#squatch the bothan

[rainintheevening]

OC Mundane Tag Game

Tagged by @sailforvalinor, which is fun because I have a lot of OCs I love.

This time let me tell you about another of my Broken Constellations (Star Wars) babies, and this one is really my baby. My beloved little Bothan Squatch!

1. What is their favorite movie?

He's honestly not big on movies. He grew up without much accesss to things like that, though he did get to see the holofilm A Grievous Mistake: A Kenobi and Skywalker Adventure. It was made about a year before the war ended, and was the most popular of the serials made about the Jedi. But he'd much rather hear a story told, or tell one himself.

2. What is their favorite season?

He... doesn't really have one. He's lived on so many different planets, seen so many different environments, he just likes variety. He does settle on a planet with variegated seasons, though, and probably his favourite is fall/the cooling off time.

3. What do they find annoying?

People who talk down to him. Anyone who insults their parents. Messy welds. Too much salt in his food. Anyone who insults Anakin Sky– er, sorry, Enn Kenobi.

4. How would they like to spend their Christmas or equivalent holiday?

Squatch grew up without any real holidays, or special celebrations for anything outside his own family. Only once he ends up with Anakin does he learn differently. The biggest holiday in the galaxy is always the New Year, but regardless of why there's a celebration, Squatch loves most of all the food. There's always so much of it. He likes to take a pile of food and snacks, go sit in a quiet corner (preferably at a height so he look down as well as out) and just enjoy the sight of others being happy. He'll eat almost anything, but too much spice or sugar makes his stomach hurt. Food and a comfy spot to watch happy people from, that's his favourite thing. Also listening to singing.

5. Do they play an instrument? If so, what? How good are they at it?

He's decent with percussion and rhythm, but mostly he just likes to listen to others make music.

6. What's their favorite meal to eat?

He's not picky—growing up close to starving a lot of the time will do that to ya—but for a full meal he really really loves a salad of greens, Azna's meat stew (she gives them the recipe), and Tatooine sun cookies.

7. Do they have a favorite video game or board game?

He actually takes a liking to several card games, including sabacc and he has an excellent sabacc mask. But he really likes puzzle games, either physical or mental.

8. Do they celebrate their birthday?

Yes! Birthdays were celebrated enthusiastically by his family, and even in the worst times, his mother would often manage to shake off her darkness and do something sweet for him to make him feel special. Special food was the favorite treat. With Anakin, Squatch got a proper birthday again. Anakin would always make sun cookies. When the Star is built, he lets Squatch fly her for the whole day, and they go wherever Squatch wants. He goes to bed and looks at the stars and whispers that one wish again: to find his mother.

9. What's their bedtime routine?

He can sleep anywhere. But if there's another warm body in the room, he will absolutely crawl into bed with them. He's a snuggler, and he never gets too old for it. (Anakin doesn't mind, it's nice to have something small and furry and alive curled against him. It's better than being alone.) He likes a story before bed, whether one told to him, one he tells to someone else, or one he just tells himself in his own head.

10. What's an oc (or canon character) that they like to spend time around? What do they tend to do together?

Well, he and Anakin run together for... at least 4 years. And they are everything to each other inthat time. They get off to a rocky start, they are both in really bad places mentally, but they just stick with it, and they give each other a reason to live. They develop a really tight bond, out of that suffering. With Squatch's help Anakin builds an entire starfighter from scratch. They share stories, they figure out ways to make each other laugh and it almost becomes a competition. Anakin teaches Squatch how to fly, how to defend himself. Anakin sees the world anew through Squatch's wide eyes, because there is still the heart of a youngling under all the armor the little Bothan's been forced to put up. They have adventures together. They help each other heal.

Okay it's late, so I'm just... tagging @griseldabanks. Again, because I know you have babies you like to talk about. :))

[rainintheevening]

Slapped by @ablatheringblatherskite, thanks Aster! And @novelmonger! 😘

Are you named after anyone?: My first name comes from the Bible and my maternal grandmother.

When was the last time you cried?: Today at church. But it was good crying. The music really got me today. :')

Do you have any kids?: No, unless characters count. Eric and Casey, my beloved boys. Squatch, my little bothan boy. Addie, my clone son. There's a few of 'em.

What sports do you play/have you played?: Shinny on the outdoor rink at the park in town. Many bastardized versions of things with siblings (soccer with a basketball, baseball with a shoe, show jumping without horses, horse racing with bikes, golf with dirt clods... you get the idea).

Do you use sarcasm?: Sometimes, but I was raised to say what I mean, so even my sarcasm is easy to see coming. Try to only use it on people who will appreciate it and as a joke.

What is the first thing you notice about people?: Footwear is a big one. Tells me a lot. Also handshake (whether or not they do it, how firm it is)

What's your eye color?: Blue mostly. Greyer in some lights, greener in others. But really it's just blue.

Scary movies or happy endings?: Happy endings all the way.

Any talents?: Whistling, writing, herding animals, singing.

Where were you born?: The city I've always lived next to in Sounthern Ontario, Canada

What are your hobbies?: Writing, doing truck repairs with my brother, singing at church, drawing, four-wheeling

Do you have any pets?: Currently, just one, a cat named Lucy.

How tall are you?: 5'4", maybe 5'3"?

Favorite subject in school?: History. I did love history, because we read tons of high quality historical fiction growing up, and the way my mom taught us was by giving us books to read about things. Anyone else crazy about the Adam's Synchronological Chart of History?

Dream job?: Ugh, I don't even know anymore. Currently jobless so this is kinda a difficult question. I mean, homemaker would be ideal, but you need a husband for that. Would not mind being a housekeeper for nice people. (Already am one for the fam, but I don't get paid.)

Let's see tagging... @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask @thefinaljediknight @x-rainflame-x @authortobenamedlater and anyone else who wants to do these!

[rainintheevening]

So, for whatever reason they have made answers uneditable, so I will be answering all asks for the foreseeable future with screenshots and tags. Sorry this took me so long to get to, @novelmonger. :3

From these asks

hate: What does your OC hate? Why? How do they act towards the object of their hatred?

Squatch isn't a big hater, tbh. There's really only one thing, and that's the people who killed his father. I haven't figured out all the names and factions yet, but the planet Squatch grew up on was divided by a pretty nasty civil war for a long time, certainly as long as Squatch was alive. He grew up in war, and though his parents tried to shelter him, and encourage him to care about all peoples, after his father and sister were killed fighting, he came to truly hate the other side of the conflict. It was less of a species thing, more political. If he ever sees their symbol anywhere, he spits. And Bothans are very good spitters.

mistake: What's the worst mistake your OC ever made? What led to them making it? Have they been able to fix it? How have they moved on?

Hmmmmm, getting separated from his mother wasn't exactly a result of him making a mistake. Wasn't at all really, but he will put up a good argument that it was his fault.

When he meets Enn (aka Anakin) he is trying to get off the planet they had first fled to, so he can search for his mom elsewhere. This is a search he keeps up for years, and he can't truly move on from it. (I'm not saying whether he finds her or not.)

pain: What's the worst pain your OC has ever felt? Do they have a high pain tolerance?

I assume this is supposed to be physical pain here. Hmm, he took his first shrapnel, a sliver to the cheek, when he was five. He cried for an hour, until his mother put him to sleep with a potent tea.

He once got thrown down a steep flight of stairs, and broke several ribs. That was shortly after his mother had been lost, and he was on his own. He basically didn't sleep for a week because the pain was so bad, and he had only a general knowledge of how to bandage his side to stabilize the ribs. He was living on the streets then, but did get a little help from a local clinic. That was honestly the most miserable, wretched month of his life. He doesn't have an enormous pain tolerance, nowhere near Anakin’s, but he has built up his ability to gut things out, and do what he has to do, even if he's crying from the pain.

[rainintheevening]

For Broken Constellations: 12, 14, 20, 24

I want you to know that I was seriously tempted to ask for number 1 but refrained.

From these asks.

12 - What's your favorite line from this fic?

But then Love spoke.

(Because of that BUT. But holds so much possibility, it is the turning point, the change in the story. But then! And Love. It is Love that changes everything; Love that conquers fear, pride, anger. Love speaking, calling our names. It is Love that everything turns on. Four words, and Hope is born.)

14 - Write a little snippet set in this verse, but with a character you haven't used so far. (Or if you've used everyone, one you haven't utilized much.)

Sorry, this turned into part of a scene. Featuring Squatch! My beloved little Bothan, and maybe my fave OC ever.

Enn was already sitting cross-legged in his usual spot, dead centre in the cave mouth, shadow stretching behind him. Squatch smothered a yawn as he stepped out into the evening light, and gladly collapsed into his master’s lap, like an untidy heap of fur and limbs.

"Tired?"

Enn sounded mildly amused, and Squatch hastily straightened himself out.

No, he started to say, before he caught himself. A Jedi had to be honest. "A little," he admitted, and let himself relax against his master’s chest. He liked how big Enn was, it made him feel safe, as if he was a pup again, being held by Papa, even if Enn was a human.

Enn tilted his head to glance down at him, and smiled, making the two halves of the pale scar at the corner of his right eye crinkle together. "Ah, the little Bothan is a little tired."

"You're trying to be funny."

Enn snorted, bumped his chin against the top of Squatch's head. "One of these days you'll realise I am."

"Maybe."

Squatch didn't have the energy to continue the banter, and after a short silence, they both exhaled at the same moment.

Squatch felt Enn's chin settle on his head, before he wrapped both arms around Squatch. Squatch patted the gloved metal hand that rested over his stomach, the way he used to pat his mother's soft furry one.

The green grass rolled away into the valley, the stream bubbled softly, and the sun made everything soft and warm. Down by the mines they would be banking up the smelting fires, down in the village the lights would be lit. The green-tinted sky shaded down in front of them in yellow, orange, and red.

Enn said that where he grew up, on Tatooine, they had two suns, and therefore two sunsets. Squatch had never seen that before. He thought one was beautiful enough.

20 - Share THREE headcanons! But about different characters.

-Cal often reads memories of Anakin off of things in Obi-Wan’s quarters at the Temple.

-Squatch is left-handed, so Anakin ends up teaching him how to use a lightsaber in either hand.

-Once, when visiting Tatooine, Luke and Leia sneak off to hunt a Krayt dragon. Rex and Echo nearly get killed by said Krayt.

24 - Ramble about something you haven't gotten to talk about yet.

I am nuts about Squatch, okay? He's this little kid of a Bothan (furry and cuddly!) who shows up when Anakin is two millimeters above rock bottom, is entirely too pathetic for Anakin to not care (especially since he is trying to find his mother, whom he's been separated from for almost a year), and then becomes the one to catch Anakin when rock bottom caves through. For a time they are each the others primary reason to keep living.

Squatch is like 13 or 14, but parts of him are far older, and other parts far younger. His humor is dry, but he's a dreamer, and he loves colours. He's Force-sensitive and it's in trying to teach him the basics of understanding and harnessing that, that Anakin walks himself through the basics again, and starts to remember what being a Jedi is truly about.

It's because of Squatch that Anakin takes the name Enn Kenobi. Because he can't use his real name, he doesn't even feel like he has a name, but Squatch insists on knowing his name. (When Force Ghost Qui-Gon shows up, Squatch finds out Enn's real name, but he sticks with 'Enn'.)

They save each other. They breathe new life into each other. Qui-Gon might be Anakin’s guide for much of the healing process, but for years Squatch is his touchstone. Squatch makes Anakin want to be better. To get better, to heal. Because this youngling needs a master, and a good one.

Anakin is Squatch's protector, his teacher, but also his friend. Squatch saw his father killed, and has lost his sister and mother, so he needs a parent, and he latches onto Anakin like a barnacle. He sees Anakin’s thoroughly messed up state of mind, and it doesn't make him less in Squatch's eyes. It just makes Squatch care about him even more.

They're both suicidal when they meet, that's the thing. And then they both decide the other should live. So they balance each other out, until they know they want to live themselves.

And then they build a starship together, from the ground up, and they run together. A couple space nomad Jedi, doing good, finding kids to send to the Temple, keeping ears and eyes out for any of Squatch's missing family. Learning from each other, chasing stars, Anakin seeing the galaxy anew through Squatch's eyes, Squatch seeing more than he had ever dreamed.

Years later, when they finally see each other again, they can look at their families, and be glad they survived, be grateful that they saved each other, be glad that they chose life.

I will go on at length about them when I write the dang fic. I love them so much. They really are the Tony and Peter of Broken Constellations. No surprise there.