Monday 3 September 2012

Apologies...

Much as I hate to say it, I've gone quiet again! School and life caught up with me and I just... went -.- 'I can't do a blog post today, I've got homework!' It's all winding down though, term breaks up next week, yay!

I've been working on a new Harry Potter fan-fic, but more about that next time. For all of you out there - I have a question for you. *cue spooky music*

What was your favourite moment in your favourite fandom? Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, whatever. You can tell us multiple scenes AS LONG AS THEY AREN'T FROM THE SAME MOVIE/BOOK/WHATEVER! 

Go!

Sunday 19 August 2012

Apologies & Upcoming Story

I know it's been forever since I posted last, and I apologise! Real life and fan-fiction collided for a short time and I was forced to abandon the blog for a while to concentrate on school and other pressing things.

The good news is, there's another story on its way! This one is looking to be a multi-chapter and I'm in the planning stages as well as looking for a good beta-reader. A good beta-reader is essential!! Unfortunately for you Star Wars-geared followers out there, this is a Harry Potter fan-fiction, set after the events of The Deathly Hallows. Already got my main character pretty much lined up...

I'm super excited as my hearing up-grade has finally arrived one year after we sent the forms in, and I'm due to pick it up sometime this week or next. It's a major event in my life as far as I'm concerned - a big step in helping myself hear better. Fingers crossed we can get an appointment for this coming week as I already have one lined up on Thursday for a hearing test, so hopefully we'll get one on the same day.

Till next time!


Saturday 11 August 2012

Absence, Harry Potter & a Fic

So first off, sorry for my absence from the blog lately - I've been reading Harry Potter fan-fiction and writing some of my own! It's been a long time since my Muse led me to Harry Potter so I thought I'd take advantage of it.

I'm writing a Star Wars: The New Rebellion missing moment... stay tuned!

Here's a fan-fiction I wrote for the Harry Potter universe that will be crossposted to fanfiction.net sometime, but not today. Enjoy!

*********

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

A smile spread over Harry Potter’s face as he sat cradling his firstborn son. It was mere hours since James Sirius Potter had come screaming into the world, and already he was second only to Ginny in Harry’s heart. After Ginny, he had thought that he could never fall in love again; she completed him – but he was wrong. Little James stole Harry’s heart as easily as Ginny had, and then and there Harry vowed that his son would live a normal life, compared to the one he had had.

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no-one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.

Ginny’s labour had been a long and hard one, lasting for six straight hours, at the end of which Harry felt as if all the bones in his hand had been cracked a million times over. In the end, though, it was worth it, seeing his beautiful wife rocking their son minutes after he was born. Harry had kissed her on her sweaty forehead and then done the same for their newborn son. She’d smiled up at him and whispered, “I bet I look a mess now.”

I know you haven’t made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I’ve known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong.

“Even if you do, I love you,” he’d replied, and seen her face light up. “You’re so beautiful, Gin. Thank you, for everything.” Leaning forward, he had placed a soft, featherlight kiss on her lips and whispered, “I love you.” Then he had wrapped his arms around her and held her close, breathing in the flowery scent her hair still managed to give off even when it was wet with sweat and sticking to her temples. The three of them – father, mother and son – had stayed there for several minutes before a Healer disturbed them to take James away for weighing and general looking after.

I’d go hungry, I’d go black and blue
I’d go crawling down the avenue
No, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
To make you feel my love.

While James was away with the Healer, his mother had fallen asleep against Harry’s chest. Ginny’s blazing red hair was spread out over his chest, and he had tightened his grip on her, kissing the crown of her head and whispering, “Thank you, Gin.” Moments later, the Healer had brought their son back and Harry had taken him with whispered thanks, so as not to wake his wife. Now he sat here, next to her bed, rocking his son and staring into those chocolate brown eyes that James II had inherited from his mother. He was beautiful, just as Ginny was. In that moment, Harry vowed to protect her and their son. He would lay down his life in an instant if it meant his wife could live, and James.

The storms are raging on the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
You ain’t seen nothing like me yet.

Today Harry felt different. He had been a friend, brother and lover for so long, and a husband for three years. But this was different – he was responsible for another tiny, defenceless human being.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn’t do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
To make you feel my love.

He was a father. And no matter what life threw at him in the future, he would always love his wife and son as much as he did now.

To make you feel my love.



Tuesday 7 August 2012

Return of THE JEDI

So... a little something that I thought about when I decided I'd watch Return of the Jedi again.

Does 'the Jedi' imply one Jedi, like Anakin Skywalker? But then again, we saw three Jedi on the edge of the Endor forest at the end of ROTJ, which could be taken to mean 'the Order'. It's not Luke, we know that, because he's becoming a Jedi, not returning. The entire saga (Episodes I through VI) are basically centred on Luke, but we do know that the Order falls in the Jedi Purges after Anakin turns to the Dark side.

I'm not sure where to turn on this, so I thought you guys might be able to say a little about it. Ideas? Comment them below!



Monday 6 August 2012

How I came to love Star Wars, pt. 1

This is the story of how I came to love Star Wars as much as I do today. *cue Darth Vader's spooky music*

When I was about five years old, I sat down in the sitting room of the apartment my family lived in in London and saw my brother watching some weird movie of guys fighting with light swords. I asked, "What's that?" and he answered, "Star Wars." Now, I was five years old, completely deaf and it was a video with no subtitles, so I had completely no interest whatsoever. It was the time before DVDs came out.

Later I would find out that it was Episode I: The Phantom Menace that my brother and I watched that day, but I had no idea what it was and forgot about it for a few years. Then, I was eleven and in Year 6 and homework was to watch Episode IV: A New Hope because we were studying film techniques. By then we had DVDs and subtitles, so I was able to watch. George Lucas had me hook, line and sinker from the very start. From that moment forward, when I watched the opening crawl, I was a major, major fan.

I had watched the prequels in video when I was younger, so I went through the originals then went back to the prequels in DVD. Such was my obsession that I was writing fan-fiction before I even knew what fan-fiction was, and before I had discovered www.fanfiction.net. My first story was about Han and Leia, who are my OTP (One True Pairing) and I'll post that as soon as I can find it on my hard drive. It was written circa 2009, and is extremely bad in comparison to my improved fics today. I'll post an original version of it and a polished version of it on ff.net, so stay tuned for that!


Not long after my obsession began, I found out about the books and the Expanded Universe. My first book was The New Jedi Order: Destiny's Way, which I picked up for about three pounds in a British op shop. Upon reading the first lines, I nearly dropped it - Han and Leia were married?! Thankfully, I got through the book and started just buying them up whenever I saw them. My books now number more than 30, and I hope to reach 40 this year. X-Wing: Mercy Kill and Crucible are both on my list to buy when they come out.

There you go - that's my Star Wars story. One more thing - although it's better to watch the movies originals first and then prequels to make it more interesting, I actually ended up watching them in chronological order from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi. It still worked its magic on me.

Until next time,


Sunday 29 July 2012

Fanfiction.Net Again

Well, this is a little embarrassing. *strokes chin* I changed my username on www.fanfiction.net again just on the spur of the moment. It's now Alastrina Aritza, and I chose it because both names correspond to the meanings of my real life first and last names. My real life first name and Alastrina both mean 'protector' or 'defender of mankind' while my real last name and Aritza mean 'to read'. There you go.

Here's to Alastrina Aritza having a longer life than Jedi Cevitana did.


Tuesday 24 July 2012

Teaser Blurb

This is a teaser blurb for my upcoming version of Troy Denning's Star Wars: Crucible, which at the moment is not yet out but I'm writing my version anyway, just for the hell of it. :)

In a Galaxy now free of war, the Empire’s three greatest enemies have reached the time where they must step back and pass the torch to the next generation. But Fate has other ideas, and Han, Luke and Leia must fight their way through one final adventure to meet their destinies. Will the story end as it began?

So there you go. Where is my Muse going to decide to take me, I wonder? I'm part-way into the first chapter already! When I grow up, I want to be a real Star Wars author just like Troy and all those other excellent profic writers out there... *goes off to read Ascension*

Monday 23 July 2012

Celebration VI: Part II

I have no idea how to make a post a sticky (keep it on top) or even if I can. Blah. Whatever.

At this present moment in time, there is now 4 hours to Celebration VI! It seems 'time's not so far away' after all, in the words of the Seekers. I of course would love to attend but since I'm in Australia that's a tiny bit of a problem... I'm going to follow it online, of course. I'm a true blue Star Wars fan. Note: my lightsaber is GREEN, not blue. Please don't make that mistake.

So, welcome Celebration VI and congrats to anyone attending! *cue a dramatic sigh from Endless* I guess I should get down to reading Fate of the Jedi: Ascension properly and posting a review for it while my mind is otherwise occupied with Celebration. 

In the words of the Old Jedi order: Go with the Force.

- Endless.

PS Did I forget to mention that I'm Jedi Cevitana now over on www.fanfiction.net? Same stories, same me, different name. Endless out.

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Countdown to Celebration VI!

ONLINE COUNTDOW

Star Wars: Survival

So, I thought I would give my readers/followers a treat and give them a small preview of a New Jedi Order mini-story set during Star by Star. The main character is Anakin Solo, of course.

Anakin Solo thinks he will die in 27 ABY, aged seventeen years old, when he travels to Myrkr on a mission with his friends and siblings. This fear is almost made a reality when he is struck by a bomb used to kill Executor Nom Anor. Anakin would have died, if not for some mysterious travellers returning to the galaxy...
________________________________________________________________
“Jedi Solo, we are aware you have a mission to complete, but never fear. Jedi Skywalker is reliable, and has completed many for the Old Republic. It will not be a problem for him integrating himself with the New Republic.” The old Master gestured to a yellow brick road that had faded in before them. “Shall we walk? I have much to tell you.” The two started to walk at a brisk pace down the road, and the other Masters ranged around them, ready to answer Anakin’s questions. 

“First,” the boy said, “where are we?” 

A chocolate-skinned man smiled. “An extremely good question, Jedi Solo. We are in Limbo. That is to say, we are hanging in the balance between Life and Death. On one side is the Myrkr installation, where your friends are even now fighting to the death. That which lies on the opposite side is the netherworld of the Force, from whence we came upon birth, and will go when death overtakes us.” His lightsaber, Anakin noticed, was of a similar design to the one his uncle Luke had carried before presenting it to his wife, Mara. 

“That makes sense,” he said. “If we are between Life and Death, then surely I have a choice? I am allowed to go on or step back?”

“You are correct,” the same man answered. “But either way, the decision is irreversible. Once you have made your decision and are firm upon it, it cannot be changed. Think carefully, young Jedi. Whether you go on or choose to return will impact the Jedi Order greatly. If you go on, it will either be their fall, or they will rise due to your sacrifice. That is the same for if you decide to step back into your life and re-assume your burdens.”

Anakin’s chin dropped. “My fellow strike members will think I am dead by this point,” he said. “I don’t know whether I should return or not.” He looked up at the Jedi Master who had spoken. “Who are you?” he asked suddenly. “I don’t recognise you from the old holos I’ve seen.”

“I fell to Vader’s saber, Jedi Solo. My name is Mace Windu, and I was to be the Jedi Grand Master after Yoda passed on. I was able to find Palpatine,  just before Order 66 was executed, and was about to kill him when Darth Vader stepped in and saved his life. At that moment, he was not worthy of the blue lightsaber he carried.”

Anakin felt slightly ashamed, but Obi-Wan reassured him, saying, “Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were, in my view, two completely different characters. What Vader did was unforgivable, but Skywalker saved the Jedi Order at Endor. He is one with the Force now, or won’t be when we succeed in defeating the Yuuzhan Vong.

“Now, Anakin, it is time to make your choice. Will you return, or will you proceed?”
 _______________________________________________________________
There it is! I'm up to Chapter Four of Survival and it's nearly ready to go up on FF.Net. I'll post it when Chapter 4 is finished. For those of you who don't know, my username is Endless-Skyway on www.fanfiction.net. Happy reading, and see you next time!

Monday 16 July 2012

Overhaul of Netherworld

This week, Star Wars || Netherworld of the Force will be recieving a complete overhaul! That's right.

I've decided that since it's too hard to manage separate blogs at once, Netherworld will be going multi-fandom! Fandoms include:

  • Star Wars (obviously)
  • Doctor Who 
  • Harry Potter
  • Lord of the Rings
  • and Chronicles of Narnia.
I've been a big fan of all of these fandoms for a long time, and I have the books for all. It's just too hard to maintain separate blogs for each fandom so I decided it would be easier to simply add new fandoms to Netherworld. Prepare for a massive change!

On another note - I reached 36 Star Wars books two days ago so hopefully I can hit the big four-zero this year! I'm sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately, but real life caught up with me. More posts in the future, promise!

Endless-Skyway.

Thursday 5 April 2012

Star Wars Returning ...

I know I'm far, far behind on my blog ... sorry about that. I'll try to post more in future.

So I'm going to upgrade this blog a bit, I think. I'll perhaps put in a review about all the (34) Star Wars books I have, including their blurb and a photo of them. I think that's all I'll do so far...

If you know anyone who likes Star Wars or reads blogs for the fun of it, please tell them to follow mine - I'm in serious need of some followers!

The Force be with you always,

Jaina.