The Color of Darkness: The Final Tale of Oakie Dokes

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The Color of Darkness: The Final Tale of Oakie Dokes
Author: Astrid Meadows
Length: 7,817 words
Source: AO3
Preceding: Following:
"Revenge of the Cons: The Tale of Dannl Faytonni" "Twice Dead: The Tale of Led Daragon"


"The Color of Darkness: The Final Tale of Oakie Dokes" is a short story written by Astrid Meadows. It was first published on AO3 on April 2, 2026, and was later included in the anthology Tales from the Galaxies Opera House.[1]

"The Color of Darkness" serves as a sequel to Meadows' previous Oakie Dokes story, "An Arm and a Leg: The Artist's Tale", which was featured in the collection Tales from the Outlander Club.[2]

Author summary

Synopsis

Oakie Dokes, in light of the raging Clone Wars, has moved up in Coruscant society and become a semi-respected name in the art world. In 19 BBY, she attends a showing of Squid Lake at the Galaxies Opera House. During the showing, acoustic issues within her box send her into a series of vivid hallucinations—and cause her Gungan box-mate's head to explode.[3]

Several weeks later, after the Declaration of a New Order, Dokes meets a recurring client, Verrick, at The Blue Nerf. Verrick informs Dokes that the Empire, under the guidance of Ask Aak, is cracking down on what it perceives to be "degenerate" art. He gives her a gorgmonger's axe and convinces her to accept his help in creating her magnum opus: a sculpture using the armor of the Coruscant Guard.[3]

At the Republic Transit Authority, Dokes attacks a member of the Mon Calamari Ballet troupe. Verrick, revealing himself as an Anzat, drains the grey matter of Fox, the head of the Coruscant Guard. The pair take the Mon Calamari's body and Fox's armor back to Dokes' apartment. Dokes attempts to begin work on the sculpture; however, she is attacked by the now-feral Verrick. After maiming and killing him with the axe he had given her earlier, she integrates his skull into the sculpture.[3]

Fearing reprisal from the Empire, Dokes paints the sculpture—now called "The Lovely Axe"— and attempts to make her way to her old home in Coruscant's Gutter, painting in hand. Once she arrives, she is accosted by an Imperial Deputy Supervisor and several members of the Coruscant Guard. The supervisor, whom Dokes recognizes as the winner of her painting General of Bones, admits to being a fan of her work. He offers to hire her as an "aesthetician", but offers the caveat that Dokes' identity will be changed. Dokes chooses to accept his offer, and the supervisor properly introduces himself as Gurdun.[3]

Appearances

Arts and culture

Characters

Creatures and non-sentients

Events

Factions and organizations

Miscellanea and cosmology

Laws

Sentient species

Planets and points of interest

Vehicles and vessels

Development

Following the release of "An Arm and a Leg: The Artist's Tale", Astrid Meadows toyed with the idea of a sequel. Given Dannl Faytonni's subsequent appearance at Galaxies Opera House in Revenge of the Sith, Meadows hatched the idea of having Dokes at the opera house with him. One Swokes Swokes can be seen in the opera house scene, though it is unconfirmed if this is Dokes or another character.[4] With the approval of the rest of the ReExpanded Editing Team[5], Meadows added Dokes to the crowd at the opera house.

Continuity

A Swokes Swokes can be seen standing near Brookish Boon when Anakin Skywalker arrives at Galaxies Opera House in Revenge of the Sith. While this character is not explicitly identified as Oakie Dokes, Astrid Meadows chose to use this character to suggest Dokes' appearance at the Squid Lake show.[5] Meadows used this particular Swokes Swokes again for a scene in "Defiance's Banner: The Talking Head's Tale" where Dokes converses with Brookish Boon on the opera house stairs.[6]

The character Gurdun is originally from the short story "Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88", written by Kevin J. Anderson and included in the anthology Tales of the Bounty Hunters.[7] Minor Relsted, from the same story, also makes a cameo appearance.[7]

The acoustic issues presented in the first segment, "Phantasia", were rooted in lines from "Squid Lake: The Choreographer's Tale", where Mon Calamari Ballet choreographer Rychu Walwahd implied that the Opera House's acoustics could be tampered with to embarrass Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.[8]

Behind the scenes

The story was preceded by a trailer on the ReExpanded YouTube channel on March 31, 2026.[9]

The fourth and final segment, "Farbenfinsternis", is titled after the Eisregen album of the same name. The five-track "Zyklus Farbenfinsternis" cycle, particularly the song "Schatten im Verstand", inspired much of the splatter imagery and content in this story.[10]

Both "An Arm and a Leg" and "The Color of Darkness" are part of the duology The Dokes Diptych.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Tales from the Galaxies Opera House
  2. ↑ Tales from the Outlander Club
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "The Color of Darkness: The Final Tale of Oakie Dokes"
  4. ↑ Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Tales from the Galaxies Opera House" Discord server
  6. ↑ "Defiance's Banner: The Tale of Brookish Boon"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88"
  8. ↑ "Squid Lake: The Choreographer's Tale"
  9. ↑ "The Color of Darkness: The Final Tale of Oakie Dokes" Trailer on YouTube
  10. ↑ Notes on the Dokes Diptych
  11. ↑ The Dokes Diptych series on AO3


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