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Will of The Force - CHANGES
🕑 Added 2023-07-18 06:24:08 +0000 UTCREADERS, I have altered the fic. Pray I do not alter it further!
Also, next chapter coming in a few minutes.
I really hope you guys read this, it's a serious explanation of a pretty important thing for this fic, The Force.
Alright, this is a pretty huge change and I haven't updated the chapters with it yet, but new chapters will be posted WITH the changes.
I'll probably make all the necessary corrections in two or three days and, if you guys want, you may re-read it, but I feel there's no real need. Yeah, the change is important, but it doesn't change the direction of the fic or Anakin's actions, only some of his musings.
So, what did I change and why?
For those who don't know, there's a pretty HUGE change in SW canon.
SW canon has always been divided, with the Movies standing by themselves, then the extended universe, where crazy things happened, many epic stories were told and, unfortunately, some very bad stories were also told.
So, it's basically: Lucas canon - Extended universe/Legends - Disney Canon.
Lucas canon was always the movies and the extended universe were the comics, which was kinda it's own thing, but Lucas seemed to keep an eye on them so they didn't become too crazy.
EDIT: As has been pointed out, the clone wars series was actually Lucas Canon and, in it, Lucas finally spoke of the Force as having a Light and Dark side, but that was a new development and those sides were NEVER complimentary.
The light side was still the Force, found in every living thing while the Dark Side was still inherently corruptive and unnecessary.
LUCAS CANON doesn't accept the Yin / Yang interpretation. The Dark Side is a corruption.
LUCAS TALKING ABOUT IT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JRghgqTS5I
Later, Disney canon was born, which includes the sequels, (which are CRAP! in my opinion), but also things like several good SW comics and, surprisingly, things like Clone wars.
So, what is this change? It's the Force.
Now, forgive me if you already know this but, in Lucas canon, there was no Light side of the Force, (Later, he accepted it in the Clone Wars, but not the Yin & Yang interpretation) there was only the Force and the Dark Side. In fact, Luke Skywalker once mentioned bringing Anakin to the good side, but never in any of Lucas movies was the term Light Side used, or bringing to the light, or anything light related.
The Light Side was born on the extended universe and then made the jump to Lucas Canon with Clone Wars and Disney canon. With the Dark Side STILL being a corruption, that never changed.
For Lucas, the Dark Side is a corruption, a cancer, it has no place in the universe, a perversion of the Force that simply shouldn't exist and only brought destruction. It was adictive, like a drug.
What happened was that, with time, people saw the Dark Side and The Force and thought, well, there's a Dark Side, obviously there should be a Light Side, they also considered things like Taoism, the jedi teachings of selflessness against selfishness and all that.
So, the Light Side was born, with it being the good side, teaching selflessness, love to all people, the importance of life. With the Dark Side being selfshness, actions driven by emotions, hate.
With all the talk of bringing balance to the Force, many fans come to some logical conclusions: What is a balanced life? One with the right amount of selfshness and selflessness.
A lot of people came to believe that the Jedi's failure in the prequels was that they leaned too much on the Light Side, abandoning their emotions.
From everything I have read and Lucas has said, that was never the case, the Jedi didn't lean too much to the Light side because, when Lucas made the movie, it didn't exist. Later, he did talk about the Light Side, but not as a complimentary to the Dark Side, the later was NEVER needed, it was always a corruption.
No, the Jedi's failure came from them NOT following the teachings of the Force, instead of following it to the extreme and "Falling out of Balance" as many people believe.
There's also a comon belief in Grey Jedi using both sides, but, for Lucas, that's not really the case, one can't use the Dark Side together with The Force, the Dark is evil, like an addictive drug, there is NO balance in the Dark Side.
When I started writing this, I was using a lot of the Vader comics, as well as some Legends things so, I started by using the common belief of the Force as two sides, with my base in Taoism.
I started with the intent on making the Force Yin and Yang, dark and Light, both sides that complimented each other.
After 14 chapters and a lot of thought, I think further chapters would be better if I changed it to the Lucas canon original interpretation:
There's the Force/Light Side and the Dark Side, with the Dark Side giving a boost in strenght, but also being akin to a drug, a corruption that brings no benefits beside immediate power. A shortcut that wounds the soul.
Anakin, after so long immersed in the Dark Side, no longer fears this corruption, he believes he must accept his actions, not flee from them and that, if necessary, he can bear the use of the Dark Side again without falling.
But he is still doing his best to avoid using the Dark Side, not balance it's use with the Light, (he's still not very good at that)
IN SHORT: I started this fic with the intent of using the Taoistic interpretation of the Force, with the Light and Dark side being complimentary, mostly because I thought it an interesting thing.
I'm changing that premisse. Instead, I'll be using Lucas canon so that the Dark Side IS a corruption of the Force, one that offers strenght for a price.
The Light side, or simply The Force is in everything, it actually includes feelings and has no rule about atachements, that rule came from the Jedi in an attempt to stop Jedi from falling to the dark side, but The Force itself didn't require you not to feel in order to use it, only the Jedi.
The Dark Side isn't simply using feelings, it's taking the easier path, taking the shortcut, every time you use it, you find it easier to use again, insidiously affecting you until you can only feel the Dark Side.
Vader has come to see the use of the Dark Side as a convenient evil, a burden he's willing to use if necessary, something he no longer fears, but really should avoid every time he can (he's not very good at it)
In short, what is the Dark Side for Lucas canon?
Lucas especifically said that the Force gives you a destiny but you also have free will to refuse that destiny. That doesn't make you a Dark Sider. You are free to follow the will of the Force or not without falling to the Dark Side.
The Jedi were a sect, THEIR belief was in following the Will of the Force, in a way they were like monks or priests, they CHOOSE to accept their destinies and SHOULD have followed the will of the Force.
In the prequels, the Jedi had lost their way, instead of following the Will of The Force, they followed the senate and their own teachings.
The Force/Light Side itself doesn't require you to follow Jedi teachings even if you ARE force sensitivity. Being a Jedi isn't the same as being force sensitive, it's not a REQUIREMENT and the Jedi did let you leave the temple if you wanted to.
Also, using the force doesn't really stop you from loving someone, forming attachments don't HAVE to lead to the dark side, that's simply the Jedi's belief.
The Jedi decided thousands of years ago that forming atachements was dangerous. But it is also important to note that they hadn't always thought that way, it was just a recent development. (Compared to the Galaxy, it actually happened a thousand years ago.)
The problem was not Anakin loving Padmé, the problem was that he wasn't as strong as he should be, mentally that is.
Anakin loved Padmé, that was actually fine, but he put her life above others, she was more important, which, for a Jedi, was bad and he should have left the order just like Ashoka did.
Still, the Force itself doesn't disaprove of attachements, just the Jedi and they're not the same thing.
The problem is that, because of his love, he became afraid of losing her, he became angry when people threatened her and he started using the Force in that way.
It's a subtle distinction but, eventually, he wasn't using the Force to protect her, he was using it not to lose her.
Really, he reached out to the Dark Side in fear of loosing her and the influence of the Dark Side slowly corrupted him.
Yes, he still loved her, but that love was corrupted into possessiveness. It feed his jealously.
Really, again, it's a subtle distinction, but his love turned from selfless to far too selfish, to the point he ended up hurting her when he just thought she was going to leave him.
The use of the Dark Side slowly corrupted him to the point that, while he still loved her, that love become like a sickness. The focus of his love was no longer on her but on himself.
the Dark Side is insidious and, slowly, his actions changed from protecting her life to not being able to bear living without her. He went from caring about her to caring about what she made him feel.
The selfishness of the Dark Side corrupted their relationship from one of mutual love to one where he was possessive.
Basically, the Dark Side feed into Anakin's selfishness and turned his relationship into an abusive one.
Comments
JVR
As I said on SpaceBattles, I *really* don't like this as your Dualist interpretation was one of the things that really attracted me to the story. But I'll stick around for a while longer and see how it goes.
Mac-something
It’s never been specified whether Anakin’s aptitude for machinery has anything to do with the force. From what I’ve read the suggest Jadi preferred to avoid mechu-deru because it involves using the Force to change something. …So slippery slope to the Dark Side yadda yadda. I don’t get the impression it’s inherently Dark Side though, there are EU precedents for Jedi using it. It’s an important question though- if Anakin’s NOT using mechu-deru then that means other people may be able to (theoretically) replicate his fancy sci-fi tech- or that he could teach them how to make it themselves. …which would be a whole new nightmare for the PRT.
The Traveler
The way I've seen it described for awhile now is using the Force is like asking The Force to do something for you while using the Dark Side is like forcing it to whatever you want.
Mac-something
Like everyone else I really like this change. I won’t lie I was doing a fist pump by the end of reading this. I’m not someone who believes Star Wars needs to EVERYTHING Lucas says it is… but I firmly believe this is the more interesting take on how the Force works. My favourite description of how the force works is that it is a flat disk balancing on top of a pyramid. The disk is naturally self balancing- but a dark Sider can force it to tip in their favour. The thing about the ‘Taoistic interpretation’ is that isn’t even REALLY Taoist. Taoism is one of those philosophies that have a long history of being ‘whatever its practitioners say it is’ but most often its about the ever shifting balance between active and passive. As in: Fire is active because it create heat, light and rises into the air Water is passive it is cold, absorbs light and falls to the point on a surface THAT’s very different from some idea of an eternal good or evil. The idea of an eternal good and evil has its intellectual roots in religions like Manicheanism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. (Christian theology, philosophy, and cosmology was very heavily influenced by the ex-Manichean St Augustine.) I know these are points can feel very abstract… but the whole Light Side/ Dark Side misunderstanding is part of a much longer intellectual history of people going ‘The Abrahamic religions are dumb we’re gonna seek WISDOM from the East!’ …And then preceding to filter everything through their preexisting assumptions, i.e.: Christianity has good and evil, therefore the force must have good and evil!’ (Never mind the fact that in Christianity the evil fallen state of the world is unnatural and ultimately temporary state of affair!) For the sake of clarity I have no a priori objection to any religious tradition Eastern, Western or otherwise- but seeing people build elaborate interpretations based on such misunderstandings is very simply bad and lazy reasoning and ultimately a disservice to everyone.
Cathbel
Well, that was illuminating… xD But seriously, I was probably one of those who thought, like you said, since there’s dark, there’s also light. I don’t know what to feel about the change but I’ll trust you to give us an amazing story as always ! Questions though : Is Anakin using his natural talent in mechu deru (I think that’s the name for the force alter with machines, right ?) ? Are there innate talent for force users ? And finally, is mechu deru a dark side power or not ?
Empty Shelf
I've always favored the interpretation that the Jedi and other "good" Force sects are guided by the force, acting as living conduits for its power. By contrast, Dark-side users subvert the Will of the Force, seeing it as a tool to be used for their own ends. It feels thematically appropriate that way.
CapitaoCav
Well, I remember hearing that Lucas was involved in a lot of the story for at least Kotor II, so I believe he approves of it. Still, it's unmistakenly Legends/extended universe. As is SWTOR. Of the two, KOTOR is much better, and I personally consider Revan canon for this story. While I hate that Disney declared Legends non-canon, I actually quite like the name legends, as In, it was a legendary feat and may have grown with the telling or may have happened exactly as told, who knows. You decide.
Glitched Knights
What's your take on Knights of the Old Republic?
CapitaoCav
As for Force unleashed and all that. I could be wrong, but I don't remember Lucas ever saying any extended universe product to be canon, I also don't remember him ever saying it's NOT canon, he kinda left it all in the air so each reader/player could decide.... Well, from what I understand, Force Unleashed concept was created on a "what if Vader raised Luke" it's not exactly the concept, but it is what gave birth to the games, that's why starkiller is so powerful.
CapitaoCav
Clone wars came before Disney, but Disney accepted it as canon, bontrary to a lot of other material, so it became Disney canon. It also deals with the Father, Daughter and Son.
Looting Pillager
I actually quite like this change as I never liked the "balance" of light and dark where there is an entire order of light side and 2 dark side and that was somehow a balance. It also makes the different groups that use the force not have to choose a side and instead just exist. I really, really like this. Thank you.
Glitched Knights
When was the Clone Wars a Disney thing? The last season I think was under their control, but Cartoon Network had all of the other seasons of Clone Wars under their preview alongside Lucus Studios when they where creating it. In the Clone Wars was it ever said/implied that there was a Light Side? How about the Force Unleashed 1, 2, and its comics? Is Knights of the Old Republic cannon for George Lucas, or Disney?
