Saga To Every Thing There is a Season |the Kessel Run Challenge, Winter 2022

Well, since there are no dates attached to any of my entries (lazy writing on my part, I suppose), one could argue that "All Roads" is set in an AU where Kanan survived the events of SW: Rebels season 4 and could therefore be roaming around the galaxy looking for a lost bo-rifle, so... sure! Why not?

However, it you decide that "All Roads" is set in a canon-compliant version of the GFFA, then there is another character from Rebels who owned a bo-rifle who might want it returned.

Reader's choice.

 

I read the whole thread last night, and then I re-read it this morning, and now I'm back for reviews – and I really regret that I didn't read this as you were posting last year, because my reviews are going to be much too short to do your stories justice!

A Proper Farewell
I was really happy to get re-acquainted with Vestri, whom I remembered really liking from your FF Olympics entries. She's such an interesting OC to introduce us all to the cultures and customs of alien species, and this story fit the bill perfectly. The ceremony of Proper Farewell was a beautiful bit of worldbuilding for Ithorians, and your story also touches upon a topic that I find really important, which is how to discuss racism through symbolic means fiction (I'm also among the people who are very concerned about the real-life aspect of this issue).

Family Matters
... and the issue raises its ugly head right there, with the ‘It’s okay for aliens to live on my planet, but I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry one’ attitude! Yet Vestri's mother doesn't come across as a horrible person, but one who is reluctant to embrace anything out of the ordinary as she has it comfortably defined in her worldview. The final comment about the neighbourhood was hilarious; I can introduce you to (not just) a few Greek mothers who would react that way.

And again, fantastic worldbuilding on Gungans this time, and a very valid explanation as to why Gungans aren't so numerous they've conquered the galaxy!

Open Mic Night at Anthon's Restaurant
I'm among the people who have stated pretty loudly that they don't like drabbles, both as a writer and as a reader, but these were THE BEST. These little nuggets told us SO MUCH about the entirety of the evening, even though you had us jumping from mini-scene to mini-scene, and I got such a vibe of what the poetry jam was like. Oh, and the little Twi'lek girl made me melt.

It was interesting to meet your Zygerrian character Anthon here for the first time, since you mentioned in a review on one of my stories that you were interested in the species. More on him a bit further down the road.

Wisdom of the Force
I saw in your replies to reviews on the previous stories that you claim not to write poetry, and now I'm puzzled, because this was a mighty fine poem. I loved how you presented it as part of a book from a disciple of the Whills (and I loved Rucka's book too) and I enjoyed how you explained within the poem how all living beings, whether light or dark, big or small, Force-sensitive or not, are part of the Force.

Mystery from the Past
I loved the Thousand and One Nights vibe here with the story within the story, and I thought that the vignette as a whole was a really smart twist on the 'pairing' prompt. The little group of students (I imagine most of them are students) coming to their favourite joint where they have their favourite table was a nice throwback to my own student days, and one aspect of this thread that I'm really enjoying is seeing these characters at different moments of their lives.

Unreliable Allies
This was POSITIVELY BRILLIANT; it has to be one of the most unexpected and amazing AUs I have ever read. Between the fact that the Gungans could speak "normal" Basic from the start, their dastardly plan to take over Naboo, Jar-Jar's clumsy ninja combat skills and now the ambition to take over the galaxy... woo-hoo! As you said, TPM was a huge missed opportunity!

The Final Walk of the Pilgrim’s Way
This one was really interesting for me, because I wrote a story set in Jedha's very distant past (or started writing it and then dropped off the face of the boards; it's one of my long-suffering WIPs) and when I tried to build an actual map of the Holy City I based it on the old city of Jerusalem. Which, arguably, was one of the influences on the depiction of Jedha in Rogue One, but it was far from being the only one. Yet while I was reading your story, I could see and feel and smell the old city of Jerusalem, and I could read its history. Leaving the identity of the guide to our imagination was a nice touch too; like Findswoman I find a guilty pleasure in telling myself that the Whills are, well, us.

Finding Direction
Loved the meta aspect of this story. And Maul seeing a shrink and wondering about his medical bills! This was just priceless. I'm curious if this version of Maul ever finds Obi-Wan, and if he does, does he bring him a fruit basket?

Death Star
... which I imagine is the title of your shape poem, since it stands out in red?

I had no idea about shape poems, so I went to bed less ignorant last night after reading this. You may or may not know that there's a SW style of writing that operates in a similar way: cloud diaries, which appear in Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good.

Testy
Holy moly, now we know why Ben Solo became Kylo Ren! If you thought that Anakin Skywalker's worst crime was killing the Tuskens, or the younglings, or becoming a Sith lord... no, it was bringing Threepio into existence, and that guaranteed a third generation of pain and misery for the galaxy!

In Which All Roads Lead to Dok-Ondar
Once again, I loved every aspect of this story and in particular the university antics in the Buy the Book segment (I squeed when I saw that mention of poetry night) but the moment I got really excited was when the Zygerrian appeared. At first I thought it was Anthon, but then I realised it couldn't be since poetry night has already taken place in his restaurant. Which means that there are not one, but two Zygerrian restaurateurs in the Seldes'verse! When you think that all my Zygerrians are slavers, I really need to up my game.

And I loved your take on Dok-Ondar, his very Ithorian personality and the way he approaches each one of his customers. I also found it interesting (from a writing perspective) that for the bo-rifle segment, we exited the Vestri'verse and met a totally unrelated character. I'm not very well-versed in Rebels lore, but this was Kallus, right? And it just made sense that, being the owner of a reputable shop on the edge of wild space, Dok-Ondar would have all sorts of customers, including long-term customers who never tell him their name.

And then, the DVD Extras! Or should I describe them as behind-the-scenes and making-of snippets? I was smiling throughout the untitled 5+1 vignette, and I really wish that you came back to finish it someday, because the meta aspect was fantastic and I had good fun identifying throwbacks at other stories, including some that are in your Olympics thread. Similarly, I enjoyed the meta aspect of the letter from the Naboo archives very much! It's indeed very fitting for Vestri that there would be stories about her in-universe as well as out-of-universe, and I'm certainly hoping that we'll be seeing more of her in your next offerings, whenever you choose to post them to the boards.

Now I feel that this post has become exceedingly long, even though, as I said in the beginning, it certainly doesn't do justice to the quality of your writing. So I'm just going to say once more that this was a very enjoyable read. I learned a lot about alien species and how to write them from you, and I hope I'll have the opportunity to read more!

 

Bless you, Chyntuck, like most authors I'm happy to get reviews at any point, especially when they're as generous as these. And thank you for the mentions over on the Favorites of Fanfiction Festival thread.

Yes, racism has become a high-profile issue (and rightfully so), although I'm more familiar with discrimination against Native Americans than any other group for various reasons. One of the advantages of science fiction is that familiar things like racism can really stand out amidst all the "fantastical" elements.

And my mother, who is a third generation American of French/Slovak origin, has the same concern about neighborhoods. I think it's a universal "Mom" trait....

Thank you. I have a journalism background, so I have some experience with the idea of concise writing. I don't love drabbles (far too limiting), but my biggest concern about these was the use of required words. Still, it seems to have worked, and this is one of my favorite pieces.

To me it read like a prayer (which in many cases is a form of poetry), particularly part of the Book of Wisdom from the Apocrypha. (I think Roman Catholicism is the only denomination that still uses it -- even the Jews don't seem to pay it much mind). A small part of me wants to start an open thread for people to write poems or prayers suitable for Collected Poems, Prayers and Meditations on the Force, since all we get in Rucka's book are snippets and I really, really want a copy.

I'm not a romance fan (or writer), so the whole "One True Pairing" as romance puzzles the heck out of me. However, I don't see OTP as requiring a romantic pairing, so I guess this one works. (Plus I got to expand on the character of Bluebrow, who is only mentioned in one of the High Republic novels. Love me some obscure background characters....)

As a college student, I also had a couple of favorite places to eat, usually off the beaten path where I could sit and read. Is that a universal college experience?

Thank you. [blushes] I don't tend to write villains (I appreciate well-written ones, but I don't understand the mind-set at all). When I write Gungans, I tend to draw on Native American cultures, and I can see how at least some of them would love to get all of us "colonizers" out of the way (at someone else's expense, no less.)

And here's hoping you get around to finishing it someday, as I'm always looking for more stories set on Jedha.

I'm wondering if the Whills are a manifestation of the Force, or an unimaginably ancient race of beings. Perhaps someday we'll find out.

Outside of Sunday School (and my World History class waaaaay back in 9th grade), I don't have a clear picture of Jerusalem. It might be easier if I imagine it looking like the Holy City on Jedha. I've never been to the Middle East -- the furthest away I've been from the US is Ireland, which was lovely.

We may never know...

I didn't know that, and I will have to investigate cloud diaries, as they sound intriguing. (Might be useful for a future challenge.)

Heh. I love messing with stereotypes. Like the Hutts -- they've been portrayed for years as villainous mobsters, then along comes Findswoman's Bonvika and blows that out of the water. And, Eliskandro, is it? I'll have to go look those stories up. I was writing Gungan-centric stories back when Gungans as a whole were almost universally despised. No, they're not all like Jar Jar. (And really, Jar Jar is pretty okay.)

I suppose there could well be two Zygerrian restaurateurs in the Vestri-verse, although my intention was that this character was indeed Anthon. It's out of order because I was following the 5+1 formula very closely, so the "1" portion happened at the end, out of chronological order. Maybe I was being too literal-minded....

Yes, that character was meant to be Kallus -- I thought I'd just let people make the connection on their own. And there's a possibility that Kallus is already part of the Vestri-verse; in "Wings of Change," over on The Mythologist thread, there's a character named Alex who tells Vestri a story about one of Coruscant's wildlife species. "Alexsandr" is Kallus' first name, so....

I was stumped by the 5+1 Challenge for last year's Kessel Run. I'd seen 5+1 stories in a few places, but never read any of them; it just seemed like such an odd story structure. "Untitled" was the first idea I came up with for that challenge, and it was more to poke fun at the 5+1 structure than anything else.

Thank you --that one was fun to write. I just imagined all the places Vestri would like to go and visit. Perhaps we'll see her do that in future stories.

It appears that my reply has turn out to be even longer than your original post. Thank you very much for the kind reviews. I need to get back over to the Intermezzi II thread and get caught up. Glad to see you're back on the boards and writing again!