#all five had to give permission for him to go off to the Jedi

[plokoonsdisapprovingeyebrows]

every time i check wookieepedia for more kel dor lore I get annoyed at the bit that says the Baran Do became irrelevant after the Jedi started coming around bc like.

a) there is no way the Jedi wouldn't want to like. team up with them instead lmfao

b) the numbers also don't add up. The Jedi have like ten thousand members in Prequel times, from species across the whole galaxy. Even if you scour the wiki, there's only like three, possibly four kel dor Jedi active at that time. Even if we accept the idea that these few are the absolute most powerful force-sensitive kel dor out there, there's no fuckin way a planet/species that can support its own extensive indigenous Force tradition just abandons that tradition, just bc a literal handful of kids in every generation goes offworld to learn from a different Force tradition.

c) the Baran Do also do a slightly different thing than the Jedi - it's basically Force-aided disaster risk/resilience/management shit. The Jedi can't make them obsolete just by existing; they're filling a different need with diplomacy and averting wars and shit. Sometimes their work crosses over, but that's not enough to put them in competition.

So, my headcanon—

The Baran Do don't have the same restriction on 'must be a child to join' as the Jedi do, so they're happy to allow children who get scouted to go off and join the Jedi, on the condition that that child gets the opportunity to come back and train with the Baran Do later on if they so wish. The Jedi are perfectly happy to allow this, both in a spirit of Interfaith Cooperation and also making sure their kids get the chance to connect with their ancestral cultures. So the relationship between Baran Do and Jedi is pretty relaxed and friendly overall.

...At this point, most of the kel dor children who are given to the Jedi were actually brought to the Jedi's attention by the Baran Do, because the Force metaphorically tapped on some Sage's shoulder and went like "hey. This one would do well with the Jedi." And that Sage phoned up the Jedi Temple like "hey could u guys send someone out, there might be a baby Jedi here for u." It's treated like a celebration for both parties, there's a festival and everything. XD

Plo happened to be the Jedi sent out to collect Sha; he didn't know the kid was his niece at that point, but then the moment he stepped off the ship he was Engulfed in a surprise family reunion. His mother, Sha's grandma, is a Baran Do Sage, and she'd requested Plo directly but then kept it to herself, so the rest of the family was equally surprised and delighted lmao.

[captainsophiestark]

Snowed In

Rex x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

This work was created for the 2024 @cloneficgiftexchange, for @jedipoodoo! I loved the prompts you gave me, and I had a ton of fun writing this - I hope you like it!

Fandom: Star Wars

Summary: Rex and his Jedi SO get stranded on Ilum in the middle of a bad snowstorm, but it turns out to be just the Life Day gift they were hoping for.

Word Count: 1,640

Category: Fluff

A/N: Special shoutout to @ghostofskywalker for the Fictober request that made me feel confident enough to write for the clones! It's been so much fun to venture into writing this part of the fandom, and I never could've done it without you 🥰

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Like I said, we'll try to get back to you guys tonight if we can. But I don't think that's likely."

Obi-Wan and Anakin frowned at me from the small projection on my wrist communicator in sync.

"Are you sure? We barely left a hour ago. Has it really gotten that much worse?"

I started nodding before Anakin had even finished the question.

"I almost lost Rex in his white armor when he went outside to scout before I called you. He was five feet from me. I spit and it froze almost before it cleared my lips."

"Why did you spit?" Obi-Wan asked, his frown deepening. This time it was Anakin and I's turn to give him a look in perfect sync.

"To see how bad it was by how quickly it froze," Anakin answered for me. "What else?"

Obi-Wan didn't dignify that with a response, just an eyeroll.

"Alright," he said, moving past Anakin and I's conversation. "If you aren't able to get off-planet by tomorrow morning, call us again. We'll come back with more equipment and find a way to dig you out."

I nodded. "Sounds good. I'll check in with you guys in the morning. Hopefully you won't have to make the trip back, but if you do... make a pitstop to grab some flame throwers from Ki-Adi-Mundi."

Obi-Wan huffed a laugh, while Anakin looked much too excited beside him.

"Hopefully, that won't be necessary," Obi-Wan said. "Stay warm and stay safe."

"Will do."

"See you tomorrow with flame throwers."

I snorted and gave the boys a little wave at Anakin's sign-off. Hopefully for everyone involved, this storm would clear and we'd be able to get out of here without Anakin needing to go within a lightyear of a flamethrower.

I sighed, surveying the space Rex and I would be occupying for the rest of the evening. We'd been here following a few strange feelings in the Force Obi-Wan, Anakin, and I had had surrounding Ilum, one of the best and only places in the galaxy to get the crystals for our lightsabers. For fear of the Separatists trying to mess with the place, Obi-Wan and Anakin had come with Rex and I, along with a good portion of the 501st, had come to investigate. We'd searched high and low and mediated on it at length, and thankfully, found nothing amiss. We'd taken our time moving everybody out, since we had no reason to rush, and Rex and I had planned to be the last out after doing one last check of the crystal sites and making sure none of our men left anything behind. We'd done both of those things, but we'd also ended up catching the beginning of one of the planet's worst snow storms.

Luckily for us, we'd set up a nice camp in a spacious, well-protected ice cave. It had been our whole group's base of operations while on planet, and now Rex and I had it all to ourselves. We hadn't even had to rebuild the fire.

In a weird way, this was exactly what Rex and I had been looking for. Despite some of the stricter interpretations of Jedi rules, throughout the course of the war, Rex and I had slowly but surely fallen in love with each other. We'd come to the mutual decision to act on those feelings a while ago, but between the need for secrecy and the galactic conflict we found ourselves in the middle of, we didn't get a lot of time to spend however we wanted, just the two of us, without interruptions.

"It's official," came Rex's voice, returning from his scouting at the mouth of the cave. He came into sight a moment later, stopping with his hands on his hips. "Looks like we're snowed in."

I sighed. "I figured as much. I just got off the phone with Anakin and Obi-Wan. They're gonna circle back for us if they don't hear anything from us by tomorrow. I told them we're all set with supplies and everything else we need for tonight."

Rex smiled at that, looking more relaxed than I usually got to see him as he crossed the space to stand just in front of me.

"So... you're saying we have this place completely to ourselves until tomorrow?"

I grinned. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Finally. We're overdue for a bit of time together, just the two of us."

"No kidding we are. So... I'll get blankets, you get snacks, and we can finally watch that new Life Day holo we keep seeing everywhere we go?"

Rex gave me a grin.

"That sounds perfect to me. Meet back here in ten?"

"Deal."

The two of us moved in separate directions, each going to the place where our gear was stashed around the now mostly packed camp. I grabbed a whole heap of blankets, then snagged my favorite sweater of Rex's and pulled it over my head. Hopefully he wouldn't mind.

I brought back my bounty of blankets and pillows to the center of the room, right beside the fire, then started the work of building them into a nice cozy spot where Rex and I could cuddle up. Our timing was proof of just what a good team we made, as I heard Rex coming back from the boxes of food and kitchen supplies right as I finished putting together our nest of fluffy things.

I straightened up with a smile, but my jaw dropped when I saw what he carried.

"Is that hot chocolate?" I asked, my heart absolutely leaping at the prospect. Instead of answering, Rex gave a little considering frown in my direction.

"Is that my sweater?"

I gave him a sheepish grin. "Yeah. It's so soft and cozy, I was hoping you'd let me get away with the theft."

Rex let out a theatrical sigh, but he smiled at me a moment later.

"Alright. As long as you promise to share the warmth."

"I promise. Now give me that hot chocolate."

Rex laughed as he handed the mug over to me, then the two of us settled into the puddle of blankets. I curled up against Rex's chest, legs tangled on top of his as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I sighed once we'd gotten comfortable, weeks and months of stress from the war melting away in a single minute with Rex.

I sipped at my hot chocolate, letting the peace of the moment sink into my bones, then turned to glance at my wonderful partner.

"Where did you even get this hot chocolate?"

He grinned down at me. "Special supply request through the GAR. I said it was for morale, since it is."

I beamed up at Rex. He was truly the best bright spot and partner I could've asked for, and I wanted to make sure he knew it.

"I love you. You know that, right? I love you so, so much Rex."

He smiled warmly back at me, gently squeezing my arm as he did.

"I do know that. And I love you too. You're the greatest gift I could've asked for."

I leaned up towards Rex with a glance at his lips, and he quickly got the hint, leaning down to meet me halfway. The kiss wasn't anything especially scandalous or heated, just a soft peck, but it got my heart racing all the same. Moments like this were rare for both of us, and I treasured every single one, especially since I had no idea when the next one might come along.

"So..." mused Rex with a soft smile once we finally pulled apart. "Should we start that Life Day holo?"

"Yeah, let's do it. I'm excited to see what all the hype is about."

"If it reached us all the way out here in the middle of the war, it better be damned good."

"Right? If it's not, though, I do have a few backup holos we can use to recover from the disappointment."

"That's good, because I have a lot of hot chocolate stashed back there, and I think we need to finish it tonight. That way none of the men start asking questions about why I managed to dig some up for you, but not for them."

I shot Rex a look as he started the holo, the opening credits playing on our portable data pad.

"I'm pretty sure most of them wouldn't be surprised. We're a 'secret' the same way Anakin and Padmé are a secret. The only difference is we're not as oblivious about how many people have figured us out."

Rex just laughed. "True enough. I think all of them support us, anyway."

"I know they do. But just in case, I'll plan on making some time to bake cookies or something on the way to our next engagement. That way there's no hard feelings all around."

"...Can you make the ones with the peppermint in them?"

"Of course. As if I'd use anything other than your favorite recipe."

Rex and I shared another smile, then he kissed my forehead as we both shifted our attention to the holo just getting underway. I could hear his heart beating from where I rested my head against his chest, just over the sound of the crackling fire and the wind howling outside. The universe had apparently decided to give Rex and I a little Life Day present in the form of some rare time together, just the two of us, to spend however we wanted. And I couldn't thank it enough.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen @misshale21

[ravensilversea]

One Day

Prompt(s): Time Travel, with side of Family

Warnings: Fox snipes both Jango and Palpatine mostly off-screen, mild description of looting a dead body, questionable decisions and morality in general

Characters: Commander Fox, Sifo-Dyas

Additional Tags: Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Minor Character Death, offscreen minor character death, Palpatine and Jango both die and Fox is only slightly sorry about one of those, Angst, Emotional, Hopeful Ending, Referenced Order 66

Summary/Description: Fox still isn’t sure where the moral line falls for purposefully going out of his way to clone his brothers again versus never giving the brothers he knew and loved a chance at life, but he knows which one he prefers. And he refuses to let them be sent off to die again.

Jango Fett was a cold, cocky bastard who thought himself nigh invincible. Unfortunately for him, Fox had once hunted an identical brother through thousands of other identical brothers and the lower levels of Coruscant, so hunting a single bounty hunter through the Outer Rim really wasn’t as hard as Jango thought it would be. A carefully aimed blaster bolt was all it took in the end. Afterall, his armor was similar enough to the armor Fox had worn day in and day out.

Fox hated, still hates really, how much like his brothers Jango looked when he peeled off that priceless armor and swiped a vial of still warm blood from the man’s rapidly cooling corpse. How much like Fives he looked. He reminds himself again, and again, that this is the man who willingly let millions of his clones be created to die, who chose exactly one to acknowledge as his own. Tries to hold onto the resentment and anger and jealousy he felt as a cadet.

One day, Fox will hand the beskar pieces to Boba and tell him that it was his father’s armor. Boba will try to correct him, say that it was their father’s armor, and Fox will shake his head and say, no, yours and yours alone. On that day, Fox still won’t know if he handed the armor over to apologize to the Boba he once knew for taking his father from him again, or to Jango for denying him his son.

Fox still isn’t sure where the moral line falls for purposefully going out of his way to clone his brothers again versus never giving the brothers he knew and loved a chance at life, but he knows which one he prefers. A bit of slicing and a cryptic message, and Fox had a decent idea of where and when Sifo-Dyas could be found.

Ao3

Which is how he finds himself in a bar, still in the Outer Rim, and for a place in the Outer Rim, the bar is fairly clean. Fox can’t find any suspicious smudges on his glass, or any glass he takes a glance at, and the bar counter isn’t greasy or caked with dirt. The windows are set in the wall in such away as to show only the sky, which this late at night makes it look like the place just opens out into starfield. There’s also a comfortable amount of people, not too many to be crowded and loud, not too few for conversations to echo all over the place.

One day, Fox will walk into a newly opened bar on Coruscant that is always crowded and loud and smelled of sweat and grime. He’ll buy a round of drinks and sit at a table by himself with a drink at each empty seat. “I’m not busy now,” he’ll whisper, “but it’s too late for that isn’t it?” The night will grow late, and he’ll leave a tip and a collection of untouched drinks meant for brothers he turned down in favor of paperwork, only to never have another chance again. He’ll have no intention of ever returning.

Fox slams his drink back and gestures for a glass of water as Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas makes a fairly subtle entrance, for a Jedi. He’s quiet and weaves through the people and tables without anyone noticing him, well, except for Fox who had been keeping an eye out for Jedi robes. Grabbing his glass, Fox makes his way to the table by the window that Sifo-Dyas chose.

“Evening,” Fox drawls and slides into the seat across without bothering to ask for permission. He wraps his hands around his water glass. “Rumor has it that we can help each other out.”

“Can you now?” Sifo-Dyas hides trembling hands in the sleeves of his robe. 

Fox… doesn’t know what to say. A thousand angry, resentful, vindictive words claw at his throat, but the man in front of him looks nothing how he imagined. Lined face with brown eyes not quite as dark as the clones’ he would order. Long mostly silver hair with patches of dark, almost black, brown pulled back into a bun that’s falling down. Trembling hands, how he keeps using the reflections in the window to watch what’s happening behind him, just like how Fox’s brothers would when they came back from the frontlines.

Fox almost pities him. Almost wonders how he got to this point.

One day, Fox will walk into the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for the first time, for the five hundredth time. He will stand at the foot of a white infirmary bed and look down at an older Sifo-Dyas who will be unsure about whether his smile would be welcome. One day, Fox will hold this man’s hand and be among the people he asked to be at his bedside when he breaths his last, and then he will stand with his hands clasped behind his back at the funeral. One day, Fox will wonder about this man he never knew and regret never allowing himself to consider knowing him.

This is for his brothers, he reminds himself. Brothers this man bought and paid for to fight a war he didn’t bother trying to stop. “I can deal with your Sith problem.”

That gets Sifo-Dyas’ full attention. “What Sith problem? The Sith have been dead for a thousand years!” he hisses, leaning across the table.

“You’re the seer, you tell me.” Fox leans in as well. 

For a moment, neither move. Neither speak. They sit there, mere inches apart.

Sifo-Dyas sighs and leans back. “I see a war, not the Sith,” he says. “I see the end of the Jedi, and selfishly, I want an army that will never turn on them.”

For a moment, Fox burns. For a moment, Fox is numb. His men, his brothers, created for the Jedi, for the Republic they served, and something made them turn on both those things. Something that was supposed to ensure their never-ending, never-dying loyalty to people who gave varying levels of ���don’t give a shit’ about them. Something that he didn’t even realize happened until he woke up over a decade in the past, thinking it was a dream.

“Your plans will bring about the destruction of the Jedi. Your army. My brothers.” The words fall from his mouth like bombs.

Sifo-Dyas flinches. Fox pretends the grief on his face is at least in part for Fox’s brothers. One day, he will wonder if it was.

“Though,” Fox takes a sip of his drink and looks out to the stars, “technically, it’s most likely the Sith’s plan now.”

“Who are you?”

Fox laughs and laughs for a while, until he’s almost sobbing. He wishes he had something stronger than water now. “The poor fuck who watched his brothers die,” he says. He closes his eyes, takes a breath, and looks at Sifo-Dyas again. “So my deal is this: I deal with your Sith Lord problem, and you pay the Kaminoans to clone every, single, one of my brothers. No strings, no army, no ties to the Republic. If any of them want to fight, it will be their choice and their choice alone.”

One day, Fox will hold every, single, one of his brothers. One day, he’ll teach them how to walk and talk and sing and laugh. He’ll watch them run through meadows he didn’t quite believe existed for a decade and swim in peaceful lakes instead of endless storming oceans. One day, he will teach them how to do so many things from repairing ships to sewing clothes to cleaning weapons to planting crops. And one day, he will wake up each morning with the knowledge that his brothers have a future. That his brothers are free.

To his credit, Sifo-Dyas takes the deal, no questions asked outside of hammering out the exact details. When the contract is signed, he stands and looks at Fox for a moment. He whispers an apology that Fox doesn’t acknowledge, not now, and leaves without another word. Fox doesn’t care. He’s had enough of the Republic and enough of the Jedi.

The blaster shot that takes Sidious down is infinitely more satisfying than the one that took Jango.

[tessiete]

One Hell of a Fanfic

So, completely unbeknownst to me, the podcast One Hell of a Fanfic took the time to read and discuss my fic The Eternal Spring. It’s an older fic – I think my first real foray into SW as an author – and it shows. But the wonderful hosts, Steph and Lauren, found it, read it, and talked about it here.

This new podcast focuses on SW fic exclusively, and is an absolute delight to listen to. As a reader, it gives you insight into the experience of reading the story and introduces you to work you might have missed. And as an author…wow.

It’s like when someone leaves you an essay in your comment section. Chef’s kiss.

Anyway, because I love to talk about process and intent, and because I love to talk about stories, and because while listening to this episode I had so many moments of “YES BUT DID YOU SEE THE BIT WHERE I –” I’ve decided to write up a little response going into detail about what Lauren and Steph discovered while reading The Eternal Spring.

I’ll try and organise it, too, by sort of keeping to the five categories they break their episodes into. So here goes:

CANON

Right off the bat, this section made me question everything about myself, my writing, and what on earth I was doing. Both Lauren and Steph mentioned how incredibly deep the lore is, how many Easter Eggs I included, and how I blended canon, Legends, and fanon into a unique lore of its own.

This is wild to me because I’d never thought of that.

Listen, I’ve got a very complicated relationship with canon. I treat it as equal to Legends, and fanon. To my mind, it’s no better, no more real, no more accurate than Legends is, or even fanon. In fact, I’m of the opinion that fanon occasionally has the absolute best take on a character.

For instance, Obi-Wan having precognitive dreams. Sorry, that’s real to me. That’s true. 

And you’ll see this come up as a given in my work all the time. I hardly even think about it anymore. So that’s one way in which these different sources are pulled together – unconsciously.

However, I won’t deny there was conscious reference to two fan works specifically. Those being Tatooine Slave Culture (created by fialleril), and more significantly the Lineage series (Jedi Apprentice rewrites by ruth baulding). I am a huge Jedi Apprentice fan, and a huge ruth baulding fan. I know JA especially has its haters, but I love it (for reasons I will not go into here for the sake of HA! brevity).

I know TSC especially has faced controversy in the past for appropriation and insensitivity, though admittedly, I was unaware of that at the time of writing this story. I had just entered the fandom much like a bull enters a china shop. I made a lot of missteps. That said, I don’t think I use TSC culture with any significant overstep in this story (as it is largely only referenced by people outside of the culture), and so while I probably wouldn’t do it again, I don’t feel it’s detrimental in this case.

Ruth Baulding, however, is perfect. While the Lineage series is extremely whump-heavy (heads up should you go looking), there is one story in particular where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon visit The Stewardship of Terajon (StewJon) and encounter Obi-Wan’s birth family. While Qui-Gon handles it with a quiet and permissive grace, Obi-Wan is reflexively defensive and hostile, especially when he finds out that SPOILERS his family is on the opposite side of the conflict. They do no support the Republic, while Obi-Wan has dedicated his life to it. Qui-Gon recognises that their reasons are legitimate and ideologies are not so black and white as good and evil. Obi-Wan, however, cannot reconcile the idea that his family are so-called traitors. They end up finding an uneasy peace where Obi-Wan tells his parents that Qui-Gon is and has always been a father to him, and Obi-Wan’s mother makes him promise that if he ever needs help he will ask her for it.

I really wanted to write a story where he does that.

Partly because I wanted to depict an Obi-Wan who had grown into a maturity that could handle shades of grey, especially in politics, and partly because this story is so much about parents and their children, absence and presence and legacy, that I felt Ue, his mother, needed to be there for it.

Side note: I will forever cling to ruth baulding's conjecture that Obi-Wan is named for the obiwan flowers that grow on Stewjon. IRL our obiwan flowers look similar to how she describes them!

As for Qui-Gon and his love of plants – I don’t know.

I think this is a blend of fanon and Legends that I’ve once again just taken on board as fact, and only with this podcast am I compelled to examine it.

Though recently contradicted by LFL canon (In CG’s Master&Apprentice), fanon loooooong held that Obi-Wan was the one with a connection to prophecy and Qui-Gon was Master of Living in the Moment. I really love the tension this creates between them, and that’s why I keep it.

To that end, Qui-Gon is very frequently depicted in fanon as being Super Into Plants. He’s like, the Order’s #1 Plant Dad. His rooms are full of plants, and he is deeply connected to the Living Force.

In the Jedi Apprentice novels, Obi-Wan is almost sent to live as a farmer in the AgriCorps, and he is convinced he’d be a terrible farmer.

I kind of connected these two dots to suggest that much as Obi-Wan still ends up on Tatooine, he also still ends up a farmer. Qui-Gon taught him the horticulture he was so afraid of finding on Bandomeer, and Tatooine sees him eventually relying on those skills for survival. 

This ties into one of the things I wanted to grapple with in this fic. Free will vs. Destiny. I think, ultimately, this story’s perspective on it is that destiny = destination. You are always going to the same place. But the journey itself is free will. How you get there, which path you take, and what you learn from it – that’s all on you. 

And if we believe that it’s not about the destination, but the journey, then isn’t that the same as free will after all?

Anyway. 

That said, Steph and Lauren point out several times that this complex mingling of lore leads to much confusion AND that if you’re not acquainted with even something as (to me) ubiquitous as The Clone Wars, then much of it won’t land.

On the one hand, this is intentional. I love Easter Eggs, but I’m staunchly of the opinion that Easter Eggs aren’t meant to be found by everyone. They’re for the dedicated readers, the hyperfixaters, the deep-divers, the re-readers. I think Easter Eggs aren’t PointingLeos so much as they are sly winks, and things that make returning to a story rewarding. Every time you come back, you find something new. They’re meant to increase the longevity of novelty. And that’s how I try to use them.

THAT SAID I 100% TOOK IT FOR GRANTED THAT EVERYONE HAS THE SAME KNOWLEDGE BASE AS I DO.

In retrospect, that’s ridiculous. This is what I mean by saying they made me question my whole approach to fic. I didn’t think that TCW was a deep-cut. I didn’t think that Siri Tachi and her mandrangea beans were unknown, or that Obi-Wan loving muja fruit was obscure.

And that’s on me. That’s my bad. Because objectively, Lauren and Steph are absolutely right. That is so much information to expect a reader to have as a baseline, and dramatically decreases the size of the demographic I’m reaching.

Do I regret it? ….nnnooooo?

But I will absolutely be more mindful of that in the future. I think that’s a hugely important lesson for me to take from this. It’s not just a “My perspective isn’t everyone’s perspective” but a “Not everyone has been hyperfixating on the exact shade of orange in a Tatooine sunset since they were five, please provide some context thank you”.

EXPANDING THE LORE

Okay, I really wanted to address this, because in a previous episode, Lauren and Steph discuss World Without End by disasterisms. Specifically, they mention their love of mythology and how interesting it is that WWE is a retelling of the Hades/Persephone story.

And it had me frantically raising my hand like a pick-me!

So, fun fact, The Eternal Spring is also based on a Greek myth. Specifically, the myth of Psyche and Eros. In the original story, Psyche marries Eros but swears never to look on his face. She can’t deal with the curiosity however, and one night as he’s sleeping, she holds her torch over his head to get a look. He’s beautiful. But oil from her lamp drips onto him and he wakes, fleeing until she atones for her crime by completing a series of Impossible Tasks.

I love Impossible Tasks.

And more, I loooove hanging my stories on the preexisting structures of other works.

The Forlorn Queen is a long-form poem I wrote that is meant to be a Nabooian version of Psyche and Eros. In it, the unnamed Queen is assigned four Impossible Tasks that all correlate to the tasks of Psyche.

Sort seeds from sand

Retrieve the Golden Fleece

Collect water from a sacred spring

Steal the Beauty of Perspephone 

In the fic, these are played out by Padme in variously metaphorical ways. In the first, she literally has to sort the seeds from the sand after a sandstorm destroys their burgeoning garden. But more than re-enacting this myth, each task is meant to explore some emotional challenge in how she copes and reconciles her grief.

Sorting seeds from sand is a metaphor for her sorting out her priorities. What is alive still? What is worth saving? How closely she has to examine the sand, how long it takes, how tedious it is – this is all a reflection of her looking at her own life, her own struggles, and sorting out what she needs vs. what she wants.

Likewise, she retrieves the Golden Fleece/Golden Scale (saves Boil from the chip and his own lack of purpose, his transformation symbolised by him painting his armour [his scales] gold and taking on Padme’s commission, which is also the Mandalorian colour for vengeance). By sending Boil after Obi-Wan she is bringing water to the goddess (relief to Obi-Wan). And finally, the task that Psyche fails is the one Padme fails, also – at least, she cannot do it alone. This is about the acceptance of death and the loss of youth. This is Padme not joining the rebellion, and Obi-Wan reconciling with Qui-Gon.

Greek myths don’t directly correspond with symbolism as we understand it today, so yeah, I had to do a bit of research and even more extrapolation to get these tasks to mean more than simply Things To Accomplish, but that was always the intent. This story was always a myth – just as Revenge of the Sith (esp. As written by Matthew Stover) is explicitly Greek in its framing as a tragedy.

WHEW! Onto the fun stuff!

CHARACTERS

The thing that struck me most here was Lauren and Steph’s breakdown of small action vs. big action, and how they both agreed that it was sometimes difficult to follow and occasionally off-putting. Small action is the emotional conflicts deeply examined, while big action is like, the pew-pews.

They are totally correct in their assessment.

I could say that I think this is something that the OT and PT especially do. A New Hope, especially, spends what modern audiences would consider a loooong time without any significant Big Action, and the PT really struggles with pacing. It’s something sort of inherent to SW, and I really wanted this fic to feel like SW. It wasn’t entirely unintentional on my part to give you a lot of small action and then suddenly drop in big action…

Buuuuuuut it wasn’t entirely intentional, either.

You know, in writing this fic, I was constantly, constantly afraid it was incredibly boring. You can see it in my ANs. The small action is what I live for, but I was scared no one would want to read it if I stayed there.

So I think this is honestly more a reflection of my own insecurity than it is a deliberate reflection of Star Wars itself.

Again, a lesson. And something to keep in mind!

OMG ALL THAT NONSENSE! If you’re still here, well, I got more!

FAVOURITE SCENES

Qui’s ghost

I am so happy Lauren loved this scene. This was the scene that I first envisioned, this was the scene that I was always writing towards, this scene, to me, is what Star Wars is all about.

And yes, I am actually George Lucas.

For more wild speculations of mine that have since been canonized by LFL please see Only Hope (including, weirdly, Mandalorians being super into culture soups…so…HMU Kathleen!)

But yeah, I love Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. When I was writing this story I was deep into the QuiObi fandom, and I just really loved any and every expression of love and intimacy between them (platonic or otherwise).

Again going back to Legends, for me, I always loved the idea that Obi-Wan is frequently driven by his desire to be good for Qui-Gon. A good padawan, a good knight, a good Jedi. A good person. In JA he has to beg to be his padawan, and never really seems to feel like he measures up to Qui-Gon’s expectations. He wasn’t wanted and he worries that Qui-Gon’s disinterest in him never changed.

To me, it’s very obvious that Qui-Gon does want him. Very early on. But to a young teen, and someone so deeply insecure as Obi-Wan, it’s hard to see. 

I LOVE THAT TENSION.

And I felt Obi-Wan really needed his dad to give him a hug at the end of it all.

The idea that Qui-Gon has always been with Obi-Wan is…I mean, I think that’s just intrinsic to their story. It’s weird because I can see how it looks like I “Just Knew” but I think everyone knew because it’s sort of the inevitable conclusion to their journey together. Qui-Gon literally defies death in order to be with Obi-Wan. I can’t think of any greater expression of love and devotion than that…and yet, Obi-Wan still needs it spelled out for him.

ANYWAY I COULD TALK ABOUT THEM ALL DAY I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I’m very happy it made you two cry.

KORKIE IS A KENOBI

Look, I’m not even being ironic about it anymore. I love Korkie Kenobi. I believe in Korkie Kenobi. Korkie Kenobi is the best, most under-utilised, over-disparaged, misunderstood storyline that Star Wars never took.

As I briefly mentioned before, this story is really about parents and their kids. It was not an indulgence but an acute necessity that Korkie be a Kenobi in this fic. I’m not saying that because I love the theory (though I do), but because thematically it is imperative that Obi-Wan sees himself as a son, a brother, and a father. That he understand he is part of a family of blood, of duty, of choice, of circumstance. That he knows he is connected to the Force, to the world, and to the people around him. That we all are. That we owe ourselves to the people around us. That nothing ends, and everything continues. 

That absence is not oblivion. 

And Korkie specifically fits into that theme in the way he and Obi-Wan are connected despite Obi-Wan’s own ignorance. He is biologically present (by blood), he is spiritually present (in Korkie’s Force sensitivity), and he is emotionally present (in the way Korkie was raised watching him, being inspired by him, holding him up as a model of bravery and integrity – despite Obi-Wan not physically being there to parent him, he still was formative in Korkie’s emotional development and, to me, that’s massively important).

I really, really dislike the notion that Korkie being Obi-Wan’s son inherently frames Obi-Wan as a neglectful and dead-beat parent. What a small way to look at someone’s impact on others. What a cruel way to frame purpose, duty, and obligation. What a sexist way to ignore Satine’s importance and capability. What a mean way to dismiss the experiences of so many readers and people who grew up in single-parent homes for whatever reason.

My mum works in medicine. She missed a lot of school concerts, a lot of bedtimes, a lot of birthdays because she was SAVING LIVES. My dad explained this to me as a small child, and even as a small child, I understood. I got it. Kids aren’t dumb, and I knew a lot of kids in similar situations – we’re not traumatised.

Never mind the kids who had a parent die, or deployed, or transferred. It’s hard to be a parent, and yes, some parents are uninterested and dead-beats. But that neglect is not defined by their absence.

PERSONAL PET PEEVE EXORCISED THROUGH KORKIE

I tried to really connect things here by having Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan mirror Obi-Wan and Korkie. Just as Obi-Wan was simultaneously present and absent in Korkie’s life, so too is Qui-Gon present and absent in Obi-Wan’s.

There’s a little moment where Obi-Wan’s mother, Ue, reassures Korkie that he’s wanted. Obi-Wan will not reject him. She tells him, “You are not a consequence, or a punishment, aso-aso,” she murmurs. “And I don't see that any parent could hold you any less than the very best of all beloved things.”

Then, at the end of the story, Qui-Gon uses the same words telling Obi-Wan, “Never think, my dearest Ben, that you are anything less than best beloved of my very heart.”

(“Best Beloved” btw is very much stolen from Kipling)

As for him taking the Kenobi name – hey man, we need more Kenobis.

But I love the bravery it takes because, as the hosts mention, it puts a big target on his back in a galaxy where the most powerful Force user is constantly on the look out for Kenobi.

And, in fact, if you’re curious, I explored the possibility of Vader finding Korkie first here: Or Else I Shall Be Lost

HERE there was also another lesson: 

Steph and Lauren discussed the revelation of Korkie’s Force Sensitivity, and how it was confusing until the very end when I explicitly commented on it.

I TOTALLY DIDN’T REALIZE THIS WAS CONFUSING because mostly, I didn’t realise that I was writing a mystery.

BUT I WAS! Holy heck! I’m honestly surprised. Another like, surprising reframing of my own intentions and process. Because looking back, they’re totally right.

Kind of in line with using lore I like without explanation or justification, I also like referencing things I as the author know to be true but without actually telling the audience. In this case, I used wild coincidence as a thin cover for Force sensitivity, not revealing that had been intentional until the end.

Of course, in my head I was like, “Ha! Another clue! They’ll be putting this puzzle together by now” without accounting for the fact that I never told anyone there was a puzzle to begin with.

Not sure how I’ll address that in future fic, but it’s…it’s really something to think about. Is it a mystery if you don’t tell your audience something needs to be investigated? 

NUMA REFERENCE

I honestly can’t remember, but I think Kano is canon….or Legends…and was there on Ryloth. I love using clones that make sense, even if they’re lesser known. It makes me feel less like someone’s got plot armour and more that they were lucky which was also why I used Boil. I know, having been in fandom for ages now, that fandom would’ve preferred Cody be the clone to find Padme on Tatooine and go after Obi-Wan, but like…

Look, I’m super proud that fandom has made Cody the character he is, but canonically, most of that doesn’t exist.

Canonically, the clones assigned to cover Obi-Wan’s back are Waxer and Boil.

And I think Waxer dies, right? So the only clone that made sense to me, as a fandom newbie, was Boil. It had to be Boil.

And his relationship with Numa cemented that. Because Numa is – in a way – his daughter. The same way Leia is. She is the inheritor of whatever is left after the war. Numa lives, but what of Ryloth? Did she survive the rest?

I think that moment is the one, uncomplicated victory that Boil looks back on to ground himself. He can look at Ryloth and think “We did the right thing” because after that, everything gets complicated. And that’s the thing that convinces Kano to help them, also. The desire to believe they’ve done good. Simple, uncomplicated good.

QUESTIONS

Okay, I really wanted to address this next part – Lauren and Steph were so unconvinced that Padme would stay on Tatooine and not join the Rebellion.

You guys, I was SCREAMING!

And again, they weren’t wrong. I can totally see how they came to that conclusion, how Padme’s choice felt OOC and wrong, and how it does contradict everything we know of her from canon.

And while I have no intention of changing their interpretations of canon, or of my fic I sooooo want to discuss it from my POV. And you know what, again – my bad for not articulating it in a clear enough way. I would probably rewrite this scene if I were to do it again.

Because that contradiction is the point.

This isn’t what Padme would choose. Like she says, she thinks about it. She thinks about going to Bail. That’s her first thought.

But, this fic is meant to show why she can’t.

It’s not that the destination has changed, but she has.

Technically, this fic takes place over the course of a full year. It’s vaguely charted in the growth of the twins (again, tess, you can’t just assume everyone knows baby milestones). At the beginning, Padme is in a state of shock. And so is Obi-Wan…

Let’s get into the kiss.

In a fit of just, complete upset, Padme slaps Obi-Wan. And then she kisses him. She says she hates him. And he does nothing.

This takes place about thhhhhreeeeeeeee??? Months into their time on Tatooine, and for this whole time, Obi-Wan has really done nothing but exist on a cursory, polite surface level. He smiles because it is expected. He farms because he must. He wakes up and functions but he says absolutely nothing about what they’ve gone through.

And Padme cannot stand it anymore.

She feels like she’s on her own. And she tries to make him react. In this, I really wanted to show just how well suited Anakin and Padme were to each other. She likes Obi-Wan. She’s glad he’s with her, but she needs to see him hurt. Because she hurts.  She absolutely takes it WAY TOO FAR.

Obi-Wan turns inward in his pain. Padme explodes outward.

Well, she wants to.

But she CAN’T. Because she has the twins.

Obi-Wan gets to be an automaton, but Padme has to be a mother. She has to engage with Beru and Owen. She has to negotiate at the market. She has to feed, and clothe, and raise her children. She has to BE PRESENT ALL THE TIME. She doesn’t get to be numb.

Is it a comment on the division of emotional labour between men and women? Yyyyyes? But not in a derogatory way. Obi-Wan went through the same thing when Anakin was little and Qui-Gon died, but the difference is this time, Obi-Wan doesn’t have the purpose Padme has. She has the twins. Obi-Wan feels he is entirely superfluous.

This is all related to those messy emotions Lauren and Steph mentioned and which I really love to write. People – even good people – can be ugly. I love it. I truly believe there are no bad emotions, no bad traits. Everything evolved to keep you alive, to protect you. Obi-Wan protects himself with little cruelties. Padme lashes out.

I’m so happy the I hate you moment hit! I thought it was so sick. Had to do it. 

And emotions are also inconsistent, even if motivation or ideology remains stable. So like, the part where Padme looks at Obi-Wan sleeping and is very empathetic – she’s still centering herself. She’s looking at him from the perspective of a mother, and imagining his mother. She is kind and generous in her assessment of him and his suffering here, and at other times, but…

She’s very conscious of it. Obi-Wan is vulnerable in sleep. It’s easy to be kind then. And later, she has all of Anakin’s insight into Obi-Wan, and a lot more patience than Anakin ever had. She understands how Obi-Wan copes. She lets him do what he needs to.

But MONTHS pass. And she’s so tired of carrying it all. She runs out of patience.

Anyway. 

Anakin betrays them. And Padme can do nothing.

Obi-Wan leaves. And Padme can do nothing.

Padme is so frequently stripped of agency by circumstance, and you’re right – in canon, she fights that! She leaps into the fray and takes control.

But she has twins now. Her purpose, but also her burden.

She can’t join the Rebellion. Where would they go? How would they live? Who would take care of Luke and Leia?

If they go to Alderaan, they put a huge target on Bail and intense scrutiny on the Rebellion. They also bring themselves into direct contact with the Empire. If Vader got even a hint that Padme lived he would not stop until she was in his custody. If he knew he had kids? If he knew they were with Obi-Wan? It’s way too dangerous. They are a huge liability. She is a huge liability.

As Luke says, if there’s a bright spot in the galaxy then Tatooine is the place that’s furthest from it.

Tatooine is SAFE. Vader won’t go there, and the Empire doesn’t care about it. Is it run by the Hutts? Yeah. But better Hutts than the Empire, especially because the Hutts don’t care about the little people living day to day. Padme can give the kids a quiet, boring life on Tatooine. She can keep them safe.

And as she sorted the seeds from the sand in chapter one, THAT is her priority. Her kids. They have no one else, and furthermore, if their existence were known they would be targeted, captured, and killed – or worse. She wants to join the Rebellion. She would. But she can’t because she needs to keep Luke and Leia safe.

While Obi-Wan’s reason for staying on Tatooine is a passing on of legacy, and setting down the burden of war (he’s done his time), Padme’s reason for staying is a reassessment of her priorities. Hers is a maturation of responsibility. Sometimes, we can’t do what we want. It sucks. But we’re adults.

“Living in Squalor” though made me LAAAAAAUGH! You’re so right. 

Oh my gosh, she’s tandem carrying! That’s the term. Hahahaha, yeah, poor girl. Lots of tandem carrying, but once Obi-Wan’s back, they’re basically a two-parent household. Plus, the fic sees them building that community. There’s Korkie, there’s Boil, there’s Beru and Owen. Padme screams at Obi-Wan that she’s alone, but by the end she’s not.

And like, in terms of practicality, I think Owen? Obi-Wan? I think there’s mention of them “digging out the cellar”. The idea is that more than half the house is buried, but once they dig out the cellar and reinforce the walls down there, there’s a significant chunk of living space they can utitilise (ie. at least one, if not two bedrooms underground where it’s cooler like we see in the Lars house in ANH).

But yeah, babies in the haffa chest for now!

QUAINT CABIN NOT SQUALOR! 

Lastly, Owen and Beru! Ahahahahaha, I’m so happy Lauren and Steph were charmed by them. And I love their insight on the inversion of protection. In canon, Obi-Wan is there protecting them, but in Eternal Spring, the Lars’ are very much protecting Obi-Wan (and Padme). I thought that was really insightful. God, I love clever readers!

I just quickly wanted to touch on Owen’s grudge against Obi-Wan because yeah, it’s totally silly. I imagine Owen as being very typically masculine, and Tatooine culture being pretty big into gender-roles, though the expression of those roles may not fall directly in line with gender presentation (but that’s another topic).

Anyway, Owen is a dude’s dude. A guy’s guy. You know - a Man™. 

And Obi-Wan is………SO SOFT.

This dude comes into Owen’s house with Trauma. He’s soft-spoken, and polite. He doesn’t speak much, and when he does it’s with a cut-glass accent that sounds so out of place. He listens without interrupting, he doesn’t make ribald jokes. 

And he’s got magic powers.

There are ten thousand Jedi in the entire galaxy. Owen met Anakin once, and he went off the deep end.

Obi-Wan freaks him out. He’s so weird. He is not the kind of person Owen knows how to deal with, and he’s certainly not the kind of guy Owen can relate to. And Beru says to be gentle. Gentle? On Tatooine?

As we see when he’s coaching Padme, Owen doesn’t believe that gentleness or mercy have any place out here. 

The secret is, Owen’s SUPER SOFT underneath. And Beru knows this. Hence why she keeps encouraging Owen to take care of Obi-Wan, to bring him out to mingle with other people. Beru sees that Obi-Wan is collapsing in on himself, and is trying to get Owen to draw him out.

When he nearly dies, Owen is more angry that they almost died. Not at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan is just a convenient punching bag because he doesn’t punch back. If he did, Owen would know how to respond – he’d buy him a drink, and shake his hand.

I think, underneath, Owen really likes Obi-Wan (and we see this at the end when he’s jealous that Obi-Wan went to visit his blood brother, AtasOWEN – an alternate Owen, and also a reference to the old Legends lore that Owen Lars was Kenobi’s half-brother). Owen wants to be Obi-Wan’s family, and he gives him the gift of brotherhood (he tells the whole town that they’re related to protect him, yes, but also because he’s claiming that title). It’s very much one of those “Hey! No one gets to pick on my idiot brother, except me!”

The same way he is gruff and blunt to Luke in ANH, Owen is the same way with Obi-Wan. “Too much of his father in him.” Too much of Anakin in everyone for Owen’s taste. 

But that, again, is on the author to make clear! All these lessons. I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity to listen to such a generous and in-depth analysis of my fic. It’s been fun, informative, and genuinely really instructive in the most supportive and uplifting way.

I highly recommend everyone check out One Hell of a Fanfic here, or on Spotify. Thank you so much for reading my fic, and until next time…

May the Force be with you!

[auntie-venom]

Will of Fate

Chapter Five

Fandom: Star Wars: The Mandalorian

Story Rating: Explicit

Chapter Rating: Mature

Characters: Din Djarin x Original Female Character

Summary: There hasn’t been an unidentified spacecraft in the stratosphere of Arkadia in over two decades, let alone three in one day. Those skilled or mad enough to venture into the Chaos unguided were few and far between. That means no one has ever made it to Arkadia who wasn’t intending to be here.

Until today.

or

Din Djarin finds an unmapped planet filled with beings who have the same powers as the Child, but know nothing of the force or the Jedi.

Chapter Summary: Din, Eziriel, and The Child continue to make their way towards civilization and Eziriel reflects on her new companions.

Word Count - 3,602

Chapter Warnings: None

Will of Fate Masterlist

Read on Ao3

A/N: It is a shorter chapter, but I like having whimsical moments. I am probably going to have to only post every other week from now on due to real life stuff picking up. I believe 2/5ths of the first arc is complete, I haven’t decided if this is going to be broken down by series or all into this fic, I guess we will see.

Feedback and critique is welcome, I am trying to get better. Reminder this is unbeta-ed. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter five

The Mandalorian is already up and wiping down his blaster by the time Eziriel blinks awake. That brisk morning air makes her throat ache and nose run and it reminds her of being young and camping here with Amarian. While Azure Falls is her favorite place to camp when she is in this part of the woods, the cave makes for a very uncomfortable place to sleep when all you have is a singular bedroll to separate you from the cold stone ground. She brought two bedrolls to cushion nights in the wild on this trip, but she gave her spare one to Mando.

She stretches underneath her cloak wincing at the aches in her back. Mando doesn’t acknowledge her from where he sits near the mouth of the cave. Across the cave’s opening she had put up a particle shield she had modified to have a programmable shape between five nodes. It was a prototype but has been doing a great job of keeping out unwanted things.

Mando had tested it the night before with rocks, his body, and then his blaster which made her jump at the unexpected shot. He then nodded at it like it was a worthy opponent. Eziriel made notes about the spontaneous quality testing of the prototype in her HolOmni with excitement.

“Maker, I could use a caf,” Eziriel mumbles out with a hoarse voice. She sits up and wraps her cloak tighter around her as she watches the outside world grow brighter through the semi-transparent shield.

“It was very disappointing not having breakfast to wake up to again this morning,” he says dryly. “You are slacking at your hosting duties.”

It takes her a second to catch that he is teasing. That dry deadpan delivery hitting that much harder with the expressionless helmet. It makes her chest swell with joy at the show of his sense of humor.

“I beg your forgiveness, Lord Lori, that I did not wake with the cresting sun to deliver you the ever delectable morning ration packet,” she mocks with a hand flourished partial bow.

He gives a quick exhale with what she assumes is his version of laughter before he stands up to hand her a ration packet and her canteen. She had shown him the bag where she stored them and gave him permission to get whatever he needed whenever he needed from it. She offered it mostly because she was worried the little green toddler would wake up hungry in the middle of the night, but feeding himself when he felt secure was just as well. He leans against the wall across from her as she eats from her bedroll.

“Breakfast in bed? Mando, you sure know how to treat a lady,” she quips up at him with a smirk.

“Hmmm,” he responds.

The whooshing sound of the pram opening cuts off whatever he was about to say and a childlike voice rings out, “Ehhh?”

Hungry. Happy. Hungry.

Eziriel smiles at the younglings' projected feelings as Mando goes to take care of the child. He had so much joy when she was able to share her feelings with him yesterday evening. It must have been a long time since he was around someone with a Will. Or the Force, she reminds herself of the foreign word the Mandalorian used.

She wishes she is able to communicate more clearly with the child, maybe even share memories, but she isn't as disciplined in the psyche part of her Will. She is only able to do the deep mind sharing with people she is very familiar with. She often used her close relationship with her brother to torment him while in important, but boring, meetings. Projecting silly thoughts and rude images all in an effort to see if his facade cracked. He would always scold her but never hid his amusement that she caused.

She knows some people on Arkadia have immense Will of the mind; completely able to pull any thought from anyone who isn’t shielding themselves. Sometimes they even have the ability to influence another’s mind into bending to their will. Those who are naturally gifted in that way are often encouraged to join the Infiltrator Division. Those talented with the Will of mind excel at the espionage and investigative focused career.

The child catches her eye and grins at her with a mouthful of food that Mando had just given him. She feels an inquisitive pulse from him. She wonders if this is his way of asking how she is, so she returns the smile and projects a content aura of happiness towards him. He giggles, closes his eyes, and holds his hand out at her and she feels her cloak being lifted towards him.

She chuckles and makes her way toward him while Mando shakes his head at the kid’s antics. “He certainly lets you know what he wants, huh?”

“He’s never been shy about his demands,” Mando says with a level of affection in his raspy voice.

“So the use of our Will’s abilities are rare in Galactic Space?” She questions once she settles a hand on the child’s head, making him giggle when she bobs his head back and forth gently with it.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before I met him,” Mando says, shaking his head.

“It is bizarre that something so second nature to Arkadians is nonexistent anywhere else. Our Will is just another limb to us, an extension of one’s own body,” she says, focusing her Will to roll up her vacated bedroll.

“And seeing it is nothing short of magic to me,” he states, giving the last of the meal to the child.

They pack up their stuff onto the speeder bike while the kid hops from rock to rock, burning the built up energy he restored from his sleep. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits regardless of the uncomfortable night sleep. Mando even allowed a moment of trust by leaving Eziriel to watch the child as he stepped away to relieve himself instead of taking the child with him like he did yesterday.

“Eziriel?” The gruff modulated voice rings out from the direction he disappeared to.

“Lori?” She answers with cheek, turning to see his shiny armor glint in the tree line.

“There are fresh tracks over here.” He tips his head in indication to where he is referring to. She picks up the kid and walks over to him. “I figured since I was blessed to have an experienced guide I’d let her take care of it.”

His callback to her teasing brag from yesterday made her snort as she made her way towards him. After the first night in the beacon station of feeling each other’s intentions out, Eziriel just assumed this man was just gonna be another boring serious person for her to wind up. He originally came across as the type a person who she could fluster and frustrate for her enjoyment; and from her playful prodding yesterday he still is someone she can wind up, but she did not expect him to start bantering back and it’s made her morning. She is really enjoying the dry snark of this man.

She hands him the kid and looks down at the tracks he found. There were plenty of them, indicating to her that it’s possibly a small pack. She finds one of the clearer imprints and squats down to investigate. The print, longer than the length of his forearm and definitely canine in shape. She knew these tracks, every Arkadian kid raised on myths knew these tracks.

“Looks like a pack of Will-striders. Wolves,” she clarifies at his questioning head tilt. “They were probably curious about us. They are very smart creatures and are usually shy if they are alone, but can be vicious if they become desperate.”

“Those are wolf prints?” He points to the markings. “How big are your wolves?”

“I’ve seen some taller than you,” she says with a shrug. “Legend has it that Arkadians would ride Will-striders into battle, but now they roam the wilds of Arkadia hunting little beasts and sometimes escorting lost travelers. There are some gorgeous pure white ones in the southern hemisphere.”

“Your people domesticated them?”

“Not really, more of an understanding of trust through each other’s Will. With the advancement of technology, not many people practice the art of animal handling with their Will anymore,” she explains while she leads them back to the speeder.

“You can do more than move stuff with your…Will?” He hesitates with the word.

“Yeah,” she says with a nod. “Like with any skill, it’s all about what you develop. Most people can read emotions off of other beings and project their own to others.”

“That’s how you knew he was hungry,” he comments and she smiles and nods in confirmation. He is far more insightful than she originally thought.

“Some people can focus their Will enough to hear surface level thoughts too. I can only do that to people I intimately know since their minds are less guarded when they are around someone familiar.

“We have those who can heal with it, some who can persuade with it, and a few of our fiercest Enforcers throughout history could summon lightning. There is plenty more you can do with it if you have the patience and discipline,” she finishes with a shrug.

He looks down at the toddler in his arms. “He can do that,” he says softly. “The healing, I mean.”

Her eyebrows raise in shock. “That is remarkable. I’ve never heard of someone that young wielding that skill.”

He doesn’t respond as he tries to put the toddler into his pram, but the child is fussing up a storm. He keeps crying and putting his body on the lip of the pram so Mando can’t close it. She feels the frustration coming off them both in waves. Mando heaves a heavy sigh at the child’s antics.

“Come on kid, we have to go,” Mando says exasperated but still full of paternal patience.

Eziriel takes the two front panels of her cloak, crosses them in front of her body, and ties them against her lower back. She reaches for the kid, checking with Mando to make sure she isn’t overstepping. He gives her a nod and she plucks him from the pram and places him in the cross section of the cloak. The tension of the fabric holding him snuggly to the front of her body as his head looks out from the v of the cross section. The child looks up at Mando with a pleased grin.

“Are you okay with him riding like this?” She asks. “I used to do this with my niece all the time when she was smaller, but I’d understand if you feel uncomfortable. He just doesn’t want to be in his pram anymore.”

“Or he has discovered that you will dote on him if he plays his cards right,” he says, reaching out to run a finger along one of the kid’s giant ears causing the child’s smile to grow.

“Well, that’s the joy of not being a parent. I can spoil all the kids I want and get away with it,” she says up at him with a grin. “You’re lucky I don’t stuff him full of sugar and scary stories then send him home with you. That’s my usual modus operandi.”

He shakes his head at her and mounts the packed speeder. She follows suit and makes sure the kid is snugly in her cloak before taking off in the last stretch to home.

════════════════════════════════════

The green kid loves the speeder bike. He spends the ride giggling and pointing at things. Joy and excitement radiates off of him as his ears flapped in the wind while she maneuvers them through the forest.

Mando, however, was anxious. He sat much closer than he did the day before and kept looking over her shoulder to check on the child. She knows it wasn’t necessarily anxiety that he was feeling, but protectiveness; the anxiety manifesting from his acute form of alertness. She completely understood why he was doing this. She totally empathizes…

But it was distracting.

He was a large man and having his form pressing against her body, surrounding her, feeling the heat of his thighs around hers, made her stomach flutter in a way that she hasn’t put much attention towards in a while. This was definitely not the time to entertain that sort of thought. She has the potential planet-endangering saboteur and the passage sponsorship of the Mandalorian and his little green son to focus on, she couldn’t have the soft fickle thoughts of carnality right now.

She can’t help but to admit she has enjoyed the unplanned presence of the two offworlders, so she isn’t too bothered about the prospect of sponsoring them. The stoic Mandalorian was fun to tease and dry wit continues to be delightful whenever he rose to her barbs. His child is nothing short of adorable with his big dark eyes framed by even larger ears and inquisitive nature. They made an odd pairing, but the juxtaposition was quite charming.

Eziriel is very curious about this child’s origins and the Mandalorian’s noble journey to reunite him with his people. The more she thinks about the word “Jedi” the more she feels like she has heard the word, but she can’t place where. She wonders how long the child has been separated from them and how Mando found him. She has a lot of questions but she could tell that the Mandalorian would clam up if she prodded too much, but she kept all her mental focus on him when he spoke to her in order to glean anything from him. So far he has been honest in all of their discussions and she appreciates it.

The toddler was a special enigma. Eziriel has never seen a person quite like the child before. His use of his Will to manipulate the objects around him were on track for someone his age, but if what Mando said was true about his ability to heal then that means this child is a tremendously powerful being. She knew some species were naturally more attuned to their Will and this might be the case with this child.

Keeping her emotions in a state of projection so the kid can feel her was wearing her out quicker than usual. It was natural for her to have mental walls up since she has to deal with more political figures than she liked with her job and keeping them down took some concentration, but feeling the happiness that she caused the kid by just sharing feelings was worth the additional focus and slight headache. He must have been so lonely with no one to communicate with on this level.

With the way Fate’s Will surrounds all living things Eziriel uses it to be hyper-aware when traveling in the wilds and right when they are cresting a hill she feels a shift in the woods. She is jarred when Mando taps the outside of her thigh twice and says something she can’t hear but can feel rumble across her back. She pulls over at the tree line before the dip into the valley and cuts the engine. Something was off and it seems they both felt it.

“I missed what you said,” she says as she dismounts and looks at him.

“I said ‘those trees are moving,’” he repeats, getting off the speeder and pointing over to the other side of the valley from where they stood.

Over the tree line she notices the gentle rise and fall of treetops. Branches and leaves bobbing above the tree line like a cork in a slow moving stream.

“Oh!” She exclaims, grabbing Mando’a hand and dragging him to duck behind a boulder for cover. He follows suit with a wave of concern reaching her from him. She peaks over the top of the boulder to keep an eye on the procession.

“It’s the pilgrimage of the treefolk,” she whispers as the first of a dozen gargantuan tree creatures steps through the tree line to make their way into the valley. All similar in their bark covered bodies but different in sizes, leaves, limbs, and knots. They were very odd creatures for sure, and it was usually best to leave them be when they were awake.

“Every handful of years the treefolk gather to create fertile spores to raise where they plant themselves for the following couple of years,” she continues, lifting herself so the cooing kid up to see the creatures. “So long as we don’t—“

She feels the Mandalorian firmly grab her, interrupting her warning, and push her behind him with her back against the rock. One hand had the blaster up while the other hovered outstretched behind him to keep her covered as a creaking treefolk stretched awake in front of them. Mando backed up further, eliminating any distance between her and his body. Her heart pumps with adrenaline at the prospect of a possible altercation and she knows she has to try to keep the peace.

She reaches out and places her hand on the bicep of the arm holding the blaster and whispers gently, “They aren’t aggressive so long as they aren’t threatened. Don’t attack or cut down any of their kin.”

He lowers the blaster but does not put it away or move from the protective stance he has placed himself in. The treefolk stretches their rooted legs out of their current home and stands to their full height. A rough groan is pulled from their body as they raise their knotted limbs high in the air. The creature turns around to face them huddled against the rock and she watches Mando bend his knees to shift his balance to his toes in preparation for an attack. The gnarled bark face of the treefolk looks down at them and says something in a guttural language that neither of them understand.

Curiosity.

Ezirial steadies her breathing as she catches the emotion rather easily. She knows the treefolk were Willful creatures and some level of communication could be done with them, but she has never seen one awake like this before. The ones she has come across have always been asleep, indistinguishable from normal trees until you reached your will out.

She steps around Mando’s arm and he grabs her forearm to try and keep her in his vicinity. She lets him keep her close as she looks at the treefolk and sends a peaceful aura towards the being. The treefolk’s head tilts as he leans down to get a better look at them and she feels Mando’s grip tighten on her arm. The child in her cloak lets out a hum and Eziriel feels the burst of joy from him.

“Easy,” she whispers to the spike of anxiety Mando lets out as the creature leans closer to the child. She hears the Mandalorian’s modulated breath quicken the closer the treefolk gets.

The toddler holds out his hand towards the treefolk and a giant hand with an extended finger slowly closes the distance. With a level of unexpected gentleness the being allows the child to grasp its finger causing the child to coo and chatter up at the creature. The treefolk lets out a truly unnerving staccato noise that could only be a laugh based on the delight coming off of them.

“It’s fine, we’re fine. We’re just sharing our emotions,” she explains with a stiff whisper to the man still gripping her. She hopes her nervousness isn’t notable in her voice but she has gathered that the Mandalorian is very perceptive.

“Oh, great,” he dryly whispers back.

The treefolk pulls their hand away from the curious child and the twining branches that make up the appendage bloom dozens of purple blossoms. Eziriel holds her breath as the being holds his hand above the group and gently shakes the blossoms free to rain upon them.

“Ooooooh,” the toddler says at the spectacle, catching some in his hands. The treefolk then stands to their full height and slowly makes their way towards the procession of their kin.

The Mandalorian releases a sigh of relief and holsters his blaster once the being is out of sight. She glances at him with a small look of amusement when she notices the blue flowers stuck to his cape.

“If you wanted to hold my hand, my lovely Lori, all you had to do was ask.” She shakes her arm that he still grasps and he drops it immediately. Her hand tingles as the blood flow returns, no longer held back by the tight grip.

“You had my ward attached to you and you seem the type to get into trouble,” he says with a sigh.

“Ha!” She exclaims dramatically as she sets the kid down to play in the flowers. “Astute assessment. Look at you getting to know me!”

She scoops some of the flowers and gently snows it down on the smiling kid. When Mando tries to walk back to the speeder she grabs his arm and he turns to face her.

“Another thing you should know about me, I’d never knowingly endanger any child. Children are precious and must be protected,” she says with a voice filled with sincerity. He stares at her before nodding and she goes back to playing in the flowers with the kid while he gathers rations for lunch, all the while keeping a sharp eye on the pair.

<<  Chapter Four

Chapter Six >>

[sonic-fairyspell]

Sorry. Wrong again. The Jedi got kids from Getting permission from the parents, or have we forgotten Shmi gave her permission and also the Rodian Mother from the Children of the Force episode? She gave her permission too. And How about the little Gungan girl in the same episode? At no point is there any implication she's going to the Temple. And as for how the Jedi treated the kids? They're treated very well? Taught lots of things, treated like family, so idk what you're on about there. Anakin made the choices that benefited him, no one else and lost everything because of his selfishness. He had lots of options. Like telling Yoda what his visions were about instead of being vague. They would have helped him if they knew, and they didn't because Anakin didn't use his words, not listening to the Sith lord, for example. And sure, he had consequences. (And on the note of Leia, she doesn't have to forgive or accept anything about him. he doesn't deserve it)

And no, the Jedi did not contribute to they "end" (Its a Genocide. Lead by Anakin. Not an "end", or a "defeat", or a "fall"). They were not "distant" from the people. There's only so many of them, they can't put out all the galaxies fires (10,00 Jedi to Trillions throughout the galaxy. They were not serving a corrupt system "blindly". They knew and could see what was going on in the Senate. But the Jedi are not politicians, there's nothing they can do to change it. That comes from the Senators within doing the right thing. And leaving isn't an option for they, cause then they wouldn't be able to help anyone. The Clones were drafted. Not slaves. Lucas was very clear it was akin to a draft. Is the Clones situation fucked up? yes. But that's not the Jedi's fault. That's Palpatine and the Senate. Technically speaking, the Senate/Republic "owns" the Clones. As for "selling out their morals", that was again a situation orchestrated by Palpatine. Their choice was do nothing, and let the Clones by led by people like Tarkin who don't give a shit about them, or led them themselves, and try to save/protect as many as possible; and in addition to that its also sit out and let innocent people die, or step in and save as many as possible from the CIS army. (Also, the Jedi treated the Clones the best out of all the other groups in Star Wars. And also Palpatine forcefully drafted the Jedi too. Again no choice) As for Shaak Ti was arguing over who owned the Clones, the Kaminoans were literally trying to kill/memory wipe Fives in that moment. Shaak used the Kaminoans language and sentiment (ie. that the Clones are "products" and are "owned") to save him)

Also, "selling out their morals" implies Jedi getting something out of the war, they didn't though.

It's a point that the Jedi didn't.

Their peaceful ideals were "abandoned" because, again they had no choice in the matter. Mace Windu even tried to tell Palpatine they are peacekeepers, not soldiers. They didn't want to be soldiers. And I've already covered how riana-one was incorrect in another reblog, so I won't recover it here. To finish, you're blocked. Get your Anti-Jedi bullshit off my blog. We're Pro-Jedi here.

Bye!

The Jedi did nothing wrong. They didn't ""steal"" kids. They did not deserve to be fucking murdered. They weren't responsible for their genocide. They are not at fault for Anakin's Fall. They did everything they could do to help people. Anakin is responsible for his of his own actions and choices. That includes his choice to Fall and aid Palpatine instead of stop him, his choice to lead the mind controlled Clones into the Temple, his choice to lead the genocide of the Jedi, his choice to be literally the worst person in the galaxy, murder more people, and help lead and enforce the fascist Empire. Those were his choices, his actions. Not the Jedi's. Don't like it? Too bad, that's was the movies and shows literally show.

[rexismycopilot]

You're so cute! I am open for suggestions, I don't really have an idea what I want to read.

Just tell me about a story that you want to reread and why and that's probably enough for me to read it too.

I am pretty sure I read all of your stories but I don't mind reading them again for a fourth time.

Okay, I'll give you a mix of some fics I really love and I'll split them up into categories so you can choose based on your mood haha.

Padawan gen fics (a lot are discipline... okay, you know who you're asking, right?):

Truants and Trains by @adaliak and @peachybitters - Sometimes padawans just need to blow off a little steam. But when Obi-Wan Kenobi skips class at the Temple to go into the city with Quinlan Vos, they might end up learning a different type of lesson.

A Mountain Retreat by @peachybitters - Obi-Wan and his young Padawan, Anakin, go to stay with friends in the mountains of Alderaan. Anakin learns to love snow, and finds new ways to get himself into trouble. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned, and a lot of fun is had along the way.

When the Master's Away... by @adaliak (not technically a discipline fic, but it has vibes) - When Obi-Wan goes out, leaving Anakin alone, the mischievous Padawan decides to flaunt all his master's rules. As always with Anakin, disaster ensues.

qui-gon jinn and his two disaster children by @dells-bells - Obi-Wan Kenobi defeated the Sith Lord Darth Maul, an extraordinary and heroic act which earned him promotion from Padawan learner to Jedi Knight. Qui-Gon Jinn survived his near-brush with death, and after much deliberation and some reluctance, the Jedi Council granted him permission to take on the training of the young Anakin Skywalker as his new Padawan learner.

Obikin:

yesterday's jam by @rhymenoceros - “IT, Anakin speaking -”

“It’s Obi-Wan, I’m terribly sorry but the printer seems to have disconnected, I tried doing what you told me -”

Ahsoka picks up the small whiteboard on her desk and writes 0 days since last Kenobi visit as Anakin smiles and says, “Be there in five!”

Needing Attention by DreamingMoonlight - Anakin had asked for this.

Spank the Dark Side out of Anakin Skywalker (obianidala) by @dilfdarthvader - in which anakin (consensually) gets the dark side spanked out of him by his two lovers-- with fluff and angst mixed in

Put My Mind at Ease by @storiesofchaos - in which the war is over in favor of the Republic, and Anakin can't wait to finally get fucked by his Daddy again.

Permanent Ink by @sopherfly - Modern Tattoo/Teacher AU! Teacher Obi-Wan is looking to get a few more tattoos. When he chooses single father Anakin as his artist (or does fate choose for him?), he gets more than he bargained for.

Smoke Me and Never Quit Me by @edge-ofnight - In his last semester at university, Anakin and his professor share and bond over the same bad habit.

[growup-thatbeautiful]

Clone Wars Character on TikTok

Anakin- Poor Anakin, man does not have a that many creative ideas, but his life and ideas are strange enough that he gets a lot of followers easily. He’s also almost constantly videoing things too, so he’s able to get real time. There are so so many videos showing the reactions that Obi-Wan has because of his dumbass plans.

Everyone, literally everyone, thought he was an f-boy until he made a post, super confused, saying that he has a wife?? That he loves so much? So, coincidentally, the next videos he posts are him and his wife, who doesn’t show her face but there’s a poll going on about who it is. Most people have figured it, though, because some of his videos are him just listening to Mrs. Skywalker rant about people in the Senate when she comes home to him.

He also tries to convince everyone that he’s the best husband in the world by videoing himself cooking her dinner, which he always burns. In those videos, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, staples on Anakin’s account, are heard in the background giving him absolutely terrible advice on how to fix it. They usually end up with burnt pans and a whole bunch of frantic clips of Obi-Wan trying to turn off the oven, “My dear, your time is up.” And Anakin in the background “Force, that’s not going to kriffing work, Master. I’m coming in with the water gun.” (No one questions why there’s a water gun.) Ahsoka is just….chilling in the background. She’s just as clueless as the rest of them, but it’s funnier to watch them almost burn down Padame’s kitchen before she tries to step in and make things worse.

Ahsoka-Her feed is a more controlled chaos than Anakin’s, but chaos nonetheless. She does a lot of dance challenges with Fives, and is sometimes able to rope in Anakin, who tries really hard but is terrible at it, and Rex, who doesn’t actually dance and just stands there staring at the camera. There was one time she got Obi-Wan to do it with her, and he absolutely crushed it. All that grace has to help him somewhere else, right? Because she does dance videos, though, sometimes she get inappropriate comments or duets, which Rex, Obi-Wan, Plo, Fives, and Anakin all duet or make a video about explaining that she’s a minor and how unacceptable this is. Well, that’s what every but Rex does. Rex won’t let anyone, anyone, talk to his little sister like that, so he makes a super menacing video of him cleaning his guns.

Needless to say, she does a lot of videos with Rex. They do a lot of random videos of their conversations and pointless arguments. They also do so a lot of competitions with each other, rather it’s staring contests or sparring matches. Their sparring match videos are actually super popular, and they get more and more intense and complicated as they go on. There are never any weapons involved, but they get to show off combat skills and have huge fights across the ship or compound. Their usually filmed by a hysterical Anakin or Fives. Obi-Wan has made his disapproval clear, but there’s a video on Ahsoka’s account of him betting on the outcome.

Obi-Wan- Mostly on Cottagecore TikTok and posts aesthetic videos of him meditating, making fancy, pretty tea drinks, or any other mundane thing he does. He also posts self-defense videos to teach people how to protect themselves, and gives tips of how to use the force and how to help meditate. I think he posts once a week, but posts a bunch at one time because he’ll have one day of silence where he can get stuff for himself done. Basically, his account is to comfort people, to help people, in perfect Obi-Wan fashion.

He also posts encouraging videos to cheer people up when they need it. Cute messages like “Today’s going to be a good day” with that award winning Negotiator smile that get galaxy wide comments and duets. Sometimes the messages border on him illegally sharing decisions that the Senate’s made, like when he announced on his feed that a certain Planet should get ready to party because a certain vote had gone a certain way.

Sometimes, though, he posts videos of Ahsoka, Anakin, or Cody doing incredibly stupid things. It’s become a series, he shows the person do or say the stupidest things, and then he zooms in on someone else’s face. The most common duo is Anakin and Rex, but sometimes there’s Waxer and Cody, once or twice, Obi-Wan and Cody.

Rex- He doesn’t post a lot, and when he does he’s usually not really in them. People only know him specifically because he’s in so many of Ahsoka’s videos. His are mostly “the stuff I have to deal with videos” showing petty fights between some of the 501st or some animal that a soldier decided they wanted to sneak into the ship. That, of course, lead to a blowup on his account, so he started posting lots of content with his brothers. Ahsoka has the notion that he’s doing it to help the way people see Clones, but he does seem to enjoy it a lot.

He, like Obi-Wan, posts hand to hand combat training video to help people in the galaxy, put his training to more use. He makes sure to show how to hold your first in a punch, how to safely clean a blaster, how to take a punch. Some of his posts are to teach people about clones and mando’a traditions. But he’s not all serious. He likes making videos of him and his brothers when they go out to do things for fun or they go out to 79’s.

This one might be a bit far fetched, but I think he would also post videos of him and Ahsoka doing mundane things together, repainting their armour, making bracelets or some stuff on the floors of the bunks during hyperspace. It’s calmer than what Ahsoka posts, and purposely so.

Fives-Oh man. Fives’ account is a wreck. Half of the videos are him running away from something he’s done and the other half are him running into things that he shouldn’t about to be doing. Shakily filmed, someone (usually himself) screaming in the background, you can hear him panting and out of breath. A lot of the times Anakin is with him or chasing after him, and as you can almost always hear Rex cursing and yelling at them to stop, especially if they haven’t done the thing yet because that means they have a plan. When Fives has a plan it ends up being worse than when he makes it up on the spot. 

He also posts videos of him giving people in the streets compliments, because he’s sweet like that. He usually gets pretty funny reactions most of the time, and the few times they’re bad reactions he simply flips the camera and grimaces, then, of course, starts laughing because he’s not going to let one person put him down.

He also has a series of him painting the Bi flag all over the ship and waiting to see people’s reactions. The cutest was that one time Ahsoka walked past and ran her fingers along it softly and smiling. Also notable was the time Obi-Wan caught him midway through and just pretended he didn’t see him. All of those are posted with the persons permission, of course.

Aayla and Bly- They share an account where they do ALL of the couple-y stuff. Any couples challenge that they’re asked to do, they do. It’s hard to do the challenges like “You could’ve been nicer to me today” because they’re both on it all the time and have definitely heard of it, but they make do with all kinds of others. Aayla and Bly are definitely one of those couples that adopts all the kids that follow their account, and they’re ready to fight anyone who says anything bad the Clones or the Jedi.

There’s also a large amount of videos that some of the 327th takes of them cuddling together, training together, polishing weapons together. Basically, their account is them being cute and the rest of the 327th either being incredibly supportive of them or gagging at all the PDA. They start a trend where they go up in front of random people around the ship and start making out to get the reaction. Some examples of the best reactions are franticly running outside of the room, slapping Bly across the back of the head, and wild cheering.

Cody: You’re kidding, right? He does not have time to do the TikTok, nor does he understand TikTok at all. He is in most of Obi-Wan’s videos, and he’s sometimes in Rex’s too. Most of the time he’s telling all of them not to do whatever they’re about to do, or he’s sitting on the floor and crying with Rex.

Anakin actually started making videos called “When you see your dad and your other dad be romantic.” Where it’s just him finding Obi-Wan and Cody doing cute things in random places, followed by Anakin or Ahsoka making faces at the camera.

Plo- Parent side of TikTok for sure. His account features so many, so many, videos of him doing fun things with the 104th. He may seem like an extremely serious man, but put him with all of his kids and has almost no impulse control. They ask to stop at that restaurant they saw on the way to their mission, and he makes it happen. Everyone pretends not to notice because they wouldn’t dare go against him.

This account is also mostly run by everyone in the 104th because A. Plo doesn’t have a password and B. That’s how they get a bunch of footage. The phone is passed around throughout the day, but all of the content focuses on the Plo’s Bros relationships. Anything that he does, from giving a shiny a thumbs up when he comes up with a new plan, to teaching some of the older clones who are a little overworked how to take deep breaths. All the followers also a learn the Plo is absolutely terrible at any kind of card games, which is shown when they post video after video of the bets he looses.

Next for Star Wars I’ll be doing Bad Batch, then, because this got so long, I’ll do one with some more characters! Sorry it’s so long, this ran away from me a bit.

Some clone wars beautiful mutuals @radbatch (Who is the absolute best person to talk to about Ahsoka ever period end of story) of course and @maiseey (Who is now my my mutual? How?)

[phoenixyfriend]

Thoughts on “Auntie Soka and Little Leia” now that I’ve actually got it posted:

Call it a director’s cut! The process of actually writing the thing, and also jokes made along the way. Link to the actual fic.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the energy for image descriptions, even the text screenshots. Might come back that later. Most of this was DMs with @atagotiak​.

This was an entire thing before I even started writing:

Before I decided on ages and stuff Ahsoka, to Jango, who has had zero contact with Kaminoans: Okay I know I'm a Jedi kid so you hate me but this toddler is your clone from the future. Jango, tired: What the FUCK are you talking about. Rex, barely able to talk: Don't you dare leave me with him, Commander! Ahsoka: I'm not going to leave you I just--I'm so tired I'm so fucking tired I haven't slept in five days and someone tried to kidnap Leia two days ago I am so fucking tired I need help

Ben: [twenty years of depression followed by a 'now I'm safe' breakdown over the course of weeks] Sokari: [whatever the FUCK this mess is]

When Ahsoka mentions there only being three other Jedi at the time of her death,  I was thinking Kanan, Yoda, and Obi-Wan (Leia told her about the latter two living past her). She's not counting anyone that received training after the Temple fell, and she didn’t know about Cal.

When Leia says  “I was adopted and raised by one of the founders of the rebellion, a movement built on the desire to instate freedom and democracy in a galaxy that had lost even the pretense.”

Depa: I'm no therapist but I diagnose you with "incredibly fucked up." Ahsoka: yeah, that’s fair

"Why did you pick Depa for--" She's pretty and I'm gay. Also because of the Kanan thing But mostly I'm gay "It's not a visual medi--" GAY

Empty of context beyond general post-fic AU: "Hey Sokari, we need to engage in psychological warfare against this individual and--" "I'm going to break into his office and leave a threatening note on his desk and leave no other sign that I was there. He'll see that his security is nothing and the only reason he isn't dead is because I'm too nice to kill him." "...okay, not what we were planning, but that works. Why is that your first choice?" "I really like breaking and entering, it's soothing." Ben just standing there with a bland smile like This Is Normal.

"We need someone to infiltrate a highly guarded facility in hostile territory." "So we're sending the Torrent kids?" [sigh] "We're sending the Torrent kids."

Rex and Sokari insist on both going by "Torrent" even though Rex could be a Fett. Jango really wants him to be a Fett. Rex has too many grudges to agree to being a Fett for... a while.

I really hope it's blatantly obvious that Ahsoka's not a reliable narrator for some things Ahsoka: Fett could care less if I died Jango: jfc even if you are older than me I can see you're fucked up. Drink your hot chocolate. Hells. She's got good reason to expect him to hate her as a Jedi! BUT. THAT IS NOT REFLECTIVE OF REALITY

We don’t get a lot of actual characterization for Jango, but the way I played him out here is he has never really parsed that Jedi are people before all this. It's a lot harder to treat them as a monolith when the traumatized former child soldier is having regular breakdowns in your shitty little kitchen

Fett: I respect you Ahsoka: No, don't do that

Ahsoka’s vigilantism is something that, in my mind, she's associating heavily with Zygerria and then the clones.

I figured that she never bothered to learn Quinlan’s teacher’s name but in the process of looking up some basic facts (whether he had a surname), I found that Wookiepedia was forced to give us a VERY wide range of possible death in Legends.

Please take a moment to imagine Quinlan's FACE when Ahsoka initially dismisses him. Quinlan has put a lot of effort into being rogueishly charming! It's very useful for his line of work! He knows to expect either irritation or a return flirtation when he acts like this with people his own age! Ahsoka is not flustered OR rolling her eyes and insulting him, she's just ignoring him and it's a bit of a blow to the ego

This just makes me really happy:

This was the initial comment I made, as a joke What if Maul is just. There. On one of the planets they make a pitstop at. What if Maul exists as the walking problem he is, but fifteen, and Ahsoka immediately tries to kick his ass and drag him back to Coruscant. I do not have room for this plot but What If

Despite not having room for this plot, I proceeded to write this plot.

Maul is kidnapped and it’s the best thing that ever happened to him HE'S FIFTEEN HE'S DUMB AS SHIT AND HAS A BAD ATTITUDE AND YEAH HE'S A DARKSIDER BUT HE'S FIFTEEN

Ahsoka: I sense... Maul [takes off sprinting] Rex: [immediately takes Jango's blaster and runs after her] Jango: Wait who Tholme: Who Quinlan: Who Jango: [looks at Leia] Leia: I don't know who that is either! Ahsoka, already wrestling a teenager to the ground: Oh no, you're a child, REX STUN HIM AND GRAB THE CUFFS, I'M SURE FETT OR THOLME HAS SOME

Fighting him isn't even legal, they have NO evidence of criminal wrongdoing, so first she needs to yell until he admits to something she can fight him about

Ahsoka: When I see Maul, it's on SIGHT Maul: WHO ARE YOU

Ahsoka: The Force didn't give me hands just to NOT throw them when I run into That Crafty Son Of A Bitch

Ben, when they arrive, after the tearful reunion: You... you brought Maul. Ahsoka: Well, yeah, he's fifteen and kinda dumb. I figured we could drag him here and force him into therapy, see what happens. Ben: I can't quite tell through the gag, but I think he's threatening to feed you your own spleen. Ahsoka: Lol, yeah.

Ben is absolutely on team "get Maul therapy" and will fight the Council on rehabilitating the baby Sith But also it's like. Here's your daughter! And your niece! And your daughter's QPP! Also your best friend, but baby, and his teacher, and the biological origin of a number of people you cared for deeply! AND ALSO THE GUY WHO SPENT LITERAL DECADES CRAVING YOUR DEATH, FOR SOME REASON

I just really want Ahsoka lovingly bullying Maul She gives him noogies and the horns don't protect him because girl has reinforced gloves

Maul's only allowed a low-power training saber and his fights with Sokari involve Much Taunting by her and Eventual Screaming by him, and everyone pops by to see: 1. Sokari doing the most absurd flips, for fun. 2. The bullshit that is ataru-shien reverse-grip jar'kai in the hands of someone who makes it work 3. What a Sith lightsaber form looks like 4. Just the general nonsense that is the way these two fight

Tia said “Wrt ridiculous flips. I'm remembering that time she beheaded four Kryst'ad at once.” and I just Rex brings up the quadruple beheading at one point to get someone to stop asking questions and the awkward, horrified silence almost makes him regret it. And then Sokari just snorts and makes a joke about how Rex once speared a slaver point-blank and everyone's just like hello??? "are you two okay" "no"

Maul absolutely starts crushing on Sokari after a 'sword under chin' moment and she's just very "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you're fifteen, bye" GO MAKE PUPPY EYES AT OBI-WAN OR SOMETHING

The crushes are the worst part of everything, really, she's an attractive young woman that can kick a lot of ass, and a lot of people are into that! Unfortunately, most of those people are a decade younger than she is, mentally, because all the people her actual age look at her and see a child on account of the 17yo body.

It’s almost a good thing she’s in no place mentally for a relationship.

I just want Ahsoka to wear beskar.... I think that would be Nice........

This AU is also what caused this post.

I'm deeply enamored by the idea that Ahsoka can win fights against "older" padawans pretty much unilaterally, even when they team up 2v1 And then she offers to fight 5v1 "But only if I have permission to fight dirty." Ben approves it, a horror show full of "I fought many wars and will scream in your face or kick you in the balls if that's what it takes" follows She wins. There are no permanent injuries, but her reputation certainly gets weirder. Nobody under the rank of Knight agrees to let her fight dirty again. She just lets that stand because, well, she's not actually a padawan, she's thirty-three.

I’m not going to write this but my brain was EVIL and suggested it:

IT WOULD BE REALLY SAD IDK maybe 9yo Anakin has nightmares about what's happening to baby Ahsoka because bullshit about time-traveling force bonds IDK ANYWAY he cries to Sokari about the nightmares and she's like "oh shit" and it's time to go rescue herself from motherfucker unlimited

It's either that or she's like, expecting to welcome mini-me aaaany day now, for like, several months, before she realizes Something Went Wrong. Anakin’s dreams could even start right as she’s starting to realize something’s off.

Obi-Wan has never had a padawan that doesn't at some point bite Even Luke will, when pushed

OH also once the twins get Baby's First Lightsaber (training sabers, not real kyber), Sokari begs to borrow them for a dumb joke and tells Rex to get on her shoulders for a "Grievous Greeting" and they do The Thing

Jango and Ahsoka wrt Quinlan is just “Do I need to beat him up for you” “You realize I’ve beaten up sith lords before?”

JANGO'S TRYING He's just. "Can we be friends? Can I--can I be the guy that just noticeably gets in the way of a creep on the subway so you can be more comfortable without someone making a scene? I'm fucking trying here, give me a hint."

We didn’t actually figure out Jango’s age until this point. The only reason Fett's age matters is for Quinlan making a Wild Oats quip after Jango says he didn't know about Rex until a few weeks ago, and Fett going "How old do you think I am? And how old do you think the kid is?" and Quinlan getting Very Awkward as he does the math. Rex overhears and lets Quinlan sweat for a bit before saying "I'm a genetically-modified clone someone grew in a tube, he didn't know or have reason to know until he saw me with Sokari." Which is like. Eight additional layers of WTF, obviously, but at least Jango gets to avoid awkward wild oats jokes

Like, you’d expect the rebuttal to be ‘he’s my brother just with a biiig age gap’ or ‘he’s my nephew’

I find it very unfortunate for Quinlan that I've decided his defining characteristic in this context is going to be repeatedly putting his foot in his mouth

He’s trying so hard but "That sounds like a cool thing, maybe I'll ask ab--and it's another fucking trauma."

I'm doing Ahsoka&Jango t w i c e (there’s another fic where I’m doing it)

It’s just a fun dynamic! So much resentful respect.

Like she's twenty seconds away from calling him a bitch at any given time and he's just there like "I don't like you but I do see you move like you're about to tell an entire building to get on their knees with their hands in the air and I can respect that" Also she's probably much less judgmental about using blasters than Obi-Wan is The Maul subplot actually started with me daydreaming about Ahsoka grabbing a blaster for Reasons

I like the idea of Jango just deciding the most Useful thing he can do is help teach the Smol how to fight. He's AWKWARD around Rex and Soka because he doesn't know if there's anything he CAN teach them.

I didn’t actually plan for Tholme to figure out the age thing, he just SAID it and I had to sit there like Wait.

Ahsoka, Rex & Leia: ahhh, children Tholme: you say that like you aren’t children

I liked getting to write Rex's little "I have worked with all of them, and they're all Terrible" He loves them But They once got stranded on a planet that didn’t exist and Ahsoka died and Anakin killed a god.

There was research and discussion as to whether Ahsoka could win against Tholme but seeing as she held her own against Vader, and fought Grievous at that physical age without dying, etc.... yeah, the only thing holding her back was her body not being what she was used to, and she’s had a few weeks go adjust.

“I miss being able to just jump off skyscrapers” is such a jedi thing

Jango: I'll take the gun back if he tries to leave, they can't get far before--WHAT THE FUCK He knows Jedi are scary but he’s still not really used to just how over the top ridiculous they are He knows how to deal with Jedi in battle, not Whatever The Fuck These People Are Doing

Rex isn't even a Jedi, he's just so used to working with them. “Oh yes time for free-falling without a parachute again, same shit as always.”

Tia: I’m imagining Jango freaking out and Quinlan and Tholme being like. Concerned but mostly exasperated Clearly if they’re jumping off buildings it must be serious? But jfc they could’ve maybe communicated a bit more?

Leia: I want to finish my juice Tholme: Quin, stay with her while we go figure out what those two are doing. Quinlan: Wait what

Jango: Oh now he’s jumping off a building too??? Tholme: Sokari, you are not registered! You can't legally jump out windows yet! Jango: What the hell is going on? Is this normal?

We don’t necessarily know how often Ahsoka and Maul ran into each other after Mandalore. There was the later thing on Malachor, but other than that I'm just going with the idea that they ran into each other every year or two and just went for the eyes like feral cats

Ahsoka: I need to kick ass and you're coming with me. Rex: Yeah, okay. [several minutes later] Rex: Whose ass are we kicking?

Ahsoka and Rex

Neloms aren’t a SW fruit to the best of my knowledge, I just wanted to mess around with lemons/melons

Jango: you didn’t think any of this through, did you? Rex: you were there, you know we didn’t "When the Jedi says to jump out a window, I jump out a window."

Tholme’s real composed about stalking the ancient nigh-mythical enemy of his people, very “Life is already so goddamn weird”

This fic has been so heavy on the trauma but then I introduce Maul and suddenly it's the worst kind of comedy Nobody is competent, everyone's a little dumb, the bad guy is just grocery shopping

My propensity for banter has turned this into a six-person buddy cop comedy about Maul buying grapes They spend a significant amount to time ineffectually stalking Maul before Quin suggests the sensible option Quinlan just "You remember this is my literal job and specialty right"

Ahsoka sees Maul and all her brain cells go out the window except "Fight good" Usually she doesn’t need to worry about doing things legally. Maybe she needs to worry about someone seeing her do illegal things but she spent the past 15 yrs in a place where her existing was illegal

I feel like he’s also maybe kinda wanting to reassert that yes he is competent. Bc like. Ahsoka’s been kinda condescending this whole time and also can beat everyone up so. It's not his fault that he's actually the youngest person there, but.

Jango is finding this whole being friendly to Jedi thing a lot more overwhelming than he thought it would be. And overwhelming in different ways.

Maul usually signifies things getting worse and more horrifyingly tragic but he's just a dumb teen that they needed to arrest for his own good.

Quinlan: Look, I'm useful! Ahsoka: I've been through hell, wanna hear? Quinlan: NO. I DON'T. WHY.

Quinlan: I understand the concept of joking about your traumas, I do it sometimes myself! But sith hells that’s a lot of trauma.

Quinlan just wanted her to treat him as a Competent Individual, and here she is whipping out stories about Dying and Gods and the Force insists it's the truth and he just???? And apparently emo darksider over there is a Sith. And just, sure. Why not

A lot of people’s interactions with the time travelling disaster lineage is just

Tholme and Fett arguing and  Ahsoka's just waiting for a moment to pop in with "Hey, when's the last time either of you worked with the other's culture before this mess? Yeah, that's what I thought."

Much like Leia and Ahsoka hurting each other earlier, and Tholme figuring out the de-aging, we ALSO have Fett’s confrontation with Ahsoka being something the characters just did, rather than something I planned.

FTR the only time I managed to trigger myself while writing this fic was the “your behavior isn’t actually acceptable and we’ve all been trying really hard to give you room to recover but you have to at least make an effort to not be a bitch”

Writing about people having PTSD and symptoms of such: Yay! Writing about people having PTSD and engaging in toxic behavior to cope: Shit Ahsoka had... basically my exact reaction. It's "remind yourself that you're in the wrong, that they have a point, and then be overly formal in the apology because fuck if you accidentally make them feel sorry for you when they're the injured party"

Quinlan: Can we be friends? I mean, you're an asshole, but you're really cool. Let's be friends. (He MIGHT be nursing a crush) (Neat mysterious girl who can beat him up.)

Also he realises she's probably nicer when not having a slow-motion breakdown He's like "Huh, you'll probably be less of an asshole once you've gotten therapy."

...also, she pretty and got Nice Biceps

I love writing a good mental breakdown

I was so close to including a "he tried to kill me" just early enough for Jango to wildly misinterpret as her thinking Quinlan tried to kill her. He'd have been very confused, considering Quinlan's the one that called them down in a panic and currently has Ahsoka having her massive breakdown in his lap But

Tia:  I could see Jango interpreting it as idk, Quin resembling someone or for a moment acting like someone who tried to kill her and she had a flashback or something like that

There's absolutely room for a couple reasonable interpretations there And "trapped in a flashback about someone who tried to kill her" is absolutely what's happening! Just. You know. For a different reason. Jango probably wouldn’t assume Quin would hurt her, for one thing he seems to like her, for another even if he did he’s smart enough to pick a way that wouldn’t be so likely to get him caught

I had to step back and actually say “Also I'm just. Wow. I'm really just shoveling QPP Rex&Ahsoka at full speed”

Me, a few weeks ago, joking: Two halves of the same idiot black ops specialist Me, now, entirely seriously: Two halves of the same idiot black ops specialist

Me, belatedly: Oh, Ahsoka being joyfully mean to people was a form of mania she was unconsciously using to build a barrier between herself and her impending meltdown

She went from "just died" to "in charge of Rex and Leia" in like. Two minutes.

Confession: I've been delighting in the mental image of this whole Mess leading Jango to try to retake Mandalore, and Ahsoka loans him a saber for a 1v1 to get the darksaber.

“Can’t I just fight him barehanded? That’s how I did it on Galidraan.” "But the drama, Fett!"

Probably Rex has learned how to use a saber as well, because you never know when you have to borrow a weapon

I later changed my mind to Jango asking her to help, rather than her just sneak-teaching him, but it was funny.

Background nonsense to all this is Ahsoka and Rex, despite Rex being as force-sensitive as a lump of coal, having developed a process where she can extend her sensitivity to him mind-to-mind for weird symbiotic battle trance that scares everyone around them. It’s very similar to Battle meditation.

CONTEXT FOR LEIA BEING WORRIED ABOUT THOLME HIDING THINGS: Tholme is hiding the fact that the Council reached out and told him that the people he picked up might be connected to Ben and Luke, who showed up after the Depa thing but a solid week and change before Jango's ship makes it to the Temple. They asked that he not share that information to avoid getting anyone's hopes up in case the two situations aren't related. Ben and Luke haven't shared enough information for anyone to really be sure if the other three are connected Because the info Tholme has isn't quite the info Jango has, etc. And they can't just say Ben is a future Obi-Wan over comms

I just have a lot of feelings about people trying to do something right and just. Nobody's at fault! Not really! It's just complicated!

Tia: I like how when Ahsoka isn’t doing maladaptive trauma response stuff she’s very mature. And of course she’s had to be but it’s a good like, contrast. Where when she slows down to think about things she’s very sensible

Jango just spends most of this story lowkey wanting Ahsoka to Be His Friend but there's too much baggage that he's only metaphysically responsible for

Local aroace(?) has a squish

Ahsoka: He just wants to get on my good side because of Rex. Jango: I'm pretty sure you could kill an entire army without trying but you wouldn't because you have actual morals and stuff... and when I met you it was because you were killing yourself trying to keep (what appeared to be) children safe... you seem cool please be my friend.......

Ahsoka’s #1 weakness: mountains of trauma Ahsoka’s #2 weakness: she just doesn’t get why so many people think she’s cool and want her to be their (girl)friend

Jango, a 27yo massacre survivor who's killed Jedi masters with his bare hands: [gets lectured on various government structures by a tiny girl that's missing several teeth and needs to sit on books to see the table properly]

Ahsoka was raised in a religious meritocracy but developed all her opinions during a galactic war and then became a vigilante spy, Rex comes from a military cult, Leia is from an inherited monarchy that participates in democracy, Quinlan was originally from what appears to be a dynastic dictatorship, and IDK about Tholme other than that he is also from the religious meritocracy. And in legends Quinlan came to the religious meritocracy after his aunt sacrificed his parents to a vampire cult and then forced him to experience the psychometric echoes of that. There's just. A lot going on.

Leia at least has knowledge about structure and admin in theory that isn't based in either the military or populations under 10k

Jango: I want to be your friend. Ahsoka: Sounds fake.

I am unfairly fond of "Rex destroys a conversation by bringing up his own horrifying childhood and calling it a cult"

"Why does Sokari call you 'Rex'ika'?" "Because she's older than me." "...can I--?" "No."

Nickname privileges are extended ONLY to Ahsoka and older clones. There are no more older clones, so it's just Ahsoka.

Me joking about Star Wars AUs: Would you like a crackship? Me writing actual Star Wars fic: My favorite character type is apparently “too traumatized to have a relationship” so this is at least 90% gen.

I had to pull a scene opening at one point because Ahsoka's skill with not getting shot is actually much less useful than Tholme's clearance levels.

Now I really want a team-up of Ahsoka, Rex, and Jango where they do have to get in a dogfight of the "she flies, we shoot" variety and Fett just has to scream because the speeder thing to catch Maul was one thing, but this....

Ahsoka, before TCW: I know all the traffic rules but I'm not that great at flying! Ahsoka, after TCW: I'm great at flying but if you let me behind the wheel we are absolutely getting arrested.

She went from "knows the rules but doesn't have the skills" to "has the skills but primarily in the form of not getting shot" which! Is delightful! "Bet I can get us through that alley--" "DO NOT"

Jango and Ahsoka are both just very "Is this friendship? Is this camaraderie? My heart's been fried on platonic love by so many murders that I'm not sure anymore." "I've lost a lot of friends. I kind of forgot how to make those."

I have no idea if "hasn't been closer than Alderaan except that one trip to Chandrila" is canon-compliant but ehhhhhhhh It feels plausible enough?

Belatedly realized that I could just explain my optimal Rex&Ahsoka dynamic as just... drift compatible. It's vague enough on the specifics while still digging into the meat of what they mean to each other and how they work together. The terminology is already in existence. I can just use it.

Romantic? Platonic? Familial? Doesn't matter! They're drift compatible.

They are important to each other and that is what matters

I really like the Leia&Quinlan thing. He's just like "This small child needs a friend that isn't super depressed," and decided he's going to be her friend. I keep trying to toss in "Quinlan volunteers to 'baby'sit." She's not much older and she has a Baby Brain, it works out

There's a running bet as to whether Leia will leave the Order the second she turns thirteen, or if she'll let Sokari "train" her for a few years first. And... that’s how I came up with Leia Antilles, Senator of Serenno.

They'll be bullshitting Ben as her new master to "finish out the padawanship" since they can't tell everyone she's really in her thirties and he's conveniently there and already knows everything and was half her master anyway. Like Ben was planning on taking on Luke, but Luke is "six" and even he can't swing that as old enough to be a Padawan, and it's not like Sokari will take more than a handful of years to justify knighthood, sooooooooo

[thesunlikehoney]

Ok so a while ago I read this post and it left me very confused. Basically the TL;DR is: the clones are never acknowledged to be slaves in a serious way in-universe, and so complaining that the Jedi never do anything about the clones situation is a shitty watsonian analysis.

However. The narrative very much does acknowledge that the clones are slaves. It never shuts up about how the clones are slaves. It's kinda the central idea behind every single clone character.

Slick saying the Jedi enslaved his brothers? Shaak Ti saying Fives is Republic property? The whole situation with Cut where he can't legally choose to leave the army he didn't legally choose to join? And there was pretty explicitly money exchanged for these people who were pretty explicitly people. Jango was paid for his genetic material. Sifo Dyas and later Dooku paid money to have the clones made. The Republic paid money to use the clones. This is not subtext. This is not open for interpretation. There is a Senate debate where buying more clones is discussed.

And ok maybe those small moments and one-off episodes don't matter as much in the grand scheme of things, but every clone character's arc-- those who have an arc-- is centered around discovering their own individuality and agency. Dogma shooting Krell. Rex refusing to turn Cut in, and giving Fives and Hardcase and Jesse tacit permission to defy a Jedi's orders, and asking what happens to the clones after the war knowing he isn't going to get an answer. Fives disobeying orders again and again and again to get to the bottom of what happened to Tup, and dying for it.

Even when it's not directly stated by the clones themselves there are so many parallels. Small Anakin insisting he's a person, and has a name. Fives insisting he's a person, and has a name. The chip in Anakin's body that is used to control him that he tries to find and dismantle even at the risk of his own death. The chip in Fives body that is used to control him that he finds and dismantles at the cost of his life. Palpatine saying Sith empires are built on the backs of slaves, and RotS showing how the Republic didn't fall so much as it slowly became the Empire, the shift in power brought about by the war, fought by clones and droids.

I don't know how OP is defining in-universe exactly, but what I got out of watching TCW is that the clones don't have the same legal rights as the Jedi, are viewed as property by the Kaminoans and grew up with that understanding of themselves, and are now as a community going through the process of discovering and embracing their personhood. Maybe there isn't an arc about The Clones Are Slaves (I guess we're not counting the chip arc?? For... reasons???) but the clones being property without legal rights is very much central to the narrative.

The whole-- "the clones aren't slaves, because if they'd been slaves the Jedi would have done something, and because the Jedi didn't do something there was obviously nothing to be done" rubs me the wrong way for so many reasons.

The Jedi did their best. That doesn't mean the clones situation wasn't canonically, explicitly fucked. The point is that everyone was fucked. The point is by the time the war started it was already too late. The point is that Sidious didn't just want the Jedi to die, he wanted them to suffer, so he forced them into a situation where they had to choose between compromising several of their foundational principles or watching billions die.

This war could have been two droid armies facing off, but it wasn’t. The Jedi led an army of human beings, who were bought to bleed and die in this conflict.

Maybe some of the reason "the clones are slaves and we should do something about it" is not it's own arc is because it would complicate the narrative, because there is also a whole arc about how the GAR infiltrates a slave trading empire to free an enslaved community and the Jedi going through all that to free the Togruta but doing nothing for their giant slave army is a bad look.

But that's exactly why fans get so worked up over "why didn't anyone do anything about the clones." It's because it is so explicit in the narrative, just as it is explicit that the Jedi are against slavery. This isn't a case where people are taking fanon and running with it. There is a clone character, Slick, who states— “It's the Jedi who keep my brothers enslaved. We do your bidding. We serve at your whim.” And it's debatable how much the audience is supposed to agree with him, but this is explicitly stated. In the narrative. This isn't a legends comic or EU book or anything. This is Disney canon.

The question isn't "why didn't the writers make it clear the clones were slaves?" The question is "why didn't the issue of the clones being enslaved ever get real attention or a proper resolution?" And I think the doylist answer is simply that's not the role the clones play in this story. This story is about the Sith and the Jedi and the galaxy. The GAR was the weapon Sidious used to kill the Jedi and they were only humanized so that it would hurt when Sidious forced them to betray the only outsiders who cared about them. And you can ask all sorts of doylist questions about if that was or was not a good writing decision, or fair to the clones, or well done, or anything, but that’s not the point.

The point is-- there is something wrong. There is something very wrong with the clones’ situation and the Jedi know this, but they can’t do anything about it. Right now their hands are tied. The Jedi are the good guys, they want to do good, and they can’t. They are taking advantage of an enslaved people, and they know this, and all they can do about it is make sure as many clones survive the war as possible.

The end of TCW isn't season seven, it's RotS. This is a doomed narrative. This is a tragedy. This is a "everyone did their best and it wasn’t enough" story. And the tragedy of the clones is that they were a people who had nothing but their own minds, their own individuality, and even that was taken from them.

It's important to engage with “why were the clones and Jedi written this way?" from a doylist perspective, but that doesn't mean there is no watsonian answer.

i just found an essay on the clones and jedi in my drafts. debating if i should post it because it's technically a direct response to another post that i no longer have, but on the other hand that post was representative of an attitude i have seen in some corners of fandom that just. annoys me greatly.

[jokerscrazybrilliant]

Survive - Chapter 3 - (Captain Rex)

Chapter 1 · Chapter 2 · Chapter 3 · Chapter 4

Story on other platforms:

A03 · Quotev

________

Not for the first time in my life, I found myself in the middle of a war. But not the kind of war I was used to. It all began when I wiped the training mat with Fives' face in front of all his brothers. This led to him serving me a cup of caf which I thought was a peace offering but turned out to be not entirely caf. Kix ended up having to pump my stomach and spent an hour lecturing both Fives and I on the dangers of consuming anything that goes in a battleship engine, no matter how much either party might've deserved it. Since I couldn't have Fives one upping me, I ended up sneaking into his barracks and shaving off most of his beard, making him look utterly ridiculous and having him walk around with his bucket on for most of the time until it grew back. He then returned the blow by breaking into my quarters while I was away and painting his signature five on all my clothes. I did not confront him, instead borrowing some standard issue blacks to wear until I could get more robes with the next supply run. But carefully, I plotted my revenge. "I thought revenge wasn't the Jedi way?" Kix commented while searching for the necessary tools for the operation. "Let's call it justice then. You gonna help me do this or not?" I raised a brow at him. "Of course." I smiled deviously. "Then let's get to work!"

***

The plan was set in motion. I was grinning, quite proud of myself as I sat, eagerly watching the doors in the ship’s mess hall, surrounded by the usual group of idiots. I had informed everyone in the squadron notto touch the caf machine today, and even with the numerous displeased grumblings and complaints, everyone was on board with the plan. Everyone except for Fives, of course. “Nim, are you even listening to me?” A voice insisted on drawing my attention away from the mess entrance.

“Not really Echo, why, have you said something important?”

He sighed, shaking his head in amusement. “I guess not.”

“I hope Fives gets here soon, I’m tired of waiting and I have to get to the med-bay soon.” Kix complained, pushing away his empty tray.

“Speak for yourself, I only just got here.” Echo said, shoveling food into his mouth as if to prove his point.

I grinned at the boys’ usual antics before turning back to look at the newest arrival, who was making his way to the caf machine. My eyes grew wide in realization as Rex went to press the button. Everyone but the captain! I stared in shock, my mouth about to form a shout before his hand made contact with the machine, electrocuting him immediately. He yelped in surprise, staggering backwards before composing himself quickly.

Turning around slowly to face the mess full of soldiers that had just witnessed what happened, his face was a combination of emotions as he searched the faces in front of him. “Alright, which one of you boys is responsible for this?! Fess up!”

It was chaos. Kix was giggling like a mad schoolchild beside me, and Echo had his face in his arms while trying not to choke on his food from across the table. Fives, who had stepped into the mess hall at the most opportune moment, was heaving on the floor, tears in his eyes as he took in the situation, obviously knowing it was I who was at fault. The other men were at varying degrees of delight, some simply laughing, while others, like hardcase, were shouting in joy, slapping the table loudly.

I was silent, face stonelike as I rose from my seat. “It was me captain, I am so sorry, it wasn’t meant for you – It was meant for that bitching lunatic!” I lost my composure as I pointed at Fives, only making him laugh harder. “I warned everyone else but I guess I forgot to tell you.”

The captain faltered as he looked at me, temper dissipating as he raised a hand to rub his face wearily. “That’s okay commander, didn’t realize it was you.”

“You can taze me back captain, it’s only fair.” I walked up, looking from him to the caf machine earnestly.

He chuckled lightly, “That won’t be necessary.”

I shook my head adamantly, “No, it’s only fair.” I quickly stepped in front of him, jamming my hand down on the caf machine before he could say anything else, letting out a small grunt of pain at the shock as the electricity buzzed painfully through the entirety of my body. I twitched on the floor, unsure of when I had fallen. The captain stood over me, offering me his arm.

“Are you alright commander?”

“I’m alright.” I choked out, chest still constricted in pain. “I may have fried my every last brain cell, but I’m alright.” I grinned as I realized he was laughing at me. “I am glad, however, that you find this amusing.”

His laughter only increased as he helped me up to my feet. “Permission to speak freely, commander?”

“Of course.”

“Are you certain the Fives is the lunatic?” I laughed at his words.

"Oi! I just fried myself on your behalf, you ought to show me at least a little respect.” Finally, the pain subsided and I quickly became aware of all the eyes that were on us. I cleared my throat as I devised a new plan, seeing as how the old one backfired so spectacularly. "May I borrow your gun, captain?"

His eyebrows furrowed as he took it out of his holster, handing it over slowly. "I'm almost afraid to ask why?"

My eyes locked on Fives, who registered what I was thinking a moment after I answered Rex. "I owe someone a little payback."

Fives immediately turned around and bolted out of the caf, but I was right behind him, setting the weapon to stun as I went, the caf full of soldiers cheering me on. Kix followed after us to make sure neither of us killed each other, and Echo followed after him to record it on his holopad.

My chase was cut short when we ran into Master Skywalker in the hallway. Immediately, I straightened myself as if I had been taking a stroll the entire time, flashing him an innocent smile. "Anakin." I dragged the last syllable of his name in a singsong, “What can I do for you?”

"Hello Nim. If you've had your fun, we need you on the bridge for a mission debrief." His eyes roamed over all the guilty party, from Fives, who was cowering in an entryway, to Kix, who was attempting to hide behind me, to Echo, who was trying to discreetly put away his holopad, finally settling back on me with an amused grin. "I'm glad to see you're finding your place here."

I nodded with a small chuckle, relieved when he turned and walked towards the bridge ahead of me. I turned to give Fives a threatening glance on my way. "I'd watch my back if I were you." I hissed as I passed by.

We quickly made our way up to the bridge, where Ahsoka was waiting, and Captain Rex had somehow beaten us there.

Anakin wasted no time in explaining the mission to us. “We’re being sent to the Quell system to aid Master Aayla Secura. As I understand it, her Jedi cruiser is damaged beyond hope of repair, so we need to prepare a ship to dock and evacuate anyone we can. Rex, prepare the men, Snips, go with Nim and make sure that ship is ready by the time we arrive, I’ll meet you at the gunships. Let’s have some fun!”

***

Thankfully, we hadn’t been too far from Quell, so before long I was onboard a gunship with Master Skywalker, Ahsoka, and Rex, on our way to board Master Secura’s ship to help with the droids that had overtaken them.

I watched as a stream of rocket droids powered by duo jets made their way from the separatist ship to Master Secura’s, landing on the surface and cutting their way in. “Those droids are boarding Aayla’s ship!” Anakin called over the noise. One of the battle droids landed on our gunship, ripping into the cockpit. “Take care of that clanker! I’ll be onboard Aayla’s cruiser.”

“Master! Are you sure that’s the wisest thing–” Anakin ignored Ahsoka’s comment, and I watched with awe as he jumped down, landing on the back of a super droid as it made its way to the ship.

Master Diya had been a great Master who liked to encourage creativity in problem-solving scenarios, however he usually carried the stoic air you would expect from an esteemed Jedi Master, and wasn’t usually so unorthodox. Master Skywalker, as I was eagerly learning, was entirely the opposite. He faced everything as he was, an overwhelming swirl of emotions attitude and power. And he cracked jokes as he did it.

I turned to look at Ahsoka with excitement in my eyes. “Your master is fun!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, but it gets him into troub–” I missed the rest of Ahsoka’s comment, turning to leap after Anakin, eager to join the action. I managed to land on my feet on the back of a super droid, slicing it in half before hopping down onto another, and another, before finally landing on Master Secura’s ship.

I hopped down into the ship after Anakin, slicing through battle droids as we went. “I see you followed my example.”

“Couldn’t let you have all the action.” I grinned at him as we went through several more droids. Ahsoka made her entrance before long, Rex and his troops following after her. “Glad to see you could join us.” I flashed her a quick grin before deflecting a shot back at a droid, then slicing it and the one beside it.

“You shouldn’t encourage him you know.” Ahsoka teased as we made our way to Master Secura.

“I heard that!” Anakin called, taking out the final droids separating us from the Master and her troops.

“Nice entrance, Skywalker.” The Twi’lek turned to greet us. “How do you plan on getting us out of this mess?”

“I have a ship docking in the lower hangar as we speak.” Anakin responded, grunting with effort as he stabbed his lightsaber to the hilt into two droids at once.

Quickly, we led the path to the port, ship shuddering around us as it took more hits than it could bear. “We made it!” Ahsoka exclaimed, extending the docking port. We quickly ran down the corridor but an explosion sounded, making me turn to watch as Master Skywalker force pushed us out of the reach of the blast.

“It’s too late!” He turned to try to face the blast as the doors shut between us.

“Master!” Ahsoka and I shouted in shock, quickly getting up to try to find him. I opened the blast doors slightly as she searched for his form.

“I found him.” She sliced a hole in the doors and we pulled him through, quickly getting him onboard the ship so we could detach. Ahsoka and I carried Anakin to the med-pod as Master Secura headed to the bridge, hopefully to get us to dock with the Resolute.

“Ahsoka, get an oxygen mask on him while I turn on this med-droid.” I quickly gave her a task to occupy her while I fiddled with the med-droid, searching for it’s on button. “Kix is much easier to wake up.” I mumbled, recalling the pleasant memory of dousing him with ice water and wishing he were here. He’d know how to calm Ahsoka down. How to calm me down, too. I thought to myself, conscious of the unrest that surrounded the force around me.

The droid finally powered on and began working on Anakin, beginning its scans and attempting to stabilize him. I gave Ahsoka’s shoulder a little squeeze as she stood back to let the droid do its work. “He’ll be alright.”

She gave me a little nod but didn’t speak, watching her master with anxious eyes. I felt the ship shift around us, and my brows raised of their own accord. Making my way into the hall, I found Rex working on a repair panel. “Did we just jump to hyperspace?” I asked, observing how he handled his hydrospanner less than expertly.

“Not sure. Just trying to repair the shields.” He said, accidentally shocking himself and letting out a frustrated huff before trying again.

I folded my arms and leaned against the wall, watching in amusement. “Need some help there, captain?”

He turned at my teasing tone, but unfortunately his helmet obstructed whatever expression he held underneath it. “I think I’ll manage, thanks.”

I laughed as he shocked himself again, “Just let me help.” Leaning down beside him, I took the hydrospanner from him, taking his place in front of the panel as he moved to the side slightly. “Besides, you’ve been fried enough for one day.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” He watched as I began repairing the damaged panel easily, blushing lightly as I laughed again in embarrassment.

“Sorry… It was an accident.” He chuckled at me, shaking his head.

“It’s alright, I’m just messing with you.” My grin didn’t fade as I kept working at the panel. “How are you so good at that?” He piped up after a few silent moments.

I shrugged easily, thinking I must’ve appeared to know more than I did. “I like starships.” Completing the repairs, I replaced the panel as Master Secura rushed past us, Ahsoka following her into the cockpit.

“That seemed important.” Rex commented, and I nodded as we stood to follow after them.

“Karabast.” I mumbled to myself as the flashing screen showed us heading directly for a star.

“We need to shut down all the power circuits so we can reset the coordinates.” Master Secura commanded.

“But that will cut off Anakin’s life support!” Ahsoka protested the orders.

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s a risk we’re going to have to take.”

“We don’t have much time.” I interjected, preparing for being thrown out of hyperspace. “Let’s do this.”

“Switching off primary power units.” Ahsoka informed.

“Ready to shut off auxiliary power.” Master Secura said from her spot beside me.

“On three. One, two, three!” Master Secura pulled the lever, turning off the remaining power to the ship and throwing us violently out of hyperspace.

The ship shook around us and Rex, who had been attempting to hold onto the chairs in front of him, was tossed backwards, slamming into me, throwing us both against the wall and taking Master Secura with us.

“Switch the power back on! What are you waiting for?” Commander Bly shouted back at us in panic as we came up on the star.

Master Secura reached through the force, switching the lever back on just in time for us to miss the star, Rex and I crashing onto the floor as the gravity came back on. “Ow!” I complained loudly, untangling myself from him and staggering to my feet, helping him up as well.

“Sorry commander, are you alright?” He brought up his hand to the back of his helmet embarrassedly as he apologized.

“I’m fine, but man your armour hurts.” I wheezed, rubbing the bruise I could feel already forming on my side from where his elbow had slammed into me.

“Well, we’re not gonna crash into that star, but we’re definitely going to hit that planet.” Ahsoka pointed out of the viewing port in front of us. With the state our ship was in we definitely weren’t going to have a smooth landing.

Gritting my teeth, I braced myself as we began our descent into the planet’s atmosphere. The shields lasted well enough that the ship didn’t break apart until we hit the ground, flames rising around us. “Everyone out!” Rex shouted, Master Secura and Ahsoka going to get Anakin while I helped Cameron, who had been injured in our escape, out of the shipwreck.

“I – I’m alright commander, thank you.” Cameron gave me a little nod of thanks as I let go of him slowly, letting him find his way to where we would set up camp.

Commander Bly scouted the area as the other troopers set up the campfire and I helped set up a small protected area for the injured Anakin to rest in. Rex searched the ship for anything we could use but unfortunately the med-droid was damaged beyond repair.

I watched as Master Aayla and Ahsoka argued about leaving Master Anakin behind. While I understood Ahsoka’s worry, I also understood that Master Secura wanted to use this opportunity to teach the young padawan to learn to control her attachment. I could sense the anxiety Ahsoka was pouring into the force from concern over her master. I related to it, having gone through similar experiences with my own master, and when I ultimately lost him, it was excruciatingly painful. Having gone through that myself made me appreciate what Master Secura was trying to do for Ahsoka.

They seemed to have settled their dispute before coming to join the rest of the group, Commander Bly holding out a wooden carving he had found while scouting the plains around us. It showed some sort of people, surrounded by what looked like giant trees. “General Secura, look. We're not the only ones here on this planet. There has to be some kind of – something here.” Master Secura took the carving from his hands before strange guttural screeches drew our attention to our surroundings, soldiers flicking on their helmet lights, my hand drawing near my lightsaber on my belt. “That doesn’t sound too friendly.” Rex commented from next to me, gazing into the plains with his gun drawn.

“No, not at all.” I murmured. I squinted my eyes but found nothing, then opening myself to the force. I couldn’t sense anything too close, and satisfied, I stepped back to where Ahsoka kneeled in front of Anakin’s form. “Be strong, Master. Just a little bit longer. Rex and Nim will watch over you.” She told him. “It is time to go.” “Don't worry, kid. The commander and I will take good care of him.” Rex told her, helmet tucked beneath his arm. When'd he take that off? Master Secura turned to us. "Alright, both of you keep your locators on. We should be back by daybreak with whoever, or whatever, lives on this planet." "Got it, General Secura." Rex gave her a nod. “Hey, kid. Good luck." He gave Ahsoka a small smile and she returned it before they headed out in search of giant trees, and whatever help they could find.

“Hey Rex?” I spoke, still watching their retreating forms in the distance.

“Yes commander?”

“What if the trees are normal sized and the creatures are just really, really, small?” I turned to look up at him, pleased to see him grinning widely at my asinine suggestion.

“The thought had occurred to me, commander.”

I moved to sit in front of the fire, glancing at Anakin to make sure he was still breathing. “Are you really going to keep calling me that? No one else does.”

“Doesn’t matter to me what everybody else does, sir.”

I nodded sagely at this. “I respect that. I just wish it didn’t mean you kept calling me ‘commander’.” I kidded lightly, grinning as he sat down near me. “Fives didn’t even bother trying with that.” I chuckled, thinking of how easily Fives had abandoned all protocol when we became such quick friends.

There was silence between us for a while, and I could see him mulling something over in his mind before he turned to look at me, finally speaking up. "I’ve been meaning to say, commander, that I’ve noticed the way you treat the troopers in our battalion. Like they're your equals. That kind of treatment... It's rare. And it means a lot to those men. It means a lot to me. So, thank you." I glanced away from him for a moment, trying to maintain my composure and stop the flush from creeping into my cheeks, before turning back. "I know that what we're fighting for is important but sometimes... I can't help but feel like they deserve more. Deserve better. I see someone like Kix and – he's such a dreamer. The fact that war is the only life he's ever known, it just doesn't seem fair."

"All due respect sir, but we were bred for the sole purpose of this war." The firelight reflected in his golden eyes, giving them a fervour I’d never seen before. I nodded. "I know. But you're still people." He held my gaze meaningfully before turning to look into the fire in front of us. "You're one of very few who see it that way." He shook his head, lost in thought as he stared into the crackling flames, and I resisted the urge to say anything else. “You should rest, commander. I’ll take first watch.”

I shook my head at him. “I’ll take first watch, you rest!”

He huffed out a chuckle at my stubbornness. “While I appreciate the sentiment, I know I hit you pretty hard back there.” I immediately stopped nursing the bruise on my side. I should’ve known he would notice it. “You should rest it off for a bit, then I’ll have my turn.” He pushed before I could protest that it was nothing.

Sighing, I stood up and found a small area across the campfire from him. “Fine. But don’t let me sleep too long.” I lay down on the uncomfortable dirt and tried to find some peace in the silence of the nature around me.

***

A low predatory growl in the distance woke me before the nightmares could, and I bolted awake, holding my lightsaber at the ready.

“Everything alright, commander?” Rex asked from opposite the campfire.

I scanned the plains in front of us carefully. “Something’s out there.” I spoke quietly.

“Clankers?” I shook my head and he turned to see if he could spot anything.

“Something else. A creature of some kind I’d guess. And it’s not alone.” I got in a defensive stance, my back to Rex and his back to mine as we stood protectively in front of where the injured Anakin lay.

A large creature jumped at me from the shadows, and quickly I activated my lightsaber, slashing it, causing it to take a few steps back. I could make out a fierce beak, a dark feathery mane, and four taloned feet. It tried to swipe at me again, but I slashed it again, this time successfully cutting into the flesh of its leg, causing it to whimper and run off as I heard blaster shots behind me.

Whirling around, I found another of those creatures standing over Rex. It had him completely pinned down even as he tried to get a shot on it. Quickly jumping over it to land near its face, I slashed at its beak, and it backed off immediately, running after its counterpart.

“Are you okay?” I extended an arm to Rex, and he took it, nodding at me gratefully as he got to his feet.

“I’m fine, but those things will be coming back. And I’ll bet they’ll bring their friends with them.”

I nodded in agreement, staring after the creatures. “I hope the others are doing alright out there.” Quietly we sat back down, more vigilant than before as we waited for whomever returned first, the creatures or our friends.

***

It was well into the next day before we saw any more action. Rex was walking around the perimeter again when Anakin awoke, grunting as he tried to sit up. I quickly tried to get him to lie back down. “Master, you need to rest!”

“I can’t rest. They’re coming.” I helped him stand and turned as I sensed the creatures from the previous night approaching.

“Rex!” I shouted him a warning and he responded immediately, gun drawn as the two creatures stepped into the clearing. Rex managed to shoot the first one down before it could do any damage but the other one pounced on him, knocking him down before heading for me and Master Skywalker. I quickly tried to put myself between him and the creature and push us both out of its path as it charged. It overshot us and quickly found its bearings, preparing to charge again before a small furry being jumped into the clearing, tying a rope around the large beast’s legs and trying to pull, attempting to trip it.

Ahsoka followed it into the circle, and I turned to Anakin, figuring the others had a handle on things. “Are you alright, Master?” I asked him, laying him down gently and checking him over to look for any additional wounds.

He hacked out a cough before responding. “I’m doing great, can’t you tell?” I grinned at his signature sarcasm, glad he was well enough to find his wit.

“Of course, Master Anakin.”

“Master!” Ahsoka ran up to us, having successfully dealt with the large beast, and knelt next to Anakin, seeming relieved to be back by his side.

“Good to see you, Snips.” I smiled and backed off to give them privacy before we loaded Anakin onto a stretcher to carry him to whatever civilization Ahsoka had found.

Turning to find Rex cradling his arm, I raised a brow in concern. “That thing got you?”

“Just a scratch.” He shrugged it off, moving to stand next to me as we watched the creature who arrived with Ahsoka introduce himself to Master Skywalker as Wag Too in Basic.

“I guess those trees really were giant.”

“I guess they were.”

[aboardthehavocmarauder]

Beautiful Mischief [Pt. 11]

Bad Batch x Reader • Angst/Fluff/NSFW (yknow the whole deal) • Mechanic [hidden Jedi] ! Reader • Female reader

[H/C - Hair color]

~

“You didn’t have to pick me up Hunter. I could’ve found a transport over to Coruscant one way or another”

“Not worthy of an escort?”

“You do escorts now? The war is over and this is what you do with your freedom so far?” Reylen jokes sitting beside Hunter in the Havoc as she knew he could sense her worries if she had any, but she can feel his with the tension in the room. “Hunter, it’s best to talk about it and not keep it inside”

“The Bad Batch never follows orders. We do our own way of solving the problem. But when Y/N joined us, we always put ourselves in harms way. She wasn’t too badly affected until we got nosey. Then Kenobi ripping away that security she had—“

“Made you want to use every fiber of your being to protect her, even if her own twisted morals told you otherwise” Reylen finishes watching Hunter tense up again grabbing the back of his neck. “Y’know. Sometimes they wake up in the bacta tanks. Wakes up before the thing decides they are”

“Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“She’ll come back when she comes back”

“I hope you’re right”

——

Y/N, please. I can’t. I really can’t lose you.

You’ll make it. Please. Make it.

Cyar’ika...

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum

...

I love you

——

The loud thud rang through Hunter’s ears the second he stepped off the marauder. He didn’t hesitate to leave to Reylen and instantly start running toward the medbay with the rest of the batch slowly joining him.

They all froze finding Y/N rip the mask off of her face before slowly standing to her feet.

“Well. Isn’t this a nice view” Crosshair smirks to her naked complexion as she narrows her gaze.

“Are you going to keep staring or get me fucking clothes?” Y/N snaps catching them all off guard as Wrecker pushes them all out of the room accidentally closing himself in.

Accidentally, my ass

“Wrecker, I love you. But please GO!” Y/N yells at the big guy as he realizes his situation before swapping spots with Reylen when she finally caught up with the group.

“They’ve never seen you naked and not wounded?” Reylen laughs dropping her backpack and pulling out a few of her own clothes handing them to Y/N.

“I’m surprised a little bit that they reacted like such. Well except Crosshair. He’s always snarky but that’s his character for you” Y/N states clasping the overalls and scanning the room to find her own shoes by the tank she broke. “I can’t believe this thing actually worked and didn’t drain every fiber of my being”

“I was there for that sole purpose. In case that did happen.” Reylen smiles happy to see that she is alright for right now, but apart of her still wanted to check a few things and Y/N sensed that.

“Can I hug my boys before you do tests, Rey?”

Reylen laughs a bit to herself smiling more than before. “You gotta stop asking for permission and just act” she states as Y/N walked passed her opening the door finding the five staring directly at her.

Y/N didn’t care in that moment. She started balling, not giving a damn if she looked weak or whatever. She ran into Hunter’s embrace being squeezed by the sergeant as he couldn’t help it either. None of them could.

“Thank maker” He sighs squeezing Y/N as she cried into his chest holding him.

Crosshair couldn’t help it as he latched onto the two hugging them both. Echo following in suit with Tech after, and Wrecker consuming them all in his embrace.

“Thank maker you’re alright” Tech sighs with relief feeling the tears roll off his cheeks. “Thank maker...”

Thank maker...

Thank maker she’s alive, and this is over

Fuck it’s all over

A year after the war...not much has happened with where the next steps should go. But it brought some peace and freedom to those who never thought they’d even receive a normal direction in their life.

“Master?” a padawan walks alongside Obi Wan as he gave them a smile indicating his attention. “You talk greatly about this...Y/L/N? But why haven’t any of the others met her? Didn’t she bring an end to the war?”

“Yes, and she will be back. She handles a lot more of our loose ends. Don’t know why she’d want to after what the council has granted her, the battalions, and future generations”

“She’s just, continuing to protect the Galaxy. That’s how it should be isn’t it?”

“Yes”

For the most part

“You really need to get better at sticking your landing”

“Tech, my love, I will go back to the ship and kick your ass! You try scaling buildings without falling into the alleys or losing the target” Y/N snaps over her communicator as she lunges over a large gap in Patora’s downtown district trying to keep up with the target on the speeder as Hunter chases them with his own.

Tech continues to work on the security systems of the district they are in, as Echo stepped in testing out a new function of his robotic hand.

“There—“ Echo alerts Tech as he flips the switch.

“Lights out”

The city lights turned off, leaving only candle lit venders as the only light source along with the traffic. But this caused the target to stop their speeder on the ground and continue on foot. They reached the sewer line and once they entered they were greeted by Wrecker in front of them and Crosshair behind.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I uh—-“

“That’s not an answer!” Wrecker yells knocking the target out as Crosshair face palms on the spot.

“You do realize most times you do that, it lands them in critical condition”

“Well now it won’t take forever to get the binders on them!”

“I hate your logic big guy” Hunter interrupts the two, overhearing them in the comms before driving his speeder to the building Y/N stopped at seeing how tired she got. She muted her comm as he did the same stepping off of his speeder to hold her for a moment. “You need to remember, it’s a team of six”

“God I know, we’re all after the same thing.” Y/N takes a deep breath, sighing after. “That took a lot out of me apparently”

“Hm. You’ve got some speed on yea. So I wasn’t worried for a second” He reassures running his hand through her soft [H/C] short hair humming to himself. “I still miss your long hair”

“Hey I like it short” Y/N smiles easing into his hand as Hunter brought her close for a second pressing his lips against hers. She held onto his chest plate continuing the kiss before parting seeing her sergeant smile himself. “Let’s hurry up and take the target back to Coruscant. Then take care of a few things before going home”

“Maker, I’ll never get used to hearing that cyar’ika”

“Mmm, good” Y/N smiles following Hunter back to his speeder as he took her hand helping her on before heading back to the ship compound.

“We got him!” Wrecker alerts the two when they rejoined the rest of the batch.

“Yes. By knocking him unconscious” Tech states getting a sigh from Hunter and an annoyed look from Y/N. “He doesn’t have the carbonation device on him. Even though it would be sufficient to make a portable device to avoid subtle casualties”

“Just. Get him in the carbonite so we could avoid further damage” Y/N informs Wrecker as he goes to put the target in the rack of their upgraded Havoc Marauder. “Shall we head out or should I stock up on anything while we are here? This is a great vendor district”

“We’re going home after heading back to Coruscant. On the way to Coruscant it’s a few clicks I believe we’ll manage but on the way home, may as well”

“Wait to get it for free or enjoy a little simplicity”

“Simplicity. I’ll go with you” Tech informs Y/N as she smiles watching him going to get out of his armor.

“You all can get out of your armor. Relax a bit” Y/N continues to smile as Echo and Hunter went ahead to do so while Crosshair stayed behind stepping closer to her. “Cross”

“Cyar’ika” Crosshair gently took her face into his hands scanning every detail of her face before gently kissing her then retracting to head on board the second Tech stepped out.

Y/N smiles enjoying his softness from time to time.

Couldn’t believe this is happening

A peaceful moment

Without anything to interfere

Taglist:

@xxeiraxx @fennign @meli-that-girl @spp2011

[sullustangin]

Fearful Avoidant Attachment and the Single Spy

Caveat:  I’m not a counselor of any sort, and I’m applying labels to fictional characters.  Don’t take this too seriously.

This post has been kicking around in different forms in my prompt document for awhile.  I will start posting my Yavin fic this weekend.  A major element of this fic will be the dynamic between Theron and the playable character/love interest.  Their interactions will be informed by how I view his attachments. I’ve put some of this into the fic series already.

“Attachment” in the Star Wars universe is the idea, according to George Lucas, that Jedi should love everyone but not get attached.  “Attached” in this context is possession, greed, being willing to do things for individuals rather than the greater good, and ultimately the fear of loss.  Attachment is a negative concept in Jedi philosophy.

However, I would argue that while this philosophy is in the back of Theron’s head, Jedi attachment concepts are not what makes Theron’s personal life messy.  It’s the personal context surrounding that teaching and his life events that shape this.  So let’s look at real life attachment theory. 

In its most basic form, attachment theory is the idea that children need to develop a positive relationship with a caregiver to turn out ok. If the child is neglected, then they will have problems forming healthy attachments to others.   There’s a lot of caveats to this theory.  Some put the threshold of ‘must have positive relationship by x age’ to age 2 or age 5.  Others state that this is problematic, because if a child loses their caregiver and passes into the hands of a less affectionate or downright abusive caregiver, then their positive attachment formation by age x doesn’t count for much.

There are several different types of attachment that a person can have.  A secure attachment is what most healthy relationships are rooted in. People feel safe and secure within themselves and within the relationship. Jedi can be attached in this fashion, even if they don’t call it this; the Jedi have orderly boundaries and a clear understanding of what their associations entail. They have care systems for younglings and padawans, which were like pre-modern apprenticeships.   They are secure within themselves as Jedi and in their relationships outside the order.  They are at peace.

An insecure attachment has a flaw in it; something is wrong in how the person relates to themselves and others in relationships, platonic, romantic or otherwise.  One type is dismissive or avoidant; the attachments are actively avoided, so the person is often isolated and rejects others and their friendly overtures.  Another type is anxious or preoccupied; people tend to get very clingy or possessive with anyone they latch onto, which can cause the relationship to self-destruct (hi, Anakin).

Then there is fearful avoidant attachment, the label I think fits Theron Shan, our favorite high-quality spy and absolute emotional disaster.  In theory, Theron tries to avoid deep emotional attachments because he’s scared of being left behind or not having those attachments reciprocated. At the same time, he desperately wants those attachments and relationships, but the potential of failure makes him avoid or even sabotage the relationship.  That results in an on-going war between Theron and his feelings. To quote Psychalive, “the person [he wants] to go to for safety is the same person [he is] frightened to be close to. As a result, [he has] no organized strategy for getting [his] needs met by others.”

Why does Theron have attachment issues?

Some accuse Satele Shan or Jace Malcom of being “bad parents.”  There’s a problem with this premise: although there is a biological relationship, neither Satele nor Jace had a parent-child relationship with Theron. Jace didn’t even know Theron existed until the child was 26, so he couldn’t act in any capacity.  Satele gave Theron up to be raised by someone else; she opted out of the role of mother and did not talk to him as mother-and-son until Theron was 26.  There isn’t an abusive or neglectful relationship here because there isn’t a relationship, period.  Much like romantic relationships, it’s better to have no relationship than a bad one. Jace and Satele didn’t raise Theron.  They were strangers to him until he was an adult.  They were never his caretakers.  Who did Theron have attachments to?

Theron was raised by a Jedi named Ngani Zho, who had been Satele Shan’s master when she was a padawan. After Satele gave birth in a cave on some planet, Zho took the child and raised him as his own son.  This was irregular, honestly.  Jedi younglings that express some sort of control over the Force are typically put into a creche at the Jedi Temple; we’ve seen this in the Star Wars prequel films.  Guss Tuno references this in SWTOR, as he was chagrinned to be in class with a bunch of five-year-olds in bathrobes.  Theron was raised by Zho directly and they were constantly traveling, based upon comments we read in The Lost Suns comic and in the novel Annihilation. Theron never entered the creche because he never manifested signs he was Force-sensitive – not even a little like Guss.

Zho traveled with Theron until the boy was an adolescent. Then, Theron was told by Zho to travel to the Jedi Temple at Haashimut to receive more training; he could do no more for him.  The trip through a desert nearly killed the boy.  When Theron had recovered, it fell to Master Till’in to tell him he would not be a Jedi.  Ever.  

Instead of telling Theron or notifying Satele about the boy’s lack of Force aptitude, Zho sent him onward and then disappeared.  There is no indication that Zho told anyone where he was going or why.  When Theron met Zho again at age 23, the Master’s mind was scrambled and confused; he couldn’t give any answers to Theron about anything.  Was there a mission he had been set on?  Or did he just wander off on his own?

For storytelling purposes, it’s convenient to pair Zho’s departure with the aftermath of the Treaty of Coruscant.  In the year Theron turned 13 (3653 BBY), the Great Galactic War ended with the Treaty of Coruscant, wherein the Sith Empire enforced demands on the Republic.  The Sith won. Zho leaving could be tied to this (through a mission or quixotic urge), but the source material isn’t clear on the timing.  

Theron’s life suddenly became very uncertain.  His entire life had been built up to becoming a Jedi.  To some extent, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Theron probably felt like he was a failure.  We know he tried to fix this; in The Lost Suns, he acknowledged pursuing access to the Force through the Matukai Force tradition – being an ascetic. In Annihilation, he recalled and took particular umbrage at the “arrogance” of the Jedi – those that made him feel like any other path was second (or third or less)-best. This diminished over time, but the revelation about his lack of Force Sensitivity probably left Theron feeling very insecure about himself and who he was as an adolescent/young teen.

In terms of his relationships, Zho was gone with no forwarding address.  The man Theron called his father was no longer reachable, and for another ten years, there would be no closure as to what happened to him.  Zho had actively endangered Theron by sending him through a desert to Haashimut.  Did he gamble that the boy’s Force Sensitivity would manifest in a life-threatening crisis or something?  Who knows? Theron never went into the Jedi creche, so he didn’t have close peers or friends beyond pen pals at best.  Theron had not spoken to his bio parents at all to this point, and he probably didn’t know many (if any) non-Force Sensitive kids.  With his expulsion from Jedi society, Theron’s entire relationship network was gone.

This is important to understand -- Theron had been raised to not have attachments that would lead to selfishness or fear of loss, but he was raised to be able to love and care for others.  He lived in a structure that fostered good psychological attachments (secure attachments) to the order and to his fellow sentients without possessiveness or jealousy. Theron knew his mother gave him up. He knew one day Zho would give his care over to another Master.  He knew one day, he would leave the Temple to go out into the galaxy.   Theron knew how the galaxy worked and his role in it...

..and then it was torn away from him.  No more masters, no more knowledge of what came next, no way to ever work with his mother as a Jedi.  His life to that point had been an illusion -- he was never able to access the Force, and Zho knew it.  This left Theron as insecurely attached, as nothing that he anticipated for his life would ever happen, and he knew nobody that would accompany him into this new life. 

External to all this, the Republic Theron was raised to serve was on the losing end of war.  How the galaxy worked, as far as Theron knew to that point, was going to change.  After Till’in told Theron the truth, all we know is that he spent some time in Haashimut before going elsewhere. We the viewer have no idea what happened to Theron from adolescence until he was 16, when he entered SIS per Annihilation.  This may be a canon math/timing error, or it could be reasonable; Theron might have been able to get permission to join a government organization at 16.  If Theron was in foster care or a ward of the state or something else, whoever was involved didn’t make an impact worthy of mention thus far in SWTOR canon.

Theron described Zho in The Lost Suns as “never reliable.”  That was a 23-year-old looking back.  Yet, he referred to him as his father in Annihilation three years later, and even eight years later in SWTOR: KotFE, he mentions that “Master Zho would be proud.”  This seems contradictory.  Additionally, in both The Lost Suns and Annihilation, SIS Director Marcus Trant expressed concern about Theron and his issues.  Theron was a workaholic.  Being a workaholic is actually a sign of having attachment issues; a person attaches themselves to work, not people   Theron expressed desires to run away, go on vacation, and do new stuff… but he never did these things – couldn’t get away from the job.

Attachment theory states that a child has difficulty with attachments if they are abused or somehow neglected by their caretaker. The desert march definitely strikes me as falling into one of those categories, but again, Zho’s logic isn’t readily offered up to the viewer, nor are many details about Theron’s life as a traveling youngling.  That all said, Zho’s traumatic departure probably caused attachment issues that had no other herald.

Why do the labels “fearful” and “avoidant” fit Theron?

Theron Shan as the player met him in Forged Alliance SWTOR was a professional.  Flirting was ignored, mildly acknowledged, or, rarely, fully reciprocated. There was no physical contact between Theron and his asset. This doesn’t seem off or irregular until his romance is compared to that of Lana Beniko. She didn’t have the same issues expressing affection for her asset on Imp side; she touched their face and gave them a hug by the time the spies went under deep cover after Rakata Prime. Even if the player did not romance Lana, Lana herself was keen to make a team and bust open the conspiracy; she wasn’t as willing to go it alone.  

Avoidant people tend to refrain from contact, and they like being independent.  They don’t do well in teams.  Sound familiar?  Fearful avoidants also have the concern that they will fail their partner or that their partner will fail them.  If the player was Imp side, Theron was a jerk well into the Rishi storyline.  Eventually, Theron did come around.  His dialogue and follow-up letter reflect the fact that he actually did want these connections and attachments.  He enjoyed the time he had with the player.  

This is particularly pronounced if Theron was romanced by the player on Rishi and Yavin; first physical contact occurred on Rishi with a kiss.  If the player was Pubside, the fade-to-black and his comments on Yavin indicate they had sex.  Those episodes of affection, paired with the Pub post-Yavin letter and dialogue, really emphasize the connection that was formed.  Interestingly, Theron did not get a fade-to-black with the Imperial player. One might argue that he knew they were going to leave him, and so he couldn’t –wouldn’t—get attached.

…. And then Ziost happened. Theron refused to ask for help. He didn’t want to depend on that attachment.  He was distant on Ziost, regardless of how far the relationship went, and if Pubside, he declined a drink afterwards.

Whatever transpired between Ziost and the Eternal Fleet Incident, it’s clear that a romanced Theron and the player never defined their relationship.  There were certain boundaries that never were crossed.  He’d “like to think” the player is dreaming of him, but he didn’t want to presume.  Even after Theron got into a romantic relationship on Odessen, he still struggled with his ability to be attached, as evidence by his letters and expressions of affection and concern throughout the KotFE/KotET expansions.  

One might argue that the traitor element of the Nathema Conspiracy was partially caused by Theron’s attachment issues: his independent streak, his inability to ask for help, his lack of faith in others to do the job right (not telling anyone the truth), his lack of faith in himself (his willingness to understand why the player might dump/exile him). If romanced, he gave one of his Holonet messages the subject line “I love you,” but even then, he did not clue the player into his self-made mission.  Certainly, the Nathema Conspiracy happens because of Theron’s desperate desire to save the galaxy and the player at any cost – including the relationship itself and his life.

For those who let Theron live, the attachment issues have faded as Theron has gotten engaged/married and/or reformed a relationship with his bio parents… or the writers have moved on from Lana and Theron as companions.  Regardless, we have to keep in mind that Theron is closing in on 40, and he has grown as a character since he first appeared in Star Wars media at age 23 (baby and adolescent only in flashbacks).  His issues with his relationships, the Jedi, the Republic, and his bio parents have changed over the course of 17 years.  In the last story patch, people who have romanced Theron received letters from both Theron and his mother about how good the player is for him, and it’s very satisfying to see how far he has come.

How does this label of ‘fearful avoidant’ manifest in your fanworks?

Since not everyone is into fic, I’ll drop this behind a cut. 

Basically, my version of Theron wants love but is terrified of all the feelings and closeness that come with it.  When people get close, he draws away, but still wants them to be close.  Theron has had good relationships, but if it gets too serious, he runs.  That’s the case for his last major relationship prior to my oc; his Mirialan girlfriend was drawing a tattoo to mark their relationship, and she wanted him to meet the parents. Theron noped out of there pretty hard by taking a long mission off Coruscant and sort of forgetting to tell her.  There are several times where he takes a big step with Eva (my oc)– disclosure, physical intimacy, caring for her or letting her care for him – and then he just doesn’t contact her for the next few days.  He dives into work to avoid her.  Toward the end of their initial relationship, that will turn into weeks and months.  He is freaked out when he does things with her that are intimate, sexual or not.  He has a lot of fear that he will be left again, so he leaves first. 

Theron also sets up a lot of rules and boundaries that the partner has to dance around to get in.  After 300,000 words, I just completed a slow burn with the Rishi kiss, because Theron wouldn’t get involved with Eva until after the op to expose the conspiracy was over.  There will be more rules once they get to Yavin.  

When I was doing research on this, I read a clinical study that found that people with avoidant attachment issues are particularly fastidious about safe sex.  They don’t want attachments to their lovers in the form of a disease or a child.  Anxious attachments tend to eschew this and take the risk so they can be bound to someone. This is part of why I gave Theron a male birth control implant, but there will also be reference to his back-up (condoms) and back-up back-up (PreP) to ensure there aren’t any adverse consequences for him.

Theron is often alone, but that doesn’t make him lonely by default.  In part, that might be due to his avoidance of attachments.  Dude can pick up people at a bar and get laid. Theron isn’t adverse to sex, just intimacy.  He can find someone to hook up, but that doesn’t mean there is anything beyond sex attached to it.  Theron can and does get dates, and he can have relationships ... but that doesn’t mean he can make a healthy connection to the other person.  I think his issues are more emotional/internal than they are caused by not getting enough physical contact or affection from others.  People want to love him.  People reach out to him to be friends or have a relationship.  He just doesn’t want it; he avoids it.  I imagine that this is partly the case with Jace and his SIS coworkers.

The last fearful avoidant feature I’ll give Theron in my series is the tendency to idealize relationships after they’re dead and over. When the relationship is no longer available, it is held up and made glorious, partially to enable the person not to pursue a different relationship; it’ll never be as good, so why try?  This also calls in the tendency for fearful avoidants to fear not only screwing up the relationship themselves, but that others won’t live up to their expectations. Theron is a mess after the Eternal Fleet incident and never moves on from Eva.  It’s reasonable when he thinks she’s alive, but for a good two years, he thinks she’s dead… and he can’t.  With anyone else.

Unlike the game, I eventually send Theron to a therapist to deal with the fearful avoidant attachment issues.  I figure if I’m going to give a fictional character a real-world label, I need to give him a real-world solution that might work.

[reallybadfeeling]

My Obikin Playlist Masterpost

I'm gonna try to explain my reasoning, but you can give each song whatever interpretation you want. Also, use them however you want if any of them inspire you to make something creative.

(PS: Sorry for my ranting on the first song. I'm very passionate about it in particular.) (Tagging @imtryingsstuff because she asked for it. Even though I was already working on this post before she asked. I have way too much free time.)

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❧ Heart + Bones - Roisin O

I've tried to sit down and write this song out Feels like a thousand times But I was always too scare of what I might find But if I keep on blocking this pain out It might be too late To heal my heart somehow Don't wanna open that wound Don't wanna replay that night Don't wanna think about you You are no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know that love is gone 'Cause if I let myself think of you I might lose my mind It's the heart and bones It's an empty soul The dreams at night that shake me to my core And I can't get up off this floor It's in the bones of me An empty soul in me The dreams at night that shake me to my core I can't get off this floor [...] Don't wanna think about you When you're no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know this love is gone [...] The dreams at night that shake me to my core I just can't take this hurting anymore [...] Don't wanna think about you You are no longer mine Don't wanna write you a love song When I know this love is gone 'Cause if I let my mind think of you I might lose it all I've tries to sit down and write this song out Feels like a thousand times

A fair warning: each and every break-up song in this playlist is basically me crying at the idea of a very heart broken Obi-Wan post RotS alone on Tatooine. But for this song in particolar I mention the repetitions with the slight differences because in my eyes they are actually HUGE! The more the song goes on, the more Obi-Wan is spiraling! The way it specifically tells that the empty soul is his the second time, like he accepts that despite what Anakin did he still thinks there's a soul there to save, and the idea of not doing so makes his soul feel empty. And the switch from "get up off this floor" to "get off this floor", literally him being so desperate he stops thinking that he wants to get up (and the last time it literally becomes "i just can't take this hurting anymore", because Obi-Wan had to see so many people he loves die, he literally can't take any more breaking of his heart). The first "you are no longer mine" is the realization hitting him, but then it becomes "when you are no longer mine" and that feels like acceptance of that realization (but then later in the song it turns back to "you are no longer mine" like he's so desperate he wants to deny it once again, distance himself from it)! The switch from "that love" from "this love", like the first time he's thinking about how Anakin no longer loves him, but then realizes that no matter how much he still loves Anakin, there is actually nothing he can do about how everything is broken. But most of all the first time it's "if I let myself think of you I might lose my mind", which is Obi-Wan still being rational about things, or at least trying not to let his mind linger on the thought of Anakin; but then at the end it becomes "if I let my mind think of you I might lose it all", because he's already thinking about Anakin and he can't let his mind linger on it, otherwise he would realize how much he lost when he lost Anakin, which is everything. And the ending too, by repeating the start, but now it has a feeling of resignation to it, like at first he was literally scared to let himself linger on his feelings because he knew he would find heart break, but now he's just empty and at the same times he knows he'll feel like that a thousand times more, because he just can't let that hurt go, he can't let his love for Anakin be forgotten. ... I love this song and it shows. I mean, the playlist is literally named after it for a good reason. I swear I'll be less wordy for every other explanation.

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❧ Black Hole - Griff

It seems like things are going really well for you I wish that I could say the same about me too I wish that I could say the same [...] Without a trace You disappeared and took some of me with you, babe Like the way I used to laugh untile my belly ached Well, that's all gone away now And boy, you know I've tried to pray, I've bruised my knees I've tried to bring you back to me I've tried my best to find some kind of peace Don't you see? There's a big black hole where my heart used to be And I've tried my best to fill it up with things I don't need It don't work like that, no, it's not easy To fill this gap that you left in me

So, I see this as a song for an AU, maybe a Modern Au. Something basic like the two of them maybe being neighbors and Obi-Wan maybe being a tutor for Anakin when he was a teen, and Anakin having a huge crush on him. But then Obi-Wan marries and Anakin is heart broken. (Don't worry the idea is also that Obi-Wan gets a divorce and comes back to Anakin, but still, the song fits for the first part of this idea). But feel free to see whatever else you want in it.

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❧ Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips

I'll lie, cheat, I'll beg and bride To make you well, to make you well When enemies are at your door I'll carry you away from war [...] Give me reasons to believe That you would do the same for me And I will do it for you, for you Baby, I'm not moving on I'll love you long after you're gone

This is honestly a classic. It would fit with any ship, but that line about lying, cheating, etc... That screams Anakin. Like, literally canon that he would do anything to keep the person he loves with him.

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❧ What You Talking About? - Peter Bjorn and John

You used to be my hero Now you're just another boss [...] Five years as your understudy When I can't understand what you talking about [...] Tell me lies and I will listen Tell the truth and I'll be gone Tell me why I need permission [...] Shining in your shadow How could I sink this low? Our acquaintance has been so-so And I can't understand where my patience's gone

These lyrics just give me very frustrated Anakin as a Padawan trying to navigate his relationship with Obi-Wan. Not very romantic or shippy, but still relevant in my opinion.

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❧ Bruci la città - Irene Grandi

(Let) The city burn down or live in fear (that) within two hours everything will disappear anything else will disappear [...] I can't stop (myself) from screaming That I hold you to my heart To protect you from evil That I wish I could soothe Your pain, your pain [...] (Let) The stars explode (Let) The whole thing explode (Let) Everything other than the two of us die At least for a little bit At least as a mistake [...] I want to get my act together Maybe be better And shield you with my heart From catastrophe and fear

Don't really know why, but this makes me think of a quiet moment in the middle of the Clone Wars, just Anakin and Obi-Wan alone in a tent, hoping to have a moment of peace in each other's arms. (If you want the full lyrics translated let me know, I just picked my favorite parts)

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❧ Atlantis - Seafret

We got here the hard way All those words that we exchange Is it any wonder things get dark? 'Cause it's in my heart, it's in my head I never take back the things I said [...] I can't save us My Atlantis, we fall We've built this town on shaky ground [...] Now all the birds have fled The hurt just leaves me scared Losing everything I've ever known It's all become too much Maybe I'm not built for love If I knew that I could reach you, I would go

SO MUCH OBI-WAN ANGST POST-ROTS! Like, the birds that have fled are the Jedi that survived Order 66, the things impossible to take back a reference to the entire conversation between Anakin and Obi-Wan during their duel... And the one thing that always breaks me: "maybe I'm not built for love", which makes me think about that "infinte sadness" thing that comes from one of the novels. *chef kiss*

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❧ No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

I should have known I'd leave alone Just goes to show That the blood you bleed is just the blood you owe We were a pair [...] You were my life, but like is far away from fair Was I stupid to love you? Was I reckless to help? Was it obvious to everybody else? That I'd fallen for a lie You were never on my side [...] I let it burn You're no longer my concern Faces from my past return Another lesson yet to learn

Don't know about you, but this always makes me think of a lonely and bitter Obi-Wan after RotS. There's also another way of reading this honestly. This could absolutely be Anakin spiraling at the end of RotS, convinced that Padmé doesn't love him anymore; and then Vader facing Luke (the face from the past returning) and realizing the one who always lied to him was Palpatine.

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❧ White Flag - Dido

I know I left too much mess and Destruction to come back again And I caused nothing but trouble I understand if you can't talk to me again And if you live by the rules of "it's over" Then I'm sure that that makes sense But I will go down with this ship And I won't put my hands up and surrender There will be no white flag above my door I'm in love and always will be And when we meet Which I'm sure we will All that was there Will be there still I'll let it pass And hold my tongue And you will think That I've moved on

There's no doubt that this song has been overused. And it is a very classic meme, so sometimes it's hard to take it seriously. But I still love it. And I can't help but relate this to something with Vader trying to redeem himself but failing at that too, and his and Obi-Wan's relationship still being broken as fuck.

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❧ Fight the End - The playground

When it's all falling apart I'll be the one who can hold you Console you When everything's getting dark And you can't find the spark To get through I'll fight for you till the end Whatever's broken I'll mend For you If you think it's all gone Just breathe in and hold on Till the end of time

Once again, just some H/C during the Clone Wars kind vibes, but also good for an apocalypse AU of some kind.

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❧ Hanging On A Lie - Striking Matches

I'm not mentioning a specific part of this song, because the entire thing in my head is just the whole journey of Anakin turning to the Dark Side and then turning back to the Light right before he died. Seriously, up until the first chorus, it's just Anakin talking about what he feels like about Padmé's supposed betrayal. ("Baby you've been up to something / don't you tell me it's not what it looks like" but also "I might have been naive but I'm not blind" and "Don't you know you should know better than this / Than to cover up the truth with your poisonous lips/I'm not falling for it this time"). The second half of the song is Vader facing Luke. ("I'll be the one who got away from you when you / finally figure it out / you won't find me"). And the last part is Vader realizing all the lies Palpatine told him all alon. ("I'm not fallin' for it this time/try and try too little too late" and again the "you should know better than this/than to cover up the truth with you poisonous lips") A bit of a weird interpretation, that's for sure. But look at me making a song about cheating all about Anakin's journey!

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❧ Bloodsport '15 - Raleigh Ritchie

Your love is worth it and for that I will wait And though you hate me when you have a turn I drive you crazy, but you always return [...] Although you love me, sometimes we're mean Things can get ugly, but we're still a team We are an army that breaks from withing but That's why we're stronger and that's how we'll win [...] I've got your back, and though it's stacked against us I've got your hand, it's us against consensus And I will burn the people who hurt you the worst and I will no learn Cause I am too young and too dumb to consider the terms of breaking the law And I'll curse the day that they return With a smile on my face as their heads hit the floor And they're done, now it's curtains, the bloodlust's a clusterfuck, it hurts but it's working And even if you ask me to stop, it's too late because I've already decided their fate It's not a distaste, it's pure hate and it pulsates and it works its way around my brain Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I'll protect you till the day I meet my maker So don't fight me now cause you might need me later Loving you is a bloodsport Fighting in a love war It's not what I'm in love for, I'm yours I don't know if you can help it, maybe I'm just being selfish

Soooo, basically Anakin doing to Obi-Wan what he did to Padmé: loving him so much he thinks he has to turn to the Dark Side to save him. The first part I can almost imagine said by Obi-Wan, actually. Like, he's aware that sometimes Anakin hates their dynamics, but also that they are both in love... Which just ends with total madness.

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❧ Sweet Love of Mine - Joy Williams

I was broken, I was blind Lost in a moment I thought I left behind Then you woke up this dark soul of mine Carrying a light I thought I'd never find When you found me, I was all alone The whole world around me, but nowhere to call home I heard your voice sing like heaven's choir Gathered up my fears and threw them in the fire

I'm well aware this song is about pregnancy and how the singer found herself in the experience of becoming a mother. BUT, hear me out: what about an AU with either one of them being a Sith and the other one is still a Jedi. Instead of fighting each other, the Jedi tries to save the Sith, because they realize that the Sith actually never had a chance to be anything else since they grew up with a Sith as their "parent" and Master. But if we still want to keep the pregnancy element, fuck it! It's perfect for an Omegaverse AU, with Anakin maybe about to fall when he finds out he's pregnant and that is how Obi-Wan and their unborn child save Anakin. (Is this very specific? Yes. Do I care? Nope, and that's why this song made it into the playlist.)

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❧ Senza fare sul serio - Malika Ayane

There's a post on my blog already about why this song makes me think about the Jedi Order in general. I know I should probably keep it in a different playlist. Alas, it's still here. Have a link to my previous post if you are interested on reading a complete translation and the explanation of my reasoning. HERE!

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❧ Conversations in the Dark - John Legend

I will never try to change you, change you I will always want the same you, same you Swear on everything I pray to That I won't break your heart I'll be there when you get lonely, lonely Keep the secrets that you told me, told me And your love is all you owe me And I won't break your heart [...] And we, we got places we both gotta be But there ain't nothing I would rather do Then blow off all my plans for you

It's just such a lovely love song, I couldn't help myself. This seriously gives me sappy Obi-Wan vibes in any way, shape or form.

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❧ If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming With You - The Wombats

You know I'll do Whatever you want me to [...] Take you out of this You reluctant optimist And if you ever leave, I'm coming with you Stuck to the gum that's stuck on your shoe If you ever leave, I'm coming with you [...] Am I losing you in the dark baby? No more breaking stuff No more acting up Filling your head with doubt

A song about the obsessive kind of love that hints of a way too dependent relationship? Something that mentions losing themselves in the dark? Of fucking course I relate this to Anakin and the way he loves people!

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❧ Transplant - Sea Girls

You're breaking all the promises tonight I'm always dancing by myself as the music plays I'm always one step behind, off-beat, out of place Now I'm looking for you, you're looking away [...] Your heart changed Mine stayed the same I don't recognize your voice when you're saying my name Your heart changed And mine beats the same way [...] Wish I could be back in the moment We were shining, we were making mistakes 'Til your heart changed Mine stayed the same

Have I mentioned that I have a lot of RotS feels? Yeah, so, in my head the "dancing" works like an analogy to fighting and the "music" is literally the sound of battle. Which is why this fits perfectly as far as I'm concerned. An even the "always one step behind" part is just Obi-Wan not realizing Anakin was slowly turning to the Dark Side. But it can be related also to how Anakin basically felt like he didn't truly belong with the Jedi.

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❧ Read my Mind - JONES

Can't control my thoughts But I'm trying every day [...] But sometimes I want impossible things When you hear my voice, what does it say? Need a language, we're lost in translation From impossible thoughts and feelings Why don't you know before I know? What I need to say, before I can How come you don't have the answer Before I asked you the question? Wish you could read my mind [...] It's been a long time since we've been together In the same world, just want you to look at me Like I was everything you ever wanted again [...] Just hold me like I'm everything you wanted again

A good song of the two people pining will always make me think of those two dorks. And their feeling are definitely lost in translation even in canon, with Anakin never realizing how much Obi-Wan actually cares for him because of Palpatine's manipulations.

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❧ So Much It Hurts - Niki & The Dove

Oh, I ask you where you've been 'Cause you always come home late nowadays What a fool was I to think we were safe From the thieves in the temple [...] Oh, won't you bring it back? After all that we've been through together Is it now you gonna throw it all away? Oh, a love like ours Tell me, was it worth it? Oh, the thieves in the temple Oh, but you said that For better for worse You would always be there for me Always be there for me Always be there for me like I'll always be there for you Good times and bad times

So this screams Padmé being cheated on. Like, Anakin still married to her, yet he is always sneaking away after they spend time together to be in the Temple with Obi-Wan. Like, Obi-Wan is literally the thief in the Temple that steals Anakin away from her. (Which I'm sure is actually a metaphor for how the couples' marriage is the temple and someone is disrespecting it by taking away the other's lover. But look at me making this literal, 'cause why not!).

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❧ Power & Control - Marina

Give a little, get a lot That's just how you are with love [...] Think you're funny, think you're smart Think you're gonna break my heart Think you're funny, think you're smart Yeah, you may be good looking But you're not a piece of art [...] Power and control I'm gonna make you fall I'm gonna make you fall We give and take a little more 'Cause all my life I've been controlled You can't have peace without a war

Another song for an AU, this time one with both of them being Sith, most likely being enemies too at first. Before they decide to work together against Anakin's Master.

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❧ No Hero - Elisa

Don't you shut your eyes And hide you heart behind a shadow 'Cause you can count on me As long as I can breathe [...] I've fallen from grace Yeah, I'm much less a saint than a sinner Oh, no I ain't no superhuman 'Cause that's just in the movies, I know But I'll carry you throught the night Through the storm Give you love, always love in return I can't jump over buildings I'm no hero But love can do miracles I can't outrun a bullet 'Cause I'm no hero But I would take one for you [...] 'Cause I'm no hero But I'd spill my blood for you If you need me to I'll be there

Another song from an Italian artist, but this one is in English! And I totally see this song for a scenario where one of the two isn't a Jedi or even for a Modern AU. But it can totally work for Canon compliant too because Anakin is the one every calls hero with no fear. It fits then if Obi-Wan tells Anakin that he doesn't feel like a hero, but he would do anything for Anakin.

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SOOOO, this post is getting way to long (like, it was way too long even just with the first song). And I made it to an even 20 songs. I feel like this a nice place to stop for now. Don't worry, these are just the first 20. I have more in my private playlist, but I want to make another post like this when I add them to the public one. Because I can. And that's what I'm gonna do.

[crispyjenkins]

Omg! Dookus padawan au is fabulous! I love it! Although now im curious about how melida daan would go with a more confident obi and a master whos supportive of him and listens

(i originally planned this to be a dramatic harrowing recounting of obi’s time on Melida/Daan, but it did not turn out like that ಥ_ಥ 

thank you for enabling me with this au, anon, i love it so much and i somehow don’t write little-shit-obi nearly as much as i should. i hope this satisfies! ( ˘ ³˘) bonus nield ‘cause he’s dead in dha kar’ta and i got big sad about it)

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 "Obi-Wan, did you fuck the Mand'alor."

  Obi-Wan grins at Nield from the cell across from him, sitting in half-lotus like any proper Jedi on a routine kidnapping, and Jango sighs in the next cell over.

  "You overestimate how much either of us would like that," Obi-Wan chirps, even though they all know that's not really what Nield is asking. 

  And he makes his feelings about that clear, leveling Obi-Wan with an unimpressed deadpan that Obi-Wan really doesn't think is warranted. "Is this what you thought I meant when I told you to lay low?" he asks gruffly. "Become the youngest Jedi Master in two centuries and shack up with another Anti-Republic System's leader?"

  Jango slants a look at him. "What do you mean 'another'?"

  "Well, technically, Nield, I never shacked up with you either," Obi-Wan reasons. "And you were only governor for about three days."

  "That still counts!"

  "De'jate werda, this is about the Young?"

  "Language, dear," Obi-Wan chides blandly, and Jango throws his stale roll at him through the bars; it misses him by a foot anyways. "But yes, I'm afraid so. I did tell you the Daan regularly kidnap me for ransom from the Jedi, didn't I?"

  Grumbling, Jango flops against the back wall to scowl. "I was under the impression they had stopped after your Cerasi renamed the planet."

  "They did," Nield pipes up, poking at his own inedible roll. "Since I'm here, it probably still does have to do with the leaders of Tahl, but why they nabbed your boyfriend is beyond me."

  Jango rolls his eyes. "Probably because I was with him when they grabbed him."

  "Don't sound so put-upon, we hadn't seen each other in months." Aside from a single holocall before Obi-Wan had gone undercover with a Mid-Rim diplomatic convoy, both he and Jango had been too busy to take the time off for even a quick visit, and they'd had all of twenty minutes together before their kidnappers had broken into Jango's apartment on Coruscant. They had been in the middle of dinner and everything, and Obi-Wan mourns the tiingilar left on their table.

  Though, he supposes, he had made it with Rodian chillies instead of Mandalorian ones just to kark with Jango, so Maker knows if it had even been edible.

  Snorting, Nield runs his hands through his hair and leans as far over as he can to look down the halls of their cellblock, as if he and Jango hadn't already done that. "I imagine you haven't broken out yet because you're the only one of us in cuffs?"

  Obi-Wan helpfully raises his bound hands to show him the new-fangled force-suppressing manacles that have become more popular over the last few years, what with the sudden spike in number of Jedi. "I’ve never seen them before," he offers. "They're not nearly as strong as Ventress' collar, but I'm afraid I'm of no use to you unless we get them off."

  Nield sighs. "I said to lay low, Kenobi. You were the one to bag Ventress?"

  "I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, my dear: she rather forced my hand."

  "No, no, we're not glossing over this again," Jango growls, getting to his feet to lean on his bars so he can glare at the both of them. "Why'd you tell him to lay low? When did you tell him to lay low?"

  “I’ve been telling him for years!”

  “But especially since the last attempt on Cerasi’s life.”

  “Ner ca’tra,” Jango sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Do you have a bounty on you again?”

  Nield waves emphatically, as if finally proven right. “‘Again’! What does he mean ‘again’, Obi-Wan?”

  Rolling his eyes, Obi-Wan knows it’s not nearly as bad as they’re both making it out to be. “To my knowledge, no, I don’t think I currently have a bounty out on my head, and Neild, it would only be the second time.” He unfolds himself and pushes upright, stretching his legs before sticking his bound hands through the bars. “Now, if you two would stop nagging, I need you to try shorting out the locking mechanism with your water cups.”

  Jango sighs but still moves to grab the single cup of water that had been in the cells when they arrived; Nield stays at his door and scowls. “You’re not sure if it’ll work?”

  Obi-Wan raises a brow. “No, I’m actually quite confident it will: Quinlan and I have escaped the Daan twice like this. I just wasn’t sure if your arms would reach.”

  “Ha ha,” Jango drawls, sticking his own arms out to try and reach across the narrow walkway between their lines of cells. “Was that before or after you liberated the planet.”

  Nield is absolutely no help, groaning and laughing both as he ducks back to get his own water. “I’ve yet to meet this mysterious Quinlan that you assure me is actually real, but it’s been a decade and a half, ‘Nobi.”

  He sniffs in offense, stretching out as far as he can for Jango to tip his cup over his wrists. “He’s doing it on purpose. Quinlan Vos is never more amused than when he is making my life more difficult, so I’m afraid he’s been avoiding you, my dear.”

  “A likely story,” Nield snorts, and his significantly-longer arms easily allow him to pour his water directly into the locking mechanism. It starts sparking immediately, Obi-Wan jerking to the side to protect his face while Nield yelps and pulls back. 

  Feeling the Force rush back into his bones like a splash of tihaar, Obi-Wan easily snaps the cuffs down the centre and kicks open his cell door.

-

  Obi-Wan wasn't even supposed to be here, but when he's on his way back from Ilum to finally build a second lightsaber so he can move up from the jar’kai practice ’sabers Master Windu has him using, the Force sidelines him by forcing the Crucible into an emergency landing for the first time since Huyang's creation. A problem with the hyperdrive or something, nothing crucial to replace, something easily fixed once planetside, but just bad enough that they have to land on the nearest planet to fix it.

  Where Qui-Gon Jinn just so happens to be already on a mission attempting to rescue another Jedi master. Where there are actual children fighting for control of the capital city. 

  It takes Obi-Wan less than an hour to find Jinn and the Young, and perhaps an hour more to decide he would be sending Masters Tahl and Jinn back to the Temple without him. Master Yan would understand, it would hardly be the first time he had taken advantage of his master’s absence to do what the Force was telling him to.

  He is there a month before Master Yan returns with four Jedi Masters and their padawans, and permission from the Senate to aid the Young until a treaty could be reached. Obi-Wan is frankly too intimidated by his master securing the warrant nobody had managed to in seventy-five years to ask just how he’d done it; and Master Yan doesn’t scold him except to tell him in no uncertain terms that he is never to trust Qui-Gon Jinn’s judgement on anything to do with children. 

  Luckily his following lecture about the faults of jar’kai and the importance of proper dueling technique is cut off by an ambush from the Melida, and he never gets back around to it even after the Young retake the planet. Obi-Wan is still unsure whether he prefers the three days of sexual education he gets instead, when Cerasi admits she had caught Nield and Obi-Wan kissing in the hall after her election.

-

  Yan meets them outside, not looking very surprised to see them simply walking from the brig that had been their home for the last eight hours. Their human kidnappers are cuffed and being processed by a pair of Judiciary Branch clerks Yan had evidently brought with him, which would rather explain why there had been no one to hinder their escape.

  Raising a brow, a million questions in the simple gesture, Yan holds out Obi-Wan’s cloak, waiting for him to put it on before giving him his ’sabers as well. “I fear I must apologise, your honor,” he rumbles like the words simultaneously amuse him and burn his mouth. “My former apprentice still has not learned how to keep others safe from his continued imbroglios.”

  Jango snorts, accepting one of Obi-Wan’s ’sabers to hold until he can get his blasters back; Nield’s eyes almost bug out of his head. “Do we know what they were after?”

  Yan’s lips curl almost-mockingly. “A trade agreement, I believe. President Cerasi and the Delegates of Tahl had already turned them away, so they thought to strong-arm the Melidaan system instead.”

  “So you weren’t even a political prisoner,” Obi-Wan teases a Nield already burying his face in his hands, “just a familial hostage, my dear.”

  “Shut him up before I do,” Nield tells Jango.

  Who simply smirks and holds up his hands. “You overestimate how much control I have over anything he does.”

  “Maker, he really does have you wrapped around his finger.”

  “To be fair, I’ve known Jango far more intimately.”

  “I’m leaving,” Nield announces, spinning on heel to stalk towards the rescue cruiser from Tahl despite knowing Obi-Wan simply means he’s never had visions of Nield, even as far back as the Civil War. 

  Jango leans over and surreptitiously whispers, "Was Nield the bad wall-makeout?"

  "Maker, he was horrible, my dear." 

Mando’a: Mand’alor — “Sole ruler”, contended ruler of Mandalore. "De'jate werda" — "By the Great Darkness", slang from Concord Dawn, used as an expletive similar to "Christ!" or "Good lord." tiingilar — Mandalorian casserole specified to be “blisteringly spicy” ner ca'tra — “my night sky”, intimate term of endearment  tihaar — Mandalorian strong clear spirit made from fruit

*also obi is a master earlier ‘cause of his clairvoyance, since i’m subscribing to the “you become a master jedi when you master a part of yourself” version of the master trials in this. anyways.*

[purplesauris]

49, dinluke

49. Trying to pull clothes on over damp skin

Thank you for the prompt! This might not be AS shippy as you wanted but I couldn’t resist co-parenting dads

Din had been away from Luke’s temple, from his child and all the others, for two months, three days and six hours. Not that he was counting, because in the grand scheme of things those two months were nothing but a very short trip out for supplies. Supplies, and as always, a child or three that Din somehow seemed to find along the way. 

He didn’t know how they kept finding him, or how he kept finding them, but the belly of the Crest was filled with the quiet, soft laughter of children, and Din wondered how many foundlings he could adopt before someone from his clan finally found him and told him that enough was enough. He didn’t think they ever could. 

He’s currently got himself locked in the refresher, trying to enjoy the short shower and respite while he can. The water is lukewarm, not nearly hot enough for Din, but they’re on the return trip to Yavin and Din can stand lukewarm showers if it means they get home a bit quicker. The key word in this is that he’s trying. Every so often he hears a bang or a swear, and Din always stops, listening to the way the children whisper and hurry to fix whatever it is they’ve done. He’s nearly done when there’s a series of knocks on the refresher door, some quiet, some louder than others, and he turns the water off with a grunt. 

“Did someone break something?” He calls, because it’s the first thing he can think of. Little Milla’s voice is the one that chimes in through the door, and Din wonders how they made her bring the bad news. 

“No, Mr. Din, there’s- A beeping? From the cockpit.” 

Din doesn’t even bother trying to dry off, instead grabbing for his clothes and shucking them on as fast as he can. His pants fight going over his legs, sticking around his thighs, and Din does a very embarrassing little hop to hoist them up the rest of the way. He shoves his shirt on, the material catching around his shoulders as he hits the release on the door and steps out, barefoot. 

Three children are waiting for him on the other side, a small blue twi’lek boy of no more than five, hiding behind an older twi’lek girl with dusky periwinkle skin, and a zabrak girl with orange skin standing a few feet away, arms crossed and expression stony. 

“Who was up there?” 

There’s a chorus of protests, and Din rolls his eyes. Of course none of them were up there messing with anything. Except- when Din listens for the beeping he realizes it isn’t the ship itself, but the holo port- Din is hurrying up the ladder and into the cockpit without another word, hair still dripping wet as he lunges to slap at the button for the holo. Din doesn't even bother to sit down, standing hunched over the holo as he stares, anxiety etched over his face. 

It takes a moment, but Luke’s face flickers into view, turned away from the holo as he gently scolds one of the other children for throwing something heavy. “Luke?”

Said Jedi jumps, as if not expecting to actually get through, and Din watches as Luke’s eyes widen before going impossibly soft, a small smile pulling at his lips. “Did I interrupt?”

“No, no. Is everything okay?” The unspoken you don’t usually call is left unsaid, but Luke smiles, sheepish.

“Everything is fine, I just-” Din can see the color on Luke’s cheeks even through the holo, and he tilts his head, staring. Luke’s face only flushes further before he finally mutters. “I just missed you. Wondered when you’d be home?”

Din’s chest burns with affection, and he huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. “It’s only been two months.” He says, as if he wasn’t counting down the minutes until he was back among the purple maze of trees that surrounded their home. Luke pouts, not happy with the answer, and Din can’t wait to see him in person. “We’re on the way back now. Maybe another hour.” 

“We?” Luke perks up at that, latching on instantly, and Din grimaces. “Din, please tell me you didn’t-”

“They didn’t have anyone!” He protests, scowling when Luke laughs. “They’re sensitive, or whatever you call it.”

Luke looks stunned for a moment before he laughs in disbelief. “How do you keep finding them?”

“I’m not.” Din’s protest is weaker this time- kids seemed to flock to him naturally, but it seemed like for every kid he saw, the ones that he had a good feeling about were always force sensitive. The ones who truly had no one or nothing but the clothes on their back. “I have to go pilot the ship.”

“Aww, don’t pout!” Din makes a face at the holo, definitely not pouting, and Luke is laughing when Din turns the holo off, sighing. What a mess his life is- he’d only taken Luke’s offer to stay with him so he could still see Grogu, but… Here he is over a year later, three force sensitive kids making a mess of his ship and another dozen waiting back home with his Jedi partner. His partner- Din still can’t believe it sometimes, that he got as lucky as he did, that they met at all, in a galaxy where before Grogu Din would have avoided any mention of someone as powerful or well known as Luke. 

Din pops down briefly to have everyone tuck into the sleeping bay, sitting crunched on his little cot so they won’t be knocked around as he lands the ship less than an hour later, engines dropping to a dull whine as Din sets them down next to Luke’s battered x-wing, powering the ship down and going to get his armor on. The kids wait patiently as he adjusts his clothes from where they had stuck to him, and Pavru, to Din’s surprise, helps hoist his backplate into place while Din does the straps, quickly stepping back once Din is done. He nods his head in thanks to her and doesn’t say a word when her orange cheeks flush the color of rust. 

“There are going to be a lot of other kids here.” Din says, crouching down so everyone can see him. “They’re like you, but if you get overwhelmed, you can come back into the ship for a while. Okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Din.”

“Just Din.” He says, though he knows he won’t break Milla of the habit anytime soon. “You’ll also meet Luke- he’s like you, but much, much more powerful. He’s going to seem scary, like I did, but he’s here to help you guys, okay?”

He gets three nods, and Din chucks Milla and the boy under his chin, laughing softly when they smile. He doesn’t touch Pavru, knowing her boundaries, but when he stands to go down the ramp he finds a small orange hand clinging to his. Din holds his other hand out for Milla, and together the four of them walk down the ramp, toward Luke, who waits at the bottom of the ramp, face lit up with a grin and robes stark black against the purple backdrop. 

“That was less than an hour.” Luke points out, Din rolling his eyes at the tone. Luke’s attention doesn’t stay on him for long, not with the kids currently hiding half behind the silver bulk of him, and he watches, fond, as Luke crouches, making him smaller as he smiles. “Did you guys survive the ship ride with him alright? No getting tied up?”

“Tied up?” Milla’s voice shakes, but there’s a faint curiosity to her tone and Luke laughs. 

“Oh yes, he likes to tie kids up when they’re being naughty, so they can only wiggle like worms.” Luke waggles his fingers, raising a brow, and Milla giggles, glancing up toward Din in question. Din makes a face, tilting his head, and Milla laughs, breaking hesitantly away to head further down the ramp, toward where Luke waits, a hand held out patiently. Like Luke has done with all his kids, he waits for her move first, and only once she places her hand in his does he smile, thumb smoothing over the small back of her hand as he bows his head and says, “Hello, Milla. My name is Luke.” 

The boy is next, Din still hasn’t gotten his name, but when he follows his sister’s lead, placing his hand in Luke’s, Din listens eagerly as Luke murmurs, “Hi, Arlo.” 

They both say hello back, smiling shyly, and Luke glances over his shoulder as one of his oldest recruits, a girl of maybe 14 comes up, smiling and waving for them to follow her. They look back to Din for permission, eyes wide, and Din nods his head in encouragement. It’s all they need before they’re ushered inside, no doubt to be questioned and welcomed by all the other kids waiting eagerly for Din to come back. Luke stands up once the other two are gone, folding his hands in front of him, face fond. Pavru hasn’t unglued herself from Din’s side yet, staring at Luke with a scowl on her face as her grip tightens on Din’s hand. 

“I don’t like it.” She mutters, tugging on Din’s hand. “I don’t like his-” She gestures at him, as if she can’t explain, and Din hums. 

“I know what you mean. It took me a while to get used to it too.” Wide yellow eyes look up at him in surprise, but Din is being sincere, face open and soft. “You don’t have to take his hand, or give him your name to have a home here.”

“I don’t?” Din shakes his head, glancing over at where Luke has partially turned away to make it easier on the girl. 

“No. This is your home now, if you want it. If you don’t, I can take  you to Nevarro. I have a friend there who can help you find somewhere better.” 

The girl shakes her head, white-blonde hair a messy halo around her head, falling between the spikes coming from her scalp. “You can’t leave me.”

“I won’t, then. Can we go see him? I missed him very much.” 

“You like him?” 

“I love him.” Din corrects gently, the other girl glancing between Din and Luke for a moment before she nods, keeping a tight hold on his hand as Din takes a few steps down the ramp, closer and closer until Luke turns, face gone soft and adoring as Din dips to bump their foreheads together. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Luke whispers back, smiling and keeping himself very, very still so as not to spook the girl at Din’s side. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Good to be back. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” It’s a bit sappy, a little much maybe, but Luke eats it up, cheeks pink as he laughs. Din’s eyes flick down toward Pavru, a smirk on his face, and when he gives Luke a kiss, one with far more grandeur than substance, she makes a face, sticking her tongue out and finally letting go of his hand to dart inside the temple, following the path the other kids took. Din relaxes once she’s inside, moving back to just resting their foreheads together. 

“She’s strong.” Luke murmurs, hand coming up to cup Din’s cheek, thumb sweeping affectionately over the soft curve of Din’s cheekbone. “Reminds me of you.” 

“Me?”

“Stubborn as a bantha.” Din snorts pulling back, but Luke laughs, going up on tiptoe to place a soft kiss to Din’s lips that stops him in his tracks. “It’s a complement.”

“They stink.”

“Mm, you don’t. Promise.” Din rolls his eyes, forgetting Luke can see his face, but Luke only laughs and kisses him again, murmuring against his lips. “Welcome home, love.”