Star Wars Chat Pack: Spirited Advice

Welcome Day 5 of my NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) Challenge, in which I answer a question from the Star Wars Chat Pack every day of November.

The question that I pulled randomly for today is: Which Star Wars character would you want to appear and give you advice as a spirit?

So I’m going to make a few assumptions with this one. First, that the “spirit” referred to is a Force ghost of a former Jedi, and not just some random spirit (although I suppose it could be that; the question isn’t crystal clear. In which case, I’d want Padme’s ghost to come back and give me fashion advice–I’m hopeless–and just have some girl talk, lol).

Secondly, I’m going to assume that I’m training to be a Jedi as well. I suppose Jedi Force ghosts can appear to anyone they want and give random advice, but it just makes more sense they’d appear to those who need Jedi advice. I guess that’s what a Master is for, but let’s just say I need a bit of extracurricular insight.

Okay, so I’m training to be a Jedi and I need advice. Who do I want to appear? There are so many great possibilities here. But let’s get a few out of the way:

Not Anakin Skywalker. He was an amazing Jedi, but based on his appearance in Ahsoka, I don’t think his methods would work well with me. It’s perfect for his Padawan, Ahsoka, but I’d probably just cry, lol.

Not Mace Windu. I don’t like him. Again, it’s a matter of method and personality. Plus, there was a bit of darkness running through him (like Anakin, but in a different way), which he utilized in his lightsaber combat method, Vaapad. That makes me nervous. He’s not for me.

Other than those two, it could be any number of Jedi:

So true, Yoda. I ought to be a genius by now.

Yoda was a Master Jedi who lived for hundreds of years and had a vast amount of knowledge to impart. Of course, that left plenty of time to make mistakes too, but he owned up to them and learned from them. He can be a mischievous imp, so that would be fun. But there are others I’d like to consider.

That was a total burn on Maul, but the statement stands on its own.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of my favorite Jedi. He’s kind and wise, selfless and compassionate. He practiced Form 3 (“Soresu”) lightsaber combat, which is primarily defensive in nature. I like that. But he’s different than Yoda in that he loved deeply (Anakin, Satine) and had to learn to let go of his attachment to both. Or at least learn to live with it while he went about the business of being a Jedi. But he’s similar to Yoda in that he is very much a man of the Order. And that’s fine, but dogma can make one a bit inflexible. (Plus, I’m a little bit in love with Obi-Wan, so that would be a distraction).

Which brings me to Qui Gon Jinn, the Jedi Force ghost I would choose to get advice from. I think Qui Gon is the ideal Jedi. Not perfect by any means, but one who follows his intuition. He often questions the Council and their motivations. He’s seen as a bit of a maverick in the Order, but he’s more concerned with the Force than politics. With doing what is right, rather than what is expected. If he had lived–well, a lot of things might have been different–but I don’t think he would have become a Jedi general in the Clone Wars. I think he would have left the Order rather than take part in it. He would have been more of a Wayseeker (a Jedi working independently of the Order), as we see in the High Republic. He’s a man of principle, and he’s brave for standing by his principles, and standing up to the Council.

What would I ask him? Well, obviously I’m not really training as a Jedi, but short of a specific question I guess I’d ask him to talk about the Living Force versus the Cosmic Force. I’d ask him about the Jedi prophecies in the Archives, which he’d studied when he was younger and what he thought they meant. I’d ask him about his relationships with his Master, Dooku, and his Padawan, Obi-Wan, and what he’d learned from each. Stuff like that.

But whatever advice I sought, I know I’d get a thoughtful, honest response. Maybe a bit cryptic, sometimes, but he likes to make you think. And he’s just a nice guy.

Who would you choose for advice? Interpret the question any way you want. Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Star Wars Chat Pack: Who is your favorite Star Wars villain?

Welcome to Day 2 of my NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) challenge, in which I pick a card from the Star Wars Chat Pack.

This time the card I picked asks, “Who is your favorite Star Wars villain?” A pretty basic Star Wars question, but I do have to think about it a bit.

My first thought would be Kylo Ren. He’s a fascinating character to me, and of course, Adam Driver’s performance is flawless. But is he truly a villain? Well, yes, he does do some evil stuff. But throughout the whole sequel trilogy, he seems to be trying so hard to be a villain. He’s not necessarily embracing the darkness as much as fighting the light inside him. So to me, Kylo’s a bit too complex to be an easy answer to this one.

Recently, Royce Hemlock, the super-creepy doctor from The Bad Batch, has fit that bill. Everything from his weird whispery voice, the way he holds his black-gloved hand, and his sheer coldness and calculation, make him a perfect villain. Frankly, he scares me, and I worry about our boys from Clone Force 99 encountering him (and Crosshair, who’s already at Mt. Tantiss and has suffered at his hands). But he’s new to the villain scene, and I don’t know enough about him to say he’s my favorite one.

Palpatine? Seems the obvious answer; he’s the over-arching villain of the entire franchise. He is evil incarnate. There are no redeeming qualities to this being–the glee he experiences in his depraved acts makes that clear (cue evil cackling). But because of this, he’s not boring, exactly, but not particularly interesting.

So I think my answer has to be Darth Vader. Who else? Here is a man who has fallen from the light and has embraced the darkness, but he takes no real pleasure in that darkness. He is a man in pain who lashes out. His evil is undisputable–from choking the woman he went to the dark side for in the first place, to killing the babies, to murdering pretty much anyone who displeases him, to blindly following the orders of Palpatine–he’s terrifying. But what really punches you in the gut is that he was once a good person. Anakin Skywalker was a hero, an amazing Jedi, a loving husband, a friend and ally to Obi-Wan. He was also impatient, arrogant, and fearful. Terribly flawed. Just like we all are. And so his fall is our fall, and it terrifies us. He’s an extreme example, but he is what we all could be, given the right circumstances. Which makes his eventual redemption that much more satisfying.

And now he pays…and makes others pay, too.

There’s a lot of villains to choose from in Star Wars. From those above, to Thrawn, General Grievous, Darth Maul, Jabba the Hutt, Admiral Tarkin, Snoke and any number of Sith Lords and Imperial baddies, villains abound. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

Star Wars Chat Pack: What is your favorite Grogu moment?

Today is the first day of my NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) challenge, in which I pick a random card from the Star Wars Chat Pack and answer the question.

I got “What is your favorite Grogu moment?” and oh my word, how am I supposed to choose? The little guy is a scene-stealer. I love literally every single scene he is in, lol. Will I go with cutest, most integral to the plot, most heartfelt, or best character moment?

He’s cute in every single scene, so I can’t pick just one of those. Impossible.

Most integral to the plot? Anytime he uses the Force: healing Greef Karga, holding off the fire of explosions, communing with a Jedi on Tython (which brings Luke along). He comes in handy that way in many instances.

Here’s my pick for most heartfelt:

But if I’m going with a moment that truly defines who Grogu is, then it’s the scene where he breaks up the fight between Paz Viszla and Axe Woves (over some dumb thing) while he’s in the IG droid (Season 3, Episode 7). He keeps repeating “No, no, no, no.” Grogu is a Mandalorian through Din Djarin, but he’s also got a Jedi background, from growing up in the Temple and also with his training with Luke. He knows that if the Mandalorians keep fighting amongst themselves, they’re doomed to fail. Cute and smart, and pretty brave for getting in between two Mandalorians poised for violence. He’s a little hero in that moment.

Again, I could choose just about any scene with him in it for my favorite because, duh, Grogu. But that one shows how far he’s come since Season 1, how he’s grown and accepted the different parts of himself.

What is your favorite Grogu scene?

NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month)

So the other day I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), an online event that takes place every November, wherein writers dedicate the entire month of November to writing 50,000 words of their novel. I’ve taken part in NaNo a few times in years past, and thought it would be a good opportunity to finish a fan-fiction story I’d started some time ago (not the Bad Batch fanfic I just posted to AO3) but haven’t gotten around to finishing yet.

Well, soon after I decided I wasn’t into it and wouldn’t commit myself to that. But I had another thought not long after. When I had my old writing blog, I participated in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which is a blogging equivalent to NaNo. You can write about anything you want, and it can be any length, but you must post every single day in November. There’s no official website for it anymore, but there’s no reason why you can’t do it anyway.

I just happened to buy the Star Wars Chat Pack (created by Kelly Knox, about $25 on Amazon), which is a bunch of cards in a box that has questions about Star Wars covering Characters, Technology, the Force, and the Galaxy. It’s meant to facilitate fun discussions among Star Wars fans, but you can ponder them alone, as well. I thought I’d do a weekly post answering one of the questions for something different.

Then I had the idea of doing a post every day on a different question for NaBloPoMo, randomly picking a card everyday and no matter what it is (no swapsies), write my thoughts on it. So that’s the new plan for November. If you get sick of seeing my posts in your inbox everyday, please ignore, lol. It’s more for me than anything else, to see if I can commit myself to posting everyday, and also just to see what I think about certain things in Star Wars. If you feel compelled to write your own answers in the comments, please do!

So starting tomorrow you’ll see my illuminating thoughts on fun, interesting questions about Star Wars. Can’t wait to start!