#twitchy!ahsoka

[shootingstarpilot]

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ok so this is a fic i might actually write at some point, because i have Feelings about the jedi being a family and anakin's apparent insistence that biological ties overrule all.

(also mace is still obi-wan's finder in this because I LOVE HIM)

so. obi-wan's from stewjon. we know very little about stewjon canonically, so for the sake of this fic, it's an isolationist planet that is extremely hostile to force-sensitives. mace rescued toddler obi-wan from an attempt by town elders to drown him. obi-wan's the only stewjoni jedi in the order. they don't know if this is because stewjon doesn't have a high percentage of force-sensitives or if it's because those who are born force-sensitive don't usually make it off the planet.

but mace has his suspicions.

which is why he's really, really not pleased when the senate forwards orders a request for a jedi to wrangle separatist sentiment on stewjon. they will only accept a stewjoni jedi. if they must have one of those demons on planet, then they want someone who's at least tentatively connected to the planet. it's meant to be a diplomatic mission. but it's one of those diplomatic missions that seems like it will end in blasterfire.

so both the 501st and 212th both end up heading to stewjon.

cody and the 212th are slightly twitchy. their general has a really bad habit of getting kidnapped / horrifically injured / running off so they can't watch his back, and he's told them about stewjon and his particular background with the planet, so they're... hm. ready for anything.

(also ofc this is codywan because i am who i am.)

anakin is a whole other story.

he is simply thrilled, and he makes no secret of it. he can't wait to meet obi-wan's real family, he keeps saying. wonder if they're as stubborn as you, right, obi-wan? is this where you got your love of tea from? i can't wait to meet your real parents, obi-wan- do you have siblings, do you know?

obi-wan, meanwhile-

i don't know if they're stubborn, he says. i don't remember them.

i got my love of tea from master qui-gon, he says. he taught me how to brew and how long to steep and brought me to the best shops on the lower levels.

i do have siblings, he says. you've met them. you've met quinlan and bant and luminara and-

anakin won't hear it.

ahsoka starts spending more time around obi-wan. she asks him more questions about his padawanship. about master qui-gon. about his crechemates. all in an effort to ease some of the tension from his shoulders. and it works! he tells her, and anyone else who wants to listen, and the room is filled with disbelieving laughter and i have to ask general vos for pictures, sir, i won't believe this without proof-

and then they arrive on stewjon.

blah blah plot happens, anakin is stubbornly ignoring everything obi-wan says about the jedi being his family because, well, of course he would say that, he doesn't know what it's like to have a proper family, a real family-

then, a few days after their arrival, an elderly couple approach anakin.

they're obi-wan's parents, they tell him. they've been looking for him for ages. he clearly loves you, young man- well, as much as he can, we know what those jedi are like- could you please help us set up a meeting with him?

and anakin thinks-

i knew it.

of COURSE they were looking for him. of COURSE they still wanted him, of COURSE they still loved him- obi-wan simply didn't know, or maybe he'd been misinformed, but no one should ever have to live without the love of a parent-

so he says yes.

when he brings the matter up to obi-wan, obi-wan tells him absolutely not.

(but obviously, obviously, he just doesn't know-)

so he sets up a meeting anyway. lies to obi-wan, lies to the others, and tells the parents the truth. they clasp his hands, teary-eyed with gratitude- thank you, thank you, they tell him, we just want our son back, and anakin walks away feeling so supremely pleased with himself-

a couple of hours later, cody asks him if he's seen obi-wan.

he's not picking up his comm, cody says, brow furrowed. we'll be late for the next meeting.

anakin tells him, then. reassures him. leave them alone for a bit, will you? they haven't spoken to each other in years. it's bound to be emotional.

cody stares at him.

yes, sir, he says. of course, sir.

anakin claps him on the shoulder and walks off. cody watches him go.

then he turns around and breaks into a run.

the room is empty, when he arrives, and there are broken needles on the floor.

cody doesn't need to have them tested to know he'll find traces of force suppressants.

(like poison, his general had told him, and being blinded all at once. like having your heart torn clean out of your chest.)

he has them tested anyway.

he's right.

cody, technically, outranks general skywalker. this is the first time he's ever taken advantage of the fact.

stuff happens. they find him. he is...

Not In Good Shape.

(the demon must be torn out by force. drowned out. beaten out. they only wanted their son back.)

do you understand? they cry, as troopers force them to their knees, as doors are blown open, searching- we only wanted our son back!

anakin holds his saber to their throats and snarls you lied, you lied, you told me you loved him-

of course we do, they say. of course we do. we're his family.

obi-wan doesn't want to talk to anakin, when he wakes up three days later in the medbay. he doesn't even want to see him.

he wants his family. he wants to go home.

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

Clone wars headcanons that I'm posting just in time for May 4th

Anakin can’t finish a movie or tv show by himself to save his fucking life like something in his brain prevents him from finishing it without someone there to talk about it 

But he’ll try over and over and over again to a point where he will have the first half of the show memorized but still not know how it ends

He needs someone to keep him there and actually pay attention and there’s very few people that actually have the time or determination to do it (Aka Ahsoka) 

Ahsoka and Anakin watching a movie or show together is very different than watching it with the group cause Obi-Wan and Rex need total silence to enjoy a show (they’ve snapped at the duo a couple of times cause they kept asking “Okay so what the kriff does that mean”)

Padme doesn’t mind the talking as much as Rex and Obi-Wan but after a while the constant talking and theorizing and rewinding gets to her as well 

Unfortunately Ahsoka and Anakin need to talk to process media so half the time they just send emotions or questions through their bond to keep everyone happy 

I once saw a post say “do you think Ahsoka remembers how Anakin’s laugh sounded” and that question knocked the wind out of my lungs and made me cry for longer than I’d like to admit  

But it also made me realize that I can’t remember what their laughs sound like cause I don’t think they do so very often which means I get to create new laughs for them 

Anakin’s laugh is a strange and awkward little thing and sometimes people comment that it sounds like it hurts him (because he’s an emo little weirdo who doesn’t like to show he laughs) 

It’s very clunky and sometimes sounds like ill-fitted gears shifting but it’s also weirdly infectious and fills a lot of people with warmth

Ahsoka’s is equally as weird and infectious it’s very animalistic kind of like a fox’s laugh (aka very high-pitched and fucking adorable) she’s very giggly around the people she’s comfortable with 

Anakin would say that Padme’s laugh sounds like a wind chime and that's true for her fake ass senator laugh that’s controlled and most of the time forced 

But her real laugh that she lets out with family is a snorty hiccupy little thing that puts a stupid smile on Anakin’s face 

Obi-Wan’s laugh is breathy sounding sometimes wheezy but otherwise quiet sometimes people will catch him off guard and they get a kinda loud “HA” out of it but that’s the loudest it’ll get 

I know we technically heard Rex’s laugh in the clone wars movie but you can’t tell me this man wouldn’t cackle 

Like fully body doubled over laughter that shakes a damn room Anakin has joked once or twice that Rex has blown out his eardrum which just makes him laugh louder 

There is one person in the whole galaxy that Anakin trusts to fix his prosthetic and that’s Ahsoka 

He didn’t even trust the arm at first which made him take it apart entirely no one asked him questions about how he got the parts to fix it they all just let him fiddle with it because they thought it was his way of coping 

He normally gets pretty twitchy and cagey when people hold his prosthetic (besides Ahsoka obvi) Padme usually gets the best reception and by best reception I mean he doesn’t snatch it out of her hands 

Obi-Wan swears to this day the first time he picked up Anakin’s prosthetic the boy almost dislocated both their shoulders trying to get it back 

The first time Ahsoka fixed his arm was also when Anakin physically couldn’t because he was in too much pain

He talked her through the repair process tho and thanked the universe that he was hyped up on pain meds because he was sure that’s the only reason he was so calm 

Even after he recovered he showed her the proper way to fix the arm and let her take it apart and put it back together a couple of times 

He would never admit it but it is kind of a relief to have someone who can fix it the same way that he does

And everyone else is grateful that it’s kind of given the young togruta something to do when her master is injured because otherwise she’d be restless 

Sometimes when Anakin and Ahsoka want to confuse Obi-Wan they’ll act like he’s their biological father and blame stuff on him and those conversations will go something like this:

“Honestly Soka it’s not your fault you have ADHD” “You’re so right Skyguy the same could be said about you being autistic we both inherited from Obi-Wan”

The first couple of times he didn’t know how to react (because how tf do you react to that) but after a while he would start telling them “You do know we’re not actually related right?”

To which the duo whips out the most overdramatic reactions that entail Ahsoka covering Anakin’s ears and him doing the same to her montrals and they usually take turns to respond with “Master there are younglings present!”

I’m fully convinced that if Tiktok existed in the Star Wars universe Ahsoka would have one and it would be 1. Strangely popular and 2. The weirdest amalgamation of stuff

You’ve got her prank videos (mostly aimed at Anakin), story times (mostly about Anakin Rex and Obi-Wan), get ready with me’s (mostly to hang out with Padme), and her favorite: forcing the boys to dance with her 

The only videos that she has of Obi-Wan dancing are the ones of them dancing at formal events (mostly cause ballroom dancing is the one kind he knows)

Anakin, Rex and the boys are her most frequent victims and my sweet baby angel’s bless their hearts are stiff as goddamn boards

They’ve got a decent rhythm down and they can all pick up routines pretty fast but Ahsoka has had to train them to let loose a little bit 

It obviously took Anakin the longest to loosen up and that process mostly took place in their shared quarters but it also made me think of a hilarious scenario that goes something like this:

Cody was woken up at 3 am by an unexpected message from Obi-Wan well to be specific it was two messages one video and a text titled “Why are they like this”

When he plays the video he sees Anakin and Ahsoka doing some silly little (obviously choreographed) dance in the kitchen as something is baking in the oven (knowing the duo probably cookies)

Cody’s laughter could be heard throughout the barracks that night

When Ahsoka finally gets her hands on that video (because she does get her hands on that video) she edits the clips of her dancing with Obi-Wan and her dancing with Anakin 

With the caption being something cute and lowkey cheezy like “How I dance with my Dad vs how I dance with my brother” which people eat up because it’s fucking adorable 

There are also a couple of videos that she couldn’t post because it’s Rex her and the boys dancing and goofing off as mission lights and alarms go off in the background

[lamaenthel]

Milkies

[read on ao3][Rexsoka Monthly: May '24 (Slice of Life)]

Rex and Ahsoka have happily settled on Medeina, far from the eye of the Empire, choosing to let go of the past and look to the future and take care of what's most important: their two children, Rajni and Jesse. But when Ahsoka is called away for some emergency repairs, Rex is left to wrangle their two teeny Togrutas without backup. He used to oversee hundreds of troopers. Two babies shouldn't be too hard, right?

Characters: Captain Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Rajni Tano, Jesse Tano Rating: Gen Wordcount: 5,114 Note: Buir is Daddy (Mando'a), Iibu is Mommy (Togruti)

"It'll be two days at most." Ahsoka still rolled up her socks and panties together like she used to when she packed for a field mission. "I wouldn't go if it wasn't important."

"I know." Rex bounced little Rajni on his hip. The white dot on her forehead was still stained weak blue from her birthday hunt. Jesse lay swaddled on the bed, kicking and watching his mother pack with adoring eyes.

"Reikka hired a mechanic to fix the solar panels but he scammed them. If that firewatch tower goes dark…"

"I understand, ner cyare." Rex stepped forward and pulled his wife into his arms. "I don't want to get swept up in a wildfire any more than you do. We'll be fine."

"There's at least a week's worth of milk deep frozen in the garage. Warm one unit at a time, thirty seconds in the nanowave at 35% power. Any faster than that and the sugar will boil."

He took a centering breath. "I know. You already wrote it down."

"I know, I know, I just…" Ahsoka backed away, curled over their son on the bed and kissed his nose. "Jesse hasn't left my sight since I crawled out of that tank," she whispered. Her left lek curled around his neck. "Neither has Rajni, except when you take her fishing. It feels so wrong to leave them. My instincts are screaming at me right now."

Rex eyed her twitchy rear lek, rolling like it wanted to smack. "I can tell." Truth be told, he didn't like the thought of her leaving either, but she wouldn't sleep a wink from the guilt of not helping their community unless she fixed it. At least this way she wouldn't be on her own; Reikka, the village elder, was going up the mountain too, and she'd volunteered her husband and son as protection against both the wild felinxes that roamed the peaks and any scrappers they might encounter. Rex wouldn't want to go up against just one of the burly Togrutas in his prime, let alone in his current shape.

He had to admit, Ahsoka wasn't the only one walking around with an empty baby bump, but he couldn't blame his new belly on growing one of the kits. They ate well on Medeina: Ahsoka's mechanic skills were valued far more here than on Daiyu, and between the garden and the fatty zizibi stew Lyotri down at the bar doled out in exchange for him chopping her firewood, these last few months they'd gone to bed with bursting stomachs instead of the growling ones they used to after splitting a bowl of nuna stew for the third day in a row.

Rex rubbed her back. "I'll hold down the fort until you return to us. Trust me, my love."

"I do." Ahsoka kissed Jesse one more time. "I do. It's not that, I promise. You're the perfect father."

He blushed. Rajni mewled sweetly and patted his burning cheeks. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not. It's not that I think you can't handle them for two days. It's my own dumb hindbrain insisting that I'm abandoning my young. It had nothing to do with your capability as a father."

"I get it, I get it."

"Ugh." Ahsoka pressed her forehead to his. "Two days, and I'll be home. And I'll be with my mate and my babies and we'll all be safe from wildfires."

"Yes we will."

"Yep."

"Yep."

"Yep." Ahsoka buried her face in his chest and groaned.

Ahsoka left before dawn; it all went to hell by noon. First Rajni, who had never in her life shown the slightest inclination of wanting to stick her head through the narrow railings on their dinky porch stairs did just that; then, while Rex was frantically sawing through the wooden bar that held his wailing daughter's head captive, Jesse decided that it was the perfect time for a total diaper blowout. Thankfully milk-fed kits didn't make much of a smell, but it was very yellow and… everywhere.

"I was a Captain in the Grand Army of the Republic. I oversaw over five hundred men. But somehow—Raj'ika, my love, hold still—the two of you manage to cause as much trouble as a whole platoon of clone troopers, right under my nose no less. How does that happen?"

"Boo!" Rajni wailed pathetically. "Boo–ooo–ooo…"

"Almost there, Raj'ika. Almost, just one more second—" Rex wrenched the railing free and carefully lifted her, trying to avoid getting too much of Jesse's osik on her. "You're alright, my baby. You're fine. See? You're free. No more trap."

Rajni pawed at him, desperate for the reassurance of a hug. "Boo!"

Rex sighed and gave in. He couldn't resist that pathetic little cry, not for anything in the galaxy. "Let's go wash," he mumbled.

Jesse, tied on his back, cooed happily and chomped his ear with his blunt milk fangs.

"Raj?" Rex called as he finished toweling off Jesse. "Where are you, my baby?"

"Huh?" Rajni peeked her head around the door, still naked and as slippery as a freshly-caught rocktrout from the sanisteam.

"Come dry off."

"Nuh!" Rajni grinned and bolted.

"Rajni!" Rex hastily tied the towel around his waist before following her out to the living room. "Raj'ika…"

All he heard was a high-pitched giggle. He followed the line of tiny wet footprints with his eyes, tracking the circle around the sofa, behind the bookcase in the far corner, through the kitchen and finally back to his overstuffed chair, a wet smear indicating where Rajni had crawled underneath it.

Rex sighed. "Rajni, come out of there. Please don't get dirty again."

He received no answer, just another giggle. He rolled his eyes and fetched Ahsoka's jar of tea eggs from the kitchen cooler. "Mmmm, eggs," he said loudly. "I love eggs."

The giggling stopped, replaced by an inquisitive chirp.

"Especially Iibu's special eggs. Mmmmm. Jesse, do you want one?"

Jesse chirped, eyes wide.

"Nuh!" Rajni dragged herself out from under the chair, covered in a gray streaked layer of dust. "Nuh! Boo!"

"Oh hello, Rajni," Rex said calmly, making a mental note to get Ahsoka to repair the damn MSE droid on her workbench. He split a marinated egg in half and smeared a little yolk on his finger. Jesse was still too young to eat anything but milk, but he could have a taste. "Did you want an egg?"

Rajni stomped her foot. "Muh!" Her infantile rage at seeing her brother tasting her egg was hilarious, though Rex kept his face as neutral as he could. "Boo muh! Muh! Muh!"

"Hmm?" Rex tilted his head. Jesse held onto his finger for better leverage as he licked off the spicy-sweet yolk.

"Muh-huh-huuuh!" Rajni wailed, collapsing in despair.

Jesse grunted and his eyes crossed. Everything between Rex's abs and his knees suddenly turned very warm. And yellow.

"Guess we're all going back in," he mumbled, snatching up his sobbing daughter before she could escape again.

The sun was down. The living room was dark except for the glow of the viewscreen, where Kento Koi's heroics held Rajni absolutely captivated. She watched the Nautolan superhero lift up the giant rock and save the Quarrens with big, unblinking eyes as she sucked on her cup of milk, absently petting Rex's arm with a soft hand.

Rex held his son's bottle with one hand and transferred a chewed nuna nugget to his daughter's mouth with the other. She never looked away from the viewscreen, too enchanted by the yellow Nautolan to do anything but release the sippy cup and open her mouth when Rex tapped her jaw.

"You look comfortable." Ahsoka's hologram reclined on her side, propping up her head on one hand. She looked sad. "I wish I was snuggled up with all of you."

"So do we." He smiled and tapped Rajni. She yanked away her milk with a loud pop! and a small gasp for air and opened up obediently.

"Are they being good?"

"Well, I had to do an emergency renovation on the stair railing." He laughed at his wife's look of confusion. "Rajni shoved her head in there and got stuck. Had to cut her out."

"Oh no!" Ahsoka exclaimed, dismayed.

"She's fine."

"Why did she do that?"

"As much as I'd love to have insight into the brain of a toddler…"

Ahsoka grunted. "I know, I just mean—what was she trying to accomplish?"

"Only she knows." Rex lifted his arm so Rajni could readjust and crawl underneath it.

"Iibu!" she squeaked, grinning.

"Rajni." Ahsoka lowered her voice. "Rajni, prrishk'ti Buir. Nahma kufuntha."

Rex's Togruti was far from perfect, but he recognized the words for listen and no mischief.

Rajni's face fell. She looked away with a pout identical to her mother's.

"I was looking right at her, too," Rex said. "She was crawling down the stairs, and then she just… did it. Couldn't even stop her."

Ahsoka snorted. "She needs a leash."

"She's just being a curious little kit. No harm done. I'll cut every other railing in the morning so she can't do it again." Rex accidentally swallowed one of Rajni's nuggets. He popped another one in and hoped she didn't notice. "And then Jesse sh—" he caught himself, glanced at Rajni, "pooped down my back."

Ahsoka barked out a laugh. "Oh no."

"Oh no is right. It got all over all of us." He relinquished the nugget to his daughter. "How're the repairs going?"

"Well the good news is that the solar panels themselves work perfectly fine. The problem is that some critter chewed its way into the conduit and munched on the wires between the panels and the batteries, so it can't collect any of that electricity."

"Uh-oh."

Rajni tossed her empty sippy cup. "Uh-oh!" she sang.

"No throwing." Rex snapped his fingers and pointed, fixing Rajni with a stern look until she got up with an annoyed grumble and retrieved it. "So you'll be longer?"

"No, thankfully. I just hate rewiring. I always cut my fingertips up."

"Poor thing."

"Precisely. Feel sorry for me. I'm all alone up here with owie fingers."

Rex snorted and hoisted up Jesse to burp him.

"Is he taking a bottle okay?" Ahsoka asked anxiously.

"Took him a second, but he figured it out. It's making him gassy though."

"He's swallowing too much air, then. He isn't keeping proper suction."

"That's what I figured. Anything I can do to fix it?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "I don't think we have any other nipple tops. You'll have to go to the general store in the morning."

Rex jumped; Rajni had stuck one cold hand up his shirt and grabbed his nipple. "That won't work, little one, mine aren't as talented as Iibu's." He removed her little vise fingers with a wince.

Ahsoka burst into laughter. "Do you remember the week after we settled here and he bit your nipple in the middle of the night thinking it was me?"

Rex would never forget the trauma of that chomp. "I almost launched him across the room jumping up so fast. He was still attached."

"Luckily we're sturdy little things." Ahsoka's hologram flickered a few times as she settled fully on her side, pillowing her head on her arm. "I miss you."

Jesse belched in his ear and ejected half of his dinner down his back. Rex just sighed. "And I miss you." He barely caught Rajni as she launched herself up and onto the back of the sofa, eager to lick up the milk. "I've, ah…"

"You've got your hands full. I'll let you go." Ahsoka smiled sadly. "I love you. And I love you, Rajni, and you, Jesse."

"Iibu." Rajni beamed at her from air jail.

"We love you. Goodnight, ner cyare." Ahsoka's hologram disappeared, leaving them with only the viewscreen's light. "Let's clean up," Rex said wearily, hauling his son to the fresher once again.

The clock on Rex's bedside table said 02:40—way too early for this banthashit—when he opened his eyes to the sound of a crash. The lamp on Ahsoka's side was on the floor, and while Jesse was still sound asleep in his little pillow lounger, Rajni was a flash of tan and orange as she streaked across the room.

The pink bantha jammies her mother had made for her had been flung to parts unknown in order to give her more freedom of movement. She zipped in circles on all fours on the floor, not giving a single damn about the lamp she had just sent flying. Her brown eyes shone with eerie green in the moonlight as she did her best impression of a wild tooka.

"Rajni," Rex groaned. He sat up, confirmed the lamp wasn't broken and therefore not a danger, then laid back down. "Please no zooms tonight."

"Zoom!" Rajni bounced off the headboard at the speed of sound and did a backflip across the room. "Zoom! Zoom!"

Rex knew there was no stopping her once she started. She just had to wear herself out. He curled around Jesse protectively, wondering how he was going to survive both of them doing this once Jesse learned how to crawl, and waited for it to be over.

Rex thought that if he had Rajni tied to his front and Jesse strapped to his back, he'd be avoiding chaos at the general store. Both of the kids loved being carried in their wraps. He didn't anticipate Rajni thrashing and screeching like a thimiar in a snare, acting for all the world like she was being tortured.

"No down," he said firmly, giving apologetic looks to the other shoppers. "You're being naughty."

"Doh!" Rajni squirmed, trying to shimmy loose.

"I said no, Rajni," Rex said, busting out the Captain baritone. "You can't get down right now. You don't have shoes." Neither of them ever did, so it was a ridiculous excuse and he knew it. Rajni did too, throwing him the same venomous look her mother used to give him when he'd tell her to stop doing backflips off of the B2's.

She may have had his eyes, but that attitude was all Ahsoka.

Both of the kids missed her desperately. He knew it was why Rajni was acting out, and poor Jesse was so gassy from the bottle that he'd had to massage his tummy and bend him in half until he finally tooted for almost ten seconds straight. Rex couldn't figure why he was having so much trouble with the bottle when Rajni never did, but his poor boy was miserable.

He found two different nipple tops that advertised themselves as preventing colic and paid for them, a jar of pickled tamtam feet and shahar candy for Ahsoka, and a marrow bone for his teething daughter.

"Here." Rex waggled it in her face once he was back out on the dirt road.

Rajni tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed right before going in for the chomp.

The bone kept her busy until they returned. The first thing he did was try out the new nipples for Jesse; he outright refused the first, but the second one he reluctantly accepted after Rex rubbed it on his lips for a few minutes, coaxing him to at least try for Buir.

Rajni cried the entire time, toddling aimlessly around the house in search of Ahsoka, chirping pathetically like a lost kitten.

Rex put Jesse down for a nap after he drank his fill and he was fairly sure that he wouldn't regurgitate it. He settled on the porch, sitting on the pillowed bench with Rajni and a holobook.

"Moo, moo goes the…" He glanced down at his squirming daughter. "Rajni, what animal goes moo? Show Buir."

"Iibu," Rajni said miserably, eyes still red from her earlier crying fit.

"I know, Raj'ika. I miss Iibu too." Every time she chirped for Ahsoka, Rex's heart shattered anew.

"Iibu." She buried her face in her hands and burst into tears again.

"Udesii, ner Raj'ika," Rex cooed, putting aside the old holobook and pulling her into his embrace. "Iibu will come home soon. She had to go help fix something that is far away."

Rajni continued to sob and shake in his arms. Her sweaty, teary face was jammed so tightly into his neck that he wasn't sure how she was even drawing air to cry. Her normal sunshine smell was soured by her grief. "Ii…Iibu…"

"I know." Tears stung Rex's eyes. "Let's go take a nap with Jesse, 'lek? Buir is sleepy."

"Nuh," Rajni whined, burrowing deeper. "Boo. Iibu. Geh Iibu."

"I can't go get her. She's fixing something very important that keeps us safe." Despite her protests, Rex hoisted Rajni up and toddled down to the bedroom where Jesse was fast asleep. His belly was so round; the poor little guy hadn't had much luck with the first nipple, but the second one did the trick, and now he was stuffed and milk-drunk. Beside him was a zizibi plushie that Ahsoka had crocheted, insides thumping away with a gadget that sounded like her heartbeat.

Rex kicked off his shoes and crawled on top of the covers. "Nap with me." He kissed Rajni and tucked himself tightly around her, one hand resting on Jesse's belly.

"Iibu," Rajni whispered. Her swollen eyes fluttered shut. "Ii…"

Rex kissed her between her montrals until she purred herself to sleep.

"Oof. It has been a day." Ahsoka's hologram lay reclined tonight with her shirt pushed up over her swollen breasts, a pair of hard-working pumps relieving her pressure. Almost every fingertip bore a little white bandage.

"Iibu!" Rajni squeaked, diving for the holoprojector. "Iibu! Iibu!"

"Hello, ner Raj'ika," Ahsoka said warmly. "Say hi to Iibu!"

"Hah! Hah!" Rajni bounced in place.

"She really misses you," Rex said, tearing his eyes away from Ahsoka's chest. "She's been a handful all day."

"I'm sorry, baby," Ahsoka cooed. "Are you being a good girl for Buir?"

"Lah!" Rajni reached through the hologram desperately. When her hands connected with nothing, her excitement quickly drained away to horror. "Ii… Iibu?" Her lower lip quivered. "Iibuuuu…" She burst into tears.

Ahsoka scrambled to sit up, nearly losing one of the pumps in the process. "I miss you too, sweet baby. I'm coming home tomorrow!"

Rajni buried her face in Rex's shoulder and continued to bawl.

"Please don't cry, Rajni!" Ahsoka begged. "Iibu's right here! Look at Iibu!"

"Poor thing. Betrayed by the holoprojector." Rex rubbed her back.

"Rajni, I'm right here!"

"Nuh-huh-huuuh." Rajni melted against his chest.

"Rex, do something!"

"She's been like this all day," Rex sighed. "There's nothing to be done. She misses her mother." He tilted the optical sensor to include Jesse. "Look, Jess, look at Iibu."

Jesse beamed at the hologram. He wiggled in his tight swaddle like a happy little silkworm.

"Is he upset too?" Ahsoka asked, her lip quivering just like Rajni's.

"He's… well, he knows you're missing, but you know how quiet he is." Rex couldn't help but glance at the busy little droids whirring on her ample chest. "He's taking the new nipple top I bought this morning a lot easier. But he still looks at me every time I give him the bottle, like 'what's this bantha poodoo?' He misses you for sure."

"I miss them too." Ahsoka wiped her eyes. "Rajni, Iibu loves you so much. Can I read you a book?"

Rex fetched the picture holobook he'd tried to read with her earlier. "Come on, Rajni, Iibu is sad too. Let's help her feel better."

"Nuh!" Rajni smacked him.

Rex touched his cheek, shocked. "Trooper!"

"Rajni, no hitting!"

Rajni drowned them both out with an ear-piercing scream and melted into a puddle of tears.

Ahsoka sighed. "I think I'm doing more harm than good."

"It's alright, cyare. She just misses you."

"I feel so guilty." Ahsoka sniffed and wiped her nose. "I'll… I'll let you go. I've only got a little bit of soldering to do in the morning and then I'm done. It took me six hours to get up here, but down the mountain will go faster."

"It'll be alright." Rex tried to redirect Rajni into his armpit to muffle her crying. "We'll see you tomorrow. You're doing a good thing."

"Yeah." She didn't sound like she believed him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Rex turned off the holoprojector. "Alright. Bed time."

"Nuuuuuh!" Rajni screeched and tried to escape his hold by bending backwards.

"Yes," Rex said, exasperated, and carried her to bed.

For the last month, Jesse was in the habit of only waking up once for a feed, usually around 0300. He wasn't drinking as much in one sitting with the bottle, so it made sense that he would wake up more often, but by 0400 he was on his sixth bottle. Rex fed him in the kitchen, bouncing in place just to stay awake.

"Come on, Jesse." Rex patted his son's back absently, swaying back and forth. "Finish this one. We don't want to waste." He wasn't sure if he could reuse the leftovers from before but he was unable to bring himself to dump Ahsoka's hard work down the drain, so he had taken to pouring out whatever was left in Jesse's bottle into a mug he kept in the cooler. Rajni could drink it in the morning.

Probably. He'd check on the holonet once his eyes uncrossed. He spared a moment to wonder what Ahsoka was doing with whatever she'd pumped out on the mountain.

Jesse released the bottle and squirmed, grunted a few times, then unusually—for him, at least—started to cry.

"Udesii, ad'ika, udesii. Ur'takur laam, ner ad'ika. Ner vutyc jag'ika. There you go, good boy." Rex settled him on his shoulder and patted him until his sobs turned to hiccups. "What's the matter, hmm? Do you miss Iibu too?"

At just over three months Jesse was far too little to nod, but Rex had a feeling he was right. He hummed as he swayed and patted his back, waiting for a burp that didn't want to come.

"Boo?" At just over twenty pounds, Rajni's thumpers had no right to be as loud as they were as she thundered down the hall. She turned the corner and slid to a stop, her purple nexu-striped footie pajamas slippery on the wood floor. "Boo!"

Rex shushed her. "Jesse was hungry."

"Gee." Rajni batted her eyelashes at him. The brown in her eyes disappeared, swallowed up by her pupils.

"Is Rajni hungry too?" Rex asked, smiling.

She pointed at the abandoned bottle. "Peez?"

"Of course, my baby. Especially since you asked so nicely." Rex dumped almost two ounces into her sippy cup and handed it over.

Jesse finally let out a burp louder than a tank shell. Rex tied him to his front, sat on the couch with Rajni snuggled against him, and fell asleep before her cartoons hit the first advertisement break.

"Why did you do it again?" Rex asked, frantically sawing through the railing he'd forgotten to take down yesterday.

Rajni scream-cried, bright red and miserable, stuck in the railings like a nerf in a squeeze chute. This time her brother joined her, screeching directly in his ear from where he'd been tied onto Rex's back.

"Alright, there we go, there we—gotcha." Rex swept her up in his arms and glared at the stupid rails. "Listen to Buir. I'm going to take them down right now. If you stick your head in there again before I'm done, I'm not pulling you out until I'm done with the other ones. Suvar, trooper?"

Rajni arched her back and did her best to escape his hold, still screaming.

Rex took a deep breath in, let it out, counted to ten, then went back inside for her wrap. He didn't trust the little troublemaker for a second, especially since she'd looked him dead in the eyes before shoving her head through the railing a second time.

Marrying a carnivore meant that Rex had to make a few adjustments to his diet. He was used to eating meat for every meal now, but to Ahsoka, cooking meant holding whatever chunk of raw meat she was holding near a fire until it was body-temperature warm, so it was a job that he had taken over for all of their sakes.

The cooler was full of nerf steaks marinating in a blend of jogan juice and nose-tingling Shilian spices. A dozen eggs—hard boiled, peeled, and stuffed full of spicy pickle relish—sat beside them, plus some crispy rock peppers filled with soft paneer cheese that Lyotri had traded to him in exchange for their wooden railings and a bowl full of cheesecake filling.

"Rajni!" Rex called, standing at the stove. He spooned up some bright-red mahkani gravy to taste. "Raj'ika, come here and taste this. Tell me if you like it."

Rajni toddled around the corner with a doll in each hand. "Huh?"

"Here." He blew on the spoonful before letting her sip.

She made a face and gagged.

"That bad?" Rex tasted it again, frowning. "It tastes alright to me. You don't like it?"

"Buh!" Rajni spat on the tile floor.

"Thanks a lot, kid."

"Patoo." She fled the kitchen, making vroom vroom noises as she made her dollies fly.

"You like Buir's cooking, don't you son?" Rex patted his son between his little green montral buds.

Jesse grunted and wiggled in his wrap. He was antsy. What he needed was a nap, but every time Rex put him down he started crying, and he couldn't seem to stay asleep for more than a few minutes at a time.

Ahsoka had already commed to tell them she was on her way home. Rex had started cooking almost immediately. He just didn't know what else to do; he had a dozen projects to work on around the house, sure, but he knew Ahsoka as well as he knew himself, and she was always starving after a long march.

Maybe he wasn't crying and chirping for her, but he missed Ahsoka as much as their children did. He missed the way her lekku smelled when she was out in the sun all day, the soft weight of her head on his chest in bed, the way she hummed absently as she worked on droids and farm equipment. He wanted her to know that he missed her too, and cooking her a feast to welcome her home was the best way he figured he could do that.

Well, the best way that he could show her in front of the kids, anyhow.

Rex turned off the burner, put the gravy aside, and took out the turu rice toasting in the oven. It went into the turbo-blender with cinnamon and sugar, then into the bottom of a pie plate once he'd thoroughly pulverized it.

"We're making Iibu a cake," he informed Jesse. "A special cake made out of cheese. I made it for Iibu's birthday last year and she loved it."

"Teez?" Rajni poked her head around the corner again. "Boo teez?"

"Yes, my baby, cheese." He let her lick a little of the creamy filling off his finger. This time she didn't gag.

"Boo." Rajni patted his leg, beaming. "Teez peez?"

"You want more?"

"Peeeeez." Rajni blinked until her pupils expanded.

"Oh, you little stinker," Rex chuckled. "Fine."

He gave Rajni the spoon to keep her busy while he poured the filling into the pie plate, then slipped it into the cooler to chill and harden.

Jesse wiggled in the wrap and whined.

"What's the matter, Jes'ika?" Rex freed him and sniffed his rump, but he smelled clean. "Did you just need your legs free? Hmm?"

"Maybe he's excited for cheesecake."

Rex spun at the sound of his wife's voice. Ahsoka grinned at him; she looked exhausted, dirty, and her hands were covered in bandages, but she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, grinning. "You sneaky little—"

"Iibu!" Rajni chucked the spoon over her shoulder and darted across the kitchen, flying into her mother's arms. "Iibu! Iibu!"

"My Rajni." Ahsoka's left lek wrapped around Rajni like a hug as she rubbed her head on her daughter, scenting her thoroughly. They both purred loudly enough to make Rex's liver vibrate. "My sweet baby. I missed you so much."

Rajni buried her face in her mother's neck, rumbling like the happiest little tooka in the galaxy.

"How was the walk down?" Rex relinquished Jesse, stifling the laugh that threatened to erupt at the sight of Ahsoka's other lek wrapping him up in a twisty embrace. His high-pitched cricket purr joined his mother and sister in a joyful, subsonic song.

"I hustled as fast as I could. Weather held out, but it's going to rain any second." With both of her arms—and lekku—full of babies, she had no way to hug him, so she pressed her forehead against his in a kov'nyn and sighed happily.

Rex took a deep breath, relishing her familiar sweetspice smell. "I missed you," he murmured. He wrapped his arms around all three of them and held them close. Her heartbeat drummed against his chest, matching the beat of his own.

"And I missed you. They weren't too bad, right?" Ahsoka laughed and leaned back; Jesse was already squirming his way into her shirt in search of milk.

"They were a little spicy, but nothing I couldn't handle." Rex ran his thumb across the wing on her cheek before he kissed her.

"Nuh!" Rajni said crossly, pushing him away. "Muh Iibu!"

"Your Iibu?" Rex asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We will all share Iibu," Ahsoka laughed, "because Iibu missed everyone and wants to see you all. Come on, let's go sit. My legs are tired, I've been walking since the sun came up."

"I've got dinner ready whenever you are. Just need to throw the steaks on the grill." Rex followed her to the sofa and let her get comfortable before he slid in beside them. Jesse was already latched on to one breast. Rajni yanked down her mother's shirt and shamelessly claimed the other side.

"That sounds amazing. I should hop in the sanisteam first, but first…" Ahsoka adjusted so that her head rested on his heart. "My babies." She kissed both of their foreheads. "My mate." She looked up with her big blue eyes, so full of adoration that it took his breath away.

"My mate," he rumbled, meeting her lips in another soft kiss that Rajni squealed in protest at. "My babies. Ner aliit."

"Cuun aliit," Ahsoka said softly, chasing his lips. "Our family."

MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS Udesii, ad'ika: Easy, son Ur'takur laam, ner ad'ika: Chin up, my son Ner vutyc jag'ika: My special little man Suvar: understand Ner/cuun aliit: My family/our family

Tag list: @first-light-of-the-library / @rexsoka-monthly Divider: @rexsoka-monthly

[phoenixyfriend]

hi, What do you Think a twilight starWars crossover would Look like¿

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

This ask meme is from over a year ago. Please don't send new prompts.

I think we ought to go full on intrusive crossover here. Couple of SW characters get dumped in Twilight via Weird Sith Temple. Somewhere midway through New Moon, after Edward leaves but before Bella starts clawing her way out of depression, some new people show up in town. "Ben," Anakin, and Ahsoka. (Obi-Wan quickly realized that his full name got weirder looks than the others, and Ben didn't, so he shifted.)

Ahsoka doesn't go out much, but fully disguises herself when she does. It involves a whole lot of tattoo-coverup foundation to disguise her marks, keeping her mouth mostly closed when she talks to hide her peculiar teeth, and wraps her lekku and montrals up in a weird way that ends up looking like a cross between horned hennin (the medieval veil horns, think "Disney's Descendants" Maleficent) and a hijab (deeply uncomfortable, because this is not her religion and, even if there are other religions that engage in similar coverage, she doesn't belong to any of them). It nets her a decent amount of attention, which she hates, so she usually stays in the small house they've gotten, or runs off to spend time alone or with Anakin in the forest. With the Force, she can stay warned of random hikers well enough to avoid running into strangers when she isn't in disguise.

Since Anakin and Obi-Wan are both too old for high school and do not have any interest in it anyway, and Ahsoka's definitely not going to do anything in that regard because she's not going out into public unless she absolutely has to, we do not have the usual Twilight crossover situation of running into people at high school. Instead, there are three separate incidents that lead to these lives intersecting: - Obi-Wan gets investigated by Charlie, because quite frankly people are concerned about His Daughter being such a shut-in and Charlie figured he'd check in personally before trying to get CPS involved. - Bella's old truck has a problem, and before she can take it to a mechanic or call Jacob (as suggested by Charlie), that Weird New Guy who's a few years older than her sees her staring under the hood of her truck with a look of pure confusion. - Ahsoka, who can usually avoid people in the forest, runs into one of the early pack members, who are much much faster than the humans she's been doing just fine circling around. Paul or Sam, probably.

Results: - Obi-Wan manages to talk his way out of trouble by being himself, but also by successfully explaining that Ahsoka, due to some bodily traits she was born with, finds herself very uncomfortable in public due to people staring at her, which does get corroborated by Ahsoka herself a few days later. - Bella, who gets 'this is a weird ass person who is very dangerous' vibes from Anakin, feels alive for the first time in months. She decides to seek him out for more of Danger Adrenaline Wakefulness to combat her debilitating depression. He handles this by deciding she should learn how to fight. It's not a great solution but it's... a solution? (Anakin would much prefer if she'd gone her canon route and started hanging out with Jacob instead. The only teen girl he wants to spend time with is his little sister. Why is this girl here? Anakin hopes she doesn't have a crush, he's definitely told her he's married in hopes of heading that off, which led to a very uncomfortable conversation with Obi-Wan.) At some point, Bella does start hanging out with Jacob, because their friendship means a lot to me, but also because Charlie's not exactly comfortable with Bella hanging out around that twitchy veteran who gets a far-off look in his eyes sometimes and is a few years older than Bella, just dashing enough that if she falls in love with a guy who moved in from out of town again, he's not sure she'll recover when he leaves. (Charlie's much less worried after Bella mentions, once, that Anakin's hoping to leave soon to get back to His Wife, whom he clearly loves a lot according to Bella, but Charlie's still much more comfortable with her hanging out at La Push.) - Ahsoka has some new friends, who are weird enough that she doesn't have to hide being weird too. Sure, she's a space alien with horns and fleshy tentacles and stripes, but they can shapeshift and are theoretically immortal, so who's counting?

Alice and Jasper show up a few weeks later, because 'being around Anakin' is actually not great for Bella's future being visible (because he's not actually 100% human, for Force baby reasons, so everything about him makes Bella's future fuzzy), and now they run into Ahsoka, and. That's not really great for anyone? Ahsoka isn't fast enough to run away from them without using the Force but she is tricky enough to trip them up and run off and trained enough to shrug of Jasper's emotional manipulations. She runs to the house and hides in her room after letting Obi-Wan know what happened. She's pretty sure these are the 'vampires' those shapeshifter guys told her about.

[literallyjustanerd]

Disparate Hearts (Herahsoka angst)

Ahsoka Tano deserves to be bisexual. That is all.

Summary: What she and Hera have, it’s not about feelings. It can’t be. Still, despite all her Jedi training in emotional repression, she can’t help how she feels when they’re together. The headrush she gets when she undresses Hera, or the catch in her throat when Hera laughs into the crook of her neck. Life is never easy in the Rebellion. Throw in some complicated feelings and a messy friends-with-benefits situation, and it's downright unbearable.

Word count: 2,628

Hera had come to her again last night. As always, Ahsoka had felt her before she’d seen her. Her presence blossoming in the Force at the edge of her awareness, a breeze on a summer’s day, bright, strong and clean, moments before the knock at her door. Still elbow-deep in wiring trying to repair her navicomputer, Ahsoka had opened the door with a flick of her wrist. Neither of them spoke as Hera crossed the cockpit, a familiar look in her eye. Ahsoka paused, then let go of her work. Hera had kneeled down beside Ahsoka, and the two of them locked eyes for only a fleeting, pregnant moment before Hera had leaned forward and pressed her mouth to Ahsoka’s.

Tonight, Ahsoka’s limbs feel like malfunctioning circuit boards. Heavy, stiff, lagging. Blood sluggish through her veins, yet restless and twitchy all the same. She shifts again, adjusting her meditation stance, but still she cannot get comfortable. The long journey to Hoth has left her drained, and knocked her sleep cycle out of rhythm. No matter how she tries, the peaceful fog of meditation eludes her. An exasperated sigh pinches her shoulders high. Master Obi-Wan would have reprimanded her for that, for allowing her frustration to overcome her to the point of physical expression.

Master Obi-Wan isn’t there.

Giving up for the night (or morning? She hasn’t yet adjusted her chronometers to Hoth’s time cycle) she rises on protesting legs and trudges to the kitchenette. She doesn’t know what she’s come for until she’s opening the cupboard door. At the back of her pantry, behind her waning rations, there’s a small, metal tin. A modest coating of dust obscures the planetary crest on its lid. Ahsoka leaves the dust undisturbed as she opens the tin and scoops out the tea leaves inside. Just enough left to brew a single cup. 

They’ve never talked about it. Ahsoka thinks that might be for the best. She’s convinced herself of it, anyway. She would rather not entertain the nagging thought that things are just easier when she and Hera both pretend there’s nothing there to talk about at all. It’s easy enough to ignore, most of the time, with everything else they have to occupy them. Ahsoka turns her head down to the countertop to see two empty glasses, still with fingerprints and blood-dark droplets haunting the rims. 

She looks away.

They had always been friends. Or as close to friends as their circumstances would allow, while Ahsoka was working under the Fulcrum alias and Hera had her hands full trying to run a rebel cell and raise two teenagers at the same time. They’d grown closer once Ahsoka had begun to shed the cocoon of her anonymity and join the fight more directly. Closer still after Lothal. Hell, Hera had asked Ahsoka to be with her when Jacen was born.

Steam billows upward to warm her breath as she pours the boiling water. From the corner of her eye, Ahsoka catches sight of a hickey on the ridge of her collarbone.

Closer. Too close? Not close enough.

Hoth is a miserable place for the rebellion to have moved. Ahsoka wraps both hands around the cup of tea, trying to stave off the chill that turns her fingers clumsy. The first sip goes down smooth, though she chokes on the memory it brings up. Gingerly, she reaches down to thumb away the dust on the tin, chest seizing with a dozen unbidden emotions at the words underneath.

Raada Farming Alliance.

There was a time, brief as it was, that Ahsoka drank this tea daily. Its deep, earthy flavour brings her gasping and thrashing back, nineteen years and a lifetime ago. A child, directionless and afraid, her days spent looking over her shoulder and reaching desperately at the past. Until she’d arrived on Raada, and a girl with a smart mouth and a defiantly gentle heart had dragged Ahsoka kicking and screaming back into life. Had slowly but surely turned Ahsoka Tano from a barely-surviving shell into someone who rose in the morning to stretch and make tea before starting the day.

The Empire had still come for them, of course. Raada had rotted from the inside out under its grip, and Kaeden had lost friends, family, along with her home. The evacuation had cost them dearly. Still, after Kaeden and her sister had been brought to Alderaan, she had found it in herself to send Ahsoka off with a parting gift - her favourite tea, grown on the farming planet before its soil had turned to sand and its people reduced to refugees.

“It won’t spoil, even if you forget about it,” she had said, as though she were speaking about something entirely different. Ahsoka didn’t know how she could keep talking at all through the electric shock where their hands touched. “It’s good now, but it only gets better with time.” Ahsoka knows now that she had wasted an opportunity that day. Like a thousand more in the months before their farewell. Kaeden’s words to her on the day she’d been rescued from the Imperial compound are seared into Ahsoka’s mind, even all these years later.

“I could kiss you.”

The stifling, paralysing fear she had felt in that moment was not new to her. She had felt it before, whenever Bariss had sat too close to her in lessons at the Temple. And she had felt it since, on the night Hera had first kissed her. Wine-drunk and feeling far younger than her years, the two of them swapping stories under the stars on Yavin IV. Hera’s eyes catching starlight, her fingers combing soft through grass. The feeling of want like great waves crashing against a cliff of can’t. Or shouldn’t. 

But Hera had. She’d bridged that gap, and pulled Ahsoka across with her when she laced their fingers together and cupped a hand on her cheek. And like watching a comet dissolve into stardust, that fear had changed, turned to something greater. Something even more disorienting.

She had felt that before, as well. For a brief, beautiful moment all those years ago, Kaeden Larte, with her loud, singing laugh and hearthfire smile, had felt like that. She had felt like home.

And… Hera?

Ahsoka sips from her cup of bittersweet memories and lets her gaze wander to her bunk, eyes tracing the folds of the mussed, untidy sheets. She feels phantom breath on her neck, slow and even from sleep, and she steels herself against it. Her throat burns when she swallows down unsaid words, sticking like nettles in her throat. Whatever it is she and Hera have, it’s not about feelings. It can’t be. To break the silent pact the two of them have made now would be taboo. 

Still, despite her Jedi training leaving her perfectly adept at emotional repression, she can’t help how she feels when they’re together. Can’t help the headrush she gets when she undresses Hera in her bunk, or the catch in her throat when Hera laughs into the crook of her neck. 

She can’t help how she feels when she hears Hera sigh Kanan’s name as she reaches for Ahsoka in her sleep.

Stifling a groan, Ahsoka presses the heel of her hand to her temple. Even with the meagre warmth of the tea in her stomach, there’s no point trying to sleep, or even to train or meditate. Ahsoka throws on an overcoat, pulling the hood low over her montrals, and braces against the biting chill outside. Even through the hangar door, she can hear the wind howling like a swarm of Umbaran banshees, as unnerving as it is annoying. She’ll be glad when her business here is finished and she can get out as quickly as she’d arrived. It’s dark, the base lit only by the barest utility lighting. Just enough for the skeleton crew on night shift to work by. It reminds her of being aboard the Resolute, on the nights where her nightmares kept her from sleep and she would wander the halls aimlessly. At least back then, she would always eventually find her way to one clone trooper or another who was willing to indulge her with company and conversation, and not reprimand her for being out of her bunk past curfew. What she wouldn’t give right now, to find Rex on the bridge, or Fives and Echo in the armoury, or Kix in the medbay. Her memories begin to sour, as they always do when she lingers too long on the clones, and she looks quickly for something to fill the space.

Senator Organa is still expecting a report on her last operation. Hardly urgent, but it will suffice as a distraction. Her mind will be easily occupied enough trying to decide how much to divulge in her report, and which parts she will need to strategically leave out. The Hidden Path had to remain more than just a name, by necessity. Bail’s resources and connections were immeasurably helpful, but for now it’s still best if he doesn’t know all the details. Discretion is a virtue in these times.

Hera knew nothing of her activities outside of rebel command. Perhaps Ahsoka might feel guilty about that, if she wasn’t sure that Hera kept her just as far in the dark. It’s a given part of the strange, fragile dance they have fallen into. Both of them have secrets, neither knows the full extent of the other’s activities, yet they trust each other anyway. By choice, by ignoring every impulse to the contrary. By keeping themselves busy with things other than asking questions. It’s better this way, Ahsoka tries to remind herself. Better, safer to keep some distance. The thought rings just as hollow as it always does.

On the far side of the bleak, dim cavern, the makeshift comms centre stands, little more than a barely-insulated tent, some scrappy chairs and whatever long-range comm devices aren’t entirely broken down. Ahsoka expects it to be empty at this time, but to her surprise there is light leaking through the cracks in the tent. In the corner, bleary-eyed and hunched over a desk, Captain Alexsandr Kallus taps methodically at a datapad, blond hair falling in strands into his face, turned pale blue in the sickly neon light. In only a moment Ahsoka decides to enter anyway. She knows Kallus, in a roundabout way. Her successor as Fulcrum, an Empire defector. Not the kind who will bother her with questions or small talk. He doesn’t look up until Ahsoka sits at a few spaces down from him, the chair’s creaking protests bringing him out of his trance. “Workaholic,” Ahsoka smirks, with no real venom behind the word. The corner of Kallus’ mouth twitches, one eyebrow raising a half inch. As close to a smile as anyone could get from him. “Or,” he counters, “I’m the only one here willing to actually get anything done."

Nothing more is said. Nothing more needs to be said. Ahsoka sets up her own datapad and opens her unfinished report. They work in companionable silence for a time, and the quiet monotony gradually begins to ease the tension in Ahsoka’s chest. Soon enough, her mind feels closer to her own grasp once more. When Kallus rises, Ahsoka worries for a moment that she’s about to be left alone again, leaving space for her more unwise, tumultuous thoughts to claim her once more. But he returns only minutes later with two mugs of caf, setting one wordlessly down beside her before he returns to his desk. She gives her thanks in a simple nod, and drinks deeply, though she’s never liked the taste.

Passing on the Fulcrum name had never been in the plan. She had never intended it to become a legacy. But out of anyone, Ahsoka is glad that Kallus had been the one to take the mantle. She feels a certain kinship with the man. He understands the isolation that comes with the job, perhaps better than anyone else would. So many months, he had lived a half-life, feigning loyalty to the Empire. Ahsoka imagines he must know as well as any fugitive Jedi what it’s like to live without ever closing your eyes or taking a full breath

And, of course, it helps that Captain Kallus is just as much of a lonely, repressed bastard as she is.

The Empire and the Jedi Order aren’t so different in that way, she notes over another sip of acrid, burnt caf. Kallus had been through a long, arduous journey to make the transition from staunchly loyal Empire agent to fierce rebel. They had spoken about it only once, not long after he had finally made his escape. Ahsoka had shared, at least partially, her own experience in the Order, the questions she had come to ask, the contradictions and outdated doctrines she couldn’t justify in her mind. It seemed to resonate with Kallus. The greater mission always above the individual. The glorification of loyalty, the shunning of personal feelings. Whether by design or by happy coincidence, they kept their members too confused and ashamed of any new feelings to ever attempt to explore them.

She and Hera had been entangled for so long now. So many months of biting her tongue, snatching back her hand, wrenching her gaze away when all she wants to do is let it linger on Hera’s smile. So many months of second guesses and warring emotions. She wavers frenetically back and forth, sure in one moment that Hera feels nothing for her beyond camaraderie, and convinced in the next that she too can sense the presence of something deeper. For the past five minutes, Ahsoka’s fingers have been tapping out and erasing nonsense on her datapad, fidgeting idly while her mind wanders further astray. A familiar thought surfaces from the roiling depths: She should stop this. For her own good and Hera’s. It would be a mercy killing to the strange, unnatural thing growing between them. It would be simpler. Easier. She could make her peace with spending her nights with people like Kallus instead of entangled with a body that was too warm and too close and still out of reach despite digging fingernail-marks in her back. A promise, then. A resolve to turn Hera away the next time she appears, to resist the next time Ahsoka’s feet try to take her towards the Ghost. Perhaps this time, she’ll keep to her word.

Beside her, the sound of an incoming comm draws her attention. Kallus blinks down at his wrist a moment before his eyes drift back into focus and he answers, turning away from Ahsoka. Nonetheless, Ahsoka can still hear the tinny voice through his commlink, thickly accented and gravelly from sleep. “Kal? Darlin’, where’d you go? ‘S the middle of the night. I swear, if you’re kriffing working right now…" It takes a beat for Ahsoka to realise that the soft hum Kallus gives is a laugh.  “I’m sorry, love. Couldn’t sleep.” “Well, we’re both up now. Come back to bed, yeah?” “Okay, okay. I’m on my way.”

Ahsoka recognises that voice. Captain Orrelios? Well. Seems she’s the only lonely, repressed bastard around here after all.

The transmission ends. Ahsoka pivots her gaze back to her datapad just in time for Kallus to look to her, giving a shrug and a somewhat apologetic smile before gathering his things and leaving her. The silence is heavier now, too heavy for her to bear for long. She doesn’t make it ten more minutes before she’s retreating back to her ship, questions circling her head that she wouldn’t dream of asking aloud.

Two days later, Hera finds her again. Ahsoka doesn’t hesitate a single moment before letting her in.

[litcityblues]

The Mandalorian Season 3: Do We Need A Movie?

(Yes, I know I'm late getting around to this. No, I haven't watched Ahsoka yet. I'm getting there, all right?)

I don't think Star Wars has quite the problems that the MCU does. We're not being drowned in a firehose of content that merely by the sheer amount of it degrades the quality of it-- no, Star Wars has a slightly different problem: it's in a galaxy far, far, away and can't stop showing us the same characters and/or planets.

Thankfully, Star Wars at least seems to be somewhat aware that it has this problem as a franchise and while they might not be taking too many concrete actual steps towards fixing the problem, shows like Andor and The Mandalorian at least suggest that they're trying to remedy that a little. They're trying to acknowledge that not every story needs to end on Tatooine and involve a member of the Skywalker Clan- they've got a whole galaxy to work with and they're at least thinking about how to do that. It's refreshing.

But, having watched Season 3 of The Mandalorian and heard the news that Season 4 is apparently going to be released as a movie, I'm left tilting my head slightly to the left, screwing up my eyebrows, and thinking: Do we need a movie?

Don't get me wrong: Season 3 of The Mandalorian has a lot going for it. First of all, the return to Mandalore itself was a really interesting choice for this show to make. There was really no other place for it to go, as Djarin needed to be redeemed for removing his helmet in violation of the creed of the Mandalore-- but returning to the ruins, him diving into the waters of Mandalore and then bringing back Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) to show her that surface was still habitable after all this time was a great choice.

If I have a weakness, it's probably for side characters that are far more interesting than the story intends them to be. (In House of the Dragon, for instance, you can keep Daemon, Rhaenyra, Otto Hightower, and Alicent-- Rhaenys (Eve Best) is the most interesting character in the show.) Here, that title is shared by Bo-Katan and to some degree by Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.)

Bo-Katan is interesting because she's got an agenda. Whether she admits it or not, she wants Darksaber back so she can set about reclaiming her rightful place on the throne of Mandalore, restart the Great Forge, and reunite her people. The fact that Djarin just randomly ends up with the Darksaber (I mean, he does earn it by defeating Moff Gideon), makes her character a little... twitchy, in a way. She's kind of giving Djarin some side-eye, trying to figure out if she can take back the Darksaber and how and when he's pulled under in the waters of Mandalore, she does go and save him, but she also thinks about it for just a second. This was an aspect of this character that the show could have played with more-- there's a conflict within her over power and honor and she's reluctant to help Djarin, not believing that Mandalore is habitable again, but once she sees that it is-- it's game on. She also has to deal with her past (and the fact that surrendered to try and save her people when the Empire took them down) and that's another interesting thing we don't get to see. What happened on the Night of A Thousand Tears.

Carson Teva is back as the X-Wing pilot who is trying like heck to get the New Republic to actually do something for once. There's a whole-ass show centered around not just this character, but the New Republic of it all. How does the Rebellion go from rag-tag Rebel Alliance to an actual government? How come they're so effective at rehabilitating former Imperials but can't seem to protect systems from pirates? How come the New Republic still exists at the start of The Force Awakens, but there's also The Resistance as well? Like... how does it all work, post-Death Star?

(Also: what's up with The Armorer? Mysterious character. Suddenly is down with Helmets being removed? I'm... curious.)

There are a couple of standout moments for this season: the first is a delightfully unexpected detour to the planet Plazir-15 (Episode 6, 'Chapter 22: Guns For Hire') where Bo-Katan, Djarin, and Grogu go to get Bo-Katan's now mercenary army, the Axe Wolves back to go and retake Mandalore. They are currently in the employ of Captain Bombardier, the Duchess (played by Jack Black and Lizzo respectively), and the head of Planetary Security, Commissioner Helgait (Christopher Lloyd.) Three people I would never have expected to see in an episode of this show and it works. It's just delightful. It's fun. It's great.

The second moment comes courtesy of a vision Grogu has in Episode 4 ('Chapter 20: The Foundling') where he recalls his rescue from the burning Jedi Temple by sympathetic members of the Naboo Armed Forces and Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, who is played by Ahmed Best. Best, of course, is known for playing Jar-Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy and he has gotten an incredible amount of abuse and stick for it over the years. Whether this was a deliberate choice by the showrunners or just a happy accident, I don't know- and it definitely floated around my TikTok feed a lot when this first aired, but seeing this moment and seeing this actor get a shot at, if not redemption, then certainly a chance to be seen as someone else in the Star Wars franchise was fabulous. A+ work.

Here's where I'm at with this show: the ending is perfect. Gideon is defeated, and his Force-Sensitive clones are destroyed. While you can quibble about Djarin just giving the Darksaber to Bo-Katan, he does and she gets to restart the Great Forge and the Mandalorians get to be back on Mandalore. Djarin formally adopts Grogu, they take up Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) on his offer of a bit of land on the outskirts of Nevarro's capital and Djarin goes to Carson Teva looking for some more honest work while he raises Grogu.

So, let me ask the question again: Do we need a movie?

I mean, there are some aspects of the story we can still explore. Bo-Katan and getting Mandalore going, Imperial Shenanigans and whispers of Grand Admiral Thrawn, Carson Teva, and the struggles of the New Republic. I'm not disagreeing with the notion that there's more story here, I'm just saying- in terms of Djarin and Grogu: do we need a movie? This is perfect. You couldn't ask for a better ending to their story. That doesn't mean they can't show up again at some point, but man, this felt like the perfect bow to tie on top of this show.

I'm probably going to watch Season 4/The Movie or whatever it winds up being, never fear-- but sometimes it's okay for things to just end, you know. And I almost wish they'd just put this down and walk away for a bit.

Overall: It's great. The action scenes work. They don't get stuck on Tatooine or some other planet we've seen before- in fact, we get to go back to Mandalore! That's rad. It's got awesome moments for all the characters, a trio of excellent guest stars, and a nice moment for Ahmed Best tucked away in here. If it's got a fault, it's that it doesn't go as far as it could with some characters (I think Bo-Katan could have faced far more of a struggle over Djarin having the Darksaber, for instance) but I can't complain about the ending either. My Grade: *** out of ****

[femmefighter]

Uh-huh. Sure Sabine. Luckily Ahsoka would have Force-shielded you if Huyang hadn't got all twitchy first.

Sabine of the Day: "I know what I'm doing (/yes we might blow up)"!Sabine

[twitchesandstitches]

💀🥔❤️🗯️💛📚 - Power Girl, Wonder Woman, Tionishia, Centorea, Ranamon, Blue Diamond and Ahsoka Tano. (A bit of a long one, but i hope it works.)

omg that is a LOT tho

Power Girl: am leaning towards ‘rarely’. depends on how villainous they are; if not villain, then probably not. if villain, at least temporarily digestion? if they’re energy-based though, she may do so automatically regardless of whether or not she wants to, due to her powers

Wonder Woman: she follows mythic hero rules, so she does so in the same circumstances of slaying a monster, but she’s not casual about it

tionishia: depends on their threat level and how hungry she is. going with the idea that ogres are prone to extreme overindulgence, she might do so if they taste good or make her feel super FULL

centorea: more likely than not, yes, especially if they are plant-based; it mixes with horse and human cravings a lot, and she regards it as part of the whole point of swallowing someone.

Ranamon: Rarely; its very contextual. she may be called to do it for her duties or removing things that need to be hidden, like consuming forbidden lore.

Blue Diamond: I like to think that she used to be a ferocious and merciless devourer, adn while she’s TRYING to be a better person, the compulsion to simply swallow whole and digest anything offending her on a whim.

Ahsoka: I figure that while the Jedi Code permits this sort of thing (since they don’t have any particular restrictions against necessary killing), overindulgence is frowned upon. This Ahsoka may or may not abide by the Code, but it still influences her, so she tries to restrain herself.

----------

Does your muse prefer lazy, fat prey?

Power Girl and Wonder Woman: Not really! they tend to view devouring as a tool in their arsenel, not as an end in itself, and they don’t have many preferences.

Tionishia: Almost certainly; she enjoys rich, tasty treats, especially ones that have so much meat and succulent tastes of self-indulgence on them.

Centorea: she doesn’t PREFER them, but she likes this kind of prey, but refuses to admit it; she feels that implying she prefers easily caught prey implies ineptitude.

Ranamon: I think that feels about right for her?

Blue Diamond: Very likely! Perhaps at one point, she created Gems specifically to devour large amounts of resources, getting very big in the process, and BD ate them in turn to recoup the resources.

Ahsoka: Again, no particular preference there.

-----------

Tell us about a great experience your muse has had with vore!

Power Girl: She once ate an entire sun, getting a massive power boost and size increase; we’re talking taller than a solar system, boobs bigger than the rest of her body, and a power increase to match. it didn’t last but it felt REALLY GOOD

Wonder Woman: She slew an incarnation of Jormagundr in this fashion with her god-buddy, Thor; it was the biggest meal she ever had!

Tionishia: She had a date with fem Kimihito, and her ravenous appetite demanded more and more, and Kimihito offered herself to her; it was a very lovely digestion and Tio was so FULL, and suspects it was the love involved that satisfied her.

Centorea: She took part in a competition where the losers would be meals for the winner, and she won in splendid fashion. She was merciful and allowed them to reform not long afterwards, but she was so STRONG, and her gut so swollen with their wriggling bodies as they dissolved into her, and she relishes the pleasure of that day.

Ranamon: Once devoured a terrible grimoire of ultimate evil, obscuring its dreadful secrets from the multiverse; she actually had something of a tummyache for a while, but it was worth it.

Blue Diamond: After reforming her ways, she repopulated multiple worlds by consuming them and gestating entirely new, fertile ones within herself. IT felt intensely pleasurable and the first truly good thing she had done in a long time, and it gave her a sense of purpose after the fall of the Gem empire.

Ahsoka: At one point, confronted and bested a dreadful wizard of the bleakest arts, overcomign his powerful abilities to consume him. at the time she’d been suffering something of a crisis of confidence, and it reignited her sense of skill and purpose.

-----------

Does your muse experience stomach rumbles or burps after eating someone?

Power Girl: unlikely. probably lots of solar glowing, though.

Wonder Woman: Briefly. sounds like continents moving.

Tionishia: Yes. it is VERY loud and sounds like her belly is bigger on the inside.

Centorea: Yes. very, very loud, due to her multiple chambered stomachs (A combo of human stomaches, horse stomaches, and the weird ways they interact together.)

Ranamon: Kind of; no rumbles or burps normally, but there’s a strange sound as they are converted into pure data.

Blue Diamond: She does not burp or rumble at all unless she specifically wants to, because of how Gems work; digestion rarely involves fluids, for example, but converting prey into magical energy to be absorbed directly or reworked into another form. She CAN, if she wants to.

Ahsoka: Yes. pretty noisy, actually.

-----------

What sort of pred does your muse like?

Power Girl, Wonder Woman: They are similar in that they don’t liked to be preyed upon at all; they’re big time heroes and this sets a poor example, and they’re too fierce to easily have the submissive mindset that characterizes prey in one way or another. you must be WORTHY to do so, but their definitions vary; Power Girl thinks you must be strong, while Wondy feels you should just have the courage to try. (You might not be able to survive trying, though.)

Tionishia: She requires that you be at least somewhat polite. Sort of like taking a girl out to dinner, really.

Centorea: She professes to firmly disapprove of this, but in secret, she does like this, but requires a firm subordinate/superior relation between herself and the pred, with pred as superior.

Ranamon: Kind of prefers her preds to be cool and interesting, and technologically based; not out of bias against organics, but due to her composition, she’s only likely to experience anything if they are able to process data. (Which CAN happen with powerful organic preds anyway, but she’s not aware of this.)

Blue Diamond: She does not like to be eaten. She is still proud and mighty, and sees herself as far above the likes of prey!

Ahsoka: Someone who is very much NOT dark side-aligned, emotionally speaking, tends to fit the bill.

-----

How many times has your muse been digested or inside a pred’s stomach?

Wonder Woman: Rarely. It’s happened a few times, and its treated as the mutually exclusive deaths of heroes in ancient myths, but she’s loath to have repeats.

Power Girl: A few villains have managed it, and some heroines as well; tends to get her miffed, too.

Tionishia: Reasonably common, though they must be pretty big or voracious to contain so much ogre inside them! She thinks its cuddly and sweet.

Centorea: She’s more common a predator than prey, but it’s happened; once by fem!Kimihito, Rachnera and Tio, and most frequently by Miia, who is now sporting a REALLY big pair of boobs that was once Centorea’s physical body in previous times.

Ranamon: She’s embarassed to admit that she’s frequiently called to upload viruses to enemy servers or networks, and this involves getting ‘eaten’ by manifestations of those servers in the digital realm.

Blue Diamond: she’s bigger than a planet even when she’s not trying, and can be considered a goddess by most standards; it’s RARE. but it can happen! (Rose Quartz and Connie have both done it, on separate occasions.) She doesn’t approve of being reminded of it!

Ahsoka: If the Jedi have vore duels, she’s probably lost a fair number of times, though not in recent times. in her travels, she’s lost her fair share of consumption battles, so she’s familiar with the inside of guts.

[kyberchai]

that rebels trailer though....MORTIS REFERENCES...... i’m yelling

[communistkenobi-archive]

On Writing tCW Dialogue

I’ve gotten several (very lovely) comments asking me how I write dialogue for various tCW characters, so I thought I would explain my process here. This isn’t going to include things like technical terms used in the SW universe, just the general flow of conversation. I find that Obi-Wan’s, Anakin’s, Ahsoka’s, and Maul’s speech patterns all pretty diverse (and also the ones I’m most personally familiar with), so those are the characters who I’ll be covering. This is not meant as an authoritative statement about their canonical characterisations, but rather how I, specifically, feel their personalities work best while writing them. If you disagree with something I’ve said in this write up, you can feel free to disregard it. This post is going to cover their general speech patterns, some body language, and also what tends to motivate them during conversation.

This is gonna be long, so it’s all going below a cut ↴

Obi-Wan:

Has a very formal speech pattern, usually uses more words than necessary to say what he wants to say

His lexicon is pretty diverse, but not overly flowery - I would stick to simple words as much as possible. I find the structure of his sentences more important than the actual words he uses. ie, you shouldn’t be constantly looking at a thesaurus to write his dialogue. Also be considerate of the fact that most people reading fic aren’t going to be familiar with tons of formal and esoteric (ha) words, so if YOU have to scour a dictionary for big words he uses, you audience probably does too, which is not very fun.

For example: instead of “okay”, he would say “alright” or “very well”. Instead of “shut up”, it’s “please be quiet”.

Uses some contractions/informal words, but it depends on the context. Things like “I’m” and contractions with “is” (who’s, it’s, etc) are generally fine, but more slang-y words like “gotta/gonna/wanna/etc” aren’t something he would use.

Almost never speaks directly. Obi-Wan is someone who enjoys talking for the sake of it, and very often will use it as a fun pastime with whoever has the (dis)pleasure of talking to him. He is flirty and upbeat, but generally pretty coy, and doesn’t say what he means.

For example: someone has to keep a secret about something. Instead of just asking them “can you keep this a secret?”, he would say something like “I hope I have your trust on this matter” or “I understand this is difficult to keep quiet”. He leads people to conclusions and questions that he wants answers to, but he generally does not state them directly.

The pacing of conversation is slower with him, because his conversational partners need to tease out what the hell he’s talking about. This doesn’t happen EVERY time of course, and he’s usually pretty direct when discussing technical matters like battle plans or giving orders, but if you’re writing a dialogue-heavy scene with him in it, he tends to control the direction of conversation to draw information out of people they don’t always realise they’re revealing.

Basically try to write him as passive-aggressive and hard to pin down, even when he’s in a good mood

He is also inquisitive and thinks critically, so he will sometimes ask questions if he’s invested in a piece of information somebody has - those are more direct, and you can use that to contrast with/mix up his other dialogue

Body language is usually structured, formal. Doesn’t fidget a lot - Obi-Wan has a great deal of bodily discipline, and most things he does with his body are deliberate

When he’s angry, he tends to move around, becomes more twitchy and externalises his frustration by moving more erratically. He’ll touch his hair, or pace, or tap his fingers

Doesn’t try to intimidate people when he’s upset - again, uses language to get across what he wants

tl;dr: coy, formal, flirty

Maul:

Simple sentence structure, usually talks in multiple short sentences. It makes the pacing of his speech brutal and sharp

He’s also formal, but he uses very plain language. I stay away from using adverbs in his dialogue, for example.

Generally doesn’t ask people questions (or if he does, they’re rhetorical). He isn’t usually interested in conversation - he wants people to listen to HIM talk, and doesn’t really care about information other people might have unless it’s critically important to whatever he’s doing.

Also doesn’t use contractions a lot, I usually only stick to simple ones like “I’m” when writing his dialogue

Maul also tends to make authoritative statements about reality, not give people orders or probe for information

For example: instead of “you must run”, he would say something like “you will run from me now”

He basically talks like he already knows what’s going to happen and is just waiting for other people around him to catch up

Obviously a pretty angry person, but he usually speaks calmly unless provoked. If you have him yelling in one sentence, have him laugh in the next one - his mood seesaws a lot, and he doesn’t usually dwell on his outbursts or try to make amends for when they happen, because again, he doesn’t care if other people dislike what he says or does (unless he’s trying to convince someone to be his apprentice. then he’s VERY interested in how they view him lmao)

Usually affects disinterest and disregard in his body language unless he’s trying to intimidate someone. Doesn’t tend to abide personal space, and moves/postures in ways that make people deliberately uncomfortable 

For example: think of small unspoken social norms and have him break them. Looking at Maul move around should feel like watching someone face the corner in an elevator. Very weird and visually upsetting, but difficult to pin down exactly why

Note: to be clear, I’m not talking about someone being awkward in conversation or failing to pick up on a social cue - those are totally fine and not creepy at all. But Maul specifically is a malicious person and will deliberately pervert social cues to make people uncomfortable

tl;dr: short sentences, chaotic mood shifts, doesn’t ask questions

Anakin:

MUCH more informal, probably the closest in sentence structure to what we would consider to be every day speech patterns of a young adult (think college age person)

Lots of contractions, very straightforward in how he communicates information

Usually I use him as a foil to contrast with how formal Obi-Wan is, or how professional Rex is

He’s also good for teasing out covert or indirect dialogue - he’s dealt with Obi-Wan for long enough to be impatient with double-speak or coyness. He’s a good character to use when you need someone to acknowledge the elephant in the room

Anakin is also very invested in how people view him and will chase open validation if he thinks he can get it from someone (especially people he admires - Padme, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Rex). This can override and derail the conversation if he wants it badly enough

Prone to complaining and has sudden mood shifts, but he usually lingers on more negative emotions if has them (anger, disappointment, frustration, etc)

Generally uses conversation as a way to get a rise out of people, challenge them, etc - he also enjoys talking, and will say deliberately provocative things to get people to react to him. Anakin LIKES attention, even if it’s negative, and will use conversations to force people to pay attention to him

Generally upbeat, cracks jokes (often at the expense of others, though not mean-spirited), great character to use to relieve tension

Talks like he doesn’t take a lot of things seriously (but he definitely does)

Generally displays a cavalier and irreverent attitude as a way of emotional protection, but Anakin is a highly emotional and deeply caring person, so that tension is always present to a degree in the way he talks

Also doesn’t make statements about how he feels basically ever - his emotional state is communicated in his tone and body language

Definitely not above lying, either outright or by omission - good for dramatic tension

Body language is more fidgety and hectic when he’s happy/neutral; imposing and sharp when angry

tl;dr: informal, emotional, provocative

Ahsoka:

Also informal, though not as informal as Anakin

Ahsoka is headstrong and sure of her convictions, but very open to asking questions and reconsidering things she isn’t sure about

Speaks directly most of the time, usually emotional, but much more stable and predictable than Anakin

Very inquisitive - if she’s not asking outright questions, she’s probing people for information. Ahsoka is very aware that she is less experienced than the other people around her and behaves as such

Very attuned to the emotions of people around her - she speaks compassionately and will make statements about her own and other people’s emotional states. Good character to use for people to be frank with how they’re feeling if they’re dealing with some internal conflict

She’s also a good character to use if exposition is needed - Ahsoka is intended as a stand-in for the audience in tCW, so her conversational dynamic with the other characters is inherently question-driven to a degree already

But again, she’s not helpless or ignorant - Ahsoka is confident in what she knows and will defend what she believes is right. She’s difficult to persuade in another direction if she’s sure of something

Snappy and jokey when she’s comfortable with who she’s around - more guarded and suspicious with people she doesn’t know, but is generally pretty trusting and wants to see the good in people

Ahsoka is also very diplomatic. She is open to compromise, and much more patient than someone like Anakin - good character to use if there is a highly tense situation that needs to be broken without starting a shootout

Talks like a teenage girl (obviously), but doesn’t use a lot of slang. Ahsoka speaks like someone with an expensive formal education, but is still quite young, so that informality/educated tension is present in the way she speaks

Body language is fluid and relaxed. Tends to make herself small when she’s upset about something. Doesn’t try to intimidate people most of the time, so her body language when she’s angry is more emotive (shaking, pacing, etc)

She’s also much easier to read than all the other characters listed above. Ahsoka is generally an honest person, says what she thinks, and doesn’t feel the need to hide things from other people, but is aware that people hide things from HER

tl;dr: informal, inquisitive, headstrong

I hope that was helpful! These are of course only quick and dirty notes and not hard rules to always stick to. Characters behave and speak differently depending on who they’re interacting with, but this is the baseline I fall back on if I’m having trouble pinning down what they would say. I find watching tCW episodes where these characters have to deal with/resolve a personal conflict they’re having to be the most illuminating ones in terms of their characterisation, so rewatching those can be really helpful.

[feelinkeeli]

TCW x Monster Hunter ideas/thoughts

@thepatchycat since I now know one other person all for this crossover with me. So general crossover ideas:

The clones and Felynes! A cuter, more heart melting interactions I could not imagine.

Have you seen the cutscenes of the Felyne chef from Monster Hunter World? Clones getting delicious gourment meals they actually feel full on after because the portions are ridiculous. Felynes - between the merchants, healers, and palicos - just doing their best to take care of the clones.

Mutual "I can't protect them!" feelings

Riders being the MH equivalent of Force Sensitive. They got the power of empathy and magic rocks to help them befriend monsters. But like.... force sensitivity not required?

I don't know if you know the history/back story of Monster Hunter universe but it's basically a post-apocalyptic world and could easily be written into the GFFA as a former Sith world.

Locals 100% not worried about CIS droid army because the local monster populations will probably be more than the droids can handle. (They're right too.)

Locals 100% insulting clone armor quality and despairing that they do not have the resources to kit out all of the GAR. But like... they'll try for all the clones stationed on their planet.

Monster Hunter being a world the Mandalorians tried to conquer during the Mandalorian Wars and got their butts kicked by the locals and the local wildlife. To this day Mandalorians that know their history get twitchy when the world is brought up.

Jango Fett having some ancestors from Monster hunter planet, meaning all the clones do too. Turns out some things the clones thought the Kaminoans modified them for are really Monster Hunter genes coming through.

Jedi 100% deciding all monsters are friend-shaped and insist on trying to chat with the Elder Dragons despite the fact that Elder dragons dont like humanoids and dislike visitors from offworld even more. Clones would despair more if locals were not so busy deciding the clones were friend-shaped and in need of TLC (including the monsters).

On more specific crossover ideas

Commander Doom becoming a rider and getting a Lagombi. Because I refuse to believe Doom was based off Doctor Doom and not Doom Guy

Blackout and a Nargacuga

(a sort of Jedi are Riders AU? Or it's an option for Jedi?) Anakin thinks he'd get a cool dragon as a monstie. Ahsoka bonded with a Tigrex and Obi-wan looks like he might bond with a Khezu of all things if he keeps rubbing his beard in fascination like that (he befriends a Zinorge instead). Anakin befriends a Qurupeco. Ahsoka is crying she is laughing so hard. And then Rex shows up with an Azure Rathalos like "help. I am not a Jedi. I am not cut out for this."

[5ammi90]

Second last episode. I’m hyped. Hey Cobb how are you ??? You were the dude who had Boba’s amour. Dang he’s a quick draw. I really don’t get what’s so special about the spice.

Yay Mando and his shiny ship. 😮😮😮 r2. Oh look at him. R2 you better let him see his kid. R2?? What happened to my boy. They made him a bench 🤣🤣. Poor Mando.

A baby. CGI Luke is not as terrible as was made out. Grogu has a frog. Luke let the kid eat his frog. I missed Grogu so much. Luke lifting Grogu with the force is adorable. Luke you don’t sound like Luke. He does not want to remember he wants his dad. Nice Luke give him nightmares.

R2 is awake. Yay. Oh hey it’s Ahsoka Tano. Please let this man see his child.

No he’s a foundling. Let him see his son. Yall are cruel. This so sad 😭. Mando don’t leave.

Luke that’s cruel showing Grogu his dad leaving. Jump. Awwww look at his little jump. Don’t quote Yoda at Grogu. Luke he isn’t Yoda, he will never be Yoda. Rude Luke rude that poor water yak was napping and you jumped on him. Luke he is gonna fall into the lake. Luke put away the lightsaber. Now is not the time. Grogu kicked it like a football. The football Shot my bean. Oh you are lucky Mando left if he found out you shot his son. You would be dead. Stop shooting at the baby. He’s gotten better at jumping, yay Grogu. He broke the robot. He looks so proud of himself. Awwww he’s sleepy.

Poor Mando. Oh hey Boba your here. How you been? Why is the weasel here, just give him to Ben as a chew toy. “We need foot soldiers” Mando’s like give me 3 minutes. Hey Cobb. Also love how everyone Mando meets up with is asking about Grogu.

“Freetown” really. You could have changed the name to anything and you chose “Freetown”. I’m very much judging you. Who the fuck is that coming??? If anything happens to Cobb imma be pissed.

The Deputy is an idiot. Cobb totally had it handled and you decided to open your fat gob and now someone is gonna die. Probably you. Twat.

You have scary red/orange eyes. Who are you?? Don’t hurt Cobb I will stab a hoe if you do. Bye Deputy. Cobb has been shot cause Deputy had twitchy hands. Damn you, you idiot. This is why you are dead. He shot Cobb which mean everyone in “Freetown” is gonna kill you all.

Oh my god, they blew up the club. What the hell.

Luke this is a shit school. Aw it’s a little chainmail top. Grogu immediately going to grab it and Luke be like “hold up”. Grogu really went ‘what do you mean one’. Wrong then to say there Luke. That made it an easy decision. He wants his dad. Bye Luke.

Oh that’s the end. Well alright then. Last episode here we go.

[unwhithered]

Mistletoe for Ahsoka and the clones? (Platonic will do XD) Thank you!

“What’s that?” Fives asks, looking up at the ceiling with the same eye-flicker-and-squint that would activate the zoom on his helmet cameras. Bare headed and dressed in something approximating a Republic military dress uniform it just makes him look ridiculous.

Ahsoka tips her head back as far as her rear lekku allows and joins him in squinting at the bundle of twigs and greenery hanging from the ceiling of their little alcove. She sniffs, hoping for a scent she can identify, but any smell the plant may give off is drowned out by the cloying perfumes worn by members of the system’s upper classes mingling nearby. She wrinkles her nose and retreats further into the shadows where it only smells of standard issue GAR soap and Fives’ nervous sweat. Fearless on the battlefield, her favorite ARC Trooper is twitchy and shy in the presence of a few hundred dignitaries falling over themselves to thank him and a handful of officers from the 501st for their role in liberating their capitol planet. Always expecting a threat and plotting five different exit strategies.

“I think it’s...mistletoe?”

Fives glances from her to the plant and back again. “I don’t have my HUD. I dunno what that means, sir.”

“It’s a plant they use as a holiday decoration in this system. I...don’t remember the name of the holiday. But I remember thinking the mistletoe was funny.”

“Funny?” he perks up, as if it’s the first interesting thing he’s heard all night. It might be. The locals all seem to want to ask the same probing, insulting questions of the clones. “Funny how?”

“Funny because if you’re caught under the mistletoe with someone you’re supposed to kiss them,” she replies, her eyes twinkling with remembered mirth. Her cultural classes as an initiate seem so very long ago, and her memory for the fiddly details of sector specific traditions is hit-or-miss at best, written over by memorizations of maps and battle tactics, the weakest points on a B2 battle droid, how to field strip and clean a blaster rifle. “It’s bad luck not to.”

“Oh.” Fives’ breath catches, just for a second, and he looks so wide-eyed and young when Ahsoka glances at his profile. Younger than her, because that’s what he is, really. She wonders suddenly if he’s ever been kissed. She wonders if he wants to be. It’s not the sort of thing you can just come out and ask a subordinate, even one who’s a friend - Master Kenobi says that it’s particularly important to respect that power imbalance, and what little privacy the war allows any of them, because the troopers have so little freedom. 

Instead of asking, she leans over and kisses his cheek. Her lips are dry and his skin is raspy with stubble and it’s over in less than a second, but his cheek is flushed distinctly darker by the time she pulls away.

“Can’t afford anymore bad luck than this war’s already given us,” she explains with a shrug. “C’mon, let’s go save Rexter from that lady who’s trying to shuffle him under the mistletoe over there.”

[phoenixyfriend]

Time-Traveled Clones Give Anakin a Mental Breakdown

So @purronronner​ suggested the below on discord:

mental time travel au but it’s only clones (definitely Cody and/or Rex, possibly others)

Which we obviously all took and just... ran with. Contributors include Purrs, @the-lunar-system, and @atagotiak.

Initial brainstorming was just us trying to figure out how many clones did the mental travel, from when, etc. - Ended up deciding on 'significantly post-O66' and 'some but not all' - Mostly it's the angle that the only people who have an idea of what’s coming are the ones who aren’t even seen as people by most. THey have very little leverage to work with but they’ve gotta do something.

(I personally like the idea that Boba travels because Jango has to deal with the fact that His Baby Boy is suddenly much more adult and serious and also telling him that the whole Kamino thing is going to Destroy Everything Including Mandalore, And Revenge Against The Jedi Won't Be Worth It, but that idea got scrapped because he's got too much influence via dad.)

Rex and the clones that died when Rex & Ahsoka were escaping 66. Because Rex would probably be very regretful he couldn’t save them. The others would probably be understanding of the situation and even worse some of them would be thankful that he stopped them. - Strategic mass desertion via faked KIA reports as medics smuggle people out to investigate what's trying to kill the Jedi through the clones - Also they can manage a lot by doing surgeries and reprogramming Med droids and stuff. At the very least Palpatine can’t manage such a sudden and decisive victory without subverting the clones. The political angle is probably still a complicated mess but he can’t just snap his fingers and do a genocide, y’know? - IMO at least Fives is definitely on the list of time-travelers.

The Krell Situation is, uh... handled. Quickly. - Sometimes friendly fire just happens, you know? Accidents.

Mass Distrust of Anakin Skywalker - He knows they don't like him but has no idea why. - On the one hand, they loved them some TCW Anakin. On the other hand, look where that takes him...

Anakin keeps feeling like the clones are mourning him while he's standing right there. More than the other Jedi, even! All the Jedi feel vague grief from some of the clones, usually in a way that makes no sense, but the vibe they have around Anakin is a mindfuck. - Some of them want to get away and fast, some of them want to figure out how to fix him, none of them are at all happy with this.

He does one of those somewhat concerning TCW things where Imperial March plays faintly in the background, and while in the first timeline the clones would write it off as him being a little bit angrier than most Jedi (and he never takes it out on them, y’know?), this time they’re reacting… poorly. - They're scared of him this time. - And lbr the clones... while they’re largely good, moral people, have less rigid ethical rules than the Jedi and are more used to thinking of things in terms of us-vs-them as well as the Jedi-know-best conditioning, so they probably wrote off a lot the first time around (and now blame themselves, just a little, for Vader).

They, uh, they maybe get a bit twitchy... and the specific fear a few of "Vader's Fist" feel is so similar to the fear Anakin sensed around slaves in Gardulla's that he starts having flashbacks. - Anakin at one point spirals so deep into a flashback that he mutters something about how "she" is going to eat him and nobody can figure out who the fuck he's talking about, because nobody knows about Gardulla, possibly not even Obi-Wan, since that was TODDLER Anakin and while Watto may have come up, Obi-Wan probably didn't even think Anakin would have remembered toddler-age stuff, so Gardulla was never really discussed. - All anyone knows is that Anakin is fine with Ahsoka, so it's not her, but she's the only person on board using she/her pronouns so far since none of the clones are socially transitioning yet. - (Apparently Gardulla just ate her slaves sometimes? And Anakin had to live with the knowledge that that was a possibility for him? Until he was three? Fucked up, bro.) - (I'm just really invested in AUs where Anakin's 'not going evil' path kicks off in part with a breakdown where he can't keep himself in denial about the slavery element of the clones anymore.)

"They're scared of me." "Sir--" "They're scared the way we all were at Gardulla's what did I do?"

This would be pretty soon after Return to Tatooine, and Tatooine Three: Electric Boogaloo so Anakin is like... peak slave trauma rn anyway.

Anakin has a breakdown much earlier than in canon, and in precisely the opposite direction, loudly and blatantly enough that the Temple has to ground him for a bit, and even Palpatine can't get that overturned until the medics say so. - Also one of the key points: Anakin doesn’t resent it in the same way. - It’s uh. Less. The “The Jedi are afraid of my power (and Palpatine says that’s why I can’t just do what I want)” and more “the clones are afraid of my power (arguably with good reason)”

people above you fearing (+ limiting) you: hits right in the slave trauma people under you fearing you: still slave trauma but flipped all the way around

This is just back to back: - Mom died because you couldn't save her, on Slave Planet - You slaughtered an entire tribe of Tuskens, including the children, and have been putting a lot of effort into convincing yourself you're not a monster - You got chained up and threatened with public execution via Consumed by Big Thing (and are abruptly reminded of toddlerhood, where you were at risk of being Consumed by Gardulla, a Big Thing) - Clone army, basically slaves, can't think about that too hard or you'll freak out - (Secret marriage, which is stressful but not hitting the slave trauma button.) - You had to save a baby Hutt -- You had to help a slaver Hutt -- ON SLAVE PLANET AGAIN -- WHILE THE HUTT IS THREATENING TO KILL YOU - (Someone just GAVE YOU A CHILD, which is stressful but not hitting the slave trauma button.) - Half the clones treat you like a more impuslive Obi-Wan, and half of them are... scared and wary and you don't know what to do about that - You did something kinda fucked up and now half the slaves clones are fine and the other half feel like they're waiting for you to kill them in your anger - Fuck - Fuck

[jynappreciationsquad]

my youth is gone (and i know it)

Jyn meets an old friend of Saw’s.

*

Jyn feels the woman before she sees her. She’s not sure how; there’s a buzz in the air, in her body. Her necklace burns in the hollow of her throat. Living with Partisans has made her paranoid beyond belief but it’s what keeps her alive. At 14, Jyn still finds herself struggling to discern a friend from a threat. Among the barracks she has acquaintances, but Saw won’t let her stay in one place too long. People tend to gravitate towards her. She thinks he’s afraid they’ll start to follow her instead of him, or maybe he’s scared to be without her too long.

On this day when the woman comes Jyn is in new barracks, scrubbing pots on kitchen duty. Her arms were already sore from training, and trying to clean the burnt bits from the pan worsened the ache.

There was no other training for the day, no missions. She could get away with a rare mid-afternoon nap if she cleaned hard enough.

It was with that thought that the woman came in, and the universe told Jyn to pause.

(read the rest under the cut, or here on ao3)

*

“I was told Saw’s daughter was in here.”

Jyn wanted to clutch the chain around her neck. She squeezed her ragged nails into her palms, trying to feel grounded.

She wasn’t ashamed to be Saw’s daughter; at this point it wasn’t a lie. They weren’t like most families. She wouldn’t call them a family at all really. They’re more like a cohesive unit, a nameless piece of a larger whole that is the Partisans.

Times like these, she wanted her Mama.

“That’s me,” Jyn answered, still scrubbing. She’d wait to turn around, see if it gave her the upper hand.

The woman sighed but kept her voice steady. “How long have you been here?”

“Since I was born.”

“Really?”

Jyn turned now, off-put by the woman’s sarcasm. Purple lekku peeked out of a white robe. The woman’s face stayed shaded but Jyn could see the slope of her orange nose, and expressive eyes.

“Are you a friend of Saw’s?” Jyn asked, refusing to answer more questions about herself. The woman’s eyes looked lost for a moment before they refocused.

“I don’t know anymore. I haven’t seen him yet.”

Alarm bit Jyn; there’s no way a visitor could be in the barracks without Saw knowing. She catalogues the weapons on her: nothing but a small vibroblade in her boot. There’s the pot she’s been manhandling for the past 20 minutes, and a plain cooking knife laid out to dry that could be in reach if she moved strategically.

The woman isn’t openly carrying a weapon. Her arms look strong and she’s taller than Jyn by a head and shoulders, but that didn’t mean anything. What did matter was how Jyn felt…the air moved differently around the woman. It was hard to describe but she just knew this woman could kick her ass. Could kick anyone on base’s ass.

Desperately she allowed herself the time to hope the woman was Saw’s friend and not an Empire villain really good at getting what they want.

“Maybe I could give you my name and we could go from there?”

Jyn nodded.

“I’m Ahsoka.”

“Kestrel.”

Ahsoka didn’t look taken aback by Jyn’s shortness; she did arch an eyebrow, making Jyn wonder if Ahsoka could tell she was lying…

They moved from their standoff in the kitchen to a rickety card table and some wooden chairs Jyn had helped nail back together. The nearby hallway was quiet— normally she’d be able to hear yelling, sometimes laughing, a handful of different languages all smushed together. It was as if everything stopped and mellowed out.

The silence was disconcerting. Jyn tapped her fingers against her seat, the muffled thumps making her feel a little better.

Across from her, Ahsoka took off her cloak. Her lekku were bright purple and white and her markings stood stark against her orange skin. She wore work clothes, breeches that looked like they were for creature riding, and a light linen top. Definitely from off-world. Their current base wasn’t Jyn’s home world but she became familiar with their customs— especially the lack of any kind of transportation that wasn’t walking. Jyn heard other Partisans talk about animals they’d ridden before— blurrgs in the desert, something called tauntauns on a snowy planet. Desolate places usually had creatures. Where they were now had too many trees. Animals here hid from danger, which mean they hid from all the Partisans. Jyn couldn’t blame them.

She lets her curiosity get the best of her.

“You ride banthas?”

“Where I just came from, yeah. Didn’t have time to change.”

“If it’s something important shouldn’t you have just found Saw?”

The woman doesn’t look in a hurry. She’s casually hunched in the chair, elbows on the table and head in her hands. She almost looked like she belonged.

“He’ll be in here soon, I left a note. You know last time I saw him, he didn’t have a child.”

Ahsoka did know she was lying, but she didn’t seem mad. More sarcastic. Searching for an answer she know she won’t get.

She knows more than she’s saying, Jyn thought.

“I haven’t been alive forever,” Jyn chooses to say.

The Togruta’s laughter filled the kitchen. It broke the spell immediately; Jyn recognized insect buzzes again, and the soldiers Ahsoka must’ve tricked sounded boisterous down the hall (not recognizing they were compromised).

Before Ahsoka could say anything, Jyn heard Saw’s heavy footsteps. The laughing and talking stopped. He was saying something; new orders. Extreme workouts, the man-in-charge probably being sent off world on a suicide mission as they speak.

If Ahsoka truly knew Saw, she’d have known she was signing those men’s death sentence once she tricked them.

Her hearing must be good too. Jyn heard her whisper to herself “What did I do…”

Jyn wanted to tell her Saw’s a genius and he’s fucking crazy, she believes in his crazy, this is the only way we can stop the Empire, but the man himself walks into the kitchen, ragged and out-of-breath, and tells Jyn to leave.

*

Saw doesn’t know she’s here, but Ahsoka has too. The two went back to his “office,” which is just his teeny private room, no window, bedroll on the floor and kettle in the corner on the makeshift table. They argued in normal voices, unusual because Saw always thought he was being spied on.

“Don’t hurt your officers. It’s not their fault I got through.”

Jyn heard a harsh intake of breath turn into a rough cough.

“They’ve been trained to resist anything. You got through so it means they need to train more.”

“Not until they die.”

“You still carry around those ideals? They did nothing for you, and they’ll get us all killed. Sacrifices have to be made if the Rebellion plans on defeating the Empire.”

Silence stretched on for minutes. Jyn was scared they noticed her, that Saw would admonish her and make her run around the compound until she was sick.

(She didn’t dare think he’d send her away, like he did with others when they messed up. She was too good, and she always had his back.)

“Who’s the girl Saw?”

Jyn moved herself slightly behind the door to peek through the opening. She only saw Ahsoka’s face and the back of Saw’s head. He gave nothing away—no twitchy movements, no rubbing his neck the way he did when he was liability-drunk and she had to drag him away before he spilled secrets.

“She’s my daughter.”

Ahsoka gave a bland smile; it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Jyn, she’s force sensitive you know.”

Now that got a reaction. Saw sat up straight, hands clenched tight. Jyn too felt panic; she remembered her mother’s last words to her: Trust the Force. Throughout all her life, the changes she’s been through, she tried to obey her Mama. It hurt her to think it was a bad thing.

“Do you think…” Saw trailed off.

“Not a Jedi. But it enough it probably helps her fighting power, even as a child.”

At that moment Ahsoka tilted her head up slightly, shifting her eyes to the door. She knew there was an eavesdropper. Probably knew exactly who it was. Jyn felt rooted to the spot. All she could do was grasp at her necklace, the crystal warm in her palm.

“It’s kyber,” Ahsoka said. Saw was still tense but he acted like that phrase wasn’t a surprise.

“Her mother was a believer,” he replied, starting to move out of his seat. At that moment Jyn realized she needed to go anywhere else. She took one more look at Ahsoka, who had draped her cloak back over her lekku, memorizing her face in case she ever saw her again. She hadn’t decided if she was 100% a friend, but she spoke casually with Saw and that counted for something.

Jyn ran slunk down the hall, not quite running but bouncing quick off her toes. The crystal got hotter for a moment as it bounced against her chest.

Kyber… Jyn had never heard of it before. She wondered if it was important. She wondered if her mother knew anything about it; what she believed in that involved it.

Long ago Jyn had promised herself to stop asking those kinds of questions about her parents. It didn’t matter. They were gone. But on her way back to the bunks all she could think was how she badly she wanted to ask Mama everything about her. Everything she never had the chance to share. Maybe then she’d be a believer too.

[padawansuggest]

In the Broken Thread (follow tag to see what that is if confused, as always, my cohesive AUs are always connected by a singular tag) Cody is very firm about Obi-Wan/Ben (he only really goes by Ben after the war, and mostly around vode and Anakin and Padme) having a choice in just about everything they do. It’s confusing sometimes, since Obi-Wan is genuinely so used to being either forced or strongheld into just about most things. He’s used to having no OTHER choice. He’s used to having so few choices that the overall end doesn’t matter, it’s sort of like deciding to paint a wall and only really being able to choose between specific shades of grey. He’s used to that.

Cody likes giving him choices. Ones that don’t stress him out tho, since Obi-Wan is so unused to them that bigger choices (what planet they might eventually settle on if Obi-Wan ever wants to leave the order or just retire to, big things like that) will stress him out because he’s never given thought to such a massive decision before. (Plus the fact that the one time he almost ended up living somewhere else, was a series of non-choices that lead to a lasting trauma and the realization that he lives by the will of others and nothing short of a slave collar around his neck could convince HIS chosen master to take him on, and Cody had damn near broken a table when he heard about that one.)

Obi-Wan secretly loves being given these choices. Right or left side of the bunk. Top or bottom in bed. The fact that he’s decided he likes choices so much pretty much declared right there that being in charge wasn’t his thing, but the CHOICE to put his physical being and decision making into Cody’s hands, where he felt vulnerable and charged, never knowing when the next touch would come, never knowing where that mouth was going next. That was both a choice, and a choice to non-choose where things go. It was delightful.

Cody kept giving him choices. Caff or tea. Bacta lube or that fancy stuff that Anakin keeps throwing at them in embarrassment because apparently his wife gets bored and spoils him with gifts when she’s lonely and he’s Never Going To Use That Much Lube Padme Plz. Little spoon or big.

Obi-Wan’s shocked at all the choices presented to him now that there’s a person in his life that knows how important they are. He didn’t know he would have to consider so many things until his life finally (for the first time, probably ever), felt like it wasn’t an inevitable ball of forward motion propelling at a rate he didn’t control and too tired to stop. Cody stopped for him. Asked if he felt good. Asked if he’s eaten recently. Asked if he’d like to touch or if he was too tired to want more than an arm around his waist and sleep.

He... he’s never been asked before if he’d prefer not to have sex right now. That’s... that’s a trauma he’s going to wait till he felt safe to unpack later. Thinking about it made him feel a little twitchy and nervous. He’s found himself getting more protective over strangers (that weren’t clones, who were rarely counted as strangers, and more rarely still, untrusted, even then) getting close to Anakin or Ahsoka, and he knows they can tell, and they’re worried about why.

He’s not ready to unpack that yet. He remembers the low way that Master would growl at strangers getting close to Obi-Wan when he was young and still uninterested in sex and touch and the way people would look at him with blatant appreciation that he later in life took advantage of to use to their distraction.

Did he even LIKE sex? He liked sex with Cody. He liked the way Cody looked at him, trailed his hands up and down his back while Obi-Wan arched into his touch with little noises that he’s finding, come out without his say so, that little choice taken away from him in a way that heated his stomach and left him aching.

He liked Cody. Did he like sex with others? He HAD sex with others, before, and sometimes he looked back on those and thought ‘that’s in the past, best not dwell on that’. But he found himself dwelling on Cody’s touch, wondering when it would come again, thinking of his past touch on Obi-Wan’s body and aching with the need to have that again. Sometimes just aching for his presence. Sometimes aching inside like something was missing. Sometimes mentally, sometimes physically. He ached.

He looked back on past touch from other people and his stomach turned. He didn’t think it was because he and Cody had some great epic love that could overcome all boundaries and leave him ruined for anyone else. He thinks... he let touch come to him, let others use him, let himself be a distraction to others who would otherwise harm those around him. He let that all come too soon.

He hadn’t liked any of their touch. He craves choice. He didn’t have a choice then. He had a decision to keep someone safe, or, for them not to be safe. That’s not a choice. That doesn’t feel like a choice. He knew now, what choice felt like.

Cody felt like a choice. One he kept choosing. One he hoped he’d always want to choose.

One he didn’t feel fear of pain, if he ever choose otherwise.

Ben knew what a choice was. And he had the pleasure of being picky and maybe even faulty in his decisions. He’s delighted with every choice he’s allowed to make, and can’t wait to make more.