#@ailtara

[the-goofball]

[calebdumes]

Prompt: Kanan and Hera have an argument.

thanks for the prompt anon! I hope you don't mind, I added a heaping portion of angst to go with this!

fandom: star wars rebels

relationship: kanan jarrus/hera syndulla

word count: 1.2k

rating: t

~

“No.” Kanan said, folding his arms over his chest, his chin jutting out defiantly. Hera felt her chest tighten with irritation but bit down on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from responding with something she might regret. She didn’t have to be a Jedi to know how angry Kanan was, she could practically feel it roll off of him in hot, sticky waves that make her skin itch and the tips of her lekku curl inwards. 

The rest of her crew scattered around the lounge seemed unaware of his building fury so she used their blissful ignorance to center herself. There was no need for her to throw her own emotions into the mix when Kanan was like this. Hera breathed deeply through her nose and set her shoulders. 

Kanan may have made up his mind but Hera wasn’t the type to give up so easily.

She could be stubborn too. 

“Kanan,” she said in a calm, even tone, hoping that her gentle approach would soften the ice that had settled in his gaze.  “He has to sleep somewhere.”

“Not here.” 

“It’s not like you even use your cabin anyways.” Sabine pipped up unhelpfully from the acceleration couch. “We all know you sleep with Hera.”

Hera winced internally. Maybe having this discussion out in the open wasn’t the best idea she had. 

“Or,” Ezra interjected. “I could take your cabin and he could bunk with Zeb.”

“If anybody is getting Kanan’s cabin, it’s gonna be me.” Zeb growled. 

“No one is getting my cabin.” Kanan snapped. “That’s the point.”

“Kanan, please.” Hera sighed, some of her frustrations slipping out. “Be reasonable.”

“This is me being reasonable.” he hissed. 

The atmosphere in the lounge shifted in an instant, reacting to the venom in Kanan’s voice. Wide eyes were locked on this towering form, the chilling air of confusion and disbelief filling the sudden silence. Hera stood, stunned by the harshness in his words before she snapped back to herself, anger heating her blood.

She latched onto his arm and pulled him from the room, dragging him down the short hallway to her cabin. She wasted no time pushing him inside when the doors began to part, following him in and slapping the locking mechanism, sealing them in. Kanan’s brows pulled together in a scowl, his jaw muscles working furiously as he stared her down. 

“Unlock the door,” he said. 

“No.” Hera responded, planting her hands on her hips. “Not until you stop acting like a kriffing asshole.”

“Hera, unlock the door.” Kanan repeated, his voice low and threatening. Hera’s lekku tightened at the warning but she pressed on. This had gone on long enough. She could understand that Kanan was upset but she needed him to see how ridiculous he was being. He was letting himself get all worked up over nothing and he needed to let it go. 

“It’s just for a few nights until Ahsoka gets back.” she replied, digging her heels in.

“Then he can stay on the Liberator.”

“You know we can’t dock with the Liberator while it’s in orbit.”

“Then Sato can send a shuttle to pick him up.” Kanan snapped. “Or he can rent out a room in the spaceport, I don’t kriffing care but he’s not staying here. That’s final.”

“That’s final?” she arched a brow. “Last time I checked, this was my ship. I’m the one who gets to make the call on who stays and who goes. I don’t see the issue in letting him spend a few nights here.”

“Of course you don’t.” Kanan huffed. He turned on his heel and began pulling clothes out from the storage compartment, tossing them onto the bed with force. 

“What is that supposed to mean? What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.” Kanan replied flatly. The words hit Hera like a wall of ice, old fears racing to the surface of her mind, her heart racing in her chest.

“You’re what?” she whispered. 

“If he’s staying here then I’m leaving. I’ll find somewhere else to bunk down until Ahsoka gets back. I’m not staying here.”  he said, shoving clothes into a bag.   

“You can’t be serious!” she cried. “Kanan, it’s just for a few nights! What is the big deal?”

“He’s a clone!” Kanan yelled, spinning around to face her with a wild look in his eyes. “That’s what the big deal is!” 

Hera blinked. “But everything on Seelos, I thought…”

“What? You thought I’d suddenly be okay with clones just because they helped us out in a pinch?”

“No! I just thought that maybe…”

“I’m not like you, Hera.” Kanan continued on, his chest heaving. “The clones didn’t swoop in and save my planet. They murdered my master in front of me. They tried to kill me. So forgive me if I’m not so trusting of our new guest.”

Hera’s eyes slipped closed. Of course. She restrained the urge to smack her forehead. She should have known it would take more than one mission to rebuild Kanan’s trust in the clones. She should have known this was the reason behind his attitude. Hera bit the inside of her cheek again and mentally kicked herself. 

It was different for her. When looked at Rex’s face she saw Howzer. She saw countless soldiers that had risked their lives to free her planet from the separatists control. When Kanan looked at Rex, he was haunted by the memory of the Purge, his friends turned against him, his family slaughtered. Of course he wouldn’t be comfortable with a clone living on the ship. She could hardly blame him.

Still, she couldn’t push past her guilt.

She should have known. 

When she opened her eyes she saw Kanan, really saw him. Under his dark expression she could see the shadows clinging to the corners of his eyes, the fragile state of his shoulders, tensed and ready for a fight, seconds away from shattering. He was barely holding himself together. And she had, once again, allowed herself to get caught up in the excitement of growing the rebellion to notice. So blinded by her eagerness to fly that she didn’t account for the weather. 

Hera’s hand dropped from her hips, falling limply by her sides. “I’m sorry, love.” she said, taking a slow step towards him. Kanan tensed but didn’t move away. She placed her hands on his shoulders, carefully working her fingers into the tense muscles before sliding one hand behind his neck. Gently she pulled him down, until his head was resting on her shoulder, his body trembling in her arms. “I’m sorry.”

Kanan shook, his breathing sharp and ragged as Hera swayed back and forth. She hummed a gentle lullaby while her fingers slowly undid the straps of his shoulder armor, letting the heavy material fall to the floor. When Kanan’s breathing slowed, Hera led them over to her bed, tossing his bag aside and laid down beside him.

“I just,” Kanan said in a broken whisper that made Hera’s heart ache. “I’m trying. I just need time.”

Hera kissed his forehead and pulled him in close as if she could protect him from the nightmares of the past. “I know love.” she told him. “I’m sorry I pushed so hard. I’ll have Zeb relay a message to Rex about finding a room at the spaceport.”

“‘M sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, love. It’s not your fault.” Hera squeezed her eyes close, fighting back a wave of tears. “You just need time.”

She felt Kanan shutter, his choked off whimper muffled by her chest. 

“Take all the time you need.” 

[pretchatta]

🌹🌹🌹

from 'breaking our chains':

Resplendent in fine silks and glittering jewels, she reclined on an enormous throne, surrounded by attendants.

from another modern au:

Okadiah sighed. “Go home, lad.”

and this... this is yet another soulmate au, because apparently you can never have enough of those:

To explain, he pulls at the neck of his shirt to reveal the words on his shoulder and chest. Hera stares at them in shock.

[mia-cooper]

29! (I'm done harassing you, I swear)

Babe, you only bother me the way I love to be bothered, know what I mean?

29 - If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Damn,seriously? I really want to say a prequel to @jhelenoftrek’s Longing BackwardBends, but at the same time I really want her to write it.

As for asequel… I wish janezy was still around to finish what she started in Waking Up.

[jhelenoftrek]

And because I just want to know everything: 25 and 26~

ok @ailtara, last one. Better late than never, right? Thanks so much for these, they were fun!

25. What do you look for in a beta?

Like @mia-cooper said, I love when I have a beta who’s work I also enjoy. I generally want a beta who I feel writes better than I do, or with a style that I aspire to learn more from.  There’s trust to be built there, for sure, not just on the receiving end but for the beta to feel comfortable really lighting into a piece of work.  I need someone that will give me the God’s honest truth.  I can take it.  And if you just point out my punctuation I’ll be a bit disappointed and probably won’t ask again.  I usually use the hardass @mia-cooper who loves to use actual red pen on my fics, then scan them into PDF and send them back to me with “C- MINUS COULD DO BETTER.” (I’m kidding, but only sorta).  Seriously though, I’m trying to get better at this writing thing and won’t do that if no one challenges me.  I’ve been very, very fortunate to have a handful of seriously great beta’s in this fandom, you know who you are.

26. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

I do!  I counted once, I think I’ve beta’d for over two dozen different authors in this fandom. Many of them for their very first stories.  I’m always flattered and humbled when someone trusts me with their baby, I know how hard that can be. 

I’m the kind of beta that I would want for myself.  Obviously I’m not going to be as harsh if it’s the first time you’ve used me (or if this is your first story), and I will focus on what you specifically want me to look at… but I generally have my list of pet peeves (double word usage, too many “it’s” without enough description, overuse of the same kind of sentence structure) and I’m very careful to point out if things seem OOC, cause have all the bad style in the world, if the characters aren’t correct, that’s when you lose readers.  Like I said above, a beta has to be a good fit, and it takes a lot of time to beta correctly, if my advice isn’t jiving with the writer I’ll suggest someone else for them to go to.

[rikerssexblouse]

ailtara replied to your post: So I’ve got a little time to watch some Discovery...

I feel this on a spiritual level.

Right?! I just want to see my awesome ladies being awesome together!

[lodessa]

8. Why do you choose to write?

I’m basically always writing/narrating/imagining scenarios in my head, so actually writing is a way to actually try to communicate a fraction of what goes on in my head.

[cornsarts]

Rebels sketch page commission for @ailtara! This one was super fun, thank you so much!

Commissions / Kofi

[pixiedane]

ailtara replied to your post: Cheers for Chakotay/Samantha; I always thought they’d be such a down-to-earth couple and he’d be a great step-dad for Naomi.

Yes! They’re down-to-earth and surrounded by a bunch of people with their heads in the clouds. They’d be sort of adorably domestic I think, and just happy. Which is certainly what Naomi deserves. 

[lilac-vode]

I feel like soft serve ice cream. idk if this is because i'm craving said type of ice cream haha

@ailtara @neonmothman @contentment-of-cats @not-the-tie-youre-looking-for @yeetussfetus THANK YALL omg these are so fun!!! hehehe 🥰

i've been thinking yogurt :-)

[the-goofball]

[calebdumes]

Prompt: Kanan and Hera ( preferably season 1/2) lay in bed one night and think about a future with one another.

Hi anon! Thank you for the prompt and I apologize for the delay!

fandom: star wars rebels

relationship: kanan jarrus/hera syndulla

word count: 908

rating: pg

~

It was a quiet night on the Ghost or rather, as quiet as it could get with Hera’s rambunctious crew on board. She could hear the steady thump of music coming from Sabine’s cabin and the occasional squawk from Chopper that always sounded piercing no matter where he was on the ship. Zeb and Ezra were suspiciously quiet but nothing was on fire yet so Hera wasn’t too concerned. 

She was curled up on her bed, balancing her datapad on her knees as she read through the local Holonet, trying to soak up the relative peace of the evening while she could. Kanan sat on the floor in front of her cot with his back to her, deep in meditation. Every so often, she would flick her eyes away from her datapad to sneak a glance at him, to watch the toned muscles shift and flex, her eyes catching on the silvery white scars that marred his amber skin. She had never bothered to ask how he got them, most of them she had figured came from a life as a drifter but now, she knew better. 

Not for the first time, she felt her mind wandering. Where would Kanan be now if he hadn’t come with her after Gorse? Would he still be drifting from one planet to the next until he reached the end of the galaxy? How many more scars would he have littering his skin? Would he have lost himself to drink or would the Empire have found him before then?

Hera shuttered at the thought, a sick weight of dread settling in her stomach. 

She knew what happened when the Empire got their claws in a Jedi.

But another dark thought started to take shape in her mind, pushing past the old horrors of what ifs. 

What were they going to do if they actually did win the war? 

Would her crew leave to carve out a place for themselves in the new galaxy?

Would Kanan stay?

“Stop that.” Kanan said, slicing through the dark thoughts that had begun to swim through her mind.

“Stop what?” she said after a moment, giving her head a little shake. Kanan was still seated, his back towards her but his head was tilted to the side, as if he was listening for something. 

“Stop thinking whatever you're thinking.” he told her. Hera rolled her eyes and tossed her datapad aside, where it clattered loudly on her work bench. 

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.” she grumbled, pulling at the sheets on her cot and slipping between them. 

“I’ve got a few techniques if you wanna try.” Kanan stood, lowering the lights with a flick of his wrist. Even in the dim lighting, Hera’s sharp Twi’lek eyesight could work out the shape of his body as he moved, srtipping out of his long pants, leaving him in nothing but his underclothes. She watched through hooded eyes as he pulled his hair free and let it hang around his face before he climbed into bed with her. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, pulling her against his chest. 

“I was just thinking about something stupid.” she tried to brush his question off, sliding one of her legs between his. 

“It can’t be that stupid if it’s upset you.” he murrmered into her skin. “Talk to me.”

Hera’s fingers touched Kanan’s collarbone, feeling the slightly raised skin of another scar. This one she about. He had only been fourteen and trapped in a warzone. 

“Do you ever think,” she began softly. “Do you ever think about what comes after the Empire?”

“Of course.” Kanan said with little hesitation. “A new government would need to be established quickly. Once the Empire’s gone there will be a huge vacuum of power and all the wrong kinds of people will be vying for it.”

“Not that.” Hera said, looking up into his strage teal eyes. “I mean with us? What will you do once the Empire falls? Won’t you and Ezra have a duty to, I don’t know, start a new Jedi Order or something?”

This time, Kanan’s answer wasn’t instantaneous. The longer he waited to speak, the more Hera’s fears grew. She knew she was being foolish, to ask such a nebulous question. The future was impossible to predict so there was no point in worrying too much over it. But her mind wouldn’t let her fear go. She needed to hear it from him. 

“I'll do whatever my captain asks of me.” He said eventually, his grip around her tightening. 

“Kanan, I’m being serious!” 

“So am I.” he told her. “I couldn’t run a new Jedi Order even if I wanted to.” He took her hand in his and gently kissed her knuckles, sending a cascade of sparks up her arm. “Because my attention, my heart, is here, with you. I will teach Ezra everything he needs to grow the Order but my destiny is wherever you go.”

He kissed her knuckles again, then her forehead, her cheek, and then finally her lips. When they parted, Hera could feel her heart pounding in her ears, her skin flush with heat. 

“I love you.” she breathed. 

“And I, you.” he held her tighter. Hera let her eyes slip close, feeling safe in the embrace of his arms, the tightness in her chest dissipating. 

The future was impossible to predict but at least she knew Kanan would always be by her side.

[emmikamikatze]

Fuck, marry, kill, get drunk with: Kate Mulgrew, Kathryn Janeway, Mrs. Columbo, Mary Ryan. :)

Marry Kate Mulgrew to have all of them.

Fuck Mary Ryan.

Get drunk with Kathryn Janeway.

Kill Mrs Columbo before she has Jenny!

[mia-cooper]

‘tis the season: story #7

what am I talking about?

On my birthday this year I received the most amazing gift from @ailtara - a lengthy, thoughtful and utterly flattering analysis of my fic The Bitter End. I still go back and read it monthly, or whenever I’m having trouble writing, because it’s the greatest compliment and encouragement there is to have a reader tell you in detail what they liked (or didn’t like) about your work.

I didn’t manage to give back in time for @ailtara‘s birthday, so here’s a holiday season gift instead to say thank you. It’s a sequel of sorts to The Bitter End, and it fulfills a prompt @jhelenoftrek sneakily got out of you awhile ago, with Admiral Janeway telling Chakotay what happened in the unaltered Endgame timeline.

So here it is, for the one who loves to stomp in the puddles of their dreams:

Crumbling Castles (rated M) on AO3 | ffnet

Other gift fics are posted on AO3 at the Christmas Baubles 2017 collection.

[jhelenoftrek]

Also 8, 13, and 17!

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’vewritten and explain why you’re proud of it.

“I can’t seem to stop living in that place where she was,” he admits after a time.  “It’s as though I’m trapped there.  And I see you… I’ve seen you for the last few years, living and moving on with such grace.  Such ease.  Part of me is jealous because I want to be able to do that. The other part is angry, I don’t understand how you can just keep going.”

“What other choice did I have?” she asks softly, not expecting an answer.  “And Chakotay, nothing about this has been easy. If I’ve somehow given you the impression that it has been…”

“I didn’t mean it like that.  I’ve seen your grief, but it’s so different than mine.”  They stop walking at the end of the way and she comes to rest with her back against the curve in the balustrade as he gazes out.  It’s easier to continue, he finds, if he imagines that she isn’t there, otherwise he might abandon his confession as he has so many times before.  “I hear you talking about her and you always seem so poised and calm.  I can’t even say her name, Kathryn.  Do you know that?”

“I’ve noticed.”

This is from my story “The Bitter and the Sweet” and is the center chunk of one of my favorite scenes.  I walked around for weeks muttering this dialogue to get it just right.  I wanted to convey how two people - parents - can grieve the loss of a child in two very different ways, and how that can threaten to divide them, or work to bring them closer together.  The whole story is a misdirection until the end, and my intent was to then just wallop on the feels. I was quite happy with the result.

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

“Don’t be afraid to write a shitty first draft.” K. Beyer said it, lots of other people have as well.  But it’s really true.  You can’t fix what you don’t have on paper.  That advice keeps me writing a lot of times when I actually hate what’s coming down to the page, but I know there’s at least something there to work with. 

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you writethe scenes out of order?

I jump around.  A lot.  Probably more than I should, but it seems to work for me.  For shorter stories I go straight through, but will often write the ending first. For longer plot-driven things I do all my favorite bits first, or at least the important dialogue with no action yet…. basically I do the parts I KNOW i want in there and then I tailor the rest to fit that feel. Otherwise I feel like i’m wandering in the dark.  Those little sections I’ve sketched off the bat act like rest-stops for me, or little lamp posts, i guess.  

[rikerssexblouse]

ailtara replied to your post: Okay, so Frakes let it slip that there would be a...

MIRROR GEORGIOU AND MIRROR (EVIL??!?) CAPTAIN TILLY SIGN ME THE EFF UP

I KNOW RIGHT?!