#I know this one isn't just jfo

[incorrect-jfo]

Ezra: Man, I want to be as cool as Cal.

Kanan: I once saw him drop a piece of pizza and cry for 20 minutes.

[spidezer]

this is one of The most misinterpreted scenes from jfo tbh

i see so many people saying "oh its cal trying to deal with the shitshow around him with humour" or "he's being sassy" and like. No. you can hear it in his voice!

he's terrified.

cal just watched this absolutely mechanical monster of a man kill trilla like it was nothing. he knows with one flick of his wrist vader can send him hurtling over the edge just as he did to cere moments before this. he's scared to hell and back.

this isn't some sort of show of bravery or coping, this is a real response from cal. this is him acknowledging that surrendering WOULD be the wisest choice, but if he surrendered the holocron would be lost. all of their work would be for nothing, cere's "death" would be for nothing, and cal would die knowing those force sensitive children are now in the empire's hands. he's can't not fight, he can't not desperately try to run through vader's home territory looking for an escape. if cere hadn't intercepted, i wouldn't be surprised if cal's final act was to destroy the holocron and not attempt to take vader down with him like some others might.

that "Yeah, probably." is the words of someone who knows there's a high chance this'll end in death, and fights it anyway

[applecrumbledore]

JFO is "John Finds Out," isn't it? I'm so excited for your take on that! How far along are you? Do you have a snippet you might share with us?

(this is also for you @phynali who asked the same thing) JFO is indeed John Finds Out!

but, I've stalled with it. I don't like it much and might not finish it. it feels flat and uninteresting and I don't know how to fix it. it's possible my heart just isn't in it. here is a snippet

—

Sometimes, John could ignore it. A hundred thousand years of human evolution sat between him and this unthinkable thing, and it wanted him to be sane and happy. That made it easier to ignore than to think about. Sometimes it was harder.

They were still in Maine, but upstate, chasing a lead. At another faceless gas station, John waited outside in the caustic August sun. The boys were inside getting snacks, and John felt testy, worn out and ragged for no reason, or not one he felt like naming. 

The boys came out into the heat with a jangle of the bell above the gas station door.

They were empty-handed, John noticed first. 

In that first second over the threshold, when the shadow of the building still cut Dean's face in two—because all of this was glimpsed in seconds, never blatant, never enough to hold onto—Dean wiped the back of his hand over his mouth. His face was red, but not as red as Sam's, as Sam passed into the light a step behind him.

They both went to get into the car. They didn't stop until John said, "What, they’re out of food?"

It was Dean's face that locked down this time. Perfectly placid. Sam looked startled, if only for a moment.

Dean said, "They didn't have your brand of jerky. Second choice?"

John stared at him. His mouth looked… 

"Slim Jims," John said, "same as always."

Dean nodded. "Yessir."

He turned on his heel and went back inside. Sam was already in the car. 

[breakfastteatime]

Cal got a hug in the gif (from the Wookie) and we love that. But he needs an intentional hug *for him*. Like, he's with someone and they recognize a need for comfort coming from him. Either he's had a hard day, or he's disassociating from his past, or he's talking about a difficult time but trying to brush it off... And that person does an italic Oh. Oh, he needs a hug. And just goes in for a hug and it's as long as Cal needs it to be. He needs that kind of hug.

Anon, I absolutely LOVE this. I LOVE IT.

BD-1 is small. He can't give Cal big hugs, but he can still offer little ones when Cal's having a bad day. Cal's legs and arms are about the best BD can do, or a nudge to the head. Cal gets a lot of little hugs after Ilum. He gets even more after Nur.

Greez isn't exactly a big guy, but he's way bigger than BD-1, and he has four arms, all of which are good for hugs. He's the one who accidentally on purpose voted himself to be the official Wake Up Cal crew member. One time he goes back and finds Cal awake but staring into space, like that might be the only way he doesn't have a complete breakdown. BD looks to Greez and the noise the little droid makes doesn't require translating. Greez calls to Cal, makes sure he's not in the middle of some weird Jedi thing, and when the kid looks at him with huge, tear-filled eyes, he can't help himself. Greez pulls Cal into his arms, hugs him tight, and tells him whatever it is, he can either talk now, talk later, or never talk, so long as he doesn't mind the occasional Greezy Hug (patent pending). Cal offers a tiny, wobbly laugh and clings on until he's good and ready to let go.

Merrin is a hugger. Everyone aboard the ship just accepts this. Cal gets the most because (according to Merrin) he is the most in need of them. As the youngest organic sentient lifeform aboard the Mantis, he requires additional nurture. Initially bemused (and in genuine pain because ow, he had a hole in his chest), Cal learns to accept Merrin's affectionate ways.

Cere is there for him after Nur. No one understands it like she does. No one knows what that monster under the ocean felt like, the darkness seeping from him, the unimaginable power he wielded. Cere is there after the nightmares, when his wounds need tending, when he just needs someone to hug him and tell him he's alright, he survived, he protected those children. She's the one who tells him how proud she is, how proud Master Tapal would be. She's the one who lets him hold on until he's asleep and stays so there's someone with him when the nightmares kick in. Cere's hugs feel like home. Thanks for the Ask, anon. If I ever do more with this (AAAH SO TEMPTED BUT ALSO AAAAAAAAAH SO MANY WiPS), I'll let you know!

(Wanna chat JFO headcanons? Drop me an Ask!)

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

This isn't anything important, but I just realized the one of the Inquisitors in Star Wars JFO mentions The Grand Inquisitor when they say something along the lines like, "I told The Grand Inquisitor you wouldn't be so simple-minded to come back here." Or something similar. I don't know, it was just good to hear him referenced lol

That is nice! My husband is going to be re-playing it before the next one comes out and I told him this time he has to actually wait till I'm home to play it so I can watch. It came out like right before COVID so he was off work and I wasn't and I missed most of his first playthrough. I remember bits and pieces, that's all.

I'm sooooo excited for this next one it looks amazing.

[corelliaxdreaming]

SWrarepairs 2023 Dear Creator Letter

This was so not supposed to be 2,000+ words, wtf...

First of all, thank you for writing for me! (And thank you for dealing with this massive letter omg.) No matter what, I absolutely can’t wait to see what you come up with. I’m pretty easy as far as fics go. If you want to ignore everything in this post and only incorporate the pairing, that’s fine! I enjoy anything from tooth-rotting fluff to soul-rending angst, any rating at all, and I only have a few DNWs. I’d prefer no noncon/dubcon/cheating/violence/etc between the main ship, but if they’re included elsewhere, as long as there’s a heads-up, that’s fine. I don't mind hard angst such as character death, even characters in the requested ship. Also please try to refrain from amatonormativity/compulsory sexuality – philosophies that all people inherently desire romance/sex and would be happier without them. As an aromantic asexual myself, I love a good ship, but that stuff isn't for every single person.

As for what I do like, my very favorite thing in the world is hurt/comfort, particularly of the emotional variety. If, even metaphorically, someone is crying and someone is hugging them, I am very happy. Being an anxiety sufferer myself, I also have a soft spot for seeing characters dealing with mental illness stuff, anxiety and depression particularly, especially if their partner/s are there being super supportive and helping them through it. I've also recently started therapy and working on my own coping skills, and I love to see my faves using them to help themselves/each other. Any kind of porn with feelings also never goes amiss. Being aroace, I absolutely love to see my faves being represented as on either or both of those spectrums. I know this is a romantic/sexual-based exchange, but if you felt like throwing in a queerplatonic relationship as well (or instead? Is that legal?), I'm all for that.

As you can probably tell from my request list, my absolute favorite part of Star Wars is the fighter pilots. I love the angst inherent in the constant battles and always being on call and losing people. The stress and exhaustion. Pilot/pilot pairings knowing they could lose the other in battle at any time. Pilot/non-pilot pairings with the non-pilot feeling so helpless as they watch their partner go off to fight and so relieved when they come back. Commanders hurting because they care about their pilots so much yet there’s only so much they can do to protect them, and every death hurts so much. Just – pilot feels!!

For similar reasons, I love JFO. Cal is a perfect character for me – all angsty and hurt and sad but also determined to do the right thing and learning and growing and u g h. He just needs a nice boyfriend.

I know we're carefully separating different SW sub-fandoms, and that's kind of complicated, but I will mention I prefer the Legends side of things when there's a choice (unless stated otherwise). But I'm not a canon hater, and it’s always interesting to see where what can happen when the two get mixed together. The X-wing book series (and the era in general) is by far my favorite time period. I’m currently reading NJO: Star by Star and will be finished by the time of reveals, so if possible I’d prefer something without (or with very light) spoilers past the end of that book. I'm also interested in seeing things set during this time.

I prefer to see any OC/OC ships with unspecified genders be queer in at least one way – whether it be one or both of then is trans/enby, mspec, acespec, arospec, etc etc. That doesn't necessarily mean they can't be m/f, but queer aspects, please. :)

I think we still include our own AO3 links on these just in case, so here’s that – https://archiveofourown.org/users/icandrawamoth/profile.

As for thoughts on the particular pairings I requested:

Wedge Antilles/Wes Janson (C-EU)

I'm interested in how the Fab Four's relationships change in canon now that Tycho is out of the picture. Especially with Wes and Wedge, once Hobbie is also gone post-Hoth. Two FACPOV stories have shown us these two are close, with Wes being Rogue Squadron's XO. Surely I wasn't the only one who thought for a hot second they were gonna hook up in the ROTJ one?

Wyl Lark/Sonogari (C-EU)

The books tell us this relationship just sort of didn't work out, and I respectfully disagree. Wyl deserves a nice, soft boyfriend to help him will of his nice, softness (and sadness) – even if he does die later.

Original Downed Rebel Pilot/Original Farmer Hiding Them From the Authorities (OT) Original Overworked Rebellion Therapist/Original Overworked Rebellion Medic (OT)

These both seem like great opportunities for h/c! Especially the therapist/medic. Such mutual potential angst and comfort. :D

Idealistic Resistance Pilot/Jaded Former Rebellion Pilot (ST)

This sounds like fun. I'd prefer to not see it that the Resistance pilot just “fixes” the Rebellion pilot's views. Maybe more like they affect each other and more both come closer to the middle of that binary.

Pilot Who Stayed With the New Republic/Their Resistance Pilot Lover (ST)

Juicy! Would love to see it focus on their different ideologies, especially if it's one of my fave things where the NR pilot doesn't necessary disagree with the Resistance but just isn't the kind of person who can leave their whole life behind and live like that – and they can still do good where they are. Would love to see the Resistance pilot understand this, even if they are frustrated by it. And at the end of day, even if they don’t quite see eye to eye, their love is strong.

Tallissan Lintra/Paige Tico (ST)

I still ask myself constantly how I fell in love with Tallie with like five seconds of screentime and two lines of dialogue, but here I am. Paige is my fave lady to ship her with. I like the dynamic that it's very much Tallie's actual job to protect Paige while in battle. (I know I can't actually request additional character, so totally feel free to ignore the rest of this section.) It's be nice to see Tallie be friends with Rose, as with the sisters being so close, I feel like that would be a thing. Quadruple bonus points for any mention of Tallie's sister, Kallie, who was mentioned for like two sentences in the ROTJ junior novel.

Cal Kestis (JFOS)/Wyl Lark (C-EU)

When I absolutely fell in love with Cal even before JFO came out, I needed a good boy to ship him with. The game didn't really provide, so I went looking elsewhere in the saga and came up with my other favorite good, soft boy at the time: Wyl Lark. I played with the idea of Cal somehow getting cryofrozen or whatever and waking up the same age in Wyl's time, or Wyl somehow getting transported to Cal's time, but if you choose to write this, is whatever you wanna. Also a fan of Force-sensitive Wyl. Obviously you're not beholden to this, but I headcanon Cal as asexual bi and Wyl as demisexual pan.

Bode Akuna/Cal Kestis (JFOS)

And then Survivor gave us Bode! At first my headcanons with them were very soft, and then – oof, that reveal. Really anything goes here that involves these two genuinely caring for each other. Canon-compliant, AUs, whatever. I don't tend to read/write a lot of Jedi, and I've loved what I've seen of these two connecting through the Force if that comes out in time. I also looove the idea of Cal being a virgin when he gets together with Bode and Bode being all gentle and caring and leading him through his first time. (I mentioned above no dubcon/noncon, and I know some people would consider Bode's identity stuff that – I'm cool with this pairing, no matter how you play that.) As mentioned above, though you're obviously not beholden to it, I do headcanon Cal as asexual (and both he and Bode as bi), and it would also be cool to see them figuring this out together.

Wedge Antilles/Tycho Celchu (Any), Wedge Antilles/Tycho Celchu (Legends)

*yelling* My #1 OTP! 10/10 will adore anything where they’re together. Something set during that first six months after Tycho’s defection where Wedge was afraid to get close to him and wouldn’t even call him by his first name? Yep. Any type of Lusankya-related angst? Yep. Trial-related angst? Yep. Tycho comforting Wedge when the burdens of command are too much? Yep. Wedge comforting Tycho when the burdens of command are too much? Yep. Anything about what they're doing during all that off-page time in early NJO? Yep. Role-reversals of any kind? Yep. Literally anything? Yeeeep. (Bonus points if anything with Tycho set in NJO features him Not Vibing with the Jedi's pacifism bs.) Genuinely my favorite thing in the world is to just beat one of these guys (usally Tycho, but either way is great) over the head with angst and pain until they break, then have the other one gently put them back together/help them put themselves back together. <333

Nejaa Halcyon/Scerra Halcyon/Rostek Horn (Legends)

Look me in the eye tell me there wasn't something with these three. (Okay, I respect it being what it is canonically, but also.)

Tycho Celchu/Corran Horn (Legends)

You know those things you start shipping as a joke and then – oops, feelings? Yeah. At some point along the way, I just got really invested in these two being friends, and I’m interested in that becoming into romance as well. I especially love the idea of them really bonding after Corran’s return from Lusankya, with having that shared trauma between them. Corran leaning on Tycho to help him though it, Tycho finally having someone to talk to who really gets what he went through. Or maybe it’s before that, Corran trying to deal with being attracted to Tycho while also not trusting him? Big headcanons on Corran being bi and not quite ready to accept it. The two of them struggling while in quarantine on the Lusankya together. Or even something later on, once all of that is done with and they trust each other and are flying together. Tycho is pretty eager to jump to help Corran during I, Jedi. Or maybe Tycho supporting Corran through his exile nonsense in NJO? (Bonus points if anything with Tycho set in NJO features him Not Vibing with the Jedi's pacifism bs.) Anything goes.

Wedge Antilles/Corran Horn (Legends)

That said, I also got a little spark of “what if this pairing?” on my last X-wing reread. Maybe something to do with Wedge's reluctance to get close to the new Rogues, but Corran getting under his skin anyway? Nothing really specific, just intrigued by this premise.

Wedge Antilles/Tycho Celchu/Luke Skywalker (Legends), Tycho Celchu/Luke Skywalker (Legends)

With the popular pairing being Wedge/Luke, and my personal OTP being Wedge/Tycho, I'm just kinda interested in smooshing those two together. Maybe two are already together and third pines? Idk. On a similar note, just Tycho/Luke. Again, nothing real specific for these two pairings either, just find the idea interesting. (I am intrigued by the possibility of Force-sensitive Tycho, so maybe that could be something to play with?)

Wedge Antilles/Broak Vessery (Legends)

The always-wonderful Rogue Podron podcast put me onto this one with how they talked up Vessery and his interactions with Wedge. I like what similar characters these two guys are: both skilled pilots, super dedicated to the people flying with them. Not exactly allies, but not exactly enemies, being forced to work together for a greater goal. I like the idea of something happening between them on Isard's base, like non-even-quite-friends-with-benefits, just an understanding of each other as people and blowing off steam, maybe getting some comfort. Again, I know I can't really request additional characters, but bonus points for Tycho opining on the situation, whether he doesn't like it or is encouraging.

Wedge Antilles/Tycho Celchu/Wes Janson/Derek “Hobbie” Klivian (Legends)

Ah, the classic OT4. I just love how these four are always together in the X-wing fics. Friends, lovers, any combination among them? Golden. Just some random ideas: How the four of them got together and in what order. Dealing with Wedge being the only one there when Tycho got back from Lusankya and Wes and Hobbie not being able to see him for some time. Dealing with their separation while Hobbie and Tycho are with the Rogues and Wedge and Wes are with the Wraiths. Or, y'know, anything. ;)