#at the ISWF show

[fluffynexu]

WRATS

~In Memoriam~

Brief History

In 1025 Darth Feras, then Lord Jwinü, was on one of her exploration mission to the planet of Tatooine. There she came upon creatures known as “womp rats” (Tatooines rattus ferox). She was fascinated that even with the Force, she could barely sense them. After further investigation she realized these creature had a very basic grasp of using the Force to cloak themselves. This prompted Darth Feras to take considerable time studying them during her stay. She quickly discovered that the womp rats were feared and hated by almost all sentient beings that knew of them, especially among humans.

But while the greater galaxy saw these animals as loathsome pests, Darth Feras saw a misunderstood creatures that exhibited ferocity, stealth, and cunning, all of these were traits admired by the Sith. At the end of her mission on Tatooine, Darth Feras took a sizable colony of womp rats back to the Empire. For the next several decades, she used a combination of Sith Alchemy and selective breeding to tame, domesticate, and create various breeds of “wrats” (Drokaas rattus familiaris).

The new species of wrats quickly found themselves in high regard among the Sith as pets. After Darth Feras’s death, her students and apprentices continued the work with the wrats. They created and developed more breeds over the years, which led to the founding of the Sith Society for Wrats (SSW) in 1101. Eventually, the SSW officially changed its name to the Imperial Society of Wrat Fanciers (ISWF) in 1318. The organization continues to hold annual shows to recognize exceptional breeders and their specimens to this day.

Although wrats were once revered as pets exclusive to the Sith, the Empire has slowly allowed these animals to become the companions of average Imperial citizens over the course of many years. However the vast majority of wrat owners, especially of purebreds, are still Sith or high ranking Imperial officers.

Temperament

Temperament vary greatly between breeds and even between the individuals within a breed. But in general wrats are known to be highly intelligent, friendly toward their family, wary of strangers, curious, protective, fierce, and goofy. Being even slightly attuned to the Force makes them obedient and easily trainable, especially if the owner is a Sith. Because of this wrats can be used for various things aside from being “pampered pets”.

Biology

While the wild womp rats of Tatooine can grow up to 2-3 meters in length, their domesticated counterparts are smaller on average with a greater range in size. Reaching anywhere from 0.5-2 m in length, adult wrats can weigh 5-50 kg and stand between 25-110 cm tall. The average for all wrats lie somewhere between 75 cm long, 15 kg in weight, and 50 cm in height. With a Force sensitive owner they have long lifespans, up to 30 years, but with a non-Force user their lifespan tops out around 16 years.

Unlike womp rats which are polyestrous, wrats are monestrous and only breed once a year. Their gestation period is about 66 Imperial Standard Days with 4-6 pups born at a time. It takes a couple of months for the pups to be weaned and mature enough to be re-homed, and around 1-2 years of age is when a wrat reaches sexual maturity.

Like their wild counterparts, wrats are true omnivores capable of eating almost anything and everything, thus maintaining a proper diet is very important. Another retained trait from the wild womp rats is the continuous growth of their incisors. Owners must deal with this appropriately with adequate toys and objects for the wrat the chew on. Wrat teeth have been made more durable than their wild counterparts through the alchemic process, and they can gnaw through durasteel and permacrete if given enough time. The legendary bite of the womp rat was also retained, and wrats have very strong, painful bites with locking jaws that will not release unless the animal allows it.

Another trait altered from their wild brethren include a more refined vision. Wrats may have a better sight than womp rats, but both species still rely heavily on their sensitive hearing, smell, and touch. With four ears wrats can hear both above and below the hearing ranges of humans, allowing them to communicate and track prey more effectively. It’s also said that their sense of smell is second to that of akk dogs, making them suitable detection animals. They also have a full face of whiskers that are sensitive enough to feel subtle vibrations in the air.

Variations in Appearance

Wrats come in a wide variety of colors, patterns, sizes, and shapes. Some of these looks are set into a specific breed while many can be seen across multiple breeds.

Eye Colors

Wrat eyes primarily come in two colors: red and black. Their eyes can be red, black, or one of each. They can also have pink or blue as eyes, but those colors are considered extremely rare and are usually linked to a genetic defect.

Ear Placements

Wrat ears are placed in one of three ways on their head: top, side, or drooped. The top eared variety is the most common. Ears on the side are sometimes more rounded and give the wrat a “cuter” face. Droop eared wrats cannot perk up the ears the way top eared ones can and are the least common ear type.

Head Shape

The head shape of wrats can be mesocephalic, brachycephalic, or dolichocephalic. The shapes are more commonly referred to as round/regular, flat/smushed, or pointed/long.

Round/regular is the most common head shape among wrats, followed by pointed/long and then by flat/smushed. Some flat faced wrat breeds over-exaggerate the “smush” effect from years of selective breeding and can often contribute to health problems such as labored breathing or the potential for eyes dislocating from the sockets.

Tail Types

Most wrat tails are “hairless”, coming in the single or split variety. But they can also be short, with a bit of fur, or fully furred.

Coat Types There are four different types of coats found in domesticated wrats: short/self, long/silky, wired/curly, or bald/hairless.

Short haired is the most common type of fur found among wrats. The short coat is comprised of true fur which only grow to a certain length before being shed and replaced.

Long haired coats only show up in a few breeds such as the luxurian or silken. The long coat is comprised of hair which differs from short fur in that it will grow continuously. This means that any long haired wrats need maintenance or vanity cuts for the fur coats.

Wire haired wrats are also fairly uncommon. Their fur also does not shed nearly as much as a short hair and should feel rough and bristly when compared to the silky and smooth textures of long and short hair.

Hairlessness is only found breed, the finx. Despite the name, no wrat is truly hairless. Finx wrats still retain their whiskers and some even have small patches of ultra fine fur. But any other wrat that displays hairlessness, whether in patches or on the whole body, is considered a product of genetic mutation.

Body Sizes and Shapes Wrats range vastly in size. The smallest breed of wrat weighs in under 5 kg while the largest breed can exceed over 50 kg. While any body shape can be found at any size, for the most part the two traits are interlinked. This leads to the general categories of: large/tall, medium/regular, and small/dwarf.

Tall wrats have elongated legs, making them better at running which in turn makes them excellent trackers and hunters. Their longer limbs do not hinder their ability to climb, which has come in handy in the jungles of Dromund Kaas. Most tall breeds are larger than the average wrat, but some of them can be small in size with while maintaining the tall body shape.

Medium wrats are considered the norm when it comes to the shape. While they’re not as adept at running long distances like their taller brethren, they are still quite agile and many breeds of regular wrats that are used for hunting or guarding. Wrats with this body shape generally fall within 10-20 kg, making them not too big and not too small for most owners.

Dwarf wrats are affected by a genetic condition called achondroplasia, which is the same kind of dwarfism found among sentient species such as humans. The condition greatly shortens their limbs, causing them to appear “stumpy”. Though a large wrat can be a dwarf, most dwarf breeds were also bred down to smaller sizes and mainly serve as lap pets.

Coat Colors Currently, there are 14 base colors seen in wrats. Of course, a wrat can have multiple colors in many different patterns so the possible looks are nearly endless.

Coat Patterns There are many different patterns found on wrats, but the most common are: masked, capped, hooded, striped, point, spotted, solid, underbelly, blaze, chestguard, tricolor, robed, bareback, top stripe, patched, caped, suited, belted, lined, and hind striped.

Masked: Band of color over the eyes, extending to sides of the face. Rest of the body should be white or a lighter color than the mask.

Capped: Entire head is a darker color than the rest of the body.

Hooded: The head and back are colored while the rest of the body is white.

Striped: Dark vertical (cranial to caudal) stripes run down the entire body. Face should be bare of any markings. The stripes are a darker color than the base fur coat.

Point: The nose/jawline as well as the lower limbs of the wrat are a lighter color than the body, and if the tail is furred, the tip of the tail should match the light fur color. The body is typically black in color.

Spotted: Body and spots can be any color, but the spots must appear to be speckled or splattered. Any color for the spots and body, they just need to be different.

Solid: One solid color for the entire body.

Underbelly: Head, neck, chest and belly should all be a darker color than the rest of the body.

Blaze: Refers to a specific pattern on the face. There should be a patch of white or light coloring on the nose and up to the forehead.

Chestguard: A patch of fur lighter than the rest of the body should be on the chest.

Tricolor: There must be three distinct colors manifesting in any of the following patterns - robed, suited, hooded, belted, spotted, top stipe, or patched. Thus this pattern includes any of the ones listed.

Robed: One darker color for the dorsal side of the body and a lighter one for the ventral side.

Bareback: The head and shoulders are a darker color than the rest of the body.

Top Stripe: A thin line, usually black but can be other dark colors, runs down from forehead to the base of the tail. The rest of the body should be lighter in color.

Patched: Large, round patterns appearing at random all across the body. These patches and the body should be different colors.

Caped: A thick, broad band of dark color runs down the back. Head should be bare and match with rest of the body.

Suited: From part of the face as well as the ventral side should be white while the rest of the body is one solid dark color.

Belted: There must be a distinct band going all the way around the wrat’s midsection.

Lined: Similar to striped, but the stripes have dotted lines within them as well.

Hind Striped: Dark horizontal stripes appearing only on the back end of the wrat.

Breeds

Though many of the wrat breeds were bred to fulfill the purpose of “household pets”, there are some that possess “multi functional” properties. These wrats are used to fulfill other “jobs” aside from being pampered pets. Some of the more recognizable breeds are the moraban which are used commonly by Inquisitors, and the ibalken for executions, or warmarr for battles.

The ISWF currently recognizes 36 official breeds, though there are many ‘mixed’ and ‘common mutts’ that exist but left uncategorized. For a new breed to be recognized it must first be created by a Sith alchemist or breeder and pass the scrutiny of the ISWF standards.

In Society and Culture

Since their domestication, wrats have gone to influence many aspects of Sith and Imperial culture. There are countless examples of wrats depicted as symbols and mascots being known throughout the Empire.

Nidsey The most notable and beloved name in regards to “wrats in entertainment” is Rolt Nidsey.

In 1221 he began his Nidsey Entertainment Company that has since grown exponentially. What began as a series of short stories of Wilsor and Wenny Wrat quickly turned into an ever expanding list of beloved classic tales within the Empire. Because of the popularity of Nidsey and the characters of the stories it produces, there was an island on Dromund Kaas that was developed into an attraction called Nidsey Nation while the moon of Dromund Fels is currently being terraformed for Nidsey Realm.

Some of the many, many stories that have endured over the past century are: P1N0CC1-1I0, The Maiden and the Monster, Star Bright, The Little Voidling, The Mowhef King, The Mutant of the Citadel, 101 Daleshuns, The Forest Tome, Ashlenna, Slumbering Sith, and Saber in the Stone.

Wrathful Wrats Another incredibly popular and beloved group of wrats come in the form of a long running cartoon known as the Wrathful Wrats. The series follows the Fearsome Four, a group of extraordinary wrats that face off against the many enemies of the Empire.

Though the Four are the main cast, the show also has many other characters and cameos of popular icons in Imperial culture. Since the show has been on air for a while, the main cast is also swapped for new characters.

Plushables! Wrats are often a popular design for children’s toys and dolls. The most popular in the Empire are a certain brand of plush dolls called Plushables!. Aside from the famous cartoon icons such as the main cast of the Wrathful Wrats, many notable Sith are often turned into wrat version of themselves for these toys.

The Sith that are turned into these dolls are almost, always Darths. Since these are seen as special collector’s items, the company discontinues sales of the doll if the Sith dies. The only exception being when they do a limited release of Historical Figures.

The Fat Wrat Very few restaurants can boast about quality and quantity. The Fat Wrat is one of the few eating establishments that can truthfully make this claim.

The restaurant started with a Sith by the name of Lord Curay and his wrat, Raly, who had an exceptionally sensitive sense of smell. With the help of some of his Imperial counterparts, Lord Curay started a small and exclusive eatery that only hosted the elite of the Empire. All of the ingredients purchased were said to be inspected by Raly, leading to some of the best dishes served in the Empire, if not the galaxy.

After Lord Curay’s (and Raly’s) death, the restaurant opened its doors to anyone and everyone in the Empire. In addition, a buffet was added to the restaurant that serves food from all over the galaxy. Patrons can choose to either eat from the buffet or À la carte with prices starting at 150 credits for a lunch buffet and the average main entree at 75 credits (without adding any drinks, appetizers, or desserts).

The Fat Wrat is also notable for never taking any reservations and functions on a first come, first serve basis. The only exception to the no reservations rule is if the Emperor himself wished to dine there or if at least half of the entire Dark Council were to book a time.

Sith Culture Since wrats originally started as exclusive pets for the Sith, it’s no surprise that the Sith have adapted new art and customs regarding these animals.

With any kind of subject, wrats have been depicted in paintings, sculptures, carvings, writings, and even as decorative designs on lightsaber hilts of some Sith.

It is common to see large and small statues of beloved family pets placed inside the home, in a garden, or even guarding family tombs.

Wrats have become such treasured pets to the Sith, some are even considered as part of the family. So when a wrat owned by a Sith passes away, their body is handled in one of two ways: mummification or cremation.

Regardless of whether or not the wrat is mummified or cremated, their remains are often stored within family tombs or vaults. Imperials don’t mummify their pets, but cremation and burials is how they proceed to mourn their wrats. Since burials are more common with Imperial owners, there’s a Wrat Cemetery, a series of small, hovering landmasses over the northwest corner of Kosqam. Although it is called a Wrat Cemetery, any animal companion can be buried there. 

a HUGE thanks to @thegarbagechute!!! seriously. ;-; this would not have been possible without gelly being super awesome and patient and wonderful! BLESS~

please !! see notes below the cut!

in loving memory of Darwin, and all my other boos that have since gone over the rainbow bridge... ;-;

this is my love letter to the two greatest “loves” of my life: rats and star wars. (also, carrie fisher made the point of “more pets in star wars!” and i 100% agree. so a part of this is for you carrie~ *blows kiss to the stars*)

this took a while. i’m talking.... 4-5 (?) months. but man, gelly did a fantastic job on all the art! D: pls give them some love!! (in a weird coincidence, the very last piece of art was completed and sent a few hours before darwin passed... i wasn’t sure how to feel about that tbh)

anyway! WRATS! they’re your cat/dog/kowakian-monkey-lizard all rolled into one! x3

lord jwinü comes from the words 쥐 (jwi) and 女(nǚ). which is korean for rat and mandarin for woman. yes. her name is literally lord rat-lady (aka ME lol)

i stated how the sith, and by in large the empire as a whole, really like these animals. bc... well why wouldn’t they? lol. and they would be of a different culture than the republic and what we see irl. how certain animals are seen and portrayed really does depend on the culture. so it didn’t seem like that much of a stretch that the empire would like cute, adorable, murderous ratties. (as for the imperial npcs shooting at womp rats on tatooine, i feel like it’s like how ppl differentiate between doggos and wild coyotes.)

omg, the breeds. the stupid breeds! DX i would’ve like to get more done but i ran out of thinking juice ;-; (i seriously gave up half way thru) if and of y’all have ideas and want to create your own wrat breed, please! send me an ask or message with all the fields filled out and i’ll add it to the list. >3<

regarding the colors. if it says lighter/darker, i mean any color and not just default white or black. ex, i put down “head, neck, chest and belly should all be a darker color than the rest of the body” for the underbelly pattern and it shows and black and white wrat. but the darker color could be red and the lighter color could be ember. see what i’m trying to say? (as in, these are colorful bunch of critters!)

and in case it wasn’t super obvious... shameless disney reference xD brownie points to anyone who can correctly name all the rl counterparts to those movies (it’s not hard and i wasn’t being particularly creative lol) the fearsome four are based on, you guessed it, the four imperial classes of swtor hehe. no they don’t have names bc i was too lazy to think of them. maybe someday... soonish? idk there’s a joke among the sith that “you know you made it in the empire when you get turned into one of these *holds mini me wrat doll*” i figure the sith are not only the leaders of govt, but also high profile celebrities (in some cases) and “hero” figures. you know, things the propaganda mill can use to inspire~ the empire, starting with its kids. (only when they get older do they realize that some sith are fucking bat shit crazy and will choke, stab, or zap you for shits and giggles >,< ) shameless ratatouille ref xU (sorta lol) and ofc, the sith are a ppl that’s super into feelings and attachments. so they’d get attached to their pets and i took inspo from how ancient egyptians would mummify and mourn their cats. (i get it man bc me... too.....)

if you’re wondering... YES, your republic character can have a wrat. bc for one, like i always says, YOU DO YOU FRIEND! c: and two. smugglers are a thing in this setting lol. but, i imagine should the republic character get into a situation where they have to mingle with imperial characters they’d try to hide the wrat bc the wrats are seen as empire only pets. (sorta, kinda like how china owns ALL the pandas in the world. even the ones born outside of china, but the country that has them still has to send them back if china asks. it’s... a weird diplomacy thing the chinese govt does with pandas and i’m not gonna get into the details of that rn lol)

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia! Hope you don't mind if I ask you a question... Both of the fandom I'm in I've been in for awhile and I love them but I've gotten kind of burnt out on them... I used to write fics and be really involved but I can't anymore because the fandom have started to make me hate everything about it, especially my fave ships :( I want to get involved again but I'm scared and don't know how... What did you do to help comfortable to stay writing again for rotg?

Hiya anon!

You might not like my response, so I’m going to give you two responses lol.

Response one:

I dealt with toxic shit in the RotG fandom by leaving the RotG fandom. I finished out my stories (at the time finishing ISWF was really hard, and there was covert harrassment in the tags re: what I wrote), and I unfollowed most people connected to the fandom or who were reblogging stuff to do with the fandom, and I stopped reading fanfiction connected to it, and I took like...god, about a year and a half off.

In that time I wrote two RotG stories without re-engaging with the source material or reading any RotG fics. I didn’t tag surf, I didn’t discuss meta with anyone else, and I usually knocked back requests to engage in the fandom again. The only RotG thing I’d engage on, was SAL. 

I didn’t do it to cope with the fandom, I did it because I was thoroughly over the fandom and its bullshit. There were a lot of folks at the time who wrote the majority of the early, popular fics who actually all checked out at that time (or over the following six months), and almost no one has come back. The drama was just too blech, and even a year and a half ago / two years ago, people talked about like...how ‘dead’ the fandom was. People moved onto other things.

So, this is probably not what you were expecting. As a coping mechanism, if I based any advice off that, it would be ‘leave the fandom and stop writing your fic until you want to write it again.’

When I came back to RotG it was because I really wanted to, but in order to avoid drama, I still don’t follow many RotG blogs and I don’t tag surf except on the rare occasion.

Response two:

So let me talk about another fandom that I came to mostly despise and yet still wanted to keep writing a really long fic. And that’s the Dragon Age fandom. *takes a deep breath, sighs it out.*

When I started writing Stuck on the Puzzle I began to follow fandom blogs and meta blogs and I think all in all I was following about 20. Dragon Age, at least when I was writing SotP was filled with tons of callout posts - often very aggressive and based on dogpiling and outrage culture. No one was free from this, regardless of what they were doing, and the character I was writing (Cullen Rutherford) drew a great deal of ire from people I respected. I didn’t like blind Cullen love, which often meant I was dealing with blind Cullen hatred. Or alternatively fans who sought to ‘prove’ that they could be Cullen critical to the popular, dogpiling crew of the time.

The push to guilt-trip readers for not commenting has a huge piece of heartwood in this fandom too. So there was just aggression everywhere. The readers weren’t good enough. The writers weren’t good enough or writing the right themes or doing them well enough. (It’s incredibly crushing, btw to keep writing in this environment). If writers quit it was the reader’s fault, or Tumblr’s fault. If readers quit it was the fault of the writers, or Tumblr. Basically everything was always someone else’s fault and people didn’t really own their shit. This was the place where I got introduced to like, preliminary purity and anti culture before the words ‘purity’ and ‘anti’ became words.

So here’s what I did:

- I unfollowed everyone except about 2 people in the DA fandom on Tumblr. Yes, this meant dropping a lot of people, even people I really liked. If they supported the drama, they were out. - I stopped tag surfing everything except my incredibly rarepair. - I went back through my DA tag and specifically looked at artwork and all the things I’d come to love that inspired me to write the thing in the first place. - I re-engaged with the source material.

In other words, I dropped out of fandom while still producing a fanwork. It was the best thing I decided to do. It was never really the meta and shit that inspired me the most anyway. It was always the source material and my interacting with that. And it was maybe a few pieces of fanart. Otherwise, everything came from my brain anyway, and I didn’t need anything else. I certainly didn’t need the drama, and getting the occasional awesome piece of fanart floating across my dash wasn’t worth everything else happening.

And those two/three people I kept around still posted awesome fanart and stuff from time to time anyway. Also they’re awesome people.

But yeah, I never stayed comfortable writing for RotG. In fact, for a while, I hated it. I’d been really hurt by certain things within the fandom, and the drama hit too close to home, and I decided it wasn’t worth it. It’s fine to do that by the way, you’ll find another fandom eventually (I found many), and if you’re meant to find your way back to the fandom, you will.

If you really want to stay in the fandom though, I do recommend some pretty drastic actions to stay in it. Fandom drives a lot of fanwork/content producers away sometimes.

Also, additionally, it’s just normal to kind of not want anything to do with a ship or a fandom for a while? Even if you love it? Burn out is normal, and may just signify that you need something from a fandom that your current fandom / ships aren’t giving you. Being in that space between one fandom and another kind of sucks, but it may be worth using this time to like...explore other things you love, watch some new shows and movies, read some new books, and remember the joy of what it is to engage in the source material in the first place. I wish you luck!

[imkerf-uffle-d]

❝Well, as long as that’s what you want.❞

Here’s the post about Kimarra’s pet wrat I promised @fluffynexu (bc seriously your worldbuilding is phenomenal!) which then turned into a pseudo-drabble when I got this prompt, which then ended up being a thousand words long. Her name is Jen’asha, which means “Dark Victory” in Sith, as in “Through victory, my chains are broken.”

I would like to preface this by saying I am in no way an expert on genetics, but I am an expert on bullshitting the effects of magic, such as Sith alchemy. So if this in inaccurate, blame it on the Sith.

Kimarra was beginning to rethink her decision to buy a wrat. With every step she took behind the employee showing her around the store, she felt like burying her head further and further into the too-high collar of her robes until she disappeared entirely. Everything about this place—from the accents as polished as the employees’ uniforms, to the sheer size of each wrat’s enclosure—told her it catered to old money, and any minute now she expected her guide to take a closer look at the dints in her lightsaber or the cybernetics in her temples and throw her from the building.

When even a non-Force-sensitive wrat handler could make her feel the same way Darth Thanaton had when he condescended to her over Sith tradition, perhaps she really didn’t deserve her accidentally inherited title.

As the guide prattled on about pedigree and the ISWF and other things that held no meaning to Kimarra, her eyes wandered among the rows of cages built into every shelf. Something in the far corner grabbed her attention almost immediately—a small white wrat off by itself. This wrat’s cage sat on the floor below the much larger, much fancier cages on display, and unlike the others with their walls of near-invisible ray shielding, this one was made of wire mesh, and was empty save for the wrat.

“What about that one?” she interrupted her guide and pointed at the cage. Immediately she wished she hadn’t, knowing her lack of etiquette betrayed her poor upbringing.

The guide looked taken aback for a moment, before he recovered his air of pompousness. “Ah, I am terribly sorry, my Lord. That wrat should have been removed by now,” he said, “Whoever is responsible for that oversight shall be punished accordingly.”

Kimarra hummed in apparent approval and strode past him towards the wrat. “Tell me what is wrong with it. Is it sick?” she said. If she was to forget her tact, she may as well try to pass it off as Sith superiority.

“In a way,” the guide sneered, after a moment’s pause as he caught up to her, “It suffers from a genetic mutation that makes it unfit to sell. As I’m sure you know, the aborsim breed is distinguished for its bareback or capped markings, but this one has a dark patch that only covers its chin.”

As Kimarra closed the gap between herself and the wrat, she saw what he meant. Nearly every centimeter of its fur appeared to be pure white, with only a sliver of gray peeking out over its slim nose. The wrat was small, with sleek fur and a forked tail. It was curled up on the woodchips lining its cage, staring into the middle distance with dull, red eyes, and it hardly reacted to Kimarra’s approach beyond a halfhearted twitch of its ears. Kimarra knew the dangers of anthropomorphizing animals, but it looked like it would rather be anywhere else in the galaxy than stuck in this cramped metal cage.

“How did this happen?” she asked, matching the guide’s conceited tone.

“I will personally see to the punishment for—”

“No, I meant: how did the mutation happen?” she said.

“Yes, my Lord,” the guide said quickly, “I assure you, it is not for want of good breeding. Regrettably, this can happen in even the best of bloodlines.”

“I see.” Kimarra stared at the wrat, unwilling or unable to tear her eyes away. “Tell me about it.”

“Ex—excuse me?” the guide asked.

“The wrat. I want you to tell me about it,” she said, “Sex, age, anything.”

The guide blinked speechlessly at her for a moment before beginning the same spiel he had given for all the others, doing little to hide his disapproval. “This is a female white-and-platinum aborsim, thirty centimeters in hight and forty-two-point-five centimeters in length. At last weighing it was eleven and a half kilograms. It is thirteen months old. We, er…” He paused to clear his throat. “We would have disposed of it much earlier had we not mistakenly believed we could correct the defect in its coat pattern using Sith alchemy.”

He continued, but Kimarra hardly heard him past the first sentence. The poor girl looked miserable cooped up here where she wasn’t wanted. All for what? A perceived fault in something predetermined before she was even born.

The entire point of coming here, Kimarra had to remind herself, was for the status symbol of owning a purebred wrat. This reject would do nothing for her social standing—it might hurt her, even—and she couldn’t afford to grow attached to it simply because she could relate to its predicament. The dangers of anthropomorphizing, indeed.

And yet…

“By ‘dispose of,’ you mean…?” she asked, letting the question trail off for dramatic effect.

“Ah, yes,” the guide said, looking uncomfortable as he searched for the best way to continue, “We have a sister establishment east of the city that breeds tuk’ata—”

“Say no more.” Kimarra raised her hand to cut him off. “What would it cost me to buy her?”

This time the guide’s jaw actually fell open, and it took several seconds for him to regain the power of speech. “My Lord,” he spluttered, “We sell any number of other wrats much more… suitable for a woman of your station. Why, right over here we have a magnificent papibell—” He tried to direct her attention to a cage a few meters away, but Kimarra was already pulling her credit chip from her pocket, loaded up with all the money she’d inherited from Darth Zash.

“But I am asking about this one,” she said, loading every syllable with a Sith’s scorn.

“Well…” the guide eventually said, slowly, “as long as that’s what you want.”

[fluffynexu]

Join the ISWF!

See the annual wrat shows!

Meet new breeds!

Find your next best friend!

Ask or talk to your local, registered breeder today!

pic based on THIS x)