Return of the Knight

Started a gray, gloomy, rainy morning with Garfield as I ate breakfast. Garfield and Odie take their dance act from the fence to the big time in Garfield In Hollywood. When the two win a major pet talent competition, Garfield thinks their future as pampered celebrities is made. Jon is worried that winning may mean leaving him behind.

Spent the next couple of hours - in fact, the rest of the morning and the early afternoon - writing. It comes down to a showdown between Vader and Palapatine, both of whom have revealed their true, monstrous forms. Vader has finally realized that, well, the old wizard has played him for a sucker. He finally tosses him off the roof of the castle before crashing to the courtyard below.

Luke and the others rush over to him as he hits the ground. When they get there, they discover that he's returned to his (elderly, not attractive, but still) human form. Luke wants to save him, but Anakin has realized that it's time to go. He gets some last words in to his children before he becomes one with the Force.

His gentle son sobs over his father's empty armor. As he does, he heals everything around him. All of Bast Castle transforms back into the beautiful Nabarrie Castle. The Rebels and Lando wear formal uniforms. Han and Leia are dressed in wedding outfits worthy of a prince and princess. Luke's Master Force Knight armor and Sabine's pink armor has been polished to a candy-bright shine.

But happiest of all, they discover that Anakin Skywalker, no longer a demon, has been reunited with his friends and teachers in the Force. He even introduces his children to his late wife, Padme. (I don't care how the Force works. I wanted Luke and Leia to meet their mom.) They preside over Han and Leia's wedding, then watch over everyone as the group goes its separate ways. Luke becomes King of Tatoon; Wedge is his regent. Han and Leia take over as the King and Queen of a united Naboo and Aldran. Lando goes back to gambling, but he's happy to have helped his friends. All of the animal tribes go home, but they remain friends with the humans and send envoys to their councils. The servants are just thrilled to have actual jobs again.

Whew! That one took a while. (It doesn't help that the original Return of the Jedi remains the longest of the 7 Star Wars movies to date.) Next, I'm going to cleanse my palate by working on short stories, both original and fanfiction, for a couple of days. After that, I'll probably plunge back into the Star Wars universe, maybe finally get to that 80's high school alternative universe I came up with way back in January. We'll see how far I get before Lauren visits in a week and a half. (I won't be writing while she's here.)

At any rate, here's A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return in full:

A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return at Archive of Our Own
A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return at My Writing Blog
A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return at Fanfiction.net

I also updated my Upcoming Stories and Story Ideas entry to include the medieval Han/Leia fantasy idea I came up with earlier this month.

I got so into my writing, it was 3 PM before I headed out for lunch! Thankfully, by that point, the rain was long gone, though it remained cloudy and very humid. I stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House for a wonderfully moist Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffin, a red velvet biscotti, and a "London Fog" hot tea drink made with Earl Gray tea, milk, and fruit syrup. It was nice and sweet without being too much so. The kids had just gotten out of school, and their were fairly busy with elementary school students getting a treat and high schoolers coming back from Collingswood who needed a place to crash.

Next stop was the Acme to get my schedule and do a little bit of grocery shopping. My schedule is both better and worse than last week's. To my surprise, I have three days off, but I'm working earlier and longer when I do have hours. While I won't make it to the Collingswood Farm Market, I'll at least have plenty of time to work on those short stories and get the cleaning done before vacation.

I didn't need much in the way of groceries. Grabbed peaches and bananas for my lunch bag this week. While the chicken drumsticks sale wasn't great, I did need them. Grabbed Parmesan cheese for a recipe I planned on doing later. Restocked milk, sugar, fingerling potatoes, chocolate chips, cooking spray (which was on a good sale), and more of that clearance canned pumpkin.

When I got home, I unloaded everything, then began the cleaning. Next on my list was scrubbing the refrigerator. It wasn't too bad. It really just needed to be wiped down, and the crisper needed to be cleaned out. I also changed the sheets and comforter on my bed to my lighter sheets and quilt for summer.

Watched Witness while I cleaned, and later while I made dinner. John Book (Harrison Ford) is a typical Philly narcotics cop who finds himself involved with an anything-but-typical mystery when an Amish boy witnesses a murder of one of his fellow officers. Book is framed and nearly killed. He recovers from his wounds at the home of the boy and his widowed mother (Kelly McGinnis). As Book introduces her to his life and she shows him the ways of the Amish, they discover that, despite their mutual attraction, their worlds are too different for them to remain together...but when their worlds collide, Book learns why the Amish always band together in times of trouble.

Surprisingly sweet and touching for a gritty 80's mystery. This was Harrison Ford's only Oscar nomination to date, and he does very well as the hardened police officer who rediscovers the joys of the simple life. McGinnis is even better as the sheltered young woman who wonders if there might be more to life than the Amish folk ways.

Despite the cute kid and the love story, this is still a gritty 80's mystery. There's some blood and gunplay, a lot of swearing, and at least one shot of McGinnis' bare breasts full-on. This absolutely is not for children, but for adults, it's a very interesting look at the Amish culture...and how one man comes to terms with it.

Lightened the mood with more cartoons as I ate Chicken Meatloaf Muffins (meatloaf cooked in muffin cups - they came out really messy) and sauteed spinach and mushrooms for dinner. Garfield In Paradise takes the fat cat, his owner, and his canine companion to Paradise World, an island resort. The trip doesn't go very well at first, thanks to Jon's cheap hotel and the owner spewing Jack Benny jokes. Things pick up considerably when the classic car Jon rents dumps them right in the middle of a native tribe filled with doo-wop worshipping natives and a volcano that's about to explode.