#Luke's jedi order was too small

[saphronethaleph]

New Media Jedi Order

“Okay,” Rey said. “I don’t know if you can use the Force, yet. Not really. It’s… not something where I had a lot of training myself. But…”

She shook her head. “Okay, I’m already not expressing this right. But the way the Force works, it’s… a mystical energy field, that fills the whole universe. And that might mean that everyone can use it. Or it might mean that it’s just easier for some people, and harder for others. But the most important part of it all is that… the Force is there. It’s real. It binds the universe together, and once you start to understand that… that’s when you can start to understand the rest.”

The words hung in the air, and Rey held out her hand. Her staff rippled slightly, then rose, and she pulled it over to her as she stepped back.

“The Force connects us all,” she said. “Every living being, and it flows through everything that isn’t alive, as well. And it means that every living being in the universe is unique, and important, and special… which is where the first part of the problem can come in. The Dark Side. And that’s why I want to make sure I make this completely clear – because everyone is special. Which means you’re special. But that means that everyone else is special as well.”

She exhaled. “That’s… important. Something you have to remember. Because if you forget the second part, then you’re fundamentally wrong, and that never ends well – for you, or for anyone else.”

After a pause, to impress the gravity of her point, Rey took a deep breath, and let it out.

“So… there’s a number of ways to get a closer and stronger connection to the Force,” she said. “But one of them is that it’s about… knowing things you couldn’t otherwise know, and touching things you couldn’t otherwise touch. If you’re wearing a blindfold, but you can still see. If you’re light years apart, but you can still feel. If you’re the other side of the room, but you can still move.”

She closed her eyes.

“If it hasn’t happened yet, but you can still know. The Force is… transcendent. It connects everything, but everything is larger than one person – it’s larger than everyone – so it’s not possible for an individual person to channel the whole of the Force. But they can touch it, shape it, influence it, and with it… impossible things can be done.”

Hux stabbed the pause button, scowling at the screen, then looked up at the intelligence officer.

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

“We caught it on the HoloNet twenty minutes ago, sir,” the intelligence officer replied. “It had been up for forty minutes before that, and it’s already gone dramatically viral. At this point I’d say about one point two percent of the entire userbase of SpaceTube has clicked the link.”

Hux glared back down at the screen, then caught sight of the view count – and the subscriber count.

And the account name.

“How did the scavenger girl get access to such a popular SpaceTube account?” he asked. “And why is it called Singular Smuggler?”

“Just a guess, sir,” the intelligence officer offered, intelligently. “But I’d guess it’s because it’s Han Solo’s old account? And she does work with his wookiee.”

Hux gave him a baleful look, a muscle twitching in his cheek.

“Well, how bad is it, then?” he asked. “This is obviously a blow for the First Order’s public relations, especially after that nonsense with the broadcast last week where they called for the galaxy to rise up – and the fact we’ve lost Starkiller Base and the Supreme Leader, thanks to-”

He bit off the words.

He wasn’t going to blame the new Supreme Leader for their misfortunes out loud, no matter how much he detested the man.

“It’s bad, but how bad it is depends on what she says in the whole video,” the intelligence officer pointed out. “I haven’t had time to watch it, it’s three hours long.”

Hux muttered something about incompetents, then flicked down to look at the contents list.

He blanched.

“...section two is labelled ‘examples with Finn’,” he said. “Isn’t that the Traitor?”

“That sounds likely, sir,” the intelligence officer frowned. “Why?”

“Block the video immediately,” Hux said. “Across the whole of the First Order. We cannot permit their propaganda to spread to the Stormtroopers.”

The intelligence officer hurried to his desk, ready to issue the order, but before he actually got there the door to the command room crashed open – several inches of durasteel crumpling like tinfoil.

“Huh,” said the stormtrooper standing behind where the door used to be, and examined her gauntleted hands as she flexed them. “Looks like that bit works.”

“...well, kriff,” Hux muttered.

At least there was one bit of good news that he took vicious pleasure in.

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren was going to hate this even more than he did.

[tossawary]

It's funny to think about a scenario in which Luke manages to get Yoda off Dagobah and bring him back to the Rebellion. Maybe Obi-Wan left a message with R2 as a backup plan or something, so Luke got the message much earlier. Yoda is still too old and injured to fight, but he can train Luke while moving around as the Rebellion's new grandpa (and potentially reunite with characters like Ahsoka and Kanan and Cal and so on).

This AU is important to me because how it would look from an Outsider's POV:

"Uhhh, Luke," Han said. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Luke said, turning to look across the hangar bay. "Oh. That's Master Yoda. I went to Dagobah to get him, remember?"

Han studied the small, green, vaguely amphibious creature with long pointy ears and wisps of white hair, crouched underneath Luke's X-Wing and steadily eating its way though a bucket of... what the hell were those things? Eggs?

"That's your great Master Yoda?" Han said dubiously. He couldn't have helped it, so he didn't even try not to sound skeptical. "The one who's going to train you and Her Royal Highness in this... uh... penetrating life field magic?"

Those ragged brown blankets that it seemed to be wearing looked not unlike the dusty robes that Luke's old man had been shuffling around in, before getting killed back on the Death Star. Maybe.

"He's the wisest and most powerful Jedi Master alive," Luke said, like he was determined to be upbeat about it. "He's 900 years old. He said."

Han watched the creature dig around in the bucket some more, nearly sticking the entire upper half of its body inside. Its long ears wilted when it came up empty. It sat back with a loud, high-pitched harrumph and its wrinkled face scrunched up like a fruit rotting all at once.

"Yeah," Han said. "He looks it."

Luke shot him a betrayed look and Han just shrugged. He didn't have a problem with the kid and the princess finding some comfort in some hokey old religion. The kid's family had apparently been killed by troopers the day that Han had met him and Leia had watched her entire planet be destroyed, so whatever touchy-feely nonsense helped them deal with that helped.

But that didn't mean that Han wasn't going to call it like he saw it- "Uh, kid, is that your storage unit he's searching now?"

Luke groaned and put his head in his hands. "I left some ration bars in there, I think. I bet he can smell them."

This great Jedi Master was making a real mess of it. He threw one of Luke's things over his shoulder, where the tool hit R2-D2, and the small droid immediately let out a shocked series of beeps and chirps. The outraged blare when the droid traced the missile back to Yoda was even louder.

Han watched as the droid whirred briskly up to Yoda, then reached out with an extended grabber and yanked at the old Jedi's stick. Yoda shrieked in surprise. A tug-o-war started, which looked like it was going to have one or both of them falling over.

"Oh, no," Luke said.

People around the hangar bay were starting to stare. Han couldn't look away.

The droid released the wooden stick and Yoda let out a cry of triumph. Which turned into a yelp of pain, because R2-D2 had just zapped him with another extended tool, which crackled like a threat that the droid would do it again. Yoda's response was to smack the droid with his stick, repeatedly, grunting with the effort - and the loud clanging caught the attention of everyone who hadn't already been looking.

"You gonna, uh, you gonna do something about that?" Han said to the kid.

Luke sighed heavily, which definitely meant that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened. He stood up and waded into the mess, catching the stick with one hand and physically pushing the droid back with the other, ordering the old astromech and older Jedi Master to knock it off. He sounded just like a parent about to hand out some punishments.

R2-D2 beeped petulantly at Luke.

"I don't care who started it!" Luke said, his exasperation carrying. "This time or last time-! Ow!"

The great Jedi Master had just smacked Luke in the shin with that stick. Luke hopped on one foot for a few seconds, biting down on what probably would have been some nasty Huttese cursing. Yoda harrumphed again and then lurched back over towards his empty egg bucket.

R2-D2 made a sound that Han had, whether he liked it or not, already come to recognize meant: "I told you so."

"Oh, fuck off," Luke snapped.

Han threw back his head and laughed.

[the-far-bright-center]

Obi-Wan Kenobi's tragedy is that he was the white knight of all white knights, the most 'by the book' Jedi of the Jedi Order, who served the Order loyally for the sake of the 'Greater Good'....only for the Order to fall and the 'Greater Good' to be (seemingly) lost anyway. He did everything according to the 'rules' (often at great cost to himself and to those who cared about him) and yet still he failed. Some see Obi-Wan as without flaw, not realising that it’s his very obedience to the Order that is the issue in the first place. Especially because he was willing to overlook or even sacrifice the well-being of individuals in service to the Order’s idea of ‘the Greater Good’. Maybe, just maybe, that should give some people pause before trying to frame him as this unerring figure who never did a single thing wrong. Obi-Wan's character has been established as less-than-perfect since the Original Trilogy (since ESB and RotJ at the very least). That's over forty years ago, people! We've known him to be a 'collection of half-truths and hyperbole' for all that time. And the way Obi-Wan's character was portrayed in the Prequels may have rendered him more tragic, yes, but it didn't go against what the OT had established. In fact, it showed us clearly that he DID fail Anakin (something he himself admits on-screen). I would also agree that he failed Padme by putting her directly in harm's way—something fandom realllly likes to overlook in favour of the much-preferred pasttime of hating solely on Anakin. In RotS, the lines 'I will do what I must' and 'do what must be done' are purposefully juxtaposed as an indictment of BOTH Obi-Wan and Anakin.

The next step of Obi-Wan's tragedy is that after this catastrophic failure, he learns the wrong lessons. He doubles down, thinking that he was the one who must have strayed from 'Yoda's way' and the Order's teachings (by caring ‘too much’ about Anakin despite himself, perhaps?), and that if only he'd been even more 'by the book', maybe Anakin wouldn't have fallen. Yoda and Obi-Wan's problem was that they were always trying to mold Anakin into the Jedi they wanted him to be (because they feared his 'clouded' and 'uncertain' future), instead of understanding his natural strengths and abilities (the fact he cared about saving people over adhering to abstract principles), and trying to encourage those instead. So when Anakin fell, they took it as a sign that their fears were right, instead of realising that while fear might indeed be 'a path to the dark side'....it wasn't just Anakin's fear. It was theirs, too.

Fans can love Obi-Wan all they want (believe it or not, I actually love him too, I just prefer to understand him as flawed!), but it would be nice if they would stop trying to claim that he's the 'real main character' of Star Wars. This is the Skywalker saga, not the Kenobi saga, in case they haven't noticed. And yet the amount of SW fans these days who seem think the story is 'about' him blows my mind. The fact Disney happened to make a big-budget fanfic about a character doesn't change said character's long-established role in the original story. As noted above, Obi-Wan is the failed mentor figure of the main characters. He's not the perfect, long-suffering saint who is 'always right' in the way so many insist on portraying him. The PT x OT narrative itself proves him wrong. He's tragic, yes, but his ‘certain point of view’ is absolutely not vindicated by the story. Luke going his own way and loving his 'monstrous' father in direct rejection of what Yoda and Obi-Wan tell him is the only thing that truly provides salvation to all the characters.

I wish fandom would understand that they can enjoy Obi-Wan without willfully misinterpreting his entire role in the story simply to suit an over-idealised view of him.

A Very Controversial Opinion…

But I honestly do not get the complete and utter support for Obi-Wan while people trash others who have dared to challenge him and his opinions such as Qui-Gon and Anakin. Obi-Wan is not perfect and I don’t get why people are trying to pretend he is. He’s actually got serious flaws too.

Obi-Wan is a good character, yes, but he has his shortcomings too. Watching Episode I as an adult these days only made me notice that Obi-Wan is not nice to Anakin from the moment they met despite having no reason to be mean and only takes him on as a Padawan because Qui-Gon asked him to. Hell, I think the very first time he calls Anakin by his name and not “the boy” is at the end of the movie. The Council had decided Anakin had the potential to be dangerous despite only being nine-years-old so Obi-Wan didn’t question, and just followed their word, even getting mad at Qui-Gon for not listening too at one point. He tries to rebuke his own MASTER! But Qui-Gon never treated him the way Obi-Wan treats Anakin.

I also don’t stick with the headcanon floating around that Qui-Gon “just threw Obi-Wan to the wolves” so he could train Anakin instead. Qui-Gon is no fool and its clear that Obi-Wan WAS ready for the trials. He killed a freaking Sith who was very strong(and a badass) not long after that meeting for god’s sake. Granted, it seems he had to use his anger to do so, but he did even though using anger like that is something he scolds Anakin for regularly. Qui-Gon was not “trying to ditch him” and the fact that Maul actually survived doesn’t matter. Obi-Wan still beat him.

I’ll argue that Obi-Wan had numerous chances to prevent Anakin’s Fall but he didn’t listen most of the time, preached the Code at him despite breaking it himself, and even broke Anakin’s trust FIRST. He is too much of a stickler for rules and didn’t try to understand Anakin’s issues which resulted from his background as a slave when he also had to leave his mother behind at only nine years old. Anakin also implies that worse than that happened but he got NO help from anyone, including Obi-Wan in dealing with it. It’s not even just Obi-Wan really, it can be argued that the entire Jedi Order let Anakin down, starting with NO ONE questioning Palpatine’s interest in him and stopping their meetings. It took 13 years of conditioning and manipulation for Palpatine to finally push Anakin over the edge, but before this happened, Anakin had gone to Obi-Wan, Padme and even YODA but was brushed off by ALL THREE. Yet Padme and Obi-Wan get the support. They both claim to love him but both either couldn’t see or refused to see that he was struggling. All they saw was the Hero and Face of the Republic army. (Question: has Obi-Wan ever told Anakin he loved him to his FACE before the Mustafar fight? Could’ve made a difference if not. Probably.)

A bit dramatic, but if you think about it, the Jedi were treating Anakin as much of a slave as he was on Tatooine. Without the bomb of course but one could make the argument that Qui-Gon took him from one form of slavery to another. I know we all love the Ani-Obi brotherhood but the fact is, Obi-Wan has let him down several times, and yes the opposite happened too, and the light side lost the war against the Sith long before Episode III. They lost as soon as Qui-Gon was killed by Maul. Obi-Wan is not necessarily guilty of THIS, he’s just ignorant to the shortcomings of the Order as a whole.

One of the biggest things that bothers me really is that in Episode III, Obi-Wan maims Anakin to win the fight, YES he did warn him, but he did this and then just left him there to suffer a horrible death by burning alive made even worse when he didn’t actually die. Obi-Wan makes excuses for this, and even in Episode IV, still doesn’t take responsibility. No wonder Vader is so pissed off especially if one takes into account the rumor that Palpatine had rigged Vader’s surgery to keep him in perpetual pain and therefore below Palpatine in power. Not that Vader was trying to get away but still.

In comparison to that last, in the Episode IV Death Star confrontation, Vader actually grants Obi-Wan a much swifter end with a single swing of his lightsaber. Vader is a Sith but of the two, he gave the more humane end and to someone who he saw as an enemy, not to mention that Obi-Wan actually used this to manipulate Luke against Vader because he only stopped fighting after he saw Luke watching. At least Luke calls him out on this in Episode VI after he finds out the truth about Vader. I can argue the possibility that Padme may have gotten through to Anakin on Mustafar but we won’t ever know because Obi-Wan essentially betrayed her trust too by secretly stowing away on her ship, which is what caused Vader to turn on her. 

Excuse my rant, but this is something in the fandom that bugs the ever loving heck out of me. It isn’t anti-ANYONE(except Palpatine), but some have their flaws and bad decisions glossed over and are made to look like perfect saints while others are made to look like horrid horrid people for daring to not agree with Obi-Wan and his decisions/opinions. Anakin was attacked since the prequels were made and I don’t agree with most of what people say, but I don’t understand where the sudden Qui-Gon bashing came from. Even several posts made “to remember Padme” are just covers to bash Anakin instead. 

Off topic now, but some of the bashing of Anakin is getting out of hand. I found one where someone created a photoshop of Owen’s (deserved) remark against Obi-Wan in “Kenobi” and warping it to him making it against Anakin about not saving Shmi and someone else in the comments declared that it “was deserved! lol!!” Um no. It wasn’t and if anyone was to blame for that aside from the Tuskan Raiders, it was technically Cliegg Lars for letting her go out alone. But I digress.  

[dailydragon08]

headcanon post idea: everyone’s reactions when you tell them you’re proud of them (ex. after a tough mission or bc they’ve been having a hard time mentally/emotionally)

Although she’s used to the spotlight from being royalty and a revered leader in the rebellion, Leia isn’t very used to genuine praise. She’s usually the one praising someone else (or yelling at them, more likely) and the most she’s gotten in the last few years is a quick “good work” when she delivered the plans for the first Death Star before the Battle of Yavin. So when you first make her look you in the eye and genuinely tell her that you’re proud of her, she freezes for a minute. The last time she really heard that from someone who meant it was her parents, so it hits her a bit harder than she expected and she doesn’t completely know what to do with the feeling. She’s so used to being the rock for everyone else – and keeping her inner thoughts a secret was part of her job and how she stayed safe for a long time – that she takes a while to show any sort of big emotion in front of people, and even then will only do so in private. She gives you a small smile, nod, and quiet thanks before redirecting the attention to you, how much you helped, and says how she’s proud of you. But she will concede to an “I’m proud of us” before giving your shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

Luke also hasn’t heard a genuine “I’m proud of you” in a long time (not that the OT gang isn’t proud of him, they just typically don’t say it in words), but he tends to be a bit more emotionally available than his sister on a more regular basis. He can’t keep the emotion off his face and for a second, you’re afraid you said the wrong thing as his big, blue eyes start getting glassy. It means the galaxy to him, especially from someone who knows everything that happened with Owen, Beru, his father, and the emperor, not to mention all the weight on his shoulders in regard to rebuilding the Jedi Order from scratch. He collects himself soon after, but still gives you a warm smile and “thank you” before wrapping you in a tight hug. He tells you he’s proud of you as well and there isn’t anyone else he’d rather have on his team, holding the hug for a bit longer than you expected (but you, of course, would never be the first to let go).

Han pretends to be affection-averse, even though he isn’t – but, hey, he’s got a reputation to maintain. He splutters for a minute before recovering and saying something along the lines of, “Yeah, I am aware how awesome I am, kid, and I’m glad you’ve finally realized it, too. Ya know, I’m gonna remind you that you acknowledged my greatness next time you get on me for somethin’ – in fact, here,” he holds his comm right in front of your mouth and hits record, “why don’t you say that again so I have some proof?” You bat the comm away and tell him how insufferable he is before you both go back to what you were doing before. But, when he thinks you’re not looking, you can see the dopiest smile across his face.

Lando takes it the most in stride. He looks surprised for a minute, before smiling, thanking you, and putting a hand on your shoulder and giving it an affection squeeze and light shake. “You’re not so bad yourself,” he says before remarking on how you two make a great team, even going so far as to list specifics of exactly why you work so well together. He wraps his arm around your shoulders as the two of you walk back to base, a new spring in his step that you can’t deny is adorable.

Chewie (platonic) immediately says something in Shyriiwook that you think (hope?) sounds happy before enveloping you in a bear hug that almost crushes your ribs. You hang on for dear life, half laughing and half struggling to breathe, patting the Wookiee’s back before begging him to put you down before he accidentally crushes you. He mumbles something that almost sounds like the cadence of an apology in his language before setting you down and affectionately petting your head.

R2D2 (platonic) chirps, whistles, and wobbles on his two outer legs happily and is then adorably glued to your side the rest of the day. Han and Lando tease you about how you’ve found yourself your own personal servant, but Leia and Luke think it’s adorable, and even Luke comments on how much R2 loves you when he’s out of earshot. C3PO translates at some point, telling you how much R2 appreciates the compliment and that he enjoys working with you before the astromech is zipping away again to refill your water bottle for the third time.

C3PO (platonic) gives you a surprised “oh, my” before thanking you profusely. He even gives you a little bow and says, “You’re too kind. I enjoy our work together as well and you do a marvelous job at everything you set your mind to.” You give him a smile and a thanks before turning back to what you were previously doing, laughing quietly to you overhear him walking down the hall going, “Oh, Master Luke, you won’t believe what just happened!”

[crucifiedfaerie]

Kylo Ren — SFW Alphabet

no warnings, just lots of fluff and lil bit of angst !! however, just bc its SFW, doesn't mean i want minors interacting w this, BEGONE !!! TO THE GLUE TRAP YOU GO !

— AFFECTION (how affectionate are they?)

in the beginning of your relationship, affection was very scarce. kylo wanted so badly to open up to you more, but was too afraid to, so when he would catch himself getting too close or too affectionate he would pull away and become that cold and calculated kylo again who you knew all too well. when he did finally admit his feelings, he couldn't get enough of you, as if he were making up for all of the lost time he spent pushing you away.

"i cant believe i waited so long to do this, what a fool i am."

— BEST FRIEND (what are they like as a bestie?)

the only hc i have for you as best friends would be if you grew up together in jedi training... and you guys would fuck w each other CONSTANTLY. like practically bully each other, it's all in good fun though. luke would refer to the two of you as partners-in-many-crimes because of the several messes you'd make doing stupid shit. one time ben almost burned the hut down because you dared him to light fireworks outside of luke's window while he slept. bad fucking idea.

"you idiot, he's going to kill us, you know?"

— CUDDLES (how do they like to cuddle?)

kylo loves holding you. his favorite is when your head is on his chest because it makes it easy for him to play with your hair. he also loves being the big spoon, wrapping his strong arms around your small frame. in those moments you were a tiny, precious thing that he wanted only to love and keep safe.

— DOMESTIC (thoughts on settling down? how would they be helping out around?)

kylo wanted nothing more than to make you his and his only forever. despite how kylo treats literally everyone else, he is a very doting partner and has a huge soft spot for you and only you. he's better at helping with cooking than he is cleaning. anytime he would try to clean, he'd never do it right or fully and you'd end up telling him to stop and do it yourself lol.

"what do you MEAN i'm not doing it right?!"

— ENDING (how would breakups go?)

its simply not happening. if he broke up with you, he didn't actually mean it and said it out of anger in the heat of the moment. if you broke up with him, he would probably lose his mind. his cold façade would shatter into a million pieces and he'd promise he would change, do better, do whatever it was you needed him to do. you were his and the mere thought of anyone else ever having you filled him with insurmountable rage and sadness.

— FIANCEE (how do they feel about commitment?)

kylo is devoted to you wholeheartedly. being his empress and ruling over the first order by his side would only solidify that.

— GENTLE (how gentle are they?)

when he isn't being a freak, he handles you as if you are made of glass. a pretty, precious thing that could break at any moment. if you fall asleep next to the fireplace, he will pick you up and carry you to bed, making sure the blankets are tucked around the both of you in the way you like, so you don't wake up cold in the morning.

— HUGS (do they like hugs? what are their hugs like?)

kylo loves hugging you, and you love hugging him. bc of his height, you are dwarfed by him and his hugs feel like getting tightly wrapped in a large, warm blanket. usually he just bends down to hug you, but sometimes he picks you up.

— I LOVE YOU (how long does it take for them to say the L word?)

again, kylo is terrified of showing weakness, so in the beginning of your relationship he's very cold towards you. every time he was around you he had to fight the strong urges telling him to be honest with you. after a long while, he did finally say it though. he was so nervous when he first said it, his eyes scanning your face for a reaction and his palms sweating. now he reminds you that he loves you all the time, especially if he's going out on a mission and won't be back for a couple weeks.

"don't look so sad, my star. i love you, you know i always come back to you."

— JEALOUSY (how jealous do they get?)

kylo is as jealous of a man as you can get. the mere thought of someone trying to take you from him fills him with a rage that rivals the fire of a thousand suns. one time he heard a guard having very loud, impure thoughts about his empress so kylo killed him. you have always been much more passive than he is, so you were not happy to see that he had killed someone on your living room floor.

"but my love- his thoughts were so loud! what else was i supposed to do?!"

— KISSES (do they like kissing? what are their kisses like?)

kissing you is kylo's favorite past time. if you both are out and his helmet is on, all he's thinking about is getting home so he can kiss you. sometimes if no one's around, he will lift his mask up just enough so it only exposes the bottom half of his face so he can get a quick kiss or two or eight in. his kisses are warm and never fail to send tingles down your spine, and you always say kylo tastes of cinnamon and smoke. to him, you taste of summer fruit.

— LITTLE ONES (how are they around kids?)

he's indifferent towards other peoples children, thankfully he's less harsh on them than adults, but he isn't pleasant to them either. one time he blew up on a servant boy that was no older than eleven, and you scolded him afterwards. "he's just a child kylo, don't be so hard on him." he has such a soft spot for you and admires the empathy you have for others that he will never have. he promised you he would try to be a little nicer. yours and his children however, he treats as well as he treats you. they are an extension of his beloved, after all. i hc that kylo is a wonderful father, making sure they receive the fatherly love he never got.

— MORNINGS (how do your mornings with them go?)

sometimes on busy days, he's gone by the time you wake up. you always look so beautiful and peaceful when you're sleeping, so he doesn't dare wake you up. instead he kisses your head and whispers that he loves you and that he will return shortly. he knows you can't hear him, but he likes to tell you anyways. on days he doesn't have to leave so early, you stay in bed together. kissing, cuddling, talking, other things. kylo is content doing anything as long as it's with you.

— NIGHTS (how do your nights with them go?)

this is a sfw post, therefore i cannot describe how your nights with kylo would go lmao. please refer to the nsfw abc's. afterwards though, kylo is a doting partner that takes care of you, cleaning you up and tending to every single mark he left on your body that he worships so much.

— OPEN (how open are they? when will they tell you more about themselves?)

the first few months of your relationship is like dating a brick wall, it is not easy getting kylo to open up. once he does though, he makes sure not to hide anything from you anymore. it took a lot of work and patience, but he loves and trusts you wholeheartedly.

— PATIENCE (how patient are they with you?)

kylo has a temper, and he tries so hard, but he does have slip ups sometimes. any time he blows up on you though, he apologizes immediately. you know he loves you because he absolutely hates admitting he was wrong.

— QUIZZES (how much do they remember about you?)

everything. every detail, every like, every dislike, your favorite color, your favorite flower, your blood type, your fears, hopes, and dreams. this man remembers EVERYTHING about you. at least fifty percent of his brain is an archive of facts about you.

— REMEMBER (what is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

the first time you told him you loved him. it was the first time anyone told him they loved him, and you made him feel like he was ben again. he used to be so scared of being that boy he tried so hard to kill, but you held that part of him so tenderly, that he knew he'd be an absolute fool to try to push that away.

— SECURITY (how protective are they of you?)

kylo protects you with his own life and would kill thousands for you, despite your disdain for unnecessary violence. you are the most important thing to him, and he would have to be dead before he let anything happen to you.

— TRY (how much effort do they put into dates/special occasions?)

kylo ren has an ungodly amount of rizz and i stand by that. this man buys you your favorite flowers, he sets up candlelit dinners, he watches the sunset with you, he makes you personalized playlists like every other fuckboy except he doesn't send it to seven other women. whether you're his empress yet or not, he treats you like royalty. @enviedear and i also have a hc that kylo is the type of guy to pick out your nail polish color for you, and then buy a tie to wear that matches.

"you'd look so heavenly in this shade of red, my star."

— UGLY (what is a bad habit of theirs?)

kylo has an awful temper and is prone to outbursts. he tries SO hard to not have a temper with you, but everyone makes mistakes. he always apologizes to you though. i also hc that kylo is a nail biter, idk it just makes sense ?? that man is a caged animal and emotionally damaged, he definitely has anxiety.

— VANITY (how insecure are they? what are they insecure about?)

our poor babygirl is sooo insecure about everything, no matter how much you tell him how beautiful he is. your loving words of affirmation always make him feel a little better though.

— WHOLE (would they feel incomplete without you?)

without you, kylo would return to the broken, shell of a man he was before you. if he somehow lost you, hundreds of innocent lives would be lost due to the rampage he'd go on.

— XTRA (a random headcanon about them)

another hc that liv and i came up with was kylo's and ben's music taste. kylo listens to typical male manipulator music like radiohead, the smiths, and deftones with some angrier shit like slipknot and korn. ben is a different breed of male manipulator that listens to the weeknd and pulls up blasting solo by future. we also hc that both cry alone to lana del rey.

— YUCK (what are some things they dislike?)

anything and everything that isn't you. his least favorite thing though, is when he can hear people's rude or impure thoughts about you. he hasn't told you this, but he's killed at least fifteen people for doing just that.

"personally, i think fifteen isn't enough."

— ZZZZ (what are their sleeping habits like?)

for the first few months of your relationship, he did not sleep around you. you were convinced he didn't sleep... like ever. after he became more vulnerable with you though, he would. you love how peaceful he looks when he sleeps. i also hc that sometimes he gets terrible, vivid nightmares that he wakes up crying from :(

[fandomforg]

So, Your Child is Force Sensitive:

it’s a book written during the prequel era by some mommy blogger on a random planet. she’s got a set of force sensitive twin boys and she compiled her blog posts into a book all about raising force sensitives and choosing not to give them to the jedi temple.

the book is not super well known, it only ever sold maybe a few hundred copies, but it’s honestly really detailed. this lady did her research, but still is able to give her outside perspectives as a force null. she talks all about being pregnant with force sensitives, the babies special needs as empaths, the choice to raise them herself, interactions between force sensitives being raised together, the developmental checkpoints that are different from force nulls, and even how to deal with your moody and powerful force sensitive teens.

the book also talks a bit about jedi ideology and family structures (to help parents make the decision of whether to give the kid to the jedi or not) (it took her so long and so many space emails to the jedi to do that research)

the jedi themselves, however, are not too big of fans of this book because they think it’s probably for the best for force sensitive kids to be raised in the temple (and in some ways it is), but this mommy blogger advocates that with the right, caring parents and the right knowledge, force sensitive kids can do just fine being raised at home (and she’s also kinda right)

anyway, the book stays unpopular all the way up until order 66. then the book gets super-duper banned with all the rest of the reputable information on force sensitive people and the jedi. the mommy blogger stops posting. her and her now adult children drop off the map. her small (but devoted) following has no idea if they’re ok or even alive, but they go to great lengths to erase all of her personal information off the holonet if they can.

the galaxy keeps turning, and the mommy blogger stays missing, but sometimes her book (the few copies not destroyed) will end up in the hands of people who need it. people like bail and breha organa, owen and beru lars, kanan jarrus and hera syndulla, and even eventually din djarin.

even luke skywalker gets himself a copy when he’s suddenly responsible for having his own little force school. (at one point, din is reading the chapter on letting go of your kids when they leave the nest, while luke is simultaneously reading the chapter on how to calm an inconsolable youngling)

a lot of the research into how the jedi work and their ideologies are actually way more accurate, relevant, and recent than any of luke’s other ancient jedi texts, so that’s how luke’s jedi order rebuilding efforts become mostly built on one chapter of a book written by a middle-aged, force null, mother of two.

this mommy blogger may have started her blog just to document her journey in raising her twins, but she ended up writing a book that would help raise a generation of force sensitive children who had no jedi temple to turn to. her honest care spread farther than she could have imagined.

still, nobody could find out where she and her twins went, even after the fall of the empire when it was safe.

[eos-aurora-rise]

This'll Do

This is a post epilogue, check out the full fic at This'll Do on AO3 (ezra bridger/luke skywalker, forced proximity, smut, angst, happy ending, 12k)

“Well, I can only say that I’m truly glad to see you safe, Master Skywalker.” 

Luke had no idea who this man was. He could see Leia from the corner of his eye, her smile only slightly less brittle than his own. She knew that Luke had lost track of all of his well-wishers somewhere between his first and fourth flute of champagne. 

He could only nod and bow his head. “Thank you. I’m only fortunate to continue with my duties.”

“Oho!” The stranger cheered, raising his glass above his scaled head. “A Jedi indeed, thinking only about others! Well, this one is old enough to remember the days where the Jedi travelled the galaxy in their thousands, protecting the weak and fighting the strong.”

He could feel his left eye twitching. 

It wasn’t that Luke didn’t like hearing about the old Jedi Order, because he always did. It was just that he was both drunk and exhausted, and the formal robes that he’d bought for fetes like this were becoming increasingly constricting and stiff. 

They were beautiful, of course. Fancy, decorative, with the smoothest, softest material and lovingly hand-sewn beading and stitching. He’d felt so regal when he first tried them on that he’d had to sit in a dark room and take deep breaths when he took them off again. 

What was a farm boy from the Outer Rim doing in things such as those? He still found himself trying to scrape non-existent sand from his fingernails when he forgot that it had been years since he was last on Tatooine. The money he’d earned from the Rebellion on top of the wages which were generously afforded by the New Republic was foreign to him, the numbers so large that they barely seemed real. 

Leia always seemed to look at him a little pityingly when he got like that. It’s not even that much, Luke. It’s barely over the galactic median income. Well, it was far more than the Lars Farm median income had ever been. Far more than Luke needed. 

Unless he was buying stupid robes. Beautiful, uncomfortable, stuffy robes for pointless parties full of people he didn’t know. What had the man said again?

Luke really had had too much to drink. 

A hand pressed to the small of his back. Ezra. He didn’t need to look. He was familiar enough with the man in the Force that he didn’t even need to think about it. He’d developed the skill at first to avoid him more easily, but now…

“Sorry to steal away the man of the hour.” Ezra announced, as though this party wasn’t as much for him as it was for Luke. Though, he hadn’t seen him for a while; had he managed to slip out without Luke noticing? How rude. He could have at least smuggled Luke out with him. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Luke glanced back at him, trying to seem both sober and casual about the fact that the lack of space between them was bothering him, just a little bit. Ezra now looked far less formal than he had before. He’d lost his jacket somewhere along the way, and the button on his shirt was popped open, revealing a flush along his collarbones. 

Luke was not looking. He made a pointed expression, and injected plenty of sarcasm into his tone. “Nice.” Ezra glanced down at his slightly dishevelled appearance and winced, then forced a grin. 

“Can’t all look as pretty as you all the time, Skywalker.”

He said it quietly, enough that those he’d been talking to couldn’t hear, but Leia had. She choked on her champagne, pressing a long bell sleeve to her mouth as she struggled to collect herself. Someone patted her back, asking if she was alright, so Luke planted a hand on Ezra’s shoulder and all but shoved him back a few steps, firmly out of range of anyone who might overhear. 

“Tell me you’re here for a reason other than embarrassing me in front of our esteemed guests.”

“You’re embarrassed?” Ezra asked, tangling a hand into Luke’s sleeve as he guided him through the crowd. “Nothing embarrassing about being pretty. In fact, I rather like that about you.”

Force, Luke hoped no one was listening. Ezra seemed incapable of lowering his voice, and Luke was just on the wrong side of drunk to be able to keep his facial expressions under control. He was certain he was bright red, and worse, itching to yank that stupid shirt off and test how warm Ezra’s skin was with his lips.

Never drinking again, no matter the occasion. Especially if this idiot is here. 

The corridor was a little bit cooler, which gave Luke the chance to at least catch his breath for a second before he was yanked into the next room down the hall. It was a little bit smaller than the room the party was being held in, and the lights were off–soft music and chatter filtered through, muffled but present. He opened his mouth to ask what Ezra wanted, but didn’t get the chance. 

He reached out to the table tucked against the wall and tapped something. There was a flicker of blue as a hologram was projected into the darkness, two similar and unfamiliar faces snapping into clarity. 

It took Luke a moment to realise that these were the people he and Ezra had been flying out to mediate between. They glanced at each other for a moment, then turned forwards again. 

“Dear Jedi Masters, we would like to send a message of gladness that the two of you are safe and well. When we heard the news of the misfortune which had befallen you, we were deeply concerned.”

“It is our people’s belief that life belongs to the ground, be it the sand, the soil, the rock, or the water. To die in space is to be left untethered. The soul cannot find peace among stars.”

“We chose to come together to pray. We felt some responsibility for your being out there in the first place. And in the meanwhile, we have found some common ground between us.”

“That is not to say that we agree on everything, but rather…” The figure paused, turning back to their new friend. “Rather that we are prepared to put the effort into figuring something out which will benefit us both. We hope that this event will mark a new period of peace between us.”

“And so, while things did not unfurl as planned, we thank you. You have fulfilled your mission, and lived to tell the tale.” They smiled playfully. “Thank you.”

The message flickered and died. Luke blinked at it stupidly for a few moments, then turned to Ezra, who was grinning and watching Luke already. He tipped his head, pursing his lips. “We didn’t even get there, and still got everything sorted. We’re just that good.”

His pride was infectious. Luke was tempted to scold him for it, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. He’d been cynically waiting for the warning that their delays in making out there had marked the announcement of a new war. This was… really good news. 

Ezra swept forwards, gathering Luke’s hands in his own. “We make a good team.”

Luke cocked an eyebrow at him. “We didn’t actually do anything.” He reminded, earning himself a very unnecessarily overexaggerated eye roll. 

Rather than grace him with an answer, Ezra just tipped Luke’s chin up with one knuckle and kissed him, soft and chaste and as casual as anything. Luke felt his face warm embarrassingly quickly and decided to blame it on the alcohol. 

“What now?” Ezra queried, bumping his forehead against Luke’s playfully. “Any plans?”

“Hm. Nope.”

“Really? None at all?” Ezra pouted. Cute, Luke thought, then shook himself. 

“If there’s something you’re trying to get me to say, you can just ask.”

Ezra sighed, letting go of Luke’s hands so he could wrap himself around Luke’s body instead, swaying with him to the beat of the music from next door. Luke slid his hands onto Ezra’s shoulders, fingers finding the collar of his shirt and teasing just beneath it. 

“Mmm, okay, I guess I was asking… about us.” He sounded a little nervous, which made Luke feel guilty. Guilty, because he knew what he was going to say and he knew that it wasn’t what Ezra wanted to hear at all. 

“I don’t know, Ez.” 

Ezra frowned, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth. “You don’t know if… you want to be with me? Or-”

“How many times would I have to suck your dick to convince you that I might actually like you?”

Ezra’s eyebrows jumped up his forehead, then he smiled. “At least a few more. We can get started now, if you-”

Luke muffled a laugh against Ezra’s lips. “We’re just… still Jedi, okay? There’s a few thousand years worth of philosophy on why this is a bad idea.”

With a sigh, Ezra wedged a hand up between them just to flick Luke’s nose. “You’re so pessimistic. Last I checked, making the rules had been left up to you. So, you get to decide.”

Luke supposed that was true. He rubbed at his nose as he glared, then returned his hands to the curve of Ezra’s neck. Beneath his fingers, he could feel Ezra’s quickened pulse. It matched Luke’s. He tapped his thumb against it a few times, watching the bob of Ezra’s throat so he wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. 

It was a bad idea, he knew that. They would stop making a good team very quickly if they got into the habit of prioritising each other instead of others. But, against his better judgement, Luke really did like Ezra. He certainly kept things exciting, and maybe he made Luke feel a little bit alive again in a way that he hadn’t since the day his father died. 

If they could see him now, he was fairly sure Yoda and Obi-Wan would keel over in horror. Luke had really tested them beyond their limits, and this was surely the icing on the cake. His fingertips found the curls of hair at the nape of Ezra’s neck and stilled. 

His father would be proud, he imagined. Proud that he’d managed to find love among it all, like Anakin had found with Padme. For once, the idea didn’t make him nauseous with fear. That would probably make Yoda and Obi-Wan keel over, too. 

He laughed aloud, amused by the image. Well, they could at least be glad to know that Luke was happy, and if they weren’t… well, it was none of Luke’s business any more. If they had a problem, they knew where to find him. 

Ezra was frowning at him like he was crazy, so Luke kissed him again. “Okay.” He mumbled against Ezra’s lips. “Okay, we’re making some new rules.”

“Okay?” Ezra repeated, apparently a little stunned. It took him a few seconds to catch on, then his eyes widened and his grip tightened around Luke’s waist–he just about squeezed the breath out of him, kissing it away as it escaped, grasping desperately at the back of Luke’s gown. “Okay, so, are you going to start doing that proving thing now? Because that would be-”

The door banged open. Luke startled so suddenly that he would have fallen flat on his ass if Ezra hadn’t been clinging on to him. In the open doorway was Sabine Wren, out of her armour for the first time he could ever remember. She was wearing a brightly coloured suit and a devilish grin, undoubtedly having come from the party, and was rosy-cheeked enough to suggest she was more intoxicated than Luke. 

They stood in silence for a moment, then she popped her hip and laughed. “Hera owes me thirty credits. Have fun, lovebirds!”

Then she was gone. Luke blinked at the closed door for a moment. 

Ezra hummed. “Are we predictable?”

With a huff, Luke planted his face into Ezra’s shoulder and muffled a groan into his shirt. 

It would be embarrassing when it all got out, undoubtedly, but there was a little flame of joy burning in his chest which seemed to blind whatever mote of discomfort may have arisen. Instead, Luke decided only that he was, after all, rather glad that everything had gone so catastrophically wrong.

[thetinksessays]

Let's Talk About The Jedi And Children

Introduction

I am not a Jedi fan. There are many issues with them. One of the biggest is the way they choose to handle bringing children into the order. Let's talk about it.

Age At Recruitment

We are told, in Phantom Menace, that Anakin is too old to join the Jedi, even though he is only nine years old. So the implication is that the Jedi recruits new members when they are younger than nine. Quite a bit younger.

There are many ethical issues here. Children do not have the ability to understand what joining the Jedi actually means for them. Joining the Jedi is a massive decision that will impact their entire lives. Children just aren't capable of making decisions like that.

Parental Consent

So it's the parents making that decision for their children, which is not great. Especially because I think it's highly unlikely it's a fully informed decision- I somehow doubt that parents are told they'll never be able to see their children again, or that their children will be put in dangerous situations from the age of 10 or 11 onwards.

I'm also dubious that all parents are making this decision completely of their own free will.

Let's put it this way:

You are a poor farmer on Planet #132 out in the galaxy somewhere. You've never met a Jedi before but you've heard plenty of rumours. They can control minds, move objects without touching them and their laser swords can dismember someone with one swing. Then one of these Jedi shows up at your door and tells you your child is force sensitive and needs to go to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for training. You don't really want to give up your child, but you can see the Jedi's laser sword on their belt, and you remember the rumours you heard about their powers.

Would you feel like you could say no?

Contact With Families

The Jedi do not allow the children they take to have any contact with their families after they have joined. There are two examples of this in canon that I know of.

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin is not allowed to contact his mother when he has visions of her dying. When he disobeys and goes looking for her, he has no idea that she is no longer a slave. This clearly shows that Anakin has had no contact with Shmi, as there's no reason she wouldn't have told him that, or that she's married to Cliegg.

In Obi-Wan Kenobi (the show), Obi-Wan tells Leia about his birth family, only it's half-remembered bits from when he was very small. He's not even fully sure if he has a younger brother or not. Clearly, Obi-Wan has not seen his family since he was a very small child, prior to joining the Jedi.

This is very isolating. With no family, the Order would be the only people its members are close to. And if you don't know anyone outside of it, leaving is going to be a very scary, very difficult situation. That feels pretty intentional.

The Reason Why

The main reason I see given (by the fandom, I would like to point out. As far as I'm aware, the actual canon has not addressed any of this.) for why the Jedi have to take children from their families is that an untrained force user could be dangerous to themselves or others.

The problem with this is that there are multiple characters who either weren't trained until they were adults or were trained much older than the Jedi takes children, and there's no indication whatsoever that any of them hurt themselves or others with their force abilities.

Luke, Leia, Finn and Rey were all adults when they began their Jedi training (or just realised they are force sensitive, in Finn's case). Ezra started his training as a young teen (I think, I've never seen Rebels, everything I know about it is picked up from fandom osmosis) and Anakin began his training at 9.

None of them have any issues because of their lack of training from a young age. It doesn't affect them in any way. Starting their training later also doesn't impact their abilities at all. Luke, Rey and Anakin are three of the most powerful Jedi of all time. Leia also may have the potential to have been a powerful Jedi; it's unclear if she inherited Anakin's strength in force like Luke did. We're told nothing about Finn's abilities (could be an interesting thing to explore in a TV series, but we'll never get that.) and I don't know enough about Ezra to speak to his power level.

The point is that it's clearly not necessary to take children from their parents at a young age to train them. And given that Luke, Leia and Rey all continued to have contact with their chosen families during and after their training, it's also not necessary to isolate them from their families.

So, then, why did the Jedi do this?

Indoctrination. If you take a very young child from their family before they are old enough to have formed full memories of their family, it is easier to ensure they have no contact with them. If you don't remember your family, you're not likely to kick up a fuss about seeing or talking to them.

This means that the only people you know are the Jedi. You have no other influences in your life, no one to point out any of the dodginess around the way the Jedi operate or what they believe. No one to help you if you decide to leave the order.

You are solely reliant on the order. You will do exactly as they say without questioning it because why would you question the order that raised you, that is your only family?

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

I am idly contriving a way for Cody to raise Luke while Obi Wan raises a small tribe of tubies, for reversal's sake. I think it'd be sweet.

For Obi Wan so far I have: he sustained some injury which meant he wasn't sent after Grievous. The Jedi had some post war plot for the clones on Kamino and Palpatine was all too happy to send him there to die when the order went out. This leads to... somehow, he survives order 66 and absconds with some tubies. He doesn't know much about what happened but babies don't feed themselves.

I'm not sure how Cody would end up with Luke. I'm toying with Rex dechipping him and him following up on some last promise made to Obi Wan to watch out for Anakin, and also, you know, just wanting to protect this little survivor of the jedi.

And then how do they meet up again some years later? Would be funny if Obi Wan still chose Tatooine for his exile and they were unwitting neighbours for several years.

[jedidryad]

WIP Wednesday: Where's Skywalker?

In Children of the Jedi, Luke is prevented from dying in the Eye of Palpatine when Cray stuns him and sends him off in the escape shuttle with all the other victims of the automated processes that indoctrinated various creatures into believing they were stormtroopers. He is horribly injured, battling a massive fever and infection, and utterly heartbroken by the apparent loss of Callista. The story notes that it is Mara who meets the shuttle in the aftermath of the explosion. Here's how I imagine some of that might have gone...

We docked with the shuttle and I remember fumbling for the door. My hands were shaking and I could feel Lando’s eyes on me. Worried.

As we cleared the airlock, Pothman greeted us and introduced himself.

“Welcome back”, Lando said dryly.

“Where’s Skywalker?,” I snapped, cutting off any further small talk.

I was far less polite than that poor trooper deserved. He hadn’t done anything wrong, except get conscripted by the Empire around 30 years ago and he’d clearly been through a traumatic experience. I probably should have apologized later, but I didn’t see him again. And right then I was as single minded as I had ever been.

He looked scared and a little sheepish when he told me Luke was in the hold. They'd had to knock him out in order to get him on board, he explained.

He’d wanted to stay behind in a doomed dreadnought. I would have asked what he was thinking, but there were too many selfless, heroic possibilities to make it a reasonable question to answer.

My reaction must have shown on my face because Pothman shrugged, clearly unwilling to get into details. That was fine. I didn't have time for a story.

I strode off to where he pointed. Behind me, Lando said he was going to call Solo on planet. I waved him off and realized I could hear C-3PO from down the corridor calling for Master Calrissian at the top of his anodized lungs.

That should soothe any of Pothman’s concerns about us, and, if it weren't for the waves of pain I felt streaming from Skywalker, the droid’s presence would have made me feel better about the situation too.

My way into the hold was blocked by two nasty looking Gamorreans. They wore bits of stormtrooper armour and carried carbines.

“State your authorization,” they barked in vaguely passable Basic. I hadn’t realized Gammoreans could vocalize in Basic. And these two stood at guard to demonstrate their commitment to military protocol.

Yes, this project had definitely gone very wrong. What a mess!

Authorization? Well it was worth a shot.

I drew myself into the required formal position.

“Step aside! Authorization: Hapspir barrini corbolan triaxsis.”

Their eyes grew wide and they quickly stepped aside with a near reverential bow. Apparently, the brainwashing was the only solid part of this disaster. Figured.

From behind me I heard Lando whistle low.

[gloomwitchwrites]

Temple on a Distant Planet

An Ahsoka Tano story

Content & Warnings: suspense, eldritch horror, Sith magic, no dialogue, horror

Word Count: 928

A/N: Requested by @coffeecaketornado for 3.5k Spooky Bingo (Eldritch Horror)

Ahsoka Tano, on the behest of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, travels to the very edge of the Outer Rim seeking a potential Jedi artifact. Instead, she finds something beyond her understanding.

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist // 3.5k spooky bingo masterlist

Master Luke Skywalker senses a disturbance in the Force.

Ahsoka senses it, too.

Master Skywalker suspects it might be a Jedi artifact. He’s been collecting them to preserve the history of the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine went out of his way to either seek or destroy such object. He sought power, but neither Ahsoka or Master Skywalker want that. They seek history and knowledge, and for Master Skywalker, to rebuild and maintain a new Jedi Order.

Ahsoka will help as much as she can, even if her own journey does not follow the same path.

It is why she is here now on this distant planet on the very edge of the Outer Rim. The planet itself is nameless. It is on no maps, but Ahsoka followed the Force, and allowed it to guide her.

At the very top of a cliff, Ahsoka observes the temple in the distance. It is tall and triangular in shape, but instead of a pointed top, it is square. The stone is dark, perhaps a black granite, yet it does not reflect the sun. From it, all Ahsoka senses is shadow. As if a dark cloud surrounds her, Ahsoka too feels foggy, like a veil obscures her vision though her eyes are perfectly fine.

The sky is clear. The forest between her and the temple is vast and green. The sun shines.

But there are no sounds. And she senses no life. The planet is empty.

Void of people. Void of animals. Void of insects.

Ahsoka descends into the trees. They are all the same, as if mirror images rather than actual plants. As she observes the bark of one, she discovers that the one next to it has the same patterns. On and on it goes. An endless maze.

Without the Force, she'd be utterly lost. Driven mad.

Underneath the shadow, she senses it, like a hand gripping her brain, driving her onward. It doesn't lift. Instead, it grows heavier until her temples throb, its invisible fingers digging in. Ahsoka presses on, following it, emerging from the trees to the foot of the temple. Here, the air is heavy like a physical weight, and her tongue feels thick like she fell asleep with her mouth open.

There are no stairs that lead to the top, only a small opening directly in front of her.

Not a door. An archway. And within, darkness.

Ahsoka approaches. Each step is sluggish like she's walking through mud. But the ground is solid. Grass-covered. Nothing should be impeding her movement.

As she passes under the archway, she is swallowed up. Devoured. For that is how it seems both physically and in the Force. Reaching out, Ahsoka searches the darkness around her. Putting her trust in it, Ahsoka continues forward. The stone beneath her shifts, sloping upward.

With each step, a sickness sets in.

At first, it is just a twinge in her side. Then an ache. And then a lurch. Her stomach roils, and sharp pain swells within her abdomen, rolling outward into her limbs. There is no physical injury. No blade in her stomach. No visible foe.

But Ahsoka understands.

Within the Force, there is another.

And as she ascends the slope, a red glow greets her in the dark.

It is faint at first. Just a flicker. With each step, the redness intensifies along with the pain. Ahsoka gags and staggers, but remains upright. This is influence beyond her understanding of the Force. There is something old and ancient in it. A sickly, corrupting power that goes beyond the bounds of the Dark Side.

Clutching her stomach, Ahsoka continues to ascend. The glow bathes everything around her in red, and when she reaches the top, there is only a platform, and beneath the platform, an open pit. At the top of the temple, planted in the ceiling is a large structure. From there is the source of the light.

Ahsoka no longer has feeling in her toes and fingers. She is lethargic. Unsteady now. Her abdomen is in ruin. Everything burns as if something is trying to eat its way out of her.

From the dark, is a low growl. Primordial. Old. The darkness stirs, and in the red glow, is the hint of a dark tendril.

Ahsoka breathes deep and settles into the Force.

She is met by a presence down in the dark.

It reverberates through the connection, slithering along it like tentacles seeking prey. Her stomach twists again, and this time Ahsoka grimaces, her teeth grinding against each other as her jaw clenches.

There is no artifact here. No history.

This is Sith magic. Or something older. Something unknown.

Ahsoka retreats from the red glow and the black pit. And as she descends, the sickness recedes until she feels blissfully empty.

At the bottom, out in the open air, the heavy feeling persists but her stomach does not ache and she can feel her fingers and toes again.

The decision is easy.

Ahsoka focuses on the entrance of the temple, and then the stone and rock that make up its walls. There is power there but not like the presence within. It takes little to bend it to her will, to fill its void with Light. The ground shakes, and a piercing shriek cuts through the air. The top of the temple crumples in, and the rest follows suit, the ground sinking as it swallows up the rubble.

At first, Ahsoka hears absolute silence.

And then, a soft song.

A bird.

It drifts overhead, wings wide as it calls out in greeting.

taglist:

@glassgulls @childofyuggoth @foxxy-126 @km-ffluv @sweetbutpsychobutsweet

@singleteapot @tiredmetalenthusiast @miaraei @cherryofdeath @tulipsun-flower

@ninman82 @beebeechaos @no-oneelsebutnsu @whisperwispxx @weasleytwins-41

@enfppuff @padawancat97 @garfunklevibes2012 @pigeonmama @nomercyforthewarrior

[saphronethaleph]

Obscure Legends Reference Bingo

“So how come you got the medal, anyway?” Biggs asked, grinning, and punched Luke in the shoulder.

“Hey, don’t blame me,” Luke replied. “I said you and Wedge should get them too. That was great cover you guys gave, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He sighed. “I had this… feeling, while you were behind me. Like nothing was going to go wrong. And even when you left, I was sure that I’d do it. I couldn’t describe how, but it felt…”

“It felt like you could feel what was going to happen, right?” Biggs asked. “I could feel that too, I thought I was imagining it.”

Luke nodded, then frowned, then glanced up at Biggs.

“What could you feel?” he asked.

“It was… there was darkness, behind you,” Biggs replied. “Chasing you. Trying to destroy you. And I could feel when shots were going to go past me and not hit you, and I could feel when they were going to go past me and hit you. And… I tried to stay back as far as possible, so they couldn’t get past you, and when a shot was going to hit you, I let it hit me instead.”

He glanced towards the hangar. “Which is why my X-wing’s missing most of a wing. Sorry I couldn’t stay with you the whole way.”

“You did what you could, and that was more than enough,” Luke said. “Tatooine boys forever, right?”

“You bet, Luke!” Biggs agreed. “Man, I’m going to have to tell you how I got here… who would have thought it, right?”

He paused, and Luke knew why.

A voice had just touched their awareness.

Someone is here at last.

“Who said that?” Biggs asked. “Luke?”

“Not me, and that didn’t sound like Obi-Wan,” Luke replied.

He closed his eyes, focusing, trying to draw on the memory of what that contact had felt like.

Can you hear me?

“I heard that,” Biggs said, amazed. “That was you, Luke?”

“That was me,” Luke agreed.

Yes, a voice replied. If you can hear me… I need help. I’ve waited so long for someone sensitive to the Force to come to this moon. You need to contact the Jedi Order and have them send a Padawan.

Luke and Biggs exchanged confused looks.

What’s a Padawan? Luke replied, homing in on the thing he absolutely did not understand.

...hmm, the voice said, thoughtfully. If you don’t know that… how old are you?

“Weird question,” Biggs muttered.

Nineteen, Luke sent back, finding it easier every time. Or, I am. Biggs is older. But… the Jedi Order doesn’t exist any more. I only learned how to do this a few days ago and Biggs I think found out yesterday?

“The day before,” Biggs answered the question. “I first realized it when I was out finding an antidote for an illness Hobbie Klivan had – it’s his X-Wing you were flying, Luke.”

Nineteen, nineteen… the voice said. And you’re humans… well, I have to hope it will do. Come to this temple, please – as soon as possible.

Luke and Biggs exchanged glances as a location impressed itself into their mind.

“I can’t fly until my fighter’s repaired,” Biggs pointed out.

“I’m not technically part of the Rebellion yet, I think,” Luke replied. “Hold on, I’ll ask Han for a lift…”

“So where have you been?” Leia asked, some hours later, as the Millennium Falcon’s ramp lowered. “You know everyone else is busy, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” Luke said. “But this was important.”

Leia’s gaze flicked across to the small, furry animal on his shoulder.

“A pet is important?” she asked.

“No,” the pet replied. “But freeing the souls of an entire race’s children – that is important, and it is what they have done.”

Biggs sniggered.

“Yeah, this was a surprise to us, too,” he said, throwing an arm around Luke. “Turns out nineteen does technically count as a child for the purposes of Sith Magic.”

“...so, you talk?” Leia asked.

“I certainly do,” the animal agreed. “Jedi Master Ikrit, at your service – I am a Kushiban, in case you are wondering. I would be delighted to help teach these two how to use their powers, and-”

“Ikrit?” General Dodonna repeated. “Jedi Master Ikrit?”

He looked completely poleaxed. “You were on snack toys before the Clone Wars! I distinctly remember saving one of them for a nephew!”

“Oh, dear…” the Kushiban said, ears flicking a little. “That is… not precisely the impression I would have expected to make…”

[auroramoon-draws16]

My friend convinced me to get into Star Wars

Send help

(Warning: SPOILERS and I’m not THAT into it, so correct where you see fit)

Assassin’s Creed x Star Wars

But the Brotherhood is an ancient af group, as old or older than the og Jedi order, they’re so secretive and mysterious that not even the modern order are sure they exist. Kind of like a spooky myth?

The Force be like: “Brotherhood? What Brotherhood? I didn’t help make any Brotherhood!” We love a bad gaslighting bitch 💜

I think they’d be force users who pretty much do as their original universe do: “We work in the Dark to serve the Light.” All the tenants included.

Their sabers are small af and more blade-like, sort of like the darkblade, but crystal clear and emits very little light, they barely make any noise too. (Phantom Sabers? Maybe? That sounds cool, right?) The Assassins got the white hoods and shit too. Omfg they can finally do the Leap of Faith wherever they want! Fuck gravity! We have the fucking force!

As for Eagle Vision, I think you could pass it off as a force ability. Being able to sense feelings and danger is a thing already, so being able to do a large sweep and tag friend/foe would be a step above that. Also treasures. Like the grabby lil dragons our Assassin babies are. They need to be able to fund shenanigans on the fly, and not all of them have time to grab some from their reserves!

As for their role in the main Star Wars story, we got options:

Shoving Desmond into this shit because I can~

Desmond and his Team™️ investigate the Clone Wars shit, because the Brotherhood has always been against oppression and have been systematically wiping out slavery from several parts of the galaxy for a while now, so they would automatically get suspicious. (Clones? Meant for fighting?? For an entire republic??? With no rights of their own???? Idk man, that sounds sus. Oh and the Jedi don’t have a choice because there’s a whole ass war and it would be against their code not to do anything about it? And there’s an order to kill literally all of them at a moment’s notice? Alright, guess we’ll fix this ourselves!)

Des and the crew find the chips and save the Jedi from mass genocide. Maybe killing Palpatine, because fuck that guy.

Would they need to reveal the Brotherhood’s existence to have that happen? Probably not, but it could happen. Boy, wouldn’t that be interesting?

Also, clone shenanigans, because I love them sm

Especially Bad Batch and Domino Squad

And Rex and Cody

My poor babies

But: if the Brotherhood was weakened like in their og universe and they couldn’t investigate (lets say they were compromised by the Sith for a while before the clone wars)

+ Des was born a bit later

Time to aid the rebellion and face destiny!

(If you REALLY want to throw Des into bullshit, like I know you do: Time travel fix it fic with Luke, Leia, Han, and Desmond!)

(You may also include Mandalorian fun, because I also love the Mandos, my other babies <3 Mandalorian culture goes hard and the fics that include them have kidnapped surprise adopted me)

Y’all have fun, I’m tired ^_^💜

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #84: Star Wars, but make it the Outer Rim

I've been reading a lot of Star Wars fic lately, much of it involving time travel in some shape or form. Most of it is wonderful, but after a while some of it starts to read as let's fix the Republic so we can bring the light and civilization of the core to the outer rim. Which, while possibly disingenuous, feels a little too much like the justifications made by Europeans for their colonial empires.

As I said, I'm probably reading too much into certain tropes, but can't help but wonder: what if one of these fics started in the outer rim as a way of bringing light and goodness back to the core? Or: Save Tatooine, save the galaxy.

aka the One Prairie Outpost fic

Just imagine it:

Several years have passed after The Book of Boba Fett in the original timeline. While the New Republic calls Daimyo Fett's leadership just another crime syndicate masquerading as good government, anyone who's actually been to the planet knows it's the other way around. Most crime syndicates don't care for planetary infrastructure or public vaccination programs.

Boba has encouraged Din to use his palace as a base for his bounty hunting activities - and as a home planet for the small community of Mandelorians building around their Mand'alor. Ideally, this would be the start of a courtship that wouldn't be moving as slowly as it is if Din wasn't an oblivious idiot about 1) his feelings and 2) traditional Mandalorian courting, but it could also simply be vod'e being vod'e. Dealer's choice.

And so Din is on planet when someone tries to bribe Boba for one reason or another with an ancient Sith artifact.

Din calls in a Jedi from Luke's school to investigate - Cal Kestis, who is one of a handful of trained adults in the new Jedi Order and the most knowledgeable about weird force osik...

...which doesn't stop Cal from accidentally triggering the artifact and sending Boba, Din, and himself back in time to the year 53 BBY, shortly before Jaster Mereel is set to die in the Battle of Korda VI.

As if finding themselves on Tatooine approximately 66 years in the past - well before any of them were even born - isn't enough, all three find themselves in their teenage bodies. Boba and Din are somewhere between 15 and 17, when they have most of their adult height but none of their bulk, while Cal is disgusted to find himself a particularly short 12. This in no way reflects their real differences in ages, and they are forced to attribute it to more inexplicable force osik.

Despite their ages, this proves an opportunity to stop the Empire from ever forming. But how? None of them know enough about the precise course of events to begin to stop it, and even if they could manage to get the Jedi Council to listen to them, waltzing into the Jedi Temple and declaring themselves time travelers is bound to put them on Palaptine's radar in a way that is likely to end their painful deaths.

The solution, they decide, is to get the Jedi to come to them. After all, if they repeat Boba's actions from the future, overthrow the Hutts, and free the slaves on Tatooine, someone from the Jedi is bound to come and investigate.

Taking over Tatooine proves easier than their wildest dreams.

Killing Jabba the Hutt in his own throne room and transmitting a signal that jams slave chips across the planet is all that's needed to spark a general uprising against the slavers and Jabba's criminal empire.

It's a little less easy getting the representatives of the colonists, freed slaves, and native peoples to believe that a pair of teenage Mandos and a half-grown Jedi took out a member of the Grand Hutt Council, but once they hear Boba's plans to convert the planet's slave-based economy to a viable democracy funded in part by the wealth of Jabba's vaults, they're more than willing to vote him Daimyo. His actions more than make up for his apparent age.

The Republic is naturally less sanguine. Mandalorians on Tatooine? Is this the start of another war of conquest? (To say nothing that several of the more corrupt members are in the position to lose a lot of money if crime and slave trade is disrupted in the outer rim.) The Senate orders the Jedi to investigate.

The Jedi are also in an uproar. Not only do holos show a young force sensitive helping a pair of Mandos take over Tatooine, but one of those Mandos has a lightsaber the likes of which they've never seen. (Tensions between Jedi and the Mandalorians are such that no one recognizes the Darksaber for what it is or what it means.) Could this mean some dark side sect has sent some of their apprentices to help rebuild the Mandalorian Empire?

The Mandalorians are also unsettled - Death Watch because the Darksaber seems to have disappeared overnight, only to end up with a child in unpainted beskar half a galaxy away; the True Mandalorians because it looks to them that Death Watch might be sending children into battle to build the empire they're always going on about; and the New Mandolorians because this is exactly the kind of violence that gives Mandalore a bad name.

And all of this fails to take into account the Sith, who are naturally upset that the fear and despair they've worked so hard to cultivate on the edges of the Republic has been disrupted with something so light as hope.

All parties converge on Tatooine.

The Mandalorians arrive first. The True Mandalorians are just beginning to investigate when Death Watch decides to attack first and ask questions never.

Boba, Din, and Cal were expecting this and so have a plan in place that allow their forces to take down most of the terrorists while ensuring Jaster Mereel survives, thereby preventing Korda VI, Galidraan, and all that follows. Montross is killed in the fighting without his double cross ever being known.

This also manages to convince the True Mandalorians that they're just a bunch of kids trying to make their way in the galaxy, and while they ask why take over a planet? why not just join a mercenary guild?, Jaster can't deny that they're doing a good thing. He stations some of his people on planet and leaves them be, content Din isn't going to try to push his claim as Mand'alor and/or build another extremist terrorist sect around the Darksaber.

The Mandalorians leave right as a large number of Jedi arrive. In this party are most of their best lightsaber dualists, including a less jaded Yan Dooku and a young Qui-Gon Jinn (who is only a few months out from Xanatos' Fall and in desperate need of a mind healer). Forced proximity has made the later very clear to all the Jedi Masters involved, and this alone prevents many of the tragedies of Obi-Wan's early apprenticeship.

Qui-Gon's mental health aside, the Jedi presume they'll be attacked by dark siders the moment they touch down on Tatooine. Instead they're invited to the Daimyo's palace, given refreshments, and brought before the planet's new ruling council. Which includes two freed slaves, a wizened Tusken grandmother, a pair of moisture farmers, and a representative from one of the cantinas in addition to a pair of teenage Mandos and a young force sensitive.

This meeting goes a long way to convincing the Jedi that what's happening on Tatooine could be a good thing - particularly after Boba turns over everything they could find regarding some of Jabba's dealings with several shady senators and businessmen within the bounds of the Republic. Including one young senator, Sheev Palpatine of Naboo. While several are able to talk their way out of trouble, it removes the worst of Palpatine's future lackeys from power.

The Jedi also invite Cal to come back with them to the temple to "finish" his training. Cal invites them instead to build a satellite temple on Tatooine. After all, there's no reason why a religious order should be tied to the Republic government, and setting up a temple in the outer rim would allow the Jedi to help those on the outer rim more easily, without waiting for the approval of the Senate.

The Jedi obviously don't agree right away - but it does mean that they come back fairly often to discuss the particulars, meaning that someone is on planet when the Sith decide the best way to fix their plans is to try to assassinate the young Daimyo and his allies, revealing the Sith's continued existence decades early.

Which is where my plot bunny starts to fizzle out.

With Jaster Mereel alive, the True Mandalorians have a real chance of stopping both the terrorism of Death Watch and the cultural genocide of the New Mandalorians, leaving Mandalore in a position of strength versus the Republic. So long as this remains the case, plans for a New Sith Empire must be put on hold.

With the shadiest characters removed from the Senate, it's harder for a Sith to take charge of it - especially when a strengthening Tatooine continues to disrupt smuggling and slave trafficking in the outer rim, reducing the darkness and the funds he has access to.

And so though the details are up to the dealer, taking over Tatooine disrupts the Sith's machinations enough that they're forced to show their hands too soon, and thus defeated before they can ever give rise to the empire. It's not easy, but it involves a lot less suffering than the original timeline.

Bonuses include: 1) Merrin and Grogu also traveling through time as a result of the force bonds that they have with Cal and Din respectively. They wake up on the currently uninhabited planet Luke's school will occupy in the future rather than Tatooine and have to go through a quest of their own to get off planet and rejoin the others. This should involve accidentally helping the other's plans to prevent the empire, such as by disrupting a crime syndicate or blowing up the Trade Federation's first droid factory; 2) Teenagers being teenagers. These kids may have been adults in the future with all their adult memories, but they've got teenage bodies now and it shows; and 3) Boba and company never outright admitting they're time travelers, but dropping enough hints to the relevant parties that they eventually come to that conclusion on their own. Only then do they share the details of the horrible future they've prevented.

And that's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you do anything with it.

More SW Fic Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

The Moon's Lies (2)

Summary: Kylo Ren x named!Reader. It was never going to be black or white, Light or Dark, friend or foe. Who wouldn't let the galaxy burn to keep their loved ones safe?

Warnings: 18+, unspoken threat of bodily harm, twisted morals, Kylo Ren being himself, vehicle wreck

Masterlist

Canon Divergence Notes: There is no Rey. Finn is the destined Jedi, and he leaves the scar on Ren’s face during the climactic fight on Starkiller Base. The only original canon kept after TFA is the destined Jedi (Finn) leaving to find Luke and Snoke pushing Kylo Ren to the breaking point, continuing the student-kills-the-master cycle. Summary: No Rey. Finn is training to be a Jedi. Kylo Ren takes the throne from Snoke.

A/N: All hail the new alpha/beta reader! Three cheers for @aralezinspace! And thank you all for the support so far. <3 You make my galaxy spin.

2.

Years ticked by with battles fought, secrets found, and the rise of a new Supreme Leader to the throne of the First Order. Matters of life and death. To some.

Dyrrine judged the political upheaval like the weather. Rarely dangerous, but often an inconvenience. She couldn’t control it, and she worried more about sheltering her family from the rain than forming opinions about it.

At the moment, however, as mud sucked her boots down to the ankle and cold drops rode the wind to blast under her hood, she felt a lot of ways about the rain. Literally and figuratively.

Of course her responsibilities took her to Dantooine during the rainy season. And, of course, the First Order had no interest in accommodating the long line waiting for permits and passes.

Most of the year, Dantooine was lovely. Dry. Fairly temperate. Dyrrine would’ve enjoyed being off the ship and soaking in some sunshine while the rusty wheels of bureaucracy slowly groaned along. Instead, she dreamed of hot cups of tea and kept her hands stuffed deep in her wide sleeves as the queue inched forward, bowing under the storm’s onslaught. There were so many people still ahead of her, and she could barely see the service window through the downpour.

Good thing she’d reserved a seat on the next morning’s shuttle. She’d never make the evening flight. If things didn’t pick up, she might not reach the end of the line before the offices closed. Then she could do this all again at ass’o’clock in the morning, standing in a fresh downpour in day-old clothes without even the marginal warmth of the sun. What fun.

Off to the right, the depot’s primary doors slid open, spilling light into the miserable, sludgy afternoon. Stormtroopers in gleaming white armor stomped out, far too many for a patrol, and the eyes of every civilian turned their way. No one dared watch openly, but they peeped, and shrank, and waited. The ‘troopers formed two lines, facing each other to create a kind of path between the depot and the small collection of shuttles and TIEs left outside the hangar.

No wonder the administration was doing such a spectacular job that day. They had a VIP to entertain.

Dyrrine looked down at her feet, trying to work them free of the muck as the Adarian in front of her inched forward by half a pace. She had her priorities; keeping her place in line without losing a shoe was higher on her list than some First Order crony with extra polish on his boots.

One foot popped free with a noise like a belch, confirming Dyrrine’s belief the planet was trying to eat her. The second foot came loose by inches, and she was so consumed with keeping her balance she didn’t register the growing chill until the source stood in the open doorway.

Foot free, a step forward, and sinking into a new swatch of muck, she felt the menacing aura of a wildly powerful Force user. One didn’t need to be Force sensitive necessarily for animal instincts to register a threat, especially when said threat just loved to make a scene, to infect the very air with fear so every lesser creature would stay bowed low – where they belonged. She glanced back to the main entrance as the towering figure in black started down the ‘trooper-lined path, and her blood turned to ice.

She didn’t know his face – not this one, anyway. Last time they’d met, he’d hidden behind a chrome scowl, but his lightsaber was unmistakable, and kriffing hell if she didn’t remember that. It swung from his belt, bulky cross guard hilt on full display. The faint burn it once left along her neck took a week to heal, and this time there was no one to call him away before he introduced her to the blade properly. He was no one’s attack dog anymore. He’d slipped the chain and brutalized the fool holding the leash.

Kylo Ren. The new Supreme Leader.

The downpour suddenly didn’t feel like enough. Blinking away drops clinging to her lashes, she prayed for a flood, for the water to fall in sheets to curtain her from view, for the mud to gulp her down whole. Her gaze snapped back to the ground, hoping as she studied the trembling puddles that her spike of anxiety blended into the frightened crowd. What was one more terrified civilian in a sea of faces?

She resisted the urge to tug her hood lower. That would draw attention, tell anyone looking that she wanted to avoid being seen very, very badly. It took far too much attention to breathe, and she fought to release the mote of panic burning bright in her chest. No need to snuff it out. Just let it free. Like a firefly – still very real, but out and away from her thoughts. Drifting farther and farther, leaving a quiet void in its wake.

She was still. She was silent. She was invisible.

“I remember you.”

She was so kriffing screwed.

Drawn by the voice she would never have recognized without the helmet’s modulator, she looked between the shoulders of the nearest Stormtroopers to meet the Supreme Leader’s gaze. He towered over them, a wall of shadow behind their white armor. And there was no doubt he was speaking to her. He stepped forward, and the ‘troopers parted.

Too late to hide.

His presence crashed down like a wave, suffocating. Crushing.

She turned fully, facing him head-on as she reached deep to grasp the calm assurance that helped her through so many dangerous scrapes in the past.

“We never finished our conversation.” A playful edge sharpened his words, and she hunted through the flickers of expression that slipped past his guard. He wasn’t quite the same beast she met before. This time he was all confidence, secure in his position as the head of the First Order, free to stop, to take the time to pull her apart just for fun. His eyes traced her from dripping head to sodden feet, coming to stop on her pendant. “And you’re still wearing your protection charm. I thought you were going to leave it behind next time.”

With a dim smile that was entirely polite and not at all pleased, she repeated the short bow she’d offered on their first meeting, eyes dipping with her knees as she proved her respect. But she didn’t try to cower. When she rose, she resumed eye contact, letting her expression go placid in the face of her worst nightmare.

“Apologies.” Her voice came strong and steady. It didn’t even shake from the chill. “But as you said, we never finished our conversation, and I never heard whether it was offensive or just surprising.”

Humility, sometimes seasoned with feigned stupidity, could get a civilian far with the First Order. Sometimes officers appreciated the break from the usual hysterics of oppressed locals fighting for rights they no longer possessed. Sometimes a neutral attitude just made her forgettable, which was always the best outcome.

Unfortunately, she’d made a much deeper impression than she’d realized in this case, and she knew he wouldn’t let her fade into the mist like a ghost a second time. Even in the dreary weather, his eyes practically sparkled.

“We should fix that.”

She bowed again – quickly – and without looking away.

“It would be an honor, but I wouldn’t dare take any more of your valuable time, Supreme Leader.”

It was as close to begging as someone could get without yielding, and she knew she’d failed by the quirk of his lips.

“Then you can honor me aboard my shuttle.” He moved on, not in the least encumbered by the mud holding the rest of the planet hostage. “Bring her.”

Two ‘troopers who’d been following in his wake stepped up, but she moved. Springing forward as lithely as she could given her footing, she passed into the hall of white armored bodies of her own volition. It flummoxed the guards, and she offered a simple nod and smile as she continued after their leader. He hadn’t said to arrest her. Or bind her. Not even seize her. She still had some room to work, and so long as the ‘troopers didn’t know whether or not she was a prisoner, she could keep dancing.

So, she kept just ahead of the guards and well back from Kylo Ren, wading through Dantooine’s hateful sendoff to the waiting command shuttle.

The Supreme Leader’s thunderous steps echoed back down the ramp as she entered the hollow of the ship, following muddy tracks across the pristine floors. It felt like sacrilege. Like truth. The honest filth of the First Order’s dominion, and the inevitable tide beyond all illusions of control. Beneath her careful tranquility, a smug spark of emotion kindled. Not even the great First Order could stay polished in the face of a good storm.

But the spark faded as the Stormtroopers marched up after her, and the ramp groaned shut.

The ship was cold. A dead cold. Black with flashes of white and red lights that chilled her worse than the rain. She wondered if anyone in the Order – voluntarily or compelled – ever really saw their ships and bases as home. Something always seemed to draw them back, but she was willing to bet it was the blaster in the arms of the soldier beside them over duty or desire.

The passenger compartment opened directly into the cockpit, where four flight staff were prepping the shuttle for takeoff. There was only one other chair she could spy, and she knew better than to claim it. Guest or prisoner, she shouldn’t sit until her host offered, and she seriously doubted he would.

Leaning over the pilot and copilot, the Supreme Leader rattled off orders, checking his people’s work before it was even complete.

Was he a pilot, too? She knew that flavor of backseat driving. It was why they banned so many temporary residents from the Kuma Lisa’s cockpit. Once you’d had a ship’s controls in hand, most people struggled to accept them in someone else’s.

Ren’s low voice carried through the small space, disinterested in keeping secrets from the damned. “Set course for Ord Trasi. We’ll rendezvous as planned with the Steadfast.”

She closed her eyes and took a beat to breathe through the bubble of panic at the planet’s name. None of this was planned. He didn’t know she’d been on her way back for a rendezvous of her own. If she was careful, she’d remain the only one in danger. They’d know something was wrong when she didn’t return in the morning…

And right now, she needed to open her eyes and play the game. Or she’d never get to wade through a muddy queue ever again. She’d never touch solid ground, feel the rain on her face, or swear at a too-hot sun if she met her end on a damned star destroyer. Or on this shuttle, for that matter.

She got a reign on her fear and looked back to the cockpit just as Ren turned. His black ensemble maintained his regal air even with wet hair sticking to his forehead and ten inches of mud climbing his boots. His cape was no less ominous for the messy streaks on its hem as it flowed behind his long, determined stride. She doubted she’d weathered the rain so well. But that might work in her favor. Anything, given the right approach, could work in one’s favor. It was just a matter of strategy.

The ship lifted off from the mud, hard rain streaking down the viewport like it could drive them back to ground, and Kylo Ren left his flight staff to handle the voyage. While the craft was spacious for a shuttle, it was far from a cruiser, and he closed the distance like shadows rushing in after a light switched off. She held her ground. Waited like a good little subject until his boots came within inches of hers.

She knew this tactic.

Men like him loomed over their prey for one of two reasons. He wanted a fight, or he wanted a trembling victim to torture. He was waiting to see which she’d offer.

She’d deny him both. If it came back to bite her in the ass, at least she’d die satisfied with her decision.

He’d kill her in a heartbeat if she tried to fight – unarmed, trapped on his ship, surrounded by his lackeys. If she served up the fear he craved, he’d wring it out of her until she ran dry, and then she’d be just as dead and twice as grateful to expire.

With the board set against her, she must change the rules.

The ship’s low rumbling beneath her feet reminded her she was already in the belly of the beast, and she must be very clever to climb back out again.

“Who are you?” For all his casual intimidation, he didn’t hide the curiosity in his voice, and his anger didn’t singe the air like it did once upon a time on a planet far, far away.

He recognized a game when he saw one, and the moment he was humoring her. Or at least humoring himself.

She didn’t bow, though she dipped her eyes for the fraction of a second it took her to gather air for an answer. There was a fine line between a silly little stranger and an annoying fool. Too much bobbing would look anxious, anyway. But she held his eyes as she replied.

“Dyrrine Bairdne, sir.”

“And you’re from Lethe.” His eyes traced the strands of beads around her neck, the rings on her fingers, and bracelets on her wrists.

Slowly, mindful of the many guns and deadlier things on display, she raised her hands and lifted her hood. The Supreme Leader’s attention swung to the ornaments woven through her hair, and he scoffed.

“I see you’ve added more armor.” He stared her dead in the eye, daring her. “Expecting to meet a monster?”

She let her nebulous serenity grow warm. A blast from a cheap, old heater on a bitter winter night. Hardly the sun’s rays. But it wasn’t like he wanted that.

“Not at all, Supreme Leader.” She touched the longest strand of beads, keeping his focus on the Selenubis. “I’m training to be the next Naine of my family. Carrier of a thousand wishes, which is what these – ” She lifted a handful of necklaces, letting them rattle to draw both eye and ear. “ – represent.”

He plucked one from her grip, and his eyebrows furrowed. A frown bent his mouth as he rolled the smooth grey stones between gloved fingertips. He studied them like they had a secret script he might decipher in the fluid lines weaving over the face of each sphere.

“Take them off.”

She blinked, masking a busy mind with a face full of surprise. “Sir? They are offensive, then.”

“They’re a nuisance.” Though he didn’t let go of her jewelry, he did return his attention to her face. The amusement had waned. He wanted through her defenses.

Twisting his grip, he dragged her off-balance, and she jerked half a step forward.

Lips by her ear, he repeated, “Take them off.”

With his hulking shoulders out of the way, she could see through the viewport again. At some point, as she bantered for her life, they’d jumped to hyperspace. If he ran her through, right here, at least she’d have a familiar view.

The instant she pulled the faintest comfort from the thought, the ship was spat out of hyperspace, and a planet filled the view.

“Sir,” the flight officer called. “We’ve reached Ord Trasi. On route to rendezvous with the Steadfast now.”

The ship must be hiding on the far side of the planet, away from the hyperspace lanes.

Ren shoved her away, and the two ‘troopers stepped up to flank her. While his intentions were still far from clear, she wasn’t the honored kind of guest. She caught herself before her guards had an excuse to put hands on her, and as the Supreme Leader stomped back to oversee the last leg of their journey, she folded her shaking hands back inside her wet sleeves.

She seized the opportunity to breathe. Still alive. Still in one piece. And another distraction had bought her another precious few minutes. What she’d do with that time she had no idea, but she had it anyway.

Three TIE fighters wheeled into view, streaking past in perfect formation. The first sign of a larger First Order presence.

“I didn’t order an honor guard,” the Supreme Leader snapped. “Order them back to the ship.”

Oh, he was definitely a pilot. He was practically twitching. Too much protection must insult his ego, especially when he wasn’t behind the controls.

The flight officer leaned into the comms and relayed the command, but the TIEs did not disperse. They roared past again, moving behind the shuttle, and she swore she could feel Kylo Ren’s oppressive attention physically lift from her to this new problem.

Doubtless, Ren had something to say. More orders. A good threat or three. But before he could express his wrath beyond the creaking of his glove around his fist, a series of blasts rocked the transport.

Alarms wailed, and the flight crew began shouting updates and alerts as every standing passenger – apart from Ren – lurched into the wall. Beyond the racket from the cockpit, she could hear the wheeze of a dying engine somewhere below.

Kriff.

“Where are our shields?” Ren demanded.

Frantically switching toggles, the pilot shouted over the cacophony. “The readout shows they’re online, sir, but the damage suggests – ”

“Sabotage.” The Supreme Leader all but spat the word.

Shrieking by for another pass, the TIEs sent a hail of green laser fire over the shuttle, and she listened to the hull groan. The wall under her face was warm, and she carefully worked her way to a line of emergency grip points above. She clung on for dear life, looping her arm through and preparing for the worst.

She would not go down with the ship.

And the ship was definitely going down. Hazy clouds blurred the stars, the dark of space fading into atmospheric blue as they lost altitude.

“Sir, we’ve lost too much power. The planet’s gravity is – ”

“Supreme Leader, they’re coming about! Brace for - !”

The side of the shuttle exploded.

The angle of the blast sent debris spearing into the cockpit, and from the corner of her eye she saw an arc of wet crimson splash across the view screen. Now entirely out of control, the ship rolled, and the two stormtroopers tumbled boots-over-helmet through the hole that used to be the other half of the passenger compartment. Their voice modulators warped their screams as they fell.

She screamed, too, lifted off her feet, thrown into wall-ceiling-floor in a dizzying cycle. Her belly leapt into her throat as the engine heaved its last breath and the craft dropped into freefall.

Smoke and sparks filled the air. She couldn’t see what had happened to the flight crew or their dread leader, but no one was doing anything to slow their descent. If there was sabotage though, who was to say the shields were the only system affected? Even if they were conscious, Ren was the only one with the power to do anything at this point.

Well. Not only Ren.

Moving from grip to grip, she worked her way closer to the damaged half of the ship. She needed perspective. She had to see what she was doing.

A blur of green and brown appeared between flashes of blue, and she cursed. All her wonderful protective charms kept flying up to smack in her face, tangle in her hair, and obscure her view. She had a choice to make, and she needed to make it quickly.

Regardless of whether or not Kylo Ren survived, she wasn’t ready to die, certainly not like this. So she’d just have to take her chances.

Letting go of her precious handhold with one hand, she set to work, tugging and tearing the necklaces from her throat. She ripped the rings off with her teeth, and half the bracelets snapped as she jerked them free.

Her senses blossomed, expanding beyond her skin, beyond her sight. She felt the distance between the ship and the planet below, teaming with life, and another dim pulse somewhere onboard. Another survivor. She’d worry about that later. She’d save herself first.

Reaching into the flow of energy and motion that kept the galaxy turning, she pulled. Just as she’d found the grip inside the ship to keep stable, she grappled with air currents, gravity, and space to stabilize the shattered craft’s descent.  

It had been a long, long time since she’d tried anything on this scale, and it tore through her the way too much exercise ripped fragile muscles. Something wet dripped down her neck as the spinning slowed. They were still dropping too fast, and she pushed down at the planet until her ears rang with the effort.

Gradually, painfully, she took control of the fall.

This wouldn’t be a pretty landing.

But they just might survive it.

[allronix]

This one is for @caripr94 and this post

(I'm pretty sure someone in the thread blocked my cynical butt because I can be That Bitch)

Was it a horrible thing Anakin killed the kids? YES. Though I'd take a fast death by saber compared to whatever the hell Paplatine would think up.

My position though is that the kids never should have been there in the first place.

There is absolutely no universe, either real life or any fictional setting, where we're supposed to see the guys who conscript toddlers as the Good Guys. Especially when the explicit purpose of that policy being too young to have conscious memories or "attachment" to the caregivers. No way in hell that is ever done for benign or benevolent purposes. Even in universe, this whole thing is used to establish the First Order as a bunch of bad dudes.

No, it's not abduction or kidnapping. It's consenting (Jedi apologist argument #1)...though the consent gets kinda dubious in far too many cases. The recruiter has a mighty big thumb on the scale, and no one in the apologia camp has given a clear answer to "who is making sure the Seeker isn't cutting corners?"

And I've heard the Jedi apologist argument that "Oh, it's to make sure they don't accidentally hurt someone with their powers." (Jedi apologist argument #3) That's bantha shit. Anakin, Luke, Leia, Rey in the films, countless others in Legends...they aren't frying the cat or being possessed by demons. They just grow up wherever they are; maybe a little luckier or unluckier than usual, maybe the reflexes are a little uncanny. But no more or less dangerous than anyone else.

The only reason in real life (or fiction, for that matter) an organization recruits children is for control and power. Cut off any potential for disloyalty, any competing desires, any real chance they have somewhere to go if they want to leave. (And yes, I've ranted elsewhere about Jedi Apologist Argument #2, the "Oh, but they can leave if they're unhappy") Get them too small to run away or fight back. In real life, it was also used as a display of power by the ruling classes against those who were not in favor. We can march in and take anything we want, even your kids, and you can console yourself that it's a great honor we're doing it because you can do that or just suck it.

The kids are raised in institutional care without any real specific affection as far as I can tell. Maybe you get nice one like Zia. (Young Jedi Adventures is a guilty pleasure) Maybe you get Jorus C'Both. Developing the younglings as people isn't really the goal here. What this system is set up to do is produce useful tools for the organization. The only time we see a class of younglings in ATOC, for example, they are not learning peaceful communion with the Force or languages, or even playing. No, they are learning to use the organization's signature weapon. It was not really any different from the Clone boys being put through their combat training. Maybe that was a deliberate point on Lucas's part - it would be pretty cool if it were - but it doesn't seem to be the case.

It's like most Jedi compassion; maybe got some good intentions, but the end goal is to make these kids into resources in a weird arms race of "we take them and shape them to our army or The Enemy will take them and shape them into their army." And I can kinda see it with that logic. Take them young, cut off any possible competing loyalties that they could choose over you, shape them to a singular purpose, and you have perfect field agents who are psychologically incapable (in theory) of betrayal or defection.