August 21 is Fanfic Writers' Appreciation Day! I took part in @renegadepublishing​‘s book gifting appreciation event, and have created my first copy for an author.

One of the reasons I started binding was to capture some of the older works that may not have been archived, or still online at all. That's not the case with this collection, but I did reach back into my past fandom history for this one.

I've always loved Jane St Clair's Star Wars fanfic. Her work's got a certain deliberate, luminous feel to it and has stuck with me, so I collected her Phantom Menace stories into a single volume.

It all started with Vader. And those haunting metal wings.

I didn’t realize how many of these I actually created! There was just so much going on this year and art really is my escape, my chance to explore, and my chance to emote safely. While I have a lot on my mind in terms of emotional expression for more recent event of my life. I’m really glad I had this project as an exploration on world symbolism of birds and practice with Krita.

I really am thankful for @jasontoddiefor for not only creating and writing such vivid and emotional works for the Star Wars fandom. But for his encouraging comments and enabling my creativity.

The Phantom Menace Appreciation Week; Day One (x)

↳ Favourite Scene

This is my favourite lightsaber sequence in all of Star Wars. It’s got such intensity and such urgency. Obi-Wan needs to end this quickly so he can get to Qui-Gon; maybe it’s not too late to save him. The stakes are so high.

My heart sits in my throat every time. Obi-Wan is doing his best, but it’s not clear it’s going to be enough. His master, one of the best duelists in the entire order has just been bested - how is he, the apprentice, meant to do better?

All excellent questions! ❤

Yeah, Padmé having a nickname (Riptide) as Queen is a headcanon!  One of the (many) Naboo headcanons that @evaceratops​ and I developed prior to beginning FWS was that water is a central aspect of Nabooian mythos: it factors into their legends, their livelihoods, their values and priorities and the way they viewed politics.  The highest mark of praise one can offer to a Nabooian is the ability to mimic the properties of water: steady, persistent, flexible, simultaneously powerful and destructive and yet seemingly harmless.

When the Trade Federation heard that the Naboo had elected a fourteen year old girl as Queen, they thought taking the planet would be an easy task.  A simple matter of a blockade, the threat of invasion, and certainly the young Queen would be too frightened to fight back.  Little did they realize, Padmé Naberrie Amidala is like a riptide current: seemingly calm and innocuous on the surface, but lethal and driven underneath.  Her actions during TPM earned her the nickname.