viola_dreamwalk | Entries tagged with star wars

I have not been posting at all lately. I need some structure I think to keep me posting regularly, otherwise all my writing energy goes into plugging away at my WiPs (well, and Pinterest -- let's be honest).

I have, on the other hand, been writing. I'm better than halfway through Iteration, which I've decided to just knock out entirely before I go back to Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter and deal with how much I hate chapter 7. :(

In the meantime, here's a bit from right in the middle of Iteration (a.k.a. the Star Wars EU AU that I always hoped someone else would write so I wouldn't have to), just to prove to myself that I haven't wussed out again on this whole fandom thing. I do love this fic, despite that it's entirely self-indulgent and mostly written for an audience of one. It's also threatening to be novel-length, so there's that, too.

( 'Underestimating Mara was never a problem for either of us. One might even go so far as to say that’s what got her killed...' )

Current Music: little hurricane ~ haunted heart
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/170241.html

I have not dropped off the map again, I promise, despite the fact that it's been almost a month since I've done, well, anything here. The autumn is just shaping up to be incredibly busy -- weddings, engagements, babies, baby showers, birthdays, football, pumpkin carving parties, happy hours and Sunday dinners... I'm certainly not complaining, though. :)

Given all that, this is me trying to keep writing on my radar.

Man, do I ever have issues with Part 7 of Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter. If it wouldn't blow up the plot entirely, I'd just ditch it and move on to Part 8. :(

A few short bits from upcoming chapters, though, because why not?

( 'Hey, Tall, Dark and Groovy…' )

I pressed my brother into service doing an initial edit on Iteration, despite the fact that he's in the midst of his tenure review. I figured he owes me, since I let him talk to me for an hour about Freespace the other night. (I'm not a gamer by any stretch, but consider me... intrigued... by that one.)

Anyway, while chapters 1-4 of this one are off getting the professor-treatment, here's a bit of that as well.

( Smugglers, as a group, tended to be highly superstitious. )

Current Music: rachel yamagata ~ under my skin
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/168518.html

Going through the content I wanted to play with for

womenlovefest, I’m realizing that the lady characters I love enough to want to write about often experience fandom hate or apathy – but it’s often because their characterization never feels quite finished. It’s like they never quite get the character arc I think they should have, and that makes me sad for them. It’s how I feel about Vala, it’s how I feel about Kate Lockley (hopefully more on her soon) – and it’s definitely how I feel about Mara Jade.

Not to get too pop psychology about it all, but it just feels like none of the characters in the Star Wars EU – Mara, in particular – ever get to do the emotional work needed to be fully-functioning human beings after all the truly awful shit that happens to them. Or, if they do, we just don't ever see it, which... why not?

How does Mara get from the angry, self-destructive (arguably a little suicidal – there are extenuating circumstances, but she straight-out asks Luke to kill her at one point) girl she is when we meet her to a complete person, confident in her own abilities and place in the universe? To a woman who feels ready to be a wife and mother? To being comfortable with wielding power and teaching others? We just don't ever really see that transformation, which is just a shame because she's a great character and there should be lots of interesting territory to explore there.

Given that, I usually tend to play with AUs when I write her, but this time around I'm going to try and fill in some of those missing moments – not an easy feat when you realize that even the canon of this particular fandom is wildly inconsistent and often flatly contradicts itself. But, what the hell? I like a challenge.

So I'm going to do a short fic for each of the tracks on the Mara fanmix I posted here, each one a 'missing' character moment or just something I would have liked to see happen. These are a little out of order, but maybe once I have them all done I’ll figure out whether they work best in chronological order, order of the track numbers – or something else altogether.

( #1. Dog Days Are Over )

( #3. Raw Sugar )

Trying to squeeze in Day Two of

womenlovefest before heading off to an actually love fest (a wedding) this evening.

Day One was Vala (more on her later). For Day Two, I want to share some thoughts on (and fun content for) Mara Jade...

Oh, Mara. Mara is one of those characters who doesn't suffer from fandom hate so much as she suffers from maybe a little too much fandom love. The problem? It's often not good, healthy, well-rounded love. It's creepy boyfriend who puts you on a pedestal, swears that you're perfect, and is violently disappointed when it turns out you're really only human love. It's weird freshman year roommate who steals your clothes, cuts her hair just like yours, and secretly wants to sleep with your boyfriend love.

That said, I love Mara. (Hopefully more in the good way than the bad way, at least most of the time...)

( 'Here's Your Damn Love Song -- A Mara Fanmix' under the cut... )

Click here to download. (And let me know if you have any troubles -- it's been ages since I've done anything like this.)

Current Music: unlv @ wazzu on the radio
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/166494.html

( 30 Days of Fanfiction -- Day 10: Pairings - Working outside your comfort zone )

Like I said above, I'm trying to go outside my comfort zone, particularly given my re-infatuation with the Star Wars EU. I'm trying to write some 'nice' Luke/Mara in the worst way (possibly in the literal sense -- it's hard!). So here are a few snippets, with varying levels of success:

( Nice. )

( Not quite so nice... )

( Definitely not nice. )

Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/164084.html

I've had one hell of a week. In fact, the less said about it, the better. Instead, how about this:

( 30 Days of Fanfiction -- Day 9: Pairings )

Previous days are here.

Current Music: doris troy ~ just one look
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/163278.html

I have not forgotten about my prompts for the drabble meme. They are coming. The LJ downtime, a wedding weekend, out of town guests, a birthday party, a going away party and a training schedule that included running +30 miles all in the past week and a half kind of got in the way.

In the meantime, though, there's this:

( 30 Days of Fanfiction: Day 3 -- The Characters )

Previous days are here.

Current Music: general hospital on abc (shush!)
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/162276.html

I told myself I was going to stop posting snippets from my in-progress fics -- it feels oddly like cheating for some reason -- but, in the past, it has helped me get back on track when I've been stalled. Something about seeing my words in a published forum seems to jog stuff loose for me, I don't know why. I am stalled lately, for a variety of good and not-so-good reasons (including phase one of the remodel on our house and prepping for a half-marathon). So, what the hell? Here goes.

( From Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter, Episode 7: 'Percy is a weapons-grade wanker; you won't get any argument from me on that point. But do you know what he also is? He's pretty decent at this whole 'champion for good' thing.' )

( From Iteration (Star Wars EU): 'The irony was that they'd actually won at Bilbringi. The Republic had, anyway, with a healthy assist from them – which made what the Repubs had ultimately done to repay them all the shittier.' )

Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/159061.html

Seen around on the friends' list, the "Progress, What Progress?" WiP meme.

( I think these are (mostly) the same WiPs I did the last time I did this meme... in 2006. Holy Hannah. )

I've been a little distracted lately, for a variety of reasons. So, to keep myself posting regularly, here is a meme (seen around on the friends' list):

( Fic Meme )

Current Music: one life to live on t.v. - shush
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/157972.html

Question for the Star Wars EU folks hanging around (and I know there are a few of you ;)... Does poor Aves ever get a first name in EU canon (such as it is)? I've done some searching and can't find one, but that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist. Any and all responses are greatly appreciated.

And in that vein, just because, here's a little bit of Aves from Iteration, because he's begun to steal the spotlight from Karrde as the hero of the piece...

( 'That doesn't have anything to do with the Republic or your war. This is personal, isn't it?' )

Also- I've finally gotten around to cleaning up my LiveJournal friends list (like two-thirds of which hadn't actually posted anything in years) and actually starting to make one on Dreamwidth, after my extended hiatus from fandom-type stuff. I'm admittedly still just sitting on the side of the fandom pool, dangling my feet in, but I do feel like maybe I should start to build back up my network. So, if you're so inclined...

Tell me who your favorite author(s) is in your fandom(s) du jour.

Or, knowing what direction my interests lie, recommend a community, journal, etc., you think I should be reading.

And if I've added you out of the blue recently, it's because you wrote something I liked or someone recommended your journal to me. :)

Current Music: stars ~ in our bedroom after war
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/156870.html

In honor of Star Wars Day, two of my favorite SW fics -- and one WiP.

Mixology: A princess, a droid and a fighter jock walk into a bar... Written for the ‘Behind Every Good Woman’ RareHet Challenge. (Leia/Wedge, Leia/Han)

Tipping Point and Entropy: Mara seeks equilibrium. (Mara/Karrde, Mara/Luke)

Iteration: The ultimate EU AU that I always wished someone else would write. (WiP, A selected scene below the cut)

( Whatever else might have happened to the galaxy over the past few years, Karrde could still set a pretty fine table when the occasion warranted it. )

Current Music: yadda yadda yadda
Crossposts: http://viola-dreamwalk.livejournal.com/156137.html

(Testing out this whole cross-posting thing...)

So I totally lied. I have not, in fact, finished Part 7 of Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter. What I've done instead is write 65 pages of Iteration. This is actually exactly what happened back at Christmastime with PW:RDH. I had some time off work, my husband was working, I didn't have any obligations, etc., so I sat down and wrote about 70 pages of the most pivotal plot and character stuff. All I've been doing since then is filling in the blanks -- which makes the whole process a million times easier for me versus staring down a bunch of blank, empty chapters with only a vague outline as my guide. So now I feel slightly more confident that both of these pieces might actually see the light of day again.

What this means is that sometime in the not too distant future, I'll be in the market for someone who knows Star Wars (and specifically the EU) to take a look at the first few chapters of this beast and tell me if I've totally gone off the reservation. (Actually, I know I'm completely off the res with this one. It puts the "augh!" in "AU." What I really want to know is whether it works.)

That said, I like this fic primarily because it lets me indulge my love for sidekicks and unlikely heroes, and it's proven to have possibly ( the best fic 'soundtrack' of all time... )