Wherein I catch up on months-old links: the EU & female characters
Ben Skywalker’s Ascension into Domestic Violence - Why the Fate of the Jedi Hurts So Much is an interesting read. (Warning, though, some discussion of violence & possible rape - ditto under the cut here). Although I'd personally qualify this suggestion:
Sit down and review what’s upcoming, and what we’ve been given over the past few years, and decide how you can balance out the storytelling to include stories women would like.
... because frankly I'd rather see sitting down and working out how to tell good stories that service all of the characters and are a capable fit within the narrative universe than "stories women would like", whatever the people at Del Ray and LucasArts would take those to be. (Which women? what stories? who gets to determine what sort of stories female Star Wars EU readers as a whole would enjoy? Sort of puzzled here to be honest.)
This, though:
Tahiri Veila, lured to the dark side to briefly become Jacen Solo’s Sith apprentice in LotF, was revealed to have had a sexual relationship with her Sith Master. This occurred in a gratuitous courtroom revelation as part of a criminal defense premised on her having followed his orders under duress due to the inherent coercive threat of a Sith Master’s violent, if not fatal, retaliation upon disappointment - creating the clear implication that she had been coercively raped by Jacen through the same power dynamic.
I just - really? Is there anything more that they can do to poor Tahiri? And what else can they throw at Jacen posthumously? The start of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi, and the invasion of the Vong? He could travel in time you know, courtesy of magic previous unrevealed Force abilities! Wasn't LotF bad enough as it was in terms of clumsy attempts at darkness without retrospective additions?
I can't really comment on the Ben/Vestara scene the article launches from without reading the book. Worth noting that some of the comments provide more context. Vestara's arc gave me bad vibes from the start, and LotF/FotJ haven't had the best track record for the handling of anything approaching nuance, but then I might be proven wrong, so.
Still can't believe I'm actually looking fondly back on the NJO. The Bantam stand-alones, even. (Okay, some of them. *side-eye at Waru*)
Sit down and review what’s upcoming, and what we’ve been given over the past few years, and decide how you can balance out the storytelling to include stories women would like.
... because frankly I'd rather see sitting down and working out how to tell good stories that service all of the characters and are a capable fit within the narrative universe than "stories women would like", whatever the people at Del Ray and LucasArts would take those to be. (Which women? what stories? who gets to determine what sort of stories female Star Wars EU readers as a whole would enjoy? Sort of puzzled here to be honest.)
This, though:
Tahiri Veila, lured to the dark side to briefly become Jacen Solo’s Sith apprentice in LotF, was revealed to have had a sexual relationship with her Sith Master. This occurred in a gratuitous courtroom revelation as part of a criminal defense premised on her having followed his orders under duress due to the inherent coercive threat of a Sith Master’s violent, if not fatal, retaliation upon disappointment - creating the clear implication that she had been coercively raped by Jacen through the same power dynamic.
I just - really? Is there anything more that they can do to poor Tahiri? And what else can they throw at Jacen posthumously? The start of the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi, and the invasion of the Vong? He could travel in time you know, courtesy of magic previous unrevealed Force abilities! Wasn't LotF bad enough as it was in terms of clumsy attempts at darkness without retrospective additions?
I can't really comment on the Ben/Vestara scene the article launches from without reading the book. Worth noting that some of the comments provide more context. Vestara's arc gave me bad vibes from the start, and LotF/FotJ haven't had the best track record for the handling of anything approaching nuance, but then I might be proven wrong, so.
Still can't believe I'm actually looking fondly back on the NJO. The Bantam stand-alones, even. (Okay, some of them. *side-eye at Waru*)