Paper Flowers.

Currently have 27,332 words so far. Not bad. Not bad at all. And I'm starting to feel for the first time that they're not crap either. Phew.

Currently have 48,500 words. *Rubs wrists* Jesus I wrote a lot. And wonderful news -- I got over at least part of my writer's block regarding how-is-Mara-going-to-stall-in-time-for-Lando-and-co-to-save-the-day. And I wrote a lovely scene regarding Terminus where he gets thrown a bit of a bone for his troubles after all that's happened to him. I'm just relieved that I managed to resolve at least one part of what was bothering me so much -- which is fucking awesome. 

Currently have 45,028 words. Nearly to the end. Admittedly had some writer's block on the Piett thing, so I decided to go over to Endor for a while instead. Still, I think I did well with Han's internal monologue as well as just Threepio recapping things to the Ewoks. By the way, sorry if it took a while to post an update; let's say that LJ was being difficult for a moment. Anyway, better get some sleep. 

Currently have 42,214 words. Jesus Christ. Anyway, I'm doing pretty good -- I'm nearly there, at any rate. I still have a lot of ground to cover, of course, but I think that everything's going pretty well. Elaborated more on some of the post-Bespin angst and the bonds between the crew (which I think are definitely the heart here of Before the Dawn, We Are Legend, and this. It's really the bonds between the crew that are one of the things that make it all so wonderful to write), and wrote a bit of the ending -- which is something! Actually having an ending in sight, or some semblance of it. I admit I've been angsting a bit about how to resolve the ending to make sure it doesn't come off as a disappointment (as I may have said before, writing the final installment is a bitch), so having some semblance of an ending is a relief. 

Currently have 38,431 words. Jesus. Anyway, wrote a pretty powerful, pretty frightening bit with Palpatine on the Death Star. I'm liking how Palpatine's shaping up at least -- he's proving to be pretty fucking terrifying (even if I'm wondering if his change in mood is a bit sudden. Then again, he's likely pissed off thanks to two of his apprentices not only betraying him but turning to -- the horrors! -- the Rebellion). And I better head off to bed. Not feeling great -- not really sick, but just kind of feeling really crappy. 

Currently have (holy shit) 31,697 words. (Ouch) Been doing pretty well so far -- trying to work out the logistics of the duel with the Emperor, which, whenever I've been going over it in my head, it's like I'm back playing KOTOR in my mind (not that I'm really complaining, but I guess I'm trying to map out how exactly it's all going to work). I admit for the duel I'm drawing a bit on the duel with Darth Nihilus in KOTOR II (when the Exile -- or Meetra, depending on whether you regard TOR as part of your KOTOR canon or not -- Mandalore and Visas basically throw down with the Lord of Hunger. Some people thought the Nihilus fight was too easy, but me? I think even before the TSLRCM -- which I recommend because it's awesome -- Nihilus was quite the opponent. That's my opinion, of course, and I'm getting off track) -- basically, a whole group of people against a Sith Lord who can still hold his own very much. And I've kind of changed the Emperor's ROTJ characterization a bit to take his ROTS characterization into account -- mostly in terms of how manipulative he can be. (My headcanon in regards to his original ROTJ characterization was that he got really cocky regarding Luke -- everything's going according to plan except, whoops, Luke doesn't seem to want to be his marionette. And later on, neither does Vader. In ROTS, he wasn't as cocky and was definitely at his prime -- in my opinion -- there, even if he was no slouch in ROTJ either) And I've been trying to make sure Mara doesn't accidentally fulfill that vision in the cave. So that part's pretty complicated. I know it's also weird doing scenes out of order, but it's always kind of worked for me -- I can get to the parts that I want to write and if the build up ends up different than what I expected, well...revision. I know this is getting pretty interesting. 

Currently have 28,563 words. *Rubs wrists* Ouch. Anyway, think I got two good segments done -- Mara and co.'s capture, and the lead-up to the confrontation with the Emperor. I think I got into Mara's thoughts pretty well and staged a good action scene, which I admit, I'm amazed at, as I'm not terribly good with action scenes. Emotion, humor, scary stuff -- those I can do, but action? Not so much. And I admit, I'm excited to see where this all ends up. 

First off, a very happy Thanksgiving to my f-list! I hope you all have been having a wonderful day.

Second off, currently have 62,908 words. Jesus. This was actually one of the easiest portions to write, because I like Lando one hell of a lot (he's one of my favorite Star Wars characters. I dunno, he's just charming, he's complex, and he's nigh impossible not to like. Helps that Billy Dee Williams does a great job in the role). That and it's really cool just getting inside his head when he ultimately ends up betraying Han (although also sad, because...y'know, let's say that things just get worse for our heroes. I mean, Empire Strikes Back could be subtitled Han Solo and Company and the Terrible Horrible No Good Really Bad Day just because of how much shit happens to them. I know it sounds redundant, but poor Han and company. I mean, Jesus). I've always found Lando's arc in Empire Strikes Back interesting, especially considering how they take what could be a black and white situation and paint it very gray. What Lando does is awful, but at the same time, he's doing it if only to protect his people, which makes me feel sorry for him. Honestly, whenever I watch Empire Strikes Back, I do feel bad for him, because he was in a pretty damn tight spot (and ends up getting screwed over by Vader anyway). Piett does a good job of adding gray on the Imperial side (as does Vader, later on), but Lando just adds some more gray...well, I guess in general. He's not betraying Han for the sake of it; he has genuinely good, human, understandable reasons for doing what he does, and it's one of many reasons that Empire Strikes Back is so awesome; it allows for shades of gray in between black and white. Black and white definitelly has a place as well, I think, but I've always found shades of gray to just open up more interesting story developments. That and it's more true to life as well; I think it's very rare that there's black and white in real life. (Emphasis on "rare", because I think there are instances when you can point out the good guys and the bad guys in a situation) But yeah, getting into Lando's point of view was actually pretty sad here, because he doesn't want to betray Han and the others (in fact, he's taken a liking to them), but he doesn't want Bespin to end up a wreck or the mining operation shut down. So Ventress has got him backed into a corner (and even bullied some of the others into going along with her).

So yeah, I'm also a bit exhilarated because I'm getting closer to the climax (which is going to be a pretty long haul, as Empire Strikes Back has a pretty complex climax -- you've got Luke and Vader's duel on one end and you've got Leia and the others trying to get Han back from Boba Fett on the other, and considering that Vader, Padme, Terminus and Luke are coming to Bespin with Mara, I have a feeling that things are going to get more complex from here. That and Vader and Terminus having to fight Ventress, which is going to no doubt break their hearts). And I think I got into Lando's head pretty well. A bit unsettlingly well. Kind of excited and nervous about all this, so yeah...I'm excited-nervous. 

Currently have -- Jesus Christ -- 44,358 words. *Rubs wrists* Jesus Christ. Anyway, I think I actually did pretty damn good in this department. I got into Ventress' head pretty well, and I'm pretty damn excited to see where her plan's going. And managed to bring in the whole Padme-being-Palpatine's-creation thing, which was good -- gotta keep track of those plot and character threads! I just hope I can finish my NaNo by the end of the month, as the month is speeding by pretty goddamn fast. (Can't believe it!)

Currently have 35,922 words today. Don't know if that's very good compared to my output yesterday, but that said, I think I did a pretty good job in terms of descriptions, moments of humor, etc. Which is at least good.