However, according to some, anything that doesn't pain the SW universe as black and white fights, and introduces any sort of real world, serious, adult complexities to the story or franchise is just a bad fanfic at best.
My issue with your whole take continues to be that you only use your own personal opinions about what is "serious" and "mature" and "realistic" as a measuring stick, while you ignore that
this story was founded on diametrically opposed assumptions. And you must surely know that, but you
insist on imposing your preferences on the story.
You're no better, in this specific regard, than the wokies who want to rape and disfigure all existing stories to suit
their preferences.
You -- like those wokies -- could really stand to learn that it is wise and just to respect things for
what they are. And if you don't like what they are; don't try to warp them. Make your own stories. That's so much better, on both sides of the equation. It leaves the existing story to be as ought to be, and it allows you to bring a new story into the world, on its own terms.
After a while the antics of the Jedi and Sith get old and repetitive, while being less and less cool and more absurd as time goes by.
That was why I was glad they brought Mando's in fully; finally the people who used to hand Jedi their ass repeatedly were getting some due screen time.
It's the same reason I hate wizards from the Potter-verse; muggles are who I ID with, not the hero's with their special powers.
The every-man needs hero's too, and 'special' folks with superpowers are only threats to muggles and teh common folk of most universes.
If every Force user in the GFFA dropped dead all at once, the galaxy would be a much safer and less war ravaged place.
Literally the only benign Force users are Chiss Sky-walkers, and that's mostly because they lose their powers before age 15 99% of the time.
This powerfully illustrates my point. You dislike the Force, the Jedi, the morality, the supernatural elements...
....do you even
like SW? You tell us here that you hate everything about it that's unique. You only like the bits (at least by this, your own accounting) that it has in common with every bog-standard sci fi setting. And what's worse, you avidly want to strip SW of all its unique elements, to make it more generic.
Everything you say only proves that the kind of stuff you really like should be a whole separate setting, unconnected to SW.
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What was garbage is that the writers realized a lot of people actually liked the nuanced villain they'd created in Dukat, and apparently just couldn't have that, so they decided to just lose all the nuance with him. Basically the same idiotic attitude that ruins modern writing, too, where they just can't stand the thought of anyone thinking their bad guys are cool in any kind of way.
It was a super-weird swerve, because they in no way excused his actions. He was undisputably evil, but
compelling. It really showed how convincing a monster can be. (And how he completely deceives himself, too.) Great writing!
And then they got scared.
I still think they switched around the intended finales for Dukat and Damar. Initially, Damar was a fanatic and a brute, and Dukat was a tyrant with a complex personality who was obsessed with being
loved. Dukat's story is clearly the set-up for a tragedy, but they turned him two-dimensional instead.
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I've long had an idea for a Star Wars story that's basically Star Trek, but from the perspective of an Imperial ship exploring the Unknown Regions. It's geared more towards the sci-fi aspect, discovering crazy aliens and all that, but with a slightly-less-evil Imperial crew.
This is the kind of thing I'd have wanted post-NJO, in the old EU. (Instead of the cynical, bleak and childishly edgy Denningverse.)
But rather than an Imperial ship, I'd have it be a joint mission between the Republic and the Empire. In the wake of their collaboration in the previous war, they'd be more inclined towards working together. Putting representatives of both on the same ship would create interesting tensions and 'culture shock'.
It would also be a perfect way to avoid anyone restarting the Republic-versus-Empire thing after the NJO series. And you'd avoid new galaxy-sundering wars. The new adventure would be about exploration and all sorts of smaller-scale adventures. Rather than just being like Trek, though, I think in the pulpy SW setting, you could take more
direct inspiration from Western adventure serials of old. (If you compare it to Trek, the closest comparison would be TOS, to be sure.)