Welcome to our blog, we're so happy you found us! We are a charity fanzine focusing on Star Wars characters across the eras, telling stories and sharing snapshots of the characters interacting with the themes, celebrations, or general spookiness of Halloween!
Status: The Spooky Star Wars Zine is officially complete, and we were able to raise $555 for the PCRF!
Due to an slight issue with Tumblr, this is our new and updated blog! Our old blog can still be found at @spookystarwarszine-moved, although we are no longer active on that blog.
For further information or questions, check out our carrd, linked below! Or feel free to reach out to us via asks or messages here, or on any of our other social platforms!
I don't draw my OCs very often but thanks to @spookystarwarszine I can finally properly introduce to you Slider, my shiny blond little medic, and his much-beloved detested tooka from Hell, Major Ratbastard dressed as pirates for Halloween :3
Slider was a field medic with the 501st during the Clone Wars. While he'd earned his armor paint he's never quite managed to lose the shiny label. The one glaring flaw to his otherwise sensible character is that he is convinced his is a cat person. He is not.
I was so so happy that I got to draw Boba for the @spookystarwarszine and that now I can share it with you all!
Been on a bit of a Boba and the Sarlacc kick lately - you may recognize the returning teeth and tentacle motifs more if I posted and drew more XD -, and I thought that The Hanged Man tarot card would be a particularly good inspiration for this piece, as "The hanged man understands that his position is a sacrifice that he needed to make in order to progress forward - whether as repentance for past wrongdoings, or a calculated step backward to recalculate his path onward."
Not to mention that since I've been playing a lot of Hades 2, I took big inspiration from that scene when you defeat Eris and she really wants to escape the ghostly hands that grab her and take her back to the Crossroads. I find it so creepy, especially with her various "No no no no no" voicelines. So. Boba got his own share of creepy ghostly hands reaching out for him to drag him through some character devekopment kicking and screaming.
The Void Calls - ReneeoftheStars - Multifandom [Archive of Our Own]
Summary:
The crew of the Vessel discuss scary old spacers' tales about the depths of space, including Starweirds, Abeloth, and the void itself.
I am so happy to share the piece I wrote for @spookystarwarszine , a Halloween-themed fan magazine of all Star Wars eras! I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to write a short story for this wonderful zine.
The word count had to be cut for publication in the zine; this is the uncut version.
Word Count: 1,778
* * *
Leox Gyasi shut off the takeoff cycle with a flick of his wrist. “You want to talk about things like Starweirds, you do it while we’re still planet-side, Little Bit.”
“You’re not one of those superstitious types, are you?” Affie Hollow spun around in the co-pilot chair, eyeing the other Human with exasperation, choosing to ignore the new moniker. She’d only been travelling with this small crew for a few months, and while she enjoyed her time with them, she thought it was undignified to have such a childish nickname. She was fifteen, after all.
Around them, the Vessel whined as its engines powered down, its hull creaking as it settled back onto its landing struts. Their navigator, Geode – a Vintian who forgave those who mistook him for a boulder – relaxed at his station, recognizing that his talents wouldn’t be needed right away.
Leox smiled. “All pilots are superstitious. We are but tiny insects in combustible metal cans drifting through the endless void. We employ superstitions to feel like we can keep ourselves safe, and one of those long-held beliefs is to not invoke something in its home territory. So if you want to talk about the unknown galaxy, we’re going to do it with solid ground beneath us.”
Affie rolled her eyes as she began to wind her thick dark hair back into a plait. “An old-timer at the loading dock claimed he saw a Starweird. I just wondered if either of you had ever come across one.”
“I count myself as very fortunate not to have.”
“So they do exist, then? Scover said they’re just old spacers tales.”
“Scover’s a shrewd woman,” Leox pointed out. “She has a mind for business and profit, which serves the Byne Guild well. But that doesn’t lend itself to believe in much other than cold hard credits. And Starweirds are intangible in nearly every sense of the word.”
Affie thought about the desperate way the old Zabrak had described that day in the middle of space. How as the navicomputer counted down, a ghostly form manifested in the blackness of space. How the creature’s emaciated body raised its gnarled claws towards the hull of the ship, stringy white hair drifting around its head, pinpricks of light serving as eyes. How its gaunt face split as it let out a horrid scream that tore through the vacuum and pierced his head like rending metal. He’d clapped his hands over his ears, to no avail, his own screams and sobs drowned out by the wail that rattled around his skull, white-hot and hateful. If it hadn’t been for his droid activating the hyperdrive, the old spacer had whispered, his skull would have split open from the pain and fear, or else he would have been torn limb from limb by the claws that closed around his ship.
“The pilot just seemed very … certain.”
“It was real to him. Personally, if – and I stress if – such creatures exist, my theory is that Starweirds are born of the discord of The Mother.”
“What mother?” Affie asked, tossing the completed plait over her shoulder.
“The Mother.” He shivered. “Now that’s an old spacer’s tale. You haven’t heard it?”
Affie shook her head, intrigued. It didn’t escape her notice that Geode had gone very still, turning a stern glare at Leox. She asked curiously, “Do you not like scary stories, Geode?”
“Vintians have long memories,” Leox explained. “They think that all stories have some measure of truth at their core, so more unpleasant stories make them uneasy.”
Geode said nothing, but clearly seemed perturbed at whatever was to come.
Leox leaned back in the pilot’s seat, running a hand through his tousled blond hair as he thought. “Deep in Pyke territory, nestled within the Kessel sector, lies the Maw,” he began. “A cluster of the biggest black holes the galaxy has ever seen, all caught in each other’s orbit – a whirlpool of annihilation that will tear apart anything that strays off-course. And at its heart, deep in the dark void where atoms themselves are crushed, a god is imprisoned.”
“A god?” Leox sometimes went on philosophical ramblings about the spirituality of the galaxy, but he didn’t often speak of actual higher powers. Affie didn’t have any beliefs about the intangible herself, and didn’t have much knowledge about any of the hundreds of thousands of religions across the galaxy.
“The Beloved Queen of the Stars. The Mother. Abeloth.” He tapped against four of the beads on one of his necklace strands. Another superstition, Affie guessed. “A terrible and tragic omen. Worthy of pity, but fearsome, and to be avoided at all cost.”
Affie waited.
“In the age of old civilizations, a trio of gods created entire systems, entire species, such was their power. In most tales, these Architects were a brother and sister who were in constant competition with one another, and a father who kept peace between them.
“Among their most devoted servants was a woman. Just a mortal woman, her birth name lost to the eons, nothing special about her – except for the overwhelming love she developed for these celestial beings. She came to think of herself as their mother, the final fourth member of their little family, calming the squabbling children and comforting their father. Her love for them knew no bounds. But after decades of devotion, she grew old, as us mere mortals do. Her death loomed, and fear of losing her family gripped her, driving her to desperate ends.
“In some tales, she drank from a fountain, in others she bathed in a pool, others she stood before a great celestial body and absorbed its radiation. In others she performed a ritual of long-forgotten magic, and in others she plunged an ancient dagger into her own heart. No matter how she did it, the end result is the same: she succeeded in claiming immortality – and unfathomable power.
“This displeased the gods greatly. They could not control her, could not reason with her. No mortal was ever meant to be exposed to such power, and it came at a terrible price – it drove her mad. She became an unpredictable, thrashing tempest – lashing out one moment, tenderly caressing the next. She tried to mother not just the gods, but all life; and when she was disobeyed, she would rampage, massacring entire worlds in her fits of discordant rage.
“To restore some semblance of order to the galaxy, the Architects fashioned the Maw, and with their combined powers trapped their would-be mother inside. But even the cacophony of black holes could not destroy her.
“Nothing escapes a black hole – no ship, no creature, no light. But Abeloth was so terrible in her power, she could not be fully contained. It’s said she still lingers there, in a realm beyond shadows, mad with love and hate; despising her children for imprisoning her, longing to protect and comfort them. She whispers from the dark crevasses of the galaxy, coiling through the dreams of her victims, crooning for her children to come free her.”
A long silence met Leox’s story. Affie realized she was gnawing on her lip, a slightly queasy feeling in her gut. “She gave up everything to be with them,” she said quietly, strangely moved. “Did they even love her back?”
“Do stars give us warmth and light because they love us? Does a moon’s gravitational pull indicate their protection? While preoccupied by the shifting tides of the galaxy at large, I don’t know that a cosmic being is capable of managing the intensity of emotions – especially one as all-consuming as love.”
Affie wasn’t sure what to make of that idea. “So,” she said, thinking, “you think that the Starweirds are… manifestations of the Mother calling out?”
Leox nodded. “Shrieking wights that drift aimlessly through space, thrown into a murderous craze when they happen across those who they perceive to challenge them. The similarities have always struck me. It’s why I try to never take jobs in deep space, or anywhere near the Maw.”
Affie drummed her fingers against the armrest of her chair. “You… you don’t really think it’s true though. Right?”
He busied himself by checking a gauge on the control console. “I knew a fellow years ago,” he said eventually. “A hauler with an uncanny piloting ability that would put a Jedi to shame. When he was out on jobs, travelling near the Unknown Regions and deep space, he’d have terrible nightmares. Swore that his mother – who’d passed some years before – came to him in dreams, pleading for him to come find her. And one day, while running a shipment through Pyke space, he disappeared. His last transmission… well, all we could make out was that his mother was calling, and he had to get to her. We never found him or his ship.”
The hair on Affie’s arms stood up, an involuntary shiver running down her back. “What about you, Geode?” she asked, trying to be lighthearted. “You got any scary spacer stories you want to share?” Affie asked.
Geode didn’t respond right away. His silence stretched for seconds, then seconds more, longer and longer, and uncertainty crept into the edges of Affie’s mind. The silence lengthened, bore down on her, growing heavy as her thoughts drifted to the silence of space. The endless emptiness, dwarfing all that existed, ever-hungry and insatiable. It loomed, pressing in on all sides of life’s safe little bubbles, watching, waiting for beings to dare stray from the carefully mapped paths, waiting to swallow any who drifted too far and lost themselves in the vast darkness, denying any dignity of a final scream.
There was no need to fill the void with monsters – its mere existence was horror enough.
Leox shuddered. “You made your point, my friend.”
The silence broke like a spell, and Affie pulled herself back to the here and now, safe in the Vessel, on solid ground. She looked out the cockpit up at the blue sky. But beyond that, she couldn’t help her imagination as it conjured some great terror with pinprick stars for eyes and wild white hair grinning down at her with a too-wide toothy smile. Her mouth went dry. “Maybe…maybe we stay on-world for another day. We passed a little cantina that I wanted to try.”
Leox keyed in a signal to the spaceport’s control tower, letting them know of their plans to postpone takeoff. “Whatever you say, Little Bit.” Affie ignored the nickname, because she thought he sounded relieved.
Affie did love space, and the freedom of flying, and the adventures of traveling the stars. But at the moment, she needed some distance from the waiting void.
Halloween may be over, but I'm now able to share the art piece I did for the OC Costume Parade for @spookystarwarszine !
I'm so grateful that they allowed me to be a part of such a fun zine concept! Not only did I have the opportunity to write a short story for the zine (which will be posted sometime this week!), but the mods also let me draw my ocs 💛
Costumes:
Mark, Teyla, and Gida - the Three Musketeers
Naras Tyn - pirate
Lethaa Daal - vampire
My OC Koa for @spookystarwarszine !! I was really happy to be a part of this project :)) Also I don't think I've posted a lot of OC stuff yet but they exist lol
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
rating T | words 1,274
“He breathes like he is dying, like every breath pains him. Some say that he was once a man, and the part of him that is still a person, that’s what makes him struggle so. Others say his breathing is a warning, like a rattlesnake. Those that hear it know to run.”
A mother tells a ghost story to her child, she tells it to her friends, the myth of Vader grows. An exploration of how the story of Vader is constructed and percieved by the galaxy.
originally written for @spookystarwarszine ! this was such a great project to contribute to, thank you to everyone involved !!
I can now post this illustration I made for @spookystarwarszine Thanks you so much for having me 💫
Had a really clear concept but went to dig the wikis to confirm it was coherent with the existing canon about young Ben Solo... will this be retcon? Probably XD
I can finally share my piece for @spookystarwarszine . It was a lot of fun to paint some nightsisters ❤️
I'm not dead, I had just to learn to paint in a new program because Adobe cancelled my perpetual license out of the blue, so this one was made in Krita. I'm now tring to learn how to manage the brush in Affinity, but so far I'm not very happy with the stroke pressure.
Anyway, I'm trying to do something for the cosy kanera week, but already this week I got two day deleted from my schedule because real life sucks and I don't own my time. So it will be maybe just one artwork instead of the 5 I started. 🙄
so proud to have been a part of the @spookystarwarszine this past year, zine sales have now closed and we raised $555 for PCRF! here’s my full piece for the zine — can’t go wrong with a little bit of trick or treating!
