#rewrite the stars meta

[starbeltconstellation]

https://pin.it/1Ue6SrYmF first one is literally melanie 😭

Omgggg! 😭😭😭😂 This is SOOOO hilarious. And so true! 👀👀 As many readers of my fic will know… hehe. 😈😜💕✨

I WILL say I don’t believe Melanie is purposely trying to do this with Anakin yet, for the simple reason that she doesn’t even BELIEVE she has the sway with him to even ATTEMPT something like that. She’s kinda doing it in “nudges” (like with Barriss and Sugi? 👀) by complete accident, just by stating her opinion or snapping in the heat of the moment when the stress gets to her too much and she just can’t handle seeing one more of Anakin’s red flags in a single day. 🫠😖💔😆

But I do think it’s cool you brought this meme to my attention (thanks SO much for that, by the way. 😭❤️💕🥹 It makes my little writer heart so happy when readers interact like this. It definitely helps with writing motivation), specially because this WILL become something similar to Melanie’s arc with Anakin.

Anakin at one point was only seen as a terrifying weapon of destruction by Melanie, which is why she was so afraid of him and avoided him like the plague. 🥶😅 But now that Melanie is growing to CARE about Anakin’s safety (instead of just apathetically hoping his life will also be saved from her MAIN goal of saving the galaxy and the Jedi and clones in the long run), she is starting to see him as someone who is ALSO a shield against danger. Because Anakin IS different than Palpatine, and that’s SO important, because it shows that despite what some of his fans want to try and twist themselves into knots to believe—Anakin’s choices MATTER. And his actions will LITERALLY ruin the lives of all his friends and family to a near irreparable degree. Luke is the hope, and (while the Sequels are highly disappointing to me) the effects of Anakin’s actions are ripples that will be felt throughout the galaxy for GENERATIONS.

The Sequel Trilogy makes it canon that eventually it all came out to the Senate that Anakin and ‘Darth Vader’ are the same person, which basically erases all of his other deeds in the eyes of the citizens of the galaxy who aren’t Jedi monks who believe in forgiveness and ‘redemption’ even after thousands of atrocities. THIS is the legacy he will leave behind. Because while Anakin wasn’t the MASTERMIND behind Order 66, he was still the lead ATTACK DOG, and so many Jedi could’ve escaped without his presence at the Temple that day. Order 66 was a plan long in motion before Anakin even met Palpatine, and maybe things still would’ve gone wrong, but without Anakin’s horrific betrayal—things might’ve not been beyond REPAIR. At least for the next 20 years or so.

Anyway, I’m kinda ranting. 😂 But all of this basically is just to say that the meme is hilarious and SOOO right, because strangely enough—the more Melanie spends with Anakin, he doesn’t just represent the chilling dread of what will happen should she fail whenever she spots his red flags—but he also represents her HOPE. Because with every IMPROVEMENT he makes (to her GREAT astonishment, at least at the beginning 😂💕👀), it gives her more strength to keep marching forward with the belief that maybe she CAN change the fate of the galaxy.

Because if ANAKIN SKYWALKER (who is the literal CATALYST for everything plunging the galaxy into darkness after he chooses to betray his friends and family and join the basically ‘Devil’ of Star Wars) can slowly begin to change into someone better—then maybe… just maybe… the galaxy can be pulled back from the brink of ruin. Anakin is basically like the tipping scale for all of this. People who’ve read my fic will notice how more chipper Mel’s mood becomes when Anakin does or says something out of character that surprises her—and her mood can just as quickly descend into nauseating disgust and hopelessness if Anakin starts spouting off something bloodthirsty or dehumanizing about the Jedi Order that he will one day help genocide with seemingly zero remorse. Her hope is becoming BASED off of him, just as Anakin’s moral compass (for better or for worse) is becoming wrapped up in the idea of “What would Melanie do?”

This isn’t necessarily the BEST mindset to have regarding his thought process if he wants his change to be for HIMSELF alone—but it’s a whole lot of character development compared to Anakin originally not thinking over his slightly darkening actions at all. Change isn’t simple or even LINEAR. In one chapter (slight spoilers maybe for new readers 😂😅), Anakin eventually stops his “kill count” game with Ahsoka—not because he’s suddenly fully seen the light and is all sunshine and rainbows now and fully realizes his bloodthirsty tendencies popping up on the battlefield or the error of his ways—but instead because it “just isn’t fun anymore.” And you can argue that unconsciously Anakin’s mind IS starting to recognize that such actions are not the best, since he feels “a strange curdle in his stomach” at the thought of him and Ahsoka laughing like younglings and stepping over the bodies of clones and Geonosians alike. But it’s not CONSCIOUS yet. He’s not there yet. But it IS a change. And you’ll start to see more and more things like this pop up until he DOES have moments of true epiphany, which is exactly where the “crafting a scenario in which HE betters HIMSELF” comes in.

Just like with Barriss—Melanie cannot MAKE the choice for Anakin. He has to make it himself. And I think once she starts to recognize more of the sway she has in at least making Anakin at least CONSIDER her opinion, the more she’ll try to “nudge” him in the right direction, while standing back and biting her nails and holding her breath to see what choice he’ll make.

In conclusion—sameee, anon. ✋😭😂 This really is SOOO Mel. Right now she’s more in the “I can’t FIX him. How am I supposed to do that? 😭🥶” stage while turning tail to run the other way. But once she starts to RECOGNIZE more of the changes in him? I definitely think—ironically enough—this very thing is what will help Melanie’s deteriorating mental health the most.

So sorry for the long meta post. 😂❤️ I just can’t resist talking about SW and my fic writing process, I suppose.

And so very sorry for the late response! 😭💔😖 Life just gets in the way, and I really wanna dedicate a good and in depth answer to each ask I get so you all feel special! ✨😁💕 I still have four to catch up on…. 🫠🫠 Sorry, guysssss.

Hope to hear from you again! 😜✋💕✨

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To any readers that stumble across this and are curious enough to check out my fic:

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Tags:

@ensomniaa

@heartfairy

@fangirlteallie

@lemons-2-limes

@lexskiss

@spidersaye

@shoniwake

@selenaftmarvel

@silverwoodj

@ajtaals

[space-blue]

The Acolyte Brendok Re-write

I went ahead and reworked the entire Brendok storyline to flesh out and improve on character development. This rewrite ends up to the same outcomes but is set to be one long episode or two back to back if need be, with a much deeper focus on our star POV character:

This rewrite is very long (5.3k words) so I'm putting it under a cut. If anything is confusing let me know. Some scenes are not fleshed out at all as they're intended to be mostly the way they are in the show.

Thanks to my friends Paula and Vincent who helped craft this plot.

Torbin POV — He's our focal POV character for Jedi sections.

Instead of picking moss for 7 weeks they have been on a hyperspace survey, hopping from blighted world to blighted world, exactly what they expected to find. Torbin makes a deprecating joke about how excited he is to sample new rocks.

They drop out of hyperspace and discover the lush green world of Brendok.

Cockpit scene with the Jedi arguing loudly, strong emotions : excitement, confusion, lots of back and forth with words we and Torbin don't understand, and some of the conversation made all the more confusing by Kelnacca's shyriiwook.

The audience gets to be educated about vergence alongside padawan Torbin. But clearly the Jedi aren't sure this is what it is, and the vergence is made to be a very mythical and improbable thing. Sol argues it must be one, and Indara says he's being far too hasty. 

> Establishing early the theme of Sol seeing what he wants to see in things and getting ahead of himself.

Torbin seems excited that they can finally report something significant and go home. 

Kelnacca laughs and says something. Torbin is crestfallen and asks "Really?"

Sol, fixed on the world with poorly veiled enthusiasm, says "Of course, we can't pass up such an opportunity. We have all the tools we need as well."

Indara agrees and says they will land and take samples. When Torbin gives her a wounded look, she smiles and says this is definitely the last world on this mission before going home, but they can't not investigate. 

They crash land or damage their ship in some way as they come down. They try to call for rescue and find their comms broken. They trigger their distress beacon and prepare to wait. Indara decides to deploy the team collecting samples and data to not waste their time, since they're here either way.

On that first night, Torbin has nightmares. We don't get in them but see him have tremors and kicking.

Montage of how tedious and boring the life is, collecting moss and not finding the clues they expect. They have a camp OUTSIDE their ship (like a campervan extending so they can process samples and cook on fire, etc.) Field biologist vibe, and the adult Jedi all give off that field tech nerd vibe enduring the elements to get stuff done. 

Torbin (who is shown rubbing his forehead on occasion and blinking at his samples/at the horizon) is complaining a lot about the feeling that this is pointless, and Sol—who is very excited for the possibilities of a vergence—keeps trying to uplift and reassure him, getting in the way of Indara's training. They have a chat about it like in the show, making it clear that Sol is overstepping, despite it being in good spirits.

Torbin goes and has another nightmare, this time we're in it with him. 

He's running through a forest, and spirit/demonic smoky figures are running around him, laughing, cackling. He's being hunted. The trees part before him, shining bright. He comes to a hard stop. When the brightness equalises, we see the vista before him is the coruscant skyline. 

Cut to his face, teary-eyed, quivering smile of relief.

An arrow shoots through his throat. He goes to fall to the ground—next cut, the thing that actually hits the ground is an animal, shot there with an arrow by the witches.

(It's a scene transition to daytime in the real world)

Osha POV

Mae and Osha are there, being taught how to hunt. Mother Koril makes them rehearse their lessons on how to poison their arrow tips, and what poison is used for what season, establishing their mentor/student relationship and the future poison name-drop. The witches hunt as a group, and we see them using the smoke power to get ahead of an animal or away from danger. It is shown to be positive and useful.

Mae uses the Force to freeze one of the animals Osha is supposed to shoot and she takes exception to that. She starts an argument between them over how to hunt, saying Mae always does stuff like that and to stop. She wants to prove herself alone. Mae doesn't get it: they are always together so they should hunt together. 

A scout crashes the end of the hunt by reporting the presence of intruders further in the forest. Koril is first curious and cautious, but the witch says they seem to be Jedi and Koril goes into panic mode and repatriates everybody home.

The girls bicker the whole way home and wonder what Jedi are like and how dangerous they really are, with the adults too busy hurrying to really mind them.

Their settlement is in a crater/mountain/old mine too, but many of the buildings are made out of local wood. Only the inner chambers and private quarters of the girls and mothers seem to be in the stone buildings. However, LOTS and LOTS of lush carpets and tapestries are everywhere within these areas. Despite the abandoned mine setting, things are warm and cushy. That will also be great fuel for fire later. It gives the witches a strong visual aesthetic. They clearly do a lot of crafts. Visual representations of the Thread abound, and lots of spirals and dot work.

It becomes very clear that the girls are the only children and treated as little princesses.

Koril goes to talk to Aniseya. She reveals the presence of Jedi on the world. Aniseya smiles at her and says 'I know.'

Start of an argument, Koril demanding, 'When were you going to tell me about this?'

Aniseya saying it's fine, she's just keeping an eye on them through the eyes of their weakest member (Torbin). They crashed down in a valley beyond the river and should pose no threat. There's only 4 of them and they seem to be scientists/researchers/academics. 

Koril remains angry and says they can't afford to take any risk as the ritual is fast approaching and they can't miss this chance to tie the girls to the coven.

Aniseya has strong words then, challenging Koril over how much she thinks she cares for the girls and asserting she would never endanger them and only thinks about what's best for them. 

Here is when the girls come running in, having changed, and Aniseya flips to good mom and feeds them treats. Insert some cute family time together. Here is a good moment to have Osha voice how scared she is of the coming ritual and further the bickering between the sisters. Osha can complain about how Mae got in the way of her hunt, that she won't let her do anything on her own and this isn't resolved when Aniseya interrupts the fight and makes them hold hands, just like in the show.

Torbin POV

It's morning and Sol and Torbin are eating rations in the sun, sitting on crates by the ship. 

Sol gives a sheepish look over his shoulder to the ship's entrance, but approaches Torbin asking him if he's OK. He heard him scream early this morning.

Torbin breaks and confesses to his nightmares (and maybe headaches, triggered from Aniseya taking glances through his eyes). He's distraught and Indara approaches, annoyed, thinking that Sol is overstepping again. Kelnacca is on her heels. She arrives in time to hear Torbin say he thinks they're not alone on this planet. He's seen them. He sees them in his dreams. Adds something cryptic like "they live in the mountain".

This should be shot almost like a horror film moment. 

The masters exchange looks, but can sense his unease and agree to go investigate. Sure enough, they find proof of habitation. 

Torbin looks relieved at the news: it wasn't him losing it. But he's extremely aloof and clearly torn between going to confront these people and ask for hospitality + broker peace, vs. keeping clear of them since his dreams are so ominous. Anyway it's clearly not his call to make and they are very low on resources + have only a distress beacon and hope to send a message to the order.

Emphasise that the knights are more hopeful and open and consider themselves welcome anywhere in the galaxy, highlighting how unusual Torbin's anxiety seems. He looks like he's overreacting as far as the jedi know.

They bang on the door and after an awkward wait, a woman comes out and asks what they want.

They explain they crashed and have low food and no comms, and hope to trade and send out a message/confirm they're being picked up.

The woman frees the way and invites them in.

The vibes are off the entire time, but more in an awkward or uncertain way. 

When they are allowed to step in and talk to the mothers, the witches at the door perform a small welcoming ritual, dabbing their foreheads with a dash of white paint. Something intrusive and unconventional. Indara and kelnacca care the least/are used to putting up with weird local stuff, while Sol seems a little put off or wary, and Torbin is outright uncomfortable with being touched.

They go inside, get to be shown around a bit. The witches are very standoffish. Kelnacca strikes off to inspect their craft and is curious about the spirals and chats to an artisan who speaks shyriiwook. Indara is focused on getting a message out. Aniseya insists on sending it themselves (to make sure they don't plot against them). Indara promises them safety though if they could help understand the planet it would be great.

Aniseya plays dumb about the vergence (IDK what you mean?) but says they can answer their questions. Sol starts asking, more and more questions about the planet and the witches (when they arrived, where they landed, was the mine operational when they arrived, etc) making them grow visibly uncomfortable, as it seems like he's asking to figure them out, rather than the planet. 

Meanwhile Osha and Mae are spying on them. Mae insist on going back to their room as they were ordered to stay out of the way. Osha distracts her. She says look at the mighty scary jedi. They're not so bad. Sol is smiling as he asks his questions, Indara laughs politely with someone. Kelnacca is now trading food. They aren't that scary and also... There's a boy.

The girls fixate on Torbin, who looks tweaky and uneasy. They nudge each other, comment on his curls and wonder what he's like. Osha spots his lightsaber and points to it. She decides to go have a closer look. Mae insists it's not safe and that they should go back to their room.

Osha goes and pspspshhhs Torbin. He spots them and follows them to a more secluded area. He makes fast friends and shows off his lightsaber when asked. He looks much more at ease seeing kids around. 

They start quizzing him with dozens of questions all at once. Mae and Osha have different interests (Osha asking about other kids and what life is like on Coruscant, Mae asking why he's carrying a weapon and can she see it, or something like this). 

Torbin, who is clearly good with younger kids, answers them and starts reminiscing about what he left at home. The temple, his classes, his friends... he seems increasingly homesick. Osha asks how many other children there are and is shocked when she learns there's hundreds of them, living equally all together.

The chat goes in the direction of Torbin being the one asking questions and the girls guard is down. They tell him about the ritual they're about to take part in. Maybe he likens it to a knighting and they clarify they will become the leaders of their coven. Torbin asks how come they can become leaders if they're kids still learning. The girls don't really have an answer, but maybe Mae says it has to do with how good they are with "pulling on the Thread". They reveal they are FS that way (maybe pulling Torbin's saber out of his hand with a victorious smirk, which would make Torbin freeze in realisation).

They are then caught. Torbin is dragged away and the girls are forced back into the building. He is made to swear to not speak of the girls to anyone. He does. He gives his word.

The Jedi go back to their ship and very quickly Torbin says they are force users. This immediately clicks for the Jedi. "ah so that's why the vibes were so off. They're witches." sort of realisation. 

When asked how he knew, Torbin hesitates but quickly reveals the girls' presence. He says they claimed they too can "pull on the thread", which the older jedi immediately understand to mean use the force. 

Sol shows interest and curiosity and some concern. Only two children? Twins? And why are witches hiding them? Again we get to hear more about the Jedi's relationship with force cults via dialogue between Torbin and the masters. They explain to him why some force cults are seen more negatively, and he has only heard of nightsisters.

Torbin is asked for details and mentions what the girls said about being part of a ritual and becoming the coven leaders.

Sol continues to worry and the POV shifts to him.

In the morning he goes to spy on the witches, climbing the side of the walls. 

At first he only sees normal life scenes, but then he follows a large group that makes its way to the pit to begin a ritual. They carry a very elderly witch. Then they head to fields set in terraces carved from the rock wall. There he witnesses with increasing distress a death ritual, in which the elderly witch, clearly at death's door but still alive, is levitated between chanting witches with black eyes. She dissipates into smoke.

We experience and see how incredibly wrong and disturbing this feels to Sol. Dune-style montage of his vision/sensation of this, to highlight that her passing into the force was not usual. This is not peaceful or light. Maybe he feels nauseous. Visible reaction. 

But then the plants in the fields experience a mad growth spurt (close ups of sprouting seeds, things rotting faster, soil shivering with worms and insects, buds exploding into flowers and seed). Would go with whoompy and base heavy, oppressive soundtrack. 

The witches come out of their trance delighted and go observe the results in the fields while Sol makes his shaky exit.

He goes back to Indara extremely concerned and insists on "rescuing" the girls. Torbin feels more guilty now that he spoke up at all. He just wants to leave and is against going to fetch the kids. Outvoted again. Indara accepts the risk seems great and they can use the Jedi looking for kids as an excuse to confront them about this.

Osha POV

The girls are still arguing as they prepare for the ritual. Talk with Aniseya. Very little needs to change. The ritual proceeds and is again interrupted. Make that ritual look a little spookier but remain visibly just as safe.

Torbin POV

We go back to the show's scene of a home invasion by the Jedi, interrupting the ritual for the girls. The girls are hidden but this time Indara says she knows there are children here. Koril glowers at Torbin who tries to make himself very small.

Dialogue remains similar. The girls are brought forward. Sol softens and mellows and clearly is smitten with them and tries to recruit them. Torbin blurts out the mark on Mae's forehead is new, which makes everyone tense up. 

Indara insists the children be tested. Osha wants to. Koril argues. Sol argues. The camera pans to Torbin instead and their voices fade out to a hum. His face is twitching. Voices around him accuse him of lying, breaking his word, and being spineless. Intruder, child snatcher, etc. He breaks, blinks, and whispers "I'm sorry", and the moment the word is out, his eyes instantly go black.

Scene proceeds as in the show. The witches promise to bring the girls in the morning for their tests.

Sol is vindicated and extra worried due to the way they treated Torbin. Unlike in the show though, Indara cannot ask for council guidance. She sticks to the rules and says Sol can't be for real, the girls are too old, the witches too weird, they won't let them go. Torbin may add they're here with their mom and it's fine and to please leave it.

As they walk to their two speeders, the celestial bodies overhead separate (the opportunity has passed and the ritual cannot resume)

Osha POV

Chat with their mom about the test with the Jedi the next morning. Girls arguing. Mae says there's no point as they're part of the coven now. Osha saying she isn't. Aniseya tells her that of course she's part of them, even if the ritual wasn't fully completed. She tries to reassure her, says she must lie. 

Osha whines and says she wants to show her progress and what Aniseya taught her. Aniseya explains that it would be dangerous and that the jedi have to know as little as possible about their true capabilities. Both girls ask why, as they still both think the Jedi were nice and don't seem like bad people.

Aniseya explains that the Jedi aren't bad as individual people and that maybe all of them here are very kind and good, but the order they belong to is enormous, wields power and controls it. It gets to decide who can use the Thread and in what way. Then she segways into a gentle and kid friendly explanation that many generations ago, their coven already had to flee a world to escape from the Jedi. She may say that they claim to be peaceful, but have gone to many wars against the Sith, and that you can't even call it a war when they wipe out a small coven.

The girls go to the ship and make their promise to lie.

We see Mae lie and tell worrisome things about becoming "one with all" to the masters like in the show.

Then Osha goes in. The same happens but she already knows about other kids and she simply asks what it was like for Sol and is shocked to hear they have babies too and that Sol was given pretty old at 4 yo. 

Once she's done with the test she's now not failing, we get to see her try more things. The remote and saber, a little spar with Torbin with sabers on low settings, push-feather with Indara. She's exhilarated and bright eyed and admits she wants to become a jedi. We SEE her be happy with them and ask questions she likes the answers to.

Indara is looking quite displeased with this. Torbin is very uncomfortable standing in the doorway, and Sol is smiling brightly and encouraging Osha, clearly bonding with her through the test.

When Osha steps out Mae already knows she must have told them the truth because she stayed in the ship for so long. 

We go back with the witches. Have same scene as in the show with osha deciding she wants to go, Aniseya promising to take her opinion into consideration, the witches being against it, and Aniseya choosing to let her go. 

ASIDE : 

The reason why the girls are so OP, must become leaders and the witches have no other kids (all relevant to the back and forth with Aniseya and should inform dialogue)

The coven uses group action. Most of the witches are fairly weak individually but can be powerful as a group working as one. The power of many. They rally behind powerful leaders. On their last world they were subject to attack, lost a lot of their children in particular, and their OP leader. Mother Aniseya/Koril were younger then, but the two next OP. They fled to Brendock in hiding, and discovering the vergence, Aniseya created the twins. Seeing their potential they were made as next leader. This would mean leading group rituals and protecting the Coven. They are only as powerful as their best witch, and Mae and Osha are like multipliers.

The witches don't make it sound like this is taboo, and more like Jedi would definitely take the girls away to study them and never return them. They can't afford this because of protection, they are not even done recovering from the damage of their last conflict.

Back to the story, with Mae furious. She is kicked out before Osha leaves the room. We now see her lock the doors and break the pad without anyone knowing, before she runs back into the building to get to Osha. 

Torbin POV

The Jedi rescue finally arrives at the crash site. It's just one man in a small ship. He's here to give them a ride back. Torbin wants to go now, Sol wants to stay. The blood test ping right then. 

The girls are suspicious to them immediately. Sol concludes they were born of the vergence. Indara suggests they might have been created from it, split somehow. She goes to use the new ship's comm to go as the council for guidance. 

They are all in their camping area, half packed up. The new jedi is watching them argue while sipping on his soup, looking confused. Indara comes back out saying the Council said NO. 

Osha is too old, and with her alone there's no proof they're the product of a vergence. They said they must come home, and will send another crew later on to mediate with the coven and investigate the matter.

Sol is distressed and says the girls are in danger. Mae is already marked. Osha outright said she wants to come. And if they bring back BOTH girls then the council will see they are a vergence and must be trained/studied. This is where he says he feels OSha is meant to be his padawan. 

Indara goes to protest, but Sol runs for a speeder to say he can negotiate with the witches.

 Indara yells for Torbin to follow him and stop him. (there's only two speeders and Torbin being lighter will be faster alone to catch up). She and Kelnacca run for the new ship telling the new guy that they'll be right back and please mind the camp. He looks very confused but resigned.

Torbin catches up to Sol outside the coven and begs him to stop. They can finally go home. They don't belong here. Sol ignores him and instructs him to shut off his mind so they don't get to him again and breaks in, Torbin on his heels.

Witches on high alert. Koril and Aniseya rush to the yard to confront the men.

Osha POV

Fight/argument with the girls in their room. They vent a lot of their usual criticism, push and pull over Osha's notebook, and in it Mae sees doodles of Torbin too (bit of a "turning Red" style acknowledgement that girls get crushes, but it also helps establish Osha as turned to other people and Mae perceiving this as a threat. 

Now Mae mocks Osha for having known Torbin for barely a day and she's already boy-sick.

Osha rips the book from her hand and goes to hit her with it. Mae reacts by pushing her with the force out of reflex. Osha doesn't block (as she didn't with their earlier training which still can happen when they come home from the hunt). She sends Osha flying across the room, hitting her head. She passes out and doesn't see the lamp breaking on the carpet, igniting it. 

Mae freezes, watching the carpet flare up. She tries to tamp it down, screaming Osha's name. She runs to her and tries to lift/drag/shake her but she's heavy and the fire is spreading. She rushes out screaming for help.

Torbin POV

The situation is heating up as Kelnacca and Indara arrive together. Sol has dropped the fact they should be taking both girls if they can and the witches are reacting like this is child snatching and straight up won't surrender Mae.

Indara tries to calm everyone. She's starting to make sense, and Aniseya goes to say something (maybe say she's OK to let Osha go), only for Mae's scream to be heard. She comes out screaming "Fire, fire!"

Sol yells "Osha!" Only for Mae to give him a weird look and say "Osha's trapped in the room!"

Sol blinks his surprise away. The witches turn on the jedi, many voices heard at once, asking what have you done!? Indara says "Nothing, we're all here, we just want to talk." 

The witches fire back they are lying/they have a new jedi/he must be here.

Torbin whips out his lightsaber right as the witches begin firing at him. 

All at the same moment or in very quick succession:

Koril goes for Indara and is deflected by Kelnacca

Aniseya goes to smoke rescue Mae, only for Sol to freak out at the sight of the smoke effect again and stab her. She still tells him "You could have taken Osha, she chose to go and I was going to let her".

Mae screams and rushes forward, falling over Aniseya. Indara leans over her and says they have to put down the fire, asking where Osha is. 

Koril attacks Sol.

Kelnacca and Torbin block arrows while Indara picks Mae up and asks to show her the way.

Osha POV

Osha wakes up alone in a room in flames. To her, she was left for dead and left to burn. She makes her escape as in the show. She can't get to the door due to flames. We hear screams and explosions as the whole place flames up. She makes her way through the tunnels.

Jedi POV

Cut back to Mae and Indara, discovering the room is empty. Indara is calling out for Osha, tries to sense her, says she's not here. Mae has already spotted the open pipe and darts away.

Cut to the Koril vs. Sol fight and Torbin blocking arrows. Things proceed as in the show, with Koril disappearing to smoke and the witches taking over Kelnacca, except Indara stops her efforts to contain the fire and find Osha when she hears Torbin scream. 

She winces in shared pain and rushes back out to see the end of the fight with Kelnacca. She intervenes again. This is way more visceral. We actively see depictions of her mental state. When the witches are cut off it's a thread snapping/strong sound design. Indara is shaken, mumbling an "oh no... I... I...' (clearly didn't intend to kill when she severed the bond)

There are still screams about the place as women try to escape the flames and smoke. Several explosions then.

Indara snaps at Sol "Find the girls!" before rushing to Torbin's side. Kelnacca is KO. Torbin is much more grievously injured. A sweating and visibly strained Indara takes a deep breath before trying to use force heal on him.

Sol POV

Sol, running inside to find the girls, stumbles on the witches all dead. Koril is WITH them, to highlight the fact she wasn't dissolving with the smoke effect, but teleporting, meaning Sol must have overreacted to this effect (and now he can guess what Aniseya most likely attempted and we know he knows).

He hears screams and follows them.

Instead of the girls being in a split gangway about to collapse just yelling each other's name, he finds Osha trapped outside the exit of her pipe system. She is still over the same drop, though it'd there is a lot more smoke that obscures the real depth of the shaft (and there's more coughing/strong impression things are burning all around).

Mae appears from the side and at a higher point (she's been tracing the path of the pipes trying to find where Osha would emerge and is getting to her now). She proceeds to move forward despite how dangerous the damage gangplank is, to try and reach Osha.

Sol yells for her to move back. He tries to find a clear pass, crying from the smoke in the air. Mae is saying she's sorry, she's also crying and saying "Mom's dead" to a horrified Osha who asks her "what did you do?!" 

Mae says "The Jedi came for you!" as an accusation. "I didn't—" and then the ramp drops a bit, they both scream. Sol yells for them to hang on and gets closer. 

Mae gets back up at the edge of the ramp and Osha grabs her hand and joins her. Their combined weight is too much. The ramp breaks and falls down over the pit. They hang on, screaming, and Sol grabs the entire ramp with the Force. 

He's crying, blinking, straining. Mae is slipping, her grip on Osha loosening. She has one hand on the ramp and one on Osha's top.

Sol slips in the Force and the ramp falls. Mae and Osha are shaken loose, but Sol grabs Osha with the Force, letting Mae fall (She was behind Osha, grabbing the back of her shirt, so she doesn't really see what's happening in the moment).

Things proceed as in the show, with heavier smoke and fire and Osha being dragged away from Aniseya not just because Sol doesn't want her to see the wound but also because there's real urgency in leaving. They run past the main door, where we can maybe see collapsed bodies. Sol runs to the weird black pit, on the edge of the settlement, the only place still clear of smoke. The music distorts around it, ominous. He looks around, desperate, passed out Osha in his arms. 

Light falls on him from above : the jedi ship, piloted by Indara.

Cut to the same scene as in the show with them in hyperspace, except they're not in their own ship but the much smaller rescue vessel. Kelnacca is passed out right next to Osha in a cramped room, and Torbin is sitting nearby, hugging himself, face swollen and eye shut by crusted blood. He's mumbling he's sorry again and again and Indara is actively soothing him/rubbing his back before the confrontation with Sol begins and she decides they have to cover this up.

Argument remains the same : Mae started a fire, everybody died, but we know the mom allowed Osha to be a Jedi, and she's the sole survivor. She also wanted to join, and though they can't exactly prove she was created by a vergence, they have blood samples and she can still be studied while she trains.

Osha screams and cries as Sol holds and hugs her. Camera cuts to Torbin. Pale faced, bloodied. He's finally still, his one good eye fixed dead ahead as we listen to Osha's wailing. 

Indara places a hand over his shoulder and whispers, 'It'll be all right. We're going home.'

Cut to Mae POV

Close up of her face, stone grey. Flakes of ash fall on her and coat her as the camera pans out. She's on her back on a lower gangplank in the shaft. She wakes up coughing, confused. 

She took a hard fall and is limping and hugging her arm, but she crawls to an exhaust port and emerges in the woods.

She's covered in soot and dried blood. Much, much dirtier than in the show. She turns back around : it's dawn, her coven is still burning/emitting a huge plume of smoke.

She looks around, the camera is far away, making her small and alone in the shot. She asks, in a trembling voice, "Oshie?"

Cut to black.

[adragonsfriend]

Shooting Anakin like Padmé

So I've mentioned this before, but for most of ROTS, Padmé is shown pretty much only in her own apartment, and she's only allowed to leave to (1) go to see Anakin to tell him about the baby, (2) go to the Senate to deliver an (admittedly devastating) line about Palpatine declaring himself Emperor, and then (3) go to Mustafar to find Anakin. Besides those times, the camera only looks at her when Anakin goes to see her in her apartment, or when Obi-Wan goes to her apartment to see her about Anakin.

This relegation of Padmé to the domestic sphere--even if it's less obvious in that it's not a cooking or cleaning domestic space--is strange for a character who is obviously active and present in the previous movies. Why isn't she in the Senate building before the last scene? Why doesn't she have an office? Paperwork to do at least? Why don't we see her preparing to give birth? Hell why can't she and Anakin just talk somewhere else for once?

The answers to these questions are not ones I'm going to bother with right now. Whilst they are probably complex and interesting on some level, ultimately, they largely start and end with and "the narrative stopped being interested in its main female character other than in how she affects its male lead." Instead, I'd like to demonstrate how stupid it is by imagining ROTS scenes if Anakin was shot the same way Padmé is.

Rescuing the Chancellor

Start by cutting the whole space battle and rescue. We open on Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Palpatine returning to the ground and being greeted by the Senators and the press. Padmé pulls Anakin aside as in the movie. Since we didn't get to see Anakin execute Dooku, Anakin summarizes those events to Padmé, during which he tells her that he's not sure he should've killed Dooku and that he's afraid Obi-Wan would be disappointed in him. Padmé avoids confronting/is distracted from this revelation by her own news--she's pregnant. Continue the scene as written, with Anakin dismissing her worries to tell her to be as happy as he is.

Impact

Because it would probably reveal too much plot-wise for Anakin to tell Padmé that Palpatine directly ordered him to execute Dooku, this would deeply minimize how much Palpatine has over Anakin's decision making, as well as obscure how Dooku being executed even happened when Obi-Wan should've been right there to stop him (audience has no idea he was knocked out). Also, the audience would not see Anakin disagree with Palpatine to save Obi-Wan, and would therefore be deprived of the understanding that Obi-Wan is important to Anakin.

Even if all of this information was included in Anakin's summary of events, it would replace all of the showing done in the rescue scenes with telling, thereby destroying all of the emotional weight the audience experiences actually witnessing the events.

Appointment to the Council & The Opera

Instead of seeing Anakin talk to Palpatine and Obi-Wan, and throwing his fit to the Council, we instead get Anakin sitting in his quarters in the temple after the council meeting. He gets angry, standing up and pacing the room, talking to either himself or R2-D2 about how annoyed he is about not being made a master and that Obi-Wan would ask him to spy on Palpatine.

Instead of Anakin sitting with Palpatine in the Opera, we are treated to another scene of him in his quarters, this time we see him in his quarters, reading some texts, maybe muttering about trying to find the story Palpatine told him about.

Impact

Instead of seeing Anakin being manipulated, being inept at politics, his inability to manage his emotions in front of the Council, the tension of his argument with Obi-Wan about spying, and the way he's immediately drawn in by Palpatine's story about darth Plageuis, we just get him pitching a fit in private. Pitching a fit in private is a pretty reasonable thing to do--most people do it at some point--and so on top of doing nothing to show any of his interpersonal relationships with Obi-Wan, the Council, or Palpatine, it also shows very little of the complete breakdown he's headed toward.

Order 66

Instead of seeing Anakin go into the Temple, leading the clones, we are instead shown him getting dressed in his new sith cloak, which matches Palpatine's.

Impact

The audience gets none of the horror of seeing Anakin about to kill people. They only gain the information that he killed the Jedi children when Obi-Wan tells Padmé--there is none of the symbolism of him being shown to kill that one kid who looks just like his younger self. It reduces a horrific act and character decision to less than a news headline, and--especially with Padmé's later denial about it--makes it sound like more of a rumor than anything.

Mustafar

After Anakin puts on his new sith cloak, we cut to him on a ship to Mustafar. Only it's not his fighter, it's a ship large enough to have sleeping quarters, or maybe a kitchen. We see Anakin in one of those two spaces, again pacing, but this time he has set his lightsaber on a table, and keeps glancing at it agitatedly. On arrival, he picks it up and leaves the ship. Cut to him announcing over comm to Palpatine that the Separatist leaders are dead, without showing any of the killing involved. Then he sees Padmé landing and goes to greet her.

Then, keep the strangling Padmé and dueling Obi-Wan the same as the movie.

Impact

Now imagine seeing that final duel after an entire movie in which we have hardly seen Anakin and Obi-Wan interact, never seen them fight together, and only witnessed Anakin draw his saber once, to cut off Mace's hand in one wild swipe. It wouldn't mean nearly as much. We wouldn't know where Anakin suddenly got all these crazy lightsaber skills from--it would be crazy that he can go toe to toe with Obi-Wan who we just saw fight Grevious. We wouldn't know that Obi-wan's death was something Anakin would've died to prevent only days earlier.

Overall Impact

While some of these altered scenes do have potential to communicate some important things about Anakin (staring at lightsaber = guilt, picking it back up = choosing violence), on their own, they fail to tell his story well, and give little depth to his character.

He doesn't really talk to anyone on screen -> seems like a total loner who doesn't talk to anyone but Padmé. What do you mean Obi-Wan is supposed to be his best friend-brother-dad-teacher? (Why does Obi-Wan say he loved Anakin at the end or bother to personally look over Luke?)

Anakin doesn't really do anything for anyone but himself -> what do you mean he's supposed to have been a caring person who was corrupted?

Anakin is called a General and a war hero, but we never see him lead troops or even fight -> was he just given the title to make him seem more important?

Anakin and Palpatine only interact for like two seconds -> why does Anakin believe him about the Sith story or follow his orders to commit atrocities?

Anakin doesn't have any strong feelings about the Jedi, positive or negative (let alone both simultaneously) -> why do we care that he betrayed and killed them? why didn't Palpatine just let the clones do it?

Basically, it makes him seem stupid and inactive, and completely fails to show the audience his ongoing struggle with violence and torn loyalties, unless of course the audience is willing to go to lengths to imagine the depth he might've had if the narrative had prioritized him a little more.

There's lots of fic and meta that does that for Padmé, but the movie itself does not force the average view to see her as anything but Anakin's girlfriend who loves him more than anything, for some reason (he's pretty?) and is a Senator for some reason (she talks about politics for a minute?).

Like, I'm being a bit reductive, but all the scenes I cut of Anakin doing violence? Those are the equivalent of Padmé doing politics. All the interactions with Obi-Wan, Palpatine, and the Council? Those are Padme talking to other senators, her handmaidens, maybe even her parents. Anakin's mounting stress? That's a bit about Padmé seeing a doctor, worrying about her own health.

Padme isn't the main character, but she's not a side character either. The screen time she got could've been better used, even simply by letting her look busy when Anakin talks at her. ROTS makes her seem silly and inactive, and fails to show the audience the full depth of the ongoing conflict between her duty as a political power and her relationship with Anakin.

[wovenstarlight]

okay that's enough work on the meta let's go do a bit of translation work to get back into gear on that [immediately a jinjae food scene] [voice cracking] motherFUCKER

[desireandduty]

The big question is did Padme pack the backless and dominixtrix dress on purpose to entice Anakin more 👀

I don't think she left Coruscant with them, mostly because it looks like she had just a small bag with her on that refugee transport. Just based on a little scene from her book trilogy (I think it was in Queen's Shadow?) it sounds like she has a stock of dresses in her room at the Lake House. And also, in AOTC, in one of the deleted scenes from her parent's house, she says she keeps a lot of things there.

When she left Coruscant with Anakin, she was still struggling mightily against her attraction to him, which when combined with the affection she'd always harbored for him, was dangerous in her mind. The more time they spent together, the harder it was for her to tamp down on that growing attraction, both to him physically and to who he was as a person.

All that being said, by the time they'd arrived at her parents' house, they'd spent more time alone together, so she could get reacquainted with adult Anakin vs the boy she remembered. Being home, with her family, was a reminder of the things she was giving up (mainly the chance to have romance, love and family in her life.) She packed the backless wonder and the dominatrix dress to take with her to the lake house, because a small part of her was wondering if maybe this was her shot at the very least at a little bit of romance. Even if it didn't last and was just a fling.

From the moment they arrive at Varykino, she is tempting him with her clothing choices and flirting openly with him (think about how she teases him in the meadow and rolls around in the grass with him.) It's not until the fireplace scene where he confesses that he's in love with her and she realizes how serious he is about having an actual relationship with her that she freaks out and overreacts by putting the breaks on anything and everything between them.

But she can't stay that rational course for long, because her feelings for him are too strong. She wants him more than she's ever wanted anything in her life. Being confronted with the possibility of death on Geonosis prompts her to finally be fully honest with him, but that confession would have happened inevitably. Her love for Anakin was just too overwhelming for her to hold it back much longer.

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

Although I haven't seen the film, I have heard about the path that Wish nearly took and how everyone else preferred that version over what we got. Its been a while since Disney gave us a good love story and with their resent run of bad luck it wouldn't hurt them to go back their roots. Everyone loves a good love story and who doesn't want to see one of a human woman catching the eye of a shapeshifting Star Boy. And the demo song that was writing for these two was so beautiful I can't stop myself from listening to it over and over again.

Yes human Star does look a bit like Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians and Nightlight from the Guardians of Childhood books, the character that Jack was originally inspired by before he himself got added to the book series. Part of me does understand why Disney turned away from their original idea to avoid placing themselves in trouble, with them being in the red of late, but didn't a evil DreamWorks mermaid deeply resemble a certain redheaded mermaid? Most stories now a days share some similarities to some already existing stories, the plots are different and only a few certain themes were similar.

After seeing everyone else's fanworks on the original plot that many well wished that Disney stuck with, I thought that I would show my support. Its noting fancy and I didn't want to use other people's artworks of Star Boy x Asha without their permission, as that would be stealing. Even if I did credit the artists, it would still be stealing without asking and then end up bagging for their forgiveness.

[starbeltconstellation]

Hello! 😊💕✨ I hope you’re all doing well, dear readers!

I just wanted to allow you all to be one of the first to enter the new SW discord server for my Fic readers that I have recently made! 😁💕✨ I am going this will be a fun space for reader engagement and discussion of Melakin's development and future plot points for the fic, and also just SW in general! ❤️

If you would like access to the link, please PM me and talk about one plot point of my fic to show you have read at least some of it so I know you aren’t someone trying to sneak in to troll, and I will happily give you the invite link! 😊❤️

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement, dear reader ducklings! 😭💕 I see all of you lovely people! I'm just trying to catch up on every single comment with an in-depth reply. You'll all hear from me eventually! 💜

Still sadly working on the next chapter. 🫠 But I still hope to hear all of your lovely thoughts in the chat from time to time. Haha. 💕

I also wanted to announce that I now have a blanket permission posted in my A03 profile that allows you the option to make a transformative fic of my fic AS LONG AS YOU CREDIT MEL TO ME and link back to my fic. And most importantly--tell me beforehand what you're planning so I know about it and can be on the lookout! 😁✨💕

Here is the example of what it says:

Blanket permission: If you’d like to podfic/translate/create fanart/remix/make other transformative works for any of my fics, you are free to do so — but please link back to the story in question and let me know what you're planning beforehand.

That goes for fan video edits too! Just make sure to link back to my fic and let me know, because I'd love to see them! :)

*

Hope you all are doing well! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

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To any readers that stumble across this and are curious enough to check out my fic:

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Tags:

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[space-blue]

Ahsoka but the characters are better... The plot... everything is better.

I was talking/venting in RBs with @kanansdume on their post, and I started writing a reply that was just too long and in depth. So it's now its own post.

Offering you an alternative version of events for Ahsoka's first 4 episodes:

The cause of the break up between Hera, Ahsoka and Sabine, is Ezra.

Hera is more of a politician than a general these days, and if she sees action it's to police conflict and hunt down empire remnants. She's NOT under the impression that everyone who kept on living under the empire needs to be eradicated or whatever her deal is right now. She's busy splitting work with Jacen and not really able to help either of her friends as each would want to.

Sabine has never given up. She's still actively looking for Ezra.

Not Ahsoka. On her end, she's given up. She wrote off Ezra as a hero. She grew up watching Jedi sacrifice themselves to buy others some time or make doomed attempts to kill powerful enemies. She thinks Ezra is dead (gloriously so) and refused to indulge the fantasy that he may still be alive, driving a big wedge in her relationship with Sabine.

Until Ahsoka finds that Morgan seems to expect Thrawn to be alive… Which might mean Ezra is alive too… Just maybe.

We meet Sabine as she lands on Lothal. She isn't reckless, wasting time away in a tower like in the show. She's well dressed if rumpled and obviously drained. The moment she steps onto the space port, she's surrounded by local guards. The guy who chases her in the show is instead in full uniform waiting for her, and clearly distressed.

Did she forget what today was? That the governor asked her to attend the celebrations? She was meant to be here already, the event has even started.

Sabine brushes him off. She had no plan to come at all. She's been busy and never even opened the message requesting her presence. She's back from Coruscant, talking to the only scientist who seems to specialise in purgill, and does he have any idea how tedious it is to get useful fact out of someone who never steps out of academia? She's going home, thanks.

She gets upset when the "war hero" title is used to try and persuade her. She's trying to do war hero stuff by rescuing Ezra, thank you. Speeches and hand waving aren't for her, never were. Maybe the dialogue can hint that she used to play along, but has grown increasingly desperate in her search instead of the faff of her mostly ceremonial position.

But the guy drops a hint that convinces Sabine to get on the back of his speeder after all : her old "jedi friend" is there for the celebration. Ahsoka, who she hasn't heard from in ages!

Ahsoka would have trained Sabine for a while for saber, but they've since split and heir friendship frayed over the Ezra Lives situation. NOT because of padawan BS.

Ahsoka could also perceive Sabine's dedication to find Ezra as something worse with every year that passes. To her, it'd go from friendship to attachment, of the overly strong type. And even if Sabine isn't a Jedi, the way Anakin was, it doesn't mean that this attachment wouldn't bring some darkness.

Heck, Ahsoka could sort of wash her hands off Sabine by blaming the darkness brought by her Ezra fixation. Like this isn't her fault, no sir, it's the way Sabine is so consumed that she won't listen to reason.

Anyway, they're both here now, and though the "how have you been" is a tip toeing on eggshells exercise, Ahsoka eats some humble pie and admits she needs Sabine's help for something important.

She has tracked an artifact to a ruin, and although it's ancient, it clearly has a deep stratum. It's not just one culture that can be observed in it, but several stacked on top of each other. And one of the most recent traces of alteration are Mandalorian.

Ahsoka wouldn't solve that JFO puzzle on her own. She'd bring Sabine for her unique Mando insight. But trust would be an issue, so she'd remain super vague about what they're looking for and completely tight lip about why. Ahsoka doesn't want to kindle hopes about Ezra in Sabine of all people.

From Sabine's pov, she's doing Ahsoka a favour, and Hera asked her to please help as she's invested in this mcguffin hunt too. Sabine, by coming along, is doing that very adult thing of putting up with a shitty situation to accomodate people (the total opposite of her highway chase scene).

But even as Sabine finds the map and frees it from the old compartment it's in, they are attacked by the droids. A good old epic fight ensues, where Sabine is shown to be rusty with her saber, and rusty in general with droids, but also Ahsoka sucks at anticipating Sabine's actions, and keeps throwing orders that don't get obeyed (or can't realistically be obeyed).

In the past few years Sabine's been spending more time investigating, talking to people and reading books and buying intel, than fighting.

Not knowing what the map is for, she loses it. Does Shin come in then and wound her? Forcing Ahsoka to flee with her on the brink of death? I think it would be nice if the only reason Sabine lives is because Ahsoka was there to use a constant flow of Force healing. Not fixing her but keeping her alive as Huyang flies them away.

Because, you know, it's getting real tiresome to see people survive lightsabers to the centre of mass.

Then Sabine wakes up, she's sorry she lost the antique Ahsoka was looking for… But Hera calls in as a holo, upset with Ahsoka… And Sabine would slowly realise why. The thing she lost, nearly died over unknowingly, was a map! A map to Thrawn, and so to Ezra.

Nobody needs to be incompetent about that map thing, either, because it would be a very classic puzzle that Ahsoka could have solved. It's not old or mysterious, it was hidden in the old temple. In the show she never sees the map, and it needs to be inserted in the henge to make sense any way. Here Ahsoka didn't need Sabine's help to solve the mcguffin, but to get it. And she got it and lost it at the same time.

And now Sabine realises just WHAT it was. To Ahsoka it's a trail to Thrawn, or a clue in Morgan's plans. To Hera it's weeks of political favour wasted and hope for Thrawn and Ezra gone. Hera can't justify more spending on this without proof Morgan is up to no good.

Meanwhile Sabine sees the map as proof she's always been right. That Ezra is alive, and that Ahsoka used her and lied and kept her in the dark. Sabine would argue she'd never have engaged that rogue padawan if she knew what she was risking with the map. Ahsoka could argue back she only needed to follow her orders.

Huyang is the one who settles things between them by asking how exactly they think this argument is helping the situation? He could be the one to insist they have to stay and work together to get the map, when both Ahsoka and Sabine want nothing more than to split again.

Personality-wise Ahsoka can team work, but she needs to lead. She's used to being the most OP in the room, and grew up giving order to mostly unquestioning soldiers. Sabine has a different skillset, is pig headed, and won't take orders from Ahsoka, especially not now that she feels like she was used.

Hera and Huyang could both come in then to soothe things, and Hera would suggest they visit the other trail she's unearthed (dockyards) while the villains actively get their plan on the tracks.

At the dockyards, Hera would understand that people worked for the Empire because they didn't have a choice, and wouldn't expect people to 'get rid' of imperials after the fall of the empire. It's not exactly how that stuff happens in real life, right? It would also be interesting if Chopper FINALLY came to some use…

So I suggest that the smuggling was done by droids, and the main human mind behind this operation was the one maintening the droid fleet. Altering their codes and priorities. We could have Chop somehow help figure it out. He could also be the one who PWA PWAs at the very end that they shouldn't look so disappointed, since he managed to slap a tracker under the chest plate of that one droid he highjacked that fled on the ship.

They have their lead to that planet.

Now's a good time for Ahsoka to be able to report about Shin and Baylan's sabers instead, maybe spotting them at that place, whatever. They have no clear character or motivation and for all I care we could keep visuals of their sabers from early on when freeing Morgan.

But here's the cinch about Huyang :

He's completely out of place with Ahsoka. She doesn't have a padawan. Doesn't want one. Sabine isn't a real one and has no desire to even try to be. And any good droid could do Huyang's job, without her moaning about Jedi protocol so much.

So why does she keep him?

Huyang should be with Luke Skywalker. Wouldn't it be a little dark and sweet if it's revealed that Ahsoka has been planning to bring him over to Luke's budding school but hasn't because… (and let's forget all shit with them in Mando) well, because she doesn't believe in a New Order. She saw too many younglings killed or turned, and she doesn't trust Luke with rebuilding the Order. Doesn't really want him too.

Yet at the same time she misses it. Misses the protocols she broke with Anakin, and the life she had there as a padawan. Huyang feeds into this nostalgia. Sometimes he sounds like a master--but one she doesn't need to listen to.

She keeps pushing the time to bring him to Luke over and over.

But now Huyang could have his own motivation : Baylan has survived, and he's taken a padawan.

What was Baylan like? Why would he want to free Thrawn? Why team up with Morgan? Imo it'd be a lot more interesting if his saber was yellow or truly orange, and Shin's was blue or literally any colour but red. Make them apparently rogue Jedi and not weird darksiders larping as Taron Malicos and Merrin.

Maybe Huyang would try to push for them to be in touch. Maybe he'd want to approach Baylan himself. Because he wants to recreate the Order, right? And he's got an apprentice. And wouldn't it be a shame if they truly fell down a dark path?

So instead of Baylan being sentimental but actually not about Ahsoka staying alive, it could be Huyang who is ready to expend his kindness to even them, even after the interaction over the map. Afterall, Jedi aren't always shy about using violence to get what they want, and maybe Shin always arrives on the scene when her side is already in a fight. Maybe Huyang is on copium!

But Baylan could be seen as behaving one way, and Ahsoka could feel his vibes being rancid… VS. Huyang knowing him by reputation. Why not go on and fully rip Malicos, at this stage? You got his looks and his theories. You may as well also make Baylan a respected Jedi general. Someone Huyang remembers from his trips to make his first saber.

Now wouldn't it be neat if Chopper's tracker returns a system that Sabine recognises the name of? She was just talking to that scholar about Purgill after all, and he mentioned how this system was an important migration point, one poorly researched, because it's so remote, and at the fringes of Dathomir space, not a friendly locale.

Sadly I still don't understand WTF the map is. Why does Morgan need it? it seems ancient… And yet it points to Thrawn? HOW? Why does it go to a different henge style temple? Nothing makes sense in the show and we're meant to just accept it.

I propose something else.

The map is stored into a bog standard data storage puzzle thingy. Anyone who could handle a Japanese puzzle box could use it. But the map is just the tip of the iceberg. It's actually a nightsister spell underneath, and the entire goal is to hyper focus and pinpoint.

So Morgan 'feels Thrawn calling to her'. And yep, that's corny, but she does. And what she needed was that nightsister focus tool. She needs to wildly amplify the signal, and then use the map to pinpoint its origine totally.

She goes to that henge because it's a meditation space. It's within the Dathomir sphere of influence, but not Dathomir proper, which is why she hid the ring here. There's something about this world, the same quality that attracts the purgill, that really throws the Force into whack.

While it's good for Morgan, it'd be confusing and disturbing for any other Force user (how to nerf Ahsoka, Baylan and Shin).

Once she fully feels the location of Thrawn's call, the map zooms in and in and in. As she suspected (as she's prepared for), it's in another galaxy entirely.

Instead of having the badies split, Baylan would have to protect Morgan so she can remain in her trance as the droids help her refine the coordinates. Shin can go harry Sabine and split her and Ahsoka, who can't properly communicate due to the planet's interference.

When the women go to fight Morgan and co, perhaps Huyang would ask Ahsoka to convince Baylan to return to them. Maybe Huyang's interest in helping with Shin is also what keeps getting in the way of Sabine whenever she has an opportunity to strike to kill.

Anyway, please no fucking Anakin!!! We don't need more nostalgia bait. Stop!! Jedi canonically can't die from falls of any height so long as they've trained to cushion a fall. We see the trio take insane falls all of Clone Wars, and it's in High Republic now too. Ahsoka clipping off the world map from getting yeeted from a small cliff is sad and a pathetic excuse to show Anakin off.

Also would like to point out that with a tight script, all the events above are 2 or 3 episodes max.

What do you think? Opinions? Suggestions? It's a bit of a meta post so feel free to add on to it!

[rylxdreams]

I still can't get the unused concept art of Wish out of my head so I've been reading a lot of rewrites and looking at a lot of Wish redesigns...

So... I got inspired. I'm currently conceptualizing my own Wish "rewrite/redesigns", but with a twist. It's gonna be a spiritual "prequel", cuz idk I feel like being meta since we'll be using the original concepts before the final concepts/decisions made for the final movie XD

Many of my "prequel" characters will be stand-ins for the canon characters! So "Asha" will be renamed "Amala", "Magnifico" will be called "Mamoun", and so on. Think of Pokemon Legends: Arceus regarding the relations of these "OCs" with the canon characters.

Anyway, here are the designs I have so far! I only have the designs for Amala and the Star for now. Hopefully, I can get to draw the other characters soon, especially Mamoun and his wife.

The story will be called "Once Upon a Wish"

Here's an overview of what I have so far... Some details may change if I feel like my other choices serve the story better. (Also, small disclaimer, this is just a veryyy self-indulgent AU made by yours truly, so some details may not be accurate with the canon lore present in Wish)

The story takes place on the same island of Rosas, but from many years ago. If my research is right, canon Wish takes place in the 1200s, so maybe my "prequel" can take place in around the 900s-1000s. Rosas definitely wasn't called Rosas back then, but I'm still figuring out what to call it so I'm just gonna refer to it as "an island".

Amala is a shy, meek, but hardworking apprentice of the island's head sorcerer Mamoun (hence, her color palette looks similar to Mickey's outfit from The Sorcerer's Apprentice). Despite all her hard work in her magic studies, she doesn't really excel at using magic, making a lot of accidents during training. If there's anything she really excels at, it's the act of storytelling (She can draw/animate, sing, and write stories like fairy tales).

Amala also has a little sister Ayah, who I can imagine is the Lilo/Anna to Amala's Nani/Elsa. Ayah is spunky and cheerful, but she has an illness that makes her disabled. The sisters are orphans, but they live under an old family friend they affectionately call Grandpa Dabir. Dabir is a retired bard turned doctor who was part of a troupe with 6 other former bards, all of whom he and the sisters still interact.

That's all I can share for now. Feel free to ask me any questions about stuff about this AU!

[undertalebravebeginnings]

Happy Halloween from Team Beginnings!

Let's get to business!

There hasn't been much progress this month but we hope to get more done in November!

[Writing]

(At the time of writing this dev log)

We've decided to go back and rewrite the script for UTBB's demo, not only that but the overall story has gone under some major rewrites including a new direction for the game and its meta narrative. You see, we’ve decided to take a more fantasy RPG like approach with Magic now being one of the core aspects of UTBB. We’re also introducing a lot more new magic based mechanics & interactions (We even switched up the UI a bit but that’s for a letter date haha).

For our metta narrative . . . Let’s just say, Reed has played Omori, In Stars & Time, Oneshot, & Slay The Princess. And remember one thing, Valor will not be a silent protagonist. You have been warned.

We've also decided to do something different with the way we execute our Cyan soul sub plot. Before cyan was going to be a full fleshed out character however there was some difficulty making it fit into the story even with the rewrites. So, we've decided to make it so we will focus on the consequence of their death/capture instead their possible actions meaning that the cyan soul will be up for interpretation (Not in the way UTY)!.

In summary: Any cyan take (That follows Omega Flowey order) can alien with UTBB's timeline now without any confections! (There’s no UTY Axis situation here lol).

And we would like to give a special shout out to the amazing @/Radiaction & Knightyume for being awesome Writing Consultants!

Also, a little bunny told me that UTBB & UTR might be doing something special together real soon so be in the look out for that 👀

Minor Change -

We've updated something about Valor. . . They're now are Genderfluid and use He/Him/She/Her/They/Them pronouns! But most characters in game will use They/Them pronouns.

[Sprite Art]

Not much, sadly, for the first half of the month our main tileset artist haven't been able to make anything due to personal IRL issues. Everything seems to be cleared up now and with the new addition of some amazing spriters joining the project (That being @/_pancakez & Tweetertweers, we're back on track and making progress.

[Characters]

Sadly, we can't show much in this department yet, but the crew has been working on designs for the main, support, & random encounters cast of characters!

We've also taken the time to redesign a character already revealed. that being - ???? (Oop, looks like he still doesn't want his name to be revealed, maybe you see it soon?)

We want to at least get battle sprites made before showing off any random encounters, sorry for the wait!

[OST Situation]

For those who don't know, we used to have a few OSTs posted on out YouTube channel, however we got into some complications with the now former team member who drew the artwork that was featured in said videos. We are happy to say that new artwork for the videos are being made as we speak!

Once it's done, we will be working towards putting the OST videos back up + the addition of a few new OSTs.

[Twitter Situation]

Due to Twitter's new policies we decided that we will no longer be posting any artwork on the platform. We have also made the decision to switch over to BlueSky since it seems to be the more healthier alternative to Twitter. We will still have the account up and running and post links to out dev post, however if things get worse then we might just ARCHIVE UTBB's twitter account, cut ties with the platform, and no longer post on it.

[Team Members]

Please welcome the following people who have recently joined Team Beginnings!

@_/pancakez 

Skitastc

Lawless

St4ngray

Tweetertweers

Yuki.b

@/Maniek_ 

And a special thanks to

dusklight_ For helping make overworld sprites for UTBB!

[Support The Team!]

[Hollow]

The Halloween special artwork was made by one of the teams amazing artist- @hollowgears! Whose commissions have opened up.

It would mean a lot if you could go and support her.

Hollows Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/hollowgears/commissions

However, she only has 2 commission slots open at the moment, so first come first serve!

[St4ngray/Ray]

One of the teams new artist @st4ngray has opened up their special keychain commissions!

Link To Card: https://st4ngray.carrd.co/#

It would be awesome if you could check them all out and lent them your support!

That's it for now, see you all next time!

[desireandduty]

What caused Padme to fall in love with Anakin? ie: what draws her to him?

These are in no particular order okay? Also this post got so long I can't even. I also took so long responding to it bit by bit that now I have to tag your new blog @inevitablehe aslkdfjadslf.

Reason #1 - because he's forthright and therefore dependable I think this is a common head canon, but his utter lack of guile and the word vomit-y way he tries to flirt with her is a perk not a bug. She's had a decade of being surrounded by smooth-talking courtiers, politicians, business leaders, etc. who will flatter her ego in order to get what they want out of her. Padmé is very smart and a good student of people. She can tell when she's just being buttered up. She might find the dishonesty irritating, but it's just part of the world she's chosen to enter. And by the time she's 24, she does know it's a downside. Imagine what 10 years of living in that world would do to you? Always having to suspect and question people's motives when they do or say something nice for you. Always wondering if or when an ally will turn on you.

Then in marches Anakin, who has been raised and socialized by space monks all through puberty. He has never seen the concepts of smooth talking, flattery or even honest flirting modeled for him by the adults in his life (because space monks, remember.) And to top it off, he has an extremely expressive face. They haven't seen each other in ten years, and the very first thing he says to her is: "So have you, grown more beautiful... for a senator, I mean." And then he immediately blushes and looks down, because he realizes that delivery was... so rough. She knows he can't have said that just to butter her up, because he said it in the most awkward way possible. If he was an accomplished flirt who used his boyish looks and charm for his own gain, he would be... y'know... good at flirting.

Reason #2 - because he helps her lighten up and makes her feel free There's a deleted scene from the Naboo mountain meadow where he's talking about how she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and needs to lighten up. And then he starts juggling fruit or something ridiculous to make her laugh. But notice that in the 3 films of the prequel trilogy, most of the time when Padmé is smiling or laughing, it's because of Anakin. Especially in AOTC.

In general, Padmé is a very strong, determined leader who willingly shoulders heavy burdens, who feels responsible for like... billions of beings who she represents. She knows that she is gifted, beloved, respected, and she feels like she cannot just squander those things and lead a frivolous life merely because she was also born into upper middle class privilege. Her compassionate heart makes it hard for her to rest and relax when she knows there's so much evil and horror out there in the galaxy.

The people she spends her time with on a daily basis are her staff, who treat her deferentially, and other politicians, who are also ambitious workaholics like she is. Then, suddenly, she is sent back to Naboo on what's essentially a forced vacation with Anakin as escort. And while he is also deferential to her (because it's his nature thanks to his upbringing), he primarily interacts with her as Padmé the person. He talks about real things with her, but he also gives her the freedom to ask questions, express her real feelings/opinions. And, most importantly, he encourages her to laugh!

Reason #3 - because he sees her as Padmé, not Amidala It helps that in their first meeting, she was posing as "just Padmé." But even the snippets that we have from books and stuff, we know that over their 10 year separation, he was always thinking of her as Padmé the woman not Amidala the Queen-turned-Senator. He fell in love with her, not her job or title. And even 10 years later in AOTC, then ROTS, everything he does is not for the sake of "protect the Senator," it's from a place of "protect Padmé."

She knows that if she quit the Senate tomorrow, he wouldn't love or respect her any less. He tells her in a million little ways that he thinks she's capable of anything she sets her mind to, that she'll be an asset no matter where she decides to work. Contrast this with the realm of politics where everyone is always looking for things to nitpick about her. She's spent so long living and working behind her Amidala mask, partially to be more effective but also to protect herself from that unending criticism. And yet Anakin has always seen her real self. She's never felt the need to hide from him, because he's always accepted, supported and cherished her.

[ihopesocomic]

I adore Storm's meta lore, going from an ancient TLK adopt to a Hover rewrite to the character we know today co starring her own comic. What a trip.

The fact she started out as TLK adopt that we didn't even design is truly wild, though she was never intended to be a "Hover rewrite". She was always part of a lesbian duo before we even started IHS, not to mention a character like Hover just ain't worth fixing. Just throw her in the trash. lol - RJ

[kirby-souljourney-au]

Meta time!!!!

No, I didn’t forget he had a cape until I was almost finished, I knew the entire time I swear. (I definitely forgot.)

Once again, this man takes up too much canvas space for me to put his scar map in the same one as his full ref, so he needs a separate image as well.

All his information and hex codes are under the cut, as usual!

I still can’t draw abs. And I’m sorry this took kinda long, I got distracted… the Taboo rewrite & the planning for the fic itself has a vice grip on my soul.

Full name: Ione Argon

Aliases: Meta Knight, ‘Nene’ (don’t call him that unless you’re his friend)

Species: Earthling Dragon (Fire/Ground) x Dream-Dark-Matter Astral Hybrid

Planet of Origination: Popstar

Age: 231

Height: 6’10”

Gender: Intersex; identifies as non-binary

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Sexuality: Multi-spec lesbian, asexual

S/O: Galacta Iriam (fiancée) (and Ophanim/Morpho EX (girlfriend), in the future)

Family: Hano Agron (biological mother), Ekia Argon (older sister), Vaga Argon (older sister), Sirv Argon (younger brother), Kirby Argon (adopted son) (as well as Athena Iriam (daughter), in the future)

The famous Meta Knight of the Galaxy Soldier Army, well-known for his title and sacred blade, Galaxia.

Engaged to Galacta Iriam — currently has no biological children with him, but adopted 14-year-old Kirby as their son when he was aged 6.

Works as a Knight under Dreamland’s King Dedede, and is head of Castle Dedede’s Royal Guard.

Quiet and seemingly apathetic, though kind-hearted and meaning nothing but well, he finds general difficulty in befriending others due to his somewhat off-putting demeanour. He is very kind, though, just ultimately socially awkward and nervous as an individual.

He joined the GSA the second he turned 19, believing himself to be responsible for the safety of the Galaxy due to his Astral heritage, as well as to get as far away from his mother as possible. He worked with them for the majority of his life since he joined, until an attack by Nightmare wiped out nearly all the GSA’s forces and scattered those that remained. He’s worked for King Dedede as his Knight for about 30 years, and finds genuine enjoyment in his current job.

His weapon of choice is the sacred Master Sword, a sentient enchanted blade named Galaxia. He also uses his natural Fire magic, and on rare occasion, Dream Magic, when necessary. Very well-trained in swordplay, and certainly no easy opponent.

Hex codes

Both:

4F3224 — Scars / Palms

311A0F — Skin

101010 — Socks / Gloves

120E1C — Fuzz fade / Cape back

1D1D47 — Hair / Fuzz base

E0BEFF — Inner ears / Wing webbing

FCC66F — Iris 1

FFFFFF — Wing talons

BFBFBF — Ring / Thigh guards (or whatever they’re called) / Arm guards

Armoured:

18122B — Chestplate & Pauldrons 1

2C2240 — Battle shirt (?)

32353E — Pants

6B5B86 — Straps

CCCFFD — ‘M’ symbol

472A77 — Sabatons

E4C69A — Chestplate & Pauldrons 2

000000 — Inner cape (plus multicoloured Nebulae)

Unarmoured:

1A1A1B — Shirt

343434 — Face mask / Dress pants

D2CDC4 — Iris 2

FFFBF4 — Eye whites

Tail-tip:

08003D — Base / Fade 1 (using Nebula brush)

00113D — Fade 2 (using Nebula brush)

0046FF — ‘Star’ patterning (using Glimmer brush on Hard Light, with base & fade colours overlaid on top using a clipping-mask Colour layer)

[dandelionjack]

if we’re going as meta as mr cowan is clearly asking us to go while engaging with his text… what does a ‘dictionary contributor’ actually do? they ‘add to the lore’ and, by doing so, seem to make tweaks and amendments to the history of the universe itself. they alter the fabric, a stitch unraveled here and there.

take a fictional universe, one very particular fictional universe even. a ‘head dictionary contributor’, then, becomes a showrunner/head writer. ‘assistant dictionary contributors’ can be read as being the authors of individual episodes or EU content

remember the law? the current showrunner is always the worst, always the most hated.

during moffat’s era you would hear endless tirades about how he can’t write nuanced character dynamics (a shameless lie) or his writing’s too convoluted (not untrue, but not a negative either). then chibbers came along and he was treated like the spawn of the devil who ruined the show (somewhat fairly, that aside). everybody expected rtd2 to be the cure-all end-all be-all, but now, according to most of the fandom that populates twitter, the star beast was the worst of the worst and “chibnall wasn’t that bad actually”. and now most people think moffat was the best writer to ever grace the new era of the show with his presence…

the cycle goes on. the old Head Dictionary Contributor gets metaphorically torn to shreds and replaced, the new Head Dictionary Contributor builds upon the old lore and redacts and rewrites and erases and constructs a new mythology. his contributions get added to the ever-changing, ever-growing annals of history — known to some as TARDIS.wiki . a brand new starry-eyed Caretaker knocks on the door of the Internal Reference Room, starts scribbling in the book. it’s been laying on that wooden desk for sixty years, or six billion.

the Assistant Dictionary Contributors keep assembling our Tower of Babel. it’ll never crumble if we’re not constructing it with the intention of toppling the Gods themselves, right? and what’s a little hubris between friends?

peak postmodernism. this is what happens when a media universe becomes so large and expansive that it gains a will of its own. Borges would love Doctor Who. Mark Z. Danielewski too, maybe. don’t tell them. well, one of them’s dead. not like that matters in the grand scheme of things :)

[conflictofthemind]

Your recent post about electromagnetism was great, but I want to know your theories on how time travel will play into the plot of season 5. I hope they won't use time travel to "fix the past" and rewrite the timeline (although I doubt that will happen).

Oh man I have so many thoughts. This is a whole can of worms to open up (which I will be doing eventually). But yes I agree with you 100%, I don’t think it will end in them rewriting the timeline. Or if they do, it will be through a creation of a new one and all of the characters will still be able to retain their previous memories. There still needs to be lasting consequences for every action, and the impacts of each characters’ decisions plus the entire story should stay with them.

Right now the main pet project that I’ve been working on gradually is something I’ve been calling the “play theory” (kind of a shit title); basically that Melvin is what’s dooming the narrative and causing the main characters to be trapped inside of a time loop. I’ll explain it condensed here but the post I have cooking is already 6 pages at least.

It first came from that whole Melvin “star-crossed lovers” “Romeo and Juliet” thing, and lines within the TFS play that is… also inspired itself by another “star-crossed doomed” lovers play. There are so many weird meta layers to it all.

There’s multiple 4th wall breaks in TFS where Henry tries to escape the theatre and seems to be aware he is performing on a stage. There’s also a very pointed dialogue which is where I finally started making this into a fully fledged theory:

“It’s a sad song, I like the gay ones best”.

“It doesn’t have to be sad, you never know the ending until it’s sung all the way through”.

“Then let’s make it a gay one”.

“Sing your own ending”.

And what a weird theme to choose, because the answer “in the play” is actually no, it can’t. TFS is a sad song, a continuation of the time loop. A play. But that surely won’t be the case for Stranger Things, because we’ve been told that Will’s superpower is his heart and he gets a happy ending.

As Mike performs his “love” for the audience, the name Montague (for Romeo Montague) appears behind him.

Basically, the characters are conforming to the pre-written roles they have already been assigned to (by society) and are forced to enact, and re-enact, a tragedy of two doomed lovers. The curtain on a play closes but the next night the story begins all over again, to a new audience, always with the same ending. Like a time loop. Like a never ending story.

Mike’s decision to keep playing the role of Romeo to El’s Juliet will result in Will beginning the time loop. So Will starts the time loop, and I expect Mike will be the one to finally break them out of it.

[starbeltconstellation]

I’ve also recently explored this myself in my own SW fanfiction, and you’re right that it feels almost cathartic to work through the vitriol the Jedi’s culture receives.

Ngl this is gonna seem so backwards, but I actually find it very soothing to base the actions/attitudes/opinions of the general public of the galaxy in my fics on anti-Jedi fans. Mostly because I then get to use that to give a deeper look into the Order's humanity, as well as to explore how deeply fucked up their opinions on the Jedi are.

=====

Do I think the actual, canon, general populous of the galaxy think the Jedi deserve to die in the war and/or get enslaved- (either because they should've stayed out of it or they didn't do enough)? No.

But have I seen anti-Jedi people express that opinion and opinions similar? Yes.

=====

Do I think the actual, canon, general populous of the galaxy turned their noses up at the Jedi's Master & Padawan relationships and viewed them as cold or uncaring because they didn't call each other by traditional familial terms? No.

But have I seen anti-Jedi people express that opinion? Yes.

=====

Do I think the actual, canon, general populous of the galaxy thought the Jedi were horrible and cruel people simply because they had rules against marriage and putting the people you care about over the rest of the galaxy, and that they needed a massive reform or else deserved whatever awful things happened to them? No.

But have I seen anti-Jedi people express that opinion? Yes.

=====

Do I think the actual, canon, general populous of the galaxy either treated the Jedi coldly or like utter shit---even when the Jedi saved or helped them---and, when they did like a Jedi, they said they must be "one of the good ones?" No.

But have I seen anti-Jedi people talk complete and utter shit about the Jedi and the Order as a whole, but when they like a Jedi or two they say that "they were the 'good' Jedi and the rest of the Order should've been like them?" Yes.

=====

It's just very cathartic to take those opinions out of the vacuum of anti-Jedi tumblr, where everything the Jedi do is taken out of context, and put it back into context---and then frame those opinions as they really are instead of holding them up on some righteous moral high-horse.

It's like...anti-Jedi fans always forget that, in the context of what they're talking about, those people were...people.

We see them smile, and cry, and crack jokes, and get annoyed, and make friends. We see them tease each other, and care for each other, and help each other. We see them make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes, and learn, and grow. We see their rich culture, and their little traditions, and their beliefs, and their genuine want---need---to help people.

We see them just...live.

And these people genuinely think that the Jedi deserved to die just because their lives didn't fit into what they view as "correct."

So yeah, I just find it nice to be able to set things straight, even if it's just in my own small corner of the internet.