#reconstructrambles

[reconstructwriter]

OMG I love this! Canon lightsabers are cool and all but they lack the artistic details of their inspiration. The Tsuba (handguard, essentially) was very often a work of art in of itself https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/23942 with symbolic or beautiful designs worked in it. Or both. I’m wondering what kind of Tsuba Jedi would use on their lightsabers? Would they all use the same design – the Jedi Order symbol could lend itself well to a design – or would each Tsuba be designed uniquely to the Jedi making it? One Tsuba could show an interweaving of vines, another be in the shape of a flower and a third could show a depiction of a Jedi and Sith fighting.

Same with the Menuke (the charm wrapped up in the hilt). Would that be a Jedi Order symbol or something more personal? I could see Menuke designed to look like the representatives of the lightsaber forms – that is, someone like Yoda who’s an expert in form 4 might have Hawkbat Menuke in his lightsaber. Or Jedi might go with more esoteric symbols such as symbols of peace, knowledge or even The Force itself.

What colors might the Tsukaito (handle wrapping) or the Same’gawa (rayskin) be? Is one or the other dyed to match the color of the blade? What kind of color symbolism might be attached to blue, green, purple, yellow, white, black or even shades like orange and pink?

There are similar designs for the hilt in Dao (Chinese sabers) and some of those come with a jiàn tán (pommel) that could hold a tassel or piece of cloth and that sounds like a whole other avenue for artwork.

(I do headcanon that the Sith cult would all have very similar lightsaber hilt designs. Always red and black. Always empire symbol shaped Tsuba and Menuke that look like Vornskrs. Nothing or almost nothing personalized.)

Tldr; Cool art that fixes the downside of canon lightsabers, IMAO, is the loss of traditional artistic symbols in the hilt. Which is a pity when we get quotes like “the lightsaber is your life” and stuff like that.

Star Wars artblr, I require your assistance, for I have found a BANGING pair of lighsaber arts, and want to use the picture as a visual reference for a Jedi OC, but I would love to give credit first.

I ask everyone, (perhaps the artist themselves if they’re on tumblr?) who drew these fabulous sabers?

EDIT: Special thanks to @baraste-legacy for finding the artist: Thegraffitisoul on deviantart!

[reconstructwriter]

Jango Headcanon

So I read about someone lobbing the idea of Jango acting out of revenge to George Lucas, who stressed that Jango was in it for the money, not for revenge. Which is hard to balance in a universe where Galidraan happened. But, I have an idea:

So Galidraan happens. After Jango escapes from being enslaved he goes after the Governor and Tor, but no one else. So I’m thinking he’s a bit gun-shy of revenge. He craved revenge so hard it blinded him to Death Watch’s trap and the Jetii – at least until it was too late! So Jango makes a promise to himself while enslaved: When he escapes he’ll kill the Governor and Tor. He’s got nothing else to lose at this point. And after they’re both dead he’ll be done – done with revenge, done with Jaster’s Legacy, with the Supercommandoes, everyone and everything.

So Jango takes his Final Revenge and becomes a bounty hunter. He has nothing left of his family or his people, nothing to take away or take vengeance for so he’s just in it for the money from now on. Of course when Dooku seeks him out as the genetic template, that tests Jango’s resolve, but he won’t do it. He won’t give into revenge again. He IS thinking of turning down the job until he hears about Kamino, about clones...and thinks of a legacy for himself. So maybe he won’t work for Dooku just for money, but for a chance to pass his legacy on?

Of course ultimately Jango swings too far the other way and in ignoring his desire for revenge, he ends up doing a lot of morally reprehensible things like selling three million children into slavery!

[reconstructwriter]

⭐!!! for the director's cut ask game

Thank you @s-c-g-s-c-g 😊 Once more such trust my decision so…

I’ve recently returned to my published work ‘The Clone Fuckability Index’ which contains no actual on-screen fucking. One reviewer said it was the Ace-est thing they ever read. Which I take as a high compliment because I am very ace 😉

Anyway that fic’s first shitty rough draft was spawned years ago in the dawn ages of my Star Wars obsession. I’d read a couple of fics on the premises of ‘all clones attracted to Obi Wan’, who was at the time my one and shining blorbo so I gobbled those fics down like a kid with chocolate cake, wanted more and found myself with the harrowing prospect of having to Write My Own.

Which didn’t get too far beyond a single chapter of ‘Obi Wan shows up on Kamino and all the clones go ‘oh no, he’s hot!’ I didn’t really have anything more so I shoved the story into a document of shitty rough drafts that didn’t yet warrant being a WIP’.

But it was an idea I kept returning to, re-writing and occasionally adding more. As I grew deeper into Star Wars and added Cody, Fox, even Alpha-17 to my blorbos I fleshed out the clone PoV’s. As I got into Ferus I added the blurb about Ferus seeing all the clones and going ‘oh no, they’re ALL hot!’ because it was funny.

And then came upon the concept of Sithspawn clones. The concept ate my brain and spat out an actual reason for clones to collectively have a crush on not just Obi Wan but all Jedi (I had a lot of Jedi blorbos). Also the thought of the Sith foolishly disregarding beta testing and scientific procedures and therefore getting clones who want to fuck Jedi instead of kill Jedi was hilarious! This also led to, dare I say it, a plot for the Clones would need to figure out why they’re all hot for Jedi this can’t be normal right?

Thus I came to the ridiculous yet reasonable conclusion that the clones figure out Palpatine is a Sith because he’s just that unfuckable. It makes sense in story (even if it didn’t I’d have to add it in). The chapters finally flowed, a sub-plot of ‘wtf is gender’ developed to spark yet more joy.

A long and loving review had me coming back to the story and rereading it and realizing how bare it was of scenery details. So I’ve gone back and started filling in those details, fleshing out a few characters and anchoring people in place. I’m hoping to eventually post it again, this time with more detail but either way if I could have one contribution to the Star Wars fandom this would be it 😊

[reconstructwriter]

I can't pull it up because AO3 is down, but

⭐ Tell me more about what drew you to write about Jaster Mereel!

@beskad Ohhhh! Yes let me ramble about my blorbo'lor XD

Enemies to Lovers and Foe-Yay are some of my favorite tropes but when I came to Star Wars I hit a stumbling block. Sith/Jedi pairings usually felt too spicy for me…unless I’m specifically in the mood for a toxic garbage pairing. Clone/Jedi pairings got me rabid into Star Wars and from there Mandalorian/Jedi pairings were a natural progression. Jaster kept popping up and the more I learned about him and got used to him in fanfic, the more I loved him and the more fitting he seemed paired with a Jedi. He strikes me as nerdy enough to research Jedi, noble enough to pair with a Jedi ye big moral conflict arising but just ruthless enough to be the enemy in ‘enemies to lovers’ or the foe in Foe-Yay. Given Jaster taught Jango he's also probably competent enough to at least take a Jedi bounty on his own. Whether or not he’d be successful without said Jedi’s cooperation? Well, maybe.

Anyway I've read enough fanfic about him (even if I still haven’t read his comics!) that he’s become one of my precious blorbos, but in almost all Jaster/Jedi fic, he’s the dominate partner. Mandalorians in general are. Which I like just fine but sometimes I see a trope repeated enough I get the itch to flip it around. Jaster, as my all-around go-to for Jedi pairings seemed a natural PoV for the Hearthfire series. Which started as a bunch of bullet points of scene summaries – all from Jaster’s PoV.

And wow was his point of view so much fun! I think Sifo-Dyas’ shenanigans showed best through his eyes. I enjoyed fleshing out his thoughts with little tid-bits (and drawing from Maori culture doing so) and adding in hints about my Mandalorian headcanons while doing so. I’ve already got several WIPs in files I’ve poked at every so often so hopefully this won’t be the last I’ll share of him 😊

[reconstructwriter]

Ohh wow, this take! On the one hand I think I get how she came to this conclusion. On the other hand if I'm right Leslye you may have escaped the cult but you are still buried up to your eyeballs in Christian beliefs and badly need some introspection.

Most of Christianity also needs to stop with the insistence that queerness is the mostest evilest. If you are being told all the time that queer = evil it becomes easy to conflate with other types of evil. Including actual evil like fascism.

There's also the Christian tendency to either equate other religions (and non-religions) with Christianity or relegate them to devil worshipping. .

So, someone raised on queerness = evil and religion = Christianity could look at that scene as Luke taking a lightsaber to his queerness.

But damn that ignores the whole rest of the trilogy. The empire in general and the Sith specifically are so unsubtle in their fascism. From the way they interact with the Force to the name give to the elite military force, to the destruction of Alderaan.

Leslye are you gonna equate THAT with Queer?

Now Darth Vader is also literally disabled and minority coded but not in a queer way. I don't like either creative decision as they conflate disability and PoC with fascism and take away from the fascist metaphors of the Empire given fascism's obsession with ableism and Fascist Germany’s obsession with the ‘pure white race’.

But that just makes this take such a slippery slope. Because if you do really equate all things labeled evil as each other – enough that you equate a heavy-handed metaphor for fascism as a metaphor for queer – I think that leaves you vulnerable to a slippery slope similar to Terf-dom.

ah, so leslye headland really did not understand the assignment.

I was raised Christian. Christianity is the ultimate dream. It’s a beautiful concept that God becomes human in order to love you more. Then you look at what Christianity has done to the world: colonization, genocide. It was a beautiful dream that doesn’t justify the human action that comes along. The Jedi also live in a dream, a dream they believe everybody has. In The Acolyte, the pilot ends with the line “An acolyte kills the dream.” The drama is to wake up to the fact that the dream doesn’t exist.

— leslye headland explains 'the acolyte' finale ending

[reconstructwriter]

Ask Game

Been a while since I've played an ask game so thank you @charmwasjess for the tag.

Any eating utensil preferences? I get weirdly specific about the size of spoons I like. Teaspoons are for tea, tablespoons are for measuring and the spoon sizes in between are for actually eating.

A genre of music you love? Can't think of one particular genre. I have to listen to each individual song generally, and it also depends on the mood I'm in. Some singers/bands like Disturbed, the Hu, Delta Rey and Mark Petrie have caught my attention with enough songs I consistently love.

A type of seasoning/condiment that would make anything edible for you? Seasoning is ginger. It goes with savory, it goes with sweet, it blends well with garlic and with lemon and is a very bold spicy flavor without feeling like I tried to copy Knol Ven’nari’s tricks. For condiment, Yum Yum sauce is very aptly named.

Pens or pencils? What kind? Mechanical pencils. I don't do a lot of handwriting stuff anymore but when I did it was with the kind of pencil with replaceable lead and the old-fashioned backspace button.

What's your weirdest/most interesting hobby? Medieval German Longsword Fighting. Swords in general for which I have gotten some weird reactions for showing up at my local park with long wooden and metal sticks.

If you had to get rid of one color entirely, what would it be? Any color I pick is loved by a friend. Besides if I got rid of orange then Chicken of the Woods mushrooms would be harder to spot, so I guess none.

Any allergies? Routine yoga has dealt with whatever spring allergies I have so while everybody else is sniffling and sneezing here I am taking long hikes in the woods and going my what a beautiful spring day!

Favorite fictional character? Must I narrow it down to one? Currently a Jedi character but I’ve got a revolving cast of blorbos to obsess over: Jon Antilles, Feemor, Agen Kolar, Ferus Olin, A’Sharad Hett, etc.

Favorite real person that you don't personally know? Currently Ryan Coogler. I already loved what he did with Black Panther (only have a couple of hang ups) but after watching Sinners? Holy crap did Disney hold back this man’s talent! It’s especially obvious with the Lilo and Stitch live action crap coming out at around the same time.

How many alarms do you have set? None, the sun functions as an alarm for me.

Do you have any pets? Do you want some? Three cats: Boo, Magic and Smudge Pot. I would like a dog but a) never had one before, b) my cats have a hard enough time getting along with each other. A horse would also be cool but $$$

Favorite drink, alcoholic or non? Boba Chai with brown sugar flavored tapioca pearls, no ice, it is hands down the most addictive combination of flavor and texture for me. Alcohol has an intensely unpleasant bitter aftertaste to me so I avoid it like brussel sprouts.

Favorite smell? Just about any dessert cooking in the oven but special mention goes to the cinnamon-brown sugar smell from cinnamon rolls or a good bread pudding.

Favorite shoes? A pair of light, comfortable shoes that can withstand a dozen long walks/hikes a week without falling apart in a year or two. Thus far these mythical shoes don’t exist for love or money.

How do you feel about bugs and spiders? Spiders are friends. Bugs are cool except for mosquitoes and ticks. I slap the former and I’m still a bit creeped out by the latter. Getting better though. Parasites exist and therefore deserve to exist, its not their fault they spread diseases.

Outdoors or indoors? Not even access to my computer and the wealth of entertainment on the Internet and/or cold, blustery freezing rain can keep me from my intense need to at least take a short (1-2 mile) walk.

Sunny or rainy? I don't really love either of these but sunny over rainy as a general rule. Like my cats I don't like the wet – not when it's falling on me anyway. But I prefer my sun when it’s 60 or cooler thank you or I’m not trying to type.

Where would you really like to visit? Would you move there? There’s no place like home. I wouldn't mind visiting anywhere that had some beautiful hikes and/or kayaking, but unless all my friends and family are going to move with me I'll stay where I am, current administration be damned.

Are you a people person? Not really, though I'm growing into more of one as I age.

At what temperature do you keep your home (or would if you could)? Cool enough to wear a robe, warm enough that my fingers don't freeze.

No pressure tagging: @panther-os, @beskad, @s-c-g-s-c-g, @searchingfortheuniverse, @ankahikoibaat, @dragonciphering

[reconstructwriter]

⭐⭐⭐

@charmwasjess ah an open-ended ask 😊 Given the recent holidays I’m in the mood to yammer about “A Life Day Lament”, my Star Wars spin on the Christmas Carol. It was my first *checks ao3* no my second story in the Star Wars fandom because I am compelled to write a spin-off of Christmas Carol in every single fandom I get into.

(My preemptive apologies to The Untamed/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation fandom)

Anyway I was very new to Star Wars – hadn’t watched any of the movies in decades, no tcw (2003 or 2008), no new shows, hadn’t even seen that infamously wretched holiday special (I had to look up what Life Day was, blissfully ignorant of the terrible movie intertwined therein). Every bit of Star Wars stuff in that fanfic was cannibalized from those I read before or snagged from brief, repeated checks of Wookiepedia. And wow did that fic not go at all like I wanted to.

Initially Anakin/Darth Vader was my Scrooge. He was the main bad guy, lots of his associates fit various Christmas Carol roles. Shmi made for an amazing twist on a ‘business partner’ bound not by her own sins but by those of her son committed in her name (bummed that I never included that). Qui Gon made for a too-perfect Ghost of Christmas Present (except I needed him to be in the past), Rex in Bob Cratchit’s place…

But I stalled out early on. Anakin just isn’t very Scroog-ey. Asshole yes. Crosser of Moral Event Horizons, sure. But Scrooge specifically? He hadn’t an aristocratic bone in his body, his evilness leaned towards hiding horrors behind an open personality, many of his associates were inconveniently alive, etc. I needed someone cold, someone lonely, someone who was ‘solitary as an oyster’, someone who had already murdered most/all their loved ones. The more I typed on this story the harder the words fought me, the more stuff I had to look up, the more I struggled to merge Anakin’s narrative with Scrooge’s into something resembling coherency. And I failed. I couldn’t write this I didn’t know enough yet.

Hey, what about this…whatshisname? The Count Dooky guy.

On a whim I looked this guy up on Wookiepedia and whoo boy! Deceased partner (friend? Lover?) Check. And the dude who helped create the clones. I gave Sifo-Dyas delightfully creepy chains made of the bones of clones who’d been decommissioned. Dooku/Darth Tyrannus also fits the Scrooge personality almost to a T – formerly a nice guy driven by fear and greed towards his current horrible self, aloof, aristocratic, incredibly lonely having conveniently murdered most of his loved ones. This gave me a plethora of ghosts to choose from and let me twist the knife a little further with each one! Dooku also died just before the rise of the Empire and at Anakin’s hands which made Darth Vader an utterly phenomenal ghost of Life Day future for him.

So I scrapped something like 10-20k words, read through the OG Christmas Carol and started again. The words leapt to my fingers and I was (and still am) pretty proud of how this turned out. Knowing what I know now I’d have put a canon clone as Tiny Tim, not an OC and given them a bigger role but otherwise I think my fic turned out well.

And that was the start of Dooku sticking his big stupid nose into my stories.