Index Index of the Old Republic- KOTOR index and discussion- Winter update! New stories, new discussion.

Just to keep the thread going...

I used to be obsessed with Star Wars early in my life, but came to a period where I didn't care. Episodes 1-3 didn't peak my interest when they came out, but it was KOTOR a year and a half ago that brought me back. I favor KOTOR by far more than the original trilogy. It just seems so great to have a story that takes place so close to the time of Exar Kunn, but with a cast of characters you get to know in great detail. I like Mission more than Han, the Exile more than Luke, and T3 more than R2. Who DOESN'T like HK-47?

I favored TSL storyline more, even though it was incomplete. I just found it great to see a character that had struggled with so much in her life and still did what was right in the end. It was also greater to show that the Jedi are not always right or the heros of Star Wars.

 

Hi. *waves*

It's been almost a year since I've actually written a fanfic and KOTOR is what is making me rise from the ashes.

I have not finished the game yet (right now I'm fighting my way through the Star Forge,) but I have watched a playthrough on youtube before realizing that I had the money to buy it online (along with the strategy guide, because I'm notoriously bad at video games) and I was determined to play a DSF Revan following the Carth romance subplot. Somewhere along the line I messed up though, and I didn't realize it until it was too late! So that fell through, unfortunately. But I seriously love the idea of a DSF/Carth pairing and I haven't seen any fanfic of the pairing!

Which means I'll have to write some myself ;p

Consider me on it *salute*

 

Welcome to the thread, East_Coast_Ryder!

I was actually the same way with fanfic. I wrote it sporadically in high school, came back at the beginning of my sophomore year of college with a couple of quick parody fics, and then was completely drawn in during my second semester by KOTOR. The game ended, but the characters didn't seem interested in being done just yet.

IMHO, the DSF Revan/Carth romance is only worth following through with the Holowan plugin that contains the locked ending where Carth redeems her at the end. I played from the Temple Summit to the end as DSF just to see that ending, and I cried. It might be my favorite ending, but for the fact that literally everyone dies in that option. And I like my sequels.

Anyhow, I salute our effort to write fic for the pairing! Or any KOTOR fic, for that matter.

 

I've seen the mod of which you speak, and I honestly love that. Granted I've not finished my playthrough of the regular dark side ending, and have remained relatively "unspoiled" because the playthrough I saw on yt was light side. But I digress. I'll not spoil what I've got coming, but I think that DSF Revan can loosen Carth up a bit

Ah, my fanfic experience began in sixth grade with some really poorly written Animorphs fanfiction and I've only written a few sporadic SW fanfics in the time between then and now. The last fanfic I wrote was about a musical called We Will Rock You... Well, now I'm off to see if I can crank out some fic!

 

I refuse to totally spoil myself on that DSF Revan ending. I replayed it with that in mind and was just landing on the Star Forge when I realized that I had to reformat my computer. I rescued the save game files, but forgot that I lent my install disk to my brother off at another college. Wups. So now I have to wait until spring break to trade it back with him so I can play out that ending (and cry).

Why can't Revan be female canonically? Seriously. The Carth and Revan romance really needs to be canon. Alas.

 

So true. We should join forces and march on Skywalker Ranch.

Carth is proving stubborn and I have written myself into a corner. I might just have to pull out the old trick of thought-interruption.

In other news, I am officially at the final Revan/Malak battle. And I've been cut down five times rapid-fire.

 

That fight is brutal, and Malak cheats. But it is doable! I have faith in you!

...alternatively, you could always use the 'dancedancemalak' cheat.

 

Muahaha, I am now the dark lord/lady of the sith! Hear me roar!

I used the pods against him. That was the only reason I upped drain life to death field as opposed to upping force lightning.

 

QFT

It took me forever to defeat Malak the first time. I was light side female, and I assumed that all offensive Force powers were dark side, so I didn't even bother reading or obtaining any of the red colored ones, so I didn't have anything to keep him from using the strength of the eight Jedi. Let's just say it was a long battle with a lot of saving and reloading. Revan also ran enough laps to qualify for the cross country team.

I still remember how much finding out I was Revan shocked my socks off. I was gaping at the screen for a looong time.

 

That really shocked me too. DWH kept telling me that there was an awesome plot twist, but I had no idea it would be that ground-shattering. I was so worked-up when I found that out (at 2am on a summer night) that I had to sit around and listen to my brother ramble at me about Ultimate Frisbee (I don't even play that sport) for nearly an hour before I could calm down to go to sleep.

That's where my main OC comes from. I had already made a beautiful back-story for Kionee Rinnh and that whole being Revan thing didn't work out with my plans at all. Now she's just a freighter pilot and not an ex-Sith Lord. I like her better that way anyway.

I had a super hard time with that last battle too. I didn't realize you could attack the pods until after a very long battle, where Malak got through all but two of them, and I was out of medpacks and force points. A second attempt with that knowledge was easier... but for a Jedi Counselor still tough.

 

Leiraya, like Kionee, is a product of my own stubbornness and unwillingness to let go of the character I'd developed. Though, granted, she was a little less free spirited before I took her (literally) out of Revan's boots. One of these days I should find somewhere to post the first post-KOTOR story I ever wrote. It's in a notebook and not on my computer because I wrote it at a time when I wasn't supposed to be typing. Maybe I'll make it a bonus feature at the end of Blue Side or something. But it wasn't so much the whole "being Revan" thing that didn't work (there were significant story changes after I wasn't constrained by being a former Sith), but the fact that Revan's actions circa KOTOR 2 were completely out of character. There was no way I could reconcile Leiraya's personality with the one the game had given her. So I said, "screw that," and made Revan a guy (mostly because I couldn't stand the idea of splitting up Leiraya and Carth, but I wasn't going to have them upstage Revan, either. It helps that in the male Revan universe, Carth's storyline got the shaft and I've been able to work on some of that).

The Malak battle a battle I'm not looking forward to writing. I, for one, am not the best at writing action sequences. Or at least, they take the most motivation to do. And the Star Forge is nothing but one epic battle. I may indeed be tempted to do the dancedancemalak version. That'll throw my readers off!

In all seriousness, action sequences are a challenge, at least for me. And this sounds like a fabulous discussion topic!

How do you go about writing your action sequences?

Do you run around your house with a plastic lightsaber, trying to reenact both sides of the battle, or do you spread out your collection of Star Wars miniatures and shuffle them around? More sane options are acceptable, too.

 

You know, using figurines isn't such a bad idea. I need to try that out sometime. ^_^

I usually write one-on-one or small group battles. For those, I make mini outlines in my head of casualties, injuries, and who gets the upper-hand when. Battle scenes are like stories in themselves with a beginning, rising action, climax, and ending. (Perhaps I sound a bit too much like Brianna...)

I agree that fight scenes are probably the hardest to write, but given my years with Sailor Moon fanfiction (where convention says that every chapter/episode must have at least one fight scene), I've started to get more comfortable with it. Like anything, the more you do it, the less frightening it is to start.

Now, I've never done any large-scale battles, and those still really scare me.

 

I don't know why, but it seems like every plot bunny I've had recently, is related to KOTOR. I've grown so enamored with the games, and I'm currently loving all the possibilites that my collaborative story, KOTOR 3 has offered.

 

Battle scenes... Well, I usually gloss over them if I can help it. I'm notoriously bad at writing them. I'm much better at writing angst. When I do have to write them, I write the thoughts of the people involved, like "he's coming from the left.... now! Parry, thrust... darn, I missed." Or some such nonsense

 

Muahaha, I have finished my fic! And am therefore offering it up to the index:

Title: Holding On
Author: East_Coast_Ryder
Timeframe: During KOTOR, pre-Leviathan
Characters: DSF Revan, Carth
Pairing: Barely-there Revan/Carth
Genre: Angst, Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Carth is questioning his morals and feelings for a Revan who is not quite so pure...

 

I have found that action scenes are among the most difficult, but they depend upon not being repetitious. By thinking up ways in which a character attacks another, one can plan out how many actions go into a paragraph and which are the most interesting.

My first action sequence was terrible, but when I found another author who knew how to make such sequences, I tried to emulate that author. When you don't trust in your own abilities, emulate another author's style the best you can and it would become more natural to you the more you write.

 

I am finding Carth to be annoyingly difficult to write. He's being very stubborn. I'm right now working on a chapter post-Leviathan pre-Korriban, and he's having difficulty expressing his love to Revan without the cheesy game line "I think I could love you" because game dialogue is over-used in fic.

Help?

 

Carth seems to be the kind of character who hates to open up about what's really on his heart, but when he does, he'll say exactly what he's thinking. With the DS Revan you're writing, I would imagine that he'd voice something about his inner conflict while confessing his love.

 

Agreed. Carth doesn't hold his reservations back, ever. In your story I could see him saying something along the lines of, "I love you, but..." or "[insert rant about behaviour here], but I can't help but love you."

 

Haha, that does sound what Carth would do. I think I'm going to hold off on the declaration of love for a bit though... Haven't decided yet. Thanks so much guys!

 

Fangirling about KotOR characters up there reminded me that I meant to post a link here. For those who read the KotOR comics, John Jackson Miller and Dean Zachary (issue #38 artist) were guests at my local SciFi/Fantasy Con this month and I've uploaded some pics here if anyone is interested. Both are awesome guys and, according to JJM, comic readers should buckle in for a wild ride this year...in addition to the Revan/Malak issue coming out in June.

 

Those are some great pictures, Trace! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Also, I'm working on compiling the spring update, so watch this thread for shiny new KOTOR stories...

 

There's a Revan/Malak issue coming out in June?!

I must get caught up with Kotor.

 

DWH - You're welcome!

Yep! #42 According to JJM, it is the "meaning of life."

 

Well, I've moved on to the realm of KotOR II. And am writing a fic based on the Phantom of the Opera, starring Phantom!Atton, and either a male Revan/Fem Exile or Disciple/Fem Exile pairing. Much as I hate Disciple, I recently discovered that his voice actor was on the West End as Rusty in Starlight Express, and I realized... I have that cast recording. And his singing voice is FABULOUS. Despite the fact I'm not involving singing in the plot, Disciple is calling. But I can't for the life of me figure out what the heck I'm going to do with it.

This kinda all spawned from me wondering where Atton was originally from, and for some reason Dantooine just clicked. Hatred of Jedi could have something to do with the fact that Dantooine is notorious for producing fallen Jedi, why he didn't go 'home' after the wars- it was kinda beat up a bit. So I got the idea of him being "The Phantom of the Enclave". I'm prolly going to post the first chapter and a half after this so yay. Figured I'd give you all the heads up.

Off to post!