Anakin and Tahiri Fic Resource and Support Thread

1)It is never as good as you think it is; 2)It is never as bad as you think it is.

AMEN!!!

Great interview, Lonewolf!

 

Here's our interview with Jedi_Anakin_Solo!

Q1) What made you start writing A/T fics?:
Well, I actually started writing A/T stories in junior high, but that?s using a very liberal definition of the word ?writing? which leaves no allowances for coherent plot and quality of mechanics (lol). My first experience with the Expanded Universe was the first book of the Junior Jedi Knights series, which I got for Christmas during sixth grade, and did not set down for more than thirty seconds at a time until I had finished reading it. Even as I got older and began reading the full-length novels, The Golden Globe (that?s the first book of the JJK series) maintained a special place in my imagination and, I have to admit, I found myself reading it occasionally, knowing full well that it was beneath the level of reading I had attained. As strange as it sounds, the book was like an old friend in a way. Needless to say, Anakin has remained my favorite character. By the time I got halfway through seventh grade, I realized that I enjoyed writing; getting As on all of the essays I did for English class wasn?t cutting it, so I figured, why don?t I try writing a Star Wars story? I won?t for a single moment suggest that the stories I came up with were any good, but I can claim that I was writing Anakin/Tahiri stories when the NJO wasn?t even an evil twinkle in Shelly Shapiro?s eye .

Q2) How did you react to Anakin?s death in Star by Star?:
I actually found out about it when I first joined the JC boards. I have no trouble admitting that I cried when I found out, and I refused to read Star by Star for quite some time. When I finally did read it, I figured since I already knew, I would be able to handle it. But as I read everything he was going through, and realized his final hours were full of misery, I felt enraged. After I read the actual death scene, I was crying again. In a way, it felt like Star Wars had died, even though he wasn?t a character in the original movies.

Q3) What is your favorite aspect of writing A/T fics?:
Oh, that?s not fair, I can?t pick just one thing. Seeing the story and the characters come to life is amazing beyond description. The first time everything feels like it?s flowing, I feel like I could write a hundred of these things. And then it gets even better. Even just knowing that people are reading this thing I?ve worked so hard on is awesome, but when you start getting feedback and support, it makes everything worth it.

Q4) What is the biggest challenge of writing Anakin?s character?:
I suppose I almost like the character too much; I sort of get the ?he can do no wrong? syndrome at times. I think avoiding making him too good to be true is a bit of an obstacle, and I?m not entirely sure I?ve ever successfully overcome it in any of my stories.

Q5) What is the biggest challenge of writing Tahiri's character?:
Tahiri is a very dynamic and multifaceted character. If she?s written wrong, she can get very two-dimensional very fast. She definitely isn?t just Anakin?s sidekick or romantic bait, she can kick some serious butt when the situation calls for it. And yet, for all her bravery and toughness, there are definitely times when you see her softer side come out. It?s the balance that?s really important.

Q6) What aspects of Anakin and Tahiri?s relationship do you like writing about the most?:
Any moment that can have the label ?cute? put on it. You need those, no matter how serious the plot is. Even if it?s something as simple as banter (I love writing banter).

Q7) How do you interrupt the dynamic between Anakin and Tahiri?:
I see their relationship as an unspoken connection that manifests itself in very diverse ways. They know each other so intimately that they can each tell what the other is thinking, and they?re willing to endure any situation if they?re together. They definitely have a very strong emotional attachment, and one that, I think, would have endured for the rest of their lives if Anak

 

*cough* Up. (Call it enlightened self-interest )

 

No response? Huh.

Good interview J_A_S. Always nice to see what is on the mind of other authors.

 

I did read it J-A-S - but I couldn't post thnaks to login problems. Grr!

I agree with Moff - it IS good seeing what makes other writers tick, seeing how they think. I was especially interested in what you said about having to be careful writing Anakin because you like him so much. Good point - it is hard. He does have foibles, but the good stuff about him more than compensates.

It's interesting how many of us love the JJK books, too.

Lonewolf - thanks again for the work you're putting into these. The interviews are a great idea.

 

Thank you, Tahi! I?ve enjoyed reading these interviews myself, and I?m glad everyone else has, too.

Because of some internet problems I?ve had this week, I wasn?t able to contact the next interviewee until yesterday. So, the next interview won?t be up till Wednesday (at the latest). It?s going to be with Qwi_Xux.

 

Here?s our interview with Qwi_Xux, author of the Anakin and Tahiri trilogy!

Q1) What made you start writing A/T fics?
Anakin Solo's death, actually. That was also how I found the JC. I had heard that someone was going to die in Star by Star, and being the incessantly curious person that I am, I was dying to find out who. Someone gave me a link to the JC, where they were discussing a spoiler for Anakin's death. Then I found out that there was a fanfiction section. I promptly hunted down any A/T stories I could find. I had been introduced to the Junior Jedi Knights when I was younger, and they had been two of my favorite characters. Well, at the time I joined the JC, there were only two A/T stories that I could find, so I decided to challenge myself and see if I could write a story about them. I had never written fanfic before--only original fiction--and I normally didn't let anyone read my work. It was a new experience for me, and I was incredibly nervous when I started posting, but it was a lot of fun.

Q2) How did you react to Anakin?s death in Star by Star?
Ack! It was horrible! I couldn't believe they were killing him. Not only that, but it was just after I'd found out about the NJO--Conquest was the first book I found and read, and then I waited and waited for Rebirth, and then SbS...and then they killed Anakin! Ah, but I got over it, and it was interesting to read about the characters' paths after Anakin's death. They got a lot stronger--I was very proud of what Tahiri made of herself.

Q3) What is your favorite aspect of writing A/T fics?
Hmm...I suppose the interaction between the characters. They're such...teenagers. They can go through horrible things, but still remain friends, and still be there for each other, and bounce back with the 'oh, we were just in a life-threatening situation? Let's do it again!' kind of attitude. And yes, because Tahiri is so blunt with Anakin, and he needs that.

Q4) What is the biggest challenge of writing Anakin?s character?
Oh, man...I had such a hard time grasping his character when I started writing him. Anakin has changed so much since he was a little kid, to the point when he died, which is good--it's normal development. But as I said earlier, he's just such a teenager, and quite frankly, it took me a while to get a grip on writing Anakin as a teenage boy.

Q5) What is the biggest challenge of writing Tahiri's character?
Oddly enough, I haven't had much challenge in writing Tahiri's character. Perhaps it's because a lot of aspects of her personality are like my own, so I feel like I understand her more than some other characters.

Q6) What aspects of Anakin and Tahiri?s relationship do you like writing about the most?
Ack, that's a tough one. There are so many interesting points to their relationship. I have to say, though--I think I like writing about their friendship the most. The romance is great, yes, but I really like that they were friends before they became more. I think it can be a difficult thing to write a romance that still retains the friendship they have always had, but it's something that's necessary in developing the two of them--in my opinion, anyway. You can't just have a lovey-dovey mushy Anakin and Tahiri without having Tahiri get exasperated with Anakin, or without Anakin having his 'what is she talking about' moments. You know, typical guy trying to understand the girl, and typical girl getting upset because the guy isn't understanding--when, in fact, she doesn't understand what she wants completely, either. She just expects him to. (And you get a gold star if you made sense of all that!)

Q7) How do you interpret the dynamic between Anakin and Tahiri?
Well, I think it's a mixture of things. I think part of what makes them go good together is that they balance each other out. When they met, Anakin was quiet and kind of withdrawn, and Tahiri--well, you know how she was. Their personalities complimented each other. They neede

 

wow, great interview I'm going to have to track down some Qui_xux's work now, because I don't think I've seen it anywhere

 

Qwi was one of the first A/T writers on this board. Links to her fics have been posted in the A/T index thread, and I highly recommend them.

 

Hmm, took me a while to notice this.

I'd appreiciate a bit of help on something: I'm wokring on a fic, The Hard Way Home, which involves Anakin, the apparently-stuck up, bratty and downright irritating heir tertiary of the Empire, along with his bodyguards (including a certain blonde, talkative Sergeant... ) managing a crashlanding on the planet Marduk, and having to journey halfway across the planet to get to the spaceport.

I've almost got the first chapter done, and I just want to post some of it, to see if it's any good.

*********************

The Hard Way Home

?His Royal Highness, Prince Anakin Mikel Solo.?

Prince Anakin maintained his habitual, slightly sloppy, appearance as he strode into the throne room, and then glanced around as he adjusted his shirt to be at least mildly presentable.

For his part, Kenth Hamner tried to expend as little attention as he could manage on the young fop that he had so grandly announced. The fact that he hadn?t even bothered to comb his hair was bad enough, but the length of it!

Hamner had spent thirty-five years in Her Majesty?s Navy before being transferred to the Palace Service Corps, but the only difference in his hair?s appearance was that the close-cropped curls were now sliver, instead of black.

The mere sight of the waist-length hair that the Empress? youngest son favoured always drove the old butler completely mad.

The Empress? office was not as grandiose as people believed, with a broad desk no larger than that of a middle-level manager in any of the star-spanning corporations of Earth. The appointments were simple but elegant; the chairs sensible, but elaborately hand-crafted and covered in exquisite hand-stitching. Most of the pictures were old master originals.

Excepting of course the portrait of Miranda Skywalker, the first Empress of Man, ?The Empress in Waiting? by Trachsler, who?d done an impressive job.

Her eyes were open and smiling, showing the world the image of an ingenuous Terran subject. A loyal upholder of the Dagger Lords. In other words, a filthy collaborator. But if you stared at the painting long enough, a chill crept over your skin and the eyes slowly changed. To the eyes of a predator.

Anakin spared the painting another glance, then turned away. All the Skywalker-Solo clan had lived in her shadow, long dead though she might be. As the youngest ? and as it happened, least satisfactory ? descendant of that line, he?d had quite enough of that.

Leia IV, Empress of Man, although that was a bit misleading, since dozens of alien species had membership of the Empire as well as humans, regarded her youngest child cautiously. Despite the carefully metered ironic bite of Hamner?s announcement, Anakin seemed to hardly have noticed.

Unlike her flamboyant son, Leia wore a light-blue gown of such understated elegance that it had likely cost more than one of the Fleet?s Yavin-class carriers. Now she leaned back in her float chair and propped her cheek on her hand, wondering for the hundredth time if this was the right decision. But there were a thousand other decisions awaiting her, all of them vital, and she'd spent all the time she intended to on this one.

?Mother,? Anakin said impertinently, with a barely perceptible bow, and glanced at his brother in the flanking chair. ?To what do I owe the honour of being summoned into two such illustrious presences??

Jacen Solo gave his younger brother a brusque smile and nod. The galaxy-renowned diplomat was wearing the same casual clothes he often wore. Despite his appearance as a lay-about, Jacen had successfully negotiated treaties between some of the bitterest enemies you were ever likely to find.

The Empress leaned forward abruptly and fixed her youngest with a laser stare. "Anakin, We are sending you off-planet on a `show the flag' mission."

Anakin blinked several times, and then smoothed his hair.

?Yes?? he asked tentatively.

?The planet Leviathan is celebrating Net-Hauling in two months ? ?

?Oh my God, Mother!? Anakin?s exclamation cut the

 

Well what do you know, I managed to get here before midnight! Here is my interview with YodaKenobi. A week late, but still informative.

Q1) What made you start writing A/T fics?
Anakin's death. Since I found out Anakin was going to die (which was before I read SBS or even knew which book he would die in) I started thinking of ways he could possibly survive. After a couple months of arguing on the Anakin Solo discussion thread in the lit forum, I decided to try and write a fic that stayed within continuity at that point (FH3) and have Anakin come back in a plausible way. I guess I should thank CeeWulf, thyrsan4blood, and Darth_Guy for the motivation I hadn't intended to write multiple fics when I started, but it was so much fun, I got hooked on it. I guess I started writting because I wanted Anakin to live and it was the only way I could think of to make that happen.

Q2) How did you react to Anakin?s death in Star by Star?
I knew it was coming, so besides devistated, I was disappointed. It didn't seem like a fitting end for such a great character. I've always felt like Denning set out to write a book where Anakin died, working backwards, rather than creating a problem where the resolution was the death of a character and letting the story be told organically. It was awful.

That being said, it was a very emotional scene; had it not been 4am and my contact lenses weren't so dry, I probably would have cried. Mostly though, I was just disappointed. I don't have a problem with my favorite characters dying (look at my name; my two favorite movie characters died and that didn't bother me). It bothered me becuase it completely took the wind out of the series and ruined it. It was bad story telling.

Q3) What is your favorite aspect of writing A/T fics?
I really like both characters I suppose but in my fics (atleast what I've posted) they haven't come into contact with each other (nor am I saying they ever will ).

Q4) What is the biggest challenge of writing Anakin?s character?
I think making Anakin "too perfect" is probably the biggest obstacle. Doing that leads to a really boring character who doesn't have much of a personality other than the generic "hero". It's easy to do with a character who is suppose to be good at so many things though, and who always seems to instinctively do the right things in dangerous situations. I think remembering that he is flawed and has a lot of pain and doubt helps balance that out.

Q5) What is the biggest challenge of writing Tahiri's character?
For me, it was writting the "new" Tahiri. I only had a few passages from Reunion to go by when I started my second fic (which was the first one in which Tahiri appeared) and that was kind of thin. When I was about halfway I got to read "TFP" and when I was nearly finished with the 8th cortex, I read "TUF" which gave me a little more to go on, but mostly, I stuck with my original characterisation.

Anyway, its difficult to write her as pragmatic and serious, instead of the bubbly and funny Tahiri that never wore shoes, but that's the one I chose to write.

Q6) What aspects of Anakin and Tahiri?s relationship do you like writing about the most?
As I said, I haven't necessarily gotten a chance to write them together, but there is still a relationship between them in my fics; but I can't really answer this question without giving stuff away

Q7) How do you interpret the dynamic between Anakin and Tahiri?
obviously it's young love, which is always fun, but there's a deeper connection there. I enjoy reading about them both fumbling around, trying to get it right though. It's the only romantic relationship I've really enjoyed reading about in SW books, as most of them have seemed unrealistic. I think Keyes got the experince of these two dead-on. Besides their "mystical bond", they compliment each other well: Anakin rarely talks and Tahiri can't shut up; Anakin is a problem solver and Tahiri is aware of her feelings.

 

I also draw a lot of Inspiration from Tahiri_Solo, who has more fic ideas than anyone should be allowed


heheh!!

i just saw the japanese version of TFP, and saw Tahiri, and have a few fic ideas just from looking at her...

 

Qwi Interesting what you said about finding friends through writing fanfic - so true. I've met some lovely people here through the common love of SW and especially Anakin and Tahiri.

AlphaSynth Wow! Your post has me curious. Anakin with long hair aside - I can see some interesting twists and turns arising from what you have there. The bit about Anakin feeling unloved could make some good drama and angst.

Yoda Golly these interviews are great. You learn so much about people's views on things. Good advice about knowing where your story's going, too. Sometimes you might find the route changes a little as you write, but knowing where you want people to end up is important, especially if you're consciously trying to develop a few themes within the story. (Thanks for the nice comments BTW.)

 

yeah, this was the best interview so far, that guy is a genius

 

*laughs sharply at above comment*

 

*ignores JOD as usual*

 

Am I sensing delusions of grandeur?

 

Hi. Im here to let you know that a new fiction archive like fanfiction.net is up and running at http://loveandwar.2ya.com

It has a nice big spot for Anakin/Tahiri fics. So sign up and post your completed and ongoing fics.

Dont be shy!

Thanks

 

Am I sensing delusions of grandeur?

yes, yes you are

 

Where do I sign up for an interview? I love A/T...ask YK (wink wink)

~*Ambyr*~

 

If you have some thoughts you'd like to share drop me a PM! I've tried to get in touch with Jade-Walker, but she hasn't responded so I'm looking for someone else to interivew.

 

I am willing to answer questions...I need a start so I can share my ideas!

 

Yep - ask Ambyr. There's also JDH3, Jedi_of_Destiny and Morgoth_the_enemy.

 

Thrawn McEwok and Tahiri-Solo would also be good addtions to the list Tahi has there

 

I agree, Yoda. And what about Lonewolf herself? I'd love to hear her ideas. Ceewulf is also writing a fanfic. Bria has written a few A/T stories, too.