Lit General post NJO Discussion thread.

The only Skywalker kill Krayt will ever get is one of the Kemp clones made from a Skywalker

 

One thing I do wonder, is how Benhiri would have been developed in the post Crucible EU had it continued. I am fairly convinced based on interviews given, that they were not going to do Bestara(for the dumb “it would be repetitive” reason).

Ben is nearly twenty by the time of Crucible and Tahiri is in her mid thirties, and they do work together or something don’t they in Crucible? Would the fans have reacted angrily enough for them to shelve Benhiri? Or would they have, assuming Denning didn’t just de canonize Legacy, had them get together relatively soon given the constraints of time in universe.

Personally I dislike Benhiri, because well there isn’t much a story, beyond “Ben tentatively redeems the lost woman and uh well he needs to get married soon, and we’ve got to pair Tahiri with someone don’t we?”

I suppose it could work, if they had emphasized them building a relationship based on you know small scale stuff for like a decade-investigations, fighting lost tribe remnants, and such, but I doubt it would be handled with any such deftness or maturity.

 

I don't think it would work and if anyone was left reading people would complain. To put them together would be taking one of the worst moments of LotF and putting it front and centre. When ever they interact people would think "Remember when she molested him when he was 14". It would have been a horrid idea.

She also adds nothing to Ben, she doesn't have chemistry with him like Ves does.

We also don't NEED Tahiri to be with anyone, her arc in NJO was about self discovery and self reliance.

I think fan backlash would push for Benstara. Now would they listen to fans? Denning wouldn't, but maybe others would.

 

See, but the Lucasfilm editors-Rostoni and Chee apparently were the ones who shot down Bestara. Apparently, it was repeating Luke/Mara, or something. It wasn't Denning's call.

(This was revealing to me, as I had been under the impression the higher ups didn't care about such details, but apparently, they did).

 

Ok, then maybe they will listen to the blacklash, but again I doubt it.

Also they might have shot down Venstara, but Denning was pushing Benhiri.

 

From what I heard from some writers Lucasfilm editorial gets very picky about certain things, even things they put in the West End Game books.

There are a whole bunch of rules and what not.

 

I heard similar things about Jacen being redeemed as “repetitive” of Raynar(despite it being vastly different stories and situations) did they have some sort of rule that vaguely common plot motifs or concepts not be repeated?

As for Benhiri, given the decline in enthusiasm for the post ROTJ EU I wonder if the fan response would even have been loud enough to register its displeasure with the concept.

(Important to note the EU ended before modern online fan culture that allows direct interaction with the creators via Twitter and the like really became the norm).

 

Maybe I mean, the thing is the Post Endor EU in particular i get the sense had a very SMALL fanbase, so in a weird way the smaller the audience the more easy it is to be influenced, then when your going for mass appeal and your audience is so large, losing a few folks on forums doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. But that's just my wild guess, I have no idea what was going on at the time.

My only other thought would be Lucasfilm editing was getting more involved was because Lucas was ramping up to do his own Episode 10-12 before the sale and was getting ready to micromanage some stuff. But that's just me.

 

The Del Rey authors and Lucasbooks people weren’t IIRC aware of Lucas’ plans, and if the Disney deal had fallen through…well that’s an interesting counter factual.

 

Seha always seemed like a tertiary character, at least to me anyway.

 

Well your both right.

I think Seha COULD have worked if they had developed her. As it stands she is the Jin to Ben's Zuko.

 

Also the best.

There I said it.

 

Luke's knowledge of Krayt definitely softens Legacy a bit in that initially it was "surprise Sith!" All over again. Via FotJ, the NJO knew the Sith existed in some form still but didn't have them nailed down.

The big shake of Legacy then remains the alliance between the Sith and the Empire and the sudden strike on Ossus. Too afraid to strike while Pappy Luke and Ben were around and after verifying Nat and Kol were not quite the same caliber.

Benhiri would be okay, normalizing younger men with older women, if that is something worth normalizing. Except the scene of notoriety, which puts a big ugly romance-the-abuser stamp that was done enough in other media.

Ben's partner could be a no-name or new character.

I still feel pretty good with the assumption that:
Ben -> Cade
Jaina -> Marasiah
Allanah -> Ania

 

I don't have an issue with Benhiri in principle, Ben is somewhat like Anakin in that he is straightforward yet retains an internal strength similar to his cousin. Something Tahiri gels well with.

Beyond the scene in Invincible, I just happen to like Bestara more.

 

As much as I am for well established family lines, I think we should account for some shakeups and LGBTQ+ happening even in the EU.

In a modern interpretation of YJK onwards, or Legends, a lot more characters and constellations would have represented non-straight romances as well. Who might have?

 

*wanders back into the room* I'm out of it for a little while and...

Anyway... speaking purely in terms of personal opinion...

As people really ought to know by now, I'm an uncompromising A/T ftw! ( ) type...

... but at the same time, I don't feel there's anything innately wrong about where Ben was in his personal life in Crucible, assuming that there's anything to be inferred by two people sharing a ship that seems to have one bunk (I dunno, maybe Tahiri sleeps in a hammock, or an Embrace of Pain)...

That said, Ben and Seha always seemed like a good option... or just write him with various female counterparts until one sticks?

As to the other 'ship... I think DN3 did a very good job of showing that Jaina and Jag were incompatible - I'd been a fan of Jag based largely on his showing in Dark Tide: Ruin and Cunningham's backstory short "Red Sky, Blue Flame", and as a cocky pilot with a different mindset to Jaina he seemed like a fun foil to her, but with hindsight, a lot of the writers struggled to write him well (a bit like my opinion on Jacen, in other words); largely unintentionally, he became an ambitious, manoeuvring mercenary whose attraction to Jaina seemed awkwardly close to an urge to pursue targets and get kill-marks...

... so in terms of headcanon, while I'd be equally unbothered if Jaina ended up with Kyp, Lowbacca or Mirta Gev, I ended up looking for ways to prevent Jaina getting stuck with Jag, while manoeuvring around the unavoidable idea that Fel I had the forename Jagged, and Fel III felt very much like a SkySolo descendant...

Obviously, there's the strange possibility that Roan Fel is named for Rowan Freemaker, but how that ties in with my headcanon that the Freemakers are timedisplaced Solobrats I don't know...

My headcanon for Ania, incidentally, is that she is Jaina, though I'm not sure how that works...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Jagged Fel always struck me as the stoic straight man type. He doesn’t demonstrate much in the way of emotion or personality at least publicly, because he’s been raised in a culture that prioritizes both conformity and restraint.

Admittedly, that isn’t the most interesting character archetype but I think it fits his background well.

 

Well, well, well... Mr. Ewok back talking shipping feels like I travelled to the past on TFN!

Personally I must say, Jag was fun, but I never saw him and Jaina go beyond wartime romance and bedbuddies. Still am camp Zekk, though he is happy with his hapan lovebirds (yes I still think the twins share him!) and I would not take that away from him.

As noted before, I am pro shaking up the relationships after their marriages, even if remarrying later after some crisis. Happily ever after is my prefered mode, but even I see the value in some story variety.

Actually as Anakin/Tahiri is nothing more now aside a romance between netherworld and the living, I can't picture her with another man, especially not Ben. But I'd not be opposed if she gets closer to someone else. She and Jaina had a great time together in the Force Heretic trilogy and she helped her heal, so I suspect she could, after getting lovesick for Anakin and projecting on Jacen, also get going for Jaina now maybe! Jaina/Tahiri!!! But if one would not break Jaina off Jag for a while at least, or a royal affair at the side with her handmaiden and barfooted Imperial Knight, then I can also picture Wynssa Fel and Tahiri as an interesting personality mixup, not just romantically but in general both are interesting characters that may gel well for story teamups.

Ben Skywalker can have his love triangle with Seha and Vestara.. though I pictured Seha and Valin somehow as a more longterm successful ship.

@Thrawn McEwok bringing up the Freemakers, I like the idea of at least some timedisplaced adventures for the Solokids. Or an alternate timeline version of them that crossed over and got stuck.

Why not have some characters get the carbonite or other treatment to fastforward them to the Legacy era? should not be overused though but it can happen, or a hyperspace accident. Anyway, I want to see crone Allana Djo Solo and her hapan-dathomiri Forceuser cult kick ass in the Legacy on the hunt for Abeloth who is afraid to tackle Allana's "Force Monster Hunting Squad" again.

As for Ania being Jaina.. some cloning project that tried to, for a change, not clone Luke, Mara or else but actually the too often kidnapped Solokids and their friends? Paul S. Kemp's story needs to becontinued somehow... aside the weird clones and their kids in different pairings than their originals had, the next generation could be interesting and their offspring could also have fathered some folks from the Legacy era. Or who knows who else had been cloned, plenty of time to collect samples after all on the Shadow Academy, Hethirs Worldcraft or elsewhen.

PS: Thank God the Jaina/Kyp jokes never got anywhere. Loved his secretive girlfriend plot that finally got him out of that ship.

 

well, of course you are right, even numbers are more practical... we can do more than triangles... how about Love squares? Love hexagons? Love Heptagons or even Love Pentadecagons!!! Endless possibilities!

 

Actually, this is Star Wars, they're Tryads.