FAQ

The Last Edge is a creative writing, music, art and cosplay fan project set in the Star Wars universe.

Y’know, for fun. Fan-created content has always been a way for fans to express and explore their love for the galaxy far, far away. (Just look at the fan art in the very first edition of The Art Of Star Wars from 1978. Or the host of fan-created artefacts at the Rancho Obi-Wan merchandise and memorabilia collection.) And with costuming organisations like the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion popularising Star Wars cosplay since the late 1990’s, fans have been increasingly blurring the lines between passive and more interactive, interpretive and transformative engagement with this now 45 year old space fantasy franchise.

There are a number of reasons. Some of our own favourite Star Wars stories are those that feature characters that we didn’t know going in. From the Tales Of The Jedi comics of the 1990s to standalone books in the current canon such as Lost Stars or Force Collector. Stories that introduce new characters into the world we think know so well can help us to see that world through new eyes.

And steering (more or less) clear of bigger characters mitigates the risk that these stories are contradicted by or fit poorly with the ever-evolving canon. The exercise in creating them then becomes something a little closer to the balancing act that Lucasfilm’s creatives, licensees and contractors have to manage every time they come to tell a new story. By more closely emulating that approach we gain a new insight into an obvious truth; creating Star Wars is hard!

Pamarthe was a planet introduced by author Claudia Gray in 2016 novel Bloodline. Gray has herself described Pamarth as existing somewhere around the halfway point on a continuum between Scottish and Klingon culture. It was the Celtic overtones that first resonated with J.P., who lives in Northern Ireland.

The Last Edge’s main character Seonac AnLaith started life as a vague cosplay or Batuu-bound idea; an original character that paid some tribute to J.P.'s Celtic roots. J.P. was actually working on a different fanfic idea (involving a young Ahsoka and Senator Riyo Chuchi) but Seonac and his adventures kept resurfacing and begging to be written instead.

J.P. now finds it a bit strange that Seonac happens to look a bit like him.

The transmedia aspect of the project has roots in  a couple of things. The 1997 Lucasfilm multimedia project, Shadows Of The Empire, was an influence. Often referred to as a Star Wars movie without a movie, the story of Shadows was told over a game, novel, comic series plus soundtrack album and accompanied by all the usual merchandise.

Secondly, a small and very accessible academic text by Professor Carmelo Esterrich called The Star Wars Multiverse inspired J.P. to explore and express his fandom in new ways, including through writing original stories and dabbling in cosplay for the first time. Professor Esterrich touches on participatory fan culture and earmarks it as worthy of serious discussion, without losing sight of the fact that the primary goal of most participants is to have fun. It was enough to prompt J.P. to buy a 3D printer and reignite his interest in creative writing.

Mark had wanted to work with J.P. on something Star Wars-related for a while. And, again, Shadows Of The Empire provided the some of the inspiration too. The soundtrack album of orchestral music created for the Shadows project wasn’t music taken from the video game or any other promotional material; it was a notional soundtrack to the story (and in particular the novel). So taking key events from the overall story of The Last Edge and creating soundscapes and themes to bring those ideas to life as music was the goal there.

The result is thirty minutes of music to date, with more to come… .

Fire away! Drop us a line or reach out to us here or on social media.  We’d love to hear from you!