#then Kallus is just living in his own home and the whole time Ezra’s like: so nice of zeb to like him stay

[nothing-but-flowers88]

Ok so if Ezra was gone for almost a decade, Zeb and Kallus would be married by now with an adopted lasat orphan and be a whole family and Ezra left before they even started dating so he’s like ??? imagine Ezra spends the night at their place and it’s like

Ezra: Pfft Sabine I just saw something so funny

Sabine: what?

Ezra: I went to Zeb’s room and he’s sharing a bed with Kallus! Guess we got the last of the guest beds then

Sabine:…

[twilightofthe]

for the fanfic title prompt (I'll give a few separated by numbers): 1. Under the Evening Sky; 2. Oh Dear; 3. In His Eyes; and finally, the obligatory song lyric title: We Will Call This Place Our Home

Took me a bit to come up with the right fic idea for all of these and it was really super fun, thanks so much!!!!!  Here’s your fic summaries!!! (from this ask meme)

Under the Evening Sky

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Rated (very high) T, probs one of those 20k oneshots, starring Obi Wan and Anakin (and Ahsoka), Obikin endgame

Summary:  When you throw a ball for high profile politicians in the middle of a war, multiple assassination threats are an inevitability.  Any Jedi presence would be a great comfort, though they will not be exempt from the dress code.

Dressed to the nines, Obi Wan and Anakin have a job to do tonight.  The stars are bright, the alcohol is flowing, several killers lurk, Obi Wan pretends he’s dancing with someone else, and Anakin wonders who in the hells was both blind and persuasive enough to convince Obi Wan he didn’t look good in red…

This would be a noir/James Bond-style get-together fic for Anakin and Obi Wan.  It would be full of them and Ahsoka in fancy clothing and at a shmancy ball trying to hunt down a group of assassins.  There’d be LOTS of appreciation for one another all dressed up (I’ve already imagined Anakin in dark blue and Obi Wan in red so y’all can too, some subtle eye makeup, etc.  There would be a Thing where Anakin was so preoccupied doing Ahsoka’s makeup he forgot to do his hair so just pulled it back, and Obes will like, run his hands thru his hair and pull it back out and rearrange it like “nah ur perf as it is” and they’re both dying inside while it happens).  There’d be dancing with other people, trying to drink away those pesky feelings for one’s partner, fighting in fancy clothing (and silly boys lusting over the other fighting in said tight clothing) (also Ahsoka absolutely has learned from Padmé how to pull off and then stab someone with a high heel), repression of feelings, and ultimately revelations of feelings, finally dancing with one another and heavy makeouts in the coat closet.

Oh Dear…

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Rated T, average-size oneshot, starring Ahsoka with Anakin, Rex, Domino Squad, Obi Wan, and Padmé

Summary:  When Ahsoka gets a citation on a recent mission report for “improper language”, she reflects back on where she might have picked up such a habit.

Or:  Five Sources Who Taught Young Ahsoka Tano Exactly How Many Different Ways One Can Say “Fuck”

This would absolutely be a crackfic where I expand on my headcanon that since Ahsoka grew up in an army and alongside the likes of personalities such as Anakin “I was an impressionable nine year old on Fucking Tatooine” Skywalker and Obi Wan “If you swear in a different language it doesnt’ count” Kenobi, our girl probably has the worst potty mouth in the galaxy, and how that might get her into trouble or gain her respect depending on the situation.

In His Eyes

Star Wars Original, Rated T, average to long-ish?-size oneshot, starring Leia and Han (and Luke), Hanleia

Summary:  Leia looks away from the bright glare of the sand, only to find Han’s hand suddenly patting along her face and nearly poking her in the eye.

“Sorry, Leia,” Han mutters.  “I’m assuming that’s you and not Luke.  Still can’t see too well.”

His hand starts to wander a bit lower, and for a moment Leia’s worried she’ll have to inflict pain, but as soon as Han’s fingers graze bare skin where he knows they shouldn’t, his hand whisks away while his eyes widen.  “Shit, princess, you must be cold!”  He instantly starts trying and failing to take off his own shirt.

“We’re in the desert,” Leia feels she has to point out, despite the fuzzy feeling suddenly warming in her heart.

Basically this is going off of that one comment someone on here made that Han, the man who loved and married her, was the one person who never got to see Leia in the slave bikini because he was still blinded by the carbonite freezing.  This would be a fic from Leia’s perspective starting right after they escaped Jabba’s barge and are headed back to the Rebellion up and through the Battle of Endor.  She’ll be pondering all the while her relationship with Han and how he sees her and how she feels about it and how she may want to start a life with him.

Highlights will include the summary scene where not only does Han drink his respect women juice and instantly try to be a gentleman and offer Leia his shirt the moment he notices she’s not as dressed, Luke at the same time notices, and while before he was just trying to respectfully not look, now realizes belatedly that “oh yeah she can have my shirt!” and Hidden Protective Brother Instinct kicks in so he ALSO tries to give Leia his shirt.  Han objects because “hey this is MY chivalrous gesture back off” and this of course leads to the two of them ending up in their underwear and throwing their whole wardrobes at Leia like HERE TAKE IT while Leia laughs for the first time in what feels like ages.  Lando has removed no clothing during this and is just focusing on driving like “uh I think they got you covered”

We Will Call This Place Our Home

Star Wars Rebels & Star Wars Original Trilogy, Rated T, multichapter snapshots, starring Hera, Zeb, Rex, Kallus, Leia, and Luke

Summary:  Those who call themselves Spectres are constantly haunted by ghosts of the past, up to, including, and right on past one day that brings a Fulcrum agent dead, a planet destroyed, a fatherless son born, and now the Rebellion apparently has a Jedi again…

This would basically be an insight into the Rebels characters Kanan and Ezra left behind, and snapshots of their lives.  Particularly, what they were doing around the time of Rogue One– I think Kallus knew Cassian, obvs.  Also headcanon that pregnant Hera insisted in flying in the Battle of Scarif which promptly caused her to go into labor directly after, causing her to have Jacen either on Lothal like she had planned or in the Ghost on the way, which is why the Ghost isn’t near Yavin for that battle.  Also would include a talk between Zeb and Leia about surviving your planet’s genocide, a talk between Leia, Luke, and Hera about knowing any other people who could help Luke, and one between Luke and Rex who was Not Ready For Any Of This.

[coe-lilium]

TroS reaction (1st view)

Necessary premise in bullet points:

- I liked TFA when it came out and still do but as I dug into the franchise/canon (Disney only by choice) my enjoyment of it became more lukewarm. Came out of it dreading a potential Reylo but liking the two charas on their own. 

- went into TLJ worried I’d hate it, came out with it being my favorite saga movie and sold on the Rey-Ren connection, whatever road it would’ve taken. Loved the “Rey’s powerful on her own/bc the Force wants to set Kylo’s wrongs right”. It felt good after two years of being bombarded with “this fucking Mary Sue can have any power only if she’s connected to powerful men of the saga, she has otherwise no right in being powerful” in forums spaces.    

- went into TroS non-spoiled, wary of Palpatine return but relatively hopeful if soured about the “JJ our lord and saviour pleease save us from evil evil Jonhson” (HA!). The rumors about lore from the tv series being featured into the movie had me excited.  

That said, here goes: [SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE, ENDING INCLUDED, RIGHT OFF THE BAT]

I didn’t like it. I really hope to warm up to it more in future views, there’s absolutely stuff I liked or even loved, but as it stands now it was overall a massive disappointment on many sides and -worst of all- threatens to retroactively ruin my enjoyment in other previous stories. 

First, the positives: 

- Parentage notwithstanding, Rey was good. Her rage, her fears, her good heart, her commitment to the fight and the training, her longing for guidance… truly, if the bloodline revelation hadn’t retroactively ruined my investment in the character and themes I’d have fully, 100% loved her even if every single other part of the movie had been the same. 

Except for a brief war flashback to Starkiller game abilities (I lolled) I wasn’t even troubled by all the new abilities or their scope. Movies’ been inventing new powers since the beginning and the Force does what the Force wants. Again, fuck the genetics “twist”, garbage stuff. 

- Kylo, next to… 95% that involved him? TLJ did a great job selling him to me and surprisingly this movie added to that instead of retconning it away. More competent but still stupid and petty from time to time. I’m glad he came back, glad he choose right and glad he was allowed more time on the right side than Anakin. I love redemptions and he was portrayed as wavering the entire trilogy, I don’t even really care that it could’ve done better. I’m happy for him and his family, that’s all. The kiss got a laugh out me but not a malicious one, I was kind of running out of reasonable reactions by then. 

I’m just conflicted on how I feel about his death. Back when TFA was released I wanted him to survive to face what Anakin didn’t: justice (the kid-friendly setting prevented a death sentence anyway), atonement and growth from there, I still wish it happened and maintain that a different pacing would’ve allowed it. On the other hand, I’m also kinda okay with him dying. He righted at least a bit of his many wrongs, he saved a person he cared for, that his parents cared for and that could help the galaxy much more than he ever could and he was at peace. It was a good death.      

- Kylo’s vision/illusion of Han. A surprise but a very pleasant, well acted one. Would’ve I maybe liked Anakin more, as Ben idolized him so much and for all the wrong reasons and because I love that disaster? Yes. Does Han work much better in the economy of the movie and trilogy story and do he and Ben have a much rawer relationship and history? Absolutely. I am a teeny tiny bit baffled as  for why Luke didn’t also show up, but the actual scene was good enough I forgive it.  

- Rey and Kylo bond and connection was one of the saving graces of this mess and I utterly loved it. Both actors worked their asses for for all their scenes and it payed off, oh if it payed off. Their DSII duel was perhaps a tad long but great nonetheless (Republic era Jedi jumps!), the hurt and the sense of absolute loss and grief they both conveyed -and shared!- after Leia’s passing was incredible, Rey regretting the near kill and softly going “I would have stayed, had you renounced the dark side”. She cared, yes, but not to the point of ignoring the horrors (something Anakin never quite understood). The “dyad” stuff was a bit overkill, just call it a force bond, we can see it’s freaking powerful, but the Force Skype and sharing of objects that came with the package, that I loved. Surprise lightsaber, Ren fuckers! :D Bet Anakin and Obi Wan were really jealous, that would’ve come in handy during the war.       

- Finn was now fully invested in the cause, at ease, visibly happy to be with his friends, ready to bond and reach out, quick to plan, to act and to adapt to the situation, brave but cautious and calculating. I wish it was given a bit more focus, but I loved he found other young FO defectors. Also fuck yeah, he’s force sensitive and his ability is used, not just thrown in as a useless wink. Jedi Finn in future material, c’mon!

- Poe’s also grown. He was probably going to have more screen time with Leia had Carrie not died but there was nothing to be done for that. I’m not as happy as for previous 3 charas for the backstory retcon I’ll tackle in the negatives.

- Jannah was cool, the addiction of other FO defectors a welcomed one and the scene were she and Finn excitedly went over their “I broke free” moment was adorable. Good bean, I’d read more about her and her company. 

- A bit lot annoyed at Bloodline being kinda tossed outta the window but getting Leia with lightsaber was nice. Give me some ancillary material to deal with the clash and I’ll fully forgive it. 

- Jedi! MY GIRL AHSOKA MY MAN KANAN! I mean, I sure wish they were in a better movie, but hey, recognition for something more than the OT? No slandering of the Order but all of them collectively kicking Sidious ass once and for all? I’ll gladly take it. Anakin, my dude, I’m sorry your sacrifice was next to nullified but it was good to hear you again ;_;  I didn’t hear Ezra’s voice anywhere so I can still hope he’s alive, well and with the Ascendancy teaching all their Navigators. “I am all the Jedi” remains a terrible line. 

And now, oh boi. Here comes the long list of annoying - bad - stinking shit stuff: 

- If I wanted to watch a 2 and half long videogame cutscenes I’d have done that in the comfort of my home without spending money for tickets. Go to level x to retrieve related macguffin, move to next level to get next macguffin and so on and so on. I liked close to everything in the DS II sequences, but what would’ve that dagger pointed at if the wreckage had fallen even a little bit differently?   

In general, many plot points gave me the feeling they were stolen from the tv series and badly executed, like a mockery (or incompetence?). Case in point: Hux betraying the 1st Order out of personal, spiteful hate? Potentially good! The execution? A poor man’s Rebels Agent Kallus, already over in little more than 5minutes. 

- Palpatine himself is a poorly, ridiculously poorly executed Maul resurrection storyline from tcw and rebels. 

Because Maul was 1. explained and 2. got a good, long arc that made you forgive the undoubtably contrived ass-pull it took to bring him back while Sidious is just… there. You gotta accept it because the writer said so. 

How did he survive? We don’t know and fuck you if you expect an explanation (they really had the absolute galls to have him say the iconic/meme line from Rots and apparently it was supposed to be enough?!) How could he “have all Sith reside inside me” when canon’s clear that Sith do-not-get-to-retain-their-individuality-in-the-Force, do not work well together (lmao) and he as an individual never gave a shit about the Sith except when they could serve his own personal desires? His entire approach to the rule of two and other Sith stuff is “fuck that noise, everything in the galaxy exist to serve me”. He’s fine dying as long as “the Sith rule”? Who IS this character, because he’s not Darth Sidious (as presented in Disney’s own canon, mind). Oh, you wanted explanations? FUCK YOU, screams the movie. 

The mess gets somehow salvaged in the end as he comes to his senses and siphon the life out of Rey and Ben to de-rotten/revive himself to rule in person, now *that* was in character. Was he actually lying his ass off the entire time waiting for the moment he could siphon them? Hopefully but who the hell even knows.

In the end it just wasn’t worth bring him back. A holocron, a different Sith, even a hive-mind of old records/tainted wraiths of Sith (perhaps wearing Palps face to buy the old empire aficionados loyalty, idk) would’ve been better than “actually, Anakin suffered nearly his entire life and sacrificed himself for barely more than 25 years of peace and it still wasn’t enough to rid the galaxy of the monster who destroyed his and countless other lives”. But Johnson was the one shitting on beloved characters legacy and accomplishments, uh? Surely at least he’s got company. 

Ian was clearly having a blast, so there was… that? And the initial sequence being legit creepy and the Sith storm or whatever the fuck was that. That can stay, it was cool.     

- Poe, the latino character, got retconned from former Republic pilot (a backstory established before TFA came out and faithfully respected ever since) into a smuggler and gang member. Classy. What does Lucaslfilm have a story group for if not for stopping stuff like this from happening? Bonus Zorii being used for a “no homo! homo? no homo?” wink wink and for generally being a poor man Solo’s Qi’ra.   

- The movie makes you worry for a character death three (3) times in a row only to immediately backpedal on it. The survivors are grieving, the scene is sober… and then suddenly! they’re alive! isn’t it wonderful? let’s insert a comical scene now that we’re at it! Sigh.   

- The whole Threepio stuff was a contrived waste of time in a movie already full of more relevant plot treads that could’ve put that screen time to better use. 

- Rey’s parents apparently aren’t assholes anymore bc they sold her into slavery to protect her from Sidious, which is… supposed to make it alright, a sacrifice in the name of love? If they had been shown trying to give her to a trusted person and then she was kidnapped that wouldn’t had been their fault, just unfortunate, but the movie shows them leaving their 5yo daughter with her in-all-but-name slaver so?? 

- Rey Palpatine… Rey. Palpatine. Gesù Cristo benedetto che minchia mi è toccato di vedere. That hurt. That was so hilariously over the top bad I just…I started laughing. On top of the entire thing, thank you so, soo much for validating all those fucking assholes who demanded Rey be connected to a powerful man in the saga to accept her powers and value, you hack. Jedi were never about power of blood and then you went and reinforced the very opposite. She ain’t powerful bc the Force recognized her as worthy to stop evil and chose to aid her anymore, she’s powerful bc grandfather was. Lovely stuff. Hilariously, now she has a lot more legit “Mary Sue” traits than before. 

- Rose’s sidelining was a blatant bow to her and her actress haters whims. If in VIII she jumped at the chance of action, now she was fearful and “had to stay behind” studying maps. Fuck that noise. 

- Even if she rejected it, underline is that the Skywalker line is wiped out and the Palpatine one thrives. I… just… wtf wtf wtf. A final “Just Rey” would’ve been more powerful -because now it would’ve been reclaimed- and less corny and in poor taste than a Palpatine taking on the Skywalker name. I’m not sure if Sidious is more offended or if he’s laughing his ass off in space!hell. Probably the 2nd. Bad.      

- The final scene on Tatooine. It rang so empty because the planet brings warm memories only to the audience, not the characters. In-universe, that place brought nothing but misery to the Skywalkers: Anakin and Shmi were brought there as slaves and lived as such for years, Shmi was tortured to death and Anakin began his descent into the dark for crying out loud. Luke had to hide and saw his relatives murdered. Leia had no connection whatsoever to the place. The mera idea of burying Anakin Skywalker lightsaber into the sands of Tatooine and considering it a way of paying respect is… I don’t know, hilariously in bad taste? Rey, dear, what did you have personally against the guy? Put those sabers to rest on Naboo! Ah, but we can’t truly acknowledge the PT now, can we? Wack.   

- It’s not TroS complete fault, that “honor” mostly sit at TFA’s feet but for all its omages, copies and almost slavish references, from a in-universe point of view it’s like the OT barely occurred. 

The same evil man has been defeated (until next time?), the Republic must be rebuilt from scratch, a evil military is all over the place and must be dealt with, the Jedi Order has to be rebuilt… it’s depressing. A new evil taking advantage of the empire leftovers would’ve been one thing, but Sidious? He’s been effectively winning nonstop ever since he was elected Chancellor. He had all the power, all the influence, all the control and he maintained it all even as a rotten corpse in exile, the entire galaxy marching on his tune, controlled by his strings. And as the cherry on top of the cake he even managed to wipe out the family that could’ve, should have been his undoing! He effectively destroyed the Skywalkers. He outlived every Jedi, every survivor, every clone. I hate this. It’s sickening. I can’t even be happy Rex was on Endor anymore.      

In general, the best word I can find for this movie is: coward. 

So blatantly desperate to please, to be “forgiven”, to reference every single irrelevant thing -except the PT and the TV series in a intelligent way-, to throw fanservice after fanservice after fanservice no matter how nonsensical from all over that crossed the “corny” to wander into embarrassing territory many times over (Maz giving Chewie a medal outta nowhere? Come the fuck on now). 

The cartoon series had twenty time the guts of this movie and I vehemently wish for Filoni to take the helm of the entire creative team in a very near future.                  

[ashlan-zeal]

"Some nightmares don't end when we open our eyes."

Ezra stared at the ceiling of the room. He couldn't even will himself to get out of bed. Everything was wrong. He was still here. In this place. His old place. The crew was nowhere to be found. Kallus didn't recognize him. There were inquisitors on Lothal. His old home was still standing. He didn't have his weapons. He could barely feel the Force.

His breathing became erratic, his heartbeat increased.

-No. No. Don't. Just breathe...- he ordered himself to calm down. He couldn't do a lot about most of the other stuff but if there was one thing he could count on, it was the Force. Trust the Force, right?

Ezra sat cross legged on the bed and cleared his mind. He tried to reach out into the Force but he could barely brush it. It was as if he couldn't "stretch". Soon he found himself sweating from the strain and decided to stop. The Force was there alright... he was the problem.

"Uggh... I don't get it!" he fell back to the bed in defeat. Maybe he had hit his head and was hallucinating all of this? After a while his stomach growled and he finally got up and went over the table. He grabbed one ration knowing that he needed to keep himself fed... Hera would have told him to eat.

He then spotted a damaged pamphlet below the rest of the rations. It was half crumpled but the rations on top seemed to have smoothed it a little. It looked like ‘he’ had placed it like that on purpose. Ezra took it and read it curiously.

Are you looking for new opportunities?

Do you want a new life?

Join the glory of the Empire!

A secure job! Excellent benefits!

Contact your closest-

Ezra crumpled the paper in anger and threw it to the corner of the room. No. It couldn't be. He couldn't have been considering joining. No way.

With renewed energy he started to practically turn the whole room upside down, looking for clues of his situation, why he was here.

Yes, this was definitely HIS room. The clothes were his size and he even found his older clothes on the bottom of the trunk. He couldn't find any weapons, except for a single small knife he took and hid on his belt. No comm or datapad either. He found a secret stash of credits inside a vent he used to hide important stuff when he was younger... not much, just enough for the month.

By the time he ended searching, it seemed like a tornado had gone inside the tower. Ezra sighed still not happy with the results.

"No comms..." he whispered. He needed to contact Azadi, contact Yavin, Hera… Kanan. His heart winced.

He decided to return to the city again to try to find someone who might help him, while staying clear of the Imperial base. He took the bike, his bike, a bike he couldn’t remember ever getting, and headed straight to Old Jo's only to find it closed down. When asking around, people gave them funny looks and avoided the conversation, walking more quickly to leave him behind.

"Karabast," he cursed and kept cruising through the city. While listening to the rest of people in the rundown market and overhearing the troops he realized the Imperial presence was too heavy, both in the ground and in orbit.

-Wait a minute. Kallus… When Kallus was here, when he was Fulcrum, he sent his messages from my tower but there wasn't any transmitter there right now- Ezra suddenly remembered. -Oh, that's right. I had taken my parent's broadcaster to the tower back when we were still operating here. Maybe is still in the house...?-

He gulped. He didn't think he was ready to return to the house but it seemed like he had no other choice. He needed to check if it was still there. He parked outside and entered when no one was looking. The house was untouched... but older and dustier than he remembered. He moved the couch and climbed down.

His heart skipped a beat. The holodisk with his photo was there, just like that first time. It was like he in fact had never came here with Sabine and the others. His lips made a fine line and pushed down his worry.

-Don't think about it, just take the transmitter and go-

The device was bulky and likely broken from what he could remember. It would need repairs. He disconnected it and took all the cables and parts he assumed might be important, slipping the holodisk safely onto his pocket to check later, and loaded everything to the bike.  

Once back in the tower he confirmed the transmitter was broken. He might not be as skilled with electronics as Sabine but he believed he could fix this himself. It would only require more time, a few tools and spare parts. He used part of the money to buy them but that left him dangerously low on money.

-It doesn’t matter, once I contact them, things will be alright-

After a few days Ezra finally finished with the transmitter and didn’t waste anymore time. He set the secret frequency codes to contact the Ghost.

“Specter 6 here. Specter 1 are you there? Specter 2?” Silence. He tried again. “Specter 6 here…”

Ezra spent an hour trying to reach them. Maybe they were outside the Ghost and didn’t have their comms with them. Ezra changed the codes, this time for the Phantom, and got the same results.

The codes to the Fleet. Nothing.

The codes to Yavin. Nothing.

He was sweating cold. He was sure he wasn’t being jammed in this channel. He tried the Fulcrum codes. Ahsoka and Kallus had used several codes when transmitting so it took him a while to remember them correctly and go through each one. He had spent already a whole day without sleeping, just trying to contact anyone.

“By the light of Lothal’s moons… Please… is anybody there? Can anybody hear me?” Ezra said completely tired. Silence. He left the mic on the table and dropped into the chair. That was the last frequency. He gritted his teeth as an emotion of hopelessness invaded him. There was no one out there… or at least they wouldn’t-

“Who is this?” a digitally distorted voice came through startling Ezra. He fumbled to grab the mic again.

“HELLO? It’s Ezra! Ezra Bridger!” he said throwing all secrecy and code names to the side.  “I’m in Lothal! I’ve been trying to contact you guys! I can’t find Azadi and-” he heard a soft click, the connection dropped from the other end. Panic. “Hello? HELLO? Please. PLEASE. Answer me.”

But whoever it had been, didn’t respond again. Ezra was on his own… without knowing what had happened to the others. He pushed down the feeling of anxiety and dried the sudden wetness from his eyes with the back of his hand. Ezra needed to get out of here. If he couldn’t reach them, he needed to find them himself.

With so little money left, he decided to check for a small job around the space port. Luckily for him, he found a hauling cargo opportunity. They wanted young and able bodies... for some reason droids were being restricted in the area. Besides the credits, Ezra was interested on seeing if he could steal one of these ships to escape, but he soon found out most of these ships were bulky, defenseless and slow freighters. He would never make it to orbit before he got shot down.

-Karabast-

After a few days like that he started to get desperate. On his spare time he meditated with the Force making some progress with his ability to connect but was like his whole body and mind had forgotten how to connect. He was starting from zero… no, it was worse than when he started. He also knew he could not push himself too much or there could be dire consequences, specially with the state of mind he was in. He might slip with the darkside and he couldn't take that chance.

From the space port, Ezra also watched the Inquisitor ship coming and going to the imperial base from afar.

-Don’t worry. As long as I don’t show off… I don’t think they even know I’m here- he kept reminding himself trying to keep the apprehension at bay. He felt powerless, unable to face them or escape.

A couple of weeks later, as he was heading to the space port to start his shift, he noticed the hangars were closed.

“What’chu doing here, kid?” Ezra’s boss said, an older woman with short gray hair.

“I… I came to work?” Ezra said confused. Had he missed an announcement or something? To be honest he hadn’t exactly paid much attention other than the types of ships arriving.

“Nuh-uh, I’m not paying double today, just go to the parade like the rest,” she dismissed him. “I might be old, but I can handle one day on my own.”

Ezra’s blood ran cold. He remembered now. It was Empire Day. He had just turned 18.

“Oh”

“Go and have some fun while you are still young!” the Captain laughed and left him outside the hangar. Ezra stood there looking at the doors for several minutes, then he walked back with a blank expression on his face. The people he crossed were not exactly happy but knew they needed a distraction from their lives and crowed the main streets for whatever entertainment it was being offered. Somehow he found himself standing outside a bar. He entered. The place was bustling, but it was like Ezra couldn’t hear them.

The woman attending the bar watched him approach and stare at the bottles on the back.

“Looking for something in particular?” she raised an eyebrow realizing he wasn’t not entirely there.

“No, I just-...” he trailed off.

“Here,” she served him a golden liquid in a small glass. “Seems like you need this, love.”

Ezra slowly grabbed it and stared at it. He gulped it in one go.

“That’s the spirit!” the woman reached to pat him in the back and served him another one.

Ezra wasn’t sure how long he was there or how much he drank. Trying to numb his loneliness? No. He knew this wouldn’t work. In fact it was having the opposite effect. It brought memories of his friends to the surface. He missed them. He missed so much. But he missed Kanan the most. His smile, his presence, his care. Ezra's heart ached.

“What am I doing? Kanan...” he held back a sob. He didn’t know if Kanan was ok. He had to be ok, right? He had to be. 

He wouldn’t like you are doing this. You know better than this. He heard in the back of his head. He nodded to no one in particular, just left enough credits to cover for his drinks and left the bar.

He was unsure of how he managed to get back to the tower on his own, simply waking up on his bed late at night. It was still a few hours before dawn. Everything was still dark. He sighed deeply. Luckily Ezra's head wasn't hurting so much so he left his bed and simply started cleaning around the room not wanting to go back to sleep again. He had neglected doing chores… It was the last thing on his mind but now he needed to keep himself busy without wondering too much about what happened to his friends. He picked his helmets from the floor and placed them back on a low shelf and then...

He heard the unmistakable sound of lightsabers igniting behind him by the entrance.

-The inquisitors!- was the first thing that came to his mind.

Instincts kicked in. He threw two of the helmets back and rolled away from the door. The helmets got slashed mid air before ever hitting its target, two bright white blades moved through the darkness. Ezra's eyes widened.

“Ahsoka” he breathed in disbelief. She looked older, worn out and hardened.

"Who are you?” she pointed at him with one of her lightsabers. “Speak!" she demanded glaring.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15618783

[narkinafive]

this one’s a doozy

(i feel like i should have done sth like this for the prequels/the clone wars but oh well. i'll get around to it eventually! maybe! gotta do something while waiting for ix right lol)

oh, rebels. rebels rebels rebels. i know it's probably unbelievable, but i was so gutted by the clone wars cancellation that i really Did Not Like rebels at. it took... idk about two years for me to give it a real chance (and i was still deep in a previous fandom hole, so i didn't really get into it until like. the start of s4) (if you can guess what fandom it was you get a cookie) i am so glad i tried it again.

of course, ezra bridger is, was, will always be my favorite boy. i really did not expect him to waltz away with my heart! anakin has always been my favorite (and he still is, tbh), bc that kind of character and that kind of arc is so on brand for me, like. i LOVE my dark tragic messiah demigods, i really really do!!! but then this doofy dumbass kid with big blue eyes and a big blue heart and his many cat friends just punched me in the gut!

it's been a year and i've had time to digest the whole package. let me preface by saying that rebels is absolutely 100% perfect and my favorite piece of expanded sw media by a LONG mile. NOW. that doesn't mean that there weren't things i didn't like (going under a cut!)

many times, it tried too hard to tie into the greater saga - bringing in palpatine, the wbw, all the saga cameo characters, like... some of them worked better than others. the r2d2 and c3po cameos were the worst, w obi wan coming in at a close second. the best saga character cameo was definitely mon mothma (and bail). i really liked leia's episode, but. idk. it still felt a little shoehorn-y

i wish ezra's descent into the dark side had been more ... present? he gets some great, great moments. but it's kind of sudden (i've touched on this before so i won't keep going)

someone else has brought this up (and i ................. do not remember who sdfkjlsdfjlk) but pushing aside the Great Rivalry of thrawn and hera for the force stuff is... idk. that's a whole other thing

now i love the force shit. like i LOVE it. but i think rebels might have been stronger if it focused less on force shit and more on the early war effort, in the same vein as rogue one. i know it'd be more difficult to fill out four seasons rather than one movie, but as it got into s4 and closer and closer to episode iv... idk, put the force shit at the beginning of the season? idk. i really love how they did it, but... idk! it's complicated

oh, and speaking of complicated - maul. i love what they did with him, i love this sad garbage pile and watching him recreate his trauma onto others as a way of dealing with it... but i think it was a weird choice. maul is so... idk, grimdark? for such a lovely sweet show

kallus going to lira san better be bc he's being tried for war crimes lmao

sabine staying on lothal is... a choice. not one i hate. but i still don't quite understand it

and my biggest gripe, ironically one of my favorite parts of the show: ahsoka lives.

dont' get me wrong; i was so happy that ahsoka lived, i nearly threw my computer across the room when ezra yoinked her into the spacetime continuum. i am a diehard ahsoka fan and i will fight somebody to defend her honor. THAT SAID. the narrative of ahsoka going down at the hands of her former master? as he desperately tries to erase every part of his former identity? the great commander tano, clone wars veteran, an early casualty of the rebel alliance? it's so good. it's SO good. having her story end there would have been just some phenomenal shit. just superbly poetic. i'm glad she's alive! and the emotional impact is still the same, even with her coming back, but my god.

now. the things i love.

the character arcs. all of them. ezra bridger, war orphan, street thief, cast out by his people, finding he is stronger than he ever thought could be possible, giving his life for his people because he forgives them, and because it's the right thing to do. kanan jarrus, jedi knight, reclaiming his heritage and his jedi legacy (and yes, watching him die still hurt just as much as the first time aroundd) (and also, thanks to @aspiringwarriorlibrarian and @greatlakesrebel for pointing out many many many things, but first and foremost tonight, that dume the wolf was of course voiced by fpj) (i’m slow ok shut up). hera syndulla, who unfortunately had to learn the hard way how to balance love and war so she didn't become her father, pushing away everyone she loved for the greater cause. zeb orrelios, finding his people, learning he's not the last of his kind, leading the refugees to their ancestral home. sabine wren, forgiving herself and freeing her planet from oppression. and not just the hero arcs - the villain arcs, too!!!! darth maul's single minded obsession that kept him alive for 30 years ending in a 3-hit fight on a backwater planet because he just couldn't sustain that hate for so long. all of thrawn's cleverness couldn't predict the force. i don't have an issue with a single one of these!

THE FORCE (TM)!!!! there is so much delicious crunchy force nonsense, i could DROWN in it

among my many, many issues w the old EU, one of them was demystifying the force, quantifying and trying to label it too much. some things were quantified bc they needed to be (the holocrons, the sith code, etc) but most of it was kept as vague and nebulous as possible, which is GOOD. when it comes to mystical magic, less explanation is mostly always more

i love that we don't have clear cut answers for the loth wolves and the lothal temple, i could ponder that shit for WEEKS and never get bored

it does feel like a mostly self contained story. "been there made history" can get overused very easily (see: hbo rome) but rebels used it just enough to fit it into the larger saga

having rex survive both the clone wars AND the galactic civil war??? fuck yeah

kanan and ezra. kanan and ezra. there is so much i could say about kanan and ezra. it's everything to me. war vet finds plucky young orphan and adopts him? sign me tf up!! their relationship as it grows from mentor/mentee to peers is really really well done

and speaking of growth, ezra and sabine going from obvious romantic interest to battle forged siblings is not something that i was expecting but is definitely one of the best parts of the show

kevin has some really incredible tracks in this show: top of the list is 100% kanan's end credits, followed closely by it's over now. wow

and speaking of, the entirety of the last ten minutes of twilight of the apprentice deserves its own bullet. that shit is right up there with vader v luke round 2

the planet designs, mostly malachor and lothal, but when hera and sabine launch the dome, and the lothal sky suddenly turns to blue as the pollution is leeched out and destroyed... that shit is breathtaking

and so much more. like so much

this show holds such a special place in my heart :") now if only dave could bring back my son... like. PLEASE 

see you all in rogue one!

[rebelsofshield]

Ranking Rebels: Episodes 20-11

It’s been several months now since Star Wars Rebels concluded and we learned the fates and futures of the surrogate family that lived in the halls of The Ghost. Rebellions were sparked. Sacrifices were made. There was a lot of critical theory about art. Fruit was stolen. Droids sang. Pufferpigs puffed. It made for a beautiful, if not always perfect, four year story that will become a cherished part of the Star Wars mythology.

With a new animated series on the horizon, what better time to take a look back at Rebels history. Not all episodes were created equal. For every, “World Between Worlds” there is a “Blood Sisters.” Just as I did for The Clone Wars, I plan to rank every episode of Star Wars Rebels from worst to best. As always, feedback and discussion is appreciated!

Previous Installments: 66-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21

20. Flight of the Defender

Season four of Rebels saw the series at its most serialized and nowhere is this more evident than in “Flight of the Defender.” Rather than telling a self-contained narrative or theme, “Flight of the Defender” organically continues the plot threads building in previous episodes and forwards them while also introducing new key points such as the Lothwolves. It may not reach the creative heights of some of the series’ best but in terms of efficient storytelling, it may be some of the best work that the crew produced. The sound work by David Acord’s team is also stellar here with an incredible chase sequence that unfolds throughout the episode’s second act that its elevated greatly by its aural landscape.

19. Visions and Voices

Even more so than “Twin Suns,” “Visions and Voices” feels like a culmination of Maul’s character in both The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. His strange brotherly affection for Ezra leads to a connection that he hopes will lead to a direction in his now aimless life. In the process, he takes the young man to his dying home world of Dathomir. It connects all eras of the former Sith Lord’s life for a suitably creepy installment that not only furthers Ezra and Maul’s dynamic but also revives lingering lore elements from The Clone Wars.  

18. A Call to Action

Even given the dramatic events of “Gathering Forces” much of Rebels still felt like it was playing in a safer playground than most Star Wars media. It was easy to see that the show targeted a younger audience with a sense of buoyant galactic adventure, and it had begun to do this well. However, Rebels, like most smart stories, knows the dangers of letting an audience feel safe, and “A Call to Action” smartly upends the first season’s status quo. Tarkin’s arrival signifies a danger that the Ghost Crew are not prepared for and brings with it deadly consequences for both Imperial and rebel alike. It culminates in a brilliantly tense standoff that leaves viewers waiting with baited breath for the closing of the season.

17. An Inside Man

While many viewers suspected that Kallus was the latest iteration of the Fulcrum moniker early into the third season, there is still a joyous irony in seeing Kanan and Ezra learn this truth. Watching Kallus switch from loyalist to dissenter makes for a fun character arc and smartly switches the relationship that the team holds with the Empire itself. Having this revelation occur in a tense undercover mission in the bowels of Thrawn’s Lothal factory makes for a quick moving and suspenseful episode. While it is far from the most consequential death the series would face, Thrawn’s murdering of Sumar marks a clear tonal shift in the competency and brutality of the Imperial military. Like Tarkin before him, Thrawn signifies a more calculated and less forgiving adversary and this would only grow as the series progressed.

16. Legacy of Mandalore

While it certainly could have used a bit more breathing room to fully come into its own, the long awaited reveal of Sabine’s family doesn’t disappoint. Following the emotional catharsis of “Trials of the Darksaber,” viewers knew going in that this would make for a tense family reunion. Writer Christopher Yost crafts a story that smartly pits Sabine’s loyalty to her family and them to her against the greater cultural and political rulings that have shaped their lives. It’s a rich storytelling landscape that feels fit to burst in a twenty two minute runtime. Even still, the final battle between Gar Saxon and his commandos against Clan Wren is a brilliantly staged set piece and Sabine’s lightsaber duel atop a frozen lake is even stronger.

15. Heroes of Mandalore

“Heroes of Mandalore” is a strange installment in that it almost feels like it belongs moreso as an epilogue to the series’ third season than a premiere of its fourth. Its plot is mostly self-contained and separate from much of the themes and arcs that would propel Rebels into its finale. That being said, taken on its own, “Heroes of Mandalore” works as a self-contained mini-movie that concludes Sabine’s long running character arc while also furthering the lore of the planet at its center. In the process, writers Henry Gilroy, Steven Melching, and Christopher Yost craft a story of planetary revolt, when to cede/take responsibility, and the importance of culture and the dangers of weaponizing it, into a sprawling and emotional forty four minute epic.

14. Kindred

On a basic level most fans will remember “Kindred” as the episode in which Kanan and Hera finally, finally, finally kiss. This moment, wonderfully voice acted by Freddie Prinze Jr and Vanessa Marshall is a tragic instance of emotional payoff that rewards fans for four years of patience. It feels melancholy, even at the time where Kanan’s ultimate fate was not yet known, but there’s a tenderness to it that carries through “Kindred” as a whole. Even with the wolves, the killer Noghri, and one of the most badass hyperspace jumps this side of Amilyn Holdo, “Kindred” is concerned with this found family of freedom fighters and just how they have come to trust and support one another, and that is what really makes this show special.

13. Zero Hour

After a full season of planning and plotting, Grand Admiral Thrawn finally conducts his masterstroke in “Zero Hour.” What follows is a tense, hour long fight for survival as Thrawn’s forces bare down on the scattered and outgunned rebel forces. Filled with great action, heroic sacrifices, and an ominous and deadly turn by Tom Baker’s Bendu, “Zero Hour” is an explosive finale to a season that ran the gamut in both quality and subject matter. While no major characters outside of Admiral Sato would fall, director Justin Ridge carries a feeling throughout that any character may fall to the pounding of turbolasers and the advancement of Imperial forces. While it may be the weakest of Rebels’ season cappers in how it lacks some of the hard hitting emotional moments or surprises that made those installments classic, “Zero Hour” still makes for a thrilling hour of television and a rewarding payoff for episodes of teasing.

12. A Fool’s Hope

With just one episode to follow it, “A Fool’s Hope” feels climactic from its first frame. Writers Henry Gilroy and Stephen Melching stage the entire twenty two minute run time like one long final stand against an encroaching Imperial army. The result can’t help but feel tense and directors Dave Filoni and Saul Ruiz play off this with an expertly employed digital camera that sweeps in and out of battle and shootouts. It creates a brilliant sense of scale and geography and makes for the best directed action of the series. Even if the plot surrounding this moment can’t help but feel a little predictable in comparison, it is in these explosive moments of heroism and sacrifice that “A Fool’s Hope” excels.

11. Shroud of Darkness

After several episodes of absence, Ahsoka Tano returns to Ezra and Kanan with the intent of finally doing some “Jedi business.” The three return to the temple on Lothal where each former and current apprentice is given a guiding vision toward their future. Ezra discusses just how to fight back against the oppression of the Sith with a projection of Yoda. Kanan faces down a former adversary and in the process gains his knighthood. And Ahsoka, poor Ahsoka, gets closer to learning a secret that threatens to tear her apart. Director Saul Ruiz does a strong job of grounding an episode that takes place almost entirely in a dreamlike plane, and in the process allows the character at its center to learn and grow. The results are great mix of ominous and rewarding and begin to lay the seeds for what would be an unforgettable finale.

[blueboxdrifter]

So the end has come...

Rebels is over, and I am so glad to have been a part of this fandom during its run. I always will be a part of the fandom, but, you know, it’s less fun when you discover something great after it’s already done and everyone has already plotted all their theories and gushed with other fans about upcoming episodes, and wailed in dispair during hiatuses, and written one-off fan fics after each episode, and fawned over our favorite ships for many a year. So here we are at the end! And we’ve been through it all together. And I do hope we continue talking about the series and keep the fandom alive for years to come. I mean, that cliffhanger of an ending will keep us tied up in speculations and fan fictions for at least a couple years, right?

So I finally watched the finale, after staying home with some kind of evil virus all day (honestly, it’s almost spring. Can we stop with the random horrible sicknesses already?!), and lemme tell you, I was clawing at the air and yelling “WAIT WHATTT?!?!!!!” for most of it. As soon as it finished I shot out of my seat and started pacing, whilst my brain whirred. I have so many questions!!! Also I CAN NOT believe Filoni is gonna just leave us with that ending. We’d better get a full length film following Ahsoka and Sabine in their mission to find Ezra, or a grown Jacen learning about his past and training with Ezra or something. Or at the very least a novel. Just give us something! 😭

Thoughts about the finale:

I am SOOOO glad Ryder wasn’t a traitor. I didn’t think he would actually betray them, but for a second there I had my doubts.

When Sabine asks Ezra what the deal is with him and the wolves, and he can’t really explain the connection. Is it his unique Force connection with animals/ living beings, OR is it because the wolves represent Kanan as a spirit guide and therefore his connection with Kanan?

Pryce: Don’t let it eat me!!! Me: Nah... eat the bitch. She deserves it.

Palpatine wasn’t *actually* offering Ezra a chance to be with his parents. That was an obvious trap, right? It probably wasn’t even a portal to the past. Probably a portal to something else entirely that he was after. The emperor’s a mean little bitch, toying with Ezra like that. My poor baby! He’s already lost his parents once (and his mentor/ master/ father figure) he shouldn’t have to deal with losing them again.

Thrawn is an evil sonovabitch. Nothing new there. Holy hell, that man is ruthless. Like “Oh, you wanna fight? Okay, I’ll blow up your whole city. No problem.”

Did nobody find Kanan’s lightsaber?! I thought they’d at least want that back.

When Zeb sees how dire the situation is and takes it into his own hands “I’ll do it” and Kallus screams after him “Zeb, NO!” Honestly cackling to myself just a little bit. The WRITERS are shipping them too?! Kalluzeb is an actual thing now. I am weak. This is too good.

Zeb watching as Rukh fries and tells Thrawn “Uh, he’ll have to call you back.” At which point Rukh stops screaming “Oh, never mind.” Holy shit, Zeb! BRUTAL!

I know we didn’t get a chance to really get attached to Gregor, but it still really stung when he died. Please let Wolfe and Rex live out the rest of their lives in relative peace. They’ve lost too many brothers and friends.

The purrgil are back!!! Beautiful space whales fucking up the Empires shit!!!

I’m skeptical about Ezra surviving that hyperspace jump. Also the parallel between that scene and Kanan’s last moment was hard to ignore. But honestly, unless they jump conveniently into some kind of atmosphere or if somebody saves his ass by pulling him through a portal like he did for Ahsoka, they probably ended up in some random part of space, and, ya know, suffocated and froze. Crossing my fingers for the somebody saving him option tho. I don’t want anyone else to die!

WHAT WAS HERA REALLY GOING TO TELL KANAN?!?!!!! I found it very difficult to believe that she had never told him that she loved him before. I mean, it was SO obvious the way they were with each other that they were in love and had been for some time. So... I can only guess that it was about her pregnancy. Holy shit! And when did THAT happen?! And in retrospect, this must have been the elephant in the room that both of them were dancing around. The sort of change in atmosphere in their relationship since the start of season 4. They were all just little things that he said/did (“what kind of life do you want to live?”, rescuing the kalikori to carry on the family tradition, “I have something to tell you”, etc), but I’m pretty sure Kanan already knew. Little lettuce-head baby Jacen!!! Omg! I’m weeping! Protect him at all costs!

Okay so now we know our head canons about Rex being at the battle of Endor are confirmed. But Hera as well? What was she? Frickin ginormously pregnant with Jacen and still fighting?! I can only imagine the argument with Mon Motha where she stubbornly refuses to be left behind no matter what. That woman is a force of nature.

Ahsoka and Sabine team up! YASSSS!!!! My queens off to wreak some havoc and find their Bridger boy! Please let’s us have some kind of material featuring this dynamic duo. An audio adventure? A comic? A novel? A mini spin off series? A FILM?!!! Gimme somethin! Also Sabine’s new hair is much closer to what mine is currently. Cosplay opportunity! YASS!

Still thought they were joking about the Kalluzeb thing? Lookout, bitch! Zeb brought Kallus home to meet the family! Oh shit!

[gondalsqueen]

Chapters: 18/18 Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Explicit Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Ketsu Onyo/Sabine Wren, Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios Characters: Hera Syndulla, C1-10P | Chopper, Original Characters, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Alexsandr Kallus, CT-7567 | Rex, Mart Mattin, Wedge Antilles, Ketsu Onyo, Jacen Syndulla, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Ackbar (Star Wars), Lando Calrissian, Jan Dodonna, Ahsoka Tano Additional Tags: Pregnancy, vague mentions of abortion, future character death in the background, Season/Series 04, Established Relationship, Oral Sex, Chair Sex, Table Sex, sex during pregnancy, chapter 2 has lots of sex, Secrets, the best pilot in the galaxy, flying combat, character injury, canon torture, flight of the defender, rebel assault, Jedi Night, Major character death - Freeform, Grief, Morning Sickness, Counseling, Masturbation, Dreams, Traditions, Space family, Inappropriate bets, Lothal, Shopping, down time, Space Combat, Battle of Scarif, Rogue One - Freeform, hammerhead corvette!, Yavin 4, Stardust - Freeform, Alderaan, Death Star, labor, Childbirth, domestic life, Lothwolves, Dogfight - Freeform, Hoth, did i mention babies yet?, Babies!, One baby, Work/Life Balance, Advice, Bounty Hunters, Capture, this story has it all apparently, Return of the Jedi, Second Death Star, Existential Anxiety, parenting, Breakups, wine and cheesecake, wine and cheesecake needs its own tag, battle of endor, Battle for Coruscant, forces of destiny: an imperial feast, The New Republic - Freeform, Quests, letting go, Travel, ask me no questions i'll tell you no lies, but one of these days you'll get a surprise Summary: The end. Kind of. 

...

Something had happened to Ezra out there, something he wasn’t ready to talk about until after this vacation was over. None of them pried. He was...different, in a lot of ways. Grown up. He finally believed in his own adequacy. With that confidence came an edge of brooding that reminded her of Kanan, though. Hera hoped he stuck around where they could support him, whatever he was facing.

In other ways he was still their Ezra—surprisingly predictable given all the time that had passed, and still the baby of the crew until they adjusted their thinking and changed the way they treated him accordingly.

To no one’s surprise, he and Jacen got along well. Their bonding mostly consisted of wrestling, with some sword fighting and a little chase for variety. Hera could have done without the just-before-bed play that infallibly kept Jacen awake and hyper. She didn’t say anything, though, because the two of them had a lot of time to make up for.  

Tonight Jacen was trying to push Ezra into Alexsandr’s small fishpond. Since Ezra vastly outweighed him he was failing, but he made up for it by practically strangling his opponent in the process — by accident, Hera was pretty sure. Really, Ezra had bought this when he picked Jacen up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder.

Oh, and that was a knee in the face.

“Ow!” Ezra protested. “Kid, you are deadly!” He twisted out from under Jacen and somehow they both ended up on their feet, facing each other. Quick as a flash, Ezra tapped Jacen’s shoulder.

“Hey!”

“Block me, then. Like this.” He showed Jacen how to bring his hands up in front of him and deflect the blows. Then he tapped Jace’s knee. “Got you! This is how you block with your feet. Try to tap my knees.”

“Your shoulders, too!”

“Sure, if you can reach.”

Hera watched her son eye a nearby boulder. She hoped he was planning to climb on it and not throw it at Ezra.

Then they both went at each other, jumping towards a shoulder or knee and dashing out again, blocking on one side and darting in on the other. Ezra went easy on Jacen, but he sped up as they played and Jace kept pace with him.

The whole thing ended when Jacen got sick of it, yelled “ATTACK!” and somersaulted across the ground towards his target. He bumped harmlessly against Ezra’s legs, but in the attempt not to step on him Ezra backpedalled and, with a whirling of arms, ended up in the water.

Hmm. Somehow they had both ended up in the water.

“Bathtime!” Hera called.

“It’s not!”

“It is, in fact, a solid hour past BEDtime.”

Ezra hit the shower in Zeb’s place while Hera scrubbed the slime off of Jacen in the Ghost’s fresher. Forty-five minutes later they’d finished showering, cleaning teeth, a snack that he didn’t ask permission to get, and teeth a second time, and they were cuddled together on Jacen’s bunk reading their nightly chapter of whatever novel Jace had picked. Since he’d gotten old enough to understand them, he’d mostly chosen from a children’s series of adventure stories about — guess what? — Jedi. Hera, remembering her own childhood, couldn’t blame him.

She read: “Shuyen closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reaching out to the Force as she fell. She could feel the air rushing past her. The wind whipped at her face roughly, but it wasn’t enough to hold her up…”

Sabine passed by the door and stopped to listen for a minute. “Are you reading Knights of the Old Republic to him?”

“Yes.”

“That’s sending mixed messages, don’t you think?”

“He likes it,” Hera told her, aware of how defensive she sounded. “It’s a good story. Who am I to tell him what to like?”

Sabine held her hands up. “Fair enough. Carry on.”

Hera finished the chapter, the Jedi who had fallen off the cliff while being chased by Sith warriors arriving unscathed back at the temple. “That’s a good stopping place for tonight,” she told Jacen, smoothing his hair back. He’d started to grow it out and they were both learning how to manage the tangles that was causing, but right now it was clean and brushed and smelled like shampoo, and she breathed in the scent gratefully.

He nestled into to her side. “Mama?”

“Yes?”

“Is Rex going to come back?”

“No, baby, Rex isn’t going to come back.”

“But Ezra came back.”

“Ezra wasn’t dead, love,” she told him gently. “Nobody comes back from the dead.” She paused for a moment to let that sink in, then continued, “I know it’s hard. It hurts for me, too.”

“I like Ezra.” He was trying to think something out. Hera waited. “But...I’d rather have Rex.”

“I can understand that.”

“But that’s mean of me, right?”

“Well…” she answered as honestly as she could. “You don’t want someone to die. You just miss the person you love. I think it’s very normal. Probably not the best idea to mention it to Ezra, though. It might hurt his feelings.”

He nodded and she tucked him into bed with a song and a kiss. “Sleep,” she told him. “You are exhausted. Go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Jacen said around a big yawn.

Sneaking out of the room a moment later she passed by the open doorway of Ezra’s bunk and caught a snatch of conversation. “...her turn for a while,” Sabine was saying. Then Ezra: “Coruscant is good place to stay, anyway. We’re going to need to talk about defenses. Maybe exploratory missions, but that might be a bad idea. IF they even decide to believe me.”

Keep moving, Hera, she told herself. She went to the cockpit to give the monitors one last check for the evening and tried to remember that Sabine and Ezra were adults and it was perfectly reasonable for them to live on whatever planet they wanted to. But maybe, maybe, maybe she’d get them back for a while. It was worth hoping.

Ezra joined her a few minutes later, a mug of warm hubba juice in each hand. “Best place to watch the sunset,” he explained. The summer sunsets on Lira San were amazing, oranges and purples breaking through the thick cloud cover. Hera swung the copilot’s seat around for him and he passed her a cup.

“Two more days and then Lothal, right?” he asked.

“If that’s still what you want.”

“Yeah. Sabine says it’s changed a lot. I can’t even remember before the Empire came anymore.”

Hera smiled. “It’s a good place. Not perfect, but Azadi made it pretty welcoming even before the Emperor fell.”

“You guys were there a lot.”

“Second home, but it will be better with you back.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, looking like his teenage self for the moment of the gesture. “Everything’s different, but it’s really good BEING back. I’m still trying to...fit in, I guess.”  

“Hey. You do fit in,” Hera told him, giving the chair a little kick to spin him towards her. “You’re one of ours. And Jace loves having you around. Chop and I are too busy to play with him as much as he’d like, and it’s been a while since we’ve had anyone else on the Ghost.”

“Yeah, Ezra Bridger, Jedi Knight, hero to six-year-olds everywhere.” He rolled his eyes.

Hera laughed. “At first that was the draw, sure. But he had a lot of...anxiety, too. He’d heard stories about you his whole life and he knew how important you were to all of us, and to have you standing before him in the flesh…” She shrugged. “But now I don’t think you’re Ezra Bridger, Jedi Knight. I think you’re his friend.”

“He’s really great, Hera. Thinks he can do anything. He...reminds me of you that way.”

She sighed. “He didn’t know you were a Jedi.”

“Okay.”

“He doesn’t know Kanan was a Jedi.”

A pause. “Okay.” Ezra didn’t push. Once he would have pushed.

“The hand game — those were forms,” Hera said. “Lightsaber forms. I’ve seen you practice them with Kanan.”

“Yeah, well…” Ezra ran his hand over the back of his hair awkwardly. “They’re kind of drilled into me, so I guess I just go there automatically when it comes to fighting. Is...that all right?”

“It’s all right,” she said, picking at the fraying edge of the seat cushion. “It’s good. There are so many things I’ve wanted to ask you about that.”

“About lightsaber forms?”  

She shook her head. “Ezra, I know this seems like a subject change, but...were you happy as a child? Or were you...confused?”

“What do you mean? I had kind of a rotten childhood.”

“Before that. When you were small, with your parents, and you could do things that nobody could explain. Did it confuse you or upset you?”

He considered her words carefully. “Let me think.” After a solid minute of silence, he said, “No. I heard things sometimes that I knew were true, and my mom said they were only my imagination. I think that’s not rare for kids, though. It’s just that in my case, they actually WERE true. The rest of the time, it was just fun to run and jump off of things without worrying about how I was going to land, or to know that people were probably going to believe whatever outrageous lie I told. Stuff like that. Hera… Jacen’s definitely Force sensitive. Does he use any of those abilities?”

“Oh…” she laughed to cover her worry. “Yes.” She’d watched for signs all of his life and could give a detailed list of ‘yes’es ‘no’s and ‘maybe’s. “He’s always been good at picking up moods, but I think he’s just a smart, social kid. Sometimes he knows things that haven’t happened yet, but only in a vague way — he has a feeling that someone’s coming to visit, or he knows we’ll find something around the next corner. He can climb and jump off of anything and he somehow hasn’t broken a bone yet. I don’t mean normal child risk-taking. You saw him take a dive off the Ghost the other day. And then there are the animals that seem to follow him around like he’s some kind of magnet.”

Ezra laughed.

“...which I blame you for,” she added.

“How is that my fault?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, but the similarity is striking.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“I don’t want him to be a Jedi,” she said more seriously. “I don’t even want him to be a half-Jedi, partially trained. The Force asks...too much. We know how that ends and I won’t give him up that way. But… if I refuse to let him train when it’s available to him, he’s just going to do it anyway, and he’ll end up doing it behind my back, without my support. Or running off.” She thought of her own childhood. “It’s not my place to hold him back if that’s what he wants.”

“Well...does he WANT to be a Jedi?”

“He’s six years old. Every six-year-old wants to be a Jedi.”

“He’d be good at it. Kind. Flexible. Reminds me of someone else I knew.”

“Me too,” she admitted. “That scares me.”

“Hmm.” Ezra thought about that. “There’s not exactly a trade school for Jedi Knights. The few of us left with any ability have no idea what we’re doing. He’ll probably end up using those talents, but using them in some other field.”

“Maybe. But I don’t want to keep him locked away from the world — locked away from himself — because I’m afraid.”

“Hera, you’re not afraid of anything.”

She sighed and stopped picking at the worn corner of the pilot’s chair so he could see her hands shaking. “That’s not true, and I have changed.”

Ezra frowned. “You want me to train him?” he asked. “Is that what this conversation is about?”

“Not...yet. Not now. But I don’t want anybody else to train him.”

“Luke Skywalker is talking about starting a school.”

“NO. I like Luke. He’s a good kid. But he doesn’t understand the dangers… He hasn’t walked that path, and he doesn’t know what it takes to guide your student safely instead of just following the rules.”

“Hera, I don’t know either.”

“That’s okay. Falling is fine as long as there’s someone to catch you. You would never let anything bad happen to him.”

“Hmph.” Ezra crossed his arms and looked out at the clouds, that stone expression on his face. “I wish I could promise that.”

...

From Lira San they traveled to Lothal. Hera let Sabine show Ezra the sights because she had something else to show Jacen.

The bombed-out Imperial hangar wasn’t hard to reach, despite being perched on one of the dolmens at the edge of Capital City. If you took a shuttle, that is. Hera parked the Phantom halfway up the mountain and made them walk the rest of the way because “it will be fun!” Forty minutes into the uphill hike, Jacen wasn’t finding it particularly fun.

“Why couldn’t we just FLY up there?” he asked, perilously close to a whine.

“Because we’re taking a nice hike together and it’s going to be more enjoyable to see if you make it there yourself than if you just fly up and park.”

Poor kid — his hair was a sweaty wreck. “To be clear,” he said. “I AM getting a real birthday party tomorrow, with friends and cake and stuff, right?”

“Padawan’s honor. Sabine even made you guys those robes and staffs so you could dress up as High Jedi. Though I still don’t know what a High Jedi is.”

“It’s like a really wise, powerful Jedi,” Jacen explained. “Kind of like a wizard.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“It’s from Rangers of the Force.”

“I didn’t know you could read books that hard.”

“I listened to it.”

“Oh. Okay. Look, we made it.” Hera climbed the short flight of steps and crawled over the rubble blocking what had once been the workers’ entrance. Then she waited for Jacen to do the same.

“Whew!”

“It’s cooler up here.” Jacen spread himself dramatically on the floor.

“Yeah, we’re out of the sun.” She handed him the canteen and waited for him to take a long drink. “You recovered?” He nodded. “Good. Come see what Sabine did.”

He saw the mural as soon as he looked up, and his reaction was everything Hera had hoped for. A shout, and he rushed up to get a closer look. “It’s you guys!”

“Yeah.”

“You look like heroes! Like you’re from a holoshow.”

“Sabine makes good art.”

His brow creased in that thinking look. “Were you heroes?”

“Yes,” Hera admitted. “We were.”

“Sabine,” he pointed. “Ezra. His head looks small in this picture. Zeb and Chop. Hey, look at these lothcats! There’s you. Where am I?”

Hera touched her mid-section in the picture, right on the buttons of her flight suit. “Here.”

“So I came with you when you were heroes?”

“Sure.”

“So I helped save Lothal?”

“Let’s say you were along for the ride.”

But now he was pointing above mural-Hera’s shoulder. “That’s Dad.”

“Yeah,” she said softly.

“I don’t think I look very much like him.”

“Well, you’re shorter.”

“Hey!”

She grinned at him, but he shook his head and said, “Uh-uh. You’re sad.”

“Only a little sad.”

“You miss him.”

“Yes,” Hera said honestly, “but that’s not why I brought you here today. I need to show you something else, something… kind of secret.”

“Okay.”

Hera took a portable projector from her bag and placed it on the floor. “Come sit by me. Seven years old is big enough to see this.” They sat cross-legged on the ground and Hera switched on the projector.

“That’s Dad!”

“Yes.”

“What’s he got?”

Kanan was fitting together two metal tubes. He gave them a practiced twist, then ignited the lightsaber.

Jacen lost it. “WHAT?! Where did he GET that?”

“Hi, kid,” Kanan said to the recorder. “Thought I’d go through a few practice drills here, in case you ever need to see them when I’m not around.” He was talking to Ezra, but Jacen didn’t know that. Hera skipped past the part where he demonstrated the basic techniques and on to the segment where he showed the moves in practice by fighting ten combat remotes, leaping into the air, twisting, deflecting shots… He was using the Ghost’s hold as his staging area, which had irritated Hera to no end at the time because those remotes were firing live blaster bolts. The flip from the ground to the platform four meters above his head was awfully impressive, though, she had to admit.

“How did he DO that?”

Another of him and Ezra training together, both blindfolded, going through forms. Hera watched Kanan’s shoulder rotate as the blade spun, the twist of hips as he altered his stance. It was so familiar and so long ago, all at the same time.

“Mama, tell me.” He knew, but he didn’t want to say it.

“He’s a Jedi, Jace. He was raised in the temple on Coruscant and sent out to fight during the Clone Wars. One of the last Jedi Knights.”

“But...” he trailed off.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. Do you want to see a little more?”

“Yes!”

She’d edited this compilation carefully so they got no footage of actual battles. Next Kanan was tossing Sabine in the air over and over, a little Sabine — she couldn’t have been more than fifteen. He’d throw her impossibly high, and then she’d twist in mid-air, draw her blasters, and fire at a target. Jacen laughed. “Ah-ha, they’re good!” Another of that terrible competition he’d had with Zeb, where Zeb picked up Imperial speeder bikes and threw them at Kanan, who caught every one in mid-air. Okay, that probably wasn’t the best thing to include. One of Hera herself cradled in Kanan’s arms, the laughter near the microphone indicating that Ezra was recording.

“Ready?” Kanan asked.

“Go,” Ezra told him.

Kanan jumped up the Ghost’s ladder one rung at a time, tilted impossibly backwards, holding her. Hera from long ago shrieked in laughter. “I get five credits when I do this, right?” Kanan asked.

“Cheating,” said Ezra’s voice.

“I did TELL you I could do it.” Thunk, up another ring. Thunk, up the next. “See, what you want to do is bend your knees…” Kanan explained, annoyingly pedantic. “Then you absorb most of the shock, especially when you have to land rough.” He rolled at the last moment, still holding Hera, and came up on his feet on the upper platform, neither of them worse for the wear.

“Hey!” Hera-from-the-vid protested. “Warn me!”

“Okay,” Kanan said. “Roll up in a ball, I’m going to toss you to Ezra now so he can practice.”

“No, no, wait!” Ezra yelled. “Wait, let me put the recorder down!” The image went sideways and the recorder died abruptly on the sound of their laughter.

Jacen was watching with a wistful, half-jealous expression. “Nobody ever told me he was a Jedi.”

“Well…” Hera considered. “What DID they tell you?”

“Zeb says he could drink a whole gallon of milk in five minutes without throwing up.”

“Yeah, only part of that is true. And don’t try it.”

“Sabine said he loved you the very most, and he’d never let anything in the whole galaxy hurt you.”

She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. “That is true.”

“And that he was a really good dad and he understood when people got upset or lost their temper and he wouldn’t yell at them.”

“That’s true too.”

“But he wasn’t really Sabine’s or Ezra’s dad, right?”

“No, but he...took care of them when they were kids. Big kids. And he taught them a lot of things.”

Jacen’s eyes lit with realization. “He taught Ezra how to be a Jedi! That’s why they were doing those slow moves with the lightsabers.”

Her kid was too smart.

But now he was mulling over something else. “...He was my dad.”

“Yes.”

“He never met me.”

“Technically, no, but he knew you were on the way.”

“How?”

“You know how you can tell where animals are, even the small ones? You found Alexsandr’s baby chicks when the rest of us were looking in the wrong place.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s the Force, Jacen. He felt you like that before you were born. I’ll bet you guys had whole secret conversations, what do you think?”

Jacen shrugged, clearly pleased by the idea. “So how come you never told me he was a Jedi? And you COULD have told me, lots of times.”

There was the question she’d been waiting for. “Because it wasn’t safe, Jace. The Emperor killed all the Jedi, even the little kids. Only a few of them got away, and then they had to survive by hiding because the Emperor was still hunting.”

“But he died when I was little.”

“Yes, but being a Jedi is still not exactly safe.”

“You mean people are still hunting them?”

“No, I mean they’re still...heroes. Which is good, but it also means that bad guys don’t like them much. You have to learn to keep yourself safe when you’re a hero, and that takes time. I wanted to wait until you were big enough to understand that a little.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t want to be a Jedi.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. If you want to learn to be a Jedi when you get older, I’ll be right there with you. But I want you to understand that there’s always more to these stories than what you hear. And I don’t want you to think that fighting makes you a good person. I didn’t love your dad because he was a Jedi. I loved him because he was kind and funny and understanding, and he couldn’t bear to see anybody in pain without trying to help. And because he never gave up on people. I see a lot of those qualities in you already. You don’t need a lightsaber to be a good person.” Oh, great, now she was sad again.

And Jacen had picked up on it. “Were you scared when he died?”

“So scared. But what do we say?”

“Be afraid,” he said quietly, “but do it anyway.”

“Right.”

A wolf howled nearby, in the middle of the day.

“That’s a lothwolf?” Jacen asked.

Hera nodded. “I think they’re coming to see you. I don’t know why, though.”

“I do.”

“You do? Why?”

“They say goodbyes are over. It’s time for hellos.”  

[eirianerisdar]

Kallus and the Chimaera

Also known as I WATCHED ZERO HOUR AND KALLUS WAS BAE AND SO I FICCED

Kallus’s POV + some more details from the episode

Agent Kallus does not expect to survive.

ISB had trained him well; he had known from the moment the codephrase, his codephrase, was spoken in the chilling undertones of Grand Admiral Thrawn, in Ezra Bridger’s old home.

Kallus had known there was no coming out of it alive.

Didn’t stop him from trying to put a few bruises across those smug Chiss cheekbones, though. The victory that had seared through him when his ankle-sweep actually worked and the message got through to Phoenix Squadron was pure, agonising plasma, bitter and painful; but it is at that moment that Kallus realised he would really rather go down fighting, and snarking, and being such a royal pain in Thrawn’s stiff-collared neck that he might just live on as a permanent, planet-sized migraine.

It isn’t as if he’s going to live on in any other manner, anyway.

Now, forced onto his knees on the bridge of the Chimaera, Kallus watches the Rebels make war, and die doing so. Each flare of ion cannons that end in blossoms of exploding craft makes the taste of blood on his tongue ever-stronger.

It was his transmission. His warning became the very thing that he had warned against.

The pull of his armoured chestplate against his solar plexus is an agonising scrape of metal against bruised flesh; Thrawn is anything but not meticulous. Allowing him to retain his armour only adds a whole two standard kilograms of weight on his cracked ribs. Only cracked, too; Thrawn will not risk his prisoner dying of a punctured lung on the bridge of his flagship - where would be the pleasure of showing Kallus his failure, otherwise?

There is bile in Kallus’s mouth as well as blood, now.

He watches, through swollen eyes, as a Rebel ship breaks out of formation -  spilling escape pods like a mother thranctill casting her brood behind her - and slides directly towards Admiral Konstantine’s Interdictor.

It moves with sleek efficiency, dignified and strong on the path of the dead.

If the Force had ever spoken to anyone except those sensitive to it - even he, least worthy of all - Kallus feels something, now; a whisper in the threads of the universe. Or perhaps the delusions of dying man.

He knows, then, who commands that ship: Commander Jun Sato.

Kallus stares down the bridge, through the transparisteel window, and towards Sato’s beautiful, sleek ship, ten kilometres away and too far to truly discern the bridge - but he wonders if they glimpse each other, two dead men walking.

Sato perishes in a brilliant flare of sheeting tibanna as his ship slices into Konstantine’s Interdictor-class destroyer like a lightsaber through durasteel.

A flare of respect fills Kallus’s chest - and something akin to jealousy. Sato fell on the bridge of his ship, captaining his last flight, standing tall - but Kallus will likely die curled on the sterile floor of a cell, or ejected into the unending vacuum of empty space.

Blast it, he wants his bo-rifle. He needs it in his fingers now, instead of cold steel around his wrists.

Kallus stares at the gleaming bridge floor, and quells the surge of despair within.

Then the report of a single escaped rebel fighter reaches his ears, and he feels a smile begin to spread across his aching cheeks.

Ah. That will be the Jedi.

Whether it is Bridger or Jarrus does not matter.

One is enough.

Hours later - and long, long since Kallus has lost all feeling in his lower legs - there is a report of Mandalorian ships dropping out of hyperspace.

He feels something like pleasure twist in his gut as Governor Pryce startles. It was unwise for Thrawn to leave her in charge.

But there is nothing he can do for the present moment, and so he waits. Was this what the famed Jedi Generals of the Clone Wars did, before they all supposedly turned traitor as the Empire said? Waited for the opportune moment, and struck when it came?

He glimpses, somewhere far on the other end of the fleet, the flash of a green lightsaber. Fighters swarm like oil-gnats over and around the remaining Interdictor, dotted here and there with smaller flashes - suicidal mandalorians with jetpacks, probably.

And then the Interdictor explodes.

Kallus is smirking so widely now it physically hurts his cut-up cheeks.

“I don’t care, just stop them!” Pryce’s shriek is startlingly uncontrolled for such a usually severe woman.

Kallus opens his mouth to speak for the first time in hours. “Thrawn’s not going to be happy with you making a mess of his fleet,” he says blandly, swallowing against the taste of dried blood and grinning toothily up at her. He hopes his teeth are as slicked red as he thinks they are. Let this haunt Pryce’s dreams along with whatever dressing-down Thrawn will give her.

He is rewarded for his insolence, indeed.

She gives orders to space him.

Kallus smirks a farewell as he is dragged away.

He stumbles more than he really should; there is no harm in letting these troopers think he is weaker than he really is, and if they are stupid enough to only give him an escort of two…

They are stupid enough.

He raises his head fully as they settle into the turbolift, sliced-up lip pulling to the left in a genuine, confident grin for the first time in half a day.

He almost feels sorry for these poor idiots.

Five levels down and minus two stormtroopers and a pair of handcuffs, Kallus ducks into an escape pod. Some nifty manoeuvring and a quick comm-signal later, the Ghost sweeps in from halfway across the battlefield - Orrelios must be on that ship, he is sure of it - and there is a clunk as magnetic locks secure his pod.

Lovely sound, that clunking of magnetic locks. Kallus hasn't quite had the opportunity to appreciate it before.

Orrelios - Zeb - is the first face he sees when the pod hatch opens, and then he is suddenly on the bridge of the Ghost - no questions asked except a quiet, “Hey, maybe you should sit. You look like bantha poodoo, if you know what I mean,” from Zeb.

Nobody questions why he is here - he is simply given a pile of bacta wraps, told to tend to his own wounds and that of others, and that is that.

As soon as there is a moment to breathe, he rips off his rank plaque and tosses it to the floor. If more than one person takes care to step on said plaque and crush the blue and yellow squares into shattered pieces, Kallus pretends not to notice.

He can’t quite stop the smile when it comes, though.

END

That took a while longer than I thought it would, lol. Thanks for reading! Reblog as you like.

EDIT: A missing oneshot of Kallus and Thrawn in the water tower posted: A Cold Embrace

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