ashcroft-writes

[ashcroft-writes]

Pinned Author Masterpost

Original Works by I. A. Ashcroft

Raven Song (book one of Inoki’s Game): Post-nuclear-apocalyptic dark fantasy sci-fi A smuggler with secret magic and a scientist ripped from her own time meet in a world that seems to want them dead. Buy at: Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org Eclipse of the Sun (book two of Inoki’s Game): Post-nuclear-apocalyptic dark fantasy sci-fi On the run in an irradiated wasteland, two magic wielders and budding friends discover ancient magic and dark truths that may destroy a city. Buy at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org Harmony (short story, part of the Add Magic to Taste anthology): LGBTQIA+, non-explicit meet-cute gay/transmasculine romance, modern fantasy Toby, a magic-user in hiding, has been trying to live his life as a normal barista. Unfortunately, a charismatic outlaw mage has chanced through his drive-through. Buy at: Duck Prints Press, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org

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Fan Works by Ashcroft_Writes

STAR WARS

Gunslinger’s Paean Series featuring Cad Bane and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the long road of what it means to survive, change, and be tempted by connection with others. Explicit longfic, enemies-to-lovers with slow-burn emotional bonding, adventure, fun OCs, and big guns/big hats. New installments in progress. Includes: 1. The Idiot’s Array (Clone Wars era) (Completed) After the trials of the Box, Cad Bane and Obi-Wan Kenobi forge an unlikely connection with far-reaching repercussions. 2. Homeworld Elegy (Clone Wars era) (Completed) After The Idiot's Array, Cad Bane finds himself in uncharted waters. And now the war comes for his homeworld, forcing him to reckon with a lot of things he thought were long gone. 3. Summer’s End (Clone Wars era) (Completed) A short story collection about changing seasons in the life of a Duros bounty hunter. #gunslinger's paean Tumblr Tag - See for series announcements, questions, art, and more!

FALLOUT 4

Rot, Dust, and Steel (In-progress, hiatus but not abandoned) Longfic adventure featuring John Hancock and bi male Sole Survivor slow-burn romance. In a destroyed world, a man trying to survive grief and bring hope finds a new life nothing like he imagined—and it's one worth fighting for. Strong Hands (Completed) Short story featuring John Hancock and bi male Sole Survivor. Pre-romance, unspoken yearning.

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Fan Works based on my work:

(coming soon!)

Fan Playlists for the Gunslinger's Paean Series

Spotify: Death Walks Beside You (by ghostofthemotif)

Spotify: Death Walks Beside You 2 - Cad Bane (by zephyrus77)

YouTube: The Idiots Array (by roadrunneronice)

[ashcroft-writes]

I know I left a couple of reviews for Homeworld Elegy and Summer’s End, and I absolutely flappy-hand fangirled the moment I saw your responses then proceeded to dance around my room in pure glee.

I can honestly say I’ve never felt the urge nor truly understood the need to highlight, annotate, and deep-dive into someone’s work… until I read yours. And now here I am, annotating like a madwoman and even making my own playlist to match the emotional damage (I mean that lovingly).

I definitely stole your recommendation of “I Am the Moon” and added it to the lineup. Hearing others’ inspired playlists lit such a spark, I couldn’t resist joining in and throwing mine into the mix too.

Thank you for the teaser of what’s to come—throws handfuls of confetti-flattery in your general direction! I hope studying (and everything else life throws your way) goes as smoothly as possible.

And of course— May the Force be with you!! https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcMw5Abrr5JlJYxGhFpaaTqm6_nlix7Oi&si=9mJtfDVlJnEL14Pe

NEW FAN PLAYLIST??? :D :D :D :D I know I’ve already flappy-hand fanwriter’d right on back when I saw all your kind words on my fics, but genuinely, thank you so much again, and for this message too!! Truly. I am still really honored that my work’s found people that enjoy it so much, and it still really makes me glad the stories seem to be standing up to reads and re-reads and deep dives—honestly, it’s a wonderful feeling to have as a creator, one that never, ever gets old. I absolutely revel in the confetti you’ve thrown at me and I continue to be really excited to make progress (however slow it’s probably seemed) on the next installment. :D

BUT A NEW PLAYLIST!!! Ohooohooohohoooo! Yesssss! Thank you for taking the time to create and share—the previous playlists sent my way have been such awesome things to explore, learn new music from, and sometimes let ‘em go in the background as I write. And it’s super cool to get some new recs to add into the mix! Crazy thing—I actually see a couple songs and artists on here that I actually ALSO kept in a lil’ “writing ambiance” playlist I built myself years ago, and it’s wild to see that handful reflected (howdy to my old friends, KALEO, Eivør, and The Dead South <3) This is gonna be a 5+ hour experience I am really gonna enjoy. Truly, thank you, and I hope other readers have a great time discovering this too! :D

May the Force be with you until we speak again!

[ashcroft-writes]

It was the FUNNIEST fucking thing to me tripping over this post and seeing my fic was the propaganda being offered in answer to this question

But hey the clown car always has room and you're welcome aboard lol honk honk 😂

do you think cad bane and obi wan as rako hardeen fucked

[ashcroft-writes]

Niro, Colby

[ashcroft-writes]

Tales of the Underworld is almost hereeee

[ashcroft-writes]

its so important to me that you know that your fic the idiots array is SO significant and comforting to me i read it in 2022 and go back and read it at least once a year 10/10 one of my favorite books ever

❤️❤️❤️❤️!!! I have drowned in a pool of my own tears RE: these kind messages from over the last couple days. The Idiot's Array has a real special place in my heart, and I can't tell you how cool it is to know folks are still reading and enjoying my work to this degree. It really buoys a person through the hundreds of hours it takes to make these stories—I'd do it anyway because I'm Just Wired Like That, definitely some kinda knock I might have gotten on my head, but I gotta say, knowing folks like you are still along with me for this crazy lil' AU makes me happy. Thank you so much! 😭❤️ And I hope to see you for the next one in the series!

(Additionally, if anyone has questions about the stories or what's coming up, I'm happy to answer 'em.)

[ashcroft-writes]

It's so nice to see you back!! I was just re-reading your whole kenobane/cad bane centric series and it is such a great comfort for me, it really gives you hope, I feel like I can love and endure whatever comes my way when I read your words. As I was reading I listened to Die With a Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga and I thought it is a perfect song for your kenobane! The dream, them being forever connected, the way they shared how they want to forever rest... I got goosebumps!! Do you have any songs that remind you of the world you have built?

Oh goodness, thank you so much! 🥹 This was such a kind and heartfelt message to have arrive; I appreciate it more than I can say. Themes of hope… honestly, it’s probably the core of myself that I have to offer the world and so it tends to come through a lot when I write. The night is dark, the world is hard, and terrible things happen, but we all have each other. We can learn and change and try again and make things better than where we found them, and it is never too late to try and make that difference. I’m honored I can help make your world a little better too.

Also, Die With A Smile—nice! You hit on a fave of mine quite by accident there! Great pick! Lady Gaga’s Mayhem album is such a great listen in general, and I confess I’ve written many a word in the Banefic recently while looping it, heh. It must be the slide between being intensely unhinged, and then also sweet 😂 Also. You know. Sometimes she dresses like this and my brain says "does this hat remind you of anyone? Anyone at all? HAT FOR YOU, KING? 👀"

Bane Gaga crossover WHEN

But I digress.

I actually did have an experience of a song hitting me like a truck regarding the Kenobane I've written. Might I heartily recommend “I am the Moon” by The White Buffalo?

Omg, I would also be very remiss if I didn’t resurface the Spotify playlists some awesome folks have also assembled for the series. There’s some real gems in there. If you’re on Spotify, you totally should check out:

EDIT - had to remove the embedded Spotify widgets due to this post overloading Tumblr's abilities. But check out the links yourself! It's worth it!

Death Walks Beside You (by @ghostofthemotif) : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0HwKgQM2SRmNDfXtv0TfwV

Death Walks Beside You 2 - Cad Bane (by @zephyrus77): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5grMErzVmNaGF6dvookZ1p

[ashcroft-writes]

Hi!! I hope you are doing great! Now that Andor season 2 dropped i went back into my star wars era and I remembered how good your The Idiot's Array series is!! I don't know when you are going to publish your third work - take all the time you need, really! - but I just wanted to let you know there are still people thinking about it and loving it! 💕💕💕

Howdy there!!! This super makes my day, thank you so much for the very kind words! And welcome back to the Star Wars era! :D I haven't seen the new Andor yet, but I'm real excited. And it always makes my heart glad people are enjoying Gunslinger's Paean years down the line, especially because I have ABSOLUTELY been working on the next installment all this time; just had a couple turbulent years that's slowed it up! But I'm persistent. :D Just gotta be like the cowboy alien man himself... dramatically slow-walking to the destination lol. Heck, I just wrapped up one more of the chapters yesterday. So it'll get here eventually!

But, before I ramble too much—thank you again for reaching out with the encouragement and love. It means a lot, and I hope you have a wonderful week! ❤️✨

[ashcroft-writes]

Tales of the Underworld Cad Bane Episode Titles

Me, sitting straight up from a dead sleep: So! Each of these titles contained the word "Good," which sure is an irony for a descent-into-darkness narrative.

The Good Life: that taste of a good thing that would snare an innocent kid into crime

A Good Turn: likely referring to the phrase "one good turn deserves another," a revenge philosophy that would cement an angry young Cad into his fall

One Good Deed: OKAY LOOK. I didn't understand this one at first; thought it was maybe a reference to "good deeds never going unpunished," since despite Niro always trying to do the right thing, he was going to die. Cad would never listen, still locked into his need to settle scores—despite Niro even raising his very son as his own. BUT LOOK. I think it was about Cad's vanishingly rare decision to try and do the right thing that is best for other people, his ONE consciously good deed this series—staying the hell away from his own son—not adding the calamity that he is to the boy's life on top of all the harms he's already caused. 😭😭😭 LISTEN—

[ashcroft-writes]

Thoughts on Cad Bane in Tales of the Underworld

I almost never post analyses of my fave fandom things! But I've been thinking about nothing but this show for a solid 24 hours, haha. Honestly, I've been pretty light on sharing my thoughts on the beloved blorbos previously because I don't often care for engaging in the hot take trading in Star Wars fandom... and I also know things tend to grow on me over time, even if something bothers me at first. I’m also in times when people like me worry for their lives and futures, so the me that shows up for Star Wars anymore honestly just wants to have a little fun with it and appreciate what these creative teams manage to do, especially today, when I get Cad Bane content so enchantingly rarely!

BUT, these episodes definitely had a big effect on me. So I've sat with them a little, let ‘em roll around in my head, and though there’s parts of the narrative I think I would have also liked to see… what was done with this story, I ultimately really enjoyed.

But let's dig in deeper, because it IS fun.

THE RELATIONSHIP

Alright, to get it outta the way, anything that involves showing a past relationship for a character seems to set off a bomb inside fan heads. And as a queer writer with an MLM Bane series, some folks have seemed to kind of want to feel me out on this one!

Honestly, the Bane and Arin relationship intrigued me, and I like her.

But first, before I dig into why, I have seen some folks uncomfortable with the idea of a character that's had a blank slate backstory past now being given a "love interest," so I'm going to speak to that first. What is presented here doesn’t change all that much about what we know of Bane as a character—this was a relationship that was definitely physical and involved SOME sort of emotional attachment, but that's about all that was said, and I don't see how it really threatens most interpretations of Bane. Yes, even and especially the queer ones. One can write Bane and/or Arin with any earth-equivalent sexuality, gender, or romantic preferences (or lack thereof) that you choose and these interpretations would still work within this canon information (if you even want to keep canon information in your works!) I've been looking at this relationship from the angles of queerplatonism, aromanticism, bisexuality, pansexuality, heterosexuality, gay with a confusing puberty, etc. etc. etc.. And that’s just if Arin is in fact a woman in the sense that many earth humans mean it.

There’s a lot of wide narrative holes for creatives to nest in here, and I'm really happy I can say that, because I'm already building a nest. And, besides all THAT, Bane’s a cowboy alien?? Like. I think we should all keep getting weird with it, because he SURELY would be up to things outside of our earthly human day-to-day perspective.

So yeehaw. Do Whatever You Want Forever!

Moving on.

THOUGHTS ABOUT ARIN HERSELF

I really like her. I love the idea of this young person who was kind, who was trying to pull Cad back from the worst parts of his nature, who was wiser than he was about the possibilities of a future past the violence of their world. That is part of what my own OC Nuni was when I wrote him. And now in canon, there were at least two people—Arin and Niro—both trying to pull Cad back from his fixation on gold and blood, and I like that theme!

Was I curious how Cad and Arin came together…? Yeah. Of COURSE. But I know this was limited time we had, and decisions were made about how to convey the most telling details in shorthand and the story in broad brushstrokes—so here, I settle for the subtle body language, which honestly was very deliberately rendered. It’s clear Cad is attached on some level to Arin; the way he works easily alongside her and doesn’t leave her behind when the going gets tough isn't without meaning at all. For him, it seems as close a relationship as he's able to have. But a lot of their interaction regardless comes across as a very Cad way of handling someone, especially while younger, rasher, his anger hotter. He doesn’t confide in her, he snips, he barely listens. He hardly looks at her or even touches her, though her own gaze is often on him, analyzing, hoping, bidding for him to let go of what doesn’t matter. But he doesn’t consider her needs for a single second as more important than him coming out on top. And this… this was a relationship I’ve seen before in life, in which one side is too focused on what they’re chasing to properly, truly notice the other person, even if some facet of having the other person around comforts them. I couldn't help but wonder if Arin was indeed startled by how easily Cad hugged Niro, when Cad just doesn’t seem to be like that with anyone else that we see, not even her. So yes, his and Arin’s relationship was strange, one-sided, with so much unspoken… but it was a lot we can glean from very little.

I wish in some ways that Arin had still been alive in the final episode, but I am sensing perhaps why it was decided that she wouldn’t be. There’s a narrative hole here I’m going to have to speculate inside, but—when Bane returns an unspecified amount of time after he was arrested, he’s grown up a fair amount. Got new scars. He has crew coming to meet him as if they want to give loyalty, when he didn't exactly come across as Lazlo's second in command previously. And now, the community council seems like they’re wetting their pants about him showing up, and they ALL know and seem to fear his name, whereas when he was arrested, they absolutely didn’t.

Frankly, the writing seems to imply that there was some serious stuff that happened in the interim between when they arrested him and he made his way back to his old stomping grounds. I don't know if it was a situation in which Bane still managed to make trouble from inside his cell, pulling strings, or if there were periods in which he was free, then arrested again.

But either way, Arin was left behind for a long while, just like Niro was once. Enough for Cad to get up to his own mischief, forge at least some part of his intimidating legacy. But again, he’s been so sucked into his own workings that the world he left behind moved on without him. I don't think he ever says that he was coming back for Arin when he does arrive; that’s a guess everyone ELSE is throwing around. He’s seemingly just there to settle accounts in general, and the mention of Arin having married Niro just seems to stick him in the pride. Either way, he's come back far too late to have done anything about it. They've both long moved on, and he wrote her off as a traitor long ago. Arin's had a life alongside a kinder person, and now is gone, and perhaps Cad could have tried to learn anything at all about what had happened before now, found a way for someone to bring him intel, wrote a letter, etc. But he didn’t.

He only returns to old places in this story when it’s time for revenge.

I think it fits his character fairly well, so unwilling to deal with these emotional difficulties that any question of Arin he still held in his heart was answered by a life fully lived without him, one he stayed ignorant of until it came back to needle his ego. The fact that Arin is dead isn't the point. It was that he didn't know she was dead, years gone. If that isn't a character statement, I don't know what is.

So yes, despite the missing parts, Arin is a character I like. I see some folks mentioning the concept of her being “fridged,” but I personally don’t think that entirely fits. Fridging is… specific. She wasn't there in the story only to die of violent or sad means, all to inspire the protagonist into having character development. Conversely, Arin doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, no, and I wish she did! Regardless, the tragedy is that Arin DOES have agency and uses it to live, not die—and her sacrifice doesn't inspire or change Cad, because he was hurtling down into the dark all on his own. She chose to end the violence, defy Cad and steal his gun because she’s kinder and wiser than he is, and knows how to let go and move on. She only died after having lived a life she chose, even an offscreen one, Cad’s choices be damned. I can’t call it a fridging. I do still wish she had more time to tell us more about who she was, but I suppose fic is here, and I’m just going to have to write something about it sometime.

CAD BANE’S SON

I yelled when he appeared. Jfc what a cute kid. This story also told us Cad was a cute kid too. And the narrative spares neither of them. :(

I’m going to get it out of the way: the only thing, literally the only thing, I am having difficulty accepting about this story is the kid’s name. Isaac. What? What?? EXCUSE ME. IS THE BOOK OF GENESIS IN STAR WARS?? I’m going to need ten linguistics and history enthusiasts in my replies immediately so we can figure out what the hell happened culturally with the Duros and Judaism in a galaxy far far away.

BUT I DIGRESS. This kid Isaac looked into my soul with those big eyes and I opened a door in my heart for him and now I’m in hell, so whatever I guess.

I AM IN HELL AHHHHH.

But. The moment when Cad looks in that kid’s eyes and knows EXACTLY who the father is was almost startling. Like, he even reaches out for a second. Just a split second. It’s this razor-sharp shard surprise-cutting him inside his moment where he thought he was just wrapping up all the loose ends. All that gloating to Niro about “I’ll take care of him like you did Arin” had so little real caring behind it that I doubt it was any kind of real promise.

But it’s then that Cad sees. For one of the few times in this story, Cad looks into someone else’s eyes outside of himself, and he properly sees them.

And he reaches out.

But that’s shut down fast. The interfering mayor clearly knows who Isaac comes from, just like Cad knows now. And neither of them say anything about it, but their understanding is clear, and Cad walks away, quietly agreeing, perhaps, that it’s the right move to do so. What he’s become can’t help this kid in any meaningful way. He’s just made another abandoned orphan like he was, and who knows what kind of life is in store for that child now?

Obviously, later in canon, Cad will have a go at helping another kid’s journey, mentoring Boba Fett. I wonder if, perhaps, he did it to try and prove to himself he could, gnawing inwardly over what happened on this day with the son he’ll now never know.

After all, he's not very good at letting things go.

THE STORY IN GENERAL

I’m kind of working backwards with my thoughts, from this very specific musing regarding the important relationships to the larger story... I haven't even gotten into Niro! Did you see that moment where Cad was the one to hug him, and he couldn't quite manage to do it back? When the last time they saw each other, he was the one being abandoned? How he faced Cad in person, and so is NEVER the person running away to save himself? I am gently patting this Duros' face. Excellent. But. I am going to have to wrap this up eventually and save any other thoughts for later.

At the end of the day, there was a lot inside this short little visit into Bane’s life that really delighted me. The scores of different Duros characters (shoutout to the guy in that giant hat, hahaha. LOVE A DUROS IN A GIANT HAT <3) The love given to the modeling, texturing, and overall craft of this production... all my love to the Star Wars animation team. The small look at the culture in the area Bane lived in as a child. The way he discourages his friend from buying a little toy their hearts clearly want, in favor of that which is practical. That moment when child Bane gets a taste of what money can do, hungry, licking the box clean that held his first real, good meal in a long time. The moment when Niro tries to get him to walk away from Lazlo’s scheme, and he immediately spins around and agrees it’s not worth it unless they’re paid twice as much—the budding negotiator!

Being fast, agile, sliding over the hood of a car as he runs from the cops.

Choosing to save himself, then the instant regret, lack of surety, fear—drowned in his first handful of gold.

The visual of him as an adult seeing his childhood self in the glass before shooting that thought right through the heart… the foreshadowing. Goddamn.

Like, I do have mixed feelings on some level. It was too big a story in too small a space. The first episode was plain excellent, but the latter two suffered from the broad brushstrokes preventing us from being able to get to know some of the new faces introduced, and raised a lot of questions about other things—truly, we never get to see what Lazlo comes to mean to young Colby, why he inspired a boy to become so like him. We never see when Colby decides to leave behind his old name and why. We never see where Todo comes from, or why Cad chose Arin to spend his time with. It also doesn’t show the why’s and how’s that made Cad Bane the Legend exceptional at what he is.

But it did give us tantalizing tidbits, the smallest pieces of the before-times we can explore more on our own. It showcased that Cad Bane's greatest strength as a bounty hunter, why he's so feared, is the precise fatal flaw that made his life the way it is: the fact that once he has the scent of his goals, he’ll never let go, not ever—he'll chase them from one end of the galaxy to the other to settle accounts, inexorable, deadly.

And it hasn't brought him happiness.

[ashcroft-writes]

Hi everyone, I'm not dead! Apologies for the social media hiatus—it was actually quite unintentional. For the past 6-7 months, I've been preparing to leave my country while having a whole cartful of other things happening, and it's been QUITE a lot. I have been just excessively tired. Thank you so much for kind messages while I've been away!

Alas, see, I know there's been a big Cad Bane episode drop, so I will simply HAVE to chatter about some stuff, haha. The blorbo compels me!!

[ashcroft-writes]

I'm so very, very honored to reblog this artwork you've spent so much love and energy in crafting. I've been in such suspense to see which scene you picked since you first teased that you wanted to cook up a bit of artwork based on my words (<3!), and you wound up snagging one of my absolute faves, as Obi-Wan dove too deep, oxygen running out, falling into a vision from the Force.

Onward, Obi-Wan trudged. His boots were soft and flexible, but the heat from the sand radiated into his feet as it twisted tricky and loose beneath. He never grew tired, though. Never thirsted, even as his skin burned, as his mind evaporated slow.

The trail stretched before him, and he followed.

He walked until he forgot what it was to stop.

He walked until he no longer remembered another sky or another earth.

He walked until he had no thoughts and no past and no self, and then, he kept walking, breathing, putting one foot in front of the next… doggedly cresting each new hill, just like the wanderer who had come before.

By the way—it's such a joy to see that the title also as a mirror of The Traveler's Steps?? The poem at the end of the story whose illustration mirrors this sequence??? I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!!!

Truly, I don't even have words for how much FUN I had reading this. How much care I could see you put into your craft! Obi-Wan's harrowed and vibrant expressions, that flashes of grief as he remembers his master, the attention to detail (the bright ember of Bane's cigarette in the night like a star to follow!)... I just... ahhhhh!!!!!

I can't even imagine how long this took, and am beyond honored you chose to chase such an elaborate and well-done undertaking inspired by my work.

If any of my followers love The Idiot's Array... you should definitely click through and send a talented artist some love here. <3 @tony-artx you can COUNT on me gushing more at you more later also hahaha. It is well-deserved!!!

After several months, it's finally done!

You can read it on DeviantArt, here:

https://www.deviantart.com/bones-and-stars/art/Gunslinger-s-Paean-The-Traveller-s-Trail-Cover-1070271234

@ashcroft-writes thank you so much for letting me to mess with your story!

[ashcroft-writes]

day 1

hes so full of smoke :(

[ashcroft-writes]

…Just a moment more… Look directly up, and the sky would subtly thin at its zenith, the muggy teal starting to let space peek through: darkness infinite. [...]Above, the clouds drifted and shimmered… they almost seemed to stretch into long, thin storybook-ships… when he was really little, he thought that if he wished hard enough, perhaps they’d stop for him…

(@ashcroft-writes has been posting new fic and that means I’m back on my bullshit)

[ashcroft-writes]

Wow @ashcroft-writes , your writer mind is at its maximum even in tumblr tags. I am forever in love with that description, I feel it in a very primordial spot in my psyche...literally got chills reading it 👀 thank you so much!

[ashcroft-writes]

I confess I miss the boopening a little. Likes/reblogs aren’t quite the same thing, though of course I advocate doing all that too. A boop seems a nice way to like… just tell people in a low stakes way that you like them and you’re thinking of them even if your brain makes it stupid difficult to use words at them sometimes. It’s not a like in that it’s not a vote of approval re: what someone creates or comments on; no one has to perform for it, and it’s not even dependent on someone posting anything recently. It’s just like… “I like your existence. Yay. Boop.” I think it’d be nice to have an analogue, perhaps without all the fanfare and notifications so folks who don’t want it can ignore it easily. But that’s just me!