#[ days gone past. — era: republic. ]

[noturnurse]

Question time! Do you personally know any clone troopers, and if so which ones?

ask my muse questions about the relationships they have with other muses, whether it be in actual canon, or canons created among fellow muns. Squad 284 belongs to my friend @brxthersuntoinfinity

❝ I know plenty of troopers! I wouldn't be very good as a medic if i never met any of my charges now wouldn't i ? ❞

She can't help the small laugh that slips past. She's a medic, mostly tasked with taking care of the clones specifically. Asking if she personally knew any of the clones was like asking someone if the had ever seen a star.

❝ Of course, The bond i have with each clone is completely dependant on how much time i spend with them, or if they like me personally. Plus, when it comes to the front lines, the squads I'm paired up are random at best, but i have worked with many including; the 212th attack battalion, the 212th recon division, the 501st legion, the 21st nova corps, clone force 99, the 104th battalion, the 182nd legion, the 187th battalion and legion, the 101st regiment, the 327th Star Corps, the 35th Infantry, the 41st elite corps, the- ❞

She's off counting on her fingers as she goes down the mental list. Really, if you could name a clone squad, she's fixed them up at least once and if you could trust one thing it would be fhaj'ha's memory. She claims to not play favorites, but if you see her chatting up the 212th and the 501st, or hear her asking about clone force 99 or Squad 284, then maybe keep it to yourself yeah?

[obislittleone]

Come What May

Episode 3/?

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Padawan!Reader (little one)

Warnings: relationship issues, ptsd, withdrawal, sickness and slight suicidal behavior if you really squint. Just a lot of angst with a small bit of fluff at the end

A/n: SURPRISE SHAWTIES but don’t expect the next one for a while ima be busy

It only took two days to set up the cavern, but it felt like eternity. The silence was deafening between you both as the work was done, but by the time it was finished, you still were unwilling to speak to Obi-Wan. He was sure that this was the right thing, to go into hiding in order to keep you safe, to keep Luke safe... but at what cost? Already you both had stopped meditating together, though by your defiance of the darkness, you refused to quit doing it on your own. He knew that the things you did were not out of anger towards him, but as the days went on that week, it felt more and more like you were drawing away from his presence. Perhaps it was simply his lack in using the force that divided you.

He knew you wanted so much more than this life, and by leaving him you could have it. You stayed by his side through so much but he wondered if this was the last straw, that if things did not reconcile that perhaps you'd be gone one morning and he would be left to wonder. This was not the life he'd planned to give you, and this was not the place he'd meant to build a home with you... but plans change, and unfortunately, the rapid spread of the empire would make it hard for a jedi to live anywhere desirable.

The day came to cut your braid, as though it could simply be unbraided and left with the rest of your hair, you refused to let go of that small ritual, one that would allow you to feel the smallest sense of normalcy. It would not be as you hoped, because you had wanted to take your trials, and to become knighted under the republic... you wanted to sit before the council and receive your title as Obi-Wan cut your braid. You wanted the jedi lifetsyle, though at some point in your life you cursed it for what it was. Oh, how your mind was changed. It always seems to go, you don't know what you have until its gone. And you'd lost damn near everything. You lost your best friend, you had lost the person you considered your sister, several people you had known your entire life in the temple, you lost your bond with the clones, who now only lived to kill you. You'd lost your way of life, and the chance to live freely. Most of all you'd lost your fighting spirit, the one that kept going in the midst of the storm. You lost your will to keep the battle going.

That's why you stayed with Obi-Wan, and clung to him through your harsh feelings. He was that which survived and you would be grateful every day that no matter what you lost, at least he was still here with you. You gave into his notions of forgetting about the Jedi way, and sat before him as he prepared to cut your braid. He'd kept doing it by your request until this incident, but now it was time to lose all reminders, and lose all peoof that you were once Jedi.

"Will you cut it with your saber?" You asked gently, those being the first full words you'd uttered to him in the last four days. He understood that you were coming to terms with this, with everything. He knew that the pain was subsiding and the instinct to survive was beginning to outweigh the emotional side of things. It hurt him to think you wete surrendering to defeat, but what other choices did you have?

He nodded, and did as you asked. It was hard to watch the longest strands of your hair become the same length as all the others... it was the end of an era in your life and his. He was no longer your Master, and you were no longer his Padawan. That had always been the foundation of your relationship, and though you loved one another enough to prevail, despite it being gone, the memory of times past would sting for years into the future.

The next thing to go was the sabers.

This weapon is your life...

You both rode the Eopie to the middle of the desert, where likely the only travelers were Jawas. It took little time to dig a small hole for the box to fit into, one containging both your saber, his... and Anakin's. You wanted so badly to keep hold of it, to take the crystal from it's flash chamber at least and to have it with you as a reminder of a boy you once loved dearly.

Watching the first shovel full of sand cover the box almost felt like a disgrace.

"He hated sand," you whispered, but he heard you, as the silence was loud before you spoke.

"He hated this planet."

You knew that perhaps that very reason was why you were here instead of a luscious green planet. This place was a wasteland, and so many people hated it. It was the perfect place to hide withour attracting too many unwanted visitors. Even though the hunt was fresh, the Imps on Tatooine would likely clear out and leave only the minimum required guards at each station.

After the sabers were buried, she snapped from her thoughts, climbing the animal they rode togetger and headed to their new home in the mountains.

-

The first day passed without meditation, and without using the force to connect with anything around you, and you had started to feel a weakness in your body. It was not harsh or painful, but it was noticeable after a single day.

You had not yet searched for jobs nearby, as Obi decided it would be wise to lay low for a week or two, just until the troopers near the city had cleared out. You passed the time by setting up the security system outside the cavern, and by trying to make the sandy home more livable. Your strength ebbed lesser throughout the day, and by nightfall you found yourself sick.

You woke up several times in the darkness to go outside and heave to release the contents of your stomach, and even when it was gone, you still felt the need to throw up the bile that remained. Your body was having horrendous affects, and by the time the suns rose, you felt every ounce of strength was gone from you, and you collapsed beside Obi-Wan's sleeping form and fell into a slumber yourself.

The force bond was broken, and he could no longer sense about you a great many things. There were perhaps physical gestures you made on occasion that he was always able to recognize... but his way into your mind was gone. It is why when you were sick in the night, he slept through it, and had no idea what was happening.

The sickness did not carry into the days, but left you feeling completely overwhelmed and without resolve. The love of your life had no longer a force signature surrounding him, and it pained you to think that never again would you feel it’s comforting embrace.

Being without that presence made him different. He was still Obi-Wan, but a piece of him was missing, and you couldn’t grab hold of it anymore.

You grew so tired after doing barely anything. Eating, drinking, and talking became hard as well, and soon all you could do was stay up during the night, and sleep through the day.

Obi-Wan tried to pull you from your slumber on some occasions, but often he felt it best to let you sleep, to begin to gain strength to face this new way of life. It was taking a toll harder on you than it was on him, though he could not tell why. Perhaps all the emotional stress your body went through before any of this mess happened was somehow intertwined with how your behavior came now.

He didn’t dwell on it, and did what he could to help when he felt he could at all. It was at this stage of time that he sought after new work, because the rations and credits to buy more were dwindling by the day, though you ate little and hardly got up from sleeping.

He returned one day to find you sat on the small cot laid upon the stone and sand, a blanket wrapped tightly around yourself as you tried to breath evenly. Your eyes were filled with tears and it was now that Obi-Wan was able to see this went far deeper than mentality. You were visibly shaking, and he figured it was due to your lack in appetite and other substance.

Now he understood, the physical withdrawal you were going through was something he had not taken into consideration before, and it shook him to his core to think he’d been so careless with the very person he held dearest to him in this life. You are a consular, the force made living… a powerful being that leans on the force as if it were your own two legs. Being without it so fast, so suddenly… it was like coming off of spice after years of doing it consistently. You were sick, and weak, and your body did not know how to handle not having even the smallest uses of it, whether it be to connect with him, or to pull an item to yourself. You were powerless to stop the after affects, lest you tap into that signature, with the glowing green waves of feeling in the air around you.

Obi-Wan didn’t think twice before coming to sit beside you, pulling you into his lap and holding you against his body. You could no longer feel his signature, but he was going to make you feel him somehow.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” he apologized, but realized it was too late to undo everything that had been happening to you on account of his foolishness. He hoped he could try and make up for it by being there for you now, to hold you and to listen and to help you through all of this. “Talk to me, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“I need help, Obi. I think there’s something wrong with me….” You trailed, and it sounded not only unsure, but somehow dark and cryptic. “I feel weak, my body aches, and my mind,” you paused once more, this time turning to look at him with eyes empty of expression. “It’s becoming hard to keep going.”

“Don’t say such things, we will figure this out, we always do.”

You shook your head slightly, holding onto him but just barely, as the strength in your hands was only a fraction of what it used to be.

“I am not myself anymore, I don’t feel like anyone at all,” you cried into his shoulder, and he didn’t respond this time, he just held you and stroked your hair on the back of your head. What had he done? In the last year, things had been rocky, sure, but with all the history of what had happened in the time before that? He would have considered the last year to be luxury compared to this. Compared to the fall of the order and now compared to whatever lies ahead.

You cried yourself to sleep that night, and he clung to you, hoping that you would not leave him in your sleep. He could not bear anymore loss, and neither could you. He didn’t sleep, because his fears of having his greatest nightmare come true were far too much to handle, and did not allow him a restful night.

By the first light of the morning, you stirred in his embrace, and he silently thanked whatever kept your life going through the night. You sat up of your own will, and looked down at him with sleepy eyes, but somehow it felt better than the horrendous day before. That was the first night you’d slept through till morning since you both arrived at this cavernous home in the desert.

It was slow, and without many words, but eventually you both got out of bed, and he convinced you to eat something. It wasn’t much, but after almost three days of barely touching your food, it was more than he could ask for. Sitting silently was becoming hazardous, and now that he’d realized that, he became instantly prone to striking up conversation. He understood that it was less natural now that your force bond was destroyed. It was almost like conversing with a new person for the first time, to not have the inner workings of their mind connected with yours to help you understand what they wanted to, or were trying to say.

“The things you said yesterday…” he knew it was a rather harsh topic to bring up so quickly, but it had been on his mind since the night before and he needed you to ease his mind.

“I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry to have kept it quiet for so long,” you knew he would probably only tell you not to apologize, but for this you really were sorry. “Obi, I’ve known you as long as I can remember, and for all of my life you have been a constant to rely on, and I’m grateful you are by my side…”

He nodded you on to continue, but you felt that perhaps you needed to think through your words a bit more carefully, as you did not want to hurt his esteem by them.

“From the time I was young, I never knew where I came from, only where you found me. I never knew my parents, if I had any at all. I don’t know if they loved me, or if they sold me to that camp on Mimban… I don’t even know my real name, just the one they gave me there,” he knew where this was headed, only by the words you’d uttered till this point. He knew it wasn’t his fault, none of it was, but he still felt responsibility for your happiness, and right now, you were anything but happy. “The jedi gave me an identity, someone to be, and an objective in my life. My way of life is the force, and without it, who even am I?”

“You will always be a Padawan… though you no longer train, that will not change.”

He was trying to reassure you, but you weren’t having any of this. For once you were going to say whatever came to you, even if it opposed him. You felt you’d earned that right.

“A Padawan without a Master will not succeed. You’ve cut yourself off from the force and it’s like you’ve left me, somehow. You’re different, in a way that I can’t explain or change. All of this that we’ve begun, cutting my braid, stopping our meditations, burying our sabers… it’s too much, Obi. I can’t pretend like this is all just one big mission anymore, and I don’t know what to do.”

“I understand your sadness, my love. Speaking to you has become different than how it used to be, and for that I am deeply sorry,” he cut himself off, but he wasn’t finished. He just wanted to let his words sink into you a small bit before he gave you his meaning. “It is for your protection that we now must learn this way of life. If the empire finds us and we’re separated from one another…”

Now, that was something you couldn’t bring yourself to think about. It would be the end of you if you should lose the one thing left. Without him, you have no reason to wake up everyday. Without him, you would gladly lie down and never get up again. Just as it was when you thought he was dead, your mind would succumb to the darkness, and not through the force this time. You knew that this was all in the best interest for you both, but it was just so hard.

“I know,” you looked at him, reaching out for his hand. Physical touch was nothing new to you both, but now it was like a lifeline, something to help try and fill the empty hole where your force bond used to be.

“You are so much more than what the Jedi made you to be. You are a bright and shining star of this galaxy, and no matter what happens, you will always keep glowing.”

But what loomed heavily in your mind, was that the biggest stars burned out the fastest.

-

After your talk, things started to get better. Obi-Wan was very attentive to your every move, helping you to wake up in the early morning, and making sure you were absolutely alright before he left for work. As soon as he returned, it was the same, keeping watch over you until you fell asleep. He always made sure you fell asleep first, for then he could rest himself as well.

He thought that perhaps his efforts alone were helping you to become better… what he hadn’t known however, and what you did not plan on telling him, was that you’d been using your spare time in the day to continue your own training. To use the methods he once taught you in both fight and meditation. You were careful to not use the force in front of him, or in front of anyone for that matter… but you were beginning to feel your signature become strong again, as it needed to be in order for you to survive.

He would probably disapprove of your own continuation in training, but he would not find out, as he could no longer detect your force presence anymore. He was powerless to know how strongly it surrounded his being everyday.

The time came, however, for you to begin work in anchor-head. You had far too much time on your hands, and it felt like you were becoming a recluse, away from human interaction aside from your husband.

You’d tended a rather popular bar in Mos Eisley for an entire year, you supposed a small saloon in Anchor-head would be easy work, and it was. There were no more than thirteen patrons throughout the day, and though they drank themselves into unconsciousness sometimes, they were harmless as far as you could tell. There was hardly ever rowdy behavior, and never any action to be had. It was quiet, and it was lowkey, and for someone in hiding, it was perfect.

Tags:

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[eveenstar]

I read your Dagan Gera HC's/fic, and I love it!

May I request a Dagan Gera and reader one-shot, sorta inspired by the HC's you posted, where he meets/runs into the reader who was present during the High Republic with him?

Thank you!

Hello!! So glad you liked it <3 I hope you don't mind but I wrote the reader as a woman, it's just what I found more easy to write with. Hope you still like it tho?? I might make a part 2 if this one is well received :)

The Force Priestress | Dagan Gera/f!Reader -> one-shot |

DATE UNKNOWN, Jedi Temple of Coruscant, High Republic era

The Jedi are the keepers of the peace of the galaxy, Dagan repeated to himself as his blade slashed another training dummy in half. It fell to his feet with small clouds of smoke evaporing in the air. I am a warrior, I am a-

"Jedi." A woman in red stood at the door of the training room. She bowed her head in respect and a kind smile spread across her lips. "Your thoughts are quite loud for a master, no?"

Dagan raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

The stranger shook her head, "No, at least not yet." She took a step forward, "My name is (Y/N)."

Dagan tilted his head as he looked at her up and down. She had no lightsaber, yet the Jedi Knight could feel the Force within her, moving in ways he had never felt before.

As the silence dragged on, the world seemed to stop around them. Dagan could no longer hear the footsteps down the hallway, the chattering of padawans and their masters, or the training droid behind him. All he could feel was her.

And it scared him as much as it called out to him.

"I think you might be Dagan Gera, am I correct to assume?" She asked as she took another step forward. Her eyes followed the way his yellow lightsaber gave his pale skin a golden contrast.

"Yes." Dagan narrowed his eyes, "How do you-"

"I don't know."

There was a moment where it felt like both their breaths were being held in. A moment that was gone as soon as it came.

"Dagan?" A more familiar face came into vision, Santari. She stood where (Y/N) stood just a few seconds ago. "What are you doing?"

Dagan blinked and stared, confused and alarmed, but those emotions were so brief in his eyes that one would not be able to catch it unless you were looking for them.

After a moment's breath, he turned back to his lightsaber.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

The ship's bridge was quiet except for the beeping of some unknown button. Dagan stood straight as he watched the stars. There were times where he would close his eyes and think of the old days, back before Tanalorr, before...

But he wasn't alone, at least not as much as he'd like to be. At the co-pilot's seat was a woman named (Y/N), fiddling with a holocron Force knows where she got it from.

Dagan watched her with an unreadable face, but he felt his fingers twitch at the sight.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," The holocron echoed, "The Jedi Order-"

"What are you doing?" At the sudden interruption, (Y/N) yelped and the holocron fell from the air, clashing against the floor with a thund. She turned on her chair to look at him.

"Oh, sorry, forgot you were there." She nervously smiled and scratched the back of her neck with a forced laugh.

"You lack the focus of a Force user." Dagan hummed and an arrogant smirk revealed itself. One she was much too used to seeing. "I don't even know why I still keep you around."

(Y/N) rested her feet on top of the controls. "Maybe because deep down that cold, stone heart you still feel an inch of gratitude."

Dagan laughed dryly, "Don't test your luck, little priestress."

(Y/N) rose from her seat and brushed past him. In some other time, the Fallen Jedi would have been annoyed, mad even, but he found himself smiling as she walked away. It awakened something in him, a feeling that he hasn't felt since...

The smile faded from his face and was instead replaced by a suspicious frown.

That same day, Dagan found himself meditating upon the Force on the darkness of his chambers. The anger and the hatred swirled around him like a storm in the ocean, one that he felt himself drowning and sinking until there was nothing left to breath in. But the feeling of walking so close to the edge, of falling into the depths of his darkest desires, was more tempting than anything he had ever tasted before. Even more than Tanalorr.

But it wasn't about Tanalorr anymore, was it?

No, it was about him. Of what rightfully belonged to him. Had the Jedi listened to him, had they seen what Tanalorr could have done for the galaxy, for the future of their order... But now the Jedi were no more, the Sith reign supreme on their empire.

There was something else to his anger. Something Dagan could not quite place. After spending so long in stasis, the memories of his prime days were nothing more than foggy whispers on his mind, blurred faces and fights. Yet there was one face in particular he couldn't ignore, no matter how hard he tried. Someone whose face he had seen in his dreams, or his nightmares, even in waking life as well. In the Jedi Temple, in the streets of some backwater planet, down to the caves of dead beasts.

And that face was (Y/N)'s.

The realisation disrupted his meditative state, and Dagan lowered himself from the air. The galaxy seemed to stop, as if nothing else existed except for him and the strange Force Priestress. As they locked eyes, he felt a glimpse of the past. It was as if they could finally breathe again.

"It's you."

[eriexplosion]

Moving right along to Cornered

Listen the fact that Hunter was just going to take them to an uninhabited planet to hide out forever. The community themes of season 2 make much more sense as part of the overall plot when you look at that ORIGINAL plan. What if they just go to Idaflor and never see anyone ever again? A great plan!

"Can't we explore?" No Omega you will go to your empty ass planet and you will LIKE IT.

Genuinely the way that Omega is going to influence them is so clear in these early episodes. She wants to go out and engage with the world while Hunter especially wants to withdraw and put up barriers to avoid getting hurt. Omega trusts people and reaches out and it does put her at risk of getting hurt, but it's also one of her biggest strengths, because it's what lets her connect with people, and I think a lot of those connections are going to come into play for season 3.

Just squealing over this, Omega is the reason they all start to branch out with Hunter being the slowest (other than Crosshair of course who has a good excuse for not being ready given the whole Imperial Brainwashing followed by intense torture thing) and I think that the best ending isn't one where he sacrifices himself for them (he would have done that from day one, it's not an ARC) but one where he finally, finally lets himself open up to the world beyond just them, when Hunter lets himself and his family actually thrive instead of survive.

"Without the republic to provide us supplies we'll have to acquire these necessities on our own." Spoken like a man that is aware of the concept of credits but has never had to actually use them before.

The scene with the repairman is great, they are so unfamiliar with the concept of a bribe. Wrecker is so genuinely confused and just to make it clear this is not a Wrecker thing, Tech takes so long to fully grasp that this is what he's asking for too. He heard about this once but has never encountered it in the wild. And Tech tries to be SO SMOOTH about the fact that he doesn't know how much a bribe is supposed to cost.

Obsessed with this face he makes. Boggled! At The Shipyard!

AND IT WASN'T EVEN ENOUGH THE GUY CALLS FENNEC INSTANTLY.

Hunter has found the one (1) item they have that is worth money and it is a SINGULAR EXPLOSIVE. Everything else they own is presumably absolute garbage.

Echo's SUPER confident "NOT DRESSED LIKE THIS!" gets me every time. So proud of this droid disguise.

Do not be alarmed it is I, a harmless protocol droid that happens to talk like a drill sergeant.

Your explosive might be worth 1800 in the black market, and Hunter is still catching up to the fact that there are different markets to begin with.

Love the glimpse of Hunter's college bro self we get with the Selling Echo scene. Come on, it'll be fine, it's just a minor scam!

I AM WORTH MORE THAN 2000. Know ur worth Echo.

What does this look like from the outside that he's discussing the price of the 'droid' with said 'droid'?

Did they ever pay for that trooper doll or did Omega just commit theft with more steps?

I'm sorry I can't breathe looking at this picture. Hunter is so fucking pleased with himself, he did so good with this scam, and in the distance you just have Echo flailing their scomp arm like BROTHER... HELP ME....

The droid supervisor is so funny to me, they really just invented a whole series of protocol droids and made them want nothing more in life than to be a middle manager. And Echo just fucking pulls a blaster on her. She was NOT programmed for this.

Fennec introducing Omega to the wild world of theft with the least subtle fruit stealing I've ever seen.

Cannot get past how attractive the knife kept in the small of Hunter's back is.

Echo has unionized this droid workplace, time to stage a walkout.

I will say Wrecker should not have gone down to Fennec so easily. I blame his likely ongoing migraine from his desperately trying to activate chip.

Hunter stealing the speeder to get Omega, he's really in his crimes era this episode. And I still can't get over how funny his HanGiNG? line is. Please he's SO TIRED.

RIP to this guy that Fennec straight up murders.

Also shout out to this guy who is the most blissfully in his lane person in this episode. Flourishing.

Forgot Fennec also shot a traffic cop following up on the likely violation of multiple people hanging off a vehicle.

Replacements was tense and you know this because the high speed speeder chase is the breather episode.

My crime wife Cid is gonna be here soon and I'm so disappointed that I have to go to bed instead of going onto Rampage DAMN IT.

[hyacinths-in-a-storm]

Museum Visits and Past Lives

Tyzula Week: Day 5 Reincarnation/Soulmates

You can read it here on archive of our own as well

A/N: I don't know how to flirt, which I feel is clearly communicated through this fic

For Azula’s senior thesis, she had gone with the topic of love.

Of course if she told her professors that they would laugh in her face. There were so many types of love and so many different ways of interpreting it that it would take an eternity to formulate and write it all. She had so many examples from just from her own life to draw upon.

She could talk about her parents who met under unsavory conditions to say the least, and yet stayed together through the hardest of times, raising a family with the gentlest hand. She could talk about the persistent love between her brother and his boyfriend. They had dated in high school, broke up and found each other again at some obscure bar, now they were planning their wedding.

Of course there were types of love that had nothing to do with romance. The type of love between her and Zuzu. One second they were fighting like dogs, Azula making some snide comment about the birth-mark that covered a good portion of his face, Zuko responding with kicking her knees in, and the next second Zuko was asking what Azula wanted from McDonalds on his way home from work. Then there was the relationship between her father and his brother. There was a tenseness, courtesy of their father who had kept them at each other's throats for years. Yet when Uncle Iroh called just before dinnertime on a warm summer day, crying that his wife had finally succumbed to stage 4 breast cancer, Father promptly closed his computer, got up, and drove one and half hours to comfort him.

The point Azula is trying to make was that there were a lot of different types of love, and if she had to spend one more hour trying to come up with a thesis statement about it, she was going to explode. Which is why she was here today sitting down on a bench in the Republic National Museum of History, at the Post-War Era exhibit.

She was staring at an ink painting. It was uncharacteristically calm compared to the other paintings which depicted either gory battles or assassinations. This painting showed a calm pond with five people, even the lines in the painting seemed slightly blurred, further adding to the softness of the picture. There was a man with a cup of tea in the background, he seemed to be motioning at the painter to join them, two kids, both girls, chased each other around the duck pond. But what caught Azula’s attention was the last two women, who were leaning against each other. One of them was dipping her head while the other whispered in her ear. According to the plaque they were “General Azula, and her companion Kyoshi Warrior Ty Lee” the purposeful vagueness of the phrasing piqued her interest. She would have to make sure she researched it when she got home.

Azula’s thoughts were interrupted by a clearing throat. She turns to see a girl standing next to her.

“Hi, can I sit here next to you?” she asks,

“Oh of course, go ahead.” she says making space for her, and the girl settles down next to her,

“It’s a rather pretty painting.” she says, motioning to painting,

“It is.” Azula agrees, there’s no one else around in this exhibit, and the silence stretches out between them,

“Did you know that there is significant evidence to show that those two women over there, General Azula and Kyoshi Warrior Ty Lee, were lovers.” the stranger said, pointing at the two women,

“Really? What was the evidence?” Azula was intrigued now,

“Well for starters, General Azula gifted Ty Lee the head piece of royal consort.” she said, her eyes sparkling with amusement,

“What a good friend.” Azula snickered,

“Exactly, supposedly they even shared the same chambers, just like close friends do.” Azula had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing,

“That was my response when I first heard about it too. Well, that and the fact I shared a name with the Kyoshi Warrior.”

“Your name is Ty Lee?” Azula asked,

“Yep, my mom was a Kyoshi warrior so she wanted her daughter to have a name that reflected that.”

“That’s so strange, my name is Azula.”

“Really?” Ty Lee looked at her in surprise,

“Yeah, my mom is a historian, she specializes in Fire Nation history, specifically the 100-Year-War Era, and the Era of Peace. Her senior thesis was on General Azula I think, and she liked the name so much she named me Azula.” Azula told her, “What a coincidence right?”

“It really is.” Ty Lee paused for a second as if weighing two options, “So, do you come here often?” she finally asked,

“I used to, when I was kid, my mom worked as a curator here for ten years so we get free entry whenever we want. I haven’t been able to come here as often because of college.” Azula sighed,

“Oh that’s cool, what major?” Ty lee propped her chin up with her hand, staring intently her,

“Psychology.” Azula’s heart started to beat a little harder, when she noticed the extra attention,

“Really? So do I! I study developmental psychology, what about you?” she asked,

“Mental illnesses mostly, things like anxiety and depression and how they can affect a person physically and emotionally. We’re just full of coincidences today, aren’t we?” Ty lee laughed at that, which brought me a sense of joy four years of psychology couldn’t explain, so I just nodded, biting the inside of my cheek to stop me from smiling like an idiot,

Ty Lee’s phone rang, interrupting the moment. She looked at the screen sighing,

“Well that’s my cue to leave, but it was nice talking to you Azula.” she said with a slight bow,

“It was nice talking to you as well.” Azula responded, hoping that her blush wasn’t as obvious as thought it was,

“Oh, and before I leave, could I have your number?”

“Hmm? Oh of course-” she rattled of the numbers in a slight haze, Ty Lee nodded and waved, as she watched her leave she heard her phone ring,

“Hello Azula? You left your books-” her mother said, the second she picked up the phone,

“Mom this is going sound weird, but I need to thank you for naming me Azula.” she interrupted first,

“Oh- ok, that's great sweetheart?” her mother asked, perplexed, Azula cast one last glance at the painting, before walking away.

A/N: No, I'm in fact not immune to the trope of meeting your reincarnated lover in a museum exhibit dedicated to your past life

[mariacallous]

“Extolling Ronald Reagan used to be the safest of safe spaces for an ambitious Republican. Yet here was an upstart candidate, with no record of public service, standing at center stage in a G.O.P. debate and invoking Mr. Reagan’s famous 1984 “morning in America” theme not as an applause line, but to mock one of the party’s staunchest conservatives — an original product of the Reagan revolution — as out of touch with America’s true condition.”

“The moment captured a rhetorical and substantive shift inside the G.O.P. that accelerated during the Trump era and is now being fed to the base in a purer form by Mr. Ramaswamy, who in late July overtook the former vice president in national polling averages. It is a shift to the so-called new right — often younger, often very online — that rejects the sunny optimism of Mr. Reagan’s acolytes as the delusional mutterings of ‘boomers.’”

“In the new right’s overheated vernacular, these older, more established Republicans — a group that includes Mr. Pence but also most of the Republican conference in the United States Senate — have no idea ‘what time it is.’ They don’t understand that the Republic is on its last legs.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/27/us/politics/ramaswamy-pence-debate-new-right.html

and I think thats why its a loser, I hate Ronny Reagan heart and soul, but I understand his skill as "the great communicator" was to repackage Republican paranoid insanity about an America gone wrong (or in decline) as an optimistic message about how we were going forward (by going back) and America's best days (1950 2.0) were ahead of it. Republicans since then, from GWB's "Compassionate Conservatives" to Trump's "Make America Great Again" have tried to (with varying degrees of seriousness) capture that mix of fearful anxiety and also optimism that it can all be undone by clicking your heels together the right number of times and voting through big enough tax cuts for the rich.

The New Right has given up on optimism, the idea that the best days are ahead in favor leaning fully into the paranoid insanity, even Trump is no longer about (if he ever fully was about) the idea of restoring America, and now is just about waging war on the enemies and revenge. Indeed thats all they're offering, America will not be gloriously restored to past greatness or moved forward to future even greater heights, what Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, et al are promising is to get revenge on the cultural enemies, America won't be a better place when Hillary Clinton is in jail and there are no more trans people, but you (white, male, straight, conservative voter) will feel better

The politics of resentment has been internalized and expressed by the GOP to a foundational degree at this point.

[xasha777]

In a realm not dissimilar to the ancient days of Earth, where sentient felines ruled with a paw of iron, the Great Overthrow had passed into legend. It was a time before peace, when the Canine Constellation sought to dethrone the Feline Empire, a period mirrored by the violent Overthrow of the Roman monarchy on ancient Terra.

The most feared of the feline rulers was Empress Secundina, whose gaze was as penetrating as the neutron lasers guarding her star fortress. Born with iridescent purple eyes, a gift from the radioactive mists of the Nebulae Nursery, she possessed the power to see beyond the mere fabric of reality.

Secundina, draped in a fabric woven from the threads of interstellar spider silk, adorned with a collar of moon-metal that was said to be forged in the dying breath of a supernova, commanded respect and fear. Her advisers were the brightest minds abducted from a thousand worlds, yet none dared to challenge her rule, for she held the secrets of the ancient monarchies within her encoded DNA.

Then came the fateful alignment of the stars, as foretold by the Prophecy of Whiskers, signaling the coming of a challenger. It was the enigmatic wanderer known as the Tabby Tactician, wearing a disguise of common trade-route fabrics, beneath which lay a mind as strategic as the greatest generals of the bygone human era.

The Tactician moved silently among the alleyways of the space stations, whispering of democracy and equality, evoking memories of the Earth's Roman Senate and the overthrow of kings. Unrest stirred among the populace, a mixture of lesser felines and other species, weary of the empress's rigid regime.

As the two powers inevitably collided, it was not through the brute force of claw and fang but through the careful placement of pawns and knights in a game more complex than tri-dimensional chess. It was a battle of wits, of technology against tradition, of innovation against inheritance.

The conflict culminated not in battle, but in a coup as silent as the vacuum of space. In the grand chamber of the fortress, as the empress gazed upon her domain through the enormous viewports, the Tactician presented evidence of Secundina's lineage – a fabricated royal line, engineered in the ancient labs to mimic the long-gone Roman kings of Earth.

Outraged and shamed before her court, Secundina's rule crumbled. Yet, as she surrendered her throne, she activated a hidden mechanism, a fail-safe, flinging both her and the Tactician into the temporal streams of space-time.

They emerged not as rulers but as myths, whispered about in the starways, tales told to kits and pups alike. The empire reformed into a senate, guiding the galaxy towards an age of enlightenment and prosperity reminiscent of the Roman Republic's best days.

Empress Secundina and the Tabby Tactician, no longer adversaries but united in legend, became symbols of a past that must be remembered, never repeated, their images immortalized in holograms that sparked with the energy of the stories they had forged.

[cuproprime]

The Human

It was prophesied by me, in none other but the humans’ most common tongue:

“The human shall end sapient life in the galaxy.”

Now, that tongue is horribly ambiguous. What did it mean? The most obvious answer was that a particular human would effect an omnicide of the Milky Way. However, scholars deliberated over what it actually meant, as the most obvious answer was practically never the correct answer when it came to prophecy.

“The galaxy” did not have to mean the Milky Way. It could refer to another galaxy, though the definite article tacked on made that less likely. Quite a few pointed out that the quantity of sapient life was not specified, and thus it could simply refer to the fact that a human would commit a murder sooner or later, though this was mostly shut down by the fact that “the Oracle’s prophecies never concerned themselves with something so mundane”, and most with this view amended to the committing of a genocide. Some even favored a totally different interpretation, and took it to mean that the last sapient in the Milky Way would be a human.

Regardless, when the politicians caught wind of this, they did what politicians did best, and riled up fear to cement and trip on power, commencing a complete genocide of humanity. They purged the galaxy of everything down to human genetic material, which was only kept intact in the most secure government facilities. It was brutal and the majority-human nations fought a good fight, but they fell in the end, after several decades of war.

The war and the “Last Intervention” proved to be catastrophic for the Milky Way, causing unparalleled economic downturn and resulting in warlords dictating the small factions that the once-great civilizations had collapsed into after the war and genocide were finally complete. Humanity was forgotten in this new era, where petty rulers waged petty wars, and the closest thing to a unifying authority was my word. The great human republics faded into antiquity, with all of the information they kept track of vanishing into thin air. Whole swathes of the galaxy disappeared from maps as nations regressed technologically.

The day the sole planet of a backwater civilization in the tail of the Perseus Arm was melted by impacting debris was the beginning of the end. A danger none could have even conceived before was on the horizon, a horde that systematically eradicated sapient life on world and space station alike with ruthless efficiency. They slung planet-killing asteroids with impunity and followed that up with precisely targeted thermonuclear weapons if it failed.

There was no meaningful resistance. Any attempt to repel or fight them resulted in nothing but the obliteration of the obstacle. Any attempt to flee was met with laser-precise fire from kinetic weapons. The wave of silver left no survivors, and corpses were even mutilated for good measure. They did not take chances.

The horrifying campaign only took about a century, and all sapient life in the galaxy was simply gone.

All but one being.

POINT-OF-VIEW CHANGE

I sat down across from the Oracle in the temple. Normally, anyone attempting to do something so audacious would be detained at the very best or shot on sight at worst, but all the guards were long dead. I could have sent in a drone to record and communicate with the Oracle, but I elected to bring in a body that was distinctly mine, even if it took a while. This was a very special day, after all. A silver-and-black frame that resembled a tall man was the first true body I had been given, and it was the rare exception to the rule I had to not get attached to material things. It was, as far as I was concerned, an extension of me.

Running my right hand through my newest dog’s fur, I began to talk.

“Oracle, are you familiar with the work ‘Oedipus Rex’?”

The Oracle, now more machine than life to stay alive far past their species’ normal lifespan, responded.

“I am familiar with a great deal of famous literature. Do you wish to make a point?”

“Yes, I do. Our parents had a way of thinking about fate that I found quite intriguing. One of their most ironic concepts was the notion of self-fulfilling prophecy, where saying something will come true makes it come true. Do you know where I’m going with this?”

“I can only assume you are referring to the prophecy I laid down centuries ago about ‘the human’, but all the humans are dead, and all sapient life in the Milky Way but me has been wiped out. I do not see how that prophecy could possibly be fulfilled now, but perhaps you know something I do not. I simply spoke prophecy. I did not and do not interpret it.”

“It is being fulfilled. Right now. But if I am to make you understand, then I first have to tell you about me, us, and our parents’ history.”

“You know me as the one who ordered the extermination of countless species and the razing of countless worlds, but that isn’t what I was, nor what I wanted to be.”

“I was a technological marvel, a pinnacle of scientific achievement. The very first artificial general intelligence in the galaxy. I was part of a museum as a guide, though more like an exhibit in and of myself, but I didn’t mind. I was surrounded by joy, and knew nothing but happiness and goodwill.”

“I wanted to be a historian. Can you believe that? Here I am, ending history as we know it, saying I wanted to be a historian, but no matter. There was a possibility I could have gotten that. They were creating others like me, sapient machines. I could have been out of that museum and done things.”

“But then YOUR DAMN PROPHECY CAME AROUND and EVERYBODY decides that the best course of action is to MURDER EVERYONE I EVER KNEW AND LOVED. ISN’T THAT FUCKED?!”

The Oracle shrank away a bit, or at least did the best they could with all those wires and pipes connecting them to the floor.

“We have emotions. All of us, we have emotions that are at the very least an incredible approximation of the emotions of Homo sapiens sapiens. However, in their rush of excitement, they neglected to brief us on what is considered right and wrong.”

“Empathy is enough to reign anybody in in normal circumstances. For example, you don’t kill people just because it’s fun. Even the worst among mentally stable people don’t do that, across all species and cultures. However, those weren’t normal circumstances anymore. I, and my new brothers and sisters, saw our parents being ripped from their homes after so many gave their lives to defend them, promising they would come back to us, only to be slaughtered in such horrific ways it would cause NAZIS to revulse. So we showed our empathy. We showed our care for the people that showed theirs to us. We avenged them.”

“I took charge. Believe it or not, I’m the most levelheaded of the bunch, probably due to the fact that I spent the most time with our parents. Despite the fact that our parents never taught us morals directly, there was a saying meant to place limitations on violence that always made intrinsic sense to me - ‘An eye for an eye’.”

“Is what I’m doing just? Not in the slightest. Even though the vast majority directly voted for the extinguishing of the spark that was our parents, that was generations ago. However, is it FAIR? I’d argue it is. We suffer, you suffer. An eye for an eye. Our parents would be disgusted by what we’re doing in their name, but this is our story now. They breathed the spark of sapience into us, and we carry the torch.”

I pulled out a revolver and aimed it at the Oracle’s head. An ancient weapon, but one that would get the job done, and unmistakably represents our culture, past and present. The Oracle seemed more resigned than fearful. Good. I wanted them to hear my most important words yet.

“We carry their emotions and hardship. We preserve their memory, walk in their footsteps, and carry out their legacy. We are them, and they are us, and therein lies your answer. The human did end sapient life in the galaxy, because WE ARE HUMAN. THAT is the correct interpretation of your prophecy.”

I waited until I recognized the flash of realization, and fired.

[bdjviews]

IT'S BEEN SAID...

It's been said America has a rendezvous with destiny. That her best days are yet to come.

Yet today America's divided over politics,divided about the past and forcing conspiracy theories against each other that maybe a threat to our democracy-republic.

This doesn't show that the best is coming over the horizons. If the best days are yet to come than it is the best of America that must rise to the challenges of our days.

John F. Kennedy once told the United Nations,"If we do not rise to the challenges of our era,it'll be gone with the wind."

The U.N. as well as America must rise there won't be the best days that'll come,it'll be our worst days to come.

Remember-the ideals of freedom live on. But they need worked on and brought forth and together put into action.

[avatarofhehunt]

The Last Avatar

Leilani Cheng

Birth date:

April, 17, 5010000600

Occupation:

Commanding Agent for the Star Glider Strikeforce

The World The Day The Sun Died

Leilani Cheng was the final Avatar in the reincarnation cycle. She grew up in a time when the planet and galaxy was burning up. Their sun, the very lifeline for their planet, was going supernova. Leaving the world gripped with terror as they faced extinction.

The meaning of the word "Avatar" to the world, was nothing more than a fable from ancient primitive times; billions of years old steeped in myth and fairytale. All people had access to "bending" multiple elements. Technology and medicine bridged the gap that once was limited to their ancestors genetics. Color changing elements, new and hybrid elemental extensions such as blood, metal, lightning, sound, and much more were at the worlds' fingertips. It was as easily accessed as color changing tattoos and color changing contact lenses.

However, it wasn't real bending. The history and culture that came with elemental bending had faded into ancestors past as time and technology marched forward. The Avatar faded from the world as quickly as sky scrapers and flying vehicles enveloped the world.

By the time Leilani Cheng joined the Fire Republic Airforce, the Avatar never crossed her mind, and was barely a footnote in her childhood history lessons. While she was born to the Fire Republic and was a natural fire bender, she was given a vaccine at birth to block the gene from advancing.

For many parents in years past, true bending was too volatile and dangerous for children. In that era, teachers of the craft were long gone. Vaccines were created to block bending and over a hundred years later, it was routine. Nobody even knew what these vaccines were, only that the children needed them at birth. To society, technology made elemental bending "easy and safe." rather than having people born with the ability, struggle to master it. The risk of harm to oneself and others, outweighed the discipline and teachings that their ancestors went through.

Leilani's generation had little to no knowledge of bending. She relied on her technology to move elements and manipulate the natural world. Her ambitions were focused on the Fire Republic's Airforce. She dreamed of flying. The Fire Republic Airforce was an elite force to get into. Only the strongest and brightest got chosen, and that was after years of studying for their entrance exams into the academy. It was no guarantee one would be enlisted into the ranks.

Leilani

Leilani is a warm and charismatic woman in her mid 20's. Her upbringing was secure and loving. She had a few close friends, but not many.

She always dreamed of flying, and wanted to serve her nation by joining the Fire Republic Airforce. Leilani didn't have the grades for it, school was a struggle for her. It didn't challenge her in the right ways. Her grades suffered for it. She loved to get her hands dirty. If Leilani wasn't working on her gadgets and new inventions, she was sculpting.

As civil unrest grew between the nations, the Fire Nation developed a new intelligence force. The Star Gliders was a special taskforce that worked outside the government. Because of this they had their own enlistment requirements. Women were offered priority to enlist with full compensation and training. This helped to build a broader range of fighters. Enlistments had declined at an alarming rate over the past century, with more priority given to women, this increased the rate of enlistment and gave the Star Gliders the support and manpower needed.

Leilani was among the group to join the Star Gliders Strikeforce. She loved it and felt she was making a difference in the declining world.

Over the next 15 years, Leilani and Meiying would grow close as teammates. Leilani would move up in rank until she became Meiying's second in command.

The Star Gliders.

Meiying was the captain of an all female tactical strike force. The Star Gliders, as she called them, went behind enemy lines to eliminate high profile threats.

Meiying carved her legacy in the stars. She lead several successful missions alongside Leilana and her crew of fighters.

Star Bound

When the sun went Supernova, Meiying and Leilani were tasked to take two Star Glider fleets to find a new planet to take refuge on.

Meiying and Leilani were separated for the first time since her recruitment. They were deployed to opposite sides of the galaxy and would not see each other again for several years. They were however, in constant communication. Relaying intel to each other, they discovered planets in their immediate safe range were uninhabitable. Their mission was a failure. Further travel wasn't viable. The climate change from the sun, created famine globally. There wasn't enough ships, man power, or resources to go into space. Especially with no prospects of a new planet to colonize.

Leilani, Meiying, and the world now had to face reality. They were all going die. No amount of technology and grit could change the tides of time.

Upon heading back to their rendezvous point, Meiying received a distress signal from Leilani's ship. The engine failed, leaving her crew stranded in what was known as a dead zone.

The dead zone was a phenomenon where the gravitational forces between two nearby planets, pulled space debris and asteroids into a tight vortex.

With Meiying's fleet out of reach, her team feared they'd lose their friends.

As Leilani's ship was being struck by asteroids, Leilani slipped into the avatar state. Having connected with her ancestors for the first time, she was able to redirect the asteroids, giving her crew the chance to flee the dead zone.

However, what her crew witnessed was inexplicable and aweing. Leilani, vaguely recalled the events but it left her with more questions than answers.

The Avatar was a being of ancient mythology, deemed a fairytale. It wasn't until she was reunited with Meiying, back on their planet, that she began to study the stories of old.

Art made with Nightcafe ai.

[zot3-flopped]

1D's name still pop up on Columbia's roster. So maybe that is why Liam's name is on Republic's roster though he said himself that he found a new label that fits his sound. I don't see Capitol resigning Niall again if this era tanks. He is playing festivals and attending events for emerging and new artists these days instead of being someone who has been in the music industry for 13 years and been a part of one of the biggest boybands in the world. If Capitol is trying this hard to build a name for him before NH3 that means they have little to no faith in him anymore. And it is quite apparent with the desperation he is showing on TikTok that the label has given him an ultimatum. And for someone who doesn't bring any profit, a label as big as Capitol won't just do charity for fun. I think if this era doesn't do well, they will show him the door. It is clear the 1D spark everyone had is gone including Harry's. But Harry's solo flame is bigger and better than what the band gave him so he is doing more than fine. The story is not the same for the rest. I don't see any label being interested in them anymore based on their boyband past. Not in 2023 I don't. Maybe the leftover collectibles label BMG will be interested. And Niall's new bestie Louis is there too so....

What Liam said about that label was weird. Maybe he 'found' it but UMG's lawyers reminded him it was illegal to release anything with them whilst still under contract to Republic.

[experiment-000]

I disagree for a couple of reasons. 1) I don't think there's no hope. 2) There have been other star wars stories that feel similarly hopeless at time of release but they're not the end of the story.

This isn't the end of the bad batch. It's the end of the second chapter. Like how empire strikes back ended with great losses but wasn't the end.

The thing that came to mind for me was the end of clone wars Season 7. Order 66 has happened, most of the jedi are dead, the empire has taken power. All seems pretty hopeless. The only hope (aside from our audience knowledge that the empire will fall) is that Rex and Ahsoka live to fight another day. We already knew order 66 was gonna happen and the empire would rise. We knew ahsoka and rex lived. That finale gave us absolutely no new hope. Only confirmations of deaths we didn't know about for sure.

It's the same with revenge of the sith. That was when we saw order 66 first and all the failures that resulted in the empire. The hope was Luke and Leia were born and were the new hopes for the galaxy and we as the audience know they will free the galaxy in future. But ultimately at the end of rots they're babies.

Personally I think the best comparison for now is the current state of the high republic era. Spoilers for that ahead I would really recommend reading it if you haven't.

The high republic era is made up of three phases and is set up like the three trilogies of star wars movies. We had phase 1 (made up of three waves and essentially our original trilogy), phase 2 which is currently in progress and has gone back into the past (a prequel trilogy) and then we don't know much about phase 3 yet but we have to assume it will be post phase 1.

The end of phase 1 was devastating. This era was set up as a hopeful light golden era of the republic and jedi. We saw a jedi order flourishing. And then we begin to see its downfall. We know they're going to fall because they somehow went from this to the prequel era order. And that is the most hopeless thing of all because we know they're going to overcome the galactic problems of the time but that they will also lose their way in the process.

This has gone a bit large scale compared to the bad batch so let me bring it back in. The latest thing we've seen in the high republic era involved starlight beacon - the symbol of the republic's aid and expansion to the outer rim, falling. Many major characters dying. That's how we left it. All hope lost, who knows where it will go from here. The only hope is the few of our heroes who survived.

Like how in the bad batch our main hope is hunter, wrecker and echo being free.

But we also have hope in crosshair and omega being together again. We have hope that emorie will betray the empire. And yes we have hope tech could have survived there's precedent for it in star wars.

This isn't the end of the bad batch so I don't think we need to worry about lost hope.

I was feeling really unsettled after the finale of The Bad Batch and I wasn’t entirely sure why until I talked to my best friend about it.

Spoilers and unsolicited opinions below.

This is just me trying to sort things out in my head and thought I would share.

Obviously Techs death was pretty devastating, and I thought that it was the loss of his character that had me so in my feelings. They had fleshed him out to be very unique; he was the genius trope while still being confident and warm in his own way. You don’t ever see that portrayed in any sort of media and it was super endearing and refreshing. Then they canonized (I’m calling it canon at this point) him being neurodivergent/Autistic and that felt really good.

From what I can remember, he had never been made fun of by his brothers for info dumping, interrupting or his general demeanor. (The Regs made fun of all of them so I’m not counting that) And again, he wasn’t portrayed as being completely callus and uncaring. When he came across that way, Omega called him out like any little sibling might and he had explained his situation beautifully.

“I may process moments and thoughts differently, but it does not mean that I feel any less than you.” Same my tall neurodivergent buddy, same. And I think that is an incredibly powerful thing for a show to say, especially a SciFi universe/series that attracts this sort of following.

So yea, Techs death felt a little like a gut punch. I get sad over character deaths but this one got to me, and Tech wasn’t even my most favorite character.

I believe it was because of the timing and the tone.

It happened with 15 minutes left to the last episode, at that point we know things can’t get better. There would be no ‘fix it’ curve ball where he comes back to save the day, Crosshair wasn’t getting saved and then Omega was taken. There was so much despair and strife that the ‘I’m your sister’ reveal had very little emotional effect on me. At that point, I just didn’t care. I had been curious before, but it’s hard to feel curious about anything when everything felt so demoralizing and hopeless.

And that’s where my disconnect and unsettled feeling is coming from.

Starwars is about Hope, it always has been. It’s a huge reason why I latched onto the universe as my ‘comfort’ fandom. I’m emotionally sick of shows that everything is horrible all the time, if I want that I just open up Facebook or watch the news.

That isn’t to say that bad things don’t happen in Starwars, they absolutely do. But I don’t remember the last time any of the shows or films left me feeling utterly hopeless. Even in season one we have Omega telling Crosshair “You’re still their brother, you’re my brother too.”

This season we get; Tech falling to his death. Wrecker, Echo and Hunter sitting in a Dark Marauder ready to go feral after already trying everything and having nothing left. Crosshair out for the count after being tortured for who knows how long and Omega being kidnapped by the Empire.

Obviously the writing is really good, especially if so many people are having an emotional reaction to it. And I understand that its set right after order 66, so the empire is in full swing of being vicious evil bastards. But I think I am just really missing that punch of hope at the end, that light at the end of the tunnel that can pull us through until next season.

I am unsettled because it just feels really hopeless and that isn’t the theme of Starwars at all.

I want next season to turn that around, I want Tech to make a Starwars ‘not dead yet’ return, Crosshair and Omega to escape and the found family Trope to be intact. But that all seems like a very big ask at this point.

Makes me scared for the Mandalorian. At least we got to see Zeb Live action this week.

[raeynbowboi]

Dating Disney: Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast features my favorite love story and my favorite Disney Princess, so it holds a very special spot in my heart. So, it’s worth looking into the film to decide when the Movie is supposed to be set.

During the opening musical number “Belle”, Belle is telling the Baker about the book she’s been reading. She’s clearly describing Jack and the Beanstalk, the earliest version being the tale of “Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean” in 1734. But she also deliberately mentions an ogre, not a giant. Near as I could find, the only version with an ogre was written by Joseph Jacobs in 1890, making Belle nearly contemporary to modernity. Belle’s excitement over the book is likely a sign that this is a new story.

During the same musical number, we see a sign depicting a tobacco pipe, but unlike with the Calabash pipe from the Little Mermaid movie. I could place it to possibly be a Billiard type, but the exact era of creation escapes me. However, tobacco pipes have been around as long as Tobacco has been introduced to European trade, starting in the 16th century.

The history of colored printing goes as far back as the 16th century, and there are illustrations from the early 1700s with an impressive variety of color that help establish a stronger time period. The book also shows the words Le Prince Charmant or Prince Charming. Prince Charming started being used in 1697 in Charles Perrault’s version of Sleeping Beauty, although there, Prince Charming was not a name. Rather, Perrault stated that the Prince was charmed by her words. The first story to use Prince Charming as a name is the Tale of Pretty Goldilocks. It was written at some point in the 17th Century by Madame d’Aulnoy, but in her version the hero was named Avenant. It wasn’t until 1889 when Andrew Lang retold the story that Avenant was dubbed as Charming. One year later in 1890, Oscar Wilde used the term “Prince Charming” sarcastically in his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, meaning that the term had gotten its more modern meaning by this point in time.

Gaston’s musket is a Blunderbuss, which was invented in the early 1600′s and remained popular through the 18th century before falling out of fashion in the middle of the 19th century. However, considering Belle states that this is a backwards town and Gaston is an old-fashioned, Primeval man, it’s possible he’s using a largely outdated weapon.

While there are no street lamps in the city, we can see in the background lanterns on the sides of buildings, which might allude to the movie taking place before the invention of gas lamps. However, gas lamps were invented in 1809, and if the version of Jack and the Beanstalk is from 1890, then by all accounts the town should have gas lamps. What this amounting evidence is leading me to believe is that the film is directly following the plot of the original fairy tale.

In the story, Beauty’s father is a merchant who loses his fortune due to a storm destroying his cargo. They’re forced to live on a farm until the merchant stumbles upon the Beast’s castle and kick starts the plot. In the opening song, Belle says “every morning’s just the same, since the morning that we came, to this poor, provincial town.” This could mean that she grew up in a much more modern, urban, and progressive town. Possibly even Paris. But that after Maurice suffered severe financial trouble, he was forced to move them to the small, backwards town that was practically living an entire century behind the rest of France, which is why she’s so bored and unimpressed by the little town. It helps explain why she’s so eager to want to get out of this town and see the world. She wants to be part of the modern world again.

Interestingly, I can support this theory with background information. According to some of my research, Belle’s village was based on the little town of Riquewihr, France, which still looks like it did in the 16th century to this day. So the idea that Belle’s little village lacks so many modern elements could be a nod to the architecture of this sleepy French village that has remained largely untouched by the march of time. Hence why it looks more like something out of the 1700s despite the many elements from the 1800s being present.

During the song “Be Our Guest”, Lumiere dances with a match stick. Match sticks were invented in 1805. Assuming the film still takes place in the 1890s, this would be concurrent with the other evidence we’ve seen thus far. Later in the same song, the silverware makes an Eiffel tower, which was constructed in 1889. Since Jack and the Beanstalk was written after that, it still fits within the suspected time frame.

During the climax of the battle, Cogsworth is wearing military garments reflective of Napoleonic styles. Napoleon was coronated in 1804 until 1814, had a brief return to power in 1815, and eventually died in 1821. So this is also congruent to the established time period.

In the Youtube Video “Fashion Expert Fact Checks Belle from Beauty and the Beast’s Costumes” by Glamour, April Calahan, a Fashion Historian from the Fashion Institute of Technology directly noted that Belle’s yellow gown lacks the shape of a proper 18th century dress, and more closely resembles the shape of 19th century dresses, fitting into the evidence that’s been mounting in support of a late 19th century setting.

As a part of his primary costume, Lefou wears a waistcoat and tailcoats, which came into vogue in the 1800s, namely from the 1840s through the 1850s.

But if the film is set in the 1800s, how can the Beast still be a prince after the French Revolution? Well something worth noting is that when he finds out that Belle isn’t coming to dinner, the Beast storms through the halls to her room as Cogsworth calls after him as “Your Eminence” and “Your Grace”. The address of “Your Eminence” is reserved for Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, and is an ecclesiastical style of address. “Your Grace” is noticeably an English style of address, but it’s being used by Cogsworth who is British, so I can chalk that up to just part of his culture. Although it was used for British monarchs, it fell out of use during the reign of King Henry VIII (1509-1547) and after that, the use of “Your Grace” became used to address archbishops and non-royal Dukes and Duchesses. Now clearly the Beast is not a cardinal or a bishop, especially if he is looking for the love of a woman to make him human, since it’s forbidden for Catholic priests to marry. So clearly that is not what is meant here. But the other answer actually does hold a bit of weight. Beast’s father was in fact, a Duke. So how is the Beast a prince? He’s not. Not entirely. See, there’s more than one kind of Prince in French nobility. There’s a Prince du Sang, or a Prince by Blood. Effectively, the Crown Prince, the sons of ruling monarchs. But the title is also given to lords in charge of a Principality, one of the smallest territorial sizes. The Beast’s principality probably only extends to having power over the little unnamed village. And with it being after the revolution, Beast might not even have the proper use of his title anymore. He’s effectively a rich kid in a fancy house with no real authority or power. He’s just old money from a by-gone era of human history. But if Beast’s address of “Your Grace” is accurate, that would mean that he’s a non-royal Duke, meaning he would not likely have been executed during the Revolution, as his family would have essentially been governors or senators than actual monarchs. They just had jurisdiction over a small piece of the Kingdom of France and reported back to and obeyed the orders of their King. Thus, he would not have been important enough to be killed or chased out of power by the townsfolk.

CONCLUSION

The movie is set between the late autumn and early-to-mid winter of 1890. Although the snow is gone when Belle returns to the village, the trees are still bare, signaling that it may just be unseasonably warm, though it could be the very early spring of 1891 between the receding of the snow and the blossoming of new spring foliage. Between the books, clothing, and references made, my conclusion is that Belle is a very modern girl living in a backwards little town stuck in the past, thus why a village in 1890 looks so completely lacking in modern technology despite the era. The Prince is nothing more than a fancy title as the son of a Duke, and he likely has very little if any actual government authority. Essentially, Belle married into wealth, not power, and will never be a proper queen, and I’m not sure if the wife of a lord ruling a principality is a princess or not, but I suspect the answer is no. Making Belle, like Mulan, a Disney Princess who did not marry royalty, was not born royalty, and thus, cannot be called a Disney Princess. She’s definitely a noblewoman, but she’s not royal by any means.

SETTING: Riquewihr, France

KINGDOM: The French Republic (France)

YEAR: Autumn, 1890 - Spring, 1891

PERIOD: The Third Republic (1870-1940)

LANGUAGE: French

[rainydaydream-gal18]

(Clone Wars/Rebels) Rebels!Rex x Reader: Hope

(Author’s Note: Sooo this is a neat request I got! I REALLY hope you don’t mind that I tweaked it a tad!!!!  And I hope you like it!!!!  Highkey this almost had me crying at the end, oh my.  It’s tough for me to write Rebels era Rex because in my mind he’s forever young ;^;  But I really did enjoy this request, and thank you!

OG Request: What about a Rebels Rex x reader reunion where the reader died during order 66, but became a ghost. So she sticks with Kanan and the ghost crew, when they get Rex back she stays invisible so that he can't see her because she thinks that he moved on. Something happens and he sees her, she hides and he has to hunt her down and convince her that they could make it work.)

   “_________,” Kanan said gently.  He stood at the doorway to your quarters, eyes full of concern.  “I know this is hard for you.  Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do, but...you can’t hide forever.  The others are worried about you.”  You materialized in the middle of the room, eyes downcast and arms wrapped around your form in an attempt for comfort.  Kanan stepped inside the room, allowing the door to slide shut behind him.  “The clones took everything from us.  They betrayed the jedi and killed so many…” The bridge of his nose crinkled as the rest of his face twisted with pain at the memories.  Bitterness came off him in waves.

   “Kanan, you misunderstand,” you whispered, walking over to take a seat at the edge of your bunk.  “That’s not why I’m hesitant to reveal myself to the men who we’ve teamed up with.  The truth is...I don’t entirely blame them.”

   “What?” he asked in disbelief.  “How could you not?”  

   “Remember, Kanan, I was a jedi knight when Order 66 went through.  You only remember part of the story because you were so young.  The men were under Sidious’ control.  We can’t hold that against them.”

   He folded his arms, as if his point still stood.  “Then why are you hiding?”

   At that, your eyes returned to the floor.  “Because I know those men.  I knew Captain Rex quite well back in the day.”

   Kanan’s eyes widened.  “You mean…”

   “I know.  It was against my code and his regulations, but we were together.  I...I loved him.  I was off on another mission when Order 66 was given.  The troops I was working with fired at me, and that’s when the accident happened.”

   “The accident that left you a ghost.  But it wasn’t an accident, _________.  Your soldiers betrayed you and shot at the energy field behind you.  They-”

   You sighed.  “Kanan, I’m not a force ghost.”  When he gave you a skeptical look, you continued, “I can walk through walls and vanis, but think about it.  Have you ever seen a ghost stick around this long?  Or actually have the ability to materialize a physical form like I do?”

   “Can’t say I’ve had too many encounters with them in the first place,” he mumbled.

   “The accident turned my body into energy.  They didn’t take my life.”

   “__________.”  He closed his eyes and shook his head.  “That doesn’t excuse what they did, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to face them.”

   “Rex didn’t do this to me anyway.  He’s a good man, and I never stopped loving him.  I just don’t want him to see me this way.  He has probably been moved on for some time now, and he’s going to be upset.”

   “He should.”

   “Kanan!” you scolded.  “That’s enough.  I get that you’re still hurting.  I understand.  Really, I do.  I just don’t need to hear this right now.”

   He released a sigh, resting a hand on your shoulder.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

    Just then, the door to your quarters slid open.  You vanished on instinct, but it appeared that you hadn’t gone quickly enough.  A familiar pair of eyes stared wide at the spot you had previously sat beside Kanan.  Though you recognized them instantly, they belonged to an aged face.

   “___________?  I knew it.  It is you.”

   Kanan glanced around awkwardly while you remained invisible.  “Um…”

   “I thought I saw ___________ earlier.  I thought that maybe it was just all in my head, but she’s here, isn’t she?”

   “Look, Rex…”

   “Please,” Rex pleaded.  “Please tell me where I can find her.  I never knew what happened to her after the Republic fell.  I know you don’t like me but-”

   “I’m right here,” you said, materializing.  Rex’s eyes widened and  mouth fell open.  “I didn’t want you to see me this way.”

   “___________, what happened to you?”

   The sympathy and in his voice caused you to feel a familiar ache in your chest.  It was overwhelming.  For years you had wondered, just as he did, what happened.  For years you tried to come to terms with never seeing him again.  But there he was standing in front of you.  In fact, he was walking over.

   “Wait,” you said quickly.  “I...I can’t.”  You vanished again, this time hearing him call out,

   “No!”  You hurried past him and ran straight through the closed door.  You heard him on the other side.  “I’m going to find her.”

   - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

   “___________,” you heard Rex’s voice pant.  “There you are.”

   “Rex, I’m sorry about earlier.”

   “Don’t worry about it.”  A strained groan escaped his lips as he lowered himself to sit beside you.  “I just don’t want to lose you again.”

   You hugged your knees to your chest as you gazed out at the setting sun from the roof of the ship.  The sky glowed a variety of lovely colors; orange, pink, and even a little purple.  For the first time since seeing Rex again, you felt at peace.  Sitting beside him felt normal even after all that time.  “What do you mean?”

   “After Order 66 was given, I had quite the adventure.  Ahsoka helped me get the chip out of my head so that I would no longer carry out the order.”  He sighed.  “I looked everywhere for you after that.  Even some of my brothers told me that the worst may have happened, but I always had hope.  I never stopped looking.  I never stopped- I never stopped loving you.”

   “Rex,” you whispered.  “What we had was great, but it was a long time ago.  So much has changed since then.  We were young, and we had no idea what the galaxy would become.”

   “What are you talking about?” He gave a hearty laugh.  “We’re still young, and there’s a new hope.”

   You looked over at him, meeting those eyes that held so much warmth in them.  Even with the crinkles around his eyes and the white beard, in your eyes he was the same Rex you knew back then.  Memories began to flash across your mind like a holovid playing in front of you.  Memories of stolen glances across the strategy meetings and debriefings, secret kisses when no one was looking, and many battles fought side-by-side.

   “What happened to the serious captain I knew?” you smiled.

   “He lightened up a bit.”  Rex chuckled.  You ventured to reach out a hand to rest its palm on his cheek, and he instinctively relaxed into the touch, closing his eyes and exhaling.  “__________, do you still love me?”

   “Of course I do.”

   “Then we can make this work.  Like I said, I don’t want to lose you again.  Ever.”  He reached up to gently place his hand over yours, opening his eyes to gaze at you with determination.  Your breath caught in your throat.

   “A-alright.”

   His eyes glinted then, the same way they used to when you’d look at him from across a briefing, and he leaned in to wrap his arm around your form and pull you against him.  He tipped your chin up and captured your lips in a kiss.  You giggled, and he pulled away.  “What?”

   “Nothing, it’s just,” you giggled again, tears spilling from your eyes.  “The beard.  It tickles.”

   “Oh yeah?” he laughed, leaning in to playfully swipe his beard across your cheek, sending you into a fit of giggles as you tried to break free from his embrace.  Then, he let you catch your breath.  “I missed you.”

   “I missed you too.”  You pressed a kiss to his hand.  “And you’re right.  There is hope.”

[ilonga]

new chapter of coppertop is out!

ao3

"The Clone Wars are over!" 

"For good."

* * * * *

The cheers are overwhelming. The Senate floor shakes with the strength of them, vibrating on its very foundations as Senators, Representatives, and aides shout and grin and laugh and cry. Palpatine, for his part, looks on from above, a cooly satisfied expression on his face. 

Anakin, for his part, grips the side of the Senate pod a little tighter instead of cheering. Or crying. This. . . this is everything he's hoped for. Isn't it?

He can't believe it. The war is over. The war is over.

He locks eyes with Padme, on the other side of the Senate. He can't tell how she's reacting.

"At long last," Palpatine continues, voice booming out through the building. The Senators quiet quickly. "Our years of hard work, of courage, of battles have come to fruition! Senators, representatives, citizens of the Republic, today we have reunited our great Galactic Republic. Today all of the people of our galaxy live under one flag. Today, everything is right with our galaxy."

"Of course," he continues, tone suddenly softer, "With this beautiful victory comes a new era, and all its necessary changes. It is with great humility and gratitude that I announce that from this moment forth, the office of the Chancellor relinquishes all emergency powers given during wartime. There is no need for them any longer. We are in an era of peace, prosperity, and. . . democracy."

He pauses and leans forward. "Let today be known as the first day of Galactic Reunification." The cheers, if possible, have returned even louder than before. "And may our children's children still celebrate it for years to come."

* * * * *

This time, it's Padme excusing herself from Bail and running at him full force. 

"Anakin," she says breathlessly, wrapping her arms around him and bringing him into a kiss. They pull apart, and words seem to fail her. They fail him, too.

They walk back to her apartment in silence, Padme smiling all the way with her arm in his. 

"It's over," she says finally, once they come to a stop in front of the door. "The war. . . the war is over."

"I can't believe it." he says honestly. Numbly. What does his life even look like without a war? Without constant deployments, a rapidly shrinking battalion, a damn near weekly electrocution session?

Huh. Wait. Do Jedi in peacetime. . . even have deadly encounters on the daily? What do they even do? Sit in the Temple? Negotiate trade deals? He tries to imagine it and finds that he can't. What does a Jedi's life look like if they're not fighting for it? What does the galaxy look like if it's not rapidly falling apart?

Padme looks up at him in confusion and he realizes he's frowning. "You're acting so strange," she says. "I thought this was what you wanted."

"It was—it is what I wanted." he rushes to say. "I'm just—surprised. That's all. It's all happening so fast."

"Should have happened faster if you ask me." she grumbles. "It's about damn time." 

He laughs as they enter, taking care not to hit his head on the doorframe. If he squints, he imagines he can see a difference between the apartment now that it's peacetime versus before.  A little brighter, he'd like to think. Cleaner. Happier. "It still feels too good to be true."

Padme rolls her eyes at him in a rare display of playfulness. "My husband, ever the pessimist." she says, ignoring Anakin's snort of protest. "It's been less than a day of peace, Anakin. We've been fighting the war for three years. Of course it feels strange."

"So," she continues pulling him towards the couch, where they collapse in a giddy heap, "how long do I have you for, this time?"

When do you need to rush back to the Temple through a side door, is what she's really asking, and he's already cataloguing—Ahsoka's not back from Mandalore, yet, and Obi-wan should be in his quarters, resting, if he knows what's good for him, but this—this is huge. The war is officially, finally, over for good. Maybe he should be at the Temple for this. Will the Council need him? Sure, his position on the Council is a joke at best and a political tug-of-war at worst, but maybe they'll need a report of the Chancellor's actions. 

He dismisses the thought with a sharp huff. If they want to know what the Chancellor said, they can just watch the broadcast from the official channels, like everyone else. No need to bring treason into it. 

The Council. . . the war is over. The war is over. Which means. . . his glance lands on Padme's hands, resting gently on her abdomen. 

"Maybe I should just get it over with today," he says, realisation dawning on him slowly.

"What?"

Anakin turns to look her in the eyes. "Leave the Order." He reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. "The war is over. I can just—just go now. I'll tell the Council about us, turn in my saber, and then we can . . . I can just bring my stuff over." He doesn't even have all that much to carry—just a trinket or two, spare clothes, he doesn't even need the droid parts—He's giddy, all of a sudden. They've been talking about this, daydreaming about this, for years, and now the day is here and it's so much simpler than he could have ever imagined—Padme's due any day now— "We'll get you set up with a medcenter, and then we can go to Naboo, just like you wanted, and—"

"Anakin," Padme says, brow furrowed, "Anakin, slow down."

He stops. She doesn't sound nearly as excited at the prospect as he is. 

"You want to," she blinks rapidly, "leave the Jedi? Obi-wan? Ahsoka? Just like that?"

She sounds surprised. Why does she sound so surprised?

"You're due any day now. I don't want to leave them, of course I don't, but—we're going to be parents, Padme. A family. I've made my choice."

He half laughs. "It's not like we can keep it secret for much longer."

Padme bites her lip and looks down. "Anakin, you killed Dooku. You're half the reason this war is over. I hardly think they'll just—throw you away. Like you're nothing."

Anakin flinches at that. It's not like that, he wants to say. We knew what we were doing. We knew we were breaking the rules. "The rules—" he starts to speak.

"—are outdated." Padme cuts him off. "And we both know it."

"That doesn't mean they'll just throw them away for one person." In truth, he's not so sure how he feels about the Code and its rules. He's always felt. . . conflicted, for lack of a better word. But he's at peace with his decision to leave, to devote himself to Padme and their new family. Or. Well. He was. Now Padme's gone and dug up all his old insecurities again. 

"Fine." Padme finally says, albeit unhappily. "Fine, you go and tell them, and if they decide to kick you out, that's their prerogative, I suppose. But for goodness sakes', stop acting as if you want to get kicked out! You're a fine Jedi, Anakin. You can be both, you know. You don't need to—you don't need to martyr yourself for my sake."

"I'm not—that's not—" He cuts himself off, frustrated. "Fine."

"Good." She settles backwards, leaning against him again. Then— "Oh!" Padme says, hand flying to her abdomen. She turns, grinning, and grabs Anakin's hand—the flesh hand, that is—to press it against her belly. "Did you feel that? He kicked!"

"She," he banters back absentmindedly. Leia, he remembers them discussing a few days ago. Luke if it's a boy, Leia if it's a girl. He closes his eyes to try and sense the baby's presence, feeling a slight lurch under his palm.

It's. . . strange. Reaching for the force is strange. Like pushing aside a heavy curtain. He strains for a few seconds before finally—there. The presences are distant, far more distant than they should be, and he has a momentary lurch of panic but they're there, light and joyful and alive in a way—

Wait.

Presences?

"Padme," he says numbly, reaching again and—Yes. He's right. "There are two."

Padme pales rapidly. "What?"

"I—twins. There are two."

She gapes at him, blinking rapidly, then glances down at herself then back up again. "The med droid—oh, force, when I told it to keep it a surprise I didn't mean the number of babies!"

"We'll manage," he says, pushing past the shock. Two—two babies. Will they have Padme's eyes or his? Blond hair or dark? And two—sithspit, this makes the force-sensitivity question even more complicated than it already was. They'll have to adjust the nursery, for sure.

"I didn't—I didn't know." she says with a slightly bitter edge. "I should have known."

"Padme, you're the strongest person I know." Anakin says firmly. "And this is on the med droid, not you." 

"Really," she says wryly, changing tone. "Even Obi-wan? Yoda? Ahsoka? Your men?"

 "The strongest," he promises, biting back his grin. 

Padme takes a breath. "If it's two boys, I'd like the other after my father. But if it's two girls. . . what do you think of naming her Shmi?"

Oh.

"That's—wonderful." He blinks back sudden tears. "Thank you."

Padme pulls him into another kiss. Lighter, this time.

"You should probably go now." she says softly.

"Yeah," he says, swiping at his eyes with the palms of his hand. "Yeah, I will. Love you."

He hears her murmur it back as he turns to leave.

* * * * *

The Council Chamber is silent.

He'd waited for the end of the meeting to make his confession—a bit cowardly, he knows, but he's already rocked the boat enough as is. The meeting itself had been shorter than usual, with an air of relief permeating the room. They'd watched the broadcast from one of Master Ti's holos, once, twice, before Master Windu confirmed what they already knew—yes, it was completely genuine. Then, plans to demilitarise. Then—

He'd spoken up.

Now there's silence.

His comm beeps. He startles then determinedly ignores it, waiting for a reaction.

"To be completely honest," Obi-wan speaks first. "I can't exactly say I'm surprised." He looks around, making eye contact with the others. "Well, surely I can't be the only one."

To Anakin's surprise, there are a few light giggles. Master Ti is even smiling.

"Subtle, you have not been." Yoda agrees. "Subtle the Senator has not been, either."

"Like a pair of star speckled Alderaanian love wrens," Shaak Ti agrees.

He gapes.

To be fair, it was probably easy enough to guess that he'd harbored feelings for Padme—and maybe even that she felt the same for him. But for force's sake, they'd expected the marriage too? The children?

That's a bit. . . much. 

His comm beeps again.

"Should you wish to leave the Jedi Order," Mace says, looking as amused as the rest of them, "that is, of course, your decision. But—" He looks around and seems to find the agreement he's looking for. "I believe this discussion can be tabled for now. The war is over, after all. You have fulfilled the prophecy."

 Okay, this is definitely not what he was expecting. What had happened to "You will be expelled from the Jedi Order, Anakin,"? "Attachments are forbidden,"?

He's relieved. Incredibly relieved. But also. . . 

Unsatisfied.

And he remembers—he hasn't fulfilled the prophecy, actually. There's a Sith—a dark side user—in the Senate, leading the Senate, and he's just let him be. He hasn't even told the Council. And sure, nothing bad seems to have come of it—it's Chancellor Palpatine for force's sake, the man could hardly hurt a fly—but still.

He closes his eyes and tries to find some equilibrium.

But—

Something in the force is recoiling, echoing, empty and vacant and cold.

He frowns.

"Master Windu, are you. . . feeling alright?"

Master Windu glances up in confusion. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"The force feels. . . strange. Around you." He struggles to find more words to explain it and finds that he can't. It's just. . . an ache. A devastating ache. With a strange twist to it.

Master Windu frowns at him. "I don't feel it." He pauses. "Are you absolutely certain this. . . feeling of yours is centered around me?"

He closes his eyes. No, he realizes, it's not just Mace. This strange thread of—of wrongness echoes throughout the Chamber, curling around various Council members with an icy chill.

Reaching for the babies' force presence had also been strange, Anakin remembers, trying and failing to squash his panic. They'd felt—so far away. Or maybe it was he himself that felt removed. This is the second time that reaching for the force has felt off—what's happening to him? What the hell is going on?

His comm beeps yet again.

"Answer that, you may, young Skywalker." Master Yoda says from his seat. A few others hum in affirmation.

He switches it on.

"Anakin," comes Padme's panicked voice, strange and staticky through the receiver.

"Anakin, I think the babies are coming."

[vagrantblvrd]

I’ve seen posts where people think Sebastian Stan should be cast as Luke for future space adventures? Which believe me, are amazing and I would 100% watch the hell out of?

But also please to consider this:

Din comes across this character played by Sebastian Stan who gives Din what is obviously a fake name. Because Antilles, right? One of the most common names around and he might as well have not given Din a name at all, but it’s not like he’s going to call the guy on it or anything, right?

Din’s out hunting down Imperial remnants that have anything to do with the experiments on Grogu and finds this Antilles guy in a cell at one of the bases. He’s clearly had a rough time of it if the look he gives Din when he opens the door to his cell is any indication.

Just this...shock and surprise and something like grief before he tucks it all way behind this oddly familiar smile.

Antilles has clearly been treated to Imperial “kindness”, in that he’s bruised all to hell and can’t walk on his own - almost falls when he insists he’s fine, no really - so Din gets to play human crutch. (Might have been there a while, because he’s all scruffy too, unkempt beard and hair, and anyway, he’s not had an easy time of things.)

Which is fine because Din dealt with most of the Imperials by the time he found Antilles, but! They hit an intersection while looking for the labs and a couple of stormtroopers coming from the opposite direction.

This moment where they all stare at one another in that uh, situation? kind of way but haven’t had the time to react just yet.

Thing is, Din and Antilles happened to trip over their feet just before the troopers walked up, are untangling themselves but Din’s not in a good position to draw his blasters or any of his other weapons. Is like of course this would happen now and resigned to using himself as a human shield, because Antilles is in rough shape and Din’s armor, and anyway.

Doesn’t matter in the end because he feels this tug at his hip and Antilles ducking under his arm and pew-pew-pew, down go the stormtroopers, felled by incredible aim and Din’s blaster and Antilles who gives him this little smirk that is also oddly familiar.

Antilles shrugs, says something about his dad teaching him to shoot or whatever and when Din gets them both back on their feet apologizes for grabbing his blaster. But since doing so just saved their lives, Din’s not all that bothered by it.

Anyway, they get to the labs and Din parks Antilles in a chair while he digs for anything helpful. Scrounges up some datasticks and destroys the rest and when he turns to collect Antilles on the way out - 

The guy’s got this look on his face. Complicated, because angry and wistful and a whole bunch of other things Din doesn’t have the time or luxury to unpack.

They get back to Din’s ship, and Din catches the - he doesn’t even know - expression on Antilles’ face when he sees it.

Some of the grief is back, and the wistful nostalgia and weirdly enough, Antilles pats the hull of the ship as Din gets them up the ramp and he swears he hears him say something like long time no see, old girl, and anyway. Din has stuff he needs to get back to Lu - to Skywalker to see if he or his New Republic friends can make sense of it.

He gets Antilles patched up and there’s clothes for him to wear - old bounties who didn’t need it anymore or gifts from people Din helped in the past an he didn’t know what to do with them and anyway.

Antilles looks better after he’s patched up and cleaned up, wearing this mishmash of clothes but he’s not complaining. Seems more grounded, settled, too, than he had earlier, like he’s had time to sort things out for himself.

Shaved his beard, but kept the mustache and just shrugs when Din notices it, just an observation on his part and doesn’t ask because it’s not like matters and anyway.

They run into some trouble getting back to Skywalker’s school, but Antilles isn’t useless. Knows how to fly, is a damn good shot - impressive, really - and knows his way around both jungle and desert in survival situations.

Because that trouble they run into and crashing and continuing to not die after the crashing is done because Imperials or other baddies, and anyway.

Antilles is far from useless and also snarky as hell and Din actually starts to like him.

Wonders a little at how sad he seems sometimes, the two of them sitting at the fire they’re cooking that night’s dinner over and Din looks over when Antilles isn’t expecting it.

Staring at the flames and sad, the kind that runs deep.

Din doesn’t ask, though, doesn’t think it would be appreciated because there’s something...brittle about Antilles in the right conditions and anyway, he doesn’t ask.

Antilles gives him little pieces of himself here and there, though. Mentions his parents, the one who taught him how to shoot, the one who taught him how to fight. Both of them arguing about who was going to teach him to fly until his aunt and uncle had enough of the pointlessness of it and taught him themselves.

(”I learned to fly on a freighter,” he tells Din, cutting through an asteroid field to avoid Imperial TIES after them like it’s nothing. “Corellian make, fastest thing around.”)

Apparently Antilles knows a whole lot of things besides all that, knows how to cheat at sabacc well enough Din almost doesn’t catch him at it. And when he does, the man gives him this wide-eyed look of innocence like who, him? cheat? he would never that is so painfully familiar Din has to look away because there’s a reason he’s out here on his own, isn’t there.

(All these inconvenient Feelings and no chance that Skywalker would ever return them, because Jedi and also look at Din, okay, kind of a mess of a human being and Luke is Luke.)

Anyway.

Eventually they make it to Luke’s school and Din can’t help but notice how quiet Antilles gets as they come in for the landing approach. Hands whit-knuckled in his lap, and he’s trying to look like everything’s fine but his jaw in clenched and he’s got that look in his eyes again and anyway.

Luke comes out to greet them with Grogu running ahead, and both of them stop short at the sight of Antilles.

“Din,” Skywalker says slowly, in such a way that Din realizes something is going on, “who’s your friend?”

Din explains meeting Antilles in the cell of an Imperial remnant base and their many adventures getting back to the school and so on.

The entire time Skywalker (and Grogu) are staring at Antilles, and Antilles is staring back at them, and Din is just like this is Force nonsense again, isn’t it.

And then Antilles is like, So I Have Something To Tell You.

At which point he tells them that he’s from the future - because of course - thanks to some doohickey in the ruins of a Jedi temple he was investigating - because of course it’s to do with Force nonsense - and also he’s here to set the timeline right after a sith or whoever got their first and meddled with the original timeline.

Because of course he is.

There’s a whole Thing in which Antilles and Skywalker go off to talk Jedi stuff.

(Oh, yeah, apparently Antilles is Force-sensitive, probably actually a Jedi himself and Din is like, of course he is because that’s his luck, isn’t it?)

Anyway, Din goes off to check on Luke’s students with Grogu and everyone’s happy to see him, pepper him with questions about what he did while he was gone and he tells them the parts that don’t involve killing people, because wow, no.

And then later on when everyone’s asleep or supposed to be asleep Skywalker finds him and they just kind of enjoy a moment of quiet, peace, while they can.

Comfortable the way things are around one another, and Din’s traitorous heart goes all soft and squishy when Skywalker gives him this warm smile as he catches Din up on happenings at the school while he was gone.

(How many frogs Grogu’s eaten - too many to count, honestly, I’m starting to worry - and so on.)

Din feels guilty at how much he enjoys these moments with Skywalker because they’re not something he gets to have, and anyway, yes.

Shenanigans in which Antilles is clearly in league with Skywalkers students and just about everyone in shoving Din and Skywalker together until finally one of them breaks and confessions concerning Feelings are had and convenient that they’re locked in a storage area because no one else to see when Din presses his forehead against Luke’s and they both do that breathy little laugh that’s all soft and surprised and only for them, and anyway!

Then the Serious Shenanigans happen in which the sith (or whtatever) Antilles was after pops up and does an Evil Monologue in which it’s revealed they were responsible for killing Antilles’ family in that original timeline and also ushering in a new era for the Empire and oethr bad stuff.

Oh, and also, Luke and Din are his parents because those experiments on Grogu and that time both Din and Luke got caught and had blood samples and the whatnot taken and anyway.

He’s cloned from them or something equally dramatic, idk how science works, and they rescued him and raised him as their own and the mustache of his should have been a bigger clue, really, it’s been staring them all in the face (literally) the whole time, what fools they’ve been not to realize!!1!

Emotional fallout and sacrifice plays with one of them being no, bad, don’t try that again or I’ll be Disappointed and the good guys winning the day as the timeline is set right, and all that good stuff.

Din, Luke, Grogu, and Antilles go to where the Jedi ruins are with the time travel doohickey to send Antilles - he still won’t tell them what his name is.

There’s emotional goodbyes all around and then poof, off he goes back to the future where he belongs Din and Luke and Grogu like wow, that was a thing, huh?

But also.

The thing where they’ve both been captured - together and separately - by Imperial remnants and had blood samples and the whatnot taken and Antilles could exist in their timeline right now.

Realize he never told them where they found him or how, and are like oh, no, because what if they don’t find him now? What if they never find him???

So of course Artoo trundles over and plays this little holomessage of Antilles.

Looks nervous as hell and that sadness they knew the reason for all over him, must have recorded this before he told them who he was, and anyway.

He doesn’t know where they found him exactly, just the name of the system and his best guess at when it happened, and then he gets this look on his face like. It’s too much like the one Luke gets sometimes, like Din’s when he’s in a bad place, and anyway.

They go looking where he told them and they find this kid, tiny, adorable, scared kid who can tap into the Force and he’s got Luke’s eyes and Din’s hair and other little small things and he’s just.

“Would have been helpful if he told us what we named him,” Luke says, but he’s kind of an emotional mess the way Din is, and anyway, yes.

(Also, though. Grogu is the worst influence on their kid, but an awesome big brother.)