One universe is too small for Mara Jade and River Song

[rthstewart]

I know there are a few out here who follow this LJ, have read the Star Wars Expanded Universe, watched new Dr. Who, and like Doctor River Song.  For that admittedly very small space in the intersecting circles on the Venn diagram, Separated At Birth is my offering. I posted it on AO3, but that site is pretty wonky right now.  But here's the link in case it works better for you.  For the first time I've just removed a review from the story because yuck. 

Comments

[matt_doyle]

Fantastic.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

It was tremendous fun! Shame about the crap comment though!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks so much!!! Yeah, the comment was way creepy. At first I thought the person was telling me the story turned her on. They I realized it was straight out porn. Just, not what you wanted to see as the first feedback to a story. Blergh.

[min023.livejournal.com]

This was a lot of fun. Haven't read much SW for years, and Who isn't something that I've read widely, but I enjoyed this heaps.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I've not read SW in years either -- I stopped somewhere in the middle of the NJO because I got tired of the Vong and their gruesomeness. And Mara going on about spores invading her womb. UGH UGH UGH. I guess it got better and I know some people who are still reading but I sure don't have the energy for it anymore. But River and Mara are completely an OTP.

pie

[(Anonymous)]

Holy moly, that was entertaining. I do believe that is all that needs to be said.

Re: pie

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! Assuming you are not spam! You aren't spam are you? I had great fun with it.

[elouise82.livejournal.com]

I skimmed it - haven't had a chance to read it all the way through yet, but just skimming put a huge smile on my face. Darn it, Mara DESERVES some like-minded (read: destructive) female friends. She deserves more than just smugglers who appreciate her usefulness but can't really be called friends, and government officials/Jedi who can't forget her past. Like I said, I haven't made it to River yet in my spotty Who-watching, but I'm much more eager to, now.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Mara. Oh Mara. It's funny how different it all looks 16 years later and writing a character who is 10 years younger than the last time I did so. I was so focused on her final romance with Luke but really there is so much else there. She thinks she's special, she knows she's special, he gives her Darth Vader's lightsaber -- his father's lightsaber!! and he just DUMPS her to run off and hang out with world destroyers (Kyp) and all those other losers. So what does she do? Well, she dusts herself off and goes and lives her own life and is good at it. But where would she have ever had girlfriends? She obviously needs a friend or two who appreciates the same things she does -- a nice pair of shoes, a good con job, a sleek blaster that slides perfectly into the wrist holster.

A friend who is reading one of the newer SW books recently posted that reading something or other made her realize how much she missed Mara. And I do too.

[(Anonymous)]

'E'

I've never watched Dr. Who, so I approached the fic solely as a huge Mara Jade fan, but I thought you did a good job of portraying River for a new reader who's unfamiliar with her.

Having said that ... Oh, Mara. This fic makes me realize how much I miss Mara in canon. You made me remember the things that maker her so awesome: her ability to respond and bounce back, her level of control,the sheer amount of pleasure Mara took in her skills -- and the comment about her loving well made things is just so incredibly true to the character. I also liked your portrayal of Karrde. This makes me want to go back and re-read The Thrawn Trilogy again.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks. I know, MARA! And Karrde! and gawd, if I couldn't get them close to a semblance of right after all this time and all that water under the SW bridge (and the bridges burned) then I really have no business writing at all. I've not read Mara fic (pro or fan) in years and years. My original Mara/Luke fic still gets recs and bookmarked and as my a/n said, I just can't write her any other way. Though, this time around I did write her as younger and less ... hmm, mature? A little edgier? Less comfortable in her own skin, perhaps. She's so competent and that's something I think a lot of people forget about her. Mara is first and foremost, competent and confident in her competence Karrde is hugely important to her as a mentor and I think the more emotionally mature and wiser person she becomes arises from her steady sponsorship by Karrde. She's got some growing to do. I remember being OUTRAGED at the end of Last Command that all they did was touch hands but later agreed with Tim that that was as far as they could go, at that time. The intervening 10 years are especially hard on Luke.

And yeah, recently I've thought a lot about how that big not-a-romance I wrote 16 years compares with the characters and story I'm weaving now in H&M. They are very different, yet all four characters are emotionally damaged, Luke, Edmund and Mara as a result of their personal histories, and Morgan due to her neurological state. It's been interesting to think about. When I compare the stories, I see my own growth, but yet it's also clear to me that they are written by the same person.

And stopping now... really because egotistical much?

[readbystarlight.livejournal.com]

Absolutely loved this! SW expanded universe was my first love and Dr Who a new one. Loved the voices of Mara and River, slightly cynical and more than a bit crazy, respectively :) As well as both the shopping trip and the trip back to Wayland.
Also big tube of lipstick :) very fun!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. I would say SW EU was my first serious on line fandom too! I would sneak into a bookstore over the lunch hour to read HTTE. That was when I learned about RASSM and fan fic and toys. It was so much fun and once you line these two women up, you realize they have a lot in common! I really appreciate you telling me that you read and reviewed! Thank you!