#the absent third

[ravenlilyrose]

So, I had another Idea.

In a universe where the whole Melida/Daan incident ended differently (partly because it has been ages since I read the book and can’t remember the exact events and partly because I like Cerasi so she gets to live) Obi-Wan still left right after they won and the government got set up mostly without him. (Not for a lack of Cerasi and Nield trying to convince him to stay, though. They tried their best, but Obi still felt like he had to/was supposed to go back to the Jedi.)

So for the last twenty years or so, Cerasi and Nield have been ruling Melidaan. Sort of. It’s not a typical government and they are more like community leaders than planetary rulers. They really never asked for the responsibility or a planet. And while they’ve discovered they’re not actually all that bad at it, they’ve never really come to like it either.

But what’s interesting is that they call themselves a triarchy (or something like that. I might be making up words here) and there’s always a chair left open for ‘The Absent Third.’ (I forgot to mention this, but Melidaan has its own language now because I’m a language nerd and don’t love how everyone in Star Wars who looks vaguely human speaks one of about three languages. So they’ve got a language now. And ‘the absent third’ is actually more poetic and a single word in that language. Because I said so.)

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Obi-Wan is the third and if he were ever to make any kind of indication that he wanted to come back, they have a group ready and waiting to either be his getaway drivers or politely kidnap him from whoever is keeping him away from them. The team is made up of the little kids who latched onto him in the sewers and began to hero worship him. They’re all in their mid-twenties now, but that just means they’ll be more effective.

Anyway, at some point during the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan and the 212th end up on Melidaan. And negotiations get weird. Because the Jedi didn’t realize they were sending a Negotiator who had a seat on the government of the planet he was being sent to negotiate with. (They never would have sent Dooku to negotiate with Serenno while he was still a Jedi.) And no one listened to Obi-Wan when he said this might not be the best idea.

It gets more complicated from there, but my brain isn’t taking me any further right now.

[ravenlilyrose]

20 Questions for Writers

Tagged by @oakashandwillow

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 100, exactly. Some of them are ridiculously short (3SF) and some are compilations (also 3SF) so not quite sure how much that number means.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 86,252

3. What fandoms do you write for? Interesting question. I think Narnia still has the highest number of works published, but I haven't written much of that in a while. Doctor Who and Star Trek also have a lot, as do Merlin and Star Wars. I've written a couple things for Queen, Good Omens, Goncharov. Most everything else is stuff I've only written one or two fics for. I'm currently publishing my first Elementary fic and hope to do more in that fandom. My interests are pretty fickle.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Pendragons' Protector. Merlin. Royal(ish) Merlin. First in my series of the same name.

Breathe. Star Wars. Clone Wars era Obi-Wan back on Melidaan fic. Part of my The Absent Third series.

Choices. Star Wars. The Young offer the Vod'e a choice. Next in The Absent Third series.

Warm Chocolate Milk. Star Trek. A childhood friends Kirk&Spock AOS AU. First in my Separate, Not Apart series.

Introductions. Star Trek. Baby James Kirk and baby Spock meet. Next in the Separate, Not Apart series.

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as I can. Chronic illness (fatigue, pain, etc.) mean that I sometimes take a long time, and if there are only emojis I sometimes don't know what to say (I still really appreciate those, just not sure what the correct/acceptable response is - I overthink everything), but I try to respond to everything.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't really write angsty endings. Maybe High King of All Albion, but that's more bittersweet than anything else. Goodbye, my Goncharov/Katya fic is also kinda bittersweet because it's canon-compliant and that whole relationship is tragedy. I'm probably forgetting something, but I do tend more toward healing and fluff.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think more of my fic endings would be categorized as reflective or peaceful, than happy. Maybe Meant for the Sky, which is a Biggs Darklighter lives AU? Or Coming to Terms, which is a Merlin magic reveal story with a very experimental style? Don't really know.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I think someone once told me one of my stories wasn't realistic, but I wasn't trying to be realistic, so...

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope. I'm the kind of aroace who is uncomfortable with sex. I skim smut that includes plot and skip smut that doesn't include plot but could never spend enough time with it to actually write it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Yep. Most of my crazy crossovers don't actually make it all the way to a finished product. Actually, going through my AO3, I don't think any of my crazy crossovers made it there. I did a Narnia/Sandman for 3SF 2023? I have had daydreams about putting like six fandoms and three bands in a room and just kinda seeing what happenes, but those are too chaotic to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've translated some of my own fic? If that counts?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope. Too anxious to work with other people. Closest I've gotten is trying to write Star Wars movies with my brother when we were little.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

I don't really ship things in the traditional sense. I focus a lot more on platonic relationships and get obsessed with the literary things about them. Parallels, etc. Also, y'know, codependence and other fascinating psychological disorders and traumas. I was pretty into Doctor/Rose for a while, otherwise platonic relationships that fascinate me include Spock & Kirk, Merlin & Arthur, Joanlock (Elementary).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a massively extensive Tarsus IV (Star Trek) fic that I've been sorta working on for close to a decade now. I doubt the main fic will ever get fully written but some of the outlying stories might.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm pretty good at worldbuilding and those kinda long reflective, expository sections. Relationships are also a strength of mine.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing and plotting. I'm pretty good at character arcs but plot is not a strong point.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've played with this a lot, though mostly with fictional languages. I think if you're writing long paragraphs of dialogue, it's not going to work too well, but a sentence or phrase here or there can be done just fine in several different ways. Unless it's just a word or two that you use repeatedly, you do need to have some kind of translation somewhere, though.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter, I think, but that was ages ago and Narnia and Doctor Who took over pretty quickly.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm fairly proud of Plenty of Beds, a queerplatonic Joanlock fic, but High King of All Albion, Coming to Terms, and The Pendragons' Protector are all pretty high up there, too. (Apparently I do a lot of my best writing for Merlin. Who knew?)

Tagging @grace13star, @sharpestasp, @capybaraonabicycle, @ruinconstellation, @quillsink, @syrena-of-the-lake. Absolutely zero pressure and also tagging whoever wants to do this. Curious about other people's answers!

[ravenlilyrose]

Melidaan Stories

Hi all!

So, my very rambly, kinda unfocused post about a Melida|Daan story idea has been going around some more lately, and I wanted to share the things that have been written for it because people have expressed interest.

First, there is The Absent Third, written by @elumish a while back. It is lovely and I completely adore it.

Then, I wrote Breathe which takes place shortly after events mentioned both in my long ramble and in elumish's story.

Finally, (at least for now) I published Choices a few minutes ago which picks up not long after Breathe ends.

If you liked my first post, I would definitely suggest going back and reading these. I'm going to tag a few people who expressed interest in the tags, but please let me know if you want me to un-tag you. (Is that even a word? I don't know, but I'm using it.)

@kingapathyiii, @commander-codys, @mari-wrongway, @thoughtsthroughfog, @forceshenanigans, @a-pigeons-soliloquy,

[ravenlilyrose]

Here’s more Melidaan and Obi-Wan stuff, but in actual writing form instead of ramble form this time. (AO3 link here)

——————

This time, it is Nield who steps forward first.

He takes a few steps toward Ben, who meets him halfway. Nield’s hands are reaching out already, almost of their own accord. He reaches out and cradles Ben’s head, pressing their foreheads together. They breathe each other’s air for a few moments, Cerasi appearing behind his shoulder before quickly being pulled in to join them. The three of them breathe together, their breaths syncing up without any effort.

Finally, they pull back and exchange smiles full of meaning. Nield takes a half step back, his hands still on Ben’s shoulders, and projects his voice so everyone can hear.

“Come back to us,” he declares, voice a combination of command and plea with a note of ritual.

Ben smiles wryly and responds without hesitation, a pain behind his eyes but voice confident as ever.

“I won’t stop trying.”

Cerasi and Nield each kiss one of his cheeks and he kisses one of each of theirs. For a moment no one breathes, but then Ben raises one hand toward them, palm out. Cerasi grins and she and Nield raise their own, three palms facing each other and as close as they can be without touching. They stand there like that for a moment that feels like a year and no time at all before Ben turns and strides onto his ship without another word. The ramp closes behind him and their Absent Third is gone again.

But his seat remains as it always will and they know he will never stop trying to return to them. It won’t be today and it might not be tomorrow, but he will return. And when he does his seat will be there waiting.

[ravenlilyrose]

If anyone has seen my Melidaan post from earlier, @elumish wrote an awesome thing for it over on AO3 that you should totally go check out. I kinda love it. (that’s an understatement)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35673730

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works