#but it's also about sarlaccs

[redbean-nom]

Designs for adult versions of the clone cadets in bad batch as Rebellion leaders

The first weird thing I noticed was that they kept specifying that tbb are "defective CTs", whereas iirc most other clones leave out the "ct" part. additionally, "special training" must have been a reasonably expected occurrence for them, since it was used as the Hemlock-jungle-lab excuse. they're also, oddly enough, the only three survivors from a base full of both cadets and adult clones. and finally, all three of them have noticeably different face shapes.

so my guess for their origins is that they're the results of the kaminoans trying to replicate tbb's mutations in a commando template, making them all specialized CC command cadets. From what we've seen of them, they don't seem to have quite as prominent abilities as say, wrecker or hunter, but are definitely above average to have survived that long.

Anyways the mini-backstory for them here is that they end up joining the rebellion around 5 years later (assuming that they're 6/12 and 8/16 in tbb s3, they would be 11/22 and 13/26 here) as the lead squad for the clone rebel cell after rex, wolffe, and gregor retire (and echo and cody are presumably dead).

Bonus: I originally had Deke's hair as dyed blond, but then he started looking too much like Rex (esp with the jaig eyes and partial arc armor) so I changed it back

edit: sorry i forgot to tag spoilers at first! it has since been fixed

[honorhunt]

🌸 If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog. 🌸

i. i am the antithesis of a sweet tooth. desserts are often too rich and overwhelming for me. but i do like mildly sweet foods when tempered with spice! like one of my favorite treats is hot chocolate topped with cayenne and cinnamon. or how at the wedding i just attended, i didn't have a slice of the cake, but i did torment the chai machine.

ii. i am citizen of more than one country.

iii. i was diagnosed with severe adhd and dyslexia when i was 9/10. which has made my lifelong passion for writing a frustrating, triumphant, yet trippy experience.

[hashtagloveloses]

this is actually really funny because they just came out with the CANON version of boba being swallowed by the sarlacc in a new short story (in the from certain point of view: return of the jedi anthology), from the sarlacc’s point of view and it is kind of similar but sad in a different way - the sarlacc is LONELY but also doesn’t like being fed all these people and things and hates boba being there. people keep feeding them living beings, and they meet threepio who is the first person in millennia they can communicate with bc threepio is fluent in many forms of communication, and they’re sad when threepio gets picked up by the magnet in the sand and goes away. and when boba escapes the sarlacc and comes back in BOBF, from the sarlacc’s point of view they were scared someone might throw people into their mouth again.

while i agree that the storytelling in BOBF was…less than stellar, and i never want to defend the mouse, i think it also was the medium of prose (novel, short story, etc) that allowed the writer in legends and now the writer in canon to explore this tiny interesting side story from the perspective of this hivemind being, that would be hard to get across in a visual format.

that being said every star wars TV show (and marvel, and…every TV show in general) deserves a full writers room rather than like one guy (jon favreau) with just different directors, which is what the writers strike is all about, so it’s not just one corporate entity but the very structure of entertainment right now that creates this issue.

it’s also interesting because every star wars book or comic (or any continuation licensed IP book or comic or video game or anything) only exists in the first place because a corporate entity wanted to wring that IP for more money, whether it was lucasfilm on its own back in the day, or disney now. writers then and now are hired to write for IP they don’t own something creative and wonderful simply because they love it but at the end of the day as a marketing tool for the rest of the IP. so it’s never been more ideologically “pure,” but a part of this push and pull between the corporate want to wring storytelling of every drop of money and the genuine creativity that comes with letting people play in these worlds.

When I was a kid I had the expanded universe star wars book in which Boba Fett is being digested by the Sarlacc and interacting with the personalities of various minds the creature had absorbed, like it was a psychic collective, a HAUNTED space monster. It was one creature but it was driven mad with the combined traumatic memories of everything it had ever eaten so when fett kills it at the end of the story it's framed more like he's putting a tormented spirit to rest, though it's implied a part of that entity might be buried in his own psyche for the rest of his life.

Disney's version: it's a big dumb animal he escapes from the day after he got eaten

[tangents-within-tangents]

Echo canonically being sentimental (and a sweetheart)

With his armor, there's also the "For Hevy" memorial, the fact he kept Rex's handprint, and that he put the Bad Batch skull on his armor before he even joined them

Echo holding 99 as he died has always stuck out to me as one of the saddest/sweetest things in TCW (especially since the show rarely actually shows clones mourning/expressing much emotion)

I also noticed that Echo is often the one to mention his brothers by name, and make sure they're remembered. And of course his entire thing about saving his brothers and leaving no one behind. (Also that he turned the call signs into this like nickname/inside joke thing with Omega is so adorable to me ahh)

--

And then there's whatever this is:

Not even a reaction to the name (and we know they are good at implying expression under those helmets)! I know this is old news but it bears saying lol. They had the perfect opportunity here to not only address Echo's loss, but also to honor Fives and the sacrifice he made to discover the chips. A sacrifice which saved Ahsoka, Rex, and now the Bad Batch. This is obviously not the first time Echo and Rex talked about Fives, he knows he's dead (I firmly believe he would not have left the 501st if Fives was still alive), but come on! This did the bare minimum to check the box of 'mention Fives.' How about you cut Wrecker getting attacked by a sarlacc or whatever and give that screen time to show us an actual conversation?

Like I found this bit in an interview:

While the conversation obviously never happened onscreen, Corbett says that doesn't mean it never happened, suggesting the two talked offscreen, saying "For Fives, I imagine that Rex and Echo had that conversation after he was rescued off of Skako Minor, and I know in Season 1 we did have Rex reference Fives on Bracca," adding "So, in my headcanon, they've had many conversations about Fives."

And I'm just like... Jennifer! You don't have to have headcanons, you are literally the writer! Show us!!

(Also he should have gotten his handprint again no I will never let this go)

[gloomwitchwrites]

Twin Suns

Bounty Hunter Boba Fett x Female Reader

Content & Warnings (per the warnings MDNI): established relationship, breakup / makeup, suggestive themes, canon-typical swearing, mando’a

Word Count: 1.4k

You broke it off, but Boba isn’t finished.

ao3 // taglist // main masterlist // summer 2024 masterlist

Mando’a Translations: cyar’ika – darling / sweetheart

Hookah smoke hangs low in the air. The cantina is dim and the noise inside is a dull, persistent roar. Behind the bar, you clean glasses, gaze watching the room for thirsty customers. To the right of the bar is a small stage where a band plays music. It’s loud enough to drown out most of the conversations in the room but not enough to silence them.

It’s a stark difference from your previous work. Being a dancer in Jabba’s Palace brought you protection and money, but it also brought admirers. Most of them kept their distance due to Jabba’s presence, yet there was one you gravitated toward.

One you often snuck away with. One you gave your heart to.

Jabba the Hutt’s favorite contract killer, Boba Fett, ate you up like a Sarlacc. He slipped into your life and you gladly opened for him.

But all of that is gone. You left, and here you are, working away in a Mos Espa cantina, scrounging up enough credits to leave Tatooine behind you. It’s certainly not the life you want for yourself, but the best thing now is to earn enough to start fresh elsewhere.

Setting the glass in its proper spot, you turn, reaching for another. It draws your attention away from the bar, and when you glance up again, the glassware nearly slips from your hand.

A Mandalorian helmet with cracked and peeling green paint stares back. The rest of the armor is much of the same. It’s worn but no less intimidating. Boba Fett stands casually while the people next to him at the bar quickly grab their drinks and makes themselves scarce.

“I’ve been looking for you.” His familiar gravelly voice comes through the voice receiver, and it plunges directly into your heart.

“What makes you think I wanted to be looked for?” you reply, unease slipping into your tone.

You don’t hate Boba—far from it. Deep within your soul, you still care for him. When you’re alone in the dark, you often find yourself thinking of his touch and the way his lips felt against your skin.

But you ran away from everything for a reason. And still, this man came after you.

“You’ve always loved a chase, cyar’ika,” he answers with a gentle tease.

Memories resurface suddenly and without warning. Jabba’s smoky throne room where you’d dance for his guests. The saunter of Boba’s hips when he’d walk into the room and head right for you. The first time Boba touched you far from the eyes of Jabba and his cronies.

Boba chased you until you folded, placing yourself in his arms.

You swallow back a sharp retort, putting on your professional face, changing the subject. “Can I get you anything? A drink? Food?”

Boba’s helmeted head tilts slightly. “I want one thing.”

“I’m not on offer,” you reply immediately.

“Then can I have a few minutes of your time,” he counters. “Alone.”

Kriffing hell.

You glance over your shoulder at the other bartender. She nods subtly and you set down the glass and polishing towel.

“Come with me,” you murmur.

Boba pushes off from the bar and follows you. The two of you slip behind a curtain, entering a kitchen space. The three droid cooks don’t even acknowledge your presence. Stopping at some spiral stairs, you turn back toward Boba. He’s directly behind you, blocking your escape, gloved hands on either side of the railing.

“This way,” you breathe, ascending the stairs as quickly as possible.

You feel him at your back, his body so close you swear you can sense his heat. The stairs spit the two of you out on a little landing. Up here is mostly storage, and it’s a mess. The owner of the cantina insists he’ll clean it up but he’s never here enough to actually care or do anything about it.

As soon are your feet land on flat flooring, you beeline for the large window on the other side of the room. The twin suns are starting to descend, the evening coming quick, but still fending off the cold dark.

Staring out across Mos Espa is easier than looking at Boba directly.

“What do you want to talk about?” you speak to the window. In the glass, you notice Boba’s reflection. He’s moving toward you—a slow saunter.

Even though you cannot see him directly, you know he’s right there next to your left shoulder. Your chest is tight, stomach twisting, and your skin tingles with awareness. Beskar brushes against your arm, and then Boba’s gloved hand slips into your own.

You do not pull away. He is warm, and so close it aches.

“You were mine,” he says, and the possessiveness in his voice draws forth a shiver.

It’s a reminder of all the times the two of you were alone in bed together, with him buried between your legs, tangled up in white sheets while the rest of Tatooine slept. With every roll of his hips, and every languid kiss, he’d call you cyar’ika and whisper mine.

“I was,” you murmur. “Not anymore.”

Boba tugs on your hand. It’s a gentle pull but it forces you to turn into him. Boba is right there, head tilted toward your face as if to kiss you. His other hand comes up and rests against the side of your throat.

“You left without talking to me.” His grip tightens and your free hand reflexively rises, pressing against his beskar chestplate.

You lick your lips. “I needed to go. It wasn’t safe for me.”

Boba draws you close, foreheads nearly touching. “Did you not feel safe with me? Something I did?”

You shake your head. “No.” You glance into the T-shaped visor, only wanting to see those dark eyes again. “Can you remove your helmet?”

Boba drops his hand from your throat. Reaching up, he disengages the seal, and then the helmet is gone. Your eyes track tanned skin and dark eyes. Your hand on his chestplate ascends, fingertips brushing against the stubble on his chin and jaw.

Boba turns his head just as you’re about to run your fingers over his cheeks. You caress his lips instead, and they part slightly in invitation. It’s hard to resist, but you do.

Dropping your hand away, you look down at his chestplate.

“Being with you put a target on my back.”

“No one knew about us,” murmurs Boba. “And I would have handled it.”

You glance up. “Would you? I was under Jabba’s employ. I don’t think he’d appreciate one of his dancers fornicating with his prized bounty hunter.”

Boba grimaces. “You were an employee. Not one of his slaves.”

“That doesn’t matter to Jabba,” you insist. “Remember the guy who slapped my ass? Jabba took his kriffing hand. I don’t even want to think about what Jabba would do to you had he found out about us.”

“And you think you’re safe here?” Boba indicates the cantina with an outstretched hand.

“Bib Fortuna said I was clear. It’s the other bounty hunters I’m worried about. Your competition.”

Boba scoffs. “I’d vaporize them before they even tried to put their hands on you.”

You pull your hand from his and raise them up before you. “You can’t protect me, Boba. And I don’t want to burden you.”

Boba steps into your space, trapping you against the window. “But you still love me.”

“I never said I didn’t,” you reply softly.

With a low groan, Boba grasps the back of your neck and draws you in. His mouth crashes against yours, the two of you meeting again and again until you start to melt, wrapping your arms behind his neck, wanting him even closer.

“Why did you run?” he asks between kisses. You seek another but Boba’s grip on the back of your neck halts all forward movement. “We could have talked about this. You didn’t need to flee.”

“It was easier,” you breathe.

He shakes his head. “You’re leaving this place.”

“Boba,” you breathe.

“Hush,” he coos. “I’m taking you with me.”

“And go where?” you shrug.

“Somewhere safe,” he says softly. “We’ll go on my ship. And I’ll take you far from here.”

“But you can’t tell me where?”

Boba sighs. “I have a place I go to when I want to get away. I’ll take you there.”

“Jabba doesn’t need you?”

“If he needs me, Bib Fortuna will call. That’s how it’s always worked.”

You glance out the window. The suns have lowered, the sky a purplish-red. “When do you want to go?”

Boba draws you back to him, pressing a lovely kiss to your lips. “Right now.”

taglist:

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

@sweetbutpsychobutsweet @singleteapot @tiredmetalenthusiast @miaraei @cherryofdeath

@tulipsun-flower @enfppuff @ninman82 @nomercyforthewarrior @padawancat97

@garfunklevibes2012 @pigeonmama @beebeechaos @no-oneelsebutnsu

[gatorbites-imagines]

Kinktober day 14

Boba Fett + Lingerie

Hey nerds, what’s popping. I’ve been playing a lot of baldurs gate, and I swear I wouldn’t survive a day there cuz whys the emperor kinda hot. Readers a bounty hunter. No real smut, just Boba being insecure about his body, and you thinking hes a damn meal.

2024 kinktober masterlist

Boba stared at himself in the mirror of his personal bathroom, feeling like a right idiot. He was a man in his 40s, who’s skin was more scar tissue than not, and a body that wasn’t the muscular sleekness of his prime. Crawling out of the sarlacc and living amongst tuskens for a while hadn’t helped him keep “in shape” either, as they saw having some chub as good. The nights were cold, and food was scarce, so put on weight where you can, and all that.

Having a ruler that had some softness to him, but also strength behind it, seemed to also make the citizens of tatooine happy, as they shared that same cultural norm with the tuskens. With Boba being their first good ruler in who knew how long, the thought of him dying from the cold or starvation seemed to be what they wanted the least.

Standing there in front of the mirror in that soft frilly mess that fennec had secretly gotten for him, made him feel so stupid. He knew his friend hadn’t looked in the package, she had just gone and picked it up for him since he didn’t have time before you got back from your latest run, but she had at least carried a knowing look.

Boba was starting to regret ever thinking of this. The soft fragile fabric stretched wrong around areas of his body where he carried muscle or strength in ways others didn’t, and was loose in other areas like the chest. He hadn’t spent much time looking for customized work, alright? So, he bought what was available, but looking at himself now it felt like the dumbest decision he had ever made.

With a raspy exhale, Boba started pulling the lingerie off himself. It wasn’t anything extreme, mainly just a torso-piece, and some stockings he didn’t even want to try putting on. His back wasn’t agreeing with him today, and neither were his knees enough to bend and pull those things on. There was what looked like a frilly lace collar, but that had quickly been thrown back into the box. It felt too much like a slave collar, so there was no way he would weird that.

The doors to his room opened, making Boba instinctively tense. But no alarm went off and nothing was off, and the whistling made it obvious you had gotten back a couple of hours before you were meant too. You had been meant to arrive in the morning, so Boba wanted to try the frilly lingerie on just to see how it looked, maybe surprise you with it in bed.

You sounded tired though, just from how you were dragging your feet. Clearly looking around the room for him, since his armour was on its stand and his belt was hanging beside the bed. “Boba?” you called out, your voice nearing as you tried to tap the console beside the bathroom door to check for him.

When it didn’t open it became obvious where your lover was. Normally you’d start cracking a few jokes and just crawl back into bed, but his lack of a reply made you tense. Was he in pain? Unconscious? Uncomfortable? “Boba?” you called out again, voice now with a twinge of worry in it. Boba suffering from his pains wasn’t anything new, not after the sarlacc pit and the changes in weather on the desert planet.

Boba had a sigh and run a hand over his head, glancing at himself in the mirror with a quiet pitying look. Maybe he was pitying himself. You two had been together for years, back when he was still in his prime, back when he was Darth Vaders favourite bounty hunter. You had seen how handsome he was, but now? Now he felt like a shapeless lump.

“I’m here” he finally rumbled out, chewing at his lip. Boba didn’t even have any change of clothes with him in the bathroom. He could just wander out naked if he wanted, but that would just lead to you thinking that was the surprise, and Boba wasn’t sure he was even in the mood to truly do anything wild. He had no doubt you would understand, but call him insecure, boba still wanted to please you.

“Just, go sit on the bed, alright?” you heard him say, his voice still making you weary. But like a good lover who’d been with Boba for many years at this point, you shuffled backwards and sat down, hands on your knees and legs tense, ready to spring up if anything was amiss.

The door whooshing open made your back straighten, mouth cracking open to speak, only for the words to peter out as your jaw loosened, dropping more and more as your partner shuffled out. Boba couldn’t look you in the eyes, his arms coming up to hug himself in a clear display of self-comfort. He was… insecure. That wasn’t something you saw on your partner regularly, not when he always looked hotter than the Tatooine suns.

“Wow” you finally exhale, brows lifted, and pupils blown wide as hot almost exploded inside you. it didn’t quell your want to comfort him, but it wasn’t difficult to ignore how fast you rose to full mast. “You look so beautiful” you get out, seeing how Boba curled into himself at your lack of depth.

Boba seemed shocked by your words, even more so when you got up and approached him, your hands careful as you touched his shoulders, down his arms and sides, to his hips, and back up again to cradle his face. Your hands were so nice against his hot dry skin. The Tatooine suns weren’t kind to anybody, but having so much scar tissue caused issues at times.

“So, so beautiful” you sigh, leaning in to press a kiss between his eyes, before moving on to kiss all over his face. From his brows, to his cheeks and his chin, to finally press a longing kiss on his lips. It was clear he didn’t want to go deeper than this tonight, the look in his eyes and body language told you as such, but your clear adoration made him relax more and more.

It took a bit of convincing, but you got him shuffled closer to the bed, where you got Boba to lay down, noting with hawklike attention as he hissed and groaned as he laid down. So, his back was hurting, probably his knees or hips too, which meant definitely no steamy reunion tonight.

Instead, you simply got to work mumbling praises against his body as you kissed him all over, gushing about how he wanted to surprise you and how good he looked. Who cared if the lingerie clearly hadn’t been made for his bodytype. Boba fett could look good in a damn sack if he chose to wear it, and you were sure of that.

When you finally got Boba to relax fully, your scarred lover melting into the soft mattress and closing his eyes with a sigh, you truly got to work. Luckily, you always stocked up on his ointments and salves, and the lingerie had enough gaps that you could slide your hands under it, and rub the salves into his skin where you knew he ached the most.

The medicine seemed to kick in almost immediately, Boba giving a groan of relief as the last of his tension melted out of him. This though, made it possible for him to pull you down against him, a skin growing on his lips as he felt your obvious arousal press against his torso.

Normally you two would rut against each other like wild animals, or well, not as much anymore. A couple of years back you two would go at it like death was looming, and it was, with the kinds of jobs you did. But it led to a lot of aches and bruises that could be avoided. And honestly? Laying here with Boba, listening to his heartbeat, feeling the soft silky material against your face and smelling the herbal scent of his salves? Well, it was so much better.

You kinda hoped he was feeling better in the morning though, since you wanted nothing more than to roll him over and show him just how much you had missed him.

[phoenixkaptain]

Luke’s biggest character flaw isn’t impatience or arrogance… it’s reckless optimism.

Like, Luke doesn’t actually think he can beat Darth Fucking Vader in a fight. He wants to get revenge, yeah, but he doesn’t think he’s a better fighter than Darth Vader, he thinks he’s luckier than Darth Vader.

Luke isn’t actually suicidal, despite how little effort you’d have to put in to provide evidence that he could be. He thinks, no, he knows he’s lucky. He’s used to being lucky, even. His survival tactics all sort of depend on Luke being the luckiest person in the room at any given time.

And he isn’t actually all that lucky, that’s pretty obvious, but he really just thinks “If I stay alive long enough, things will eventually just work out.” Like he believes in the Force before he even knows about the Force, almost. Some thingd are just supposed to happen, and his own continued existence as a free man is one of those things, so if he waits long enough, an opportunity will eventually show itself and all Luke has to do is grab it.

He is stupidly optimistic about his chances. But, he’s also not wrong? Like, he doesn’t win his fight against Vader, but he’s also one of the only people who have fought Vader twice and not died either time. He went and rescued Leia without a plan beyond “rescue Leia” and he made it out relatively unscathed. He got captured by a wampa and hypothermia, one right after the other, and he only has to spend a bit of time floating in space jell-o that isn’t quite set. He goes to Dagobah and gets the training he requests from Yoda, despite Yoda not wanting to train him. He rescues Han from Jabba the Hutt, and he doesn’t get fed to a sarlacc in the process.

But really, just look at his final fight with Vader. Luke just honestly believes that everything will be fine. He really thinks he can just ask his dad to please chill out and Vader will. Luke tells the literal actual Emperor of the entire fucking galaxy “No. I will not become evil. And I won’t be evil because I’m not actually angry at anyone.” Luke is the luckiest man alive, because he is still somehow alive.

Heir to the Empire really has him thinking “If I stay alive long enough, an opportunity will present itself” on the planet Myrkr. As in, the planet covered in ysalamiri that cut him off entirely from the Force. As in, Luke doesn’t feel the Force telling him to be patient because it’ll all work out. Luke just believes that.

And it only really hit me as I read that novel. Luke is aggressively, stupidly, recklessly optimistic at all times about his chances of survival. Like, he is one meta joke away from just being actively aware that he is a protagonist and therefore can’t die in the middle of a plot. He’s optimistic about his own life, his dad’s life, his sister’s life, his droid’s life; Luke is the most optimistic man alive.

He is not the most cheerful person. There’s a difference between optimism and happiness, and Luke is a character who is constantly doubting himself, but he also just fully believes in his own ability to stay alive. Like he thinks “As long as I’m in mostly one piece, that’s a success :)” He thinks “wow I’m a terrible Jedi. I don’t know what a Jedi is, but I’m pretty sure I suck at it,” while at the same time being the character who believes in and listens to the Force more than Qui-Gon Jinn.

All this to say, I really hope that one day I can be as optimistic as Luke Skywalker. That man felled a galactic Empire with enthusiastic optimism and familial love alone, I wanna be like that.

[phoenixyfriend]

Do you want another Jangosoka concept?

Concept is that Boba finds a… something on Tatooine that looks like Weird Force Shit. He does not know any Jedi or Sith, personally, but he knows three people who do have connections to Jedi:

Han Solo, whom he has on speed dial despite hating each other, and losing most of his contacts with his comm when the Sarlacc ate him

Din Djarin, whose kid goes to school Somewhere With Jedi? Maybe? he's not entirely clear on how much contact Djarin has with Skywalker these days

Bo-Katan Kryze, who has Ahsoka Tano on speed dial

Obviously, he goes through Bo-Katan first, because Ahsoka Tano knows more about general Force things than the latest Skywalker, and has less of a Direct Grudge against Boba himself.

So he makes a call and tries to ignore the Weird Force Thing that he just poked. He waits a few days.

Ahsoka shows up. She holds the thing. It is confusing.

They have a stupid argument built on Uncomfortable History at some point, and Boba being a grump, and he snatches it from her, managing to slice his finger on one of the edges.

A few drops of blood get on the weird force thing, and there is a flash of light, and suddenly there's a half-dead Jango Fett in the room.

Like "He has visible burns on his neck from Mace's lightsaber, but still has his head, as if he was pulled through time from the very moment before of his death."

Which Big Oops

Boba is panicking. Ahsoka is trying not to admit she's freaked out. Jango is. clawing as his throat dude stop that.

Ahsoka's the one that had enough brains to call for a medic and keeps sitting at his side to keep a Very Judgemental Eye on him, but she's. You know. Jedi. So Jango is constantly suspicious of her.

(He thinks Boba is a faulty fast-aging clone, like 99, because that's the only thing that makes sense.) (Also he doesn't acknowledge Ahsoka's "I'm not a Jedi" thing.)

Ahsoka's had thirty years to come to terms with the death of her people but she's also, for obvious reasons, still judgmental as fuck and has a lot of questions.

But also this was necromancy, which is Sith Or Nightsister Bullshit, and she needs to make sure he's not about to get possessed and go hunting for Force Sensitive babies or something insane like that.

(The reason the object drew Jango is because of the totally coincidental identical DNA. Turns out the object is intended to bring back the dead using a body sample of the corpse, but identical blood will do if there's a dead person with the same.)

IDK where exactly it goes from here but it's 44yo Jango, 45yo Boba, and 49 Ahsoka Plus Fennec, who's just hanging around

They need to bring around someone Jango actually knows and will trust, because obviously Boba is a fake and Ahsoka's a liar and this is all some weird Jedi trick.

Options are Maz Kanata (who's definitely old enough to remember him), or Bo-Katan herself, except they try Bo since she's closer and it turns out she was still a toddler when Jango went missing so that's not going to help at all.

Mij or one of the other Cuy'val Dar could theoretically still be alive, and Sabine has parents that might have known him before they joined up with Pre.

Fennec knowing him would be a BIT too easy.

I'm imagining that the call goes as Boba explaining that, well, there's this one guy that he knows, that his dad was close with, but the Sarlacc kind of ate his comm unit and he hasn't had the time or resources to hunt down all his contact numbers and whatnot yet, so he's not sure how to go about actually calling the guy, and so they have to politely ask Bo-Katan if she, as Mand'alor, can find the contact information for one Mij Gilamar. Boba's pretty sure he's still running a clinic on Insert Planet Here, so it shouldn't be too hard to get, it's just kind of impossible from Tatooine.

[froglover7789]

You. You get it. I've seen so many fics where Boba and Luke are always at each others throats for some reason even though Luke isn't the type to hold on to a grudge when he knows that Boba was just doing his job. Boba hates Jedi on principle but he'd genuinely like Luke as a person once he gets to know him. I think Boba can be petty but he's matured enough after that sarlacc incident to actually get along with Luke despite his hatred for the Jedi.

I like to think that Boba would ask Luke for advice on how to be a better daimyou since Luke has lived on Tatooine for most of his life and Luke would happily help Boba to better the lives of the people. Luke's a great judge of character and very forgiving despite whatever wrong was done to him.

thankyou anon🙏🙏🙏

ive also seen those fics and they make me booty scratch... like. luke forgave vader (committed genocide multiple times) but yall dont think he could forgive boba fett???? all bro did was his job! like!!! lets be real with ourselves here.

also the daimyo thing is something i hadnt thought about... that could be so cool... and also probs give boba more street cred bc "holy shit hes friends with Last Jedi and Savior of the Galaxy Luke Skywalker" and that would also make the new republic trust him enough to let him do his thing on tatooine... hmmm.... much to think about.....

[indira-korr]

Last line challenge

Rules: in a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or however many you like).

I've been tagged by @hawthornsword @five-oh-thirst @brokenphoenix99 @marbled-polecat and @nooneherebutusghosts

Thank you <3 and also: Reverse, reverse, you're it again :P

Some of you may remember, at the end of Forever starts now, Sarlacc is comforted by Darren, who's imagining sitting on a beach together and watching a sunset (image under the cut)

I finally wrote Sar's opinion about it for the next chapter :3

I feel an ocean,

not of water but of light,

of colors warm and colors bright,

of love and comfort, and of hope.

It soothes the pain, it brings us close.

The world just fades without a trace.

Nothing is as real as this, no place I'd rather be.

All that matters is my Little Light,

its love, its glow, our shared embrace.

NPT for @whiskygoldwings @adhd-coyote @loverboy-havocboy

and of course @seascribbling who I will never not notify about something Darrlacc related :3

The imagined sunset:

[undercat-overdog]

Third and fourth episodes worse than the first two. Thoughts in no particular order.

General note: I have seen people say that RoP needed more time to develop and that studio pressures to make it faster paced hurt the show. No, what RoP needed was less time and ideally fewer storylines. Desperately need an editor. And no, this isn't a complaint about slow pacing. Its problem there is that pacing is inconsistent.

Other general note: the show has a major problem with timelines, both in its internal narration and how it fits with Tolkien canon. There are a bunch of third age elements popping up (Kings of Men burying their dead in the Barrowdowns? What Kings of Men!), but there are internal problems too, especially the disconnect between Isildur and Numenor (was Isildur in suspended animation for the time it took for Elendil to go from Mordor to the coast and then for not-Brego to travel all that way back?) There's no sense of time or distance.

Things I liked:

The spider fight at the beginning was fun! Nonsensical but very fun. Loved the gleaming spider eggs.

I like the evil Istar and his evil minions, even if the main minion dude stole his mask from General Grievous. I'm also really into the desert setting! It's new and unique.

Some of the set design is very nice. Numenor's is so pretty and I liked Tom's house, especially the star map on the ceiling.

I hope they're going for a romance with Isildur and what's-her-name. It's shallow but cute. If we must have a dead mother, I like how it was drowning and not childbirth or illness, especially in Numenor (though why the angst, Isildur, isn't the sea is always right?) I was meh on a lot of that storyline, but Isildur's cute and so is his horsemance.

Things I didn't like or were neutral on:

A minor sin, but I cannot get over how bad makeup is and has consistently been from the beginning. This time it's Saubranatar and the blond elf OC: their foundation is not the same shade as their skin and goes horribly with the wigs (blond elf OC desperately needs some purple conditioner, very brassy). At least in Bombadil they finally found a character for whom blush overload is appropriate.

Reallllly not a fan of the prosthetics either, especially with the new hobbits.

Still hate the hobbit storyline and now I have more to hate with it, in Bombadil.

I kinda wonder if they've gone to the longer hair because of all the backlash to the short hair lol.

The hobbits are looking for the promised land of Suzat? First, wtf. Second, Westron the language will not exist for a couple thousand years!

Why is we're-not-saying-he's-Gandalf the only character who has been naked so far? More than once!

Is a shot of orc baby the reason people wrote articles about how rop added morally complexity and greyness? Lol.

The Numenorean storyline is incoherent and terminally stupid. I realize that last season didn't leave them a great foundation: still terminally stupid. Why didn't the eagle talk? I do think Pharazon in particular has potential, but he's way underdeveloped.

What the hell is Theo's vest thing? They've moved into a (ruined) settlement and have running water, they no longer need to muck farm! Also I would like if the evil helmet haired kid never comes back. Cannot express how little I care about him or his and Arondir's stepdad angst. He and Isildur sure are monster magnets though.

Speaking of monsters, it felt like an rpg where the DM kept rolling for random monster encounters. In two episodes, we got spiders, Sarlacc creature, Eagles, Ent and Entwife, angry person-eating tree, barrowwights, I'm sure I'm missing something. Just randomly take shit and throw it in, doesn't matter if it fits, fans like references! It's pandering filler that doesn't advance the storyline.

Can we stop it with the PJ movie callbacks? I'm resigned to never getting away from his aesthetics, but all the recreations of different shots. I guess they took the Barrowwight look from Pirates of the Caribbean and not PJ?

We know she's an Entwife and not an Ent because she has flowers.

Lmao that is so much metal to make Rings and the mithril lump is not big. Is it homeopathic mithril? And for a show named after Rings, they sure don't spend a lot of time on them.

I have very little good to say about Celebrimbor and that storyline but it's a character and place I'm deeply invested in so I'll leave that be. On a couple neutral notes, Charles Edwards' acting is better than last season (where I was very not impressed) and I'm curious what they'll do with Elrond's antipathy towards the Three, given that he'll later end up bearing one.

The end credits song at the end of episode 4 was hilariously incongruent.

[aroacedindjarin]

thinking about boba fett and his sense of identity. how insane his situation is yet how much i relate to his unwavering determination to carve out a place in the galaxy for himself. not just in terms of a reputation and credits, but making himself a family. a home. trying again and again until he gets it right.

losing it all after his father was murdered. putting what little trust he had in various bounty hunters and expecting betrayal. preparing for it. as a literal child. becoming completely self-reliant, having no one but himself to pick himself up after he gets knocked down again and again. learning from every injury. every failure. getting to the very top of jabba’s empire and still getting knocked down into the sarlacc pit in a moment of bad luck. being left for dead. crawling his way back out. every moment of his life has been a fight. he never stops fighting. his whole life revolves around his ability to fight, and not stop fighting. even his years spent with the tusken tribe who became like family to him centred entirely around his ability to fight. it’s all he knows how to do. fight with his fists and his weapons but also the mental fight. the fight to learn from his enemies. to get beaten by them and still reach out a hand to them afterwards because it’s not personal. it’s never personal. nobody knows him without his father’s helmet he’s just one of a million identical faces.

imagine being a literal clone of your father. and your father is jango fett, the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, so insanely skilled they modelled a whole army from his genetics and chose the parts that they wanted. but you’re the only unaltered version of him. all the parts they didn’t want to keep; all the parts they wanted to change and “improve”. you’re all of him. the good and bad too. all of his legacy. you have to be everything he is, was and will be after he’s gone. you were made to be him. he’s raising you to be him. you don’t hate him for it, he loves you and you love him and it’s all you’ve ever known. and then he dies. who are you without him? who are you going to be?

boba fett. just a simple man making his way through the galaxy.

[burnwater13]

Boba Fett and Fennec Shand in the Firespray aiming its weapons on the Sarlacc below him. Image from the Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 4, The Gathering Storm. Calendar by DateWorks.

Grogu had heard about the Daimyo’s vendetta against the Sarlacc. He’d heard how the first thing that he and Fennec did when they got the Firespray back from Jabba’s Palace was go to it’s pit and blast the heck out of it. He’d also heard how disappointed the Daimyo was when he discovered that the Sarlacc was not in possession of his armor. His Mandalorian father’s armor. 

Once you had that last piece of data it made perfect sense. Anyone else would have just let bygones be bygones. But for a Mandalorian to ignore the imperative of reclaiming their armor? Never. Not in a million years or across a million parsecs. And if the Daimyo was anything, whether he agreed with Grogu on this point or not, he was a Mandalorian, like his father before him. 

But it was just armor. 

“Kid, that armor has saved my life more times than I can count. I’m sure that it was the same for the Daimyo. Mandalorian armor isn’t just durasteel or that useless stuff the Imperium put their troops in. It’s designed and forged to last for many generations. If you want to insult a Mandalorian tell them their armor is fake. Of course, you better be wearing your own beskar when you say that because we don’t take insults lightly.”

Grogu was used to his dad lecturing him about beskar and taking ridiculous risks to secure the stuff, like fighting a Krayt Dragon. But he still didn’t agree that it was worth the trouble. Other people targeted you because they wanted to take it. Still others thought that they had weapons that could destroy it and need examples to test their theories on. It often didn’t fit quite right because it had been passed down for generations or was just cobbled together to form a suit if you were a foundling and had no family to inherit it from. 

But Grogu’s biggest problem with Mandalorian armor was that it allowed them all to hide behind it. Din Djarin only took off his helmet when he absolutely had to and he was still paranoid about letting anyone see his face. It wasn’t a bad face and Grogu thought it was silly to hide it.

“Buddy, I don’t cover my face because I’m not handsome enough. I cover my face because the Creed requires it. It is an ancient rule that was designed to protect Mandalorian’s during the battles they fought using their personal attack ships. Mandalorians must always be ready for battle. The songs of old are a good reminder of why this is important.”

Grogu was unimpressed with his dad’s argument. Neither Boba Fett nor Bo-Katan Kryze covered their faces when they weren’t actually fighting. Apparently the Creed allowed for that. Why couldn’t he see his dad’s brown eyes every once in a while? Even Migs Mayfeld had seen them.

“Buddy, there were extenuating circumstances with Mayfeld. And the Daimyo no longer follows the Creed and Bo-Katan is the Mand’alor and changed the Creed as it relates to the people who follow her version of it. I did not swear myself to that tradition. I must follow the rules I agreed to follow. One day you will choose and you will follow those rules. And there is no need for you to roll your eyes.”

Grogu wished he’d been wearing a beskar helmet then or even one made of Cortosis. He hated being lectured about his facial expressions by a person who never shared them with anyone due to his convenient adherence to a rapidly fading version of the rules for the Children of the Watch. 

“Grogu, I can understand what you’re signing and I don’t appreciate the sarcasm. I know you think it’s easy for me to give up something that I’ve known and done for the majority of my life, but it isn’t. Just like Daimyo Fett didn’t want to give up his armor, I am not ready to give up the rules that protected me, much like the rest of my armor does. Have you given up all the rules that the Jedi taught you?”

Dank Farrik! Din Djarin would have to pull that out of his beskar helmet! Of course Grogu hadn’t given up everything he’d learned as a Jedi. He meditated even though he didn’t like it. He was kind and thoughtful to strangers. He didn’t use the Force to straighten the blanket on his hammock. He didn’t use the Force on his dad to trick him into thinking he hadn’t used the Force to do his chores. 

On the other hand, he spent the vast majority of his time with Mandalorians, bounty hunters, and people with unsavory reputations, which Jedi younglings had been warned about almost every day. He didn’t always wish people “May the Force be with you” because they thought it was odd and that was just the Sand people he chatted with. He didn’t clean his plate at meal times if the meal happened to be made up of ration packs. And he really wished he could give up the drab garb that Jedi younglings were compelled to wear to reinforce their humility. Well, one does want a hint of color.

“Grogu, when I am ready to make that change you will be the very person I tell. I promise you that. Now, just say ‘ahh’. I need you open your mouth a little wider. I don’t understand how you managed to get that rock stuck in your teeth.”

Grogu did as his dad suggested and would have told him that someone had left little frog shaped pebbles around their cabin. It was a mean trick and that’s what had reminded him of the Sarlacc. You had to be careful about the things you were willing to put in your mouth.

[thatonespriteobsessedbitch]

TBB S3 Episodes 4+5 thoughts

ngl I had a good bit spoiled for me bc I forgot to block the spoilers tag 🤦🏻‍♀️

A Different Approach

genuinely so happy that my man is back

his voice is a little weird tho ngl

yk when the ship is sparking like that on the inside, I don't think you should be flying it

I love batcher so much

they are 100% going to be going back for the other prisoners by the end of the season, I'm calling it

not sure if I feel bad for Nala se or not

fuck hemlock fr

yeah what's up with Omega's blood sample

creepy ass city

crosshair is seriously wondering what he's gotten himself into lmaoooo

his voice is back to normal thank god lol

so fucking funny watching this 10yo try and barter with the spaceport person

FIFTEEN THOUSAND?!?!?!

PER TICKET?!?!

omg crosshair is hilarious, he's missed all of Omega's normal hijinks and he's so fucking confused

is that Bossk???

def not bossk

not the troopers

oh fuck

crosshair is freaking out back there

crosshair called Meg's dad count: 1

this captain has me stressing

fuck you

love that crosshair was about to fight a man for her

fuck not batcher

oh just punch the kid already

dad crosshair is so hot oml

babes freeing all the animals will get you caught so fast

just shoot the captain already

that "finally" did things to me 😶‍🌫️

oh omega you badass

IS THAT A FUCKING SARLACC????

I mean that's one way to deal with the captain but damn

where are they???

WRECKER!!!!!

and hunter.

I really don't like hunter tbh

"never stopped searching" but you were so willing to leave crosshair

ugh the camera angles 😫

The Return

she has Lula!!!

omg pabu is so pretty

genuinely why does crosshair, a clone of a man played by a Māori actor, whiter than I am

OH SHUT THE FUCK UP HUNTER HE HAS TRAUMA, HES HEALING, LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE

ECHO!!!

omg AZI you don't tell him his accuracy was 53% 🤣🤣🤣

does crosshair know tech is gone??

nvm he's gotta know with that reaction after echo mentions him

all of them look so pretty in the sunset

wrecker gave him his armour back 😭😭😭

HE BROUGHT THEM TO THE OUTPOST?!?!

the sound I made at crosshair in his old armour is ungodly

lay off him hunter

did batcher just find maydays body???

batchers efficient I'll give her that

not the helmets 😭😭😭😭

watch as those sensors actually did something other than warn about the raiders

I actually hate hunter

call him out babe

WHAT THE JESUS CHRIST WAS THAT

echo is eldest daughter-ing rn

BATCHER NO STAY INSIDE

can't believe the sensors actually worked

"and I don't even see any blood this time!" true sibling behavior

also the look on Omega's face as he says that 🤣🤣

I love the ice vulture symbolism with crosshair so much

[mandos-mind-trick]

BobaDin A/B/O Teaser

Read part 1 of the full fic here!!!

Summary: Boba and Din met before his fall into the Sarlacc pit, after Din was stranded during his heat with no suppressants. They parted ways after, both of them content to pretend it never happened, except that's not possible for Din. Boba tracks Din down, only to find he's in for a surprise when he meets the omega Mandalorian once more.

Pairing: Alpha Boba Fett x omega Din Djarin

Warnings: A/B/O universe, implied mpreg, Boba's kind of a softie in this part at least, very AU post Mando season 2, fluff and cuteness but also kind of sad, named child character cause plot.

A/N: I posted this a few months ago but took it down after it kinda flopped. There's been some renewed interest in it today so I've decided to repost it. There's a post on my page regarding the universe this exists in and some background. I was in a mindset when I wrote this and I am very sorry. Also kind of cuts off awkwardly at the end cause I just...stopped writing at that point.

@rosechi and those anons from earlier made me do it.

He holds her close, closer than he ever has. All the times he had left her, all the times he had been forced to leave on hunts was nothing compared to the last few days. She had been taken from him by someone who wouldn’t think twice about hurting her. He had been careless leaving two children alone like that. He had been thankful at first that she hadn’t just been killed. Perhaps Gideon had thought it would only hurt him more if he took both of them. 

He had done what he promised he’d do. He had rescued both of them, and he had gotten Grogu back to his kind. Still, there is an ache in his chest, a hole forming as Grogu gets further and further away. As much as he wants to curl into himself, let his instincts take over, he has a pup to support. A distressed pup who had just lost a member of her aliit. 

He sinks into one of the seats, holding her tight against his chest. He lets his helmet drop to the floor, uncaring if the other two in the ship come down and see him. He’s projecting his scent a bit, trying to calm his pup. It’s a bit dangerous with an alpha close by, but he can’t care. His pup needs him. 

“Shh.” He shushes her, pressing her face against his neck. 

“I m-miss him.” She cries, clinging to his cloak. 

“I know.” He says. “Remember what we talked about? Grogu had to go back to his kind. To his own aliit.” 

“But he’s our aliit.” 

“Only for a little while, remember? Until we found where he belonged.” 

She continues to cry and he can do nothing but let her. It pains him to scent her distress, but she needs to let it out. The best he could do is offer her comfort. 

She cries herself to sleep, still clinging to him. He leans his head back, trying to process the last couple days. It felt like a fever dream. He had been so scared, so desperate to get them back, to make sure they were safe. He’s exhausted. 

Boba climbs down the ladder a while later. Din had put his helmet back on, needing to feel secure. Needing to feel safe. The alpha sinks into the seat next to him, removing his helmet with a sigh. 

“How is she?” He asks, glancing sideways at the pair. 

“Upset.” Din answers. 

Boba hums. “Losing a family member is never easy.” He looks at Din. “How are you?” 

“I’ll manage.” He answers shortly. 

Boba stares at him for a long moment. “What will you do now?” 

Din sighs. He had been trying not to think about that. What is going to happen now? He’d finished what he had been tasked with. Did he go back to hunting? It would be hard with Vira. He didn’t want to start leaving her for long periods again. Not after spending so much time with her. His instincts screamed at the idea of being parted with her again. Did he try to track down a covert? Take his place among Mandalorians once more? “I don’t know.” He finally answers honestly. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.” 

“Join us.” Boba says. “We’re going back to Tatooine. I’m going to take over Jabba’s palace, become Daimyo. Come with us. Let me spend some time with the pup I didn’t know existed.” 

Right. This was his pup as well. He’s not sure how he could forget. She looked just like him. Perhaps because it was a bit unreal still.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Boba asks after a moment of silence.

“I tried looking for you after she was born. Everyone I found said you were dead.” 

Boba leans back in his seat once again. “I almost was. I never thought...” He shakes his head. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have-” 

“It’s alright. I’m not sure I would have made it had you not been there.” Din adjusts his hold on Vira, easing her into a more comfortable position. “I wouldn’t trade her for anything.” 

Boba stares at her, able to see her face from the new position. A small smirk forms on his face, a quiet chuckle leaving him. “Those Fett genes are strong.” 

Din can’t help but smile under his helmet. “There’s no doubting it.” 

Boba smiles. “I’m serious.” He lets his eyes flit to Din’s helmet. “Come with us. Let me take care of you. Both of you.” 

Din leans his head back against the seat. Boba’s words strike something deep in him, all his repressed instincts flooding to the surface. He had been on his own for so long. Forcing himself on suppressants, holding every alpha he came across at arm’s length. He did it for himself, and he did it for Vira. 

Was this his chance to take a load off his shoulders? To share in carrying that weight of his instincts and his pup? Fett had proven himself loyal and trustworthy over and over again. Vira was his pup. He could take her if he wanted, and force them apart. Din knows he won’t. Boba knows how much family means to Mandalorians. Boba was offering them a place of belonging, a home. He would care for his pup, and Din as the bearer of his pup. 

Din doesn’t realize he’s crying, quiet gasps crackling through his modulator. Boba is crouched beside him, hand on the back of his neck. It’s not a cruel touch, it’s not a scruff like some alphas would do to control an omega. It’s comforting. Grounding. 

“Let me help you.” He says softly, thumb stroking the column of his throat. The touch is jarring, after so long without any touch at all. 

“I owe you so much already.” Din gasps out, the tears not stopping. 

“You don’t owe me anything.” Boba says. “I would have helped you even if she wasn’t my pup. If you think you need to repay me, do it by coming with us.” 

Din closes his eyes, letting himself just feel. He hadn’t been this close to an alpha in six years. He never thought he’d see Boba again, much less be working with him. He knows the restraint it must have taken for Boba not to march onto the cruiser and take out Moff Gideon himself to get his pup back. The pup he hadn’t known existed until just a couple days ago. He knew Din was the one who had to do it, was the one who had to protect his aliit. 

Boba could be aliit too. 

It would be so easy to let him in, to give over to instinct. He had been carrying the weight for so long. How nice it would be to let go for once. 

*****

He wakes in a bunk. For a moment he forgets where he is, what had happened. He’s back on the Crest, tucked into his bunk, the place that had been his home for years. But the Crest was destroyed. He had been on Boba’s ship, heading wherever after he had rescued his ade. 

He doesn’t remember falling asleep, or even moving to the bunk. Boba’s scent floats around him, muted a bit by his helmet. He resists the urge to take off his helmet, bury himself in the scent. Instead he turns on his side, the blanket that had been tossed over him falling to the floor. Something feels off as he lays there in the silence. 

Vira. 

He sits up so fast his helmet hits the top bunk, but he ignores the vibrations rattling his head. He hits the button on the wall, light flooding the small space as he steps out, eyes searching the ship for his pup. 

He doesn’t have to look long, finding Fennec standing in front of one of the viewports holding her. She’s staring out at the blue of hyperspace, eyes open wide and mouth agape. Din breathes a quiet sigh of relief, approaching the beta and his pup. 

Vira turns to him, a big smile on her face. “Look, buir!” She points out the viewport. 

He turns to look, eyes trailing over the giant creatures. “Purgil.” He says. 

She stares at them in awe, Fennec eyeing him. “Don’t work yourself up.” She says. “She was getting squirmy. You need the rest.” 

“I didn’t take you for the nurturing type.” He says. 

The beta gives him a look. “I’m not.” But the way she looks down at Vira says otherwise. 

“Will you be okay for a few more minutes?” He asks. 

“I suppose.” Fennec says, motioning for him to go ahead. 

Din climbs up the ladder to the cockpit, quietly sinking into the passenger seat. He stares out at the blue of hyperspace for a moment, watching it flash by. 

“We’ll be dropping out of hyperspace near Tatooine shortly.” Boba says, his gaze facing forward as well. 

“If I come with you, what exactly do you expect?” Din asks, trying to put his thoughts into words. He feels vulnerable in the presence of the alpha, even though Fett was nothing but relaxed. 

“I’ll need your help.” Boba says honestly. “Taking Jabba’s seat will be easy. Getting Mos Espa to agree will be the hardest. There will be a lot of pushback, I expect, not just from the families. The Hutts will have their own opinions. I need muscle, someone to back me up.” 

“It sounds dangerous.” Din muses. 

“It will be, at least at first.” Boba agrees. “I wouldn’t blame you for saying no.” 

“And Vira? I can’t afford to put her in more danger.” 

Boba turns to face him, and though Din can’t see the look on his face, he can feel the change in the alpha. “I may not know her, but I promise I will give my life to protect her.” 

“And me?” Din says quietly, his brain starting to buzz under the intensity of the alpha. “What do you expect from me?” 

“Nothing.” Boba says, turning back around. “It would be your decision. If you want suppressants, I’ll be sure we have extra. You’re always welcome at my side, even if it’s nothing more than as an ally.” 

******

Fett had been right. Taking Jabba’s palace had been easy. Despite Din’s insistence, Boba had forced him to stay on the ship with Vira as he and Fennec went in and cleaned house. Din is quietly grateful for the moment of rest. He feels weary, a type of weary he hasn’t felt in a long time. He could have forced himself to do it, but he can feel the exhaustion deep in his bones as he sits on the floor of the ship. 

It’s the same weary he had felt when he had been stuck without his suppressants. The same weary he’d felt after he’d had Vira. The same weary he’d struggled with after he decided to leave her in the care of the covert and returned to bounty hunting. 

He needs an alpha. 

His omega yearns for an alpha. 

He has an alpha. 

Boba had been forward in his implications. He would take that position, if Din wanted it. It wasn’t that Din didn’t trust Boba. He owed a lot to the alpha. Boba had been the one that found him stranded without suppressants, half dead after being thrown into his first heat in years. Boba had cared for him, fought against every instinct telling him to sink his teeth into Din’s shoulder, and got him on a ship back to civilization. 

He had also, inadvertently, given Din a pup. 

Vira had been born not long after the fall of the Empire. Din had waited a year and a half before he began his search, traveling all the places the bounty hunter frequented. He heard the same thing over and over, that Boba was dead. Fell into a sarlacc pit on the very planet they were on currently. Din had given up his search not long after he started. 

He knew he’d likely raise Vira by himself. If he had found Boba, he’s not sure what the bounty hunter’s reaction would have been. He could have taken Vira for himself, raised his pup as he had the right to do. Din had wrestled with that idea, but had ultimately decided to seek out the alpha, if nothing more than to just tell him he has a pup. He deserved to know. It was why he didn’t hide the truth from him on Tython. 

He could have lied. He could have easily claimed Vira as someone else’s. 

No, he couldn’t have, he thinks as he stares at the pup seated on the floor between his legs, pushing Grogu’s ball back and forth. He runs a hand over the unruly, thick curls that were messily pulled back into a bun. She looks up at him with those deep, dark eyes. She’s practically a carbon copy of Boba. 

A clone. 

She grins up at him, cheeks dimpling. That was his, or at least he thinks so. He’s never actually seen Boba smile. 

Despite the grin, she looks tired. He knows she has to be, just looking at her. Fennec had been right, calling her squirmy. She’d always been wild, always been on the move. He’d constantly heard it when he returned to the covert. She’s smart, but she can’t sit still. 

Normally she would have been all over the ship, exploring, getting into things. A chord of fear runs through him for a moment, something he hadn’t thought of in the whirlwind since they’d been taken. He knew the Empire needed Grogu for some sort of experiment they were doing. 

What if they did something to her? 

There wasn’t anything they could possibly need from her. Unless they tested something on her? He wouldn’t put it past Gideon to try and make him pay for taking Grogu not once, but twice. 

He can’t fight it, the building anxiety deep in his stomach. He feels like he’s spiraling out of control, like a ship about to crash. Vira’s smile falls as she senses the distress welling in her bearer. 

Din jumps as a hand lands on his shoulder. His fists close around the fabric of his pants, trying to steady himself. Boba is kneeling next to him, a hand on his shoulder. 

“Easy.” Boba soothes him, gently squeezing his shoulder. “What’s got you all worked up?” 

“What...what if Gideon did something to her?” He asks, looking down at Vira who is watching them cautiously. 

“We can’t know for sure that he didn’t.” Boba says, turning to look at Vira. “How do you feel, ad’ika?” 

She shrugs. “Okay. Sleepy.” She rubs her eyes. 

“See,” Boba says, helping him stand. “She’s fine. You need rest. Both of you do.” 

Din leans down, lifting Vira into his arms. Boba was probably right. They couldn’t know if Gideon did something to her. If it was anything of consequence, they’d have to wait and see if anything happens. He doesn’t want anything to happen. The thought of something happening to her because of his own recklessness has his stomach churning. He feels like he could be sick. 

“Come on.” Boba leads him forward with a hand on his back. “We’ve cleared out the upper rooms. Most of it was empty. Seems like most of them fled when Jabba died. Fortuna managed to keep a skeleton crew. We’ve cleared out most of them.” 

“I should be helping.” Din says, trying to distract himself from the panic building within him. 

“You can help by resting.” Boba says, leading him up the steps. “Like I said, this is the easy part. I need you at your best when the real fight begins.” 

**********

Despite his exhaustion, Din lays awake in bed. The sheets are clean, having been brought up by a droid, along with a clean change of clothes for Vira. She had fussed through a bath and dinner before Din let her sleep. The new clothes were a bit big, but they worked. He’d need to pick up some supplies soon. Everything he’d owned had been destroyed. 

Din had taken a bath himself after Vira finally fell asleep. He was used to going long periods without being properly cleaned, but it felt nice to wash off the last few days. The worry still lingered, but in a way he felt like he could force it all down, forget the horrors that had gone through his mind. 

His helmet sits on the ground behind him. He hadn’t been able to relax enough to take all his armor off. What if they had missed something? He can’t take that risk. Not right now. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to put the helmet back on. Not yet. 

He scoots closer to Vira, letting the soft scent of pup invade his senses. He hadn’t done it often, not since he left her with the covert. He presses his nose into her hair, letting the gentle scent flow through him. It’s the best scent in the world, or at least he thinks so. The scent of a pup before they begin developing traits, before they present. So soothing it could loosen even the most steeled beta. 

The scent calms the raging storm inside him. There’s nothing off about it, no change to it. It’s purely her, just as he remembered it being.

[redbean-nom]

honestly echo is probably going to die heroically in the next two episodes. he's not with rex, gregor, and wolffe in rebels, he's not with the greater rebellion, and Echo Base exists.

what i'm more curious about is when cody gets his own heroic sacrifice. he's not with rex and he's not with obi wan, so unless he also fell in a sarlacc or got carbonited, he's definitely dead.

anyways, the last episode's title is The Cavalry Has Arrived. and who could be a more fitting "cavalry" than Cody?