How would Episode VIII work in your universe? (Moth)

themandalorianwolf:

lj-writes:

Now that the Galactic Union has turned the Republic and Mandalorians against each other, it’s going to try and stage a comeback using the distraction. They have a powerful Force user on their side now–Ben Solo, now called Kylo Ren–and they also have the Crusaders, the Mandalorian-born troops stolen as children. It’s going to be up to Finn, Rey, and Poe to try and foil them and keep gathering information to let the Republic and Mandalorians know they’ve been tricked into this war. Leia, despite being a fugitive, is talking secretly to her trusted contacts in the Senate trying to end the war. Lando fends off a Mandalorian attack himself and actually strikes a rapport with their commander, Idrian Fett, the Chief Commander of the invasion and a clansman of the Mandalore Boba Fett himself. Idrian (played by Idris Elba) is a good and honorable man but hates the Republic because his son was stolen by what he believes to be Republic commandos AND YES THE SON IS EXACTLY WHO YOU THINK IT IS.

Meanwhile Rey’s search for her family comes to a tragic conclusion when, in the course of the mission, she finds out that the site where she was left behind by her family and later found by space scavengers was also the place where a Mandalore-Republic skirmish took place. She is devastated to learn that her parents most likely left her behind to keep her safe while acting as a distraction to draw the Mandalorians away from her. The leader of the mission on the Mandalorian side, and the man who likely killed her parents, was Idrian Fett. Finn holds her and cries with her; the pair affirm they may have no family but do have each other. Rey vows to take her revenge on Fett and make him know her pain.

The trio together with Han undertake a daring mission to steal crucial information from the Union headquarters. They find out that the Union is now headed for Coruscant itself, and will be mobilizing its moles in the Republic security forces itself (the chief of them being Phasma) to take it over. They face down Kylo Ren while leaving with this information, with Rey’s Force sensitivity showing itself in the fight. This is also when Kylo Ren accidentally kills his father, who had joined the mission on the hope of bringing back his son and was acting as a distraction. The trio just barely make their escape while Ren is completely destroyed with grief, rocking his father’s dying body in his arms.

Despite the Falcon jumping into hyperspace, the Union ships keep catching up to them and the trio cannot get away. They make a sweep of the ship, frantic to find the tracker, but nothing shows up. Then Finn has a terrible suspicion and turns the sweep on himself; the tracker was implanted in him, likely years ago without his knowledge. With Union ships gaining on them, fuel running low and no time to find and remove the tracker, he makes his way to an airlock. Rey follows and begs him not to eject–they’ll find some other way.

Finn appears to relent and comes to envelope her in an embrace. Rey tells him she can’t do this without him, and Finn tells her she means more to him than anything in the galaxy. They share a tender kiss, and Finn uses the distraction to push her clear of the airlock and locks himself in. He ejects, his eyes locked with Rey’s in longing, while Poe runs onto the scene. Rey screams for Finn and, in a burst of Force ability, almost pulls him back in. Finn breaks her pull, showing his own Force ability for the first time. Poe physically pulls Rey back from the airlock, himself fighting tears, and orders BB to take them into hyperspace. The Falcon makes the jump, no longer trackable, and Finn is picked up by one of the pursuing Union ships just as he is running out of air.

OK I just read this again, what the fuck is wrong with you? Who the fuck gave you permission to break my freaking heart like that?

I’m not OK with this

This is like every Korean period drama ever, with family secrets, generational resentments, tragic misunderstandings, forbidden love, and self-sacrifice by the strong-jawed hero. 😁 Well the best parts of the genre anyway, without the ratings-bait overly long childhood sequences, padded runtime, boring love triangles, and glorification of abuse.

And the thing is… you can tell the hyperspace tracking and low fuel plots were lifted directly from TLJ. It could have been so much better than a low speed chase and a frustratingly mishandled mutiny plot, if only RJ had put half a brain cell into his damned writing.

Another scene, this time of Ben fighting Finn to rescue Poe. I’m thinking this could lend some non-verbal storytelling about the hidden darkness of Ben and hidden morality in Finn. During the fight, Ben can be all-encompassingly focused on winning. Throughout the duel, one of the cannons on the slugslayer is activated by Ben, perhaps towards a planet or another ship. Finn drops everything to turn it off. This works as the distraction Ben needs to save Poe, and Finn gets a moment to try to minimize collateral damage. (Moth)

How would Episode VIII work in your universe? (Moth)

Now that the Galactic Union has turned the Republic and Mandalorians against each other, it’s going to try and stage a comeback using the distraction. They have a powerful Force user on their side now–Ben Solo, now called Kylo Ren–and they also have the Crusaders, the Mandalorian-born troops stolen as children. It’s going to be up to Finn, Rey, and Poe to try and foil them and keep gathering information to let the Republic and Mandalorians know they’ve been tricked into this war. Leia, despite being a fugitive, is talking secretly to her trusted contacts in the Senate trying to end the war. Lando fends off a Mandalorian attack himself and actually strikes a rapport with their commander, Idrian Fett, the Chief Commander of the invasion and a clansman of the Mandalore Boba Fett himself. Idrian (played by Idris Elba) is a good and honorable man but hates the Republic because his son was stolen by what he believes to be Republic commandos AND YES THE SON IS EXACTLY WHO YOU THINK IT IS.

Meanwhile Rey’s search for her family comes to a tragic conclusion when, in the course of the mission, she finds out that the site where she was left behind by her family and later found by space scavengers was also the place where a Mandalore-Republic skirmish took place. She is devastated to learn that her parents most likely left her behind to keep her safe while acting as a distraction to draw the Mandalorians away from her. The leader of the mission on the Mandalorian side, and the man who likely killed her parents, was Idrian Fett. Finn holds her and cries with her; the pair affirm they may have no family but do have each other. Rey vows to take her revenge on Fett and make him know her pain.

The trio together with Han undertake a daring mission to steal crucial information from the Union headquarters. They find out that the Union is now headed for Coruscant itself, and will be mobilizing its moles in the Republic security forces itself (the chief of them being Phasma) to take it over. They face down Kylo Ren while leaving with this information, with Rey’s Force sensitivity showing itself in the fight. This is also when Kylo Ren accidentally kills his father, who had joined the mission on the hope of bringing back his son and was acting as a distraction. The trio just barely make their escape while Ren is completely destroyed with grief, rocking his father’s dying body in his arms.

Despite the Falcon jumping into hyperspace, the Union ships keep catching up to them and the trio cannot get away. They make a sweep of the ship, frantic to find the tracker, but nothing shows up. Then Finn has a terrible suspicion and turns the sweep on himself; the tracker was implanted in him, likely years ago without his knowledge. With Union ships gaining on them, fuel running low and no time to find and remove the tracker, he makes his way to an airlock. Rey follows and begs him not to eject–they’ll find some other way.

Finn appears to relent and comes to envelope her in an embrace. Rey tells him she can’t do this without him, and Finn tells her she means more to him than anything in the galaxy. They share a tender kiss, and Finn uses the distraction to push her clear of the airlock and locks himself in. He ejects, his eyes locked with Rey’s in longing, while Poe runs onto the scene. Rey screams for Finn and, in a burst of Force ability, almost pulls him back in. Finn breaks her pull, showing his own Force ability for the first time. Poe physically pulls Rey back from the airlock, himself fighting tears, and orders BB to take them into hyperspace. The Falcon makes the jump, no longer trackable, and Finn is picked up by one of the pursuing Union ships just as he is running out of air.

The Raiders (revealed to be Galactic Union soldiers) immediately outclass Poe’s smaller ship. This battleship works as an assault vessel and a troop transport, but is made to be efficient enough to be run by five individuals. The hangar holds two Strike-Shuttles, and the purple hemisphere works as a tractor beam, which is how they trap Poe. (Moth)

One problem I had with the art design in TFA is that everything just looked like an iPod to the OT’s Macintosh 2. I wanted to design a ship for Poe that makes sense with his new role of super-spy. This wall-watcher works when landing on walls or roofs, and can amplify and record the sound on the other side of the surface. The ship also has a weak cloaking device, which changes color but doesn’t become invisible. The cockpit is kind of fancy and fits Poe, BB-8 and potentially two guests (Ben in the first movie). It’s design would allow for different combat scenes, as it works more by hiding and striking quickly rather than outright firepower exchange. (Moth)

I wanted to try my hand at a scene. The idea is: Finn and Rey, on the run, break into the Galactic Union’s version of the Starkiller Base to find info on their families. I wanted to give the feeling of scope that the Starkiller Base had, but beyond just “a bigger Death Star”. The result is a vast but empty hangar. The power of the Galactic Union is shown to be considerable, but worse is the fact that these giant garages are empty. Deployment has already begun. Finn, Rey, and BB-8 can be seen in silhouette on the crosswalk. (Moth)

Eventually, Rey and Finn will need to split from Han. Perhaps Han will head to Kashyyyk and Rey and Finn will go to the planet where Finn was brainwashed. To take them there, Han recruits the help of two young merchants: Rose and Paige Tico. Rose is still a mechanic, except that comes up in the plot. She is the tech expert who helps find the way into the Galactic Union’s database, as well as the link to Finn’s original family. Paige is the pilot for the new crew, and does more than just die to inspire people.

Rose maintains a cynical outlook, especially with regards to the New Republic. However, she still has no hopes for the Mandalorians and the Galactic Union. Paige is more confident in the New Republic, mainly figures like Han and Leia. After getting the info, they debate about where to go next, and whether to get the info to Poe or try and expose the GU themselves. This serves to give a bit more diversity of dialogue, as well as bringing up the military industrial complex without hating on any of the characters. (Moth)

“Someone’s stealing Mandalorian children? Killing them sounds like its own reward.” I was thinking during Han’s attempt to harbor Finn and Rey, he would acquire a ragtag team of criminals and scoundrels all with their own reason for helping the two of them. Boba’s hate for the Republic aside, the abuse his people faced, and the slavery used on his identical brothers, is too much for him to stay idle. Admittedly, this is more of a second movie idea, but there would be a type of Magnificient Seven team building when Han offers a bounty hunter money, they refuse, and Boba takes the task for free. Boba’s design is a lot more streamlined. No rocket, no jet pack, no bells and whistles. He’s older and learned from his mistakes, and it shows in both his behavior and his fighting style. (Moth)

I know your proposed Episode VII didn’t have Hux or Phasma in it, but I had an idea. Obviously, the First Order are neonazi-analogues, but the story in Force Awakens starts after they’ve come to power. These versions of Hux and Phasma would represent what a lot of neonazis are today: presenting as normal while secretly harboring hateful ideologies. Phasma would be a Captain in the New Republic military. Perhaps she would be the person that takes Finn from Poe and Rey. She justifies her brutality as part of the need for control, echoing Finn’s brainwashed statements. She might appear earlier as a (somewhat) likable commander for security forces. Her ties to the brainwashed army would be revealed probably towards the end of the first movie.

Hux, on the other hand, would play a slower burn. I’m thinking he would take the role of Chancellor Organa’s aide. He might be a bumbling (seeming) sidekick to Ben. He’s present for all of the important conversations Leia has with Poe, but always in the background. He works as the counterspy to Poe. His friendship with Ben would be part of his radicalization. Whenever Ben feels doubts about his need for control, Hux would say something about Leia also needing control, such as utilizing the underworld through Han. Obviously, it’ll be Ben’s decision to go fascist, but we’ll have more of a reason than “biological granddad is evil” or “uncle once thought about killing him”. Hux’s betrayal could be revealed towards the end of the Kashyyyk act, calling in the First Order (or whatever it’s called) in Chewbacca for harboring fugitives. By this point, Ben would’ve already aligned himself, ideologically if not literally, with these fascists.

L.J.: I love these concepts of Phasma and Hux–her as the brutal enforcer, him as the sneaky silver-tongued snake in the grass. My Big Bad organization is caled the Galactic Union, in that it’s a “union” of exiled Empire forces and defected Republic officials. They have the idea that they are some kind of peacemaker who are ending a destructive conflict (and also “saving” Mandalorian children from their violent barbarism by kidnapping and brainwashing them) and their symbol resembles the yin-yang symbol.

Obviously, I had to include the two last main characters of the OT. Unfortunately, there’s not too much growth or aging you can do with a droid. Threepio got an isgnia of the New Republic. Officially, he’s Leia’s adviser on droid issues, as well as owner of the Chancellor’s Residence building on Coruscant. Off the books, he’s the M for the droid-spy-network. I could not come up with any way to make R2 look different, but he’s obviously still functioning at maximum efficiency. Also included in this photo is their daughter, BB-8. This version fits more with Poe being a spy. She is a floating camera. She isn’t as much of a combat pro like the official version, but in an espionage storyline, she becomes essential. Making her float around also differentiates her from R2 a little more. Also, as probably obvious by my language, she would have feminine pronouns, since those robots are rarer in Star Wars.
(Moth)