Squishy Vic Series

The Star Wars wiki of fan invention.

The Squishy Vic Series, abbreviated as SVS, is a continuity of fanon founded by Victor Dorantes in 2005. The series is set in the Star Wars universe originally created by George Lucas, and intends to fit with Star Wars canon. Dorantes's series has undergone development since its conception in 2004 and new works are still in production as of 2009. The SVS includes numerous forms of media, including written works, reference guides, and video productions.

Among these are The Antrell Epoch duology of novels–Acceptance and Deliverance–which follow the adventures of the Jedi Order survivors Narod Antrell and Zeri Undis; the live-action web series The Darkness of Phydah, following the tribulations of Narod Antrell; the novella The Fallen, written from the viewpoint of the New Sith Empire loyalist Darth Malum; and two reference works, the essay Into the Realm of Star Wars and eBook The Essential Guide to the Squishy Vic Series.

Dorantes's works are available across the internet, and most are licensed under the Creative Commons. Dorantes's written works, from his novels to reference books, are available on Star Wars Fanon, the Star Wars wiki of fan invention, which is hosted by Wikia. Dorantes has also made some of the free downloads available on his personal website, which is hosted by MobileMe. His video work is hosted on the video hosting website YouTube.

Contents 1 Conception 2 Production 2.1 2004–2007 2.2 2008 2.3 2009 3 Plot overview 4 Media 4.1 Books 4.2 Guides 4.3 Video 5 Notes and references 6 External links

[edit] Conception

"What can I say? I love Star Wars and am very grateful Mr. Lucas founded it."

—Victor Dorantes^[src]

In May 2004, avid internet user Victor Dorantes joined TheForce.Net, a Star Wars-based website, and their Jedi Council Forums, where he participated in numerous Star Wars role playing games until November 2008.^[6] Since discovering Star Wars in the 1990s, Dorantes has been a devoted fan and collector, hence why he had dedicated several years to role playing.^[1] At first, he operated under the pseudonym "Carl Jones"^[7] until December 2004, when he received the nickname "Squishy Vic" from his then-girlfriend Jasmine Ramirez^[1] and began operating under that nickname.^[6]

During these times, especially between 2005 and 2006, Dorantes aspired to create his own fanon continuity within the Star Wars universe George Lucas had created in 1977. However, Dorantes intended to create stories out of the role playing games he created or participated in, and often times based his central characters around himself. Still, though, Dorantes was not satisfied with the plot of the stories he intended to create and wanted to work with something original that he had control over, unlike a role playing game.^[1]

Dorantes was, though, eventually able to create his own continuity in 2005, after reading through the sourcebook The New Essential Chronology. In it, he discovered that the Expanded Universe character K'Kruhk took an unidentified Padawan after Order 66, an executive order that left the Jedi Order all but wiped out, and, with him, discovered the Hidden Temple, a place for Jedi refuge. Dorantes immediately took an interest in the minor plot point and decided to create his character around that unidentified apprentice. With that, Narod Antrell was created, the flagship character of Dorantes's continuity. Along with him, the Squishy Vic Series was formed, based on Dorantes's nickname, and thus Dorantes began his series of work.^[1]

[edit] Production

[edit] 2004–2007

"I first began toying with the idea of a central, fan fiction character after I began role playing on TheForce.Net, on their Jedi Council Forums. It was a lot of fun and gave me the chance of experimenting with both writing and character development for the few years that I did it."

—Victor Dorantes^[src]

After Dorantes began his role playing, he hoped to create his own series of work; the majority of this development took place from the end of 2004 until the end of 2006. Some of the processes he went through included experimenting with different time periods within the Star Wars saga and developing independent characters each time. One thing that remained, though, was Dorantes's main characters almost always resembling him, or created for that purpose, in the games he played in.^[1] At first, Narod Antrell went through numerous name changes that Dorantes had developed in role playing games. Also, he went through numerous professions in the fictional universe, including acting as a Galactic Republic soldier or a simple spacer. Most of the time, however, the character was a Jedi Knight.^[8]

In October 2006, Dorantes joined Wikia, a wiki hosting website, and became a member of Star Wars Fanon, the Star Wars wiki of fan invention.^[9] There, he created articles on Narod Antrell and his supporting characters, slowly developing the story of his beloved character.^[8] As well, Dorantes began creating a personalized Jedi costume for that year's Halloween, and Jasmine Ramirez, who had become his fiancée, did so too. Dorantes's costume became the attire for Narod Antrell, and Ramirez's became the attire for Zeri Undis, another character of the series.^[10][11][12]

In December of that same year, Dorantes nominated Narod's article for featured status and it won, granting it a one week showcase on the wiki's Main Page.^[13] Dorantes later cut most of the content from his character's story, however, after he began making plans for a novel. Among the cut content was integrated elements from other fictional works, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Halo franchise.^[8]

By 2007, Dorantes had planned to create a narrative, and slowly began planning it. During this process, he realized he would have to create more realistic situations and deviate from his previously created ideas since he wanted his work to remain plausible and true to Star Wars canon. Originally, he titled his narrative Knighthood and began releasing it, chapter by chapter, in December 2007.^[1] Dorantes, however, took a long hiatus from the novel after writing four chapters, leaving it unattended for more than a year.^[14] Instead, Dorantes devoted most of his time in the 2007 and 2008 years to his duties as a site administrator of Star Wars Fanon until his resignation in June 2008.^[15]

[edit] 2008

Throughout 2008, Dorantes continued to write articles on Star Wars Fanon, ignoring the narrative Knighthood and instead proceeding only with those pieces of work.^[9] In February of that year, Dorantes and author Brandon Rhea, also a member of Star Wars Fanon, decided to merge their continuity into one. Along with Rhea's series, the Squishy Vic Series became part of the Alternative Star Wars Saga. Their series was shortly after joined by author Wayne Lipman III, who had previously collaborated with Dorantes. Eventually, however, Dorantes withdrew from the project due to his desire to realign his work only with Star Wars canon, which the Alternative Star Wars Saga intended to rewrite. Dorantes later stated that leaving the Alternative Saga benefited him because he was able to work freely with Star Wars canon again.^[4]

As the year advanced, Dorantes progressively removed content from his series that he no longer believed fit, including canceling a novel titled The Fallen Conspirator and a novella titled the Birth of Antrell.^[9] In August 2008, Dorantes wrote and began producing a video web series based on Narod Antrell, portraying the character for the first time in live-action. Although he originally titled it Knighthood: The Web Series, that was changed after the short-lived series was canceled and only one arc remained, titled The Darkness of Phydah. While the first episode was released the same day Dorantes began producing the web series, the second was not released until January 2009.^[5]

[edit] 2009

As 2008 ended, Dorantes desired to only document his works on Star Wars Fanon that were sourced, thus beginning to work only on creating actual sources for his fanon. Among this was Knighthood, the novel that became Acceptance, which began production in January 2009. It continued the story of Narod Antrell as Knighthood had intended, but, as well, the character of Zeri Undis was introduced, who had also previously been only an article on Star Wars Fanon.^[9] Eventually, the novel was formatted into the form of a free, downloadable eBook and licensed under the Creative Commons. It was completed and released on May 19, 2009, commemorating the prequel trilogy release dates of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.^[16]

Alongside working on his narrative again, Dorantes announced The Essential Guide to the Squishy Vic Series, which would serve as sourcebook for his series, acting like the published Essential Guide series of books. Like Acceptance, it would be released as an eBook online at Star Wars Fanon. It features a behind the scenes look on the characters, locations, technology, and vehicles of the SVS.^[2] On April 15, 2009, Dorantes released another complementary source work for his series, an essay titled Into the Realm of Star Wars. It documented some of the origins of the SVS and Dorantes's conception of Narod Antrell.^[1]

Shortly before the completed release of Acceptance, Dorantes announced that it would be the first of two novels in what he dubbed The Antrell Epoch duology, with the sequel titled Deliverance. He also announced that he wanted the novel to take place in the Galactic Civil War and for Narod's son, Roviik Antrell, to be introduced; Roviik had also previously been only an article on Star Wars Fanon. He intends for the novel to be released by the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.^[3] Dorantes also announced a novella titled The Fallen, set in the Old Republic era and focusing on a character named Darth Malum of the New Sith Empire. He expects The Fallen to be released by the end of 2009, despite having put Deliverance ahead in scheduling to be released around the same time.^[4][17]

[edit] Plot overview

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

—Star Wars opening crawl^[src]

Approximately 2,000 years prior to the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Jedi Order is broken in two–the Jedi Master Phanius falls to the dark side of the Force and takes fifty renowned Jedi Knights to form the New Sith Empire, an empire strong enough to challenge the Order itself. Thus begins the New Sith Wars, a long lasting battle between Jedi and Sith that is doomed to last a millennium. Involved in the mix is the loyal Darth Malum, who fights by his Sith Master Phanius–who has become Darth Ruin–for as long as it is necessary.^[4][17]

In 19 BBY, the Jedi Order is once again taken down–this time by the Galactic Empire, and seemingly for good. After the manipulative Darth Sidious–while under his reign as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine–successfully transforms the Galactic Republic into the First Galactic Empire, he has his most powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, wipe out the sacred Jedi Temple while the Grand Army takes care of the rest. Two similar beings–the failed Jedi Initiate Narod Antrell and the Jedi Padawan Zeri Undis–survive the onslaught, however, and are able to continue living in general peace. It is not until both run into trouble in their respective havens that they must flee elsewhere–Narod to train and become the Jedi Knight he always planned on becoming, and Zeri to live the normal life she never had.^[4]

Later, during his Jedi training, Narod begins to face his darkest fears, hoping that he can conquer them for good.^[18][19] Years later, the paths of Narod Antrell and Zeri Undis cross, beginning their close relationship. Through their following tribulations, the two realize they have similar goals–to restore the Jedi Order to its former sacredness by any means necessary. As their journey progresses, the two delve into a relationship forbidden by the very Jedi Code they seek to preserve, until their child, Roviik Antrell, is born.^[17]

[edit] Media

[edit] Books

Main articles: Acceptance, Deliverance, and The Fallen

Victor Dorantes's first work, a novel titled Knighthood, originated in December of 2007. He wrote only four chapters before putting the project on hold, unable to complete it as desired. For nearly the entirety of 2008, the project went unattended.^[14] The only work he put into the novel was creating a cover for it, which later became defunct and was redone after the novel's title change.^[20] Dorantes picked up his project again at the beginning of 2009, when he began rewriting his work and retitled it Acceptance.^[14]

Along with this, Atarumaster88, another author who had previously reviewed Knighthood's original drafts, agreed to become Dorantes's betareader. Throughout the early months of 2009, Dorantes and Atarumaster88 worked on the production of Acceptance. As well, having developed a steady plot, Dorantes announced that the novel would be the first of two in a duology entitled The Antrell Epoch duology, and that the sequel would be titled Deliverance. Dorantes also planned to release the work near the end of May, to coincide with the month when the Star Wars films of the original and prequel trilogies were released.^[3]

In early May, Dorantes announced his novel was nearly completed and that, unlike before, an entire eBook would be released including the entire novel.^[14] On May 19, the novel was completed and released, commemorating the fifth anniversary release of Revenge of the Sith and the tenth anniversary of The Phantom Menace.^[16] Dorantes and Atarumaster88, however, both realized Acceptance needed a thorough copyedit following the final release. Again collaborating to finally close the project, Atarumaster88 continued acting as the betareader and, eventually, on July 31, 2009 Dorantes released the "Author's Definitive Edition" of Acceptance.^[21]

The sequel to Acceptance and second written work by Dorantes is the novel Deliverance. It carries on the story of Acceptance, continuing to follow Narod Antrell and Zeri Undis. It began production near the end stages of Acceptance's production, with Dorantes originally planning for it to be released by the end of 2009 or early 2010.^[3] However, Dorantes moved up Deliverance to continue the novel immediately after Acceptance, and hopes to release it before the end 2009. Atarumaster88 also remains as the betareader for the series. Although most plot details have remained undisclosed, it has been confirmed that Narod Antrell and Zeri Undis are to enter a romantic relationship and Narod's son, Roviik Antrell, is to be introduced. As well, the plot surrounding the web series The Darkness of Phydah is to be tied into the novel.^[4][17]

The third and final written work under production by Dorantes is a first-person novella titled The Fallen. The work centers around a character by the name of Darth Malum, who participates in the New Sith Wars of the Old Republic era. Malum will also be involved with the canonical Sith Lord Darth Ruin, who is responsible for the beginning of the Fourth Great Schism. Production for The Fallen began in 2009, shortly after Deliverance began production. Dorantes expects the work to be completed by the end of 2009, although he did put production of the novella behind Deliverance in scheduling. He still expects the work by the end of the year along with Deliverance, though most plot details have remained undisclosed.^[4][17] The cover art for the novella was released in March 2009, and revamped on April 18.^[22]

[edit] Guides

Main articles: The Essential Guide to the Squishy Vic Series and Into the Realm of Star Wars

Dorantes was first inspired to create a guide to his works from Atarumaster88's own reference work, The Essential Guide to Force Exile, which complements his own Force Exile series. That guide, however, is documented online at Star Wars Fanon. Dorantes, instead, wanted to create a document file as he had begun doing with Acceptance at the time. With basic information from his series, Dorantes began writing The Essential Guide to the Squishy Vic Series using Apple's Keynote presentation software to do so. Dorantes created a couple of slides to complement his series and then released a prerelease version on January 15 to show other users on Star Wars Fanon how his guide would be formatted.^[23]

Later, on March 13, Dorantes stated on his StarWars.com blog that he had made progress with TEGSVS, stating that the formatting had been redone and that substantial information had been added. As well, he stated he would be using images of unidentified individuals from Star Wars canon to represent some of his characters, using them as a way to further tie his work with Star Wars continuity.^[2] The reference book is expected to be completed by the end of 2009 and will contain behind the scenes information on every one of Dorantes's works and characters.

The second guide created by Dorantes was an essay titled Into the Realm of Star Wars, written and released on April 15, 2009. The essay is six pages long and is also available for download at Star Wars Fanon. In it, Dorantes documents some of the origins of his series and central character, Narod Antrell. The essay also includes information of how Dorantes came by Star Wars and how he was eager to incorporate his own ideas into the vast, albeit fictional, universe.^[1]

[edit] Video

Main article: The Darkness of Phydah

At the beginning of August 2008, Dorantes decided to create a live-action production that included Narod Antrell. However, at the time of the work's conception, Dorantes had not completed his work on Acceptance and therefore did not expect a change in the storyline at the time. Originally, the planned storyline was central to Narod's struggles with coping with the stress of the Galactic Civil War, circa 1 BBY; this later would have played a role in Narod's decision to leave the tattered galaxy behind. On August 6, several sequences were filmed for the two videos and Dorantes immediately began putting the videos together. The project was tentatively titled Knighthood: The Web Series, since Dorantes's novel, Acceptance, was still titled Knighthood at the time.^[12]

Along with his original planned storyline, Dorantes had a couple of scripts lined up for more episodes in the web series. However, these never came to fruition, and nothing more was ever filmed.^[12] Instead, Dorantes completed the first of two episodes from the story arc titled The Darkness of Phydah.^[18] This eventually became the title of the project itself, since its story arc became the only two episodes of the series. During the same month, Dorantes continued production of the second episode and had it ready for release on August 13, sans special effects.^[12] Expressing his desire to obtain the program Adobe After Effects for post-production work, Dorantes halted work on the project until that was made possible.^[12][19]

Unfortunately for Dorantes, obtaining After Effects was never made possible and so he abandoned the idea. Instead, he applied the proper sound effects for the lightsabers in the duel of the second episode without any special effects, and released it as such on January 13, 2009.^[19] Both videos have received little coverage and reception, garnering a total of nearly 500 views on YouTube, where the videos are hosted.^[5] Dorantes himself has stated that he enjoyed the original thought behind his videos but was displeased with the end result, though, regardless, it remains part of his continuity.^[4]

In Phydah, Dorantes himself portrayed Narod Antrell while his cousin Alex Gonzalez portrayed the antagonist, a dark-sided apparition created through the dark side of the Force. Dorantes also acted as a director, writer, and producer, while Gonzalez helped with the post-production. Jasmine Ramirez and Dorantes's sister El'Linda handled the camera work.^[19] The first episode has Narod exploring the Phydah Forest by himself;^[18] the second episode immediately picks up from there, starting with an encounter between Narod and the apparition before a duel takes place.^[19]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

•  "The HoundStar Cantina" - "squishyvic", Victor Dorantes's StarWars.com Blog
•  Victor Dorantes's Squishy Vic Series at MobileMe
• SquishyVic's Channel at YouTube

Squishy Vic Series (SVS)
Narratives Acceptance · Deliverance · The Fallen · The Return Guides The Essential Guide · Into the Realm of Star Wars Visual media The Darkness of Phydah