II and III;
– watching the “original” trilogy (folks like me who saw the original movies as teens/early twenty-somethings just refer to these movies as “the Movies”. Everything else is “the prequels to the Movies”).
– and through all of the above, arrive at an Masquerade-esque encyclopedic knowledge of this universe that will allow me to do the aforementioned enjoying it to its fullest.
And I must say that the Movies do gain more depth with the prequels filling in the details (which is what they were *supposed* to do, so, yeah them). If you can look past or wank the little contradictions (“well, obviously someone erased poor C3P0’s memory banks”), you notice interesting subtleties, like, how the actor who plays Anakin Skywalker manages to walk just like the actor who played Darth Vader. And I thought Hayden Whathisname was just a vapid pretty-boy.
Speaking of the Skywalker boys, anyone who knows me can guess who my Star Wars OTP is turning out to be during this Geek Banquet. I totally want an icon now that has Hayden and Mark Hamill either superimposed or with side-by-side pictures. Not sure what the caption would say, if any, but maybe it’ll just say “Father and Son” or “OTP”. And no, you dirty-minded….It’s Anakin+Luke. Plus sign, people, not slash. Just….eww.
I’d start searching the Star Wars icon LJs for such an icon, but my usual experience with trying to find an icon like that usually ends up with me doing it myself.
Anyone know any good Star Wars Movies and Star Wars Prequels screen shot websites?
Author Nancy E. Shaffer 
Did you see s’kat’s discussion of Clone Wars? I agree, though haven’t seen all episodes. Well worth watching. Or maybe that’s above and I missed it.
Oh! I forgot to put that on my list. Yes, I have the Clone Wars cartoon series at the top of my Netflix Queue. If S’Kat thinks it’s worthwhile, then of course I’ll watch it to fill in the gaps between Episodes II and III.
From the small part I saw and what she says, it’s like Animatrix–better than some of the “real” films.
Cool.
Unfortunately, though, the episodes that link directly up to Episode III (the last four episodes are the subject of the “crawl” at the beginning of the movie) aren’t on DVD yet. 😦
Yeah, I noticed that it was just “Volume I” and only had 20 episodes instead of 23.
But we do what we can.
; )
I’m thinking maybe the Clone Wars SW novel has a chronicle of those events? [/geek]
Everlasting Gallery has some decent screencaps, but it doesn’t have all the movies.
Dominate Your Destiny has all the movies, but less comprehensive for the ones it has.
i wanted to rewatch the first two movies and then remembered how much they hurt the first few times I saw them and then decided, nah, not going to do it
Well the usual SW slash is Luke/Leia but if someone could figure out a way to slash Anakin/Luke they would…or have. I don’t know. I don’t want to. I was blinded this week by Klaus/Violet incest from A Series of Unfortunate events and Klaus/Count Olaf pedophilic slash. I might never be the same except I’ve been toughened up by Harry/Snape slash
That ramble aside, it sounds like a cool icon
I wish I didn’t even have to comment every time I OTP a father+son pairing. It’s about the father-and-sonness, y’know? But the default assumption of LJ is that when you OTP someone, you mean it in a romantic or sexual way. So I always have to add my disclaimer to prevent someone from making a stupid comment about me being into incest.
Maybe that will be my caption, “It’s about the father and sonness!”
there you go. It’s amazing that there’s this tendency in fandom to sexualize everything. Personally I don’t want to see hot to trot 12 year olds. (granted the hormones are kicking by then but still…)
sometimes I’m amused that people don’t realize I actually do NC-17 since I have such a reputation for doing non-ship stories
Yeah, I got nothing against teh SeX. I can sex it up with the best of ’em when I want/need to. But the stories that compel me more nowadays are family stories. Parent-child relationships. And adventure/action.
My heart’s still racing from seeing the end of the most recent “Alias”–the family that jumps out of planes together stays together!
OT rambling ahead…
What is up with that, btw? Tendency to sexualize everything sure, but if someone mentions Anakin and Luke, Angel and Connor, and etc., why, why, why does the mind automatically go to a sexual relationship? (I won’t even call it romantic. Not that I would know, I’m totally being judgemental without having actually read any but a tiny amount.) Even worse, that people felt it necessary to even write the stuff. And in the case of Anakin and Luke, you would have to jump through hoops to even get them to be able to have a relationship, so it seems less an “exploration” of how these two personalities would interact, and more “Ooh, father/son porn!” Why? I’ve been on LJ over a year and I still don’t get this, and instead of becoming more open-minded about it I’ve pretty gone the opposite direction and boiled it down to 1) I’m totally missing something, 2) It’s for the shock factor; sole purpose of getting attention, and 3) Yucky people.
Sorry, I’m not ranting at you, I’m honestly curious if other people feel this way or what am I missing and your post got me thinking about it.
Er, good for you on your research, btw. Look forward to the capsules and impressions.
I’m definitely all about the action/adventure and if you mix in some sexiness will then that’s just great (one of the reasons I like the Destroyer) I can even write nothing but sex which my threesome story will be heavy on but to me too much of a good thing becomes boring.
Just finished watching teh Grudge and was left thinking hell SMG’s boyfriend could have been left out of the show and we’d never miss him because he added nothing. You always need to ask that question does the romantic subplot actually add anything
Re: OT rambling ahead…
One reason that I can at least understand is that these characters are played by attractive actors, and a fan might find their mind straying into a slashy bit o’ porn about, say, VK and DB, or whatever. I can at least understand that. And if you ask, “Why not just write RPS, then?” they might get into the whole motivation behind incest fic and how it allows an “exploration of the dynamic between two characters.” Well, maybe, if you write it to a deep enough psychological depth, and don’t just have a bunch of boinking.
Still, I couldn’t read it even for the character insights if there were boinking. Because I can’t get around the real psychological damage incest would do if it were really happening in the real world and not in their carefully constructed fictional world.
And besides, what interests me is the parent-child relationship itself. How the son reflects or extends beyond the father, how the father sees himself in/or is changed by the relationship with his son. How their ability to/failure to be the same and or different creates tension and love in the relationship (and this extends to father-daughter, mother-daughter, mother-son pairings as well). I think putting sex into that equation obscures, rather than reveals.
Part of the reason I didn’t have a big Connor/Faith thing in the Destroyer is I didn’t see it adding a lot to the journies these characters are going through in the season. Connor’s journey in TD is about identity vis-a-vis his heritage, and Faith’s is about leadership and self-confidence given her past and exemplified more in a ghostly judgmental good!Slayer Buffy hovering around. It helps having Connor look up to Faith and Faith learn to trust Connor. A romantic angle on top of that would muddy that up considerably. Not that some other writer couldn’t have pulled it off, but it would have distracted me.
Not to say there couldn’t be something more romantic or just sexual in the future, but….
i think you have just enough sexual tension to keep us going while showcasing what you think are the main selling points.
In the series I’m trying to get started I definiately wnat to downplay the romance until things get going and to let it grow naturally. No wham bam instant ships.
Letting it grow naturally and organically is important. One of the things that drives me crazy about a lot of fan fic is how they just pair certain characters together and you’re still left wondering WHY they’re together.
If it worked that easily in RL, I’d walk around paring myself with all sorts of people. “Hey, you, relationship, now!” and “Hey, you, let’s have The Sex, now!”
Sure……
If it worked that easily in RL, I’d walk around paring myself with all sorts of people. “Hey, you, relationship, now!” and “Hey, you, let’s have The Sex, now!”
Snort. Tell me about it. That’s the thing with non-canon ships, some you just don’t get a clue as to how this is working and for me that tends to blow a story. I’m facing how the hell to work on a Spike/Faith/Connor threesome and make it look natural. Okay I could probably just get down to the sex and make the requester happy but I just can’t do that.
Any one of the things on your list is cause for an intervention. Save yourself Masq! Before it’s too late!
You haven’t read part II of my latest TD episode yet, have you? Not that it’s at all related to your Spike/Faith/Connor threesome quandry. I was just thinking that Spike/Faith, well, that’s not a stretch given canon, and Faith/Connor, that’s not a stretch given canon, so the biggest hurdle is Spike/Connor, and….
I’ve been a geek for a very long time. Where were you when I was 13??
Speaking of which…
If you want even more details on the OT, you should get the six part radio dramas on CD that aired on the BBC years ago. While some of it certainly is just time wasting to stretch the story longer, there is some very cool stuff, includiing the episode that takes place before Leia boards the ship in Episode IV with the Death Star plans. You get some very interesting material about her job as Senator, her relationship with her father, etc. And the way they convey all the information, like the lightsaber duels and space battles, with no visuals and just audio special effects to indicate what is happening (there isn’t any narration except for the start and end of each ep) is kind of amazing.
Re: Speaking of which…
Where would you get your hands on something like that?
no I haven’t read it yet. I’m actually kicking it out with my muse so…but I will. ANd yes, Faith’s not the problem. It’s the boys. I already know there won’t be any real touching with those two because sorry, I like canon too much to be able to see that. I’m just trying to get them to share a girl.
Now I must build a time machine and go back to rescue your 13 year old self.
I’m actually all in favour of selective geeking. Selective. I just am unconvinced that the prequels are worthy of the effort. Honestly if the prequels had come in order without the original trilogy to serve as touchstones, I would bet money that there wouldn’t be a franchise at all.
That will be disappointing to the Spike/Connor sexers, several of whom grace my flist. But it’s your story, and it has to flow naturally, or otherwise it gets lame.
You’ll find my 13-year old self standing in line for the original “Star Wars” movie. It’s her 11th time at the theater just to see that movie.
yeah I’m probably going to disappoint the requester for that very reason but while I might buy Spike could swing both ways, I dont’ of Connor and even if he did, can I see him sleeping with a vampire who’s technically his nephew in the way vampires rank family? No. And you’re right, if I force it, it’ll suck
Well, there are sexually suggestive things that can happen that aren’t themselves a violation of a character’s sexuality. I guess it depends on the context your story is set in.
Oh, big old word on this. I’ve got the same problem (Well, we have some very similar OTPs). I OTP Connor+Angel and Connor+Darla and OT3 Angel+Connor+Darla… But I so do not want the sex between them. For some reason, it’s almost impossible to think ANYONE is a good pair without people making it sexual.
It’s also a huge problem in the Harry Potter fandom. Fred+George are so OTP, but the only fics you can find about them are twincest.
I’ll admit, smut is good at times. I am a fan of the smut. But what ever happened to two characters (especially ones that have such a great non-sexual relationship) just interacting?
And I can make you an Anakin+Luke icon. What movie do you want Luke from? I’m assuming you want ROTS Anakin.
I’ve been mulling over screen shots from Episodes V and VI because Mark Hamill post-car accident looks more like Hadyn whathisname than pre-car accident Mark Hamill.
I’m also trying to come with an icon concept, because these two have a complex relationship–they start out as strangers, then become enemies, and finally in the end when Luke is dragging Darth Vader off the death star, it’s just pure love.
Right now, this is my concept–their Empire Strikes Back show down in the background, with pics of RotS Anakin and ESB Luke superimposed off of it:
It’s a crappy picture of Mark Hamill, though. Maybe something from RotJ, a little more confident, and in black like his dad.
; )
Oh, that looks spiffy so far. But I agree RotJ Luke would work better.
It’s more difficult to get decent screen shots. RotS is all over the ‘net at the moment. RotJ, less so.
yeah, we’ll see. basically it’s looking like someone’s in a tail spin again and kinky sex is a symptom…
Connor, in a tail spin? Who’da thought?
see I didn’t even have to say which someone. It could have been Faith…but kinky sex wouldn’t be a symptom. That’s just normal
http://mikex.me.uk/misc/rotj/
Still want to make me an Anakin+Luke icon??
COOL!
Re: Speaking of which…
You can get the original trilogy radio dramas on CD from Amazon for about 120 bucks. Link
Watch what you say about a nice
Vancouver pretty boy…;)
Rufus
Re: Speaking of which…
Even I’m not THAT big a geek. I’ve got Star Trek and X-Files DVDs just sitting on my amazon wishlist because I can’t afford to buy them. 120 bucks for what is probably non-canonical Star Wars? In another lifetime, maybe.
Re: Watch what you say about a nice
Pretty boy is what pretty boy does, regardless of from where they hail.
; )
Re: Speaking of which…
Audiobooks/Radio Plays are dreadfully expensive, I know.
Yeah. There are a lot of things I’d get before plunking down $120 for the SW radio plays. If you’re REALLY interested in seeing what they say that’s not in the movies, I think you can get transcripts of them for much cheaper.
Re: Speaking of which…
I was thinking the same thing. Where are the transcripts available?