User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/THE CHOSEN ONE: Chapter 12 release/@comment-20644-20091008232958

Wylind:

I understand the initial hesitancy about the originality in the beginning. I kept the Naboo (yet changed to Utapau) invasion plot because I felt it was the strongest part of the canon Episode I, and because I felt it was the strongest way to tell this new story that I wanted to tell. The first draft of TCO was far more unoriginal. Ataru used to say that it was basically a “red pen” over The Phantom Menace where all I did was just change some names and locations around, but otherwise kept everything the same.

I’ve done a lot this time to avoid that, particularly with some changes in the earlier chapters, as well as additions. The Battle of New Centrif in Chapter 2 is a new treat, and it really helped make the Utapau crisis seem more serious since the Federation basically obliterated an entire town. Then there’s also the Veermok Resistance B-plot right now, where it lets us keep going back to Utapau and see what’s actually happening there instead of just vaguely hearing about it on Tatooine and Coruscant.

If I may ask, what parts of this do you feel stay “true to the values of the classic Star Wars?” I know a few people, whom I completely disagree with mind you, lol, have said that the Ophuchi storyline and the whole bit with the Shaman of the Whills and the Journal of the Whills are too un-Star Wars for them. I’d be interested in hearing why you feel it stays true to Star Wars as sort of a counter to that criticism.

In regards to fate and destiny, that’s a big theme in this novel, but another theme I’m trying to play throughout the saga is that destiny can be altered somewhat while still having the same end result. Essentially, someone may think that they know their destined journey and destination, but in the end they just know the destination. The journey can be vastly altered depending on the choices the characters make.

Every choice has a consequence, especially in regards to this whole group of destined people, who I’m jokingly calling the “Fellowship of the Chosen One.” There’s a reason that they all have to stick together and fight together, and there’s consequences if that doesn’t happen. If someone leaves the group, there are major consequences. If someone in the group dies, there are also major consequences. The fulfillment of destiny is very important.

I’m also glad to see that you believe the characters feel real. I really try to make these people relatable. One of the reasons, I think, that the canon prequel trilogy failed (IMO, of course) to deliver a good story is because the characters weren’t that relatable, particularly Anakin and Padmé. Padmé made some choices towards the end, particularly in regards to becoming the stereotypical pregnant woman that sits at home and cries, that really killed her character (figuratively speaking) for me. Anakin also only whined, complained, and was a paranoid nut job. You couldn’t relate to him, which is why so many people couldn’t feel sorry for him in Revenge of the Sith. You can’t really have a good tragedy when people are saying that the supposed hero got what he deserved.

What I’m trying to do with these characters is make them relatable. Annikin may be told that he has a destiny to lead the galaxy to salvation, and that may very well wind up being true for him (or maybe not), but you still need to be able to think that you could be him. You need to be able to put yourself into his shoes and say “I completely understand where he’s coming from, what he’s going through, etc.” They have to be Human, not two-dimensional characters.

One of the things that I think is realistic about Annikin is how he responds to his supposed destiny. He thinks Sarus is crazy at first, and still does, but he’s also getting freaked out about it. He’s questioning everything. Every question he asks, everything he does to react to what Sarus is saying, is exactly what I’d do. That’s how I developed these last few chapters. I asked myself, “what would I do?” Then I wrote what I thought of.

Truth be told, I’m trying to make my part of the ASWS a Human adventure. Of course there are aliens and all that, but the main characters will always be Human (save for canon ones who obviously have to remain the way they are, like Yoda or Ki-Adi Mundi). I sort of borrowed the idea of the “Human adventure” from Star Trek, which was always analyzing Humanity. That’s something I try to do sometimes in the ASWS.