#the unifying force

[darth-maul-of-dathomir]

I am torn awake when I try to sleep. Dreams are a liminal space where my rampant, unfettered connection to the unifying force has even more reign than in my waking hours. I can only stand to watch so many iterations of any given event, but the fulcrum events upon which the galaxy pivots are like beacons. They lap my Sight like restless beasts.

Tonight I have watched the massacre of the witches of Dathomir no less than a dozen times, with and without brothers coming to their aid, with and without advance warning, with and without many things.

I am no stranger to genocide, but this repetition grates.

[magnetarbeam]

You know, the way the lambent crystal is talked about as, like, giving Anakin a way to bridge the gap between his Force sense and the Force-nonexistent Yuuzhan Vong because its telepathic properties can connect to both sides of it kinda makes me wonder if it might be possible to have a similar kind of interface with regular mechanical systems. Like, if you have some way to convert electronic signals into data that a Force-user, at least, can sense in their mind, and convert back from that, could a computer system be interacted with in the same capacity as a living brain of comparable complexity?

Absolutely keeping this in my back pocket for some post-NJO Tahiri-related headcanons.

[bornitereads]

The Unifying Force - James Luceno

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order book 19

Reread: Jan 2024

The finale!! Luceno really popped off with this book wow. So much action. The big battles were sometimes so confusing because there was a lot going on but it all came together at the end. It starts with the scales tipping in favour of the bad guys, like really badly, but the living planet really saves their asses. Nothing like religious turmoil to ruin what should have been a victorious battle. The good guys rally and bring the fight to the Coruscant system, where Zonama Sekot has made its glorious apperance. Troops are landed on Coruscant to retake it, including the Skywalkers and the Solo twins. The way Luke goes into a Force trance and just murders his way to the Yuuzhan Vong throne room is wild. Same goes for Jacen who becomes a conduit for so much pure Force energy that he ages five years in minutes. But he also just fucks up the power behind the throne guy so hard that way. Lots of weird Force things here to go through which I enjoyed.

And let's not forget the Galactic Alliance deploying biological weapons against the Yuuzhan Vong. Some of the government wanted to genocide their way out of the war. Sadly this turned into a weapon against the good guys when the Yuuzhan Vong realized that Zonama Sekot's life was genetically similar and thus susceptible to the agent. Luckily it didn't all end in tragedy.

The war is won and Zonama Sekot reveals that it's the child of the real Yuuzhan'tar (not Coruscant, but the actual homeworld of the Yuuzhan Vong) and it claims it's wayward children? Siblings? Anyways, it wants to rehabilitate the Yuuzhan Vong and reconnect them to the Force, since Yuuzhan'tar cut them off from it when it exiled them for being evil.

It was a fitting end to the series. Tragic on lots of levels. But our heroes overcame many, many hardships to get to the end and most came out stronger. And Leia realizing she needed to formally finish her Jedi training, but that's in the next book(s) I just like it a lot haha. I think many people were hoping for a more crushing victory against the Yuuzhan Vong, but I think this way made more sense. And involved a lot less slaughter. Three cheers for the Galactic Alliance! Now to pick up the pieces.

Info: Del Rey; 2003

[onimiman]

In Honor of Star Wars' 47th Anniversary

Today, 47 years ago, Star Wars, now known as Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, was released in cinemas and became a cultural phenomenon that has withstood the test of time as well as innumerable subsequent projects that have ranged from great, such as The Empire Strikes Back, to the not-so-great, such as The Last Jedi. And in honor of that anniversary (even if it's not that special, as its 50th would go on to be), I decided it would be great to exhibit one of the climactic scenes from one of the best SW novels ever written, The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force by James Luceno.

"On the bridge of the vessel whose every component answered to him, Onimi sent a blur of objects racing for Jacen, beginning with the carved idols that flanked Jaina: cloaked Yun-Harla, many-armed Yun-Yammka, thousand-eyed Yun-Shuno, and the rest. But Jacen stood firm. Not wanting to risk hurting Jaina inadvertently by deflecting the objects, he pulled everything into a whirling cloud, as if in orbit around him. Beyond the cloud, he was dimly aware that a transparency had formed above the console, and that constellations of stars were winking into existence, smeared in places by the explosive exchanges among the hundreds of warships battling at the edge of Coruscant's envelope.

"Jacen's steadfast defense infuriated Onimi. Reaching deeper into himself, the Supreme Overlord used his telekinetic powers to create cracks in the bulkheads and ceiling, hoping to add chunks of unrooted yorik coral to his conjured storm. But as fast as the fissures formed, Jacen repaired them, and those chunks that were torn away he ordered the vessel to cement in place.

"Mismatched eyes opened wide in disbelief, Onimi charged, his feet moving so rapidly that he might have been gliding across the deck.

"Though crippled by the deformations that had resultedfrom poorly healed enhancement surgeries and the consequences of experimental escalations, the former shaper was still taller than Jacen and pound for pound more powerful. But the struggle had nothing to do with size and less to do with brute strength. Onimi's true potency lay in his abilities to amplify the electric current that flowed through his body, or--like Vergere--to call on his refined metabolism to fashion molecules and compounds, and deliver them through his curving yellow fingernails, his single fang, his blood, sweat, saliva, and breath. But where Vergere had learned to produce emollients and healing tears, Onimi was capable of producing a brew of fast-acting and deadly toxins. Compared to the former shaper's mastery of Yuuzhan Vong bioscience, Vergere had been a mere adept.

"He flew at Jacen with hands upraised and mouth ajar. Jacen lifted his hands in defense and he and Onimi met with blinding discharges of electrical energy that entangled both of them in a flashing web. Their hands interlocked, they whirled from one side of the bridge to the other in a kind of mad pirouette, caroming off the coarse bulkheads and smooth instrumentation. Jaina sent her twin what reinforcement she could summon, but he told her to conserve her strength.

"The transmutated secretions from Onimi's palms and fingertips sent hallucinogens through Jacen's skin and capillaries, and coursing through his bloodstream. Onimi's paralyzing fang struck repeatedly for Jacen's temples and neck. Poison wafted on his forced sighs and rode within the croplets of his frothing saliva.

"But the Jacen that the Supreme Overlord had in his taloned grip was not there. Where once Jacen had been unable to find Onimi through the Force, now it was Onimi who couldn't find Jacen. What he found istead was formless, supple, and fathomless--an infinite emptiness, but as serene as a wind toppling trees to encourage new growth.

"A being of light, Jacen was drawing into himself all of Onimi's lethal compounds, neutralizing them and casting them out as sweat, tears, and exhalations.

"He understood at last why he had failed to catch Anakin's lightsaber when Luke had tossed it to him: he was never meant to catch it, because he had become the lightsaber.

"He had attained the ability to cut through any resistance in himself; to sever the bonds of preconception; to open a gaping hole into a reality more expansive than any he had ever dared imagine; to heal. As his grandfather had done, he had broken through the apparent opposites that concealed the absolute nature of the Force, and found his way into an unseen unity that existed beyond the seeming separateness of the world. For a moment all the cosmic tumblers had clicked into place, and light and dark sides became something he could balance within himself, without having to remain on one side or the other. The consciousness that was Jacen Solo was strewn across the vast spectrum of life energy. He had passed beyond choice and consequence, good and evil, light and dark, life and death.

"All that had required of Jacen was complete surrender--a technique once mastered by the Jedi Order but at some point misplaced; transposed to an emphasis on individual achievement, which had opened a way to arrogance.

"In that the path was available to any who chose to seek and follow it, Jacen understood that the discovery was really a rediscovery. Indeed, the ur-Yuuzhan Vong had adhered to it when they had lived in symbiosis with Yuuzhan'tar. In that dim protohistorical time, they had been group-minded, living in a world where the boundaries between self and other were permeable. By cutting that bond they had isolated themselves from the Force. They had deluded themselves into thinking that they were worshiping life, when in fact they were worshiping the only route to symbiosis left to them, which was death.

"Jacen realized that, in a sense, he had paraphrased Onimi. He had passed beyond the tradition of the Jedi Order into a more embracing reality. But instead of attempting to steal the authority of the gods, or to become a god, he had finally allowed himself to merge with the Force in its entirety and become a conduit for its raw power, which flowed through him like the thundering headwaters of a great river. The conjoining of the Force and his Vongsense enabled him to render himself small enough to follow Onimi wherever he went or attempted to hide; to counter Onimi's every action, and merge with his living vessel on a molecular level.

"Jacen ended their spinning, bringing them to a halt in the center of the bridge, where he continued to parry Onimi's strikes. The Supreme Overlord's lolling eye fixed him with a gimlet stare.

"Gradually Onimi began to understand, as well. He grasped that Jacen wasn't defending himself so much as using Onimi's own strengths against him. Jacen was fighting without fighting; drawing Onimi deeper into the struggle by demanding more of Onimi's indigenous toxins, to the point that he couldn't keep up. Jacen was the vacuum, the dovin basal singularity into which Onimi was being sucked. Jacen had become the dismantling void that was drawing Onimi into a slender thread, attenuating him to the point of infinite smallness.

"Onimi's self-deformed face began to change. His arteries pulsed and his veins bulged from beneath his pale skin.

"Onimi fought with everything that remained in him, but Jacen could not be overwhelmed. As a pure conduit of the Force, he was incapable of taking missteps or making wrong moves. He stood not at the edge of the tilting ecliptic of his vision, but at the center, as a fulcrum. The weight that would disturb the balance was Onimi, but to Jacen, that weight was no longer of sufficient mass to make a difference.

"The Force encased Jacen like a whirlwind, moving deep into the darkness the Yuuzhan Vong had brought to the galaxy, and gathering it and sending it up the spout into the funnel cloud, where it was transformed and dispersed.

"Onimi was becoming more insubstantial by the moment.

"Jacen continued to stand firm, righting the world.

"He had become so powerful as to be dangerous to his own galaxy, for he could see clearly the temptations of the dark side and the desire to force one's will on others--to so completely dominate that all life would kowtow to him.

"He purged his mind of all pride and evil intent and entered a moment of unadulterated bliss, where he seemed to have unlocked the very secrets of existence.

"He knew that he would never again be able to reach this exalted state, and at once that he would spend the rest of his life trying."

--from pages 468-472 of the hardcover edition of this book.

This scene might be one of my favorite moments in the entire Star Wars franchise; it is up there with Luke Skywalker's confrontation against Darth Vader and Darth Sidious aboard the second Death Star. It is the culmination of everything that the character of Jacen Solo had endured throughout the entirety of The New Jedi Order; for all of the pain and sacrifice that he, his family, and friends had endured throughout the Yuuzhan Vong War, he had emerged a stronger character, growing, like the shadowmoth that Vergere had compared him to in Traitor, from the uncertain, hesitant warrior-philosopher to a being of pure, unadulterated Force-energy for the sole purpose of banishing the evil that the Vong had wrought to the galaxy, as represented, and led, by Onimi.

And having reread that section and writing it down word for word, I had been struck by just how truly awful Jacen's character assassination following this book was. From his opening scene in the prologue of Dark Nest I: The Joiner King to his death in Legacy of the Force: Invincible, to even his appearances as a ghost beyond shadows in Fate of the Jedi: Abyss and Apocalypse, it had seemed as if Troy Denning had gone out of his way to undo everything that James Luceno had done in creating this beautiful, artistically done (to quote Grand Admiral Thrawn in The Last Command), and for what? To create a villain in Darth Caedus who was not only a mere shadow of either Vader of Sidious, but also a weak villain in himself who had only lived as long as he did thanks to horrendous writing from not only Denning, but also Karen Traviss and, to a slightly lesser extent, the late Aaron Allston. Moreover, in assassinating Jacen to the extent that he did, effectively made the Jedi Order into a weak organization who cannot seem to function without Luke Skywalker at its helm as a benevolent dictator. So, thanks, Mr. Denning, for not only ruining Jacen's character development, but also for ruining Luke Skywalker himself, more than even what Rian Johnson did in TLJ.

I know it is quite melancholic to end this post like that; I just wanted to remark that, for me, Star Wars, as a franchise, ended chronologically with The Unifying Force, and that, as well as virtually the rest of The New Jedi Order, was more brilliant storytelling than anything Disney had given us (and that includes Andor, which I liked).

Happy Real Star Wars Day, and, of course, may the Force be with you!

[warlenys]

house md, 4x03 / 8x21 / 8x22.

[menlove]

do I attract you do I repulse you with my queasy smile am I too dirty am I too flirty do I like what you like I could be wholesome I could be loathsome I guess I'm a little bit shy why don't you like me why don't you like me without making me try???? I tried to be like grace kelly but all her looks were too sad so I tried a little freddie I've gone identity mad!!! I could be brown I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful I could be purple I could be anything you like gotta be green gotta be mean gotta be everything more why don't you like me why don't you like me why don't you walk out the door????? how can I help it how can I help it how can I help what you think hello my baby hello my baby putting my life on the brink why don't you like me why don't you like me why don't you like yourself?? should I bend over should I look older just to be put on your shelf?????????? I tried to be like grace kelly but all her looks were too sad so I tried a little freddie I've gone identity mad!! I could be brown I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful I could be purple I could be anything you like gotta be green gotta be mean gotta be everything more why don't you like me why don't you like me?? walk out the door! say what you want to satisfy yourself but you only want what everybody else says you should want (should want) I could be brown I could be blue I could be violet sky I could be hurtful I could be purple I could be anything you like gotta be green gotta be mean gotta be everything more why don't you like me why don't you like me???? walk out the door!!!!

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Something interesting I've noticed about conversion stories is many people seem to have both a rebellious streak and a deep-seated, insatiable desire to learn everything.

One of my shul's well-respected members (who runs the hebrew/judaism class that will start soon) talked about how, when he lived in my town, he would sneak out of the house just to go to shul. That's what I'm doing now, and it's funny (I'm not sneaking out per se, but I am also not telling anybody I'm going to shul). There's an aspect of free-spiritedness that I notice in many converts, and it's fascinating to hear each of their stories. And you know the funniest part? They sound like my story.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

The only times we get to see Clone Force 99 work together as a cohesive unit after Echo joins the group are once when they help Depa Billaba's forces and twice against battle droids on Kamino.

My point? Imagine what went down during their missions between Skako Minor and Order 66 that CROSSHAIR, even after a few years away from the squad, is all "Relax, Echo's on it." ❤️

And think about how critical Tech was to the group (and how important he was to Crosshair) that, even with Echo around, Crosshair basically considers the squad defunct without Tech. 💔

[windydrawallday]

WELDER aka "Autobot" Lockdown

"The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know... the world will tell you." - Carl Jung

An "Autobot" design for [my interpretation of Lockdown] I have lying around for a year now... I didn't play much with it so, this is what I could gather quickly in an hour to at least give a visual reference for the ones curious (and when I actually sit down and throw some backstory comic/doodles next time).

What I have on my notes for his backstory but I don't want to set it completely in stone: he started practically as a sort of "auxiliary" drone on a big factory of tools and weapons and gained agency/individuality when interacting with his older cybertronian bosses.

Always a daredevil and observer, quite dry-honest with his very calculative-utilitarian point of view. Still, he preferred most of the time to keep to himself and blend with the multitude... he liked to jump-scare those around him just to amuse himself.

Welder was known to be incredibly fast at reparations and improvisation of tools and weapons with whatever was handled to him... even capable of tearing apart his own frame to repair his team-mates' combat damages.

He was pleasant to work with but was known to say "Yes" to then do whatever he wanted... he was just frowned upon because he exceeded in skills from other models of his same class. Another reason why Welder was kept at hand: he was easy to put on a new, fresh team to fill the field medic/repairer role for quick scout missions. That's how he met many faceplates and forged some contacts without much fuss.

... This initial permissiveness would cost the trust of the Autobots who welcomed him much later after so many fishy recommendations from the factory, that at times felt more like they wanted to get rid of Welder...

The optic colors come from a [HC of mine]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Elsie Carson-Holt at LGBTQ Nation:

A school district in Southern California has sued Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) over a recent law that bans schools from forcibly outing students to their parents. On Tuesday, the Chino Valley Unified school and a few parents sued Newsom, saying that the law violates their constitutional rights as parents. The new law bans districts from requiring that parents be notified if their child asks to go by a new name or pronouns or use facilities not associated with their sex assigned at birth.

[...] Newsom’s spokesperson, Izzy Gardon, called the lawsuit “unserious.” Gardon said in an email to The Guardian that the law “preserves the child-parent relationship.” “California law ensures minors can’t legally change their name or gender without parental consent, and parents continue to have guaranteed and full access to their student’s educational records consistent with federal law,” she said. “We’re confident the state will swiftly prevail in this case.”

Newsom signed the law in question on Monday, and it is the first of its kind in the United States. Called the SAFETY Act, along with prohibiting parents from being notified if their child’s gender identity changes, it also protects teachers and administrators if they choose not to follow district directives to out queer kids to their parents.

Chino Valley USD in California is suing Gov. Gavin Newson (D) over his signing of forced outing ban bill AB1955. Chino Valley USD has been in the news in recent years over its right-wing majority on the school board enacting anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

[charmwasjess]

my partner sometimes just likes to randomly come after me re: Star Wars, category: Sifo-Dyas obsession

[magnetarbeam]

What the fuck kind of entity has the power to strip an entire species of their connection to the Force?

[transsexula]

Theres a very weird movement going on here, where if you mention issues related to men, you are automatically labeled an MRA.

In all honesty, it makes sense with what feminist theory has been clipped off after t*rfs got their hands on the "feminist" title and ran it through the mud. Because to them- men are evil. Masculinity is evil. Specifically trans men are evil gender traitors who want nothing more than a slice of the patriarchy pie.

Where is the space now in progressive/feminist circles for men? Especially queer men? Men who have BEEN feminists, who have been active politically, in their communities and homes- where is the space for them? What happened to stronger together? When did the mass begin adopting t*rf talking points? When did feminism as a whole become centered on those talking points?

Like. I AM allowed to talk about the issues I face in a heteronormative cis-centric society plagued with patriarchal views. That shit affects me deeply! I talk about it on my blog. In my own space. I also uplift the voices of others- especially women, and fem-aligned people. It's important to have connections with all sorts of people- it makes me feel more whole, both in the personal connections, and the connections made through works of art, books, etc.

It is frightening to watch the community splinter apart as the looming threat of a Trump term is happening. It feels like being in a crowd, helping everyone into a safe zone and reaching for a hand up- only to be left behind and closed out as the zombie hoard closes in.

Under pressure, things begin to break down. But we really need to do our best to mend the splintering, to fill the cracks and seems and divides. Because otherwise, their next step is "Conquer" and I don't want to see that for us.

[twistedtangledfate]

Wake up, Senators - you must wake up! If we offer the separatists violence, they can only show us violence in return! Many will lose their lives, and all will lose their freedom. This decision could well destroy the foundation of our great Republic! I pray you do not let fear push you into a disastrous decision. Vote down this security measure, which is nothing less than a declaration of war! Does anyone here want that? I cannot believe they do!

Padme Amidala addressing the Senate regarding the vote on the military creation act.

[brotherofbagels]

HE'S BACK

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Ok, let's talk about the Solo kids' relationships with the force for a sec here.

Jaina basically treated jedi training like a trade school (no pejorative undercurrebt here; we respect trade schools). She wanted the practical applications and treated the force like a tool that she could use to augment her mechanical and piloting hard skillsets. She wasn't interested in the difference ebetween the living and unifying forces because it didn't matter for her on a practical level.

Anakin was college-bound in his jedi training, and came out with something along the lines of a master's degree. He liked learning some of the theory, but he also had the exceedingly rare talent wherein he could bridge theory and practicality, could marry the academic with the day-to-day world. Our boy was so living force that he basically embodied it to take out the voxyn queen.

Jacen has both a PhD in the force and a complete inability to either divorce theory from practice to function in the real world or else synthesize the two to function in the real world.

What I'm basically saying is that fantasy is when your PhDs become sith lords and sci fi is when your PhDs become supervillains.