Saga Burn! Burn! Burn! (PreAotC/Horror/ OCs, Poof, Anakin, Obi-Wan) **COMPLETE**

Well, break my heart, oqi-dahlin'.

That was some heavy stuff!

Melted flesh...Badour's prodding... and that line, about his 'being on the edge of' her world... was oddly poetic, for a gortesque, frightening, unnerving death-like scene. The way you wove this incidence into cannon is nothing short of your usual genius. Of course, Anakin would be likely to remember little from that time...so it could get away without mention...

Despite her creepiness, evillness, and, sometimes, ickiness, I can't help but feel attached to Badour. Her comment about being a leveller really sealed my feelings on that--somewhere, somehow, there's some kind of...almost honor.

At least, that's the way I feel. Probably way off as usual.

Anyway.

A spectacular ending to a spectacular fic. Would you please give me a ring when this new fic springs up?



Always your avid reader,
Fluffy

 

Well, well, well.

One very long sitting that was. And one amazing story. I suck at reviews, but this story is fantastic. Parts of it had me gripping my poor laptop so hard that I thought I'd break it even worse than it already is (you should see the screen on the poor thing- I have to carefully resize all my windows due to the massive crack. My dad squeezed it too hard one day, and goodbye, 20% of my screen...). Other parts made me laugh, and yet others made me shiver.

This piece made me like Maz even more than I already did, and that's saying something. So many things to say, but I'll sum it up simply- this story was well worth the read, and I'm glad I finally had the time to sit down and read the whole thing.

 

I am humbled as always by those of you who've read my story and taken the time to review. I get almost teary reading your comments (yeah, the oqster can be a sap some days). Thank you all. Thank you.

Bale: Thank you! Imagery is my thing. Badour will not visit your in-laws, but if you leave out some sweets you never know.

LL18: Nawh, no sweetness here. A screaming fit? Wow!! That's my kind of compliment.

LiO: Bad things to bad people and the power of sacrifice. The philosophical inspiration to this story as well as my own world view is Mahayana Buddhism. Thank you for your comments.

Yod: Thanks. Badour is kind of slow moving in the question department. Although she says she knows everything she's a terribly slow typer.

C_A: Thanks!! I'm always obsessing over crossing my ts and dotting my is (although, I never do in my real world handwriting). Mustafar is one of my favorite scenes in the Saga--I had to leave my little smudge.

Rogue: I do my damndest to be creepy. Thank you.

Brightfeather: **tosses a blanket**

Amidalachick: You cried? For who? Thanks for the tears.

GAV: I heart truffles! And absinthe and dead flowers and... Thank you!!

A_F: You've really picked up on a little something I've toyed with throughout the story--the contrast between Badour's appearance and her spirit. She really was a child a long time ago and that's something that pops up every so often. It's a strange contrast and I just love it.

Bria921: You think of Badour in ROTS now? I'm floored. THANKS!

P_K: Grazie! Grazie!

Fluffy: Breaking yer heart? Thank you! Your comments left me blushing. AND you're thoughts are right on target. There is honor in Badour.

DWH: You read the WHOLE thing! Wow! Thank you so very much for reading! Maz shows up all over the place--sweet guy, I love him too. Thank you so much!


Ever had something you couldn't walk away from? I have the big plan for moving back a hundred years and writing this fantastic backstory to all of these things that have happened in Burn! (60 Sunrises, which is in WIP stages), but everytime I start to "move on" I end up thinking about Mai and the life that Elitrea gave her. It's weird. At the end of Burn!, I left Mai on Shoda and now I keep finding myself back there with her. You see, I grew up in a similar place--flat, deserty, rural and kind of off kilter. When I went home for the holidays, I was greeted with forty mph winds, a hint of smoke on the air and another very dark story...

 

Badour Answers Readers' Questions

Hello. By this time most of you have a decent idea about what I am, unless you?ve skipped to the end in hopes of a simple denouement and found yourself even more confused. I have received a number of questions concerning myself and parts of the story, which beg a bit of clarification as quite frankly sometimes oqidaun tends to be rather obtuse. Typically, I have a very low tolerance to ?question games?, but you have all been rather nice and Correllian_Ale has given me this bag of old candy corn?so, I will indulge you.

1. Where are you from?
I come from a planet in the Dakari Territories. There was a war, the armies dropped bombs, and we had to move to a little moon. There are quite a few allusions to it in the story Folklore. If you think you're clever and that I am speaking of Kleinadae, you're not quite as clever as you think.

2. Do you have a family? Friends?
I do have a family. My mother?s husband (who claimed to be my father) was killed in the war (please see the first question I answered) and my real father (a close friend of my mother) survived. I will let you all in on a nasty little spoiler, since it is the holiday season and these candy corn sweets are quite good, the House of Onodashi-Lambarde claims me as their own. As for friends, I never was very popular. I heard voices that others could not, which is not a very endearing trait in small children and Priest (the fat boy with the scuffed boots) pulled my hair. However, I do like Banner Weesoik. His family has always been good to me even if he does not know it.

3. What?s your favorite kind of candy/sweets?
This sounds a bit shallow, but I really like the expensive handmade kind with the little marzipan flowers.

4. What do you hate?
I have a whole little list of things, but I really dislike those who are prideful and those who speak down to me. I also hate
cold porridge and I do not like being trapped in burning buildings one bit.

5. What?s the best way to kill someone?
I am a fan of blunt trauma to the head. I really like the sound of the metopic suture snapping (part of the frontal bone of your forehead, right above the nose). It?s such a delightful crunching noise--it makes me giggle.

6. In Burn! When you spoke about crossroads to Anakin, which crossroads were you referring to?
I knew Anakin Skywalker was going to end up Darth Sidious?s apprentice?face it; he made a better Sith than Jedi. The crossroads of which I spoke involved Anakin?s decision to sacrifice his own life in order to save that of his son Luke.

7. What happened to the real Badour? How did you know she was going to the AgriCorps?
You might want to reread my answer to Question #5. She was a real sweet kid, but terribly thick. How did I know? There?s two schools of thought on this one: A.) I do know everything. B.) Someone summoned me.

8. What did you mean when you told Palpatine, ?The places where the dead sleep are sacred?Don?t disturb the dry bones of those who have gone before you. Placate their spirits with sweets and bitter tears. Remember, they are the ones who have seen the end of your wars.?
Simply put, I was told to remind Palpatine not to desecrate places where the dead have been buried and remembered. Obviously, he did not listen and then he blew up an entire planet!

9. Did you kill Dezan? Did you kill Master Gooli?
No. Yes.

10. What?s next for the Herald of Doom?
I have a rather full plate in front of me. Currently, I am headed back to the Territories to visit some old friends. I have a bad feeling about some things that are about to happen on Shoda.

11. Will you visit my in-laws?
Bale, review my answer for Question #3 and perhaps we can make an arrangement.

12. For old times sake, what are you?
An observer, a messenger and occasionally something very terrible. I am the bad thing that happens to bad people. A long, long time ago I was a little girl, my name was Dora and I heard voices.

 

* hands over box of pastel colored marzipan bonbons from Sees Old Fashioned Candies*

You keep talking about thing you were told to do or say- who told you to do or say these things?

 

wow wow wow wow wow (etc)

That was one amazing story, it took me a long time to read it but I wanted to do it justice. And well, it blew me away! This should be in print... the characters are so detailed, the imagery you use... I find I am completely at a loss how to describe my feelings about this story. A cop out but there you go, it has done amazing things to my brain.

I loved how it brought the whole ending of ROTS into it, it makes it such a moral issue here because if some of the Jedi knew how it was going to end, they knew that Anakin was their doom then why didn't they say? I sat through the whole end thinking "why"????

And I am interested now in the story of Mai and whether one can simply stop being a Jedi. It is something I have pondered for a while now. There is the sense that once you are consumed by the dark there is no turning back although a Jedi can become "dark." Yet to give it up completely... I wonder if it is possible.

So it is with great joy that I see there is a sequel yay! *scampers off to read the next thrilling instalment*

 

I am completely humbled at the number of nominations that Burn! has received. I had so much fun writing this piece. Thank you always to all my readers.

PK: Badour says thanks for the sweets, but she's pretty tight lipped today. What can I say, sometimes she can be a brat. I guess since she's not telling, I'll have to show you in The Keeper of Secrets (unfortunately, you will have to wait a bit )

Ceridwen: You bring up an interesting question, when is it ok to turn tail and run like hell when you need to? We often see GFFA from the top down, the folks who can change the course of history, but what about the ones who can't? I'm always fascinated by the little stories that swarm around the bigger ones. I like seeing things from a different angle. A recurring theme that I tried to play into the story--is that sometimes things are simply out of your control and whatever you do to attempt to stop them is not going to be enough, such is the case with Dezan. It's something that turns up a lot with people who've had premonitions and felt that they should have acted upon them. It's the great I should have done X game. It's kind of like having a bad feeling about a train trip which causes you to decide not to take the train. When you find out that there was a terrible accident do you beat yourself up for not warning the others? However, if you think about it would they have believed you anyway? Granted Anakin and the Council could have made decisions that would have completely changed the course of the Galaxy, but what could Mai have done (keeping with the in constraints of her character) that would have had such an effect? As for walking away from Jedi-dom? You'll have to read Keeper to find out. Keeper is essentially all about those kinds of choices.

 

Thanks Oqi your reply captured why I loved your story so much, if only I could put that into words. It's all about those questions which we cannot always have answers to.

Makes the brain boggle.

As for walking away from Jedi-dom? You'll have to read Keeper to find out.

Consider it being done!

 

I stumbled upon this story while randomly searching for good stories (I used the list of nominations for the Winter FF Awards, because hey, if something's nominated more than three times, it must be good ). And I must say that I don't regret reading it, not a bit.

Your writing is superb and I really like your style. It's very captivating, I could see the whole story evolving in my mind as a film. Your characterisations of the canon characters are perhaps the best I've ever read (true, I don't read too much fanfiction nowadays...) and your OCs are amazingly life-like. Badour was creepy, interesting and positively scary. In a couple of moments she reminded me slightly of Alia Atreides from Dune. You're very skillful in building suspense and tension, and all the bits and pieces of the story fell into the place like a well put together puzzle.

I'm not going to attempt to flood you with superlatives, I'll just say that this is the best story I've read in years. And I'll definitely be watching for sequels and any other stories of yours.

*stands up and applauds*

 

Thank you to all the kind folks who nominated Burn! Burn! Burn! for eleven Winter Fanfic Awards! Wow! I am astounded.

As a special thank you to all of my wonderful friends, readers, reviewers and lurkers, I've made a special cheezball trailer. I'm no Taratino, but the music might bring a smile to your face.

Burn!Burn!Burn! Trailer

Once again, I am deeply humbled by your kind words and nominations.

Best,

oqidaun / m. nicholson

 

I have finally gathered up my courage and resolved to start reading this in earnest. Once I started, I simply couldn?t stop. I read it straight through today. What a ride. I hate to leave such a mousy review on such an incredible story, but I truly have no words. I will can only leave you with my favorite scene:



Slowly, she brought her tiny hands together and began to applaud.

The sound of the child?s ovation chased the silence away.

?You, too, shall come to this crossroads,? the disembodied voice of the girl brushed Anakin?s ear. ?Pray your performance is as noble.?

The pump rumbled to life.



Completely in awe,
Zonoma

 

What a fabulous ending. I just read the epilogue, wow! Congratulations on your awards, I voted for you several times. There were so many wonderful stories to choose from, but your story was just so unique and well-written, that I just had to vote for you. Again, congrats!

 

Gah, I just stumbled across this and it has captivated me! It is now 2 in the morning, but I have finished, and I can now sleep with nightmares about death. You are such an artist at weaving a story! Not just Badour that's scary, just every factor; the Cult of the Suicide Moon, the different OCs... makes Palpy seem like an anoying bug. Badour... wow! At first, I thought you were going for the lots-of-nightmares, clairvoyant innocent kid who's always blamed for what's not her fault. But I see there's something much deeper, much more ancient going on.

I love the names you chose for your charactors! Elitrea reminds me of Eritrea, the country, and Banner is just a cool choice.

The pictures and poems you have interspersed are really awesome... the picture with the girl where she has her hair tied back makes her look like a mini-soldier, as if she'd been indoctrinated in something so much bigger... creepiness! Your poetry, also... not just the rhyming! such cool play on syllables!

The ending... unbelievably fitting. I love how you didn't destroy her, because, frankly, you can't destroy warnings. It's still ambiguous to me whether she means to kill people, or she just likes warning them. Her last line to Anakin... can he solve her mystery?

 

Oh, this is scary! I love it! I just read up to chapter ten. That poem is positively chilling. So, here's my guess...Badour is some type of being that incapsulates the vengeful spirits of the children who will be murdered by Anakin? I'll guess I'll have to find out later. Great job so far!

 

Hey stumbled across this and just finished it now. just WOW. Awesome writing all around! You don't see too many thrillers around here so this was a great change of scenery! *applause* fabulous work!

 

Oh wow.

So I was lurking through the OC Writers Anonymous thread and clicked on this in your signature - who can resist a good OC story with fire for a title? - and I've spent my basically my entire day reading it.

And, well, I'm pretty much speechless.

This was absolutely amazing. I love your writing, the imagery, the confusion, the dark mood you evoked seemingly effortlessly. You presented an entirely new perspective on Anakin's fall, and I don't think I'll ever see ROTS the same way.

The idea that people saw Anakin's fall coming but couldn't do anything about it because nobody would listen to little people like them - I never thought about it, but it makes so much sense now, especially the way the Jedi Council stumbled over themselves trying to find the Sith that was really right there all along. Nobody would listen; what a tragedy.

I think what really struck me the most were the descriptions of death - it tasting like strong tea gone cold and so on until it looked like a little girl in a black dress. It was really creepy and powerful at the same time.

I also really enjoyed the poems/songs sprinkled throughout, carrying the legend that made the basis for the story. They seem so real as folklore, which in turn makes the story seem so real.

And that ending scene and the epilogue: wow. Just, wow.

Fantastic work, oqidaun. I think I'm going to go stumble upon some of your other work now.

 

To all of the Readers who've brought this up from the depths and enjoyed it,

Thank you so very much!!! I'm glad that you're liking this story, because it was so much fun to write.
All of you are great.

And Leona, the story doesn't really end.

 

It's been almost two years.

I wanted to once again thank all of you who've read this and its sequel.

 

I'm sorry i only lurk.

...as my moment came ans past, I never found the nerve to post....

But I love it, and the sequel, too.