Droids: mechanical menaces or interesting characters in their own right? New index added. Need fics!

Now that I think about it, I haven?t really done much with droids other than a few bit parts or cannon fodder for the Republic. I should start using them more. Hmmm? ideas, ideas.

Regarding astromech speech patterns, one can?t forget to add in the occasional blat for when the little domed one is really upset (if the particular droid in question has enough personality for that).

The excerpts posted have all been excellent perspectives on droids. If computer programs count, the artificial intelligence Jen from Forcefire?s [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=9675219&replies=13]New Skin[/link] and [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=12122171&replies=0]Make Yourself[/link] is a unique take on the machines of the GFFA.

I do have a small scene with a help desk droid in my upcoming humor fic. It?s still game for editing at some point between now and whenever I get to posting the story, but here it is ? keeping in mind the ?humor?:

******

?Well,? the information desk droid said, scratching its dome-shaped head unit and biting its multi-purpose grasping tool with its vocal interaction device, ?It is possible for me to divulge the location of the most satisfying intake of pizza discs.?

?Sweet!? Jebediah Fett exclaimed, truly excited.

?That?s not what we asked!? Boushh protested. ?We asked how to beat a Jedi!?

?Perhaps a search of my local color banks will reveal the answer to this query,? the droid speculated. Its eyes turned gray, then back to yellow. ?Is this aforementioned Jedi an idiot in any way? Or blond??

?No.?

?In this case, my local color banks are useless. I shall check the Holonet,? the droid declared, its eyes growing dull again. Later, the yellow color returned. ?Nothing but porn.?

?Try something else!? Boushh ordered. ?Or I?ll blast you right in the RAM!?

?Oh dear,? the droid responded. ?I shall interface with the giant cosmic brain-power, known to mortal meat units as Encarta.? It did so. ?To succeed in your quest, you must find the creature known as the ysalamari. It can neutralize the Force powers of any Force-user, including Jedi, Sith, and Cleo.?

?Cleo? I love her!? Jeb said.

?That just proves how big an idiot you are,? Boushh growled. He regarded the droid. ?How do I get one of these ysalamari??

?Ysalamari can be found in any of the following fine locations right here on Duro: Jawa Jim?s Used Exotic Pet Superstore.?

?Is there some kind of ysalamari ice cream we can use?? Ice Cream Maker Guy asked in vain.

?Used exotic pets?? Boushh repeated.

?Those words are what I vocalized,? the droid confirmed. ?Thank you for speaking with the Duro Information Desk and please enjoy your stay.?

******

It?s odd, I know. And that is the Ice Cream Maker Guy from ESB that we all know and love.

This is a good topic, spiritgurl, even though I can't muster more than a nameless cameo in regards to it.

 

I don't mean to kill threads. Really I don't...

 

lol

*puts defibrilator on thread to get going again*

I wanted to up this mainly because I was curious to see, given the fact that C3PO's memory is erased in Revenge of the Sith and R2's is not, if that has changed anybody's view of how to present R2 in OT fics? It makes him a much more interesting character, for one thing. (as if he wasn't interesting before. )

sg

 

Hmm...I think that R2 knew all along who was who and what was going on. But R2 is mischevious like that and kept it quiet *grins* Actually, I wonder what would happen should R2 ever decide to 'spill' so to speak, and show everyone what he witnessed through the years.

And an interesting thread. After having written a chapter entirely in Threepio's view- I can only say that was definitely different and not unchallenging to do. But it was fun as well. Describing things as a droid would see them was definitely new...

 

what's really interesting about it is, he's a droid, what in him makes him capable of keeping a secret? And how do the Jedi know there's no danger of him "spilling" at an inappropriate time?

Also, it's fun now to watch the OT with it in mind that R2 knows everything, I mean, he knows who Obi-Wan is in ANH, (which gives a whole new depth to the exchange where Obi-Wan looks at him and says "I don't seem to recall ever owning a droid"), he knows Leia and Luke are siblings more than likely, and all along he knew a heck of a lot more than C3PO but despite all the C3PO's badgering of him, he never reveals the truth to shut him up (as far as we know anyway, he could have C3PO the truth in a heated moment of arguing and then C3PO would have just smacked him on the head and said "Oh, shut up you blathering tub of grease!")

sg

 

And I think I'm going to do an index for this, they're fun to do. Basically to be eligible a Droid must either be the main character or a heavily used secondary character in the story.

If interested, please PM me the following information...

Title: [ link=URL of story]Name of Story[/link ]
Author:
Characters: (please include droid's name as well as other characters. For original character/droid use OD and then the name of the droid. Example: OD/R5B4)
Era: (Before the Saga, The Saga, Beyond the Saga)
Genre: (Mystery, Angst, Humor, Action etc)
Summary:
Status: (completed? or is it a work in progress?)

As in the example above, please leave space before and after "link" when sending the URL. It makes life easier for me.

sg

 

Rather a fun idea in [link=http://boards.theforce.net/Beyond_the_Saga/b10477/20194840]Messages You Aren't Meant to Read[/link] where AdmiralWesJanson suggests that Artoo has a protected secure memory whose existence (let along any of the contents) cannot be revealed by him without the correct authorisation codes being given.

To quote the story:

Unfortunately, his hardware did not allow him to reveal the contents or existence of his secure memory unless a specific password was provided. Master Anakin had seen to that. Artoo rather missed Master Anakin at times, as well as Mistress Padmé.

 

Huh. That's an interesting idea JM. but who would have secured his memory about Luke and Leia? Not Anakin. He'd still have to have had a choice to secure his memory or not. and there's still the risk that Anakin would have gotten a hold of R2 and found out about the babies.

I'll be working on that index some time next week. I'm going to go through the posts here and see if any of the stories would be appropriate to index but that'll be next week sometime or next weekend. If anyone has a story they want to submit, go ahead and send it my way in the meantime though.

sg

 

The idea with the secure memory is that Anakin created it to store important messages, files, ect. ance password protected it. It won't go away, even if R2 is memory wiped, but he is prohibited brom revealing its existance or any of the contents without the password.

Artoo puts copies of things he thinks are important in the secured memory, like the message from Leia, probably a copy of the Death Star plans, and in my story, a message Mara records. He also keeps a copy of his personality in there as a backup in case of a mind wipe, sort of like Whistler does.

As for not spilling secrets, I'd think that Artoo could clear parts of his normal memory if necessary to keep a secret.

 

Thank you AWJ for the clarification.

I've got the frameworks up for a droid story index in the first post but I'm going to need some more stories to add. Please check out the first post before PMing me.

sg