#<- tagging my sw worldbuilding posts with that from now on

[knight-of-aether]

SWEU Fanon Codex: Red Zabrak in the Sith Empire

Thousands of years before the first Zabrak colonists crash landed on Dathomir, when the Nightbrothers and their kin had yet to exist, Force-sensitive Zabrak with bright red or orange skin could be found throughout the galaxy. These Zabrak owed their similar traits to their relationship with the Tsis, or ancestral Sith species, and their destinies were linked with the Sith Empire's long and bloody history.

I. Origins

During the early days of the Sith Empire, as it expanded within the isolated Stygian Caldera region, the Sith attempted to conquer and enslave worlds that had previously been settled by Iridonian Zabrak explorers, but they didn’t expect the local resistance - which was largely Force-blind - to put up as much of a fight as it did. In this clash between two warrior cultures, the Zabraks’ tenacity eventually earned the grudging respect of the larger Imperial army.

The Sith lords eventually decided that they were wasting resources on the war, and would be better off taking the locals as their servants and their lands as fiefdom than bombarding them into oblivion. Thus the first treaties were drawn up, with their terms leaning greatly in the Empire's favor. Most Zabrak clans, unwilling to admit defeat but exhausted by the war, agreed to join the Empire after several revisions to their terms. Those who refused were enslaved or executed, their lands confiscated and divided among the Sith and their new vassals.

Many Zabrak followed their new lords to the Sith homeworlds, including Korriban, Ziost, and the Dromund system. During the ages of the Great Hyperspace War and the Empire's fall and reconstitution, its Zabrak diaspora continued to grow. By the time of the Cold War, they had thoroughly intermingled with the last remaining Tsis and their Human-hybrid Red Sith successors, becoming their own hybrid people, the Red Zabrak.

II. Biology

While they share many traits with their Iridonian cousins, the Red Zabrak population has inherited notable Tsis features that are expressed to varying degrees in each individual.

Iridonian-inherited traits:

near-human height and generally fit build

vestigial horns that appear in the first few years of life, and grow in symmetrical patterns on the crown of the head

less hair than most mammalian species; no eyebrows or facial hair, often naturally bald

two hearts and resilient cardiovascular and nervous systems, resulting in greater stamina and a slightly higher pain threshold than many other near-human species

pronounced canine teeth and a metabolism optimized for a carnivorous diet

darkened camouflage striping or inkblot patterns that fade during adolescence, upon which tattoos are traditionally based

Tsis-inherited traits:

skin colors varying from burgundy through red, orange, and peach, similar to Red Sith in complexion and always more ruddy than Iridonian Zabrak

“bleeding” effect of a bright red ring around the iris, a partial expression of the Tsis species’ characteristic glowing eyes

heightened midichlorian levels and increased chance of Force sensitivity

Occasionally, Red Zabrak will display subtle, angular ridges across their skin. Though generally less noticeable than in Red Sith, these ridges have influenced their iconic face and body tattoos, which are a fusion of traditional Iridonian and Sith ritual tattoos that incorporate various symbols to convey clan affiliation and personal stories, and are often designed to outline and enhance any observable Tsis traits.

Bone spurs and cartilaginous tendrils, however, are recessive traits that were lost in most of the Red Zabrak population after first-generation hybrids. These traits, like the aforementioned ridges, appear with more frequency in Human-hybrid Red Sith due to both the selectiveness of the Sith elite, and the quirks of Tsis genetics.

III. Society

While Red Zabrak citizens are nominally equal with all free beings in the Empire, in practice they are second-class citizens compared to Red Sith and Humans, though with societal privilege above other nonhuman species, including Iridonian Zabrak. Scholarly opinion on the merit of their Sith blood weighed against their nonhuman heritage is mixed. Their treatment is comparable to that of the Chiss, but as ancient dependencies of the Empire rather than newfound foreign allies. Meanwhile, in Republic space, they are often viewed with distrust, if not outright detested by Iridonians as traitors to their species. Due to vows of fealty that were sworn when their clans first joined the Empire, many are bound to the ancient Red Sith aristocracy as vassals, with all that entails.

Family ties are vital in both Zabrak and Sith cultures, and the two have become inextricably entangled over their centuries together. The Zabrak openly regard their accomplishments in the Sith Empire as a point of pride and their allegiance as a concession that made both peoples stronger; according to their officially sanctioned history, the Sith definitively proved their superiority in the arena of war, and have remained worthy of following in their exploits to the present day.

Despite the Empire's tendencies towards forced assimilation, the clans have held onto some of their autonomy as agreed upon in their treaties - particularly to organize for cultural events, such as the yearly coming-of-age ceremony in which teenagers traditionally receive their first tattoos, after several days of combat sports, storytelling, and feasting. Large clan gatherings are required to be open to the public, and are routinely monitored by Imperial security forces, but are among the freest cultural expressions in the Empire outside Mandalorians.

Most young Red Zabrak end up in careers that will further the agendas of their affiliated Sith Houses - often the same ones their ancestors swore fealty to when the first treaties divided them among the Sith. Choosing a marriage or career that one’s clan or House disapproves of, or siding with a rival, is to become a social outcast at best. Since the Sith hold the strings of the Empire, they can and will obstruct and manipulate the paths of their servants, and sweep impromptu executions under the rug, in the name of preserving their power bases. Systemic xenophobia in the Empire at large makes social mobility for Red Zabrak even more challenging without Sith aid.

Stereotyped as violent, stubborn, and simple-minded but ultimately honorable aliens, Red Zabrak often end up in military positions within the Empire, and frequently serve as enforcers and assassins to their affiliated Sith houses. Despite the setbacks they face, this tenacious people can be found throughout the Empire in higher positions and greater numbers than any other non-Human or Sith species.

[thesummerstorms]

This is sooo late, but I didn't have a proper keyboard while I was housesitting and I've just managed to sit down now and do anything that required any length typing.

Thank you to @nepobabyeurydice for the tag!

If I'm being honest, I've not perfectly been able to keep track of who I saw answer this already on my dash, but if you are a writer and we are mutuals, consider yourself optionally tagged.

When did you start writing?

I remember typing up original stuff on our hand me down Windows 95 computer in elementary school, though I could not tell you what any of it was about.

My first fic was a very, very, very cringy Naruto fic when I was 11 and emo everything was at the height of its popularity. I never finished it, and it is now nonexistent, which is very much for the best.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I read a somewhat decent amount of science fiction that isn't as "loose" in it's worldbuilding as even space opera, but you will never catch me doing world building outside of fantasy. I can make things internally consistent, but do not ask me to make them realistic to science.

Also, just in general, while I don't read action per say, or at least read for action, a lot of my favorite genres and series do have fight scenes, and I cannot write those at all.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I can trace a few things in my own writing- both good and bad!- to a handful of authors that particularly influenced me as a young teenager, but I don't think it's anything anyone else would pick up on.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I have a proper desk in my bedroom with a desktop PC and two monitors and everything, and if I'm doing any serious and researched meta, or leaving comments on particular fics, I use that.

But I don't really write fic so much these days, and what I do post tends to be... fragments? Concepts? Worldbuilding that morphs into slightly-longer than drabbles? here on tumblr. And 95% of that gets posted from my phone because inspiration struck and it was in my hand.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

I don't go seeking things out, honestly. Like I said, I don't write plotted or long fic or really much fic at all. So what I do write comes out because it's sitting there poking at my brain for too long and then I can't ignore it anymore.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

... looking at my SW stuff and my PJO stuff, one thing I guess I like the idea of a lot is the boundary between human/larger than human, mortal/immortal, mutable/immutable etc.

I loved some eldritch Force stuff and I love the idea of the PJO gods as being forces as much as or more than they are people.

Like, there's an Anne Carson translation of a Sophocles quote I saw for the first time years ago on tumblr- "Nothing vast enters the lives of mortals without ruin"- and I can't help but fixate still on that idea. What if the vast is inherently part of you but in a way that is alien to your humanity? What happens when the "vast" is both sympathetic and destructive to your personhood?

Also, a slightly less pretentious and definitely less wordy answer, I just think angst is fun to write. Not pure tragedy or grimdark, but angst.

What is your reason for writing?

My brain Will Not Shut Up and it has to go <i>somewhere.</i>

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I want people to talk about ideas with me!

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Not as a fiction writer per say, but I fucking killed every literary analysis paper I ever wrote in college. Like, this may sound arrogant, but I got nominated for awards by my professors. I thrived off of getting their feedback and that looping into a discussion. So I feel like meta comes easily as a result.

Now if only you could get paid and have health insurance writing literary analysis... alas, I cannot afford a doctorate and academia doesn't pay well or have decent enough healthcare access for my many needs.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I wish I could write long fic and coherent plots, but I am proud of the ideas I come up with sometimes.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I feel like most of my writing is in conversation with what I read, whether it be the original text, other folks' fic, or meta. But even if it's in conversation, I'm never going to even have the idea much less the words unless it's something I'm interested enough in that my brain snags on it.

[bereft-of-frogs]

ao3 wrapped [writers edition] how about 10,11,29, or 30?

10. What work was the quickest to write?

It was either closure or the lack thereof, which I technically wrote 2 drafts of and posted over a weekend but I did have that idea kicking around since 2021, so from concept to post it was probably either with teeth we've come this far or I feel like I'm borrowing all my time, because I came up with the ideas for whumptober and finished them. All the others existed as idea bulletpoints or little jotted down paragraphs before Sept 1 but those two were completely contained.

11. What work took you the longest to write?

While the dark ocean duology did take me all summer after I'd initially thought it would take a couple weeks tops, the winner has to be the first chapter of omens and all kinds of signs which was at 60% done for 2 years. I honestly don't know that I would have finished it if I hadn't decided to post it serially, so yeah little plug for writing serially. It was really just to get back on the horse after having an off year last year.

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

I really like this bit where Greez is like 'wtf' in 'I feel like I'm borrowing all my time':

This all feels like an overwhelming, insurmountable task. Greez wishes he hadn’t been chosen for it. He knows how important it is, wants desperately to find the kid before he can be hurt, but it really feels beyond him. He misses the Mantis, misses the rest of the crew, even the little droid and the stowaway bogling. He misses feeling like he understands his place in the universe. His mind struggles to keep up with how long it’s been. A couple of hours? Days? Five years but wound in reverse? He knows it shouldn’t feel like five years, but it kind of does. It feels like the warmth and safety of home is something he lost long ago, or perhaps never had. Now that Cal’s missing from his proper place, it all feels like none of it ever actually happened. It both exists in his memory and doesn’t, like a distant dream. Greez shivers. All of this is very, very wrong. Cere is staring at the fire again, an inscrutable look on her face. Greez decides to fill the silence with: “I guess we have to hope they didn’t take him to Nur.” Cere whirls on him abruptly. “Of course we have to hope they didn’t take him to Nur.” “I just mean that…” Greez swallows. It’s started raining harder, raising more steam and smoke from the fires. The smoke makes his eyes sting. Cere waits for an explanation, brow furrowed. “Don’t we have to avoid…I just mean…you shouldn’t meet yourself, right? That’s one of the rules of this sort of thing, isn’t it? At least, it was in the cheesy dramas my grandmother was always watching…” “Oh.” Cere turns back to the fire. “I hadn’t considered that.”

Apologies for the length of it but I like it both for the 1) 'it shouldn't feel like five years but it does' bit, just leaning into time travel being WEIRD. Also I think I slipped up a couple times responding to comments and referred to 'timelines' but as best I can come up with for fitting time travel into SW worldbuilding....there are no alternate timelines really. Because time isn't really...real. So Greez is right, once things have started changing, they change in the future as well so it all both does and doesn't exist at the same time...idk if I ever went further on the time travel concept it would be along these lines, rather than having distinct alternate timelines.

2) the very human moment of filling an awkward silence with the exact wrong thing. XD It's such a little thing but I ended up LOVING the "Greez decided to fill the silence with" dialogue tag. XD

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

I'm going to answer this one with a screenshot of my ideas list I found while cleaning it up this weekend:

I don't want to sound like too much of a curmudgeon (though the ship has probably said on that one)*, but I can't stress enough how surprising it was that one of my biggest 'nope, would never write' became one of my favorite fics of the year. Now I feel like I can't said I'd never write something. Growth?

(*and just to stress, like...for me writing/reading, don't take this personally. I use the exclude tags but please don't take this as like a judgement, I just have never really liked them and got a bit grumpy about just how popular they were when I came back to reading Star Wars fic a couple years ago)

[ ao3 wrapped ]

[fluffynexu]

imperial life (sorta)

life within the empire is very structured. it’s a society where everyone Knows Their Place and what they’re supposed to be doing.

for ex. there is a certain “life schedule” that imperial citizens are expected to adhere to.

ages:

0-5, raised by family as infants. sent to daycare during toddler years.

5-10, primary school. begin basic education.

10-15, junior school. continue education.

15-20, senior school. start some training alongside education.

20-25/30, MANDATORY SERVICE TIME.

25/30+, marriage and having children encouraged and you can live your life.

now after an individual completes their mandatory time actively serving, they can either continue to serve or return to other jobs and functions in the empire.

so you can have someone who was a foot soldier or sniper during their service time, but then return to “civilian” life as a florist or school teacher.

the sith follow a similar “life schedule”.

ages:

0-5, raised by family and like minded peer groups.

5-10, primary academy. basic training and education.

10-15, secondary academy. continued training and education.

15-20, preparatory academy. continued training and education.

20+, sith academy (proper) and from there, it depends on the individual sith’s master and rank.

tho the purebloods have a tendency to marry their children off after at the age of 20 (or young 20s) in hopes of procuring grandchildren (and therefore, securing family legacies) before anything... unfortunate happens.

another aspect of imperial life that is deeply entrenched within the civilization but never talked about too openly is the caste system.

everyone in the empire, sith or slave, is shoved into one of these castes. it is possible to move UP and DOWN. moving upward requires marrying someone of a higher caste, but ppl usually (tho not always!) stick to and marry within their own castes. moving down tends involves committing a crime and being punished for it, or disownment from family.

there are certain advantages of being a part of upper castes. which include, but are not limited to:

wider access on the holonet

higher pay

more options for housing

priority healthcare

less restrictions on travel

etc.

the two main groups the castes fall into are sith and imperial. obvs the sith castes are above the imperial ones.

castes among the sith are categorized by “blood purity” and family lineages. the older, purer bloodlines that can trace their roots to korriban are seen above sith who might not have such a heritage.

pureblood, greater families

pureblood, lesser families

human, greater families (usually have some pureblood family members as well)

human, lesser families (usually all human)

human, common (usually an individual that comes from a non-sith background that found sensitivity in the force)

alien

imperial castes on the other hand are categorized by “occupation” rather than bloodlines.

officers. self explanatory. within this caste the officers follow the rank order. ie, moff > captain.

healers. ppl who can help and heal others. doctors, psychiatrists, therapists, etc.

scholars. those who spend their time studying, researching, or teaching. scientists, philosophers, lawyers, professors, etc.

protectors. internal security of the empire. police type, firefighters, paramedics, emergency responders, imperial intelligence, etc.

farmers. self explanatory, also includes breeders (for fancy pets and vanity animals).

crafters. for those who MAKE or design things. artists, architects, engineers, cooks, tailors, etc.

traders. folks who buy and sell things or deal with money frequently. business people, vendors, bank folk, accountants etc.

entertainers. mostly performers of some type. actors, musicians, athletes, sex workers, etc.

cleaners. those who deal with trash or bodies. janitors, butchers, housekeepers, manicurists, waste management, groomers, etc.

casteless. ironically named, but still technically a caste. includes non citizens that may be visiting or traveling through, new imperial citizens, or disowned (usually non force sensitive) sith.

slaves. self explanatory.

in the old, old sith empire (pre arrival of exiles), the sith also had a ruler and priest caste. it can be argued that the two were simply merged into the modern sith grouping and all of their castes within.

as far as any that might be lawmakers and where they’d fit in. that’d be the dark council with some occasional input from very high ranking officers like the grand moff.

so in theory(!), anyone can move up or down the caste ladder. in reality it’s very rare and ppl are often born into one caste and simply live their life within its confines and die. but ppl across the entire caste system can and do work together frequently.

an ex is the sw and crew.

akrona is not only sith, but a pureblood from a greater family. making her one of the most privileged and (potentially) influential ppl in the empire.

quinn comes from a family of officers and they’ve all been at the relative top of imperial society for generations. even after his court martial he’s considered to be very lucky to have remained in the same caste.

pierce actually comes from farmers but managed to be promoted to an officer during his time in service. but since he wasn’t born into it, quinn some officers have an obvious bias against him for his position.

vette, being a freed slave is casteless. tho thx to having a sith benefactor and friend, she can get away with a lot more than others within her same social standing.

some notes under the read more since i KNOW you ppl don’t go to the op to read my darn tags! >,< lol

so... i know. i KNOW i didn’t list literally every single conceivable job that exist or could exist. you’ll have to excuse me on that lol.

and in case it wasn’t obvious, yes, i used my sw and my own hcs for the crew. NO, i am NOT saying that quinn dislikes pierce ONLY bc of “lower caste upbringing”. just that it’s one of many factors of tension between the two.

and regardless of caste, every citizen* in the empire is guaranteed food, shelter, water, and medical care. but obvs those in the upper castes would be eating the fanciest~ of feasts in their big ass floating mansions while the lower castes live off of ration bars and street food while living in small, utilitarian apartments. *does not include slaves since they are technically not citizens.

i am once again here to remind you that the empire is NOT

a democracy

capitalist

or a utopia

(but if for some reason you wanna make your empire all those things, go for it. i ain’t stopping you lol.)

but why castes?

bc it was an aspect of the ancient sith In Canon and thought i’d tinker with the concept.

lastly! i stfg...

IF YOU THINK ME MAKING A HC/WORLDBUILDING POST REFLECTS UPON MY MORALITY OR HOW I THINK A SOCIETY SHOULD BE RUN...

YOU HAVE NEXT LVL BRAIN ROT.

also, yes, you can use any/all concepts in whatever way you see fit if you want. you can also, ignore the whole thing!

[kckenobi]

Hi! Can I ask you about your fic writing? Do you ever get stuck trying to keep a fic going? What do you do for inspiration? Or do you wait until something comes to you? Or do you make sure you have everything planned out beforehand? :)

omg YES I LOVE getting asked about my fic writing, thank you so much for this!! Pls ask me about writing literally anytime and I promise I will ramble way more thank you asked for lol

Do you ever get stuck trying to keep a fic going?

Ohhh yeah, I'm experiencing that right now lol. I'm starting to write a new modern au, and I'm at a point where I know how it ends but I have NO idea how to get there lol.

What usually helps me get un-stuck is to dedicate time just turning the idea over in my brain. I'll go for walks, put on instrumental music in the car, lay in bed as I'm falling asleep and just go—what is the problem here?

I forget who said this (I'm gonna go look it up after this to link it) but some writer said that when you hit a wall in the story, the issue is usually ten lines back—and I feel like there's some truth to that, that the problem usually exists because I created it, so I can eventually work my way out. (I'll let you know when I work my way out this time lol, hopefully it'll be soon)

What do you do for inspiration? Or do you wait until something comes to you?

Hmm I think I get inspiration both from rewatching/reading the source material and letting my brain go down the path of "hmmmm what if....?" And thinking about like...the themes that resonate with me as a person I guess? Like The Thing About Falling was inspired both by my curiosity about Satine and Obi-Wan's year on the run, and my own need to explore how you survive choosing not to be with someone you accidentally fell in love with.

Or Bloodlines came from me wanting more out of the episode where Dooku, Anakin, and Obi-Wan get trapped together, and my own wondering about how much we can ever really know the people who raise us, the values and misbeliefs they pass down, and how we can either embrace or stray from them.

I think pretty much all my fics start that way—what piqued my curiosity from the episode, and what I want to express or explore in general!

Or do you make sure you have everything planned out beforehand? :)

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't! For oneshots, I usually do a quick outline (I go into a bit more depth about my outlines here!) just to get the idea down on paper before I make it coherent. But because it's a oneshot and it's short, usually all the main details are in the outline that end up in the fic

With multi chapter, there's a lot more winging it lol. Because while for Bloodlines I had an outline of the whole fic from the start (and I knew how it was going to end—that's important to know from the beginning, I've learned from unfortunate experiences lol), I left some chapters waaaaaay more vague. Like chapters 1 and 2 had outlines that were beat for beat, line for line, basically a draft in bullet form. But then my outline for chapter 6 just said "we raise the stakes somehow" and that was literally all lol. I knew the function of the chapter, just not ANYthing that was going to happen within it. And it's kinda fun that way! A lot of things surprised me while I was writing it (like, spoiler alert—I didn't know watto was going to die until like chapter 6, and I didn't know Anakin would find the journals until chapter 9. I didn't know what Anakin would DO with the journals until I typed the words onto the page)

For my new AU fic (which I'm hoping to start posting in October!), I'm outlining the whole thing in a lot of detail from the start, but that's mostly because it's a lot more complicated. It's a modern au, in....I don't wanna spoil the setting yet, but we'll say it's a *specialized context* that requires me to worldbuild and create a lot about the characters and setting, because I can't just draw from SW lore (since we're no longer in the Star Wars universe). So I'm going to try to plan it all out in advance—but I'm sure some things will still surprise me!

Thank you so much for the ask, anon! Hopefully this wasn't too much information lol, I know I tend to ramble, hence the tag. But I LOVE talking about this stuff so thank you!! Sending good vibes your way!

[bedlamsbard]

Writing tag game -- tagged by @lessattitudemorealtitude

how many works do you have on Ao3?

Discounting podfic on which I’m listed as a co-author, 24.  My concept writing doesn’t go to AO3 and the vast majority of my Narnia fic was never cross-posted there.  (Or reposted there, actually, I think most of it pre-dates the AO3.)

what’s your total Ao3 word count?

1,050,810.  oh, huh, I didn’t actually realize I’d passed the one million word mark (probably with Crown).

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all of these ended up being Star Wars, which is not a huge surprise.  Morning will probably reach Dirt in the next couple of updates, I’d guess.

Immutable, or, Five Times Obi-Wan Kenobi Compromised His Jedi Ethics for Anakin Skywalker -- this is not the oldest Star Wars fic on there, but I think it’s the second oldest. people just really like 5 times fic.

Wake the Storm - did you know that when I started Wake I assumed it was a very niche trope in what was, at the time, a pretty dead fandom? the kudos count on Wake actually outnumbers Gambit by more than 1600 kudos, so the number of people who go from Wake to Gambit is a lot lower than you might think.

Queen's Gambit - a significantly lower kudos count than Wake or Immutable.  Gambit’s such a weirdo of a story, tbh, I can’t be surprised by anything about Gambit anymore.

On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone - about 600 kudos less than Gambit, so less difference between Gambit and Backbone than between Wake and Gambit.

Dirt in the Machine - another older fic.  I’d rewrite this one if I cared enough to do so, because it’s not at my current standards (Immutable isn’t either, for that matter) and I kind of wince every time I get comments on it.  this is the first one of the top five to have below 1K kudos.

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I’ll usually respond to direct questions, but I very, very seldom respond to comments in general.  This is an old standing policy of mine that’s now more than a decade old -- it used to be I’d wait twenty-four hours before responding, then I’d respond right before the next chapter went up, and for a while I’d only respond to comments on the first few chapters of a story.  Now I just mostly do not.  The reasons for this are: (1) many, many years ago, I lost my temper pretty badly at a comment on a fic of mine (this was pre-AO3, this was back in my LJ days), and after that I moved to the “wait twenty-four hours” response so I didn’t say anything without thinking about it, (2) I do go back and reread comments but I hate rereading my own responses, (3) I prefer to know the comments numbers on my fic are all from actual comments and not from me saying “thanks for reading!”, (4) I can’t take that kind of responsibility for answering every single comment, man.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Of stuff I’ve written in the past ten years? (I can’t really remember before that.)  Maybe Backbone, because it ends on that pretty upbeat “yay team we’re going to be rebels now!” note.  or Devil’s in the Details (other side part 1), though I don’t really want to consider it a finished fic even though it’s technically finished; it has another “yay team we’re back together (minus Ezra)” ending.  I tend to end on complicated and reasonably open endings, not like...happy endings.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

probably Gambit for the “everything is super fucked up” factor and also the fact that I never wrote the sequel. plus it ended with the entire Wake trio split up in a whole new universe, plus back in the Gambitverse Amidala not able to go back to Naboo, Ahsoka shunned, Palpatine’s new empire, Rex trapped in the Gambitverse, etc.

do you write crossovers?

I did in my Narnia days. I don’t anymore. Working in widespread fandoms like Star Wars or the MCU is basically like writing crossover fic within the same universe, anyway.

have you ever received hate on a fic?

*hysterical laughter*

...yes. yes I have. it’s the reason every time I get a comment notification on Gambit or Wake I freeze in absolute terror. people HATE Wake and Gambit.  I hate to say never, but I will probably never write those characters or in that series again.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

not really?  I’ve done relatively non-explicit sex but it’s not something I’m super comfortable writing, especially in recent years. I’m much more likely to do a fade to black.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think Gambit got scraped once when it was still in progress and my response was something along the lines of “good luck, bro,” given the whole “still in progress” thing.

have you ever had a fic translated?

I’ve gotten a couple of translation requests but I can’t recall if anything’s ever been translated.  (Or if I responded to them...I know a few I forgot to respond.)

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, back in my Narnia days.  Some SW concept writing and that ended so badly that I’ll never co-write again.

what’s your all-time favourite ship?

Kanan/Hera, of course!

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

gods, Dust in the Air, my Narnia Last Battle AU.  Back when I started it in 2008 or so I didn’t have the self-control or discipline I do now, even if I had a lot of the worldbuilding ability and the ability to conceive of if not execute long plot arcs, and I broke off more than I could chew.  If I ever went back to it I’d probably have to do a complete rewrite and it has the unique problem among my WIPs of being the last major fic I wrote in present tense -- I now write exclusively in past tense.  The bones of the story are good, I’d just have to go back to the bones and not just pick up where I left off.

what are your writing strengths?

Plot, worldbuilding/environment, action.  I also do genuinely think I’m very good at characterization too, but I think they’re all inter-related.  (Except the action, that’s me alone.  I love writing action and I generally get a lot of compliments on my action scenes.)  look, I know it’s conceited, but I’m good and I know I’m good, and I’m good in a pretty well-rounded way for the genre I write.

what are your writing weaknesses?

brevity. can’t do it.

honestly, there are others, but I don’t write stories where they’d come up.  I think I have a tendency to get to bogged down in dialogue in a way that I’ve never quite solved.  I also let my emotions take over too much and not in the good fannish way, in the “I’m having a fucked up relationship with canon or fandom and it’s affecting my ability to work” way.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

please stop having your Asgardians speak Latin for magic, man, that’s my feeling on it.

okay, my feelings on it for me -- I’ve sprinkled bits and pieces of Huttese, Twi’leki, and tee-tiny bits of other stuff here and there in fic.  I’d not be comfortable doing more than that because the only other language that I really feel comfortable doing anything significant in is Latin, and even then I’d hesitate. also, like, Latin! not a language that comes up in the fandoms I write in.  even then, like -- any extended dialogue should be intelligible to the audience, and I don’t expect my audience to be able read anything other than English; I’d rather just say “they switched to Twi’leki to say” or something similar.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

like, online? Harry Potter. for things that I didn’t post online because I didn’t know what fic was yet? probably either The 10th Kingdom or The Mummy.

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

On the Edge of the Devil’s Backbone.  I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written, I think it’s the most tightly plotted, I think it’s got the best worldbuilding, I think it’s remarkably consistent thematically, and it was, at the time, a fic that I was very devoted to finishing or dying trying, because I was going through it at the time and some of it was connected to the fic.

I don’t tag people, but please go for if you want!

[snailcomicz]

Protag’s Path

     A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Star Wars.TM

The Hundred Years War

Protag’s Path

A little over ninety years ago, the Jedi High Council cast out one Jedi for claiming using the Dark Side of the Force was justified. Outraged, the fallen Jedi retaliated and fought with all of the dark powers and tools they had been acquiring, teaching those they subjugated and those they chose the powers of the Dark Side.

A generation has passed since that first fallen Jedi, but many of those the fallen taught remained firmly convinced in the powers of the Dark Side. They curse the Jedi Order and the Republic alike for denying them that which they feel they are owed.

Recently the Dark Side forces have been slowly losing ground, but the Republic has been confounded at how, around twenty years ago, their opponents sieges suddenly became more effective than ever. They remain entirely unaware of how a single dark Jedi has been unraveling their every attempt to break through contested points along hyperspace routes...

We scroll down to a massive star ship fight above a planet. None of the ships on either side share the distinctive looks of the ships we’ve come to know, although the designs make them look like older prototypes rather than entirely new ships. A small squadron of undamaged ships pops out of hyperspace behind what appears to be a massive blockade, but behind them a small satellite blinks red twice. We follow the route of the signal it sent, leading us past the largest ship in the blockade and several smaller skirmishes to a moderately sized gunner ship. In a room full of monitors, we see the back of a robe position themself in front of the new alert, cast entirely in silhouette by the sharp light. Another alert interrupts the signal from before, announcing “Critical files have been lost due to enemy bombardment. Please reconnect with the core database, or manually input your specifications for a temporary ID.”

You are the Protag, and this is your path.

Born out of a love for the old KotOR style games, an almost insatiable need to worldbuild, and one night I thank the stars my sleeplessly addled brain wrote down what it was thinking about, this writing exercise follows the story of Protag, the person who’s become a -pro- at -tagging- hyperspace routes and has been working for the dark side of the Force for over thirty years. During this first encounter you command a battalion of ships within a greater fleet engaging in a planet wide siege, and get to decide what kind of dark side user you are. You meet your apprentice and your pilot, learn how the game mechanics work, and maybe play around with what talking style you use. At no point during this mission do you get the chance to do something nice or lessen the damage of the battle-

Yet.

You can play through the game without changing anything about this destructive attitude, continuing your dark reign of terror to the Republic and rising to greater and more terrible power. After the first mission, however, you are separated from the rest of your fleet and forced down to a distant planet for repairs. From then on, you can unlock kinder dialogue options, less damaging solutions to problems, and even work to turn away from the dark side entirely.

     Timeline

As mentioned in the title crawl, this game is set at the tail end of the Hundred-Year Darkness, a time relatively unexplored by the SW universe. Thus, every time I’ve said ‘Sith’ in previous posts have been jossed because the Sith didn’t exist yet and I’m going to have to do so much more freaking research about SW for this, because God has cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished.

I kid, I kid. In setting Portag’s storyline so far back, I don’t have to worry about bumping into either the KotOR or the prequels era of history, and I said I wanted to worldbuild right?

(And if you’re wondering why future characters know nothing about Protag’s story, I’ve got a simple answer for you. Not only was it not a widely talked about point of history by the Mandelorian Wars, but the official record was part of the history lost when Malak destroyed the Dantooine Academy. By the time the prequels rolls around, the story’s lost for good, even if the effects your Protag made are not.)

     Plot routes

DS routes:

Darkest Jedi (embraces DS structure)

Your Protag’s reign of terror holds the galaxy by the throat. You have it all by force, Force or manipulation, only to be cut down by the one that will rule after you. In remaining evil and taking control from others, you forfeited your choice of control over yourself and echo the future Sith-Apprentice tradition. Your Protag may be overly confident or paranoid as hell, but no matter what way you play, you cannot prevent your death by apprentice.

Trapped by the System (makes LS outcomes, but stays in the DS structure)

Your Protag remains within the dark side warmongering culture, but their actions show a reluctance to use the full range of their powers. This is a weakness in your brethren’s eyes, but a saving grace in the eyes of those you help. Your dark side allies turn on you, and you are cut down by their blades, but the end credits show you the positive effects your kinder decisions made on the planets/npcs/situations/companions you nurtured where you could within the structure of evil.

LS routes:

The One who Defected (leaves the DS structure, but still makes DS outcomes)

Your Protag becomes ruthless force user who prescribes to neither the light nor the dark side point of view, and is really only contacted by those who either have the amount of money or the genuine need [depending on how you play] to gain your services. Your companions learn self reliance from you, not trust, and most leave eventually. A few may choose to stay at your protag’s side, if you focused on their needs in game.

Changed for the Better (leaves DS structure and works to make LS outcomes)

Your Protag’s influence has helped re-stabilize several critical situations happening around the galaxy. Organizations as a whole don’t outright trust you, but individuals keep seeking you out, wanting to know how you were strong enough to change. Eventually you realize the ones who seek you out have, by circumstance or decision, been led down dark paths themselves but no one had ever so visibly proven that they could change before. Your companions learn healthy boundaries and trust from you, and even when some of them split off they stay in close contact because they’ve grown fond of you. The war has ended, and it’s time to rebuild.

     Game mechanics

Route exclusive Force rules

The Darkest doesn’t have to worry about the petty concerns of the other routes and are always able to use their Force powers, cunning or strength to the limit. You get to continue growing and evolving their powers without any restrictions and way waste to your enemies, and combat is always fun but a relative breeze. Of course, nobody on the light or dark side trusts you, but that’s not new.

If you are playing the Trapped, as you continue accumulating LS points not only do your dark side allies become more suspicious of you, but your Force powers become less powerful. You’re going to have to find other strategies than just blasting people with your powers, or start acting more evil. If you stay in the land of posturing and evil, it’s not just easier to be a jerk, you lose power you used to have if you don’t.

For the Defector, retaining the dark side points keeps your Force power fully charged, but LS organizations don’t trust you as far as they can throw you. You’ll have to be very convincing everytime you need to face something you can’t handle on your own.

In the Changed route, as you progress in the storyline, you start actively giving up Dark Side Force powers to prove how much you are dedicated to changing. In exchange, you gain other avenues of leveling up and the world around you starts to believe you when you tell them you’ve changed. You also start looking healthier the more you do so, although you never lose the dark side eye scarring.

Midbosses and midcompanions

The basic idea here is to do something interesting and actually logical with the ‘you can only get this character if you do X’ rather than basing it on your gender or such nonsense. When you upgrade your ship’s traveling range you encounter a miniboss that lasts more than one encounter, and a new companion. These are the same two characters in different positions depending on your big choice to stay with the Dark Side or leave and Change, and you will have heard of/interacted with them before you encounter them. With both minibosses, at some point in the fight they get some distance on you and you have to decide if you’re going to pursue them now or wait for a different opportunity. Both choices will have positive and negative consequences further down the line.

Force and forcing

In every route you are able to use the Force and have easy access to a companion who is already trained in the Force [through either Nix or Generek,] but almost everyone else doesn’t use the Force when you meet them. Some of them you can’t train in the Force at all, but following and furthering some of the Force dynamics found in KotOR 2, some of you companions can be manipulated to developing Force abilities but shouldn’t for their own health and wellbeing. They give you plenty of signs that this forcing them to use the Force is not a good idea and you can back off before any damage is done, but continuing to push gives you more fighting power at your companion’s expense.

     Protag

Fourties or older, to reinforce that they’re supposed to be set in their ways. They’ve figured out how to survive and live their life, and they can either go along with what they’ve always done which is easy [dark side routes] or they literally have to reframe every way they act which is hard [light side routes]. They are human to convey age and make them instantly relatable. Diverse character possibilities not tied to the pronouns you choose, although if you chose female pronouns the female coded designs queue up in front of the male coded designs and vice versa. Inventor of the hyperspace tagging system, but you get to decide what that means (you stole idea from another, others had different parts but you put all the parts together, you literally invented the satellites used, etc.)

     Companions

Mariah, Twi’lek Pilot. (She/Her, lesbian romance): Purple skin with darker stripes, wears a variation of a male smuggler’s outfit that exposes as little skin as possible. Outright willingly works for you as a dark side commander from the start, thanks to the money you generate for her and your willingness to let her get away with stealing historical artifacts from any places you raid.

If you ignore her needs, she slowly sinks further into the dark side mindset, losing any care for anyone’s wishes aside from her own and yours. If you tend to her needs, she slowly becomes more open with you and defends your actions.

D0-C9, Utility Droid. (He/him): Looks like someone took a small moving box size metal container, put way too many interfaces and wires on it, gave it wheels and called it a day. Mariah’s copilot, unusually advanced utility droid, and ship cook. His comments show some scraps of concern for Mariah’s emotional condition during the adventure, but outwardly he never seems to show much concern for you or others in your party.

The Droid cannot go against Protag’s orders and he sees no reason to, so his influence is based entirely on how well you treat him and Mariah in particular, and all companions in general.

Runscor, Klatooinian Mechanic.(He/Him, gay romance): Light reddish/brown skin, imposingly large and muscled but tries to slump in compensation for it. Quiet, passive, and often overlooked for how quality a mechanic he is. 

If you tear down his opinion when he tries to suggest kinder actions, he folds at the drop of a hat and digs further into his passive nature. If you encourage his kinder suggestions, he can become your greatest reality-tester.

FK-42, Protocol Droid? (They/Them): Humanoid, sets of eyes on both sides of their head, seems to have anti-sand protection all over. They only say “Valanka”, relying on context cues for all other communication. They are extremely manipulative and unpredictable but if you’re smart, you can harness whatever they’re Cain they’re raising to your advantage.

Their ulterior motives are utterly indecipherable, but they seem to want something? Or someone??? They’re influenced when you try to help them locate whatever it/they are, and you lose influence anytime you try to outright stop what they’re doing.

     Mid boss/companion

Nix, Trandoshan Sith. (She/her): Grey scales with fading brown patterns, no scars aside from the Sith eye scarring (unusual for Sith), tall and stocky. She is always docile and agreeable in her interactions with you, which contradicts her background actions of testing your limits and jockeying for a higher position behind your back.

Dark routes companion: You interacted with her on planet 0 as she’s your apprentice, but lost contact during what happened afterwards until you upgraded your ship. As soon as you land on a farther planet she regains contact with you, and after a mission or so she rejoins your party to resume her apprenticeship under you.

Her constant background pushing back against your decisions do come from some underlying needs, if you ignore these needs she becomes even more subtle in her actions and clearly begins plotting your demise. If you address her underlying concerns she backs off, but it only makes what happens in the end harder.

Light routes midboss: On planet 0 you interact with her as your apprentice, and she does not take lightly to you shifting sides. Your turning has made other Sith question her allegiance, and if she can take you out she can salvage some of her reputation. She uses the Force to the limit, and during the fight she makes a massive cave-in which endangers your allies. You can pursue her immediately and leave them to their fate, or wait for a different opportunity to take a shot at her and let her wreak havoc until you find that chance.

Jonni, Human Bounty Hunter. (She/Her): Dark brown skin, visibly prosthetic eye right arm and both legs, clothes leaning on cowboy-esque while still fitting the time period. One of the better known individuals fighting against the dark side forces, she is oddly accepting of slave and working class defectors. She is known for focusing a good portion of her time in a fight minimizing innocent casualties, and slaughtering those who shows no mercy.

Dark routes midboss: Mariah shows you some recorded transmissions involving her to update you on the opposition before you encounter her firsthand. In the first encounter Jonni tries to lead you away from bystanders, and whether you let her lead you away or you manipulate/wound/kill bystanders determines how hard her following fights will be. She’s a highly mobile opponent, leading it to be believable when you’ve both exchanged some hits for her to get away. You can pursue her immediately during a critical moment in whatever mission you came to this planet for, or wait for a different opportunity to take her out which will let her rally her forces with new intel specifically on you.

Light routes companion: She is first among the big Republic figures to acknowledge your efforts to change, even though she doesn’t excuse your past atrocities. Initially she’s of the talking heads on the Comm Link who updates on ‘official’ missions, but she joins your party when your ship capacity expands to check in on more distant planets. (But you also suspect to keep an eye on you after the first Nix encounter).

If you don’t mind civilian casualties she becomes more commanding and distant, and will not be available as a companion on some missions as she tries to minimize the damage both the enemy and you might cause. If you do account for protecting innocents, she becomes vocally supportive of you and easily handles whatever attitude you choose to have.

Zeth, Human Mercenary. (He/Him, pan romance): Asian heritage, with several battle scars and one massive claw mark tearing through part of his left ear. He looks like a mixed martial artist, with bulk and muscles made for strength not looks, and wears battle armor at all times. He is initially aggressive towards you, but surprisingly kind and non combative towards your allies. In the DS routes you hire him directly for his mercenary services, and he will show up with more chances for recruitment for a couple planets if you don’t recruit him immediately. In LS routes he seeks you out, angry and desperate to know why you changed. It becomes clear he wants to change too, but isn’t sure it’s possible so he’s seeing if you’ll break when pushed. If you don’t find a way to recruit him during this encounter, he goes on his merry way and you never hear from him again. 

If you teach him that kindness and mercy are weaknesses to be crushed, he slowly loses his kindness for your companions, focusing solely on keeping you happy, himself alive, and otherwise it’s every being for themself. If you teach him how to handle what he’s done in the past while continuing to value kindness and mercy, he slowly mellows out towards you and through struggling through some of his issues becomes even better friends with your companions.

Gerevek, Dresellian Jedi. (They/them): Mid range yellow skin, red eyes with pupils, very short. Well kept clothes that can change from highly informal to passing for a formal meeting, and hide how much armor they are wearing. They primarily “fight” by making temporary political allegiances among planets during battles, but your tactics have been outmaneuvering them and they are nowhere near as good in a one on one fight. In DS routes, you can break their spirit by making the allies they counted on turn away in fear of you. They will only give you one chance to recruit them when this happens, as they have no belief left in their old outlook but don’t know how to submit to the Dark Side ideology. In LS routes, they insist on joining Jonni in checking on other planets, but it’s pretty blatantly obvious they’re actually keeping an eye on you. They will literally follow you for a few planets if you try to refuse, pulling in minor favors and trying to get your companions to put in a good word for them with varying success depending on the person.

They are an interesting case for gaining influence, as you have to be willing to take the opposite tac of communication than you usually do to show you’re willing to bend to what other people need. If you’re blunt and to the point you have to be more indirect, if you’re sarcastic and deflect emotions you have to show some sincerity, if you’re manipulative and obscure your motives you have to be blunt and to the point, etc. 

Saiga, Bothan Shopkeeper. (She/Her, bi romance): Black fur with brown streaks, grey eyes and tall. Well worn pastel clothes, carries massive rucksack with them everywhere, yes even in combat. Endlessly, stubbornly cheerful and has no problem with your sordid past. Sees you as a fulcrum to get her more power, but also does look after your interests. Perk of using this final companion is, as a shopkeeper herself, she can haggle down prices of any shop you come by.

If you view your mutual relationship as an even transaction she’ll easily oblige, returning every favor you do for her and staying relatively static throughout the game no matter what good or bad things you do. If you invest more in the relationship than can be divided by favors she slowly starts giving more as well, for good or ill.

This post is the foundation I will be using as I continue working on this project, and I’m super excited to keep building up this idea!

[melyzard]

WIPs

Tagged by @firefeufuego2: “list all your WIPs on your harddrive right now.”

Okay then.

1.     

ALPHA PRIORITY*:

the working draft of “I might know my heart” for

@kotaface

, which is my top priority story, I swear, I just keep getting stuck because for some reason I chose to write exclusively in Cassian POV, the hardest POV.

2.      Viva la DROID REVOLUTIONE: ‘REBEL Y/N’ working draft

3.      DROID RIGHTS: a series of snippets, ideas, historical research, diagrams of circuits and linear actuators, random one liners, and musings about worldbuilding and characterization of the droid OCs in ‘REBEL Y/N,’ including ideas for rebel droids that other people have sent me. This is a more complex story than I realized I was in for, requiring more research than I expected (because I need the droid drama in space to be believable, people, it’s important)

4.      Andor’s Eleven: Ocean’s Eleven, Star Wars-ified.

5.      Bacta prohibition: R1 crew pulls of a huge bacta heist, bacta is treated much like booze in North America’s prohibition era.

6.      Lets go steal a planet*: the Leverage/R1 fusion (‘The Nakadia Job’) that I sort-of-kind-of forgot about oops.

7.      love song harmonies*: posted as ‘Harmonies,’ Cassian’s POV on the events of ‘A Love Song.’ Once again, Cassian POV is really hard to write and it’s stalled me

8.      SOON: a long, long list of ideas that I have not yet begun to write but want to – including prompts from tumblr and various friends. It is currently 26,512 words and growing every week

9.      Mad max: yet another fusion

10.  princess rogue: every now and again, this collab story pops up in my head (or I discover that @youareiron-andyouarestrong has written something new)

11.  Jyn punches Han: turns out they knew each other in the criminal world

12.  Not A Coffee Shop AU: She’s a harassed assistant for an up and coming Senator, he’s the cute guy who just started showing up during her lunch breaks at her favorite coffee shop. It’s a Coffee Shop AU, right up until it isn’t.

13.  warpics: the working draft of ‘A Soul Without Frontiers,’ wherein Jyn and Cassian are war photographers in the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War and the build up to WW2. Well, Jyn is a war photographer. Cassian has a camera and an agenda. Another story that required way more research than I was prepared for (how did cameras work in the 30s? How did the war actually shake out, where and when would our heroes be, and why? Ugh, should have just made this in-universe for Star Wars, so I could screw with the setting as I liked).

14.  dream thieves: working draft of my very first long fic, Inception/R1 fusion story. I liked it, but I didn’t really know where I was going with it and stalled out in favor of easier projects. Will eventually get back to this. Will eventually get back to all of them. No, really.

15.  bright: a sequel to ‘A Light To You’ wherein we get to see the gang a year later on the Festival of Lights, compare and contrast to the last one. Would have to fit in around the other 2 sequels in that series, and really I just want to bridge the somber tone of ‘A Light To You’ with the more cheerful tone of the others.

16.  Stabhimintheface: an attempt to rebelcaptain re-write a really poorly done book that still somehow had a pretty cool female character for @gloriouswhisperstyphoon. I’m working on it. It’s really kind of a dreadful book, though

17.  Jyn & Leia’s Excellent Adventure: a mishmash of ideas, one liners, and very short scenes for an alternate AU I’m sort of kind of talking about with @sleepykalena, wherein Jyn and Leia become friends as young girls, Jyn ends up running the Partisans, and Cassian is chosen as the Alliance/Partisan liaison.

18.  Persuade me: an attempt at a Persuasion/R1 story. I worry it’s too much like other Persuasion/R1 stories, tho, so I’m waffling with it.

19.  mobs: Cassian infiltrates a SW mob. Jyn goes in after him. (actually not sure if I want this to be a post-Scarif everybody lives mission…or another alternate meeting story because holy shit that is apparently my niche

20.  ISB: Cassian infiltrates the Imperial Security Bureau (Star Wars version of the CIA) as part of a Fulcrum mission he started before meeting Jyn and now must pick back up. It goes well, and then it goes very badly.

*indicates a story that I’m going to finish this year, no really, that’s the goal.

Tagging @incognitajones, @youareiron-andyouarestrong, @moonprincess92nz

[permian-tropos]

tobermoriansass replied to your post: things that keep preventing me from deciding to...

Re yr tags tbh this is rly one of those hit and miss movies and I think it’s p mediocre. Some interesting themes, does nothing interesting with said themes, some interesting visuals and interesting worldbuilding but does nothing for it. It’s a movie basically built for fic to be written about the stuff it shows on screen imo. (I say this having enjoyed it well enough.) It’s worth watching for Han and Chewie.

“built for fic to be written about the stuff it shows on screen” sounds like exactly the kind of hit or miss SW so often embraces

the thing is, after reading just four and a bit expanded universe books (which are all hit or miss in this way), I’ve already kind of absorbed enough fic fuel into my brain A New Dawn would’ve made a good movie though I feel like it’s dragged down mostly by being a book and having to pad out a movie-length adventure

so now I’d much rather see people selecting some worldbuilding ideas and diving into them with the kind of focus I’d want to put into my own fics. because I can’t actually write fics about all these things. my hands are full, lucasfilm. I can’t hold all these fics

[wearemage]

Indeed! Thank you for the tag.

Everything has been said above about children and it’s a perfectly normal reaction from a small child. He can’t be blamed for what he did. I don’t want to address the SW lore too much here because I’m far from being an expert. But I would like to see more fiction representing people with supernatural, hard to control powers, doing more than fighting. Sure, those powers require training, a certain philosophy and self-control. But I’d like stories about those people building, creating, finding new solutions to problems.

I believe in a DnD-like context, a mage (Wizard) would be less concerned, as their magical abilities are learned and even if some people are more naturally skilled than the others, there’s less risk of wizard-babies hurting people.

Here, sorcerers are more concerned, so I’m tagging @wearesorcerer who might be more concerned in that context.

That being said, this post makes me think about Dragon Age’s Circles and Templars controlling Mages like dagerous animals or potential mass murderers. X-Men are also a good example. People with superpowers they don’t necesserly control, feared and hated by a lot of “not-gifted” ones. 

And I don’t like those policies, obviously. I’d like to believe there could be a way to train and support Force-sensitive people without shaping them into warrior-monks, isolated from their families... Still better than a Circle but not so fun. My SW knowlege is limited to the movies (haven’t seen the last one), but I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen enough therapist-jedi. Just imagine Force-senstive healers, relieving patients from their pain. Sure Jedi make outstanding warriors, generals, and other enforcers... but it’s all about war (I must admit, I can’t blame Star Wars about that...). They come from so various planets, cultures, races, backgrounds... I can’t believe all of them are meant to be higly-trained killers.

In the novels I’m writing, there are also space-wizards (or space-priests, as a matter of fact). Considered dangerous if left unchecked, they are though vastly respected and seen as useful to the societies they live in. So the Monasteries are schools, places of teaching, understanding where they can meet people like themselves and learn to harness their powers, but they are not cut from the civil life and use their abilities for a large panel of purposes, most of them being totally pacific, destined to improve life of people around them and protect them from the dangers of this universe. They bring light and knowledge with them adding magic to technology, fueling progress and only fighting when it’s necessery.

In the universe I’ve created, the Word has actual, litteral and very real power. Speaking out loud can mark the reality with either cataclysmic or wonderous effects. Even if both good and evil space-wizards are a thing, most of the worldbuilding and plot is about making the galaxy a better place. There are monsters, wars and other antagonists that need to be dealt with for some action, but there is also building, creating, developping technologies and rituals to prevent harm and free humanity from its demons (Hunger, war, greed, sickness). It’s a long process, and it doesn’t go well everywhere at once, but there is more than just War and fights...

Ok, I just realized I’ve taken this post away from the initial raising supernaturally-gifted children subject. But I can’t stop thinking about that other post saying that no-one would like to live in the Star Wars universe since every 20 years there’s a massive war between two tribes of space wizards, fascist dictatorships, mafia slugs, slavery and balantly inefficient bureaucracy.

Sure, antagonists are necessery and fights can make a good story. But now, I want more supernaturally-gifted children that are loved, cared for and educated to make the universe a better place. It’s probably influenced by the real world that seems to be more and more sacry every day. Give us some wholesome hope, for Talos’ sake.

The Mandalorian | Chapter 7 - “The Reckoning”

#WHY UNPREPARED TODDLERS WITH POTENTIAL GOD-LIKE POWERS MAY NOT BE THE SUPER BEST IDEA IN THE GALAXY #HOWEVER #I FOR ONE WELCOME OUR NEW TINY ANGRY BABY OVERLORD

[callunavulgari]

Year-In-Fic

Total fics written this year?

Another Love (The Flash; Barry/E2Wells, Barry/Thawne; 4,586 words) “I want you,” Barry confesses unhappily, a charming pucker between his brows. His eyes dart back up, not shying away for once, to meet Eobard’s. A little bit of steel creeps into his expression again, and Eobard wants to applaud him all over again. What a beautiful creature he’s created. 

time in a bottle (The Flash; Eobarry; 2,961 words) “If I didn’t exist,” Thawne says, quietly, moving to slide his fingers up Barry’s jaw; they leave goosebumps in their wake. “Then neither would you. And if you didn’t exist… well. We won’t get into that mess. So the universe — the, hah, Speed Force — sent me here. A paradox, clinging to the cracks between time. Just… waiting.” 

nothing's gonna harm you (not while i'm around) (SW; Gen, Reylo; 1,167 words)  Ben and Rey Organa are born ten years and five hundred parsecs apart, but Ben can feel it in the Force the moment she comes into being. He can feel her every second of her way home, a bright star that outshines even the familiar intensity of his parents.

we dream in the dark (for the most part) (DA; Gen; 806 words) “Will it go away?” Bethany asks, her voice quiet as a whisper.

Ramble On (The Flash; Eobarry; 2,695 words)  Thawne playfully hums a few bars of something vaguely familiar. Barry looks back at him, and when Thawne sees him looking, he smiles wider and gleefully stomps his way through a puddle. Sings, “If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do…”

D.C. al Coda (The Flash; Barrison;  Harrison edges closer, until Barry is close enough to touch, and reaches out to take Barry’s jaw in hand. It’s tacky and cool against his palm, from sweat, tears, or both. He tilts Barry’s chin up in a testing sort of way, willing him to open his eyes. “Barry,” he says, gently. “Look at me.”)

it began with stones (DA; Fenhawke;  Everyone knows that the blight started in Ferelden.)

darling, you gotta let me know (Stranger Things; Nancy/Steve/Jonathan; 6,120 words) Jonathan’s room is messy the same way that Steve’s is. There are dirty socks and shirts and underwear strewn across the floor. Cassette tapes litter the desk like miniature landmines. There’s a notebook open on his bed, a textbook and a pencil beside it. He must have been studying when Steve knocked. 

   Binary Sunset (SW; Reylo; 1,747 words) Center stage, Rey holds herself as still as a statue. Spine straight, toes pointed, already in first position. They’ve done something to her eyelashes, softened all her hard edges, from the jut of her jaw to the point of her nose. She glitters, from her feathered bodice to her flowing skirts, a bright glint of white in the dark.He doesn’t think that anyone else has noticed that she’s trembling.

Nine fics. I don’t even want to know how many words.

Best story I wrote this year: darling, you gotta let me know. It was the first fic that I was proud of from the get go this year.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. Ramble On. It had all of the weird dreaminess of Time In a Bottle without the Inception feel. I ended up rereading it on the plane back to Ohio and liked it so much more than I did when I was writing it.

Okay, NOW your most popular story. darling, you gotta let me know, hands down. It’s the first fic to get over a 1000 kudos since I stopped writing Teen Wolf. I mean, of the nine fics that I wrote this year pretty much every one of them is from a smaller fandom. I think the only reason this one got as popular as it did was because I published it right after Stranger Things got big and I was one of the three people who had written for the pairing. Story of mine most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: it began with stones, probably? I usually have a definite answer for this question, but this one was strange as it is. Dragon Age/In the Flesh fusion with Hawke as a zombie? Kinda weird. I don’t mind that it got a small reception, but it fits the most.

Most fun story to write: Another Love. I had a ton of fun playing with that whole concept. Barry going back in time to when Eobard was playing at being Wells was a fucking gift.

Story that could have been better? All of them? Technically? I’m still not entirely pleased with how  time in a bottle turned out, but I ramped that one up in my head for so long that I’ll probably never be satisfied with it.

Story I wrote to fix things: Pretty much all of my Flash fics were written to make something better. Ramble On and time in a bottle were both written to satisfy my need for there to be a current-timeline paradox Thawne still out there, tucked away in the speedforce, just biding his time. Hell, all of the God Complex series were written because I wanted to rewrite or add bits to an episode to suit my shipper heart.

Oddest story: it began with stones. In the Flesh. Dragon Age. Kind of weird. But my brain went, what would Jen like for her birthday? Okay, she likes Dragon Age. And she likes zombies. How can I write zombies in a way that I haven’t written them yet? Oh, I know! Hardest story to do: Okay, so it isn’t on here, but the Sabriel AU is what I’ve really been suffering through. I hit a point and wasn’t able to overcome it, which is why it still isn’t done. I’m hoping to read Goldenhand and the rest of the Like Young Gods series sometime this month and we’ll see if it inspires anything. Easiest story to write? I struggled with pretty much everything I wrote this year except for  Another Love. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it just so happens to be the only fic I wrote before I gave up smoking.

Most mining of your own history in one story: Pretty much none of them. D.C. al Coda has a lot of my experiences with grief, but that’s about it.

Themes, or absence thereof: Pretty much ‘heroes and villains make out’. Or in the case of Hawke and Fenris... rivalmancy. Where did you publish/archive your stories? Ao3, as per usual. Story I haven’t yet written, but intend to: I have nixed pretty much all of my Teen Wolf projects. I would like to say that at some point I’ll finish the Bioshock Infinite AU and the Carmilla one, just because I have so much written of it already, but I don’t know. I do know that I want to finish the Sabriel AU and I currently have a weirdly one-sided Julian/Barry fic, a Prompto/Noctis pining fic, and several Stargate Atlantis fics that I want to finish. Oh, and maybe the Yuri on Ice soulmate AU if I can make the idea hang around long enough to get to.

Sexiest moment (excerpt): He slides the palms of his hands up her sides, ghosting them up and over her ribs, framing them, feeling where the softness of skin and muscle gives way to hard bone where her rib cage starts, how each breath she takes pushes her body more firmly into his hands. She makes a noise when he reaches her breasts, shuddering when he cups them, even through the fabric.

“Please,” she breathes, and Jonathan hesitates, unsure of what she wants.

“Here,” Steve murmurs, taking hold of Jonathan’s hands once more. He guides them to the buttons of Nancy’s blouse and pauses, waiting, as Jonathan undoes them himself, his touch sliding down Jonathan’s forearms then back up again.

Jonathan pushes the blouse from Nancy’s shoulders, watching the blush that blooms under his eyes, going from her throat clear to her navel. Her cheeks are flushed too, her eyes black and wanting.

Steve lets go of him, maybe realizing that Jonathan won’t be of much help at this moment, and his hands vanish around Nancy’s sides, quick and darting. It isn’t until he’s helping her pull her bra loose that Jonathan even realizes what he’s done.

Steve’s hands go back to his, guiding them to Nancy’s breasts. The skin is firm and supple, and so very warm. Her nipples pull tight when his hand brushes them. Steve leans close to Jonathan’s ear, and whispers, “Touch her.”

Crackiest moment (excerpt): Outside, it’s raining. The air is heavy with humidity, heat pressing down on his back like something alive. Barry walks down the street, feet bare against the wet asphalt. Thunder rumbles threateningly in the distance. A bird sings, and a street over, another joins it. Everything is green and damp. It smells real. Would a dream smell real?

Halfway down the street, a second pair of feet join his. The person they belong to is silent, doggedly following him down the road. Barry doesn’t have to turn to know who his newest phantom is.

“Are you going to sing at me too?”

“Do you want me to sing to you?” Thawne asks.

Barry glances at him, frowning unhappily. He’s wearing Wells’ face again, a familiar little half-smile playing around his lips. His suit is wet. It isn’t the suit — not the yellow one — just a regular one. Plain. Black. The fabric clings to his shoulders and his hair is dripping in his eyes. His feet are bare too, and somehow it feels wrong to see them, the fine slender bones gleaming wetly. Too intimate.

Barry swallows and looks away, but even when he concentrates, it refuses to change. Figures, that even in a dream Thawne would cause him grief. When Barry doesn’t reply, Thawne playfully hums a few bars of something vaguely familiar.

Barry looks back at him, and when Thawne sees him looking, he smiles wider and gleefully stomps his way through a puddle. Sings, “If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do…”

Favorite dialogue (excerpt): “At least,” Eobard interrupts, thoughtfully tapping his finger against his lips. Slowly, he starts to grin. “Not everything. So, Mr. Allen, I’ll ask you again. What do you want?”

The answer is written all over Barry’s face. There’s a story there, behind the pain, the grief, the hopeless lust, and it’s one that Eobard knows he’ll get to live out himself over the course of the next year. He wonders just how many times he fucked this boy before the truth came out. The boy — his Barry — already loves him. Not like this, of course, not yet, but a hero worshiping kind that he’s had since day one.

“Well?” He coaxes, eyes widening. “I’m waiting.”

Barry wets his lips convulsively and swallows, his adam’s apple working. He tugs on the cuff, halfheartedly, mouth turned downwards. He didn’t expect this. Maybe he’d expected closure. Or maybe he’d convinced himself that all he really needed was the formula. But he wants this. And Eobard’s going to make him say it.

“I want you,” he confesses unhappily, a charming pucker between his brows. His eyes dart back up, not shying away for once, to meet Eobard’s. A little bit of steel creeps into his expression again, and Eobard wants to applaud him all over again. What a beautiful creature he’s created.

“Just you,” he adds, just as quiet and unhappy, but with a dawning comprehension. “Eobard Thawne.”

A shiver crawls down his spine, dick twitching in his pants. God, it’s good to hear that name again. “Oh, Mr. Allen,” he breathes. “Say it again, won’t you?”

Favorite lines (excerpt):

Jonathan had known that they’d done this before. After all, he was sort of a witness to it. But up close it’s something else, it’s poetry in motion, the way that Nancy’s head tips back, the bead of sweat that slides down the tip of Steve’s nose, how her legs wrap around his waist, her small feet locking at the dip of Steve’s spine.

It’s beautiful, and his fingers itch for his camera, so he fumbles around beside him, stretching his arm out to his desk until he catches the strap and can tug it into his hands. He watches them through the lens of his camera for a moment before he gets up the courage to touch, tapping Steve with his foot and then gesturing with the camera, head cocked.

Can I?

Steve’s entire face transforms when he laughs, going bright with emotion. He nudges Nancy until she glances over and then she’s laughing too, and they’re both nodding.

He catches them both mid laugh, naked limbs flung around each other. And then he catches the moment that the laughter turns to something else, mouths half-parted in breathless pleasure. He catches the curve of Nancy’s breast and the freckle behind Steve’s ear, and then he waits, breathless, for the right moment.

He waits and waits, and the moment that they both go still, bodies shaking with pleasure, mouth caught on soundless moans-

Click.

He swallows, lowering the camera as it spits the picture out with a hiss, and holds it in his hand, watching them. Their eyes are closed, breathless little smiles across their faces, sweat on their brows. Steve hasn’t even pulled out of her.

Click.

Fic goals: Finish Sabriel AU. That’s it. My only other writing-related goal is to get out of this funk, write something big (which will hopefully be the Sabriel AU) and something original. Fingers crossed.