Teen Star Wars fan secretly fluent in French, instantly decodes fanfic villain’s hidden identity: '[The author] had a good laugh and said she didn’t think her readership would catch that'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Oct 3, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Back in the early 2000s, online fandoms were basically the Wild West. If you were a kid, you had to be extra careful because while you just wanted to write about Jedi romances and galactic betrayals, there was always that lurking fear of Stranger Danger.

One fan grew up in a French-speaking region, but when they joined the Star Wars fanfiction community as a tween, they hid everything about their real life, including the fact that they spoke fluent French. Nobody knew. Not even their closest fanfic buddies.

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  • Then, one day, another writer introduced a mysterious villain called Darth Fils. If you speak French, you’re already laughing, because “fils” means “son.” Our undercover fan immediately knew this was code for Luke Skywalker’s dark side alter ego and couldn’t help but spill the theory.

    The author admitted she didn’t expect her mostly American readers to catch it, but one secret Francophone did. She later made sure the villains had names with Latin roots, which turned out to be much harder to crack than the French one.

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    Cheezburger Image 10560288512
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.


     

  • 02

    "Busted a fanfic writer…"

    I was retelling this story the other day so it was still fresh in my mind when I found this sub.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 03
    Thought I'd share! I started learning French at around eight years old, and I live in a French- speaking part of the world so by my mid- teens I was fluent.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 04
    I also used to be pretty active in the Star Wars fan fiction community, and I was friendly with several fellow fans who liked to write about the same parts of the timeline as I did.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 05
    However, I got into the fandom pretty young, and I'd heard lots of horror stories about doxxing and pervs who pretended to be kids to find marks.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 06
    As such, I took pains to disguise where I was from. And that included telling absolutely no one that I spoke French, not even the writers I was closer to.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 07
    Perhaps a little extreme, but to be fair, I was twelve and terrified of Stranger Danger.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 08
    Fast forward a couple of years and I'd learned to relax a little, but I still hadn't told anyone where I was really from, or that I spoke French.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 09
    So imagine my glee when a fellow writer introduced a mysterious character called Darth Fils... French for son.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 10
    Cheezburger Image 10560288768
    via Tommy van Kessel For Unsplash+
  • 11
    I instantly knew it was Luke Skywalker turned to the dark side and sent her a message about it excitedly positing fan theories.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 12
    She had a good laugh and said she didn't think her largely American readership would catch that.
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 13
    The next few villains had names with Latin roots, and let me tell you, I had a MUCH harder time decoding those!
    via kitschswitchb*tch
  • 14
    Kronoskickschildren Thats just a bit sad that a plain word in a world language is supposed to be cryptic to americans, not trying to throw shade here. I mean Vader is Father in polish and Han Solos last name story is another reason not to expect too much subtlety in star wars names, but french isnt a small language, especially with so many people around the world being proficient in english and french specifically
    via h
  • 15
    TomCanTech Just want to note a slight correction - "vader" is Dutch for "father" not Polish. The Polish for "father" is "ojciec".
    via h
  • 16
    krendyB Honestly I think most Americans with basic romance language classes behind them would clock it. It's not super tricky.
    via h
  • 17
    ranchspidey As an American, it definitely is sad. Our education system isn't producing the best and brightest, unfortunately.
    via h

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author online star wars reading spoilers villains fandom writer books fanfiction french funny fanfic
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