Star Wars

Star Wars is a space opera film series with a huge worldwide fandom and a massive impact on pop culture.
* The Official Star Wars Fan Club
* The Lucasfilm Fan Club
* The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine
==Fandom==
=== At the Birth of the Fandom ===
A fan tells other fans about Star Wars, shortly before it was released: With the release of the first movie in 1977, an entire new fandom grew within a matter of months of its release, although there were some who felt this was as much a result of marketing as an organic process. As explained in Who Comes With Summer a 1979 meta essay by Jeff Johnston:
Star Wars fan works continued to be published through the 1980s and 1990s, with interest in the fandom waxing and waning over the years, often timed to the release of a new movie. For example, in 1993 and again from 2004-2008, there were no Star Wars specific FanQ awards. Resurgences in the fandom coincided with the release of the Prequel Trilogy, and again with the Sequel Trilogy and the Disney Era.
More on the fandoms of the three sets of movies and the Disney productions can be found in the sub-pages below:
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==Fandom Meta ==
=== George Lucas' Involvement and Knowledge of Fandom===
George Lucas was notoriously controlling, and frequently intolerant of fannish activity. 
*see: TPTB's Involvement and Interference
*see: Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers
*see: Fanzine Archives
===Adult/Slash Themes===
In 1982, Maureen Garrett, president of the official Star Wars Fan Club sent a warning to Star Wars fanzines that were publishing adult-themed fiction. This reflected the uneasy relationship that Star Wars fans had with Lucasfilm. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Lucasfilm remained closely tied to Star Wars fan clubs and fanzine publishers, even asking fans to submit their fanzines to the studio for 'archiving' purposes. Some fans believed that Lucasfilm was using this as a pretext to monitor their fan works to ensure compliance with Lucasfilm's vision of a franchise with "no pornography, vulgarity, or explicit gore and violence." (See Lucasfilm for more). Ironically, the warning was over a het story that even by then standards would have garnered an R rating. For some fans, this was a welcomed attempt to curb what they felt was an unacceptable proliferation of adult-themed fan fiction. In fact, some Star Trek fans, unhappy with the K/S slash fiction that was popular in their fandom, became more open to the Star Wars fandom. from Boldly Writing, pg. 54 For much more about this issue see Open Letter to Star Wars Zine Publishers. Nonetheless, most fans, particularly female fans, did not take to the new message:In 1991, Barbara T perhaps put the fan response most succinctly: "Fans mental play is no business of producers and nether are their private communications, however lengthy." from Textual Poachers, pg 31-32. In spite of Lucasfilm's attempt to maintain control over fan creations, fans continued to produce fanzines. Adult het and slash zines were, however, fewer in number, but that type of fan fiction continued to circulate privately as part of an informal circuit. See the Han/Luke page for more about the informal circuit. In fact, one such story involved an S/M encounter between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, was xeroxed and passed around in fandom at only slightly less than internet speed.Kathy Resch, 2002. The notable exceptions were (1) the Organia fanzine published in 1982 which contained adult het fan fic well as original science fiction and feminist articles and poetry and (2) Imperial Entanglements published in 1982 with both gen and slash stories involving minor or original characters. By the late 1990s, both explicit het and slash zines were being publicly published and when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace came out in 1999, adult themes became widespread. However, the battle over websites, fan vids and fan films continues to the present. One website, The Force.net, only removed its same sex fic restrictions in May of 2015. No more slash restrictions on TFN’s Jedi Council boards "Hello Fanficcers! As many of you know, for years same-sex relationships have only been allowed to be written very vaguely and practically non-existent due to a decree by the owners of the site. Mod Squad has contacted the owner of the site recently with a request to resend this and I'm VERY pleased to announce that: There is no longer a restriction on same-sex relationships in fanfic. This is not a drill, I repeat, there is no longer a restriction on writing same-sex relationships. I think it probably goes without saying, but I would be remiss in my duty if I didn't say it: No other rules have changed as far as rating of fics and sexual depiction. Everything will remain family friendly. That is all. Please return to your regularly scheduled fanfic." -- , May 26, 2015 
See Lucasfilm for more.
===Women In Star Wars Fandom===
Star Wars has traditionally been seen as a primarily male-dominated fandom. As a result, the r|ole that women have played in the development of the fandom has been often overlooked. In 1982, Pat Nussman published an article in Comlink #9, a Star Wars letterzine entitled: "Where the Boys Are." In the article she explored the gender make-up of media fandom at the time and argued that it was skewed towards greater female participation, specifically in Star Wars fandom. The existence of such an article suggests that Star Wars fandom, like other areas of life, is not so much dominated by one gender or another as it is (or was) sex-segregated. See also Where are the women bloggers? at the Geek Feminism Wiki. In 1995, the AOL Star Wars fan club began hosting Tuesday "Ladies Night" online chats. "Star Wars Ladies Night in private room 'Star Ladies'. The Star Wars Ladies Night is a free form discussion group that provides an opportunity for SW fans to discuss issues of interest to women. Join us as we discuss the Star Wars trilogy and its legacy from a woman's point of view. E-mail Ghislaine or LdyTempus for more info." AOL Star Wars Trivia There was also The Women of Star Wars Home Page, a resource site active from 1997 to 2000, and the Leia-centric archive Organa-Zation. Both of these were on Geocities. For further reading, see Leia Organa, Leia Organa#Meta/Further_Reading, and Leia Organa#Early Fan Reaction
===Star Wars and Star Trek ===
 The first Star Wars movie came out just as the new Star Trek movie was in early production at Paramount. The success of the Star Wars movie helped persuade Hollywood to move ahead with a Star Trek feature film rather than a revised television series. However, Star Wars was not entirely welcomed by all Star Trek fans. "Not all of Star Trek fandom reacted favorably to Star Wars, however. Two extremes have already formed, one saying that 'Trek is doomed' (a new slogan) citing Star Wars as its killer, and the other faction maintaining a grin-and-bear-it attitude, assuming that the enthusiasm will wane eventually leaving ST fandom intact and Star Wars as 'just another...movie.'" from Boldly Writing For more on the effect of Star Wars on Star Trek fandom and the differences and similarities between the two, see Star Trek and Star Wars.
===The Luke and Han Wars===
There was much tension among some fans regarding who was the "real hero" of Star Wars, a subject that became more complicated with each movie installment. 
*The Luke and Han War
*Church of Ford & Cathedral of Luke
===Star Wars Was Constantly Jossed===
Because of the long lapses between the first three films (to say nothing of the three after that), fans and their creative works were constantly jossed. The revelation that Darth Vader was Luke's father in the second film threw fans for a loop, as did the second reveal in the third movie, that Luke and Leia were sister and brother. 
=== Star Wars Fan Clubs ===
* 501st Legion (focus especially on cosplay)
* Alliance (Star Wars fan club)
* Alliance for Star Wars Fans
* America Online Star Wars Fan Club
* AnderZone (for tie-in book writer Kevin J. Anderson)
* Cloud City (Star Wars fan club) (Italian)
* The First Order of the Jedi Knights (Intergalactic)
* First Terran Enclave
* Forces of the Empire
* Futura (Australian)
* German Jedi (German)
* H.A.M.I.L.L.S. (Australian)
* The Hamill Exchange
* International Order of the Jedi Knights
* The Lost Jedis (Star Wars fan club)
* Mark Hamill Society, UK (United Kingdom)
* The Moons of Yavin (United Kingdom)
* The Royal Order of the Rebel Forces
* The Supreme Order of the Imperial Forces
* TASAS (United Kingdom - combined Star Wars, Star Trek and Blake's 7)
* The Big Luke One (Japanese)
* The Jeremy Bulloch Fan Club (focus on Jeremy Bulloch/Boba Fett)
===Star Wars Conventions===
While Star Wars fandom was close to as large, and certainly attracted a wide variety of fans, as Star Trek did, the traction for specific Star Wars cons never took off. One reason: George Lucas forbid any major Star Wars actors from appearing at cons where unlicensed goods, such as fanzines and other fannish goods were sold. And Lucas himself, except for one exception (Starlog Salutes Star Trek) did not appear at cons.
The fandom itself was huge and varied, and while Star Trek fans were able to harness that energy and focus it on specific cons, Star Wars fans apparently did not. Historically, there was, of course, much interest in the movies, and fan-run cons often had Star Wars programming, costuming, and other discussion, but Star Wars fandom didn't have the same convention energy that Star Trek, Starsky & Hutch, Blake's 7, The Professionals, Man from U.N.C.L.E., and other popular fandoms.
That is not to say there were no Star Wars cons at all:
* AllianceCon
* The Elstree Star Wars Day
* Empire Day
* Force in Australia
* Star Wars Collector's Day
==Fanworks==
Links listed below are for all "eras" of Star Wars. For links pertaining to specific properties/characters, see Star Wars/Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars/Original Trilogy, Star Wars/Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars/Expanded Universe and Star Wars/Disney Era.
=== Zines ===
For a history of Star Wars Zines, see Star Wars Fanzines.
* Alliance (1994-1997)
* The Light Saber (1978-1987)
* May The Force Be With Her (2017)
* Shore Leave (2018)
* Star Wars Fanzine: The Fans Awaken (2016)
===Mailing Lists/Forums ===
====Forums====
*Nerfherders Playground (link)
*rec.arts.sf.starwars
*Star Wars Echo (Fido.net BBS)
==== Mailing Lists====
*Sith_Chicks (1999-2010) "For Star Wars Chicks with a little more "adult" conversation in mind."
	
*bailnow archive link "This is a mailing list devoted to the Star Wars' series character Bail Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan and adoptive father of Princess Leia. Present only through Leia in the Original Trilogy, he's making slightly more of a dent in the prequels. But are they really doing justice to a man who, after all, managed to give his daughter more balls than her brother ever grew? Discussion and fanfic -- het, slash, or gen -- is welcome. Adults ONLY, please -- by joining this group you are stating that you are over 18 and allowed to read smut. Anyone found to be younger WILL be removed by the list owner! Sorry kids, but it'll still be here when you're older..." archive is Bail Now (Founded: Mar 10, 2001)
*LadyKnight archive link "Fiction and discussion forum centred around female Jedi, whether they were born or became that way. For more information: http://www.shadowynd.com/~ladyknight" (Founded: Aug 23, 2000)
*SWA-L - a slash mailing list (1999-2003)
==== Tumblrs ====
* Sapphic Star Wars
==== Subreddits ====
* :/r/saltierthankrayt (2018-ongoing)
=== Archives===
*Bast Castle (gen and adult)
*The Darth Side (Star Wars Erotica)
*Dee's Star Wars Page (Luke/Mara) (2005) [Expanded Universe]
*Elusive Lover (archive) - slash fan fiction that appeared in fanzines (?-2010) (offline)
*FanFix: The Star Wars Fan Fiction Library (1997-2003) WayBack Links, multiple years
*FanFiction.Net (1999-present) - Star Wars on FanFiction.Net
*The Force.Net (2001-2011)
*Jedifiction.com (indexed by author)
*Joguy90's Fan Fiction and other Stuff
*Knight Moves
*Megan's Stories (2000s)
*Nephente at the Gate fan poetry (ca. 2001)
*rec.arts.sf.star wars Archive (Fan Fiction was allowed up to 1997) - Archived here and their FAQ
*The Sith Chicks - adult (het and slash fan fiction covering the entire span of the Star Wars series (some fan fiction can be accessed through this archived link
*Star Wars Chicks Fan Fiction Archive (includes an adjacent adult archive)
*Star Wars Slash Fiction Archive (index of slash fic)
===Other FanWorks: SongVids, Artwork, Costumes & Filking===
====Fanart====
*The Force.Net Fan Art (2001-present) - a collection of Star Wars fanart
Fancomics:
*Darths and Droids - RPG screencap version of the films by The Comic Irregulars.
Notable SongVids:
*Kid Fears by Shalott (2001). The vid can be viewed here.
*Lowlands by Lynn C.
====Filks/Filk Songbooks====
====Cosplay====
*501st Legion
===Meta/Further Reading===
* (2009)
*You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned: How The Empire Strikes Back Ruined Everything by Emily Asher-Perrin at Tor.com (May 25, 2011)
*, post at Club Jade (2011)
*Lucas Shot First: The Surprisingly Powerful Sense of Betrayal George Lucas Creates by Emily Asher-Perrin at Tor.com (March 16, 2012)
*For love or hate of 'The Phantom Menace'/WebCite, a 2012 article at "Geek Out!" written at the re-release of The Phantom Menace which quotes Henry Jenkins
*You Take Your Star Wars—I’ll Keep Mine, by Emily Asher-Perrin at Tor.com (April 11, 2013)
*On Star Wars fandom, feminism, diversity and anger, post at Club Jade (2014)
* (July 21, 2015)
* (2015)
*The Lucasfilm Porno Flap: The story of George Lucas' ban on smutty Star Wars fanfiction (September, 2021)
*The fan wars, character bashing, and general toxicity of early Star Wars fan zines (2020)
*:Category:Star Wars Meta
=== Interviews===
:For some Star Wars interviews with fans, see :Category:Star Wars Fan Interviews.
===Fannish References ===
*New Republic Fleet Base (1999-2003) - links to a wide range of Star Wars fansites
*Stay On Target - an extensive list of fan fiction sites, webrings, mailing lists, Live Journals, and fan art sites
* - a collection of links to canon guides, generators, and other fanfic reference materials; originally by hhux, additions by motherofclones, texasdreamer01, and meandmyechoes (11 May 2021)
*Star Wars Fic Reference Wiki - a canon wiki for content relevant to fanfic writers
==Notes==
=References=
 
**Star Wars