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Star Wars: A New Hope dir. George Lucas | 1977

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travels from this week :,)

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Carrie Fisher

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Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford filming Return of the Jedi

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in a polyamorous relationship with the oxford comma and the em dash

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I think one of the best and unintentionally funniest worldbuilding aspects in Star Wars is the reasoning of why did Bail and Breha adopt Leia instead of having their own children. Leia is first established as the princess of Alderaan before she is written to be Luke's sister. So now we need to figure out how she got to Alderaan. She was adopted because she needed to be hidden and separated from her brother. Bail was placed there to be one of the only people who knew so there would be a reason why it was them who got her. They specifically wanted a daughter. Why? Because Alderaan is a matriarchal society, so they needed a princess. Why didn't the Queen and her husband have biological children? Because they can't. Why? Because the Queen can't have kids. Why? Because she got injured as a teenager and got her internal organs replaced and her body can't handle a pregnancy. How did she get injured so badly? She fell off of a mountain. How did that happen? She was climbing it. Why was the future Queen climbing a mountain in the first place? Because she needed to go through three challenges in order to inherit the throne and one of them required her to go through something physically impressive. Why? Because before that they just held a Battle Royale for all the heirs and the one left alive got the throne and they at some point figured out that maybe they shouldn't be doing that, actually. Oh, okay.

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saw a tiktok about annabeth breaking the rules to sit next percy and him being giddy about it for three pages. and that perspective is so funny to me. because all i'm imagining is annabeth just sitting there, completely stoned-faced. and percy is wide-eyed and beet red, very evidently holding back a scream of delight.

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after seeing the live action httyd i’ve decided my north star of writing is going to be a story that feels like watching the test drive scene

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Luke Skywalker - the Rebel soldier (ESB novellization)

Luke's characterization in ESB differs from ANH due to passage of time. Three years passed since he's destroyed the Death Star. He's not the same dreaming, inexperienced farmboy, but instead became an experienced soldier and a Rebel commander. I think that change in Luke is often overlooked, because of his friendly attitude towards other Rebels in the movie, but the novellization makes it very clear.

Luke was well-known on the base and, although barely twenty-three years old, he was addressed as Commander Skywalker by other Rebel warriors. The title made him feel a bit uncomfortable. Nonetheless, he was already in the position of giving orders to a band of seasoned soldiers. So much had happened to Luke and he had changed a great deal. Luke, himself, found it hard to believe that only three years ago he was a wide-eyed farm boy on his home world of Tatooine.

Luke is respected and has authority in the Rebellion now. The difference between the old and new Luke is further shown by his interaction with Dack.

Luke turned and hurried over to his snowspeeder. When he reached it, Dack, his fresh-faced young gunner, was standing outside the ship waiting for him. “How are you feeling, sir?” Dack asked enthusiastically. “Like new, Dack. How about you?” Dack beamed. “Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself.” “Yeah,” Luke said quietly, “I know what you mean.” Though there were only a few years between them, at that moment Luke felt centuries older.

Dack is the greenhorn here, enthusiastic to fight the Empire, feeling invincible. He is exactly like Luke was in ANH. In comparison, the current Luke feels "centuries older" because of his experience. He was at war for 3 years, he's dedicated to the cause but he's not so rose-coloured as before.

Luke saw the explosion of his squadron’s first casualty as he looked from his cockpit window. Angrily, Luke fired his ship’s guns at a walker, only to receive a hail of Imperial fire power that shook his speeder in a barrage of flak.

I like how the novellization is so explicit about Luke's dark emotions. He reacts like a normal person in these situations. He's a soldier fighting a war and so he quite often feels anger and fear. Yoda is completely right when he hesitates to train Luke because of his strong negative feelings. Luke isn't a cinnamon roll that never gets angry. He has plenty of reasons to feel that way.

As Luke soared up and away from the walker, he looked back. “That armor is too strong for blasters,” he thought. “There must be some other way of attacking these horrors; something other than fire power.” For a moment Luke thought of some of the simple tactics a farm boy might employ against a wild beast. Then, turning his snowspeeder for yet another run against the walkers, he made a decision. “Rogue group,” he called into his comlink, “use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs. It’s our only hope of stopping them. Hobbie, are you still with me?”

Luke is actually a really good, effective commander in battle. I like how he can think outside of the box here and quickly find a way to fight the walkers. He takes inspiration from his past experiences as a farmboy. That's a very neat continuity in his characterization.

Luke saw the disintegration and was sickened by the loss of yet another friend. But he couldn’t let himself dwell on his grief, especially now when so many other lives depended on his steady leadership.

Luke feels responsibility as a commander. Other Rebels depend on him. He has to master his emotions, like grief, so he could fulfill his duty as a leader. I say he already has makings of a Jedi in this aspect. This also ties with his portrayal in the movie. He doesn't show these negative emotions, because he needs to be an effective leader and keep up the morale. His subordinates rely on him, so he can't lose it in front of them.

Luke had not realized just how enormous these four-legged horrors were until, unprotected by the shelter of his craft, he saw one up close. Then he remembered Dack and returned to try and pull his friend’s lifeless form from the wrecked speeder. But Luke had to give up. The body was too tightly wedged in the cockpit, and the walker was now almost upon him. Braving the flames, Luke reached into his speeder and grabbed the harpoon gun.

Luke barely knew Dack but he still regarded him as a friend and went back for his dead body despite the danger. The symbolism of Dack as someone who was just like younger Luke, but died in his first battle can't be understated. This could have been Luke at anytime. The battles are chaotic and he's just a guy without any Jedi training. He survives thanks to skill, some luck and his friends' help.

There's also some nice contrast between Luke and Vader. Luke cares about his rebel friends, trusts them and is trusted in return (no one questions his orders), protects them and is willing to sacrifice himself for them. Vader is the opposite - he doesn't have friends, only underlings he doesn't care about, he kills them for failure, rules them through fear and isn't trusted by them (Ozzel questions him outloud and Piett in his thoughts). Luke going back for Dack's body reminds me that he acted similarly in ROTJ when he didn't leave Anakin's body behind. Luke dragged his father to the shuttle and after his death took him to the planet and gave him a funeral.

He gazed at the advancing mechanical behemoth and suddenly had an idea. He reached back inside the cockpit of the speeder and groped for a land mine attached to the ship’s interior. With a great effort he stretched his fingers and firmly grasped the mine. Luke leaped away from his vehicle just as the towering machine lifted a massive foot and planted it firmly on the snowspeeder, crushing it flat. [...] He climbed up to the machine’s hull where he had observed a small hatch. Quickly cutting it open with his laser sword, Luke pulled open the hatch, threw in the land mine, and made a rapid descent along the cable. As he reached the end, Luke dropped hard onto the snow and became unconscious; his inert body was nearly crushed by one of the walker’s hind feet.

Luke's insane, almost suicidal actions to destroy the walker with a landmine show even more about him. He knows the danger, he sees other Rebels dying around him, but that doesn't stop him. The way he jumps into action here makes me think that he's been doing life-threatening stunts like that regularly as a Rebel. He doesn't even think about self-preservation. Frankly, I don't think he ever fears death, based on this and ROTJ. When the ultimatum is "join or die", he chooses death. He fears losing his friends more which motivates him to go to Bespin or attack Vader on the Death Star II when Leia is threatened.

All in all, I think Luke's characterization in ESB as a Rebel soldier seems like a natural progression from who he was in ANH. Han still calls him "kid" as a nickname, but that naive farmboy is gone. Luke went to war, gained experience and became a respected commander. At the same time, he didn't forget his roots and is upholding his principles that made him a Rebel and would later guide him on his path as a Jedi.

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I appreciate The Empire Strikes Back for being the only time I can think of when a character just shot their enemy as soon as they saw them without pausing or having a dramatic moment beforehand.

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Filming the circuitry bay scene in The Empire Strikes Back

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Carrie Fisher behind the scenes of The Empire Strikes Back

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finished new hope indiana and Cried

now i have a week of travel left to finish outlining this southern gothic au so we shall see

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another thing i think is slept on is that episode in season 6 where shawn goes undercover at a mental hospital and jules spends the entire episode worried that he would either be committed for real because he is how he is OR that he would decide he liked it there and not leave

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they hate it when you serve lowkey bitchy brunette

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I couldn’t decide which twin to use for the last one so I did both

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happy pride to Skysolo enjoyers