Does the GFFA have some approximation of the Geneva Convention? Has it ever had anything along those lines in galactic history? I haven’t been able to find any reference to it, nor to any mention of war crime laws aside from “The Old Republic outlawed war crimes,” which is pretty vague. Thanks!

Hey, sorry for the wait! I was away with no internet. Wartime provisions were covered under the Galactic Constitution, the Galactic Republic’s founding document, as was the Rights of Sentience clause, so it can be assumed that laws relating to civilians and other non-combatants were located in a similar document. The laws do exist, as people have been charged for war crimes under the Republic, but beyond that I cannot find any reference to a Republic document that outlines those laws. As the Imperial Charter is based on the Galactic Constitution, it is possible that those laws remained – likely with modification, as occurred with the Rights of Sentience and many acts surrounding the military and law enforcement. Likewise, I can’t find specifics for the New Republic in canon or legends. 

Sorry I couldn’t be more help!

~ Jacen

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I have some questions about the Galactic Standard Calendar. is there a format for writing dates, similar to MM/DD/YYYY? also, do the months have names, or just numbers? I’m trying to figure out how a SW character might refer to dates/months in conversation. thanks for your help!

Actually, this exact question is answered here! Take a look at this post for extra info, or have a scroll through my calendars tag.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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Has there ever been anything like a white phosphorous grenade in Star Wars? I feel like the Empire would have something like it but I cannot find anything.

Well if you’re thinking of the smoke-producing abilities in particular, then yes smoke grenades exist and are called such in the Star Wars universe. These smoke grenades don’t normally seem to be lethal, however, and don’t have the same toxic effects as phosphorous. A gas grenade can be filled with many different chemicals, presumably including white phosphorous if you like. I don’t know of any chemical-based grenades that a) produce deadly smoke and b) throw off chemicals that can burn so deep into tissue, so you may want to take a look at chemical load grenades as a middle ground. 

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

This is kind of random, but do you know why the Empire tends to handcuff people in front whereas other baddies like Jabba cuff in back?

I have no idea actually! I haven’t thought of this before! I’m afraid I can’t find reference of it anywhere, but if I had to take a guess I might say it’s because cuffing a person’s hands in front makes it easier for them to attack someone or escape, and a whole lot of on-screen escapes are from Imperial officers, thus making it easier for our heroes. If anyone has a more informed answer please feel free to add on!

~ Jacen

Do you know of any reference books that have detailed blueprints/cross-sections/images of the Executor? I’ve got a ton of reference books, but only one has any real detail on the Executor and it’s just the command tower (The Complete Locations, pre-TFA version). I’ve seen articles that mention blueprints for the ship, but I haven’t been able to track down where those might be found. Any help is appreciated!

I’m sorry, I’ve taken a look through my reference books and I’m running into the same problem. I don’t know of any detailed blueprints – perhaps because the ship is just so big, it would be very difficult to create a true blueprint for the entire thing. The most detailed image I could find is this, which I expect you’ve probably already found (from The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels):

image

If anyone else would be willing to take a look in their books the help would be greatly appreciated!

~ Jacen

Buy writebetterstarwars a Coffee. ko-fi.com/writebetterstarwars

writebetterstarwars:

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know I’ve set up a Ko-fi for this account. The link is also in my bio. It’s 100% optional and I’m never going to restrict any of the content on here, but if you’ve ever got a few bucks to spare I would really appreciate it! (Uni applications are coming up faster than anticipated :/)

Thanks for your consideration!

~ Jacen

Hey! I’m sorry to do this, but I’m a bit strapped this month for health care costs and bus fares. Once again, no pressure, but if you’ve got a couple extra dollars it would really help me out. Thank you!

Buy writebetterstarwars a Coffee. ko-fi.com/writebetterstarwars

Hi! I really love your blog and appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I’m wondering if you have a masterlist of things a beginner should know about writing in the SW universe?

Hello, and thank you! I don’t have a masterlist per say – that would be a very long list indeed! – but I do have a few resources that might help you get started. 

First, you could check out the vocab list for some common terminology used in the Star Wars universe. (This is always linked in my bio, for mobile users, and as always you’re welcome to suggest additions.) 

If you’ve got the time, you may like to look through my day to day tag, where I stick things I think might be useful in writing the general life of a SW character. Some won’t apply to you specifically, of course. More tags can be found on my taglist, and if there’s something not on there that you want to know about (for example, the HoloNet) the search function is always available. The not an ask tag would also be a good place to start, because I sometimes reblog general references that may be useful. Give reference, resources and worldbuilding a shot too. 

There are a few posts in the masterposts tag, but they’re not nearly as general as what you’re looking for. I’d say ships and ship terminology are always a good thing to read up on, though, so you could give this post a try! 

Ultimately, in my opinion, the best thing you could do is just dive into it. Learning by consuming the material is much more fun than reading up on Wookieepedia! (Also a good resource, by the way.) The extended universe is full of little details that will make your writing much more organic. If you’re wondering where to start, try this ask! And, of course you can always send an ask my way if you have specific questions!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen 

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5 Service Droids for Your SW Fics

jedimordsith:

More world-building reference, because I feel like these are harder to find when I want them than they should be.

  • WA-7 server/waitstaff droids – classic diner droids.

  • Autovalet – cleans and presses clothing. (High end/luxury, usually)

  • Bell-bot – handle luggage on luxury liners, resorts, etc. Wook lists a couple specific droid types used for this. 

  • VeeTen Valet droid – presumably provide personal assistance and maintain clothing and personal spaces.

  • Household service droid – generic household help for all the chores you don’t have time to do when you’re busy saving the galaxy.

Six Imperial Departments to Flesh Out Your Fics

jedimordsith:

Or, if you’re like me, create plot bunnies…

Imperial Department for Epidemic Prevention seems fairly self-explanatory. But I challenge anyone with even a passing familiarity with human history to imagine the kinds of things they did “for the public’s protection”…

Imperial Department of Military Research handled “research and development of military technology such as equipment, small arms, facility components, and armed starships.” 

Imperial Department of Redesign was a particularly horrifying “elite, highly secretive corps of the Galactic Empire, tasked with subduing or liquidating troublesome non-Human species.” 

Imperial Procurement was an “organizational branch” of the Empire responsible for finding and collecting resources… I’m pretty sure nobody needs to be told that they didn’t feel obligated to abide by Fair Trade standards or concern themselves much with the impact on those doing the producing. 

Department of Punishment tortured captured criminals. Fun fact: it had a habit of forcing prisoners to sign contracts giving their captors permission to torture them to death.

Imperial Xenodetic Survey Department.  Mapmakers! (And map alterers!) This is probably only going to appeal to geeks like me, but given the information control and strategic erasure of knowledge the Empire is known for, I feel like there’s potentially a lot one could play with here! It is, at very least, a fun tidbit to throw into character conversations whenever navigation comes up.