Moss Plantu and the Importance of Being Idle
There’s a plant on top of the Millennium Falcon.
Since this particular Falcon is the one at Galaxy’s Edge, and the Galaxy’s Edge Falcon is the definitive Falcon, the plant on top of the Falcon is canon. Since we’re not aware of any existing stories about the plant, we came up with our own.
Moss Plantu
Early in Emperor Palpatine’s research into cloning Force-sensitive lifeforms, the Empire genetically modified and cloned many Force-sensitive flora. These experiments, alongside most of the rest of the cloning research, was performed on the second Death Star, which was destroyed over the forest moon of Endor.
As the insides of the second Death Star became its outsides, bits of semi-sentient, Force-sensitive shrubbery from the cloning lab were strewn out into space. This bit happened to embed itself on the dorsal side of the Millennium Falcon, as it was escaping the exploding “totally not a moon” space station.
Thanks to the genetic engineering and strong connection to the Force, the plant was very adaptable and resilient. It was able to survive on the top of the Millennium Falcon for decades. In fact, the semi-sentient plant sees the Falcon as its home and therefore has used the Force to protect the Falcon while it has lived there. This is part of the reason why the Falcon has survived for so long after Return of the Jedi; it has had an on-board Force-wielding guardian that’s very interested in making sure the Falcon keeps flying.
The plant, which eventually chose the name “Moss Plantu,” appreciates living on the Falcon and all the places it gets to see and experience. It’s a much better life than living in a Death Star lab.
Other bits of Force-sensitive flora (and probably fauna) ended up on Endor. Imagine the stories that could crop up with that kind of setup… Disney, by the way, I wouldn’t be upset at all if you straight up steal our idea and make “The Whills of the Shrubs” as the next Disney+ miniseries.
The Importance of Being Idle
If we hadn’t been trapped in a line waiting to get on a ride for over an hour, we would have never noticed the plant. It took being trapped in line, being forced to be idle, to notice the world around us.
After noticing the plant, we could have just mentioned it to a Disney Cast Member who would almost certainly simply report the issue to maintenance so it could be removed. But no, we were trapped in line. We were forced to be idle. So we came up with a whole story that fits in the setting we put ourselves in.
Because we were Idle we noticed our world and came up with a way to improve it by including elements that would normally go unnoticed.
“Improving the world by including elements that normally go unnoticed” is nothing short of a superpower. Being Idle gave us super-human skills.
Is coming up with a Force-sensitive plant fan fiction useful? No, not really. Is this skill we practiced by being Idle useful for coming up with other ideas? Definitely. Improving the world is a super-human skill, but like all skills, it needs to be refined with regular training and practice.
It doesn’t matter how you get the practice, or what you practice on — but practicing this sort of thing is super important. And it’s really easy to do if you’re Idle.
“Stop and smell the roses” is an understatement. You need to stop and bury yourself in the flowerbed, so you’re stuck there for a while. And then you need to come up with silly ideas. It’s good for you.
