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Since I know that I have a tendency to dwell on the negative, I figure that it's time for something a bit different. This is a wish list of things that I would love to see more of in kotor fics. I'm not trying to suggest that writing certain type of story is wrong (which would be seriously hypocritical of me considering the subjects of some of my stories). Rather, this is a reflection of my desire to see something different for a change.
More stories focusing on the extended kotor cast of characters.
I love Revan and the Exile as much as the next person, but I do get tired of most stories having their focus and their center on the pair of them. I don’t even mind if they are in the actual story or even the main plot, as long as some of the other characters actually get some screen time that doesn’t exclusively revolve around Revan.
I’d really like to see more fics were Carth or Bastila are in a relationship with Revan, but it’s not the only thing that they are doing in the story. Where Jolee or Atton or Bao-Dur or Canderous have actual full blown subplots and motivations and conversations that aren’t Revan/Exile centric.
It would also be neat to see more stories where Revan or the Exile aren’t even in them at all (or only tangentially), because it gives the other characters a chance to have the spotlight and shine a bit. I think this is one of the reasons that I enjoy writing and reading challenges for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cavortingmonkey’s Dueling Circle, because for some reason a lot of the stories submitted there aren’t Revan centric.
Different romantic pairings
Okay, I admit that really I like Revan/Carth as a romantic pairing (I don’t like Bastila/Revan nearly as much – but that’s a subject for a different rant), but you know… it gets boring to see it so often. It would be really cool to see something outside of the typical Revan/Carth, Bastila/Revan, Atton/Exile story.
What about a Jolee/Nayama story? Or a Bao Dur/Mira story? Or a story about Lashowe and Atton (the only potentialdysfunction relationship in the entire fandom that has OTP status in my mind :P )? How about hooking Carth up with someone who is not Revan, like Yuthura or Bastila (yes, I am one of the 5 people on planet earth that thinks that either of those romances actually work out…). What about more Revan/Canderous stories?
Stories and relationships without a romantic focus.
I’m a sucker for a good romance, but that’s not the only interesting kind of plot out there. The same goes for relationships between characters. Falling in and out of love isn’t the only thing that people do, especially people who are Jedi and are in charge of the wellbeing of the galaxy. Romantic relationships (for the purpose of this rant I mean the process in which two people fall in love, I’m not including spousal relationships) aren’t the only relationships or even the most important relationship that people will have in their lives.
There are a lot of interesting relationships out there that seem to get completely overlooked. Friendship, child/parent, master/student, spousal and sibling relationships can all be just as important. In addition, they seem to actually be themes that run throughout Star Wars cannon. It would just be nice to see more stories that focus on something other than two people falling in and out of love.
Stories were Carth has stuff to do with a male!Revan, and Bastila has something to do with a fem!Revan.
It seems like when there is a male!Revan story with a Bastila romance in it, Carth is either completely sidelined or written out of the story entirely. In stories with a fem!Revan with a Carth romance, Bastila often plays the role of villain to Revan, if she isn’t ignored completely.
I think there is a lot of interesting potential in a story with a friendship between a fem!Revan and Bastila or a male!Revan and Carth, and if done correctly, I think they have the potential to be just as interesting as the romances, but almost nobody seems to go there.
I have to admit that I didn’t fully appreciate the potential for a friendship between Revan and Bastila, until another player and I started writing it in the first Onderon Roleplay Thread and it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the game. I guess that it’s something that I would like to see more of in other stories.
A story where Bastila or Carth turns Revan down.
tradley mentioned in another rant how he’d like to see more stories where a Carth/Revan or Bastila/Revan relationship falls apart irrevocably, and I have to admit (and I’m such a hypocrite about this) that I would like to see it too. Mostly because it would be cool to see something different. Also, I think that both of those relationships are on some seriously rocky ground at the end of kotor 1 and while a happy ending is possible, let’s face it – it’s also entirely possible that they can’t get over their hang-ups or issues enough to make their relationship work.
As a corollary to that, I think it would be a lot of fun to see a story where Carth and Bastila actually actively choose not to be with Revan or turn Revan down. It would be neat to see a story where Bastila just decides that while Revan is a lot of fun, he’s too obnoxious to start a relationship with, or Carth decides that while Revan is a nice person, she’s just a bit too boring and perfect for his tastes. Or hell, maybe they just don’t find Revan all that particularly attractive.
More pre-game stories.
There just don’t seem to be nearly as many pre-game stories as there are stories about what happens during or after what happens in the games. I’m not sure why that is because these are areas that are rich with storytelling potential. The vast majority of the pre-game fics that I see are about Revan and Malak, which is great because I’m a real sucker for those kinds of stories. I guess I’d just like to see a bit more variety.
I’d love to see a pre-game story about how Saul ended up joining the Sith, or a story about how Jolee and Nayama met, or a story about what Bao-Dur or Canderous or Carth did during the Mandalorian wars, or how Mira and Hanharr ended up as enemies, or what it was like when Atris, Kavar, Vash and Zez were all padawans in the Order.
Stories with realistic repercussions for Revan being alive.
I understand why a lot of authors avoid this, because if Revan is in jail or on trial or in exile, it makes it rather difficult to come up with a dynamic plot, but I guess I’d like to see a story where there are at least some realistic problems for Revan because of who s/he is. Let’s face it, it is entirely possible that Revan being alive would piss off a lot of people, and while some of the people in the galaxy might see Revan as a savior, a lot of people would be calling for Revan’s trial and execution. It’s not like I expect entire plots to revolve around this, I’d just like to see more stories where this problem is addressed in more than a cursory manner, and Revan actually has to deal with the fall out of his/her actions in a really tangible way.
Anyway, that’s my wish list. Agree/Disagree? Got a wish list of your own? Know of some stories that fit my wish list? Let me know!
More stories focusing on the extended kotor cast of characters.
I love Revan and the Exile as much as the next person, but I do get tired of most stories having their focus and their center on the pair of them. I don’t even mind if they are in the actual story or even the main plot, as long as some of the other characters actually get some screen time that doesn’t exclusively revolve around Revan.
I’d really like to see more fics were Carth or Bastila are in a relationship with Revan, but it’s not the only thing that they are doing in the story. Where Jolee or Atton or Bao-Dur or Canderous have actual full blown subplots and motivations and conversations that aren’t Revan/Exile centric.
It would also be neat to see more stories where Revan or the Exile aren’t even in them at all (or only tangentially), because it gives the other characters a chance to have the spotlight and shine a bit. I think this is one of the reasons that I enjoy writing and reading challenges for
cavortingmonkey’s Dueling Circle, because for some reason a lot of the stories submitted there aren’t Revan centric.Different romantic pairings
Okay, I admit that really I like Revan/Carth as a romantic pairing (I don’t like Bastila/Revan nearly as much – but that’s a subject for a different rant), but you know… it gets boring to see it so often. It would be really cool to see something outside of the typical Revan/Carth, Bastila/Revan, Atton/Exile story.
What about a Jolee/Nayama story? Or a Bao Dur/Mira story? Or a story about Lashowe and Atton (the only potential
Stories and relationships without a romantic focus.
I’m a sucker for a good romance, but that’s not the only interesting kind of plot out there. The same goes for relationships between characters. Falling in and out of love isn’t the only thing that people do, especially people who are Jedi and are in charge of the wellbeing of the galaxy. Romantic relationships (for the purpose of this rant I mean the process in which two people fall in love, I’m not including spousal relationships) aren’t the only relationships or even the most important relationship that people will have in their lives.
There are a lot of interesting relationships out there that seem to get completely overlooked. Friendship, child/parent, master/student, spousal and sibling relationships can all be just as important. In addition, they seem to actually be themes that run throughout Star Wars cannon. It would just be nice to see more stories that focus on something other than two people falling in and out of love.
Stories were Carth has stuff to do with a male!Revan, and Bastila has something to do with a fem!Revan.
It seems like when there is a male!Revan story with a Bastila romance in it, Carth is either completely sidelined or written out of the story entirely. In stories with a fem!Revan with a Carth romance, Bastila often plays the role of villain to Revan, if she isn’t ignored completely.
I think there is a lot of interesting potential in a story with a friendship between a fem!Revan and Bastila or a male!Revan and Carth, and if done correctly, I think they have the potential to be just as interesting as the romances, but almost nobody seems to go there.
I have to admit that I didn’t fully appreciate the potential for a friendship between Revan and Bastila, until another player and I started writing it in the first Onderon Roleplay Thread and it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the game. I guess that it’s something that I would like to see more of in other stories.
A story where Bastila or Carth turns Revan down.
tradley mentioned in another rant how he’d like to see more stories where a Carth/Revan or Bastila/Revan relationship falls apart irrevocably, and I have to admit (and I’m such a hypocrite about this) that I would like to see it too. Mostly because it would be cool to see something different. Also, I think that both of those relationships are on some seriously rocky ground at the end of kotor 1 and while a happy ending is possible, let’s face it – it’s also entirely possible that they can’t get over their hang-ups or issues enough to make their relationship work.As a corollary to that, I think it would be a lot of fun to see a story where Carth and Bastila actually actively choose not to be with Revan or turn Revan down. It would be neat to see a story where Bastila just decides that while Revan is a lot of fun, he’s too obnoxious to start a relationship with, or Carth decides that while Revan is a nice person, she’s just a bit too boring and perfect for his tastes. Or hell, maybe they just don’t find Revan all that particularly attractive.
More pre-game stories.
There just don’t seem to be nearly as many pre-game stories as there are stories about what happens during or after what happens in the games. I’m not sure why that is because these are areas that are rich with storytelling potential. The vast majority of the pre-game fics that I see are about Revan and Malak, which is great because I’m a real sucker for those kinds of stories. I guess I’d just like to see a bit more variety.
I’d love to see a pre-game story about how Saul ended up joining the Sith, or a story about how Jolee and Nayama met, or a story about what Bao-Dur or Canderous or Carth did during the Mandalorian wars, or how Mira and Hanharr ended up as enemies, or what it was like when Atris, Kavar, Vash and Zez were all padawans in the Order.
Stories with realistic repercussions for Revan being alive.
I understand why a lot of authors avoid this, because if Revan is in jail or on trial or in exile, it makes it rather difficult to come up with a dynamic plot, but I guess I’d like to see a story where there are at least some realistic problems for Revan because of who s/he is. Let’s face it, it is entirely possible that Revan being alive would piss off a lot of people, and while some of the people in the galaxy might see Revan as a savior, a lot of people would be calling for Revan’s trial and execution. It’s not like I expect entire plots to revolve around this, I’d just like to see more stories where this problem is addressed in more than a cursory manner, and Revan actually has to deal with the fall out of his/her actions in a really tangible way.
Anyway, that’s my wish list. Agree/Disagree? Got a wish list of your own? Know of some stories that fit my wish list? Let me know!
From:
Call me crazy
I don't see enough dark side fics that can make the characters sympathetic while making them really dark side. Going dark side to be with Bastila, in my book, doesn't really cut it--as a darksider, she's going to be a different person, and it demonstrates a lack of creativity on both Revan and Bastila's part if they truly think that the only way they can be together is to bring the entire Republic to its knees. Because bringing the Republic to its knees is a full-time job...they wouldn't have the time to snuggle and they'd be back to square one in the "we can't be together" department.
And call me insane at this point, but I would like to see more stories with weird pairings, romantic and otherwise, but only if done well. One of the challenges of ficcing is to take a situation and make it work through character development and interaction. Take two disparate crew members and put them in a situation where they need to work together, and see if you can get them to an agreement while staying true to character.
From: (Anonymous)
Re: Call me crazy