Archives Of The Last Jedi Academy (continued: Pt 2)

When This All Goes Away (pt. 2)

Hearing your devastating story of the years missing between us made it clear, made me understand you on a deeper level, and I loved every moment of you sharing – how does one love during a moment of hearing a heartbreaking story? 

In my whining and pining and imagining you rejecting me in the future, it reminded me to remember that it’s not all about me. Indeed, as you said, you need time for you to just be.

And as someone who has many times lost herself, been hidden by others from herself, submitted to pressure to give up myself, and as someone who then has had many years to be exactly who I want to be without interference let alone repression and the suffocation you suffered, I get it, and it is my biggest wish for you.

I want you so much to heal, recover, repair. Please don’t ever let me get in the way.

Of course, now I think I love you even more, now.

😮😍

By Luke Fisher #starwars #rogueone #darthvader #lordvader #vader #sith #sithlord #thedarkside #theempire #fanmade #fanart

Kyloha

A (tiny, crocheted) shirtless Master of the Knights of Ren visits Oahu 

My sister lives in Oahu and made these dolls for me, so I had to go pick them up. I decided to make this Flat-Stanley-esque photo essay with my adorable Kylo Ren. 

I arrived with a trooper escort but soon got into the Aloha spirit and gave the trooper the week off.

View from the balcony of my accommodations. I don’t want to give away the name of the place lest they be flooded with visitors wanting to sleep in the same bed that I graced.

Taking Uber makes it easy to get around the island, away from the crowds

Enjoying a guava dumpling for breakfast at Island Brew Coffeehouse in Hawaii Kai

Halona Cove Lookout. This is a much prettier seaside location than where I “hooked up” with Rey, but it messed up my hair.

Halona Cove Lookout

At Koko Crater Botanical Gardens, I really felt the Aloha flowing through me. The Plumerias were beautiful and smelled almost as intoxicating as Rey.

At Makapu’u Beach working on my tan

Thought I heard some Resistance Scum nearby

Some shopping at Manoa Chocolate Factory. I hope Rey likes chocolate.

Rum tasting at KoHana Distillery

I wanted to see what they aging barrels look like, so I sliced them open.

Laie Church of Latter Day Saints Temple. Much better than any Jedi Temple

Going to find Rey a Hello Kitty sticker at Don Quijote

Happy Hour at Buho Cantina in Waikiki

It was taco Tuesday

I had a lot to drink. Met this cute, but very drunk, girl and her friends. She was strong with the Force and kept trying to touch my saber. I was a bit drunk, so I hope Rey understands.

Went for a ride with her on her Biki. I was too drunk to pedal the thing, but she wasn’t in a much better state to be pedaling, either, so we parked it.

Duke Kahanamoku statue on Waikiki Beach. He must have been as awesome to his people as I am.

Couldn’t find another Biki to rent, so I Force-choked a local and took this cruiser.

Breakfast on the last day of the trip

Alohi cakes with Guava jam and banana sour cream. I think Rey would like these.

Seeing if this banyan tree might be a Force tree while waiting for my tour of the Iolani Palace.

Darth Vader’s castle was much better than Iolani Palace.

Some final souvenir shopping at Ala Moana Mall

I hope Rey likes cookies

Waiting to board my flight. My saber needs some repairs. I had a great trip. Think I got a bit of a tan, too. I hope Rey likes that.

Archives at the Last Jedi Academy (pt. 1)

Story excerpt discovered in the databanks of the wrecked ship. 

Passed down in her family, on her mother’s side, she had learned many ancient and distant arts: to write on manuscript in longhand was one of them. Years of training had made her manuscripts live despite it being merely ink on flattened and dried pulp of trees or shrubs. Legend had it the more skilled artisans had the power to control minds with the mesmerizingly beautiful design of the words.

Darkness cradled the bright pale blue orb of light where she sat in the closed archives building. Her entirety fixed on the almost finished page in front of her, her hand working automatically moving the ancient instrument across the parchment, using other senses than sight to direct it into the ink, the silver nib playing the notes a slow melody with each rhythmic dip.

By the time she sensed his presence, Ben was already in the room. The instrument instinctively lifted off the parchment at her startle. “The archives are closed.” His voice violated the quiet in which she had absorbed herself. She set down the instrument and put her hands in her lap as if in passive resistance. She stared at the nearly complete work in front of her. Then she felt embarrassed, compelled to pull it to her, to throw herself over it to hide it. But upon that thought she felt her muscles slip into his control. His footsteps sounded so loud and heavy as he approached. The only part of her that she could move was her eyes that stared at her art in a futile attempt to move it with the Force then away to avoid seeing his reaction.

She had taken the conclusions of her latest research into Darth Vader and used the sentence structures as the shimmering black lines forming the images on the page. These images framed a box of marbled silver and violet text in which she wrote her findings that led her to her conclusions. She feared embarrassment over her fascination with Darth Vader: fascinated by his fall, the Jedi wanting to learn lessons from his decision to join the dark side, her culture sympathizing with his skeptical perception of authority.

When she had first arrived and became acquainted with her fellow padawans, she had heard rumors of Ben’s fascination with Darth Vader, as well. However, 

that was his grandfather, and it didn’t seem unusual. For her, she worried that not being his kin might be seen as inappropriate or an unhealthy interest for a Jedi in training. She was in awe of Master Luke and compelled to observe Ben any chance she got. Here was the kin of Anakin Skywalker, the subject of her youthful study, in her immediacy.

Part of her felt a thrill being this momentary target of his attention, and most of her was terrified of the mortification and discipline to come for breaking the rules. He paced in front of the table, his view unwavering from her expressions on the page.

She closed her eyes feeling the seconds slow and in that moment of her mind she saw the mountains of her home planet, and her vision zoomed in on her grandmother’s home, a gathering; she felt the warmth of a fire and smell of the brew, the way her uncle had prepared it for every reveal, the occasion the young people of her galèa completed their training of their art and revealed their creations on which they had spent years drawing the words. She clenched her eyelids together and the tears spilled this memory over into the present. She drew in the chilled archive air through her nose, opening her eyes wide to use the only muscles that she controlled to gasp since the breath she drank in wasn’t enough to shrink the lump in her throat. Upon the sound of her gasp, he released his grasp.

“Why do you make these writings more intricate and complex than they need to be? The same ideas can be expressed in simple Aurebesh. You would not need to violate the rules to spend your time in here to record such intriguing ideas.” For all the intimidation she had felt since she arrived at training and the intensified apprehension she felt being caught by him violating the rules, her irritation flooded over it.  The ignorance of not knowing the significance of the art of her people, the lack of knowledge that the expressions demanded the intricate artwork for the ideas to be captured in the way they demanded and the disappointment that these were the first words ever spoken between them pumped relaxation and confidence through her.

“Simplicity is not best. It often just the easiest.” She stood up to look right into those dark eyes. All her adolescent hormonal attraction to him dissolved and she put on her bag and began gathering her styluses into it. She bit her lip to suppress the urge to throw the remaining inking compound that she had spent days perfecting at him. He glanced at the vial as she thought it.

“You want to throw that on me.” He said and smirked. That irritated her more. She capped the vial with a firm slap of the cap. She captured a deep breath so that she could carefully pick up the parchment and leave. As she reached to cradle the edges of the document to pick it up, he stopped her, not by exerting the force, but by placing his hand on hers. It felt as if their contact compelled her to inhale and through her mind whispers of feelings - chaotic, desperate, calm and fierce - spilled from him. She looked at him and he did not move his eyes to meet hers. He looked for a moment at his hand touching hers then moved it. His sights then caressed each letter, each word, each thought collaged on the page.  She wanted to leave, but she wanted her creation. She interrupted him.

“Sir. May I leave?” He looked up at her and stepped back from the table. “Am I in trouble?” Her fear returned. His head shook slightly then more intentionally. She slipped the parchment from under his hand as she turned to hurry out. It was this beauty that halted Ben from leading her from the archives to Master Luke. He saw the method of her note taking, compelled to read it, the ideas she had found about the ambiguity of right and wrong, of light and dark.

© Sheila Wright and Squire of the Knights of Ren, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sheila Wright and Squire of the Knights of Ren with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Cake I decorated to donate to my kiddo's Ice Cream Social, tomorrow. Theme was tropical/paradise, so I had to make a Rogue One cake since the battle took place on Scarif, a tropical planet. Nothing says "paradise" like fighting rebel scum!

Archives of the Last Jedi Academy (continued, pt. 5)

RARE DOCUMENTS, RARE TRUTHS

Her chin rested on the force field and her shoulders dropped as she sighed; she turned the pages of the ancient manuscript protected beneath. Her touch separated by millimeters of field -- so close to feeling the delicate pages that held so much power -- a power granted by its rarity, ability to survive a purge to hide the positive accomplishments of a man many planets urged its people to see as a demon, to be feared not revered. She pressed more for her face into the field to get closer, her fingers pressing hard onto the page an incomplete, interrupted caress of the page. She rested her head on her arm on the field, an exhaustion from the late hour and from the realization that what had been constantly challenged and denied to her in this place but shared with her as a child back home, ideas and points of view vehemently rejected lay in truth, millimeters from her touch. Jedi were willingly following lies about the Sith, perpetuated by the galaxy. A myth glorifying, denying, hiding the other points of view, pushing an incomplete picture of the truth.

New merchandise featuring Kylo Ren ahead of Force Friday II release:

Star Wars Elite Series Die Cast Action Figures: Star Wars Elite Series Die Cast Action Figures inspired by Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Available exclusively at Disney Store, DisneyStore.com, and Disney Parks.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Shirts: Available at various retailers.

Itty Bitty Plush: Availiable at Hallmark.

Star Wars Force Link Starter Set: Bring the galaxy to life with Force Link! Recreate the adventures of a galaxy far, far away with Force Link, a new interactive play system from Hasbro that gives kids the sound effects and phrases from the Star Wars movies right in the palms of their hands! Wear Force Link wearable technology to activate lights, sounds, and phrases in Force Link-activated figures, accessories, vehicles, and playsets! With Force Link, kids can bring some of their favorite Star Wars adventures to life! When kids wear the included Force Link wearable technology and pick up the included 3.75-inch scale Kylo Ren figure, they can activate authentic sounds and phrases! Kids can imagine sending Kylo Ren into fiery battle with the included Lightsaber accessory, and imagine recreating their favorite scenes and adventures from Star Wars.

FEMALE STAR WARS FANS: THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE

WHY DO SOME STILL ASSUME STAR WARS IS A GALAXY FOR MEN AND KIDS ONLY?

40 years after Star Wars arrived in our galaxy, society often still pushes the misconception that Star Wars is primarily the domain of adult males, then kids and teens (male ones primarily). And it gives the impression that maybe if you’re looking in unique places, you might find the unicorn of Star Wars fans, adult females, on the fringes of this domain. Mega-store Target was heralded as if they discovered the female Star Wars fanbase, celebrating this “discovery” to sell merchandise during film release time. It is an inaccurate perception of Star Wars that we keep having to melt away.

For a long time female fans have been a large part of this fandom, and I’m glad to see more coming to light to correct the perception of the female fanbase, particularly with news of the “Looking for Leia” documentary in the works, which talks about the strong female characters that attract a female fanbase (although it’s not just because of the female characters that I like Star Wars).  

I peek out at this topic well submerged in my Star Wars point of view. I’ve just assumed for a long time that there are just as many females as males are out there living the Star Wars life just like I do. I’ve seen moms at my kid’s school wearing Star Wars shirts, and my kid’s Cub Scout den leader has a Star Wars purse and she, like others I’ve met, are more into Star Wars than their husbands or kids. I’ve seen the large female fan base at Star Wars Celebration and follow social media run by female fans. So why is this prevalent conception that Star Wars is a male or child’s domain?  

A LONG TIME AGO…I WAS THERE TO SEE STAR WARS

My history of being a non-male Star Wars nerd runs deep. I saw Star Wars in the theaters in 1977, when I was 6 years old.

It was socially acceptable for me as a kid in the late-70s to be a Star Wars fan, less so to be one because I was a girl. But of course the assumption was that Princess Leia was my favorite. Leia certainly showed me that a brunette with brown eyes (like me) could be a princess, smart, skilled with a blaster, and someone who others looked to for guidance – not a common motif in the 70s. And, yes, I dressed up as Leia for like 5 Halloweens in a row (because my mom could not compute the idea that I wanted to dress up as Darth Vader). But it wasn’t just because there was a female lead character that I became consumed by the Force. 

SITHS NEED LOVE, TOO

Darth Vader was my favorite character. When my sister and I would pretend that we had boyfriends; she chose Han Solo, and I chose Darth Vader not really because I thought at age 6 that get up was sexy, but it was more because I wanted to be like him. I was introverted, a pushover, picked on by my sister, and if I were Darth Vader with Force choke powers none of that would be happening to me. I do wonder: where was the female Sith for me to identify with in the late 70s?   

JUST WHEN I THINK THE MYTH OF THE FEMALE FAN IS DISPELLED…

When looking for Star Wars bedding for my room, I learned that Pottery Barn Kids puts Star Wars sheets in the “boys sheeting” category. Some use George Lucas to defend this because he said that he intended Star Wars to be a kids’ movie. This assumption that it’s for kids leads some people to criticize men, in particular, who like Star Wars, diminishing their interest as something to hide like in this comment on a post for a Millennium Falcon Asteroid Field coffee table: “Who’s up for ditching the women, getting our own place, and having this as a centerpiece lol” Yes, the comment is for their personal situation, and it was said with a lighthearted tone as implied by the “LOL,” but it highlights one of the impressions given out there – that the Star Wars universe is a male or child’s dominion, that a home would have to be devoid of women for Star Wars furniture to be allowed in it.  With these impressions being given, it’s not surprising that merchandisers reflect this idea that female Star Wars fans are an anomaly.  

AND…WAIT, DO WE REALLY STILL USE THE TERM “HOUSEWIFE?”

I want Star Wars home decor, but not because I’m a housewife as this implies. Really, do we still use the term housewife? Ugh.  

Star Wars home decor was exactly what I was on the hunt for when I was pregnant in 2007. Of course, a Star Wars themed nursery was the only consideration. At this time there was little merchandise for such a choice. Not only that, I had to battle the social conventions like “blue is for boys,” and “pink is for girls.” Why does this still exist? It hasn’t always been that color association; it’s a relatively recent arbitrary phenomenon we mostly perpetuate in our society.

BACK IN MY DAY, WE HAD TO MAKE OUR OWN STAR WARS DECOR AND PARTY SUPPLIES

When I was pregnant, I refused to find out the gender of my child and wanted to surround it in primary colors and of course have a Star Wars-themed baby shower.  I planned and created all the needed supplies myself because they didn’t exist in 2007, and I knew that if I didn’t do it, whoever offered to host my baby shower would probably slip into the pink and blue conventions. To allay my mother’s anxieties from the idea of a Star Wars baby shower and her fear people wouldn’t know what to buy, I told her she could tell people it was a “space/Star Wars” theme. I specified to people that I wanted primary colors, and if they felt the need to get pastel that I wanted NO pink. People asked, “what if you have a girl?” As if I’d have no choice but to leave her undressed if there was nothing pink to put on her. They were okay with the Star Wars theme and primary colors if I was having a boy, but saying the theme applies whether it’s a boy or a girl really did confuse people.

For the shower, I made Star Wars baby bingo cards, matching game, and a pin-the-belly on Padmè game. I made R2D2 and Yoda soaps for the party favors. I made my own announcements too. Today, I could probably buy Star Wars baby shower supplies, in a much higher quality on Etsy. 

My mother overcame her anxieties and she as well as her good friend, made bassinet and crib sheets and a changing pad cover for me using Star Wars fabric. Gotta give credit to my late mom for enabling my Star Wars nursery dreams despite her inability to accept it. My godmother even made Star Wars chocolates to serve at the shower. 

Friends and family gave Star Wars toys (unable to find anything age appropriate for a baby, though, but great for decorating the nursery) and managed to find a few Star Wars baby clothes online which was not an easy thing to do at the time, and I was fortunate enough to find Star Wars mini-blinds for the nursery from 3-Day Blinds. I made my own birth announcements, too. 

My sister painted a series of prints for the room. 

Now that my son is older and wants nothing to do with Star Wars, they have taken a spot of honor in our living room. He still bugs me about removing the blinds.

IT’S 2017: THE MERCHANDISE ABOUNDS - THANK THE MAKER!

Now I’m pushing 50, and Star Wars is well integrated into my life thanks to the wealth of merchandise out there. With the amount available, I don’t have to make things. Every day I wear Star Wars apparel, whether it’s my Empire Strikes Back Vans, a t-shirt, cardigan, socks, jewelry, or a jacket, I am wearing something Star Wars. I have a Star Wars wallet, my “everyday” First Order purse and my “fancy dress” Boba Fett purse. My car has an imperial symbol on the rear window and Darth Vader hanging from the rear view mirror. My work bags are a Darth Vader brief case and a rolling Darth Vader backpack. I bring snacks to work in a Boba Fett lunch box and my water in a stainless steel Kylo Ren reusable bottle. When it rains I have a Darth Vader rain jacket and two lightsaber umbrellas to choose from, and if it’s cold a Boba Fett beanie. 

I lay me down to sleep under the watch of a Death Star on my wall, on Star Wars bed sheets and keep warm under a Star Wars comforter and, in the morning, I push my feet into Star Wars slippers upon my Death Star rug. I am cleansed by the water coming from my Darth Vader shower head, the Kylo Ren shower curtain keeping the spray contained, and I dispose of rubbish in my R2D2 bin. In the rare instances I bake, I have an R2D2 measuring cup set, a Stormtrooper and Darth Vader spatulas and Star Wars Cookie Cutters. I sip ale from Mos Eisley Cantina pint glasses. 

FEELING INADEQUATE

But, I’ve always considered myself of a low-grade fan because I don’t have the budget to have more merchandise and because I am wholly unfamiliar with the expanded universe and the canon debate. Hence, a mere squire in the house of Ren.

In addition, my cosplay is put to shame by the amazing ensembles I see. A doubled-edge lightsaber piece of evidence for my argument is sexy cosplay. I don’t have a problem with if women want to sexualize a Star Wars character and pose seductively. On one hand, it does put the association out there of women so fanatical about Star Wars that they do dedicate art and craft to there quite often amazing cosplay, breaking the perception that Star Wars is for the male of the species. Although some might argue that these women are not really fans and only dressing up as Star Wars characters, objectifying themselves to sell something to the large male, heterosexual demographic the Star Wars fanbase is perceived as being.  

VERITY OF GRANDEUR

In the world that I want to live in, Star Wars is never assumed to be only of interest to the male of the species. And it’s clear that I’m not the only one, but things had gotten to a point where I had to double-check. Hope continually shines through with stores like Her Universe, Hot Topic and Think Geek selling products to FINALLY reflect the needs of female fans; merchandising is getting more considerate of the diverse fanbase. 

Society, also, still has quite a way to progress with gender expectations and its assumptions what women want to buy, but it is progressing, and a film franchise, Star Wars, because of its immense awesomeness, is playing a role in this broader melting of arbitrary gender divisions and mislaid societal expectations.

–Squire Ren

Indeed!

just a simple doodle with Kylo. can t wait to see Star Wars 8 ☆_☆ only 3 days left i’m alos trying to avoid internet as much as i can because spoilers are already there hahah