#Listen... Depa pretty

[frostbitebakery]

LOUD.

a Jedi Shadow!Obi-Wan AU

Introspection fucking sucks, according to Commander Fox.

The thing about him is, he’s been made out to be a bastard and ever since their batch found their calling or whatever he’s embraced that role.

Every batch needed someone who didn’t secretly want to be cuddled, who pushed others away so he could keep track of the big picture.

Cody had competed for the role for a while. As did Wolffe.

For Cody, his heart, big and fragile once you got to know him, got in the way in the end. He sees the whole picture, craves it so he won’t go crazy from the losses. But he believes in people and their goodness.

Fox doesn’t.

Wolffe made the mistake of getting the galaxy’s best General. General Koon shits rainbows and glitter, from what Fox has been forced to listen to.

Fox has… the Chancellor.

He takes a swig of water and wishes it were something stronger. But Quin is on the other side of Fox’s desk, reading glasses ever so slowly slipping down his nose while he’s crunching and tracking the numbers to prove the Chancellor is, indeed, siphoning credits off the Republic to giftwrap them for the Seppies.

He takes another swig.

Wouldn’t surprise him if Palpatine turned out to be the villain of the whole story.

Brought Fox to drink with the kind attitude, the cruelty so expertly hidden from first glance, cushioned in false promises and support.

Hadn’t been pretty. But it had been easy. You go to the right places, people are only too willing to shell out for some drinks. Entertainment and morbid curiosity what brings a clone to their knees.

Some found the lisp he has because of the scar that ransacks through his lips and tongue endearing but most hadn’t bothered with wanting him talking.

Some wanted to inspect the changes in the Corrie armor up close and cozy.

If shit hadn’t already multiplied, Organa came flouncing into the Guard offices every two weeks with a new design like they were his little dress-up dolls.

The last design, the one that stayed, had a dummy connector installed in the backplate.

Fox hadn’t mentioned it. Had stewed over how the Guard, already isolated from the rest of the GAR, wasn’t even considered for the neural network that would make them more efficient, more deadly if activated. Treated like scum on a pedestal, overlooked and taken for granted.

Fox takes every advantage he can squeeze from that.

Every batch needs a willing loner who’s got the big picture in his head at all times and doesn’t care for the minutiae.

Fox had been comfortable in that role, really. He saw Thorn and Stone and Thire and the rest of them making friends and lovers and heartbreak, and that was the last fucking thing Fox wanted.

And then came Vos. Appearing from the shadows like a designer nightmare.

For such a short time they’ve sure gone through a lot together.

To the point Vos became Quinlan became Quin became Vos again became someone Fox clung to while fighting fucking addiction and the realization that he is stupid enough to become addicted.

No matter what Quin had said, Fox was supposed to be the pinnacle of cloning and artificially creating the perfect soldier. Addiction is a weakness and fault.

Fox almost did something extremely stupid over that one.

Turns out it’s all part of the sentient experience.

Fucking sucks.

Quin had laughed at that, ugly and bruised laughter, continuing to comb his fingers over Fox’s head. “Tell me about it.”

An eloquent way to say Quin was going through withdrawal himself.

They got outside help after that.

“Hey, Depa,” Quin murmurs absently after answering his comm, pushes his glasses up.

“Quinlan, is your line still secure?”

“‘Course. Especially after Fox got his grubby little hands all over it.”

Fox shows him the middle finger of one of his grubby little hands.

“Good,” General Billaba clips out. Quin straightens up, and maybe Fox’s attention isn’t misplaced here. “Good. Commander Cody was activated by the Sith Lord and he’s bringing Obi-Wan to Coruscant.”

Activated.

Quin is silent. Blinks up at the ceiling. “Can you run that by me again?”

“Quinlan, we have reason to be believe the Chancellor is the Sith Lord.”

Hah. Fox got that one right on his bingo card, at least.

Cody got activated.

As they’ve learned, the neural network - battlefield mediation, in fancy Kamino speak - is activated by a designated Force using GAR personnel. Surprisingly, the status is even an optional display on the screens of every trooper’s vambrace. Or not so surprisingly.

Cody got activated by the Chancellor. Who is the Sith Lord the Order has been hunting.

Fox will deal with that later or never, whatever comes first.

He’s comming the Guard all across the planet, checking the weapons on his person, while General Billaba explains the situation. He appreciates her succinct manner, he’s gotta say.

“I’m on the way to detain Anakin. Mace is following the ship Commander Cody captured but we need someone to intercept them on Coruscant before he reaches Palpatine.” She halts for a brief moment. “Obi-Wan seems to believe the Commander has betrayed him when he knows about the neural link inside the clones. We are fearing the Darkness is deliberately attacking and clouding his senses.”

“I’m on my way,” Quin nods, adds with a calculating glance at Fox, “I’m not sure I have back-up.”

“Funny thing about the Alderaan design of the guard armor,” Fox comments, checking the plasma charge on his DC, and vows to give Senator fucking Organa a sliced fruit platter, “the Guard doesn’t have the connector to the neural link.”

He comms their resident medic next and orders every gundark-level tranquilizer delivered to him.

Cody got activated and is following the orders of a Sith Lord.

Stars help them.

[vodika-vibes]

Cody: *bursts into The Jedi Council room dramatically* Yes hi hello I’m very busy today so I’m just here to tell you that we’re moving to a greener planet soon—

Jedi Council: You can’t just tell us to move to another planet with you!

Cody: Are you implying that you have a choice in this?

What Cody says goes . . . 🤷‍♀️

Exactly! Cody makes all of the rules because he's the scary brother. (He's really not, the scary brothers are Neyo and Bacara, but the only people who know that are Adi Gallia and Ki-Adi Mundi, and they're keeping their peace).

Mace turns his accusing glare onto Obi-Wan, who is steadfastly ignoring the rest of the council in favor of making sure all of the honey is mixed into his tea properly. "Obi-Wan," Mace says through gritted teeth. "Mace?" Obi-Wan replies plesantly. "Would be you so kind as to tell your commander that he doesn't get to decide where the Jedi live?" "Oh, I probably could." Obi-Wan agrees, "But I'd like to live someplace with a little more green." He pauses and finally looks away from his tea, "Do you think, if I asked nicely, they'd find a planet with waterfalls? We could set the new temple at the top-" "Ooh, that would be so pretty!" Depa agrees, "And maybe with a rain forest. It'd be so good for the little ones to learn about animals in their natural habitats-" Mace clears his throat, and all eyes turn to him, "We cannot just leave Coruscant." "I mean." Adi Gallia muses thoughtfully, as if talking to herself, "All we really need is someone stationed here to listen to the Senate's bullshi-er...requests." "...You've been spending far too much time with your men, Adi." Ki-Adi scolds, "Besides, the Senate's requests are always reasonable. Always." He pours a liberal amount of something from a flask into his tea, and then takes a sip with a sigh, "However, I refuse to take the Senate posting." "It should rotate between Knights and Masters who don't currently have padawans. The last thing we need is our youngest exposed to the nightmare that is politics." Obi-Wan agrees. And that's that. The Jedi are moving with the Clones.

[phoenixyfriend]

A Child’s Ink: Chapter Two

Read on AO3

Let's take a field trip to Little Sundari!

I actually started writing this almost immediately after I finished the first chapter. Then it grew too large and turned into "The Process of Acquiring a Padawan," a separate fic entirely, and only now have I finished The Depa Section.

I also haven't finished anything I actually like in months so I'm pretty happy to have completed something I actually care about.

A Child's Ink: First Chapter, Series: Anakin and the Jedi Babies

--

Depa’s first encounter with Ylliben Skywalker’s habit of collecting meaningful tattoos comes well before she is introduced to his true past, and even before she starts settling into the knowledge that her own figure is as Jedi Master. He is just an Initiate that she happens to spend sometime with. He is a friend, albeit a much younger one.

His father broaches the subject, first.

“Knight Billaba,” he greets, approaching her in the refectory. “I’m glad I could find you. May I sit?”

She gestures at the empty chair across the small table. “Of course. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Actually, yes,” he says. His smile is almost apologetic. “I may need a favor.”

“I’m listening,” Depa says.

“There’s this tattoo parlor in Little Sundari that I’ve gotten Ylliben an appointment at, to get his ink fixed. I was going to take him there myself, since he officially needs an adult escort until he’s fourteen, but I’ve been tapped in for a mission that clashes with the appointment. Rescheduling could push it out by weeks, even months. Would you be willing to go as his adult? I know it’s a bit of an ask, what with the distance, but I figured since you like the kid…”

Depa considers it. “When’s the appointment?”

“Next Centaxday, eleventh bell.”

She’s got a free spot on in her schedule then. No classes to teach or shifts to take, just some half-planned thoughts of sparring and research in her open time. “I’d be happy to. I’ve never been, actually. I imagine Ben would have an easier time than I figuring out how to navigate, and which restaurants are authentic, if we have time to explore.”

Skywalker grins at her, free and cheery. “I think he’d love the chance to play tour guide, yeah. Not that he knows the area, really, but…”

“I know what you mean,” Depa says. “I look forward to it.”

--

Depa picks up Ylliben from the Initiate dorms early, when the sun has only just risen. The train ride is a lengthy one, and she wants to skip over the crowds as much as possible. They’ll maximize the amount of time they spend in Little Sundari, this way.

When the doors open to release the child within, Ben isn’t quite sleep-rumpled, but he’s bleary-eyed and fighting a yawn. It’s a valiant effort at pretending he’s unaffected by the hour. Depa hides her amusement as best she can, just spreads her arms in an offer to hug.

Ylliben tips forward into her. He buries her face against her middle, fingers grasping at her outer tunic. He does not groan and moan as many a child his age would, but he does huff a soft little sigh of frustration as she hugs him back. Even Depa has to laugh at that, and ruffles his hair as she rocks and turns a little on the spot, letting Ylliben leach at her warmth.

“Early morning for you?” she asks.

“I couldn’t fall asleep as early as I tried,” he mumbles, “and I really tried.”

Poor baby, she coos in her mind. Instead, she assures him, “you can sleep on the train. Do you have everything you need?”

“Comm unit, credits for the ink, credits for lunch and discretionary spending,” Ben confirms. This is punctuated by another adorable little yawn.

Depa glances up past him to the crèchemaster, who nods. “He’s had a small breakfast and his morning medication, and I already got him signed out in your name, Knight Billaba.”

She nods back. “Thank you for being so accommodating.”

“Not at all,” the crèchemaster says. They tap Ben on the shoulder, prompting him to finally pull away from the cocoon of Depa’s robes. “Be safe, listen to Knight Billaba, and remember to comm if you’re going to be late.”

“Yes, Master Popolis,” Ben says, bowing politely despite the grumpiness he continues to radiate.

“And have fun,” Popolis adds.

Ben finally grins. “Yes, Master Popolis.”

“Shall we?” Depa asks as the door whooshes closed.

Ben takes a deep breath that’s certainly another attempt to mask a yawn, and almost manages to sound natural when he answers, “yes, Knight Billaba.”

“You know you can call me Depa,” she tells him, heading towards the hoverbus station in the next wing. “I don’t mind.”

“Kay,” Ben mumbles, eyes drooping despite being on his feet and actively walking.

She ushers him onto the bus, timed perfectly as they planned, and sits in the half-empty transport with full expectation that she’ll have an Initiate dozing against her side in moments. She is proven correct. The other passengers largely ignore them, being mostly commuters, who see Jedi on this route regularly. There is an elderly Rodian, however, probably somebody’s grandparent, who keeps looking up from their knitting to smile at the sight of little Ben half-asleep as he is.

It takes half an hour to reach the CoCo town interdistrict train depot, and then Depa is gently bullying ben to his feet and onto the hypertrain. He goes right back to his prior position, leaning into her side and drowsing like the child he is. She uses the trip to catch up on some reading, occasionally watching the cityscape pass her by. It’s been quite some time since she’s had reason to come this way, and never this far. Little Sundari is about half an hour further along this train than Depa’s ever traveled it before. It’s interesting, the way coruscant changes as they pass from old-continent CoCo town to basin buildings. Little Sundari is among the many “lower class” neighborhoods built on what was once the ocean floor. Little Keldabe, to her memory, is in a more affluent region, up on the plains section of a different past continent. Realistically, the reputation the basin districts have is exaggerated… but it’s technically true that Little Sundari is less than CoCo town.

However, that is because everywhere is less affluent than CoCo town.

They reach the Little Sundari train station two-and-a-half hours after leaving the Temple, and Ben wakes up with far more grace this time. They disembark, and Depa checks her comm.

“We have a few hours before your appointment,” she says, “and it’s a forty-minute walk. Knight Skywalker said you had a few things you wanted to show me on the way?”

Ben brightens, grabbing her hand and tugging. “There’s an uj’alayi shop that Bo told me about!”

“Bo?” Depa asks.

“The Duke’s younger daughter,” Ben says. “She’s a few years older than me, and she came to Coruscant a few years ago with her dad.”

“A friend of yours?”

Ben makes a face. “She’s… a lot.”

Depa stifles a laugh. “Is that so?”

The pout on him is adorable. “I prefer Satine.”

“And who’s that?”

“Bo’s older sister,” Ben says. “She’s a lot nicer, and she doesn’t bite when we spar.”

“Ben,” Depa says, patient as she can, “you bite in spars.”

The look he shoots her could be politely described as ‘disgusted.’

(Continue on AO3)

[myhyperfixationisiforgot]

I like to dunk on the (watsonian) Jedi Council for giving Anakin a padawan so soon after he was knighted like everybody else but listen. I had to do some ~story math~ for a fic and Anakin probably isn't that far outside of the norm?

Like. He's very young for a knight, no doubt, and Ahsoka is pretty old for an initiate. Anakin is 19 and Ahsoka is 14 when they're assigned to one another.

HOWEVER - going off the idea that most apprenticeships are a decade or so and most initiates become padawans between the ages of 11 and 13:

Dooku would have only been 20 or so when he took on his first padawan. Depending on whether you go with Legends or current canon, it was either Rael or Qui-Gon. In Legends Dooku is only a decade older than Qui-Gon Jin (his first padawan who he takes on at the age of 10), while in current canon they're 20 years apart. However, in canon Qui-Gon is his second apprentice. Rael's apprenticeship would have taken a decade, putting Dooku at 20ish when he takes Rael on.

Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura are only 9 years apart. Also based off the dates given on the wiki for Legends, but Quinlan finds Aayla during his own apprenticeship, and later takes her on. Even if Aayla had been 13 or 14 when she became a padawan, Quinlan still would have been 22 or 23.

Qui-Gon is interesting for a couple reasons: Feemor and Xanatos aren't canon, and Qui-Gon is 12 years older in Legends. So, in canon, Qui-Gon was about 35 when he took on Obi-Wan, his first apprentice. In Legends, though, Qui-Gon is 48 when he takes on Obi-Wan after 9 years without a padawan. Xanatos, his second, left the Order at 16, so we can assume that Qui-Gon trained him for 5 or 6 years, putting him at 33 when they start. Assuming that Feemor's apprenticeship took a decade, Qui-Gon would have been about 23 when he took on his first padawan.

Depending on how old Depa Billaba is and how many padawans Mace trained he was probably in his early 20s when he chose an an apprentice. Mace is 53 during Order 66, and he had to have taken Depa on at least 24 years ago (Depa has been on the Council for 14 years at the time of Order 66, assuming that her apprenticeship was 10 years. The number is probably closer to 28, given that Depa was a knight for a while before she was on the council) which puts Mace somewhere between 25 and 29. In Legends, though, Mace has had several padawans, which honestly doesn't make any sense on the timeline. So Mace was probably 25 or so, the same age as Obi-Wan when he took on Anakin.

Anyways, what I'm getting at is that Anakin isn't that much younger than some of the other Jedi who were knighted young. Dooku was almost certainly 20 when he took on a padawan, and Quinlan easily could have only been 20 or 21. Anakin and Ahsoka are both on the extreme end of their respective roles, but there would have been precedent for a brand new young knight being given a padawan right off the bat.

[heyclickadee]

Okay! I finally! Had a chance to sit down and watch a full episode of my favorite tv show! Bad Batch rewatch time, bay-bee!

So—rambling thoughts on “Aftermath”

1. I LOVE the way this show transitions from being The Clone Wars and into being The Bad Batch during the opening sequence. The logo burning away is great, as is Tom Kane’s narration and the little montage of moments from Revenge of the Sith, but the thing that really gets me is the way that the whole episode shifts the moment Order 66 happens. Up to the moment Depa senses that something is up with Commander Gray, that something is suddenly, deeply wrong, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a Clone Wars episode and that The Bad Batch really is going to The Clone Wars season 8. But after that? The perspective changes. Up to that moment, the episode is told pretty squarely through a perspective people familiar with The Clone Wars are used to. It’s the fate of the battle, and maybe the galaxy, in the hands of a Jedi, her padawan, and a handful of clone soldiers, and it’s somewhat centered on the jedi perspective, even through Clone Force 99’s introduction sequence. We see their skills in battle, their specialties, and how effective they are as a unit of soldiers; but even though their combat specialties give us a little bit of insight into their personalities, we don’t start getting to really know them as people until Order 66 is given, the perspective shifts, and the story becomes theirs.

And it’s not just the perspective that shifts with Order 66. It’s the whole…everything. After that shot with Depa in the foreground, looking concerned as Gray walks away, the pacing slows way down, and the whole look and sound of the episode changes somehow. And I honestly don’t know what it is that changes or if I’m just picking up on something that’s not there, but I want to do a shot by shot analysis at some point and look at how shots look (framing, lighting, color) before Order 66, and how they look during and after. For now, all I can really say is that before Order 66 this episode looks like The Clone Wars, and that after, it looks like The Bad Batch, but I’m not one-hundred percent sure why.

2. The snow looks good in this episode, and it still looks good in retrospect, but man oh man does the snow in “The Outpost” look incredible.

3. Listen, I can’t tell you how much I love the setup of your prototypical 80’s/90’s action hero team with your very standard action hero team archetypes and how the show is slowly taking each one of them and turning them inside out. The dark, brooding leader with the knife and the skull tattoo? He’d rather avoid conflict and violence to the point that it’s actually a problem. The big guy who looks like he could rip your spine out with his bare hands? He’d be happy fishing and building homes far away from the war, and he’s so, so gentle. The one who’s a little grumpy and by the book? He’s the rebel. The nerd who initially comes across as the weedy exposition guy? He’s a stone cold badass, and I can’t describe the depths to which he loves the people around him. The jackass sniper? Will commit war crimes but will also commit acts of compassion and selflessness that you would not believe.

And there’s a lot more to all of them, of course, but I like the way it’s done and how low key it is. It’s been happening so slowly that it sometimes seems like it isn’t happening at all, but going back here, to this first episode, from the end of season two, with everything we’ve learned about them and how much they’ve developed as individuals and as a group? It’s kind of striking.

4. Hunter is one-hundred percent the frat boy and/or gifted kid with the perfect record that he was in The Clone Wars during the entire sequence leading up to Order 66, and no where is that more evident than when he says, “If you’re done hiding down there, I’d suggest launching a counter attack,” to Depa Billaba. Credit to Depa for not blowing her top (and deciding that he’s right about the tactics at least), because good lord is that disrespectful. (Worth noting that this attitude extends to Tarkin after the battle simulation scene. He’s not outright flippant, but it’s pretty obvious that he’s not happy about what his squad was just put through and doesn’t care if Tarkin knows it—or, maybe, knows that Tarkin isn’t paying attention enough to notice.)

5. Kind of branching off on that, it’s actually kind of interesting that this attitude of his doesn’t extend to Caleb, even before Order 66, and even though Caleb also outranks him. While Hunter’s tone with Depa firmly falls into, “You can tell me what to do, but that doesn’t mean my team and I will listen,” territory, his tone with Caleb is much softer. And given how protective Hunter is of kids in general, and how desperately he tries to keep Omega away from the horrors of war, I sort of wonder if part of Hunter’s attitude here has to do with him being kind of uneasy with Caleb and the other younger padawans being involved in the war at all, and that translating into a kind of blanket, barely contained disrespect towards jedi who do have padawans out in the field. And that’s not fair to Depa here, if that’s the case, since it wasn’t really her decision (and she’s a fantastic jedi and a very good master to Caleb) and she sort of disagrees with the idea of jedi taking military titles in the first place, but it does make it less of a personal disrespect towards Depa and more of a general disrespect towards a practice that Hunter can’t really openly criticize. This honestly might be reading way too much into a handful of lines, though.

6. Oh, Caleb. Oh, Freddie Prinze, jr. and your wonderful voice that doesn’t sound a day under forty.

7. More seriously, I actually like the way FP jr. is playing Caleb here. The cadence is actually good and comes across as youthful, and he plays the part well. But he really does sound at least twenty years too old and it’s just a thing of absurd beauty. It sends me every time.

8. “Run, Caleb!” I’m fine it’s fine everything’s fine.

9. I’ve written a post about this before, but the fact that Crosshair doesn’t try to kill Caleb after Order 66 is given until after he hears Tech say, “Execute Order 66,” out loud as they’re discussing what the hell just happened even though he could have, implying that his chip doesn’t really activate until he hears Tech say it, murders me. It murders me every time. He’s in the background when Tech says it, and he reacts. And the very next shot is the one of the other four discussing what to do next while Crosshair is slightly out of focus in the foreground, with his helmet on, staring away from the conversation and into the middle distance.

10. You know what else kills the man? The way Hunter keeps shouting at Crosshair to stand down, and the way he yells, “DON’T!” at Caleb when Caleb runs at Crosshair with his lightsaber drawn.

11. Man…I miss Crosshair’s original helmet. It’s such a cool helmet! He needs it back (please let it be in storage somewhere on the Marauder).

12. This episode really sets the stage for how they’re going to pitch various tones—the heavier, more fraught moments against the lighter and more warmly emotionally saturated ones—against each other through the series.

13. “Usually when someone falls you look down, not across.” Yes, that is a somewhat disturbing thing to say, but, also, Crosshair is weirdly perceptive and just as observant as Tech, if not more so, and I will die on this hill.

14. It’s been a while since I watched “Aftermath” or season one, so it really hit me this time that we’re never seeing Tipoca City like this again. It doesn’t mean we won’t every see Kamino again, but Tipoca City?

15. Pay attention to Echo’s face during the scene where a couple of clones wheel that unidentified Jedi out under the sheet. He’s disgusted.

16. I love the argument in the barracks, because Crosshair and Echo both think that the mission on Kaller was a failure, but for entirely different reasons. Also, the way Tech looks up at Crosshair as he’s discussing clones being programmed and how they’re the exceptions and adds, “But I can’t be certain of it,” is so…. He’s so suspicious that that’s why Crosshair’s acting the way he is, but he’s not sure, he doesn’t say anything, and I think it takes him a little while to square the idea of Crosshair’s chip activating with the idea that the batch is different enough that they’re immune to the programming—because if Crosshair’s not immune, then maybe the rest of them aren’t either. And that’s a frightening thought. And, honestly? I kind of love that Tech gets it a little wrong here by not voicing his suspicions or working them out.

17. Omega is so tiny and innocent and so happy to see her brothers I just *cries* Also, she is such a little gremlin. Between the food fight scene and that scene where she sneaks into the batch’s barracks? Gosalyn. Mallard. Energy. Also, I somehow missed that the family photo she pulls out was sitting in Hunter’s trunk before.

18. I…may…have been paying a lot of attention to Tech this time around for, you know, reasons, so here’s one sort of adorable thing I noticed: After Omega replies to Hunter asking if she’s got anywhere else to be with, “No, I’ll stay,” and makes it clear that she wants to be around them, Tech just will not stop smiling at Omega almost every time he looks at her. He’s got those sibling adoption papers signed and notarized in triplicate within about two seconds. (Maybe starting to think him mentioning that, by the way, Omega’s a clone and she’s one of us it’s so obvious guys later in the episode was his way of convincing Hunter that they needed to go back for her.)

19. One more thing about Tech. So. Um. That moment where Tech gets thrown from the droid he’s piloting during the battle simulation. Um. Do—do I need to have a counter for “During the course of the season opener Tech is thrown and injured in a fall and needs—and luckily has—help getting back up and around,” because that’s a weirdly specific thing that’s happened in both season openers so far and is perfectly set up to happen again in the third and Jennifer I am in your wallllsss. I swear if we open season three following Tech’s pov of his fall, see him reach the ground alive but badly hurt, and see him get picked up by someone, but, before we see who, we cut to Omega to waking up from a (force induced (?)) nightmare/vision of seeing it all happen a la the the opening sequence of the PJ Two Towers movie I will riot but in a good way. The show’s already been going ham on the LOTR homages so what harm would one more do. I am eating your furniture.

20. That moment during the argument in the brig when Crosshair turns away from the rest of the batch but towards the camera and you can see him react to what the chip is telling him and shake his head before turning back to argue more is like a knife to the gut. Related: Omega’s little discussion with Crosshair. I want to see Omega’s relationship with Crosshair develop so badly, but I’m not ready. Crossdad will kill me. I ought to buy my plot and headstone now.

21. There’s a whole other post to be made about this, but I really enjoy how ambiguous the episode keeps Crosshair’s reasons for going with the shock troopers after the brig scene. Is it because of the chip and the argument he just had with everyone because of what the chip trying to force him to think, or is it because he knows that the shock troopers will take him by force anyway and hurt his family if he doesn’t go willingly? I honestly think there’s elements of both at play, but given the added context of season two and how much Crosshair loves his family in spite of everything, I think the desire to protect Hunter and the rest from what would happen if he didn’t just go with the shock troopers was the deciding factor. It’s another reason why I don’t think that Crosshair’s story is going to end in a self-sacrificial death. Because if he’s going with the shock troopers to protect his family, the self-sacrifice started right here, even though Crosshair had no way of knowing what that would mean for him or what it would entail, and reaches a fever pitch next season during “Tipping Point.” Death would be a bit of a step down at this point.

22. The chip amplification scene is hard to watch.

23. Speaking of Crosshair’s chip amplification, the way Nala Se talks about it to Lama Su kind of implies that it might be the first time she’s actually done that procedure, or done it successfully, and that it’s definitely the first time she’s done it at the request of a republic or imperial official. I don’t think the mindflayer technology we see in The Mandalorian is exactly the same as what we see in this episode, but I so think it’s definitely an evolution of this, and that Crosshair was Test Subject 0 for the Clone X assassins we’re going to see later in the series. Also? I don’t think Crosshair has any idea that this was done to him. I think there’s a part of him that’s just as confused about what he does in the hangar as Hunter and the rest are.

24. Speaking of what he does in the hangar—there’s a split second moment during the hangar scene where Crosshair walks in, sees the rest of the batch, and looks terrified for just a few frames before settling down into business mode, and I think there’s a couple things going on here. One, he sees the batch, they’ve found Omega, and it looks like they’re packing up to go. He has no idea that they’re planning on going back in to find him, so it’s possible that he sees this and thinks that they’re leaving him. Two, the part of him that’s still himself and aware of what he’s doing knows what he’s about to do and he’s horrified, but unable to stop, and probably unable to even think clearly about stopping.

25. I need to keep a closer eye on Hunter and his enhanced senses, because they were actually all over this episode.

26. There’s so much happening in the Onderon sequence, but this is getting really long and it probably needs its own post. Related bit: The way Crosshair says, “The war is over,” in this scene lives rent free in my head.

27. I also have a lot of thoughts about Hunter and Omega, but it’s honestly a lot of incoherent yelling because it’s! It’s them! Bandana dad and sunshine daughter! Before they really know each other! (Also, the way he notices her copying him is the most precious thing because you can tell he doesn’t know what to do with it.)

28. Omega looking out with literal stars in her eyes as the ship enters hyperspace is one of my favorite shots in the entire show.

[swbumblebee]

What if Qui-Gon Jinn was not particularly special in his post-mortem abilities?

AKA “Old Ben” and his many Force parents.

They had all watched, their collective Force aura swamped in sadness, grief and longing, as Qui-Gon finally introduced himself to Obi-Wan.

They’d never call him ‘Old Ben’. The fact that he was only 40 years old notwithstanding, this was the boy they’d raised, grown up with, idolised. They remembered him toddling about the gardens, fascinated by the brightly coloured flowers; Getting shy around pretty people and developing awkward crushes. They remembered him standing alone at the head of an army, quietly confident and immeasurably capable. They had vivid memories of him carrying them back to the creche, so steady and strong; of his measured wisdom, and the confidence that Obi-Wan Kenobi would always triumph.

They remembered the mullet.

Nobody named “Old Ben” ever had a mullet.

The man they now, as they always had really, looked to for a light when everything else went dark.

They didn’t catch the murmured words. They were Jedi after all, (even if they were now technically one big Jedi rather than a temple full of Jedi) and eavesdropping was rude. Nobody listened to the sulky mutterings of the presence that was Quinlan Vos.

Their boy was nodding, sitting quietly on the floor whilst he finally, finally after weeks of careful and gentle persuasion, of them all keeping a tight rein on the order’s maverick (“Do not, we repeat do not, come out of the water tank. You’ll give him a cardiac arrest or something”) believed in the presence he saw before him.

They watched once more, pleased, as their missing piece allowed himself to be bullied to his feet, and guided over to the pile of blankets he called a bed.

They could feel Qui-Gon’s bitter relief as he perched next to his former student, his longing to pull the blankets up around his boy and smooth back his hair.

But words were all they had.

Still, as Obi-Wan Kenobi had shown the Galaxy; you could do a lot with words.

---

They’d argued (as much as an incorporeal fusion of spirits could argue) at length over who got to go next.

“I knew him longest, he’ll trust me!”

“He needs someone calm, measured. I will go”

“No offence Master Plo but you’ll make him cry. He needs cheering up, I’ll go!”

“Vos so help me Force-“

“I was the Master of the Order, I should do it”

“Master, we’re dead. I’m not sure seniority applies.”

In the end it was narrowed down to two options; Bant Erin, Obi-Wan’s oldest friend. Sweet natured and kind, she would be the perfect choice.

And Mace Windu.

It turns out seniority does still apply beyond the grave.

---

A small part of Obi-Wan’s subconscious was telling him that it was starting to get a bit awkward.

The transparent blue form of Mace Windu was looking down at him, the welcoming smile quickly turning into a grimace.

“…Obi-Wan?”

No. no no no this was not happening. He didn’t have time to go round the bend he had a child to protect!

He wasn’t sure if it was reasonable to measure sanity on the volume of dead loved ones he was hallucinating, but somehow one seemed saner than two.

Though it turns out he’s insane, and so not a good barometer of these things.

He knew his stare was starting to get very unnerving as his hysterical inner-ramblings reached a fever pitch.

“…Obi-Wan, are you alright?” Imaginary Mace Windu asked, concern and a tiny bit of nervousness showing on his face.

“I’m fine, how are you?” Obi-Wan asked, remembering a solid piece of advice from his formative years; Always fall back upon good manners when in unfamiliar territory Padawan mine.

Well, this was about as unfamiliar as it got.

Imaginary Mace looked at him, utterly baffled for a moment.

“Well…I’m dead, I suppose, is how I am” he answered awkwardly.

“Right. Obviously.” Obi-Wan nodded politely. “My condolences”

There was another awkward silence.

Imaginary Mace tilted his head for a moment, listening for something.

“Well…here I am” he said, spreading his arms a little.

“…yes.”

The other Jedi frowned at Obi-Wan’s strained reply and his act of scrubbing his hands down his face as if to wipe away the image in front of him.

“Qui-Gon didn’t…didn’t mention we were coming?” he asked tentatively.

Obi-Wan shook his head, wordlessly.

The frown on Imaginary Mace turned into a complete scowl as the pieces seemed to fall into place.

“JINN” he bellowed, and Obi-Wan felt it echo in the Force like nothing before.

“He can’t hear you, he’s with Yoda”

Another figure popped into existence next to Mace, and Obi-Wan rubbed his eyes once again as Depa Billaba bowed to him.

“Obi-Wan” she greeted with a grin.

“…hi” He took a deep breath, mentally cursing his absent-minded Master.

“Are you alright?” Depa didn’t stop for a reply as she looked down with him and gestured at him, gently instructing him to get up from the floor. “Oh look you’ve scraped your knee there! Master I knew you’d startle him!” she scolded her former Master.

It felt like he was having an out of body experience as Depa ushered him into a chair (the only chair in the hut), Mace looking on anxiously.

“There we go” Depa soothed as she got him settled “I wish we could make you some tea my friend.” She said disappointedly.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

“You ah…you can’t?” he asked, something permeating the haze. Of this whole situation, that seemed by far the most unfair thing.

Mace smiled encouragingly, seemingly happier to be on more binary ground.

“I’m afraid not, we are beings of the Force, like your Master.” He explained, before scowling again. “Who, I would kill if he weren’t already dead,” he growled.

“I’m so sorry Obi-Wan” Depa said, dismayed “We all wanted to come and be with you, but we though Qui-Gon might be best to start with, so as not to overwhelm you”

“Sorry about that” Mace said apologetically.

They sat in silence a moment, Depa and Mace watching him process.

For the first time ever, Obi-Wan had exactly zero thoughts in his head.

He was starting to feel the pressure.

“All?” he tried.

Depa and Mace looked at each other.

“You ah…you said ‘all wanted to come’” he clarified.

Depa nodded happily.

“Yes yes, we’re all there Obi-Wan” she smiled at him

“Any Jedi slain by a Sith, or the machinations of the Sith, is there” Mace explained.

Obi-Wan was having the slightest bit of trouble taking deep breaths. Neither of his companions seemed to have noticed.

“Where?” he asked, only mildly aware that his voice was getting just a little pitchy.

“In the Force, we’re all one in the Force” Depa started again, and then paused a little lost for words.

“We’re all together and we kind of…share our presences” Mace picked up, with difficulty “Everyone who was killed by Palpatine’s evil, everyone from us right down to the littlest initiate, we share one consciousness in the Force.”

Obi-Wan was none the wiser.

Mace waved a hand frustratedly.

“Sorry, Plo explains it better”

“Plo?” Obi-Wan loved Master Plo. He loved all of them. And they were gone.

“Hello Obi-Wan”

“Well, if Plo and Depa get to see him I’m bloody well here too!”

“Hi Obi”

“Obes!”

He could only watch, speechless, as the faces of old friends, comrades, mentors and carers crammed into his hut, all looking at him with unadulterated, unfiltered pleasure and love was the last thing he saw before his scrambled brain decided it’d had enough, and he knew nothing but darkness.

---

It turns out, living with the forms of all your dead teachers, carers and friends was actually rather trying, after a while.

“Oh thank goodness you’re not still drinking that awful caff”

“I like caff – Master Plo please don’t try and lift that”

“Relax Obi dear, we’re incorporeal”

“Can still see things though”

“Vos get out of my fresher!”

“What does this do?”

“Never you mind. No don’t – Ugh. Why don’t some nice, well behaved padawans ever come to see me?”

“They’re not allowed, only those who knew you personally can visit. We thought it might get a bit stressful otherwise.”

“…I can’t imagine.”

Aside from having to adapt his busy routine to accommodate half a dozen fidgety and curious…ghosts (?) poking around his small hut at any one time, another unexpected addition to his (attempted) isolation on Tatooine was the nagging. And Force could they nag! The concentrated worry of many, many, beings with nowhere else to direct their extra energies was powerful.

“Obi-Wan you haven’t drank enough today. Go and check the vaporators”

“Padawan aren’t you going to eat?”

“Listen, that plie of cloth can’t be good for your spine”

“Force! Get some sun block Kenobi or you’re going to look like an old shoe in three months”

“No right, I saw a sunhat he can buy at the market”

It was…weird. He’d always been very self-sufficient, not to mention being the centre of everyone’s attention was difficult, to say the least. But as the months went on, he found himself transitioning from awkward acquiescence to see-sawing between mulishness and good-natured obedience. The stubbornness rising usually when the despair did. But those days were few and far between.

And now, when they did occur (for one can only avoid one’s demons for so long) and he felt like he was drowning in the weight of existence, he could rely on his friends for encouragement, care, and the motivation to carry on.

“If you join us before your time I will KILL you Obi-Wan Kenobi. Now kriffing well eat something!”

---

Of course, when their brother, friend, son, comrade, teacher and last hope did at last join them, there was no nagging or disappointment (or violence). The ultimate Jedi was back in the fold and they were once again complete.

[im-the-chesire-cat]

Shatterpoint Lineage headcanons

(wherein Order 66 doesn’t happen of course)

- Mace Windu has definitely been arrested at some point. He isn’t proud of it, especially not now that he’s head of the Order, but he isn’t exactly hiding it, either.

- Depa has no idea.

- Caleb only finds out when he has to call his grandmaster to come bail him out, and Mace casually remarks “oh, I can’t be mad. You’re just like I was at that age” or something like that

- the three of them are all very strong in the Unifying Force

- they get visions all the time, and migraines are pretty common side effects. Their medicine cabinets are always stocked with pain killers and ice packs.

- some reporter or politician mistakes Caleb for Maces grandson, and instead of correcting them, Mace continues the conversation/interview like normal.

- Caleb is flustered but secretly pleased. Depa thinks it’s hilarious, and calls Mace “grandpa” when she wants to be annoying

- (she wants to be annoying a lot)

- speaking of, Depa teaches Caleb how to perfect the art of being glib. At first it’s hard, because Caleb is so sincere and honest, but he learns quickly, and then Mace is genuinely worried because now there’s two of them.

- Depa and Obi-wan like to get together and chat outside of council meetings, and they don’t gossip, as that would be un-masterly, but they... talk. About a lot of things. Perhaps about who is gossiping, and what they were saying 👀

- Caleb actually does really well in his classes, and he’s very good at being objective because he never loses the ability to question everything

- when Caleb becomes a knight, Mace starts teaching him Vapaad, and then when he retires from the council and active duty, he gives Caleb his purple kyber crystal. Caleb builds a new lightsaber, and uses his blue crystal and his grandmasters purple crystal to make a lightsaber that’s kind of a dark lavender.

- Mace’s retirement is a big deal, since he was Master of the Order for so long and during the Clone Wars, and it’s talked about in every news station and tabloid.

- there’s actually just a small ceremony, with the entire council physically present, where he formally hands over the title to someone else, and he’s thanked for his service, to the Order and to the force, and the whole council bows to him out of respect and gratitude.

- it still makes him tear up a little. Just a little.

- when Ezra comes into the picture, Mace and Depa love him

- not only does he remind them of when Caleb was that age, but he’s clever and sarcastic and Depa knows they’re going to get along great

- even though he isn’t the master of the order anymore, Mace Windu is still scary as hell, and Ezra calls him “Master Windu” for at least three years despite Mace insisting he can call him Master Mace like Caleb does

- if Caleb goes on a mission where Ezra can’t come, he stays with Depa, and they stay up late watching holovids and eating Space popcorn and she tells him stories from Calebs apprenticeship

- I’m obsessed with the idea that “kanan” is actually a word in Dai Bendu, the ancient language the Jedi Order was founded with. So Kanan Jarrus is still a name Caleb uses when he goes undercover.

- he’s a surprisingly good actor, so there are a lot of people that only know him as Kanan, the gunslinging traveler that tends to disappear sometimes

- because Order 66 never happened, Caleb is still friends with a ton of clones, and Ezra thinks they’re so cool

- they all take one look at Ezra and think ‘little brother!!!!!”

- most of them still thought of Caleb as a kid, so seeing him training an even SMALLER brother takes some adjustment

- Ezra loves to listen to their stories from the Clone Wars, especially ones involving Caleb and Depa. And if he doesn’t know that they’re a little embellished, it won’t hurt him.

- Depa and Mace were two of the most outspoken supporters of clone rights after the war, so even if they never met or served with them, all the clones respect the hell out of them.

- all four of them get together at least once a week, if their schedules allow it, and have dinner. It’s so peaceful and it helps take their minds off everything else, and they all look forward to it more than they’ll ever admit.

[gffa]

Anyway, literally every post I have ever seen that says, “The entire point of the prequel movies was [X]” has been incredibly wrong, so let me correct you all: The entire point of the prequel movies:  ANAKIN NO The entire point of the prequel movies:  Obi-Wan Kenobi Deserved Better The entire point of the prequel movies:  Please I’m Begging You Listen To Obi-Wan Kenobi The entire point of the prequel movies: lightsaber noises good vrrumm vrummm The entire point of the prequel movies:  Shaak Ti too pretty head empty no thoughts The entire point of the prequel movies:  Depa Billaba too pretty head empty no thoughts The entire point of the prequel movies:  Padme Amidala too pretty head empty no thoughts The entire point of the prequel movies:  Luminara Unduli too pretty head empty no thoughts The entire point of the prequel movies:  Adi Gallia too pretty head empty no thoughts The entire point of the prequel movies:  Mace Windu Is Tired Of Your Shit The entire point of the prequel movies:  Shmi Skywalker Deserved To Be More Than Just Anakin’s Mom/Die For His Pain The entire point of the prequel movies:  ANAKIN I AM BEGGING PLEASE NO Okay, I’m joking around and all, but honestly the real point of the prequel movies, and we all know it was:  Can You Believe Obi-Wan Kenobi Invented Literally Being Perfect?  

[jedimasterbailey]

Idk if you already got asked but thoughts on Mace Windu?

MACE 💜😍👏🏻 I love this man so much thank you for the ask ☺️

1.) How I feel about the character

Mace is one of my absolute favorite Star Wars characters and Jedi that deserves more appreciation and content 💜🥺 Just like Luminara, this man is SEVERELY underrated and suffers from an insane amount of disrespect and slander for reasons forever unknown to me 🙄 MACE IS A NICE MAN THAT LOVES PEOPLE AND HIS JEDI FAMILY AND WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!!!!!!! He was literally milliseconds away from saving the entire galaxy from the Sith 😩 He was gonna avenge his fallen family and bring the peace and justice the Jedi have fought so damn hard for but....we all know what happened (god damn it Anakin I love you and all but fucking aye, we could have had it all). Anyhow I will forever defend and love Mace until the day I die 💜 Also if you have not read the legends novel “Shatterpoint” YOU 👏🏻 ARE 👏🏻 MISSING 👏🏻 OUT👏🏻 Do yourself a favor and go get that book I’ll be waiting 😁

2.) Who I ship romantically with this character

I may disappoint some in that I don’t ship Mace with anyone even though he is a very handsome man. I’m more than willing to listen to the ships people have come up with it but I see Mace as the ultimate Dad and Grandad to Depa, Caleb, and the entire Jedi Order. @devondeal and I have the headcanon that Mace is the ultimate “girl dad” that is the go to guy for advice on raising girls. He, Depa, and the Mirialans (I.e Luminara and Barriss) have tea often and that’s canon to me. No I will not explain myself and no I accept no other opinion. Really wish he got to see his grandson Caleb grow up into the man deserving of his legacy 🥺

3.) Non-romantic ships for this character

Going along with #2 I am a sucker for wholesome dad Mace and daughter Depa content (and by extension grandson Caleb). Forget the Bad Batch I want Mace family content 💜💚💙 Call me Lucasfilm I have some ideas 😊

4.) An unpopular opinion I have on this character

Seeing how some characters in Star Wars seem to survive some pretty awful injuries/falls, I just have the hardest time believing Mace died from his encounter with Palpatine. I mean getting a limb cut off is clearly a non issue in this universe and people have survived Sith lightening (like Luke Skywalker) so yeah...I like to believe Mace is alive and that one of these days he’ll make a comeback (please).

5.) Something I’d like to see in canon with this character

JUST MORE MACE CONTENT 💜 (and an alive and well Mace)

Now enjoy the view of this handsome and kind Jedi that I love so much 😊

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

@sicktember Prompt # 14: Aches and Pains

Title: Human Touch

Fandom: Star Wars/ the Mandalorian/OC insert. 

Mando isn’t feeling well, and is struggling emotionally to boot. His companion helps him. 

(Author's note: Delving into the wealth of content that is the Star Wars fandom. Din Djarin has been on my radar for quite some time, and this prompt suits him. Not canon at all, which is unusual for me, but the idea of a blind person being platonic partners with a Mandalorian seemed very fitting.)

Spoiler warning for the end of the show the Mandalorian! (As it currently stands)

I heard the door of the spaceship slide open, then shut, so I shimmied out of the crawl space where I'd been fiddling around, rearranging and organizing things to suit my preference. Wiping my hands on my coveralls and taking up my cane, I went to greet the Mandalorian.

Following my ears, I found him putting away his various equipment. Usually his senses are nearly as good as mine, but today he didn't hear me behind him, so I leaned in the doorway to listen for a moment. He seemed to be moving more slowly than usual, almost gingerly, and he kept sniffling softly. Just as I was about to speak, he froze. After a moment of stillness, he took a huge breath just before a trio of massive sneezes exploded out of him, garbled through the vocoder, and all the more miserable-sounding because of it.

“Hehhh’GIZZzHH’chuu! Gehh’HHHEHTT’choo! hnxt’CHOOOOOO!”

I winced sympathetically. With the filtration systems inside his helmet, it couldn't be dust or allergies making him sneeze. I’d had a hunch he was coming down with a cold the past day or so, though he would never admit it, and now here was proof. 

"Bless," I piped up.

I heard him jump at the sound of my voice, spinning around, then sigh in relief when he saw it was me.

"Don't scare me like that," he said accusingly, but with no real venom. Even through the helmet, I could hear he had a sore throat. 

"I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional,"  I said placatingly. 

“I know,” he mumbled. “It was more my fault anyway.” He returned to his equipment without further elaboration. I silently listened to his activity for some more time. 

"You're moving pretty slow tonight, my friend. Did you have some trouble on the hunt today?"

"No, today was quiet. Just feeling some old aches and pains, I suppose."

I moved to his side, putting an arm around him. He leaned into me slightly with a tiny sigh. I knew it wasn't just physical aches and pains affecting him--he'd been out of sorts ever since he had let the child go. 

I’d seen the whole story play out almost from the beginning. He had brought me on soon after he had obtained the child. He knew he needed help caring for the adorable womp rat, and help with other miscellaneous tasks around the ship. My disability made it difficult to thrive in this galaxy, but the arrangement with Mando on the Razor Crest was perfect for both of us. I had known Mando my entire life after all, and he wouldn't trust anyone else with such an important task. He was as good as a brother to me, and I could never let him down. Now it seemed he needed me more than ever though. I had loved the child. How could I not? He was the sweetest little thing, and I missed him desperately. Mando had had a special bond with him though,  beyond what most beings could imagine, and I knew that he was having trouble dealing with everything that had happened, and especially dealing with Grogu's absence.

 He had done his best to move on, of course. He had gotten a new ship and taken on new bounties. He had done everything he could to go back to who he had been before the child--but who could ever pretend something like that had never happened? He was struggling, and that was why I was still here. He didn't need help on the ship anymore, and my family probably needed my help in their store back on my home planet. However, what he desperately needs right now is company. We both know that, which is why neither of us have mentioned my departure. That is also why I’m standing in his storage hold now, just holding him. Because if anyone needs some human touch these days, it’s Mando.

His weariness was almost tangible-- I felt it in the heavy way he leaned against me. With deft fingers, I began to remove his pauldrons, then his vambraces, gently setting them aside.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled.

"Taking advantage of you of course," I said matter-of-factly. "I'm madly lusting after you, didn't you know?"

He made a small, amused sound, nudging me fondly. "Is that so?"

"Nope," I said, now working on unfastening his breastplate. "But I am still helping you undress."

"Why? I can do it." 

"Of course you can. But so can I. You're exhausted." 

He made a small sound of agreement, followed by a thick sniffle. He let me take off all of his armor without complaint, swaying weakly on his feet. Out of respect, I left his helmet on. Though I can't see his face with or without it, the Mandalorian head covering is a sacred part of his belief system. It wasn't for me to remove it.

As I removed the heavy armor, I felt him rolling and stretching his muscles with little groans and sighs. Pressing him down onto a nearby crate, I kneaded the muscles in his shoulders, trying to loosen them. He eagerly leaned into the touch, twitching or gasping whenever I hit a tender spot.

"Poor guy. You really are sore."

He grunted his assent. He startled me a moment later though as he leaned forward into another loud trio of sneezes, wet and miserable sounding. He leaned back against me with a groan as he finished.

"That sounded unpleasant," I said. 

"It was," he mumbled.

"Why don't you take the helmet off? Then you can at least wipe your face. I won't look, I promise."

He huffed a little laugh at my lame joke. "I suppose I could." 

He quietly removed the final piece of armor, setting it beside him and blowing his nose into something, probably a rag. Reflexively, I began to run my fingers through his hair, sweaty though it was. It was so rarely uncovered, and it was pleasant to feel softness where there was usually metal. He jumped as I touched him though, so I drew my hand away quickly, unsure if I'd accidentally crossed a line. The beat of silence that followed could only be described as awkward.

"... Don't stop," he finally said. "Feels good."

I  readily began to card my fingers through his hair again.

"You're warm," I said after a handful of breaths. "Think you've got a bit of a fever."

"Just my luck," he mumbled. Even congested and grumpy, I loved hearing his true voice without the helmet. It was a treat I looked forward to every evening as he got ready for bed, a privilege granted to no one else.

"You should get to bed. You'll feel better lying down. And I'll see if I can't find something to help your aches so you sleep better," I said.

"That sounds perfect." He slowly stood, audibly yawning, before the sound of his footsteps told me he was heading toward his hammock.

A short time later found me seated at his side as he lay in his hammock, having taken the relaxing medication I’d given him and with heat packs taped here and there on his achiest spots. He was nearly asleep already, but fighting it. He'd been having terrible nightmares ever since Grogu departed, so I’d mixed the Medicine with a special additive to try and prevent this. But I didn't blame him for being reluctant to sleep. 

We were both silent, just keeping each other company and lost in our own thoughts. I heard my companion shift restlessly as he coughed and sniffled.

"Do you think he's… safe?" The bounty hunter said suddenly, as if he'd had to work up the courage to speak.

"He's with the Jedi. There's nowhere he would be safer."

"Of course… I just… I hope he's… happy. I hope they're…being kind to him."

Unthinkingly, I took his hands. He jumped a little at the touch but didn't pull away, so I continued to hold them.

"Din Djarin, you listen now." I  rarely used his true name, both of us preferring to keep professionalism between us, so I knew I had his attention. "You did everything you could. What happens to him now is out of your control. The Jedi that took him are kind and good, just like you. He's in good hands."

As I said the word ' hands', I squeezed his. He squeezed back desperately. I didn't take his touch for granted either, knowing it was an honor denied to most. Whenever a Mandalorian went out into the world, there was always a barrier between his skin and everyone else's. I could only imagine how precious touch was to him, being deprived of it most of the time. 

The moment we were sharing was broken when a shuddering sneeze trio of sneezes was ripped out of him a moment later. 

"You sound so sick. You need to sleep," I said, freeing one hand to stroke his cheek as he sniffled and coughed chestily. 

"I suppose you're right," he mumbled. 

"I'll leave you be." When I tried to pull my other hand away though, he held on tighter, his palm pressed tight against mine. Skin to skin. He didn't have to say anything. I could sense his unasked request.

"Or I could stay," I murmured, sitting down again. 

His hand gave mine another squeeze, and the soft sound of contentment he made as his hand relaxed turned into a peaceful snore.

[queen-susans-revenge]

Star Wars Rebels Season 3 / Fade to Red Recaps

“The Holocrons of Fate”

This episode is intense! So chapter three of the fic is the perfect chaser. Notes on the ep under the jump.

Kanan won't tell Ezra where he stashed the weed Sith holocron, and Ezra's a little grumpy about that, but in general willing to walk away from his brief flirtation with the Dark Side.

Unfortunately, Maul is the ultimate stalker ex, and not willing to surrender his "apprentice" so easily. He calls and it's a horror movie/hostage situation immediately.

Interestingly, Kanan IS willing to surrender. He cedes all of Maul's demands--including Depa's holocron!!--pretty much immediately, even as others protest. I really like this characterization of Enlightened!Kanan. Things are no longer important to him; people are.

So, a deal is easily and quickly struck: Kanan simply surrenders to Maul's terms. This is in direct contrast to Ezra's willingness to endanger his friends in pursuit of the mission in the episode previous. Kanan clearly still has things to teach; whether Ezra's capable of learning is an open question.

But the dynamic duo have a clear next task: get the Sith holocron back from the Bendu, so that they can trade it for the rest of their crew.

Onboard the Ghost, Maul senses love and meaning all around him, and is immediately contemptuous. He demands a tour. Hera stoically complies, and the following sequence is hilarious: "That is a curious smell," is all that Maul has to say when confronted with Ezra and Zeb's shared bunk.

And yet, this comes in the middle of a DEEPLY creepy sequence, and a meaningful one because we know that Maul is homing in on Kanan's holocron. Literally such a powerful artifact that it's gone unnoticed most of this time: the Imperial lackeys they've been fighting so far wouldn't even recognize its power.

But Maul does. And he's getting steadily closer. "How colorful," is all he says as the doors open and close again on Sabine's cabin. Hera grimly marches him onward.

And then...they're there. "Ah yes, this is it. A dull and dour chamber. These are the quarters of a Jedi. --Show me where he keeps the holocron."

And Hera, okay. Heartbreakingly, Hera's go-to here, is the same she did with Azmorigan. She's slid right into the role of "compliant, stupid slave," and she's hoping Maul will simply forget about her. Or at least look away for long enough that she can clock him.

Maul's not falling for it. Hera lies to his face ("I don't know anything about him") and Maul bats the deception away. His eyes narrow, he leans in. "That's not true. You know ALL about Kanan Jarrus. Or should I use his real name. Caleb Dume."

And then...he simply strips away Hera's ability to resist. This is suddenly all happening on a level above her. He Force-dominates her and rips the intel from her mind.

She tries to fight. It just doesn't work. She's not a player at this level. Fucking OUCH. This is an absolute trauma that like, SHOULD be excavated and paid off over the course of the season. (But it won't be. Cause, kids cartoon? I guess.)

We flash back to Kanan and Ezra, getting pranked by the Bendu. Ezra's not inclined to listen to Kanan's wisdom on either the Bendu or the crawlers that it springs on them. He goes down to the caves searching for the holocron, but Kanan confiscates his lightsaber first, recognizing that Ezra needs to practice finding solutions other than violence.

Back on the Ghost, Maul is getting frustrated trying to open Depa's holocron and the other Rebels take advantage of his distraction to mount an escape attempt. They manage to get Maul's droid limbs magnetically pinned but then make the mistake of firing on him, allowing him to deflect the shots and disable the trap, at which point he summarily recaptures them all.

Ezra does not manage to control his emotions in the cave and Kanan is forced to go rescue him. Ezra finally seems to see that Kanan does in fact have plenty left to teach. He apologizes, Kanan reassures him, and they hug (aww). After they snag what they came for and say bye to Bendu, Ezra underlines this episode's themes of master-padawan reconciliation by declining to consult the holocron and declaring his trust in Kanan's guidance instead.

So, it's back to confront Maul and rescue the rest of the fam. Maul promptly throws Kanan out an airlock but he Force-yeets himself right back in, in time to save Hera and the others from being executed. Meanwhile Maul and Ezra complete the holocron vergence, getting glimpses of Obi-wan on Tattooine. Kanan is able to rip Ezra out of the holocron trance and Maul scuttles off with his answers, leaving the Rebels safe...for now.

[phoenixyfriend]

Yes! This is all relevant!

I'm playing around with the when of it a lot; we know that Fulcrum was good enough to land a blow on Vader at Malachor, and even if we assume Vader was holding back for reasons of sentiment, he's still definitely not an easy opponent. So like, she's definitely good! In battle.

As several people (including yourself immediately above) have pointed out, Fulcrum's probably really, really good at practical, survival-focused fights, but more controlled 'this has rules' spars aren't exactly going to do her favors. She can definitely still kick the asses of most of the Masters in the Temple, considering she's gone up against and survived multiple Sith; she survived 35yo Maul, who's had years upon years to focus his skills on killing (one specific) Jedi, while Qui-Gon, a seasoned Master from the same sword-skills lineage, died to 22yo Maul.

So we can assume that, even without a whole lot of people to spar against, she's managed to at least keep her skills in shape to when she was seventeen via forms and solo practice, and especially 'block the laser' droid stuff, and she's probably managed to improve a little on the basis of improving her general battle awareness and connection the Force.

But again, this all contributes to Fulcrum being incredibly competent in the field, but not necessarily very smooth or controlled or Proper in the salles.

I think it would be very funny (in a painful way) if she agreed to spar with Dooku and he was winning while they followed the rules and then her mind tripped over "I'm losing a fight to Dooku" and she had a flashback to The War where he was the Sith that haunted her nightmares (when Ventress or Grievous weren't there, since she ran into them more often), and so she starts fighting full out and hella dirty and breaking all the rules and like. Dooku doesn't want to hurt her. This is just a traumatized thirty-something having a PTSD-induced episode of some sort and trying to kill him shortly after bantering, so he's still following the rules that are in place to make sure there's a minimum of broken bones, etc, but it's Fulcrum so her not following the rules when her opponent does means that she shortly has Dooku on his knees with her sabers crossed over his neck (neither of them knows the irony of this position, and they never will), and that is when someone finally manages to talk her around, as she's trying to remember Who Has The Handcuffs and processing that nobody with her has cuffs, because Rex isn't here, because she's in the past, and Dooku isn't evil, and oh fuck what did she just almost do.

And so she runs off, hops into the vents, and squirms her way into the sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-basement to ride out her guilty panic attack in peace.

She's definitely good enough, even with her very unusual style and occasional need to call a halt to the spar for Mental Health Reasons that people continuously seek her out for help and spars and she builds up the more delicate skills she hasn't had a chance to practice for fifteen years.

(Maybe not quite as much with Dooku as he hopes. Mace gets to spar with her plenty, as does Yoda. Then Fulcrum spars with Depa and wow is she lucky that Togruta don't blush.)

Can Rebels!Fulcrum win a spar against TPM!Mace Windu? Are there any TPM Jedi she'd definitely lose against without making them work for it? What about maybe-hasn't-left-yet Dooku? Yoda?

My instinct is that she's more or less on par with Dooku and Mace, and it's a coin toss who wins (she wins more at first because she knows their styles, but they don't know hers yet, and then it sort of evens out), but almost inevitably loses to Yoda.

(This isn't a discourse or "my fave is better" thing, it's for poking at character development options for Fake Spontaneous.)

[val-aquenta]

1,2,15,and 22 for the writer asks?

Ooh Yay! Thanks for the ask! Maybe I’m procrastinating writing??? but whatever, this is fun!

1. Is there a favorite character or title you enjoy writing for the most?

heh this is easy. I’m perpetually stuck between Mace, Obi-Wan, Yoda, or Luminara. Yoda I prefer to write as a side character tbh mainly because I want him to be extra grandpa to his fellow Jedi lmao. But yeah, I love writing Obi-Wan because I feel like we’re pretty similar and I can sink into his thought process quite easily which is a plus. Mace is a really fun character to write because I like to balance his emotional/soft side with his more rational, I have to do what is necessary side. Personally I also empathise with Mace a whole bunch because I also have quite a large rational side, which is a plus. I tend to think that he usually knows what he needs to do and he might dislike it, but he will still do it. I just love Mace, okay, and of course I’m overwriting shitty fanon Mace Windu because no he doesn’t hate Anakin, and yes he loves Depa so much that when she didn’t give him a hug he was super depresso. He’s just so sweet, but he knows that sometimes shit has to be done and moping around complaining won’t make anything better. Luminara is just sweet. I want to write so much more for her, but I tend to have her as a side character in my fics (a tragedy I know) but I am working on making her more of a main character is some fics. She’s very much like Mace in that she understands that sometimes to do the right thing, you must sacrifice stuff that you love which is commendable imo. She also loves Barriss very much and I headcanon that she and Obi-Wan are best buds. She and Obi-Wan definitely geek out about the stupidest shit, you can’t change my mind. 

2.  Is there a least favorite character or title you dislike writing for?

Uhh... typically I tend to avoid characters who I don’t want to write because i find it difficult to write them and not enjoyable. But I’ll share a few for this sake. Palpatine kinda makes me feel slimy when I write him. It can be fun to write crack Palpatine, but realistic trying to write him can be a nightmare for me. I don’t really know how to write manipulative sheev well, so I feel it ends up very much crackfic feelings. 

Anakin is also difficult, but sometimes I enjoy the challenge. He can be pretty complex to some, but for me the pain is trying to write his priorities because christ he can’t get them straight at all. Post!aotc Anakin is obviously placing Padmè VERY high (at the top lmao) but not really because if it were that he’d leave the order to be with her. Idk I get very confused writing him. I also feel very apprehensive posting stuff with Anakin because I know a lot of people love him and have somewhat specific (typically fanon) ideas about him and also have very strong feelings about those. I’m not saying you can’t have them, but sometimes I worry that I’ll be attacked because my view on Anakin is far from friendly lmao. Tbh Padmè suffers similarly because I don’t know how to write her without being mean xD. I don’t really understand many of her motivations surrounding the secret marriage and shit and her prioritisation is also strange. I mean the whole ignoring the Tusken massacre basically and only turning from Anakin after Anakin tells his part in breaking the Republic (not listening to Obi-Wan say he killed Jedi) makes it ahrd to sympathise. Fandom has a typically positive view of her and I don’t want to anger anyone with my views, so I try to keep a somewhat ambivalent take with her. I haven’t written anything starring her/them together much so yeah. 

I actually like writing Ahsoka because she’s pretty cool, but I’m very nervous posting stuff about her post wrong Jedi arc because I think my views on it are pretty unpopular, and some of her fans are very... vehement about their views which is fine as logn as you’re not trying to invalidate my interpretation you know? Kind of makes me sad since I do love her character, but sometimes her fans put me off. 

Idk if this counts but also romance. Personally never really had a great one, so I don’t understand how to properly write it which makes it hard, and I don’t see the draw of it. I tend to both read and write platonic stuff. Lots of gen for me :)

15. What made you start to write fanfiction/stories?

I think @jedimasterbailey said she started writing Luminara stuff/fanfic in general because of the amount of Luminara slander and I kind of do the same but for jedi hate in general. Also, more specifically, Mace Windu hate. It just grinds on my nerves, but I’m not going to sit here and say people can’t write what they do, so yeah I just started writing my own to hopefully inspire others to do the same, or to just shove more pro Jedi shit out there ahaha. I’ve actually gotten a few comments of people saying that my fics have made them like/appreciate Mace a bit more which means a lot since he’s one of my favourite characters. 

More than that, thought, I just enjoy fanfic. I had loads of ideas for stories from multiple fandoms and I thought I might start posting some of them because they’re doing nothing just chilling in my drive. Also all the lovely writers of fic in multiple fandoms inspired me, so thanks to you I kind of got the courage to actually upload anything :)

22. Care to share any future WIP ideas you have lined up?

Ooh boy I got loads heheh. But I’ll talk of a few. So I had this idea about a time travel au (I know so original xD) and it was supposed to be Obi-Wan going back in time, but I actually wanted to kind of combine two different ideas, one being Ahsoka as Obi-Wan’s padawan, and a time travel au to one. So yeah... I have a fic in the works about an Ahsoka who travels back right after Vader kills her on Malachor (no Ezra saving her) and who becomes Obi-Wan’s padawan. This one’s a bit in the begining so it will probably be a while before anything’s posted, but if you want to send some kind of help for it I would appreciate a lot. This will probs be my first really longer fic, so I’m worried I’ll lose motivation which is why I’m going to plan it a bit more than most of my other stuff. I’m so excited because the idea has been bouncing around my head for so long!!!

I have another that is much closer to finishing which is a little 5+1 fic about Obi-Wan and the name Ben. I want to change a few things before posting but it should be coming around soon. It’s a little angsty, but mostly fluff.

Last one I’ll talk about, I promise haha. This one is a little uncertain of when I’ll finish because it’s somewhat written out, but the last bit is KILLING me. It’s an essay style writing up of order 66 and the empires rise. Kind of examining public opinion and stuff about it. Basically exploring how the genocide has affected the universe. It is written after the empire falls, so it talks a bit about the shitty Empire and propoganda and is just a pro jedi love letter xD

[crispyjenkins]

I’m resending it now! ok so what if for some reason Obi’s lightsaber either gets destroyed or the crystal stops resonating with him & He’s with Jango who goes with him to wherever the force guides him to find his new crystal at & like Obi goes through some wack vision/trial from the force and when he gets through it his new crystal reveals itself and it’s the same type of crystal like in the dark saber? And Jango is just losing it when he sees it bc he thinks “HOW?! but also, That’s HOT” hehe

(my DUDE i’m so flippin glad you re-sent this, i’ve had to force myself not to write this one so i could get other people’s prompts out, and i was at first unsure of how to spin this, but holy FECK is it all i can think about now. i just. i just want to write so much of this obi. i’m sorry i didn’t get to jango much, but you bet your butters he and obi are connected every which way in this, in ways beyond force bonds because i’m a dramatic bitch.

i hope y’all enjoy this one as much as i did!!)

edit 6/26/20: this is now part of a full fix-it! you can read it as it updates here on my Ao3! updates on fridays.

  Illum is colder than he remembered, though the last time Obi-Wan had been here, he had not feared wrapping himself up in the Force. It’s been... Force, he hasn’t been back since after Melida/Daan, and something in him breaks again at the thought that he’d lost the ‘saber that had been with him for more than a decade. But, no, a lightsaber is a small price to pay to have saved his master.

  His former master. He isn't Qui-Gon’s apprentice anymore, Anakin had made sure of that.  

  Obi-Wan had been sent to Illum alone, no younglings in need of making their first ‘saber, and no one else needing to replace theirs; Anakin has a few more months in the crèche before he can build his, and Obi-Wan can’t thank the council enough that he doesn’t have to walk the caves knowing his replacement is somewhere doing the same. With Qui-Gon still in the Halls, Master Plo had stepped forward in offer to knight him, and had almost had to fight Master Depa for the honor, which was... strange. He’s used to quite the opposite of masters fighting over him, but an amused Yoda had almost used his lineage status to refuse them both for himself instead, until Mace, as Master of the Order, had given the right to Plo Koon. And Jedi do not gloat, but the Kel Dor had certainly been smiling behind his mask.

  The doors to the caves open easily despite the ice, so maybe his great-grandmaster had been right about Obi-Wan rebuilding his lightsaber before his knighting ceremony. This thought doesn’t settle the feeling of intruding when he steps over the threshold, the marrow-deep feeling of being an imposter in one of the most holy places in the galaxy. 

  The kyber hums around him, as if he wasn’t at this exact moment considering walking away from the Order.

  He’s hardly a proper Jedi, is he? Killing a Sith with a sai tok, falling in love with Satine, holding a grudge against a nine year-old freed slave for taking his master away from him. Hadn’t he drawn on the dark side to defeat the Zabrak? Killed him not out of duty to his vow but in revenge for the fallen Qui-Gon? His lightsaber might have cauterised the wounds, but he has blood on his hands all the same.

  So he keeps walking, refusing to touch a single crystal he passes. The Force tugs him deeper into the caves anyways, and he has half a thought to ignoring it (does he even deserve to listen to it anymore?) but for all his tumultuous thoughts, Obi-Wan is beholden to the Force, beholden to the grip it has in his viscera. 

  He follows it as his breath forms clouds before his lips, frost on his skin that he cannot even feel. Where would he go, if he left? Stewjon is insular, they would not want him back, but he cannot stay at the Temple. Naboo, perhaps? Padmé would surely welcome him, but could he really settle down on such a peaceful planet after spending over half his life running around the stars with his master?

  Closing his eyes at the memory of Satine, he allows himself to... consider it. Would she still want him? They haven’t spoken since, but sometimes he can feel her in his mind still, a little warm bud that could bloom, if he let it. And even if she threw him out, Mandalore isn’t a bad place to restart.

  “Could I really?” he muses out loud, stepping over a great crack in the stone floor and setting his feet to follow a barely-there path towards the lake, only for the Force to have him veer away from it. Could he really give up being a Jedi? After every trial the Force had put him through to even become an apprentice? Oh, but he had tried so. kriffing. hard. to get this far, could he really do anything else?

  He swallows thickly and almost desperately pulls the Force back around himself, as if in apology, as if in repentance, as if anguish—

  Peace, it whispers, brushing over his mind even as it sinks claws into his ribs and pulls him up short.

  Obi-Wan is twelve again, wind whipping around him as the Jedi transport takes off from Bandomeer, Qui-Gon Jinn staring down at him. Force, but he hasn’t ever felt worse than when he feels their raw bond stretching with distance, yanking deep in him until he’s breathless, doesn’t Master Jinn feel it—?

  And Obi-Wan is sitting in the living room of their Temple apartment, kneeling on his cloth meditation mat across from Qui-Gon’s bamboo one. His master’s warmth surrounds him in a glittering cloud of comfort and ease, and they’ve been at this for five years now, and still Obi-Wan holds this as his most treasured memory, something to cling to when things seem desolate or he’s been arguing with Qui-Gon, or—

  He’s in the glass city of Sundari, brushing a hand over Satine’s cheek as she laughs, and Force, she’s even more beautiful than he remembers— She’s dying in his arms, bruises violent red around her throat, a sizzling ‘saber wound through her middle, and she’s beautiful even now, oh Force not like this—

  Obi-Wan is older, his joints a little creakier, his hair grey at the temples, and he has a beskad sticking out of his chest. Above him is a boy that looks suspiciously like him, red hair and green eyes but with Satine’s lips and eyebrows. Korkie, the Force tells him, as the boy leans over Obi-Wan and why is he angry? Ah, so this blade had not been meant for him—

  Anakin, little Anakin with a padawan braid beams up at him in a training salle with a practice saber in his fists. Obi-Wan moves to correct his kata, and though he’s... sure he had never learned this from Qui-Gon, he knows it’s Form III, he knows it’s Soresu like he knows his own name, like he knows the padawan bond in his mind and the warm nova glow of Anakin attached to his core—

  Obi-Wan is an old man, seated on a perfectly smooth grey stone above a green, green cliff battered by ocean waves and briny air. He meditates with the knowledge he had come from here, the Force here as close to home as he could ever hope to achieve. He had not searched for the family that left him on the Temple steps, and that’s just fine by him, he could not have asked for a better place to begin his seclusion studies than Stewjon—

  Obi-Wan is an old man, seated on a perfectly smooth red stone, the desert cliffs around him worn smooth from the sand that batters around him, ripping through his robes but never touching his skin. The Force is feral here, claws and bone and teeth teeth teeth, but somewhere out in the dunes, there shines Luke, pearlescent and good and proof that Obi-Wan has not failed just yet. 

  Satine is screaming at him as she shoves Korkie behind her back and raises a beskad that seems wrong, wrong in her hands, but he doesn’t have time to think about his heart wielding a blade, when he’s wielding the darksaber, whistling as it cuts through the air against Tor Vizsla, why had they trusted him, he knew he could not be trusted, and now his family is going to pay the price— His ‘saber, black as space, connects with Vizsla's, black as night, and Obi-Wan is not wielding the darksaber, but something else entirely, with a beskad’s edge, with a hum that’s almost a scream, that moves towards the darksaber with the intent to shatter—

  A Mando in blue and silver beskar’gam hands him a hilt, hammered durasteel wrapped in black leather, so unlike any Jedi ‘saber hilt he’s ever seen, but Obi-Wan knows it’s his from the way it sings, the way the Force insists it’s his his his—

  The blue and silver Mando with his helmet off, a man so unspeakably gorgeous that Obi-Wan wonders how he even copes— The Mando’s gloved hand grips Obi-Wan’s wrist, the face he knows so well twisted into dread and anger. Don’t go, they beg, but Obi-Wan must, he cannot abandon Mandalore, he cannot—, Don’t you realize that Zabrak’s fucking crazy? Obi-Wan, he’s going to kill you—

  Obi-Wan is older, but not much, pinned underneath blue and silver armour as Sundari glass and blasterfire rains around them—

  Obi-Wan watches the Beautiful Mando sleeping with his head pillowed on Obi-Wan’s arm, a new scar curling through his eyebrow that he hasn’t asked about yet—

  A mini Beautiful Mando eyes him suspiciously, hands on his hips while his buir stands behind him and tries not to laugh—

  Obi-Wan is on Illum, but he is not, he weaves his way through dusty streets he has never seen before and yet knows the way by heart, following that heart towards the hangar where his aliit waits. He has beads braided messily in his hair, twisted by pudgy fingers insisting Obi-Wan deserves to look just as pretty as his buir; that durasteel and leather hilt bounces against his hip, and he has a single blue and silver gauntlet on his right arm. He is a Jedi, the Force assures him, in the way light bends through him, but he is also Mando’ad, he knows that without needing to ask. He belongs to a planet and to a people that he did not start with, in a strange Force-willed way that he can’t explain, and he’s a Jedi, but he knows he has a family waiting for him in an old police craft. A black-bladed ‘saber hums at his side.

 ��Obi-Wan opens his eyes in front of a rock wall, glittering kyber in every colour rising up the sheer face until their little lights disappear into the darkness far above him. Just above eye-level, there is a small crater in the wall, as if the rest of the kyber cannot grow around the single crystal at the crater’s center. 

  It is opalescent and space-black, and looks as if it had been cut for a piece of opulent jewellery. The Force whispers heart heart heart, and he supposes it does look the size and shape of a beskar’ta, and isn’t that fitting?

  When he reaches out to take it, the white glow at its edges seems to suck in the light from around it, and it sings higher than any crystal he’s ever touched, whistling trials and heartbreak and pain and blood, but also love and laughter and family, if he lets it form the notes just right. It sings in Mando’a, in war gods and clans and beskar, and it sings for Obi-Wan alone.

-   Across the galaxy, Jango wakes on Jaster’s Legacy in a cold sweat.

Translations/Other: sai tok — the ‘saber move of cutting an opponent in half, frowned upon by the Jedi for its roots in the dark side. beskad — traditional Mandalorian curved saber made of beskar. allit — Mando’a for “clan” or “family”. buir — Mando’a for “parent”, gender neutral. beskar’ta — Mando’a for “iron heart”, the elongated hex-shape common in Mandalorian armour designs (great post here comparing them to katana tsuba). also called ka’rta beskar or “heart of the iron”. Jaster’s Legacy — Jaster’s old ship that Jango found and used post Galidraan, and pre Slave I.

[drunkenoctopus]

So uh, @norcumii said princess switch and my mind went here. I have no time or skill to do anything more so feel free if anyone wants to add/run with it. Just tag me so I can read and gush over Obi-Wan/Rex.

Baker Rex. Just wants to spend a quiet Christmas with his friends. But his best friend Anakin is going on a diplomatic trip with his fiancé Padme. Ashoka is heading over to her new girlfriend's hometown and its fine, he'll just stay home and work on some new Christmas recipes for the shop.

However before he leaves Anakin drops the bomb: he signed Rex up for the most prestigious baking competition Stewjon's Sweet Spectacular. Anakin knows Rex's confidence hasn't been what it was ever since he left the military, especially after his awful experiences at Krell's Kakes (that bastard stole Rex recipes and worse) so he's hoping this would help his best friend realise that he really is the best.

Rex is hesitant at first but this competition is a huge deal and when he hears Krell is in the competition he has to go! This could be the chance to finally prove he really is better than that kriffing bastard.

Meanwhile Cody is preparing himself for the marriage to Stewjon's youngest Prince. Its not that Cody minds really, he knows that Mandalore needs this alliance, and the Prince is pretty nice and kind. Its just that this isn't the picture Cody had in his head for his future. (He'd be happy being ori'ramikad his while life probably) But his dad Jango is counting on him. Boba is next in line to be Mandalor so it has to be Cody. (There was some talk about one of the Duchesses possibly but his father thought this alliance was too important) And Cody, well he'll do anything for Mandalore's future.

Excpet when he gets to Stewjon, it's so different from home and they have so many traditions and he feels like he's getting them all wrong and he keeps putting his foot in his mouth and the prince is kind but he needs some breathing room and needs to get away from this impending future for a minute.

So when he sees this random guy who somehow *looks exactly like him* (with blonde hair and no scar) he can't help it. Cody and his personal aide Wooley hastily make a plan (involving some boxes of hair dye and scar makeup and lots and lots of hats). But Cody will finally get some time to come to terms with his upcoming wedding and Rex will get to play with the handsome prince.

Obi-Wan knows his future spouse is trying. And he's trying in return, to be kind. He knows this is nothing but a political alliance. To cement the relationship between Mandalore and the Stewjoni jedi once and for all (especially after the disaster that almost happened with his uncle Count Dooku a few years ago). Mandalore needs their aide and they need to avoid the fallout of that almost disaster.

But he wishes there was someone else, his future spouse can only look at him for so long before panicking. His older brother, Mace and his daughter the crown princess Depa have the country in hand, and it's Obi-Wan's duty to make sure the alliance sticks. (He's always had a fascination with Mandalore and actually secretly dated one of their Duchesses once, but he supposes she didn't care much for him if she's not up for consideration).

He's really trying to be patient and teach his spouse all he needs to know about Stewjon (after all they will be splitting their time between the 2 nations as ambassadors) but he thinks Cody's getting overwhelmed.

So he's glad that when he suggests a break from formalities it seems to work! There's a new light in Cody's eyes and his smile is doing something different as he talks about himself(and oh is that a flutter in Obi-Wan's chest?) and he's passionate and sarcastic and actually has some great views on politics and maybe this might not be so bad! Now Obi-Wan is actually looking forward to the end of the holiday when they officially announce their engagement at the Spectacular. (Obi-Wan is also low key wondering if he can get away with hand feeding Cody little pastries on national television.)

Rex switched places with a prince. Well Ven'Alor. But same thing really. And now he has another (beautiful) prince smiling at him like he hung the stars. What the kriff is his life?! (How does this even happen? He knew his dad Sid adopted him on Naboo but he never asked about his birth family before Sid died. Is it somehow possible he's related to the Mandalor?!)

But Obi-Wan's smile is really something else. And he's so sweet, and kind and he listened when Rex went off on his tirade about military reform and laughs at Rex's terrible jokes, and he doesn't know why Cody would run away from this. Cody... Rex keeps forgetting that this is just for a little while, that he has to give up Obi-Wan soon, and maybe he's not ready to do that. So he pushes it out of his mind and focuses on that stunningly sly smile Obi-Wan keep flashing at him (he's also wondering when is it appropriate to kiss that smile off the prince).

[whatapunk]

Holy butts I wrote a second chapter!! I am soooo thankful for everyone who liked or reblogged the first chapter because truly, truly, truly you gave me more motivation than you could possibly realize! 

A couple things: 

I’ve included dialogue from the s02e01 scene where Kanan and Hera have a very Han/Leia hallway argument and I definitely don’t want to take credit for such things (I only wanted to add it to help me with my flow a bit)

Right now I’m firmly trying so very hard to fit it perfectly into canon (it’s just something I like doing, idk) but eventually it might go a lil more AU, I just haven’t decided yet

This shit had me on wookieepedia searching the most random stuff, but rest assured, there is garlic in the Star Wars universe

Enjoy!

Title: Endings

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Relationship: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla; Kanan Jarrus/female OC

Rating: t for now, m in future chapters (I'm guessing) for language and some non-explicit intimacy

Word Count: 2446

Previous Chapters: Ch. 1

Chapter 2

Kanan sat on the step ladder leading up to the Liberator’s control panels. His presence was a silent mark of informality in the middle of the crew’s debriefing meeting with Commander Sato. The rest of the crew, plus Ahsoka, stood around the holo-console in the middle of the floor. Sato was saying something about the Ghost crew- his crew- but Kanan was barely half listening. For one, every other word that came out of Sato’s mouth was some military formality and, thus, not something that interested him in the slightest. But the main reason he wasn’t listening was that Rhia Denley’s image was still burned into his thoughts.

Seven years. When you hadn’t seen someone in this galaxy for seven years, you started to assume you never would again. At least, that’s how Kanan had felt. 

However, suddenly she was here again- she existed again, something Kanan had tried hard to convince himself wasn’t even true. It was easier to convince himself she was something he’d imagined than for him to remember her and the way she’d crushed his young heart years ago. Besides, thinking about that heartache had always made him feel guilty once Hera was in his life. Now, however, he was feeling so many things he didn’t even have room for guilt.

What he did have room for was a hefty amount of bitterness, and for more than one reason. First of all, he was already bitter before Rhia showed up; he’d hardly hidden his feelings and had become almost spiteful about how they had been sucked into a military operation. But even that wasn’t totally separate from his thoughts about Rhia.

Rhia and Kanan had become a “thing” on Gorse, very soon after Kanan had set up what passed as a life there. Their meeting was by chance, but they had run into each other briefly when he was even younger and worked with a smuggler named Janus Kasmir. It was actually Rhia who told him about low-profile jobs on Gorse then, so he wasn’t altogether surprised that she ended up there eventually too. While he wasn’t much more than a kid when they first met, when they reconnected on Gorse, he was older and far more interesting to Rhia. They quickly became infatuated with one another for the better part of four months, which was practically a lifelong commitment to Kanan. Before Hera, Rhia was the longest relationship he’d ever been in. 

Rhia, however, had bigger goals than being a bartender’s girlfriend and working as a miner on Cynda. Rhia, much like Hera, was interested in the Rebellion. She’d made this clear early on, but she didn’t try to preach to Kanan, and he’d liked that about her. However, once she’d found a connection to a group of Rebels on the Holonet, she had tried- more than once- to get him to come with her. That’s what made running into her here, of all places, all the more exasperating and awkward. He’d ended up here anyway, despite his countless protestations- and he didn’t even want to be.

Seeing Rhia again reminded him, among other things, of all of the reasons he told her he didn’t want to join the Rebellion. And that reminded him that they were all still true.

Kanan heard Sato say something about the Spectres being “invaluable,” and then suddenly Chopper burst into the meeting, much to Commander Sato and Hera’s dismay. He was going on about an emergency incoming transmission, and, frankly, Kanan welcomed the change. His bitterness with this situation, this Rebellion- this meeting had reached its peak.

***

Less than ten minutes later, Kanan’s bitterness had already gotten him into trouble, and with Hera, no less. 

After telling Chopper to play his transmission during a “secret debriefing,” Hera had scowled at him for the rest of the meeting. He’d tried to rush out and get out of her line of fire once they were dismissed, but she’d caught him in the hallway and firmly let him know he wasn’t authorized to do that.

“Authorization! Procedure! That’s what’s bothering me!” he’d raised his voice, uncaring of the people that were attempting to walk past them as they argued. 

Hera put her hands up gently, sighing at having finally gotten him to drop the passive aggressive quips about their work lately. It wasn’t hard to guess what had been bothering him, but he was a grown adult who should be able to talk to her, of all people.

“All right. Talk to me,” she said, lowering her voice. Kanan sighed and did the same.

“After this mission, I want us to go back on our own,” he said firmly. “Fighting alongside soldiers isn’t what I signed up for.” At that, Hera frowned at him and shoved him into an open doorway, pointing a gloved finger in his face.

“You seem to be forgetting these soldiers helped save your life,” she said, looking at him with those big eyes that could be both demanding and softening at the same time. After that remark, he couldn’t meet them.

“And I’m grateful,” he started, “but that doesn’t mean I want to join their little army. When you and I started together, it was ‘Rob from the Empire, give to the needy,’ a noble cause. Now we’re getting drawn into some kind of military thing! I don’t like it.” 

Somehow Hera’s voice became more serious and more earnest.

“We are fighting a bigger fight, but it’s still the right fight,” she said, all but pleading with him to understand that they’d been fighting in the name of the Rebellion all along. Kanan wasn’t having it.

“I survived one war. I’m not ready for another one,” he said, turning away from her. She grabbed his arm. “I saw what it did.”

“To the Jedi?” she asked, almost whispering. He looked back at her.

“To everyone.” He left the doorway and continued walking down the hall, hearing Hera’s exasperated sigh behind him. 

Kanan loved virtually everything about Hera, even her flaws. She was incredibly stubborn, but since he was so go-with-the-flow, it never really got in their way. In fact, it practically complimented his own personality. She would get adamant and obsessed over something, and he would follow her anywhere and do anything she asked of him. At least, that’s how things had gone for them for the past seven years, right up until the formal Rebellion had rescued him from the Grand Inquisitor. Now it was suddenly a reality of Kanan’s world that he was part of a military operation and that could only lead to one thing: war. 

Hera had been familiar with war her whole life, but not in the same way Kanan had. He’d fought in battles as a young teen alongside his master, Depa Billaba and seen the realities of it all over the galaxy. Hera’s own world was war-torn, for sure, but her role in that war was far different than Kanan’s. For the first time since he’d met her, he felt like she was incapable of understanding him.

Kanan headed to the only place he really wanted to be right now: his quarters on Ghost. He felt like meditating, if only for the quiet. He lost himself in his thoughts there for maybe an hour, and eventually his sour attitude had at least subsided. He remembered his harsh tone with Hera and his obvious instigation of Chopper in the meeting. He still didn’t care about what Sato thought, but he felt bad for making Hera look bad. Now, it felt like such a childish thing to have done.

He left his quarters and, once seeing the Ghost was still empty, he went back out into the bay. It was less busy now, as most of the cargo that littered the area earlier had been taken elsewhere by now. His eyes scanned for Hera; he knew he should apologize to her. When he didn’t see her, or any of the Spectres, he set off down one of the hallways that he believed led to the commissary. He hadn’t taken the time to get to know his way around this ship (by design) so he honestly had no clue where to start looking for her. He’d gone pretty far without seeing anything resembling a commissary and was about to turn around when an amazing aroma hit him and made his stomach growl: garlic. 

Something told him to follow the smell, which led him down a corridor that opened up to a large galley. Standing in front of a pan sizzling on the stove, as Kanan had expected, was Rhia. She looked up at him, surprised, but then smiled.

“I should have known this would attract you,” she said with a smirk, then turned her attention back to the sizzling pan, stirring the contents with a wooden spoon. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to get me here,” Kanan added, grabbing a seat at an empty table near the stove. “You know how I feel about your cooking.” She looked up and grinned at him.

“The same way everyone does,” she said, confidently. She left the pan and attended to a cutting board with what looked like an onion and some kind of pepper on it. 

Kanan’s stomach growled again. Rhia was an amazing cook and loved every piece of food he’d ever seen her hold. She only ever ate ration bars or drank nutritive milk when she absolutely had to. Otherwise, she kept her own stock of spices and quality ingredients and went well out of her way (and budget) to get fresh produce. Kanan’s mind drifted back to memories of watching Rhia cooking in her kitchen on Gorse. He remembered breakfast with eggs and some sort of mushroom, watching her move her hands skillfully around knives and pans and the ingredients, often wearing nothing but-

“So,” Rhia started, pulling Kanan out of his memory. “You finally joined the Rebellion.” Kanan’s brow wrinkled.

“What do you mean by finally?” he asked, already feeling himself becoming defensive. Rhia rolled her eyes.

“Nothing,” she said, slicing into her pepper, grinning.

“And no, I did not join anything,” Kanan said, putting extra emphasis on “I” and jabbing his thumb to his chest. She looked back up at him as she scraped ingredients from her cutting board to the pan. 

“That was Hera Syndulla, wasn’t it? Captain of the Ghost? You’re part of Ghost crew, right?” she pressed, confused. Kanan was more than a little surprised.

“You’ve heard of us?” Kanan asked, his vanity getting the better of him and nearly allowing a smile to creep onto his face. Rhia rolled her eyes again and laughed.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Kanan. I’ve heard of Captain Syndulla, not her first mate,” she joked, laughing more at the fall of Kanan’s expression. Then realization struck her. “Wait, are you the one we just blew up a star destroyer for?” Kanan grimaced.

“Yes, but that wasn’t my fault. I didn’t tell them to- and it was Chopper who-” Rhia held her hand up, seeing him getting defensive.

“Kanan, I don’t really know anything about what happened. I wasn’t here for it, I just heard about it. I was on a freighter headed to a rendezvous. I don’t even know who Chopper is,” she said, going back to her pan.

“He’s our droid,” Kanan said flatly. “Anyway, my crew performed the rescue. I was aboard Tarkin’s destroyer.” Rhia looked up at him again, this time a little more serious.

“What was that like?” she asked.

“Not fun.”

Rhia didn’t push the topic further. She grabbed a pan of noodles that had been sitting over to her right and mixed them into the skillet with some oil. Kanan was suddenly fascinated by the chipped edge of the table in front of him. 

Satisfied with the meal in front of her, Rhia reached into a cabinet behind her and pulled out two plates and then matched them with two forks. She set them out on the table Kanan was sitting at and then divided the noodles in half. Before she sat down, however, she went back to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. When she set them down the table Kanan looked up at her, arching his eyebrow. She went to a backpack that sat on the floor behind the counter and pulled out a glass bottle with no markings and a familiar light brown liquid sloshing inside. She poured herself a drink, placed the mouth of the bottle over his glass and paused, looking at him, silently offering the drink. 

“I can’t think of what goes better with your dinners,” he said, and she poured. 

As soon as Kanan took a bite, his memories were triggered all over again. He was pretty sure he’d never even eaten this specific dish before, given her access to such a wide variety of ingredients. But it didn’t matter. Rhia’s meals were memorable for some sort of shared quality that bound them all together, even when they were drastically different. Not only that, but he realized how long it had been since he’d eaten, and how much longer it had been since he’d eaten something of this quality. For a few minutes they ate in silence, Kanan unavailable for any and all conversation. Eventually, Rhia spoke.

“So explain to me how you haven’t joined the Rebellion?” Kanan sighed, but the food had made him quite amenable to discussing just about anything. He did, however, take a drink before he replied.

“I didn’t know we were a cell. I didn’t know there were cells. Hera was the only one who spoke to Fulcrum and knew of the larger operation. I found out when I was… rescued,” Kanan ended quietly. Rhia could tell that being rescued and needing so much from so many, made him uncomfortable. 

“That had to be quite a shock,” she said, sensing the need for a new subject. “So you and Hera, when did you two meet?” she asked. Kanan looked at her, surprised. He could tell by the way she asked, she knew that they were together. Rhia gave him a “give me a break” look.

“Kanan, really- my ‘pilot’? Shit, I’ve seen explosions that were more subtle.” She chuckled and took another drink, emptying the glass. Kanan did the same. Rhia offered up the bottle again.

“Another?”

Kanan looked at it, hesitating. He hardly drank at all anymore, let alone like he did when they were living on Gorse. However, depending on where this conversation was going to go, Kanan felt like he would need something more than blood in his veins. 

“One more.”