Star Wars: Choosing to Shine: Saving Benighted Souls (AKA the MCoD)

[polgarawolf]

I'm not even sure why I'm posting this. I know I'm not going to be writing any more of it any time soon. Still. This is the MCoD, as it stands so far, as I mostly wrote it for 2010's NaNo project.

Assorted notes for the AU novel-length work Saving Benighted Souls, from the Star Wars series work in progress known as the Massive Crossover o’ Doom (tentatively entitled the Choosing to Shine ’verse).

Standard Disclaimer:
Act 1, Scene 1:

The stage is dark. Cue spotlight to the center of the stage. Cue Palpatine/Darth Sidious to walk to the center of the stage, past Ferus Olin (who is waiting in the wings).

“Ahem. The author would like you to note that George Lucas and Joss Whedon own all rights to the majority of these characters. And what the Flanneled One and Joss doesn’t own the rights to, others (such as Ronald Moore and David Eick, J. K. Rowling, Jim Butcher, Lilith Saintcrow, Hart Hanson and Kathy Reichs, Jeff Davis, Russell T. Davies, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, Eric Kripke, Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, J. J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Robert Tapert, etc.) could probably get away with claiming at least partial ownership of long before this author could!”

Cue Buffy Summers, dressed in a green fairy costume, giggling most provocatively as she swings by on a trapeze, performing several acrobatic flips as she launches herself into space, to eventually be effortlessly caught by Adam Lambert, dressed in fashionably glamorous and quite fierce full battle regalia and riding on a chandelier, à la Errol Flynn.

Cue Anvil Drop while the attention of Ferus Olin is, thus, otherwise occupied.

“AHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Cue spotlight on Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rupert Giles, Anakin Skywalker, Harry James Potter, Cedric Diggory, Tru Braith Akanksha Veld, Breha Antilles Organa, Bail Prestor Organa, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Clay Aiken, Thomas Raith, Faith Lehane, Willow Rosenberg, Tara Maclay, Xander Harris, Xanatos Áediah Valdís Adi-Ai-Aiji, Dr. Spencer Reid, Dr. Zack Addy, Dean Winchester, Castiel, Sam Winchester, Lex Luthor, John Winchester, Joyce Summers, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Carson Beckett, Major John Sheppard, Sgt. Stewart Bates, Dr. Radek Zelenka, Dr. Kate Heightmeyer, Dr. Katie Brown, Lt. Laura Cadman, Dr. Peter Grodin, Siriana “Siri” Tachi (Karayen Arœna Kelbek Namidka), Lt. Ford, Asajj Ventress, Ellie Bartowski, Devon “Captain Awesome” Woodcomb, Chuck Bartowski, Bryce Larkin, Daniel Shaw, Penny Cuoco, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Ruaighne “Rouge” Macanna Retrac Organa, Adrastia “Tia” Zethrina Retrac Organa, Aracaelia “Celly” Ylessia Retrac Organa, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Rachel Dunham, Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Joxer, Hope, Xena, Gabrielle, Captain Jack Harkness, and the Doctor, arms slung casually around each other’s waists and/or across each other’s shoulders and/or tucked through the crooks of each other’s arms, all blinking rather innocently and studiously standing so that the hems of the Organa girls’ elaborate skirts are draped mostly over a rather large knife with a sharp serrated edge, while Buffy and Adam (both now laughing heartily) salute them with a stolen sword and a lightsaber and soar off together into the darkness, the empty trapeze swinging back out above the anvil and the rather smashed-in stage (above the even more broken form of Palpatine/Darth Sidious) and thumping quite squarely into an obviously flabbergasted and horrified Ferus Olin/Darth Kra’taral (Vídharr Sáthiet Orumé Myrthinus Yroídas Cuilrych), knocking him sideways and rumpling his richly tailored robes badly and apparently angering him enough to make him charge off after them blindly, waving his arms about wildly, rather like a windmill trying to invite a jousting match.

STORY NOTES:

*Title: Saving Benighted Souls, from the Choosing to Shine Star Wars AU series (*working title only, though it may become the permanent title by default, since I can’t think of anything better, as I am terrible at titles).

Pairing: This work revolves around several couples and strong relationships, though it is far less about any specific romantic pairing than about the ties of friendship and family (and friends who have become as a family) and the kinds of choices (and sacrifices) that make a family work (especially the kind of family where blood relation has little to nothing to do with the connections binding the various members together). A great deal of this story will focus on or revolve around the following bonds: the ties between Jedi Bendu Obi-Wan Kenobi and the individuals brought to him (with their consent) by the Force from various parallel universes within the multiverse along the continuum of infinity that is the omniverse, especially the slowly but surely strengthening bond between Obi-Wan and Rupert Giles; the not quite but almost familial ties binding Obi-Wan and Anakin together; the ties between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker and the other members of the splinter sect known as the New Jedi Bendu Order; and the steady strengthening of the bonds that form among the various individuals and/or members of the groups that are either brought by the Force to Alderaan, to Obi-Wan and the New Jedi Bendu Order, throughout the course of the story, or else end up in up on Alderaan because they decide to deliberately follow after others who have been brought to Obi-Wan and the New Jedi Bendu Order. Though romantic love, as such, will be largely incidental to most of this particular story, there will be some romantic partnering of characters referred to, alluded to, and/or essentially accomplished before either the end of this story or else during the course of this work in progress AU series, some of which have been drawn directly from and/or extrapolated from the various ’verses that individuals are coming to the GFFA from - as with Xena/Gabrielle and Willow/Tara - though others are primarily based on my attempts to logically expand on the material of those various ’verses, given that the characters are arriving at specific points in their lives where they are able to choose to leave their worlds behind and go to the GFFA, automatically rendering those ’verses at least somewhat AU to their original canons, and still others are based on relationships planned for or already touched on in some way either within the greater SW ’verse or some AU version or another of the SW ’verse as arrived at by me in previous writings and/or brainstorming sessions (as with Bail/Breha, Garen Muln/Roan Shryne, Quinlan Vos/Khaleen Hentz, etc.). Since most of the pairings will be drawn from the various ’verses characters originate from and from the SW ’verse (as interpreted by this new AU series), some of them are going to be het; however, it is, quite frankly, my opinion that readers who are put off by the notion of same-sex or cross-species pairings should mostly likely not read this story (or some of the SW EU material, for that matter!) or the series that this story is set in, as they are likely to eventually find their, ahem, “delicate sensibilities” offended by certain less heteronormative and speciesistic elements of the GFFA. Readers should consider themselves warned, please, and refrain from complaining about any slash or cross-species pairings or elements in the story and/or series!

Rating: Uhm, probably a borderline R (?), though I suppose that’s debatable . . .

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the lovely characters from either the Star Wars ’verse (or, for that matter - for those who’re in the know and paying attention - the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica/Caprica ’verse or the Firefly/Serenity ’verse or even the Dollhouse ’verse), the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel ’verse, The Big Bang Theory ’verse, The Dresden Files ’verse, the Harry Potter ’verse, the Dr. Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures ’verse, the Criminal Minds ’verse, the Bones ’verse, the Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ’verse, the Stargate: Atlantis/Stargate: SG-1/Stargate: Universe ’verse, the Supernatural ’verse, the Smallville ’verse (or for that matter any ’verse related in any manner to the character of Superman), the Chuck ’verse, the Fringe ’verse, the Dante Valentine ’verse or any possible variation of the world described in that series of books by Lilith Saintcrow, or the world of Velgarth (the planetary setting created by author Mercedes Lackey for the Valdemar Saga novels), more’s the pity! Nor can I make any claim whatsoever on the very real individuals and talented singers/actors/entertainers Adam Mitchell Lambert and Clayton Holmes “Clay” Aiken (né Grissom), aside from the fact that I am a fan of both of these extraordinarily gifted men (and just nuts enough to decide that I need to write some fictional characters modeled specifically on those two wonderfully exceptional men). What I do have is an extremely contrary muse that refuses to shut up and leave me alone . . .

Summary: It is said that, with the Force, all things are possible. For Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker - members of the Jedi Order forced to flee the Coruscanti Temple when Jedi Padawan Ferus Olin successfully uses the Force to manipulate the members of the High Council into believing that he is blameless in the death of fellow Jedi Padawan Darra Shandai Mijana Thel-Tanis and that Anakin Skywalker has managed to so cloud the mind and emotions of his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, that he has helped Anakin in an attempt to frame Ferus for her death - this is a truth that become manifestly obvious following the accidental discovery, on Alderaan, of a collection of ancient teachings, detailing methods by which the Force can be called upon to transcend limitations of time and space, even to summon to the galaxy of one universe Force-strong warriors from other galaxies or even entire other universes. With Ferus Olin working within the Jedi Order, at the urging of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, to corrupt and/or actively recruit as many members as he possibly can for his new Master’s projected and carefully planned for Dark Empire, it remains to be seen if even the accumulation of many strong, brave, talented, intelligent, good, and giving new allies recruited from across several different universes will be enough to stem the swelling tide of the Dark . . .

Author’s Notes:

1). For those who are confused about if and how this story fits in with the AU SW ’verse of my series You Became to Me, well, the short answer is that it doesn’t. This story was originally conceived as something of a joke, in response to an oft repeated complaint on the part of this author to her idea beta and best friend (fancyspinner) that far too many shows/series that start out with a lot of promise seem to quickly devolve into torture fests that evidently quite deliberately seek to inflict as much harm and damage (mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical) upon certain of the main characters as possible, leading to a desire on the part of this author to “save” those characters. A sort of melting pot type of crossover ’verse was proffered by said idea beta and best friend as a possible solution to this desire to snatch characters up from their specific ’verses and plop them down elsewhere, where their true potential and sheer awesomeness would not only be fully realized but properly appreciated by other important characters.

Now, the first time this suggestion was made, my good friend and I had a good laugh about how easy (logically speaking) it would be to craft a believable crossover between the ’verse of the GFFA and the specific ’verses of several different science fiction and fantasy franchises, given the existence of various individuals within each of those distinct ’verses who have somehow, in some manner, continued to exist following the death/destruction of their physical bodies (often gaining powers and abilities and knowledge/wisdom that they lacked as physically embodied beings) and who attempt to meddle with events unfolding in the physical world, despite the fact that no longer live within the bounds of those physical worlds any longer, in much the same way as Force ghosts/Force spirits interfere with and/or attempt to guide the unfolding of events within the GFFA. I, however, pointed out that, since my most basic/consistent/simple envisionment of the GFFA already includes within its bounds at least two other distinct science fiction franchises (Firefly/Serenity, which I believe its creator, Joss Whedon, has textually implied is set in the far-flung future of the Earth and humanity detailed in Dollhouse, and Caprica/Battlestar Galactica), things (like the history of humanity within the GFFA) are fairly complex/complicated already, and quite firmly opined that, even with a ’verse as big as the GFFA, I really didn’t need any more excuses to add to that complexity by trying to shoehorn in even more franchises. I also told her that, since I mostly satisfy my urge to “save” characters from other shows/books/movies/etc. by modeling original and/or EU characters after them, anyway, I didn’t need to indulge in anything so drastic as an outright crossover, and, since most of my experience in crossovers tended to be of the not very good variety, didn’t think I would ever be writing any crossovers for the GFFA.

And at this point I really do believe that readers should note that ideas really are insidious little things and, once they’ve decided to work their way within a person’s mind, it really can be next to impossible to dislodge the damnable creatures once they’ve seeded themselves and sunk their roots in someone’s mind, especially once a muse decides to seize hold of a couple and ride them for all that they’re worth. (Readers should probably also note that, in my case especially, it is never a good idea to say “never” about anything, because it seems to make the muses dig in their heels and decide to be contrary just for the sake of contrariness. The muses seem to enjoy making me have to eat my words.) Within days of this initial discussion, about three things happened in rapid succession: one, I made the mistake of poking about in some old story files for works set in ’verses other than that of the GFFA and rediscovered my sputtering indignation over the horrid treatment certain characters have received in said ’verses; two, my good friend and idea beta, in following through on a suggestion I had made previously that she would enjoy the show The Big Bang Theory, proceeded to watch more of the show than I’d managed to watch at that point in time and then to tell me all about how absolutely dreadfully Sheldon’s friends had treated him, in the opening show for season three; and three, for some reason or another, in a response to one of the emails we’d traded about various science fiction and/or fantasy ’verses that have beings in them similar to Force ghosts/Force spirits, my friend mentioned a show called Torchwood and I, in an alarmingly insane fit of indulgence of my own curiosity (since I had absolutely no idea whatsoever what the show was about, having never even really heard of it before, aside from seeing the name pop up in certain fanfic circles), decided I should rent the first disc of that show from Netflix and give it a try.

Hundreds of traded emails later on the subject of a melting pot sort of crossover involving about a dozen different franchises, I was so thoroughly bitten by the Doctor/Jack bug that I declared I had to write them a story of some kind and fix things for them before I could concentrate enough to sit down and attempt to tackle the project we’d come to refer to as the MCoD (or Massive Crossover of Doom). I also told my friend that since I was basically abandoning last year’s (2009’s) NaNo project (of about 300,000 words) unfinished, I would write this story, finish the NaNo, and then I would have a clear conscience to work on the MCoD for this year’s (2010’s) NaNo project.

However, dozens of hours of Torchwood and Dr. Who episodes and audio books later and roughly 90,000 words into what was originally supposed to be a short fix-it type of story (modeled after the “five times” AU stories that are fairly popular among fanfic writers on the LJ) that would follow through on a couple of the more obvious chances that Jack and the Doctor have (and which are ruined/squandered/not taken) in canon for a happily ever after together - which, at that point, had become “When the Doctor Met the Captain: Ten Times the Doctor Could’ve Done Right by Captain Jack Harkness, After First Meeting Him Properly . . . And One Time Jack Didn’t Exactly Give Him a Choice in the Matter (Not to Mention the One Time When the Doctor’s Companions Didn’t Give Either One of Them Much of a Choice in the Matter, Either),” a story with thirteen projected parts, since all of the twelve different scenarios for a happily ever after were meant to follow from the same basic scenario for when the Doctor and the Captain first properly meet, face-to-face, as the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness, and which my idea beta and I were tentatively making plans to eventually make a fanmix for, with songs sung primarily by John Barrowman (the fellow who plays Captain Jack) and Clay Aiken (a very talented singer she had turned me on to in the meantime, during part of our ongoing off and on music sharing/trading, many of whose songs eerily echoed a lot of the mood of the story) - I came home from work one day to a note that my mom had been forced to take my dad to the emergency room because an injury to his back taken months previously in a bad fall at his place of work was apparently negatively affecting his ability to use his legs. And it is at that point that things really changed for me.

Anyone who’s read some of the recent entries I’ve made on my LJ will know that this would eventually be why/how we would discover that my dad’s in basically the earliest stages of one of the (thankfully) least aggressive forms of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells that negatively affects the bones and usually, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, will end up shutting a victim’s kidneys down (resulting in death), since it breaks the bones down and all of that excess dissolved calcium and whatnot end up clogging the kidneys and causing too much damage for them to keep functioning. I’m not going to go into all of that again here. Suffice to say that, from basically the end of July through September, I was such an absolute wreck that I had to stop writing completely, because my frame of mind was so bad that I knew that anything I might try to write would end up becoming at least as dark and ugly and twisted as the badly gone wrong attempt at doing a character study piece for Ferus Olin I ended up with when I insisted on trying to write during another personally extremely successful time, when the family was trying to deal with my Grandma having to start kidney dialysis due to the amyloidosis caused by her bad rheumatoid arthritis (after a nasty scare involving a trip to the hospital) and my sister was going through one of her more . . . colorful periodic cycles of drama and was threatening to move back home from Texas.

(Anyone who’s interested in seeing just how badly excess stress and sleep deprivation can warp my writing, by the way, can just mosey over to my LJ or my account on ff.net and read the story titled “Ferus Olin: The Evolution of Darth Kra’taral Out of Vídharr Sáthiet Orumé Myrthinus Yroídas Cuilrych.” I, however, wouldn’t recommend it for readers who tend to be triggered by violence, especially sexual violence. Everything from point fifty-three onwards on the list of one hundred and eleven points is basically one big, ugly, writhing bundle of triggers, in the opinion of my admittedly somewhat easily triggered self.)

(Also, unfortunately, odds are that the twelve part story about the Doctor and Jack is never going to get finished, given the fact that even thinking about it too hard kind of makes me want to puke. The fact is that I can’t even get within a mental distance of about ten feet from that story without remembering all the crap with the hospital and the doctors not being able to decide what was wrong with my dad and then the traumatic shock of finding out it was cancer and, well, I just can’t deal with all of that crap well enough to focus sufficiently to do anything with the story. I know how it’s supposed to go. I blocked it out roughly way before I started writing. One of these days, I really hope to be able to deal with it enough to post what I wrote of it somewhere, in the hopes that someone else will do something with the rest of the ideas for the various parts that weren’t complete when my dad first went into the hospital this summer.)

I am pretty much still as (relatively) sane as I am now due to the fact that, roughly at the same time my dad was being hospitalized for his back, my best friend and idea beta introduced me to an insanely talented singer/actor/dancer/all around entertainer by the name of Adam Lambert. And, after getting past an initially cranky headache-induced bad reaction to his real debut album, “For Your Entertainment,” I discovered that there is some bizarre quality to this man’s voice that literally seems to turn off some kind of switch for worry and anxiety and ceaseless imagining of worst case scenarios in my brain. I spent most of August and September emailing her constantly and listening to Adam on a continuous loop in my MP3 player. Towards the end of September (sensing, perhaps, that I was ready for another distraction, since things were going relatively well with my dad and his treatment for the multiple myeloma), my friend brought up the MCoD idea again, and, somehow or another, between talks about the GFFA and The Big Bang Theory and music, I ended up revising an old list of possibilities for who would be brought over from which ’verse to the GFFA when and why in such a way that not one but two real world musicians ended up being on the list. By the time October rolled around, I was once again sold on the notion of writing the MCoD for this year’s (2010) NaNo project.

I should probably ask that Clay Aiken forgive me, at this point. I blame Sheldon Cooper entirely for the Clay Kitten phenomenon. (Anyone who’s seen The Big Bang Theory can probably figure out the nickname, given Sheldon’s fascination with the “Soft Kitty” song. Readers unfamiliar with that television show can rest assured that this will also be explained in the course of the MCoD story.) I am heartily sorry if having a character in a multiple level crossover fanfic who’s deliberately modeled on him and his life (up to a certain point, anyway) offends Clay. I would similarly ask that Adam Lambert forgive me except that I can’t do so with a straight face since a version of him has lodged itself so deeply in my brain that there is essentially an avatar of him running about helping to police my nightmares when I sleep and making all sorts of random (and usually all kinds of entertaining, or at least distracting, which is what I get the feeling he’s going for, sometimes) remarks when I’m awake, to help keep me from drifting into dangerous territory, thought-wise. So. While I am perfectly aware of the fact that the Adam playing merry havoc in my brain and the real life Adam Lambert are in no way, shape, or form anything at all alike and certainly aren’t the same person, really, I nonetheless opine that the Adam who’s ended up as part of the cast of this story is entirely the Glam One’s own fault for being so damned fabulous and glittery and shiny and warm and caring and all freakin’ kinds of awesome. (Adam, sweetheart, you don’t know this and probably never will, but you’re a sanity saver and I adore you. I’d like to be half as brave and as good as you are, someday, when I finally grow up. You’re a unique and indescribably gorgeous soul and I really hope you just keep on being your awesomely glam self and ignore the small-minded, hard-hearted, fearful hate-mongering bigots of the world.)

So. This is how I happen to be writing a melting pot type of crossover set in the GFFA of SW (which, as I’ve said before, I envision as including Firefly/Serenity, which I believe its creator, Joss Whedon, has textually implied is set in the far-flung future of the Earth and humanity he’s detailed in Dollhouse, and Caprica/Battlestar Galactica) with characters from about a dozen different other franchises (some of them detailed in more than one show/series), with two real world musicians worked into the mix, too, by being written as if they exist as part of the regular human population on the versions of Earth in two ’verses (in one case necessitating the addition of a whole other ’verse to the list, in order to keep that person happy, since I’m apparently such a sap that I will give in to the pouting of my own mental constructs). The initial idea for this story came about because of my idea beta and best friend (fancyspinner), so I am blaming her entirely. Erhm. That is to say, I am dedicating this whole blasted thing to her. The character of Sheldon Cooper has played plot enabler and devil’s advocate since roughly mid-March of this year, so he is also largely to blame for this. As for the final form that this story seems determined to take, regarding who’s coming to the GFFA and when and why, well, that’s all Adam’s fault, since he’s the one who made me have to go back and tailor my list again to make room for him. Readers in need of someone to foist blame on can take their pick between Adam, Sheldon, and my best friend. Readers concerned about the state of my sanity should note that I have never made any promises regarding its uncracked nature and, in any case, should keep in mind that sanity is one of the first things that starts to fray apart, given enough sleep deprivation and stress.

2). For readers who don’t get the whole thing with the GFFA being big enough to incorporate the ’verses of Firefly/Serenity (and, thus, Dollhouse) and Caprica/Battlestar Galactica, here’s my (rather long winded) two cents on the subject. For the record, I do not consider the whole GFFA and Firefly/Serenity (and also Dollhouse) and Caprica/Battlestar Galactica arrangement to fall into the category of crossover. I have not and will not be randomly plucking up characters from one ’verse and plunking them down in the literal space of another ’verse, when it comes to these three (well, three and a half, maybe) franchises. Instead (although this may not become apparent during the course of this specific story), I have combined the spaces and histories of ’verses that, at first glance, seem to be distinctly separate, which, in my opinion, is a far different sort of thing, especially given the fact that the authors/creators of the ’verses in question have supplied within each of the ’verses in question certain tangible details that support the notion that, somehow, these seemingly disparate ’verses are indeed meant to be thought of as a part of one much larger overall ’verse.

See, the 03-K64 Firefly-class mid-bulk transport with standard radion accelerator core can be found in three seemingly quite distinctly different ’verses - Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity; the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series (and, thus, the ’verse of Caprica/Battlestar Galactica); and Star Wars (in the EU) - as noted/referenced/documented in the following places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_%28Firefly_vessel%29 and http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Firefly-class_mid-bulk_transport and http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/References_in_the_Re-imagined_Series and http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Miniseries,_Analysis and http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Fleet_(RDM) and, for the ship herself in Joss Whedon’s creations, on http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/HomePage and, more specifically, on http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/Serenity I know that most people will probably think I’m over-reacting to that and write it all off as just another instance of insider jokes or a series creator making a nod to a source of inspiration, but the way I look at it, the Firefly-class transport ship is just as much a part of Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity ’verse as the Millenium Falcon is a part of Lucas’ GFFA, and having that ship show up in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series and the SW Expanded Universe is like having Lucas admit that Whedon’s specific Earth-That-Was is also the near-mythical birthplace of humanity for the GFFA and like having Whedon also admit that the ships that left Earth-That-Was didn’t all necessarily end up in the same place and that the planet that would become known as Earth-That-Was is the second Earth, the Earth that the survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Battlestar Galactica and the offspring of the old Thirteenth Colony (the original Earth, the world of the first Cylons) eventually came to call their home. It just - it makes everything having to do with SW so much bigger, for me, because it’s like Lucas is finally saying it’s okay to assume that the humanity of his GFFA not only came from Earth at some point and that it’s okay to expand the history of SW back to include more about Earth, but that this history of Earth branches out not only to the GFFA but to the whole of the Serenity/Firefly ’verse (Reavers and terraforming and all) and the whole of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica ’verse (Cylons and genocide and maybe mythical but maybe all too real and not precisely godly deities and all). and http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Serenity_(ship) and http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Firefly-class#.2703_Firefly_Model

While I know that some people will probably think I’m over-reacting to that and write it all off as just another instance of insider jokes or a couple of series creators/developers making nods to a source of inspiration, the way I look at it, the Firefly-class transport ship is just as much a part of Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity ’verse as the Millenium Falcon is a part of Lucas’ GFFA, and having that ship show up in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series and the SW Expanded Universe is like having Lucas admit that Whedon’s specific Earth-That-Was is also the near-mythical birthplace of humanity for the GFFA and like having Whedon also tacitly admit that the ships that left Earth-That-Was didn’t all necessarily end up in the same place and that the planet that would become known as Earth-That-Was in Firefly/Serenity is also the second Earth, the Earth that the allied survivors of the Twelve Colonies and the seemingly human descendants of the supposedly “lost” Thirteenth Colony (the original Earth, the world of the first Cylons) eventually came to call their home, at the end of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.

I know some readers will also think I’m over-reacting and/or reaching, to imagine that the Earth-That-Was of Joss Whedon’s Firefly/Serenity ’verse and the Earth of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse ’verse are the same, meaning that the events of the two ’verses are, in fact, in the same continuity (i.e., the same ’verse, if with several hundred years of history separating the events contained by the two shows and etc.), but there are so many similarities between the technology used by the Alliance to shape River into a weapon (especially the way in which the Alliance remotely activates her programming, during the course of events in the Serenity film, in the Maidenhead Bar, via subliminal commands encoded virally - i.e., by computer - in a Fruity Oaty Bars commercial, and Simon turns it off again, through the use of a vocally issued “safeword” phrase that was embedded in her psyche during her so-called behavioral conditioning) and the technology used to handle (i.e., program, activate, deactivate, etc.) the Actives or Dolls of the Dollhouse ’verse that I can’t help but imagine that, if the morons at FOX hadn’t succeeding in prematurely killing Dollhouse, in much the same way they killed Firefly, Joss would have eventually made it much plainer that he intended fans to view Dollhouse as a prequel series, of sorts, for his Firefly/Serenity ’verse. In any case, readers interested in exploring the similarities in technology between the two Joss Whedon ’verses could do worse than to go and poke about on the Dollhouse database (which can be found at http://dollhouse.wikia.com/wiki/Dollhouse_Wiki for those who’re interested) or to go and read the main article on Dollhouse on the Wikipedia (which can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollhouse_(TV_series) for those who’re interested) and follow some of the links to other articles dealing with the ’verse of the series, alright? It’ll be a lot safer, in the long run, if readers simply go with me on the assumption that Earth-That-Was and the Earth of Dollhouse are one and the same, even though the importance of that fact probably won’t be all that vital until much later on in this AU series, after the events depicted in this story!

It just - it makes everything having to do with SW so much bigger, for me, because it’s like Lucas (the Flanneled One himself!) is finally saying that it’s okay to assume that the humans of his GFFA not only came from our Earth at some point and that it’s okay to expand the history of SW and humans in the GFFA back to include more about Earth, but that this history of Earth and of humanity branches out not only to the GFFA but to the whole of the Whedonverse that includes the Firefly/Serenity ’verse (Reavers and terraforming and all) and the Dollhouse ’verse (Actives or Dolls, handlers, wipes, imprinting tech, body switching, implants, and all) and the whole of the Caprica/Battlestar Galactica ’verse (Cylons and multiple attempts at genocide and maybe mythical but maybe all too real and not precisely godly deities and all).

It’s so easy to imagine that the galaxy of Earth-That-Was (our galaxy, the Milky Way) and the galaxy and/or galaxies of the re-imagined BSG and Caprica could either be next door neighbors or else one and the same (depending on whether or not one believes that the final jump, the jump to the planet that would also be known as Earth to the allied survivors of the re-imagined BSG, took them to a different galaxy or not) and either close to or even (in the case of one or the other) essentially next to the GFFA (in the opposite direction as the neighboring galaxy from which the Yuuzhan Vong hail, perhaps) and that the physical space of the Firefly/Serenity ’verse could be tucked away in some out of the way corner of the GFFA, like the Rishi Maze - the so-called dwarf galaxy or spiral nebula/satellite galaxy that’s somewhere out from Wild Space, off one of the spiral arms of the GFFA, kind of in between the GFFA and its nearest neighbor (and there’s actually at least seven of these weird little orbiting satellite dwarf galaxy things attached to the GFFA that the Republic knows about, according to SW EU and Star Wars: The Essential Atlas. Scientifically speaking, given that our own Milky Way has over a dozen dwarf galaxies in orbit around it - acting as satellite galaxies, in other words - and that it is believed by some that at least one such dwarf galaxy is in the process of merging with the Milky Way, odds are that the GFFA has more than just seven of these dwarf galaxies in orbit around it) - that, to me, it makes more sense than not to simply accept the fact that these three ’verses are meant to be viewed (at least from a distance) as one larger ’verse.

Given the somewhat odd lay-out and composition of the stretch of space home to the Alliance (a seemingly relatively small cluster of stars with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons suitable for terraforming in their orbits, all close enough together for sub-light travel to and from these planets and moons to be practical, but with a large area of space known as the Black acting as the majority of its border, keeping it from being practical to attempt to push further out into space), it seems practical to assume that this is a very small dwarf galaxy in orbit around a much larger galaxy, at a distance great enough to make reaching that greater galaxy highly problematic for ships travelling at sub-light speeds. For purposes of my SW AU series, readers should know that, from the perspective of members of the Republic and/or the New Alliance of the Republic, the Alliance resides in an extremely small (relatively speaking) dwarf galaxy in orbit around the much greater bulk fo the main disc of the GFFA (i.e., in a satellite galaxy to the GFFA), labelled Companion Isk on the more up to date and detailed maps of known space in the GFFA.

Given that the events of SW canon (the movies) are supposed to happen “a long time ago” and “in a galaxy far, far away” from the point of view of folks here on our modern-day Earth (who often have such difficulty thinking in terms beyond our own lifetimes, and to whom the distances between the planets in our own solar system still seem incredibly vast, given the current limits of our technology) and yet that the GFFA has somehow had humans in it for a long, long time, it also seems practical to me to link the mythology and actual history of Earth-That-Was (including the history of Earth, as recounted in Dollhouse), the “all of this has happened before, and all of this has happened again” cycles of the re-imagined BSG (and its ongoing prequel series, Caprica), and the events responsible for the arrival of humans in the GFFA (events that I interpret as having a time element to them), and to tie it all to the Force and to the existence of various entities of the Force (Force ghosts, Force spirits, etc.), especially given the mysterious, powerful nature of some of the characters in the re-imagined BSG series (characters who behave in an oddly similar manner both to Force ghosts and to my own concept of Force spirits or pure entities of the Force, characters who are referred to or alluded to as gods and also as angels and as harbingers/avatars of some greater universal power).

Thus, my reasoning behind literally placing the Firefly/Serenity ’verse within a far-flung corner of the GFFA, and, thus, my logic for tying the existence of various entities of the Force, the original bringing of humans to the GFFA, the arrival of the humans whose descendants would eventually make up the Alliance in that area of space, and the presence and nature of several mysterious beings within the Caprica/Battlestar Galactica ’verse together (though, again, some of the latter won’t be fully revealed/explained until later works in this AU series). Readers who are confused by this - who may not be overly familiar with the Caprica/Battlestar Galactica ’verse (which, by the way, again, is still in process, given that the prequel series to the re-imagined BSG series, Caprica, is only just now really getting started) or with the ’verse of Joss Whedon’s Firefly series and the movie Serenity and various comics and such also set in the same ’verse, not to mention the ’verse of Whedon’s Dollhouse (which, as far as I know, currently only encompasses the two seasons of the show) - may want to seriously consider renting and watching the various tv shows, miniseries, made for tv movies, and movies that make up those ’verses, as well as finding copies of (or at least looking up and reading about) the comics. As a sci-fi fanatic, I heartily recommend both ’verses!!!

3). Readers should be aware of the fact that I’m the kind of writer who, when it comes to a ’verse like the GFFA, tends to start off a story every time from the same certain basic understanding of the ’verse, in terms of canon and characters, and then proceed to introduce small differences that snowball until events can change so drastically that, for example, the outcome of Revenge of the Sith can essentially be entirely thwarted. Although the events described at the beginning of this story, with a very different reaction by the High Council to the events of the mission to Korriban, may seem like the initial point of divergence for this AU, the truth is somewhat more complex and changes to events and to the personal experiences of certain characters actually began long before the events of The Phantom Menace. However, for simplicity’s sake, readers can assume that most of the events of canon up through the Korriban mission (with a few major and minor exceptions, most of which should become clear during the course of the story) occur mostly as depicted in the EU and on film, and, more importantly, that past events of this AU series mostly mirror those that occur as I’ve depicted or will eventually depict in my other big SW AU series, You Became to Me. Specifically, the AU version of events surrounding the Outbound Flight Project, as depicted in my So Much for Outbound Flight story, happen in much the same way in this ’verse, which is a definite departure from events as depicted in the GFFA canon!

Readers should also please note that, since I try to keep the basic details and backstory for my SW AU series as consistent as possible, this essential sameness applies to ancient (and even a certain amount of more recent) history, certain cultural types and languages associated with specific planets and populations, etc. Thus, clone soldiers and others who end up working in close proximity to them might come out with a thing or three in Mando’a; it can be assumed that the non-Basic languages spoken by humans on Alderaan, Chandrila, Grizmallt, and Naboo are all variants of various Gaelic languages (and that certain settlers in Alliance space are going to be at least partially familiar with older versions of those tongues, their ancestors having hailed from Gaelic-speaking countries); the Chiss are linked with events surrounding the dissolution of the Rakatan Infinite Empire and Cheunh, though an EU language, has also been expanded beyond the bare few words recorded in the EU, to (hopefully!) make the language seem more authentic; Olys Corellisi essentially is to Basic as Old English is to modern English, as well as being largely Germanic/Scandinavian in nature (and therefore likely at least somewhat familiar to settlers in Alliance space whose ancestors hailed from Germanic/Scandinavian countries); and etc.!

Also, when it comes to the dating system used in this story, please be aware that the Battle of Geonosis happens at the same time in this story’s AU ’verse as it happens in all of my other SW AU stories (as extrapolated from canon) to date. In other words, a version of the Battle of Geonosis will also occur in this ’verse on Holiday 2 or Productivity Day of the Galactic Standard Calendar, the day that falls in between month five, Nelona, and month six, Helona, in year 25,001 After Founding (of the Galactic Republic) or 1,000 After Ruusan Reformations, okay?

4). Because of the way in which I was initially introduced to the GFFA (as a young child, given a VHS copy of what would come to be known as A New Hope to watch), I usually tend to visualize and/or hear a lot of what I’m imagining when I’m writing, and that means that most of the SW characters I write about - be they canon characters from one of the six saga films, EU characters from the books, comics, television shows, etc., or original characters specifically created to help populate the background of my stories - tend to be modeled in some way on individuals who actually exist in real life. Thus, I have a rather extensive list of various real world individuals I have essentially “cast” as specific EU and original characters (which I am constantly having to add to and/or modify, as more EU materials are released and I write more in the GFFA and as I come across folks in other medium who strike me as being deserving in some way of being included in my SW works). Some of these casting decisions are, for me, basically set in stone, given the amount of time that the characters have already spent parading about in the back of my brain, prattling on and telling me about what they’ve done or are planning to do, in various stories. Others are more flexible and could still end up being modified before all is said and done (and, in fact, I’ve had to recently make a few alterations to that list, since I’m now writing an actual crossover with characters from other franchises finding their ways to the GFFA).

Since my expanded outlook on the GFFA includes two other science fiction ’verses that are primarily visually-based (either in television, film, or comic/graphic novel form), this also holds true for any original characters who might hail from the area of space claimed by the Alliance or from any area of space where the offspring of survivors/travelers from the Caprica/Battlestar Galactica might be located or could end up journeying to. Or at least it will hold true, once I’ve gotten around to writing more about such areas of space and such people in my SW AU ’verse.

In any case, for readers who’re interested in knowing what some of the characters who populate my overall SW AU ’verse look like, specifically, to me, I’d highly recommend perusing these lists, which are up on my LJ and are, conveniently, labeled such things as “my reupdated cast of SW characters (EU, original, and otherwise), part one” through “part seven” (currently). (The “revamped list of handmaiden characters cast and other notable Nabooians” parts one and two are really more applicable for other parts of the You Became to Me SW AU series than this one, though I’d also recommend that folks who’re interested in knowing how I visualize my characters take a look at them.) In the case of folks who may have obviously been cast as older adults (or vice versa) than they are going to be for the majority of this story, please, please, just use your imagination! Anyone with any questions or suggestions about specific casting choices can feel free to email me at Polgarawolf@yahoo.com and/or simply leave a comment for the story or the casting lists! As of right now, the most current versions of the basic casting list can be found at http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/100200.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/100519.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/111485.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/140183.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/141147.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/144796.html http://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/157091.html

5). The epigraphs at the beginnings of the various parts/chapters of this story are more inspired by my reading of Frank Herbert’s classic (and quite brilliant) science fiction series Dune at a rather impressionable age than the rather recent tendency of various EU authors to include informative epigraphs (mainly in the form of epigrams/quotations) in the chapter headers of their novels. If folks think that certain of these epigraphs sound familiar, then odds are that’s because many of them are going to be largely based on either famous quotations and sayings/proverbs from the real world or else on dialogue or important passages from either the SW ’verse or one of the other ’verses yielding up characters for this crossover. Logically speaking, for a ’verse with the sheer scope of the GFFA, with as much history and as many different sentient species spread out across such vast distances, the odds are quite good that somebody somewhere in the GFFA would, at some point, write or say or otherwise communicate virtually anything/everything we mere humans could ever come up with on our little Earth, so I would appreciate it if readers would please not fuss about whether or not it’s realistic to imagine someone from the SW ’verse expressing a belief very like that of a fictional character or historical personage here on Earth, especially given that I’m trying to use this story as a way to help expand the history of the GFFA (and humans in it) back to our Earth!

6). In case it’s not clear from the author’s disclaimer, the ’verses being crossed with the SW GFFA in this story/series include the following: the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel ’verse (emphasis on Buffy); The Big Bang Theory ’verse; The Dresden Files ’verse (emphasis on the Jim Butcher books, rather than the short-lived television series loosely based on the books); the Harry Potter ’verse; the Dr. Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures ’verse (emphasis on Torchwood and Dr. Who); the Criminal Minds ’verse; the Bones ’verse; the Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ’verse (emphasis on Xena); the Stargate: Atlantis/Stargate: SG-1/Stargate: Universe ’verse (emphasis on SG: A); the Supernatural ’verse; the Smallville ’verse; the Chuck ’verse; the Fringe ’verse; the Dante Valentine ’verse of Lilith Saintcrow’s books; and the world of Velgarth (the planetary setting created by author Mercedes Lackey for the Valdemar Saga novels). I suppose one might also consider this story something of a crossover with the real world, due to the presence of two real life singers/performers in the story; however, as explained elsewhere, those two individuals are going to be treated more as if they’re characters from two specific ’verses included on the list given above, so readers shouldn’t be confused by references that place those individuals in those specific fictional ’verses, okay? Any hints as to materials/characters/storylines/etc. originating from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica/Caprica ’verse or the Firefly/Serenity ’verse or even the Dollhouse ’verse can be chalked up to my basic viewpoint of the GFFA.

7). Discerning readers will note pretty much right away that every single one of the ’verses that are being crossed with the GFFA here are in some way already AU, even prior to the moment when the individuals in question are going to be called out of their ’verses and into the GFFA. Please don’t be confused by this: I figure the multitude of AU takes on various different ’verses is actually more in keeping with both the whole “multiple Earths” theory of the multiverse and the overall theory of the omniverse, so I’ve deliberately changed things even prior to taking folks out of their ’verses. In some cases, these changes will be a lot more obvious than in others. If anyone is confused over what is and what isn’t different in these specific ’verses from how they are in the canon, readers can always feel free to contact me with questions, okay? I promise I’ll try very hard to keep up with emails involving questions about this work!

8). I would personally prefer it if readers could be at least somewhat surprised by certain of the eventual pairings projected for this AU story and its overall series. However, for the sake of those who might not read if they can’t know what to expect (and for those of y’all who prefer to be surprised, I’d advise you to skip straight from here to the story), in terms of romantic couplings, it’s safe to say that this story/series promotes the following: Obi-Wan/Giles; Anakin/Harry Potter; Cedric/Tru Veld (and, eventually, Cedric/Tru/Roan Lands); Sheldon/Clay; Penny/Harry Dresden; Adam/Thomas Raith; Bail/Breha; Quinlan Vos/Khaleen Hentz; Roan Shryne/Garen Muln; Ry-Gaul/Soara Antara; Padmé/Sabé/Ian Lago; Buffy/Faith; Willow/Tara; Xander/Xanatos; Dean/Castiel; Sam/Lex; John Winchester/Joyce Summers; Siri Tachi/Dr. Grodin; Rodney/Carson; Sheppard/Bates; Brown/Cadman; Zelenka/Heightmeyer; Spencer Reid/Zach Addy; Ellie/Awesome; Chuck/Bryce/Daniel; Joxer/Hope; Xena/Gabrielle; Peter/Olivia; Lando/Rachel; Han/Tia Organa; and Jack/the Doctor.

For those who are interested, this story (such as it is. Please keep in mind that this is not a story I am attempting to work on at the moment!) can currently be found on ff.net at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6920259/1/Star_Wars_Choosing_to_Shine_Saving_Benighted_Souls