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ultraericthered · 4 years

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Anime Update 33

CLANNAD After Story - Hey, this series had two young characters getting married and settling into their new life as a newlywed couple, dedicated an episode to that, and actually made it engaging to watch! Suck on that, Joe Quesada! This episode pretty much had two moods two it: wholesome and hilarious, often coming in one after the other. Tomoya and Nagisa’s awkwardness during Nagisa’s bath time? Hilarious. Their talk on their floor beds concerning Nagisa getting a job of her own? Wholesome (Normally the stuff Nagisa said would raise death flags, but that notion is just unthinkable to most people that it might not cross their minds). Akio dressing up like a radical young rapper to accompany Tomoya to the restaurant Nagisa works at? Hilarious. (I swear this guy just gets stranger and sillier by the episode) Tomoya bemoaning the fact that the high school building where he and Nagisa had spent so much precious time at is getting torn down, and Nagisa consoling him? Wholesome. And then the end with Nagisa’s pregnancy reveal, complete with Nagisa dramatically declaring to her parents “We had sex and sex makes babies!”? A truly bizarre mix of both as only this series could deliver.

Dragon Ball - And that’s it for Tao Pai Pai! Sort of a shame to see him go after just 7 episodes - he was the best villain in this saga and at the time was the best villain in the whole series aside from Pilaf. But whereas Pilaf is a largely comedic villain, Tao is dark in a way that was unprecedented in the series prior to his arrival. Actually no - Goku turning into a great ape and killing his own grandpa was dark. The climax at Muscle Tower was dark. The stuff with the pirates was dark. Tao is flat out disturbing. His part in these episodes starts with him grabbing a small, defenseless child in a stranglehold and then trying to very bluntly murder him. Most intense few minutes this anime gave us to this point. Not only that, his involvement in the plot has caused Goku’s quest to completely change gears. Beforehand he just wanted his grandpa’s Dragon Ball back, but now he’s willing to part with it again just to wish Bora back to life with all seven balls thanks to Tao having killed him. While the Goku VS Tao rematch definitely didn’t fall short of expectations, there were parts that did bug me a little. When Tao decided he’d go up Korin Tower and drink the sacred water himself in order to even things with Goku, a part of me could just tell that this wasn’t in the original manga, and sure enough, it wasn’t. I did like seeing Tao and Korin interacting, and it tied this mini-arc together in a very neat way, but Tao ends up right back where he was before anyway so it was ultimately pointless and just there to pad things out before Tao bit the dust. And the filler scenes at Kame House were just painful. The anime has a problem with Flanderizing characters whenever it goes off with scenes of it’s own invention: Yes, Master Roshi is a pervert, but this is not how he usually goes about being one. He doesn’t just creep on teenage girls and try to ogle them with no prompts for it whatsoever. That aside, this was a good mini-arc wrap up that segues into the final battle with the Red Ribbon Army, which I’d certainly say it’s about damn time for.

Love Live! - There was no suspense whatsoever in Episode 25. There was never a doubt in my mind that µ's was going to emerge the winners of Love Live. After everything they’d gone through and all we’d seen established of them in the previous episodes, how could they not? What I appreciated was that the episode didn’t try to force any suspense. It took it’s time, had the girls enjoy themselves, reflect on their final training course together, get together for a school sleepover, have this really great moment where they overlook the entire lit-up city at night, and make their way to Love Live for their last concert. “KiRa-KiRa Sensation” was no “Snow Halation” but it was pretty up there in terms of µ's songs, and an epic number for them to present to Love Live. But their most triumphant moment is what followed, as the entire crowd called out for more from them, clearly the favorite among all the school idol groups present. What Honoka told Eli in that mostly vacant auditorium back in Episode 3 rings in Honoka’s mind, getting her very choked up over how far she and her friends have made it. And in a mind blowing twist, it turns out that the Season 1 opening, all along, was µ's encore performance at Love Live. Their fate was hiding from us in plain sight the whole time.

The final episode is one of those types of final episodes that I really like - one where the main conflict or plot has been resolved already so it spends it’s run time just letting everything unwind as we say goodbye to the setting and characters. While it’s not the most emotionally stirring final episode involving a graduation I’ve seen in anime (looking at you, Angel Beats!), it was perfectly serviceable for what it was. A sort of problem with the last four episodes is that they’re all following “Melody of the Heart”, the best episode in the series, so you can feel it when those heights aren’t being reached again, but I will say that the moment of the graduation ceremony itself, with Honoka’s surprise song for her Third Year friends, really touched me. This season and it’s story events on the whole were much better than the first season (it dawned on me after it was done that the Blues Brothers-esque “save the school” thing just plain didn’t come up in this last episode, we’re so far past that!), and it’s finale was no exception to that rule...which made it kind of disappointing when it’s actual ending was. For all it’s faults, the first season finale (Episode 13) picked a very good moment and image to end on, yet here, the episode had the perfect ending in it’s grasp: the girls leaving the school rooftop for the final time, Honoka seeing all the memories playing, thinking to herself that they saw their mission through to the end, and everyone walking out as that “Love and Peace” song played. Just one final goodbye and they’d have nailed it. But what happens instead? A wacky moment where Hanayo gets some emergency message that freaks her out and makes her drag all her friends behind her, like µ's isn’t disbanding after all, and then we’re treated to this totally random and bizarre parade song and dance number from µ's, which ends with Honoka addressing the audience directly with words that honestly came off as unintentionally creepy. And then it just ends! That’s how we close it out? WEAK.

Next week: the REAL final concert and disbanding of µ's!

My-HIME - So this is like, the second festival episode we’ve had? Considering that the last one was when we saw Miyu kill a guy, I was a bit on edge, but not much happened here - it was just a nice refresher to get us up to speed on the existing HIME girls, HIME lore, and the dark dealings going on behind the school before shit hit the fan at the very end. We also got some romantic entanglements with Mai going out with Raito at the festival only to make Tate jealous and expose the feelings she and Tate have for each other, which in turn makes Shiho jealous and enraged at Mai. But what about Mikoto? It’s so obvious she’s the one who loves Mai the most out of anyone!

Ace Attorney S2 - I’m definitely much more into this case at this point than I was when it started, as we’ve now learned about Dahlia Hawthorne’s death being a key part in this case, the mysterious letter from Morgan Fey that Pearl received, how Pearl was supposed to channel Dahlia’s spirit but didn’t really understand what the letter was telling her to do, the mystery of who did end up channeling Dahlia and where is she now, the true identity of the victim, the truth about Iris being Dahlia’s twin sister and how both of them are partially of the Fey clan bloodline, the murder weapon that was hidden in plain sight, and the continued skepticism about Maya’s whereabouts. Seeing Phoenix working with Franziska, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe on the investigation was great, and then we have Nick’s talk with Iris. I have to give it to Dani Chambers, who voices Iris (and Dahlia) - she really sells the character and makes her scenes a lot more interesting to watch than you’d think they’d be. And even while in prison, Morgan is a horrible, spiteful bitch. Fuck you, Morgan Fey!

Nadja of Tomorrow - The episode is titled “Farewell, Dandelion Troupe.” Due to Nadja being so distraught over her stolen brooch that he messes up a dance during a live performance, the Dandelion Troupe members come to blows with each other and George calls for a disbanding. Thus do the Troupe break up....APRIL FOOLS! They didn’t have the balls to follow through with it! But it did lead to a groan-worthy turn in the second act where Nadja overhears the Troupe going “This is all because we took Nadja in as one of us! We should never have done that!” and then after she runs away, the Troupe clarify they say this because Nadja’s presence with them and the publicity they get is what led Rosso and Bianco to finding Nadja’s location, so they blame themselves for what’s gone wrong in Nadja’s life rather than the other way around. Really? This show really just resorted to that cliche? This wasn’t the worst episode or anything, but was far from the best. The most value came from the ending, where we see that not only does Herman now have the brooch, but he has Rosemary as an active participant in his schemes who is all too willing to play the role of Nadja Preminger before his father and the rest of the family, and the way Rosemary carried herself here was just bone-chillingly creepy. So I’d say this marks the last “regular episode”. Next week’s a very irregular episode, and after that....

Mobile Fighter G Gundam - We’re given a break from Domon fights with this more light-hearted romantic comedy episode centered around Sai Saici. No Wong or Master Asia here! The start was kind of ridiculous with the monks stating that Mermaid Gundam would be Dragon Gundam’s next opponent while Mermaid Gundam’s current match was going on and hadn’t been decided yet so how the fuck did they know which Gundam was going to advance to the next round, but things picked up when Sai Saici went out on the town in his silly Kamina shades and met Cecile. The “romance” that followed was really more of a one-sided thing, as I got the impression Sai Saici was crushing harder on Cecile than she was on him, but it did give us a good showing of what an actually thoughtful, sweet, dedicated, good-hearted kid Sai Saici can be when he has something that really matters to him. The insert songs here actually worked in it’s favor in setting the right tones, and Sai Saici ultimately having to choose his mission for the Xiaolin Temple over his love for his opponent’s sister. But let’s talk about the climax, which was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on this show. The thugs from earlier show up in fucking robot suits to try and get revenge on Sai Saici. When Domon holds them up and calls Burning Gundam, he says “Rise, SHINING Gundam!” by mistake. And he beats the thugs...by tripping them. Burning Gundam just puts a foot out, trips one of the three robot suits into the other two so that they all fall into the water and are flailing about comically before sinking. The way the moment LOOKS really sells it, it has to be seen to be believed. It was just too much!

AND

Excel Saga, Extra Episode - Just as I returned to Toradora for Valentines Day, I returned to Excel Saga for April Fool’s day with the unaired 26th episode following the finale, titled “Going Too Far.” The experience was...less than pleasant. There were some parts I liked - all of Ilpalazzo’s scenes were great, I loved Cosette’s return, Excel and Hyatt’s interactions were as on point as ever, and the climax inside the love hotel got some laughs out of me, especially how it ended (”all problems can be solved with EXPLOSIONS!”). But most of it just wasn’t that funny and it boils down to a simple reason - the episode is dated. It was deliberately designed to be unsuitable for public broadcast when it was made. It’s title refers to the fact that it pushes the boundaries of what was acceptable to show and what they could get away with using for gags, which is why so much of the subject matter was dirty “adult” humor. It was outrageously risque and audacious in it’s day but now? There are things that HAVE been deemed suitable for broadcast that were far more shocking and appalling than what was presented in this episode. As a result, the episode now feels like simply a random Excel Saga episode where the people making it just snorted more crack than usual when they made it. Any bit of it that might’ve been “clever” in the past is lost on us, so it’s mostly just mindless and strange and stupid in a way that’s not particularly funny and leaves one feeling confused. I didn’t care for it, but I guess it was nice to spend one last time with ACROSS.

#Anime Update

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whenislunch · 7 years

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This summer I saw my favorite artist perform live on an island off of Manhattan that used to serve as a jail/mental health institution.

When Frank Ocean came out with his screen grabbed text file posted as a “photo” on Tumblr in 2012, I knew the platform was something special - the one niche he could safely post something so revealing and vulnerable and still not open himself to the direct hate-filled or homophobic comments of any other forum. I had signed up for Tumblr the year prior. I joined with the fantasy of becoming a famous food blogger (and later as a nail artist) so I could quit my publicity job and score all of the PR perks that I so readily dished out to any 'mommy' with a touch of digital pretense.

Personal space on the vast internet was never my craving. I resisted being too present, and enjoyed the ability to control how much I “put myself out there” on facebook, twitter, and later Instagram. With my original two tumblrs, like Frank, I could focus on sharing and following the things I cared the most about: in early cases, it was fan art of Bill Murray, gifs of Daft Punk, and mostly photos of food I had eaten from the everyday life of a new New Yorker discovering the cult nature of the restaurant scene (a similar practice to my behavior as a teen taking shitty photos at punk shows in St Pete, Florida to pin on my bedroom wall). Tumblr became my collection of “curated cool," and nobody cared how hard I was trying or what I put up there, except for me, and it became my favorite place on the internet. Eventually, I realized all of the writers I was admiring on The Awl were including their Tumblrs in their bios, and I was there to follow them. I saw Rebecca Black become a meme before her one-hit would become a wedding band wonder. If sitting at the open kitchen counter at an edison bulb-lit restaurant was the closest you could get to a food industry version of “backstage”, then a Tumblr dashboard filled with all of the blogging generation of the “fake news media” was the analogy. It’s human nature to want to be seen and understood. Selfies perform better than friendies on Instagram - and GPOY’s on Tumblr… well I challenge anybody on music.ly to define the acronym without that peeking at the Childish Gambino Genius page first.

And that’s the tip of the iceberg for where I stand with Tumblr now. After three years of hanging out in the same field, they invited me to meet them at the dugout. After four months of interviewing and pitching challenges and pretending like I was at a digital optimization workshop, I was offered a job. After five years, or nearly, I’m ready for another one. I had the BEST time and the BEST TEAM working at Tumblr. Sentiment is incalculable, and being the Comms professionals that we are, we can swear to the moon that the effect of press results on a brand is unquantifiable when one piece can qualitatively alter the nature of the public’s perception versus the reality of a goal. And I had the the immeasurable luxury to be surrounded by the smartest, most creative, intensely productive, and to borrow a food world phrase - hardiest colleagues in the history of the internet.

My first day at Tumblr also belonged to six others - together we endured a questionable onboarding interaction and then were sent with laptops and branded hoodies to our respective seats at our superdesks on various floors. There were dogs everywhere. I was told that I’d be introduced to the company on Friday and to submit two truths and a lie to help them get to know me. Here they are:

I have photo credits in the New York Times and New York Magazine

I appeared as a backup dancer in a rap video in high school

I watercolor paintings of crustaceans as a hobby

Leave your guess in the comments (oh wait, it’s Tumblr, you can’t).

Friday lunches were my lifeblood for a couple of months. Every week for at least seven thereafter unloaded a new set of amazing humans to be introduced in some absurd way by Sean from recruiting. I remember @sexpigeon vs Homer’s owner in game of pictionary, Johnny and Jake quickly competing for my heart as #1 engineer dudes, and of course, the instant classic game of Mark Coatney/ Marc Cote/ Marked Coat. Tumblr ramped up fast thanks to Lee, a fundraising series and at the tireless behest of my personal champion, Lindsey Dole.

Meanwhile, more magic was brewing in the cauldron. I heard @amandalynferri talking about some game she invented called Pretty Little Lasagna box, or I heard Maddie recalling the time she had her palm read in 14th street psychic's booth seeking refuge from a snowstorm, or @lexkap who sat on the other side of the building with a dog on her lap DM’d me on hip chat to show me her own nail art blog. Then a few of us won a chance to see a sneak preview of a new arthouse film by Harmony Korine and featuring an ensemble cast of former Disney talent that had been filmed in my hometown with a y2k airbrushed aesthetic - there was something innately emotional tied to each of us with this first viewing of Spring Breakers. When we left the midtown theater alongside the ATL Twins, I realized that this company had curated a community to match the intended behavior of its user base. We all connected on a level beyond any workplace I had experienced before.

And there was the professional side to the job - the work wins came quick because I was so lucky to sit under leaders who wanted the team to succeed. Rick Webb and Katherine encouraged me to dig in, and get deep with these shiny new toys called “evangelists” - Valentine, Nate, Liba, Annie, Max, Rachel, Jen, and briefly DCH. An enviable group of brilliant minds and creative energy who have all gone on to accomplish even more for their respective industries than a marketing budget at a start up could have enabled - and I had the pleasure to help share their Tumblr stories with the world - from a puppy bowl to annual southby's to groundbreaking art auctions to thirteen fucking fashion weeks to 35+ art and music shows (brrr)?

And then Tumblr got acquired and the Jenna Wortham turned the New York Times blue, and I got to do something I’m sure will never happen again in my entire career: I threw a party where the goody bag included a free tattoo, and multiple brave souls got them (Tyler, @bryanasortino, Megan & Johnny, among others).

And then Karen (aka #takingitallin aka @beautifulliving) joined, and me and Katherine gained a new teammate at the same time that I gained a new soul sister (and because of her self-described passion for advertising I never had to write an announcement about a new ad product ever again.) I’ve never been more challenged to succeed as I have over the three years I sat next to Karen - a generous and driven woman with endless dreams of supporting others (literally, ask her about the gap in the undergarment sector), who will always find a spot to squeeze me into a photobooth. Even at her wedding.

And lucky us, because then we invited @lilders into the #teamcomms fold and wow, wow, wow was life good. It was my honor working with Lily as she grew from FIT intern into somebody we should all aspire to work for someday.

Which leads to me to the poker faced improv master of all - Katherine. Allora @alittlespace! I am so lucky she believed that this girl who came into talk about a hypothetical strategy to get Eleven Madison Park on Tumblr and then pitched her a fantasy football launch party hosted by Nick Kroll and Mark Duplass could fit in and have the privilege to join the Tumblr Communications team. KB - I’ve already written you the dopiest thank you letter and shared my orchid growing miracle secrets - but it can’t be said enough - I am so grateful to have worked for you for all of these years. You are the best boss, and we will always be the #bestteam.

Because of Tumblr (and @david), I had the pleasure of working with so many additional incomparable people on projects outside of my designated Marketing Comms position, wearing more hats than we even produced for branded activation swag:

Designing and contenting for months with the relaunch of the precious Staff blog with David, Peter, Damien, Tag, Toph, among others

Setting the inaugural year in review with Danielle, Amanda, Christine loose (and then doing it again and again and again, with the wonderful team at DKC - especially that time we added a serving Kale to America’s breakfast.

Marathoning dozens of events with amazing producers like Julia, Suzanne and Magic - and encountering the native talent that thrives on Tumblr like Humans of New York, Chloe Wise, Sam Cannon, Johnny McLaughlin, Jillian Mercado, to a point where I can honestly say “I knew them when.”

Participating in the first ever Sales Offsite aka the greatest bar mitzvah ever thrown by Lee Brown, Dan Walsh and Sarah Won and the rest of the coolest sales team ever assembled (here’s to you @katemaxx, @jeffdtaylor, Meredith, Ari, Kira, and so many more)

Reaching back into my fashion bag of tricks and launching three different clothing lines.

Creating partnerships to show off super surprises at nerd parties at Comic Con and another breaking the internet for Art Basel

Interviewing the CEO of Shake Shack for the one-time-only live episode of “5 with a side of fries" in front of the whole company.

Urgently dealing with Legal, Ads, Trust and Safety on one of the definitive news story of a generation after nine months of back channeling and reporting.

DOING IT FOR THE CULTURE: Racing with the content and analytics teams for stats on the contentious day of #thedress, and then bling rings, witches, boneghazi, superwholockians, wholesome memes, studyblr, emojis, and of course, the toe thing! Thus redefining what it means to “go viral.”

Cleaned a ball pit for the dude from the 1975 to make a splash into them and trolled a legacy music publication

And wow - it took me this long to mention Post It Forward…I am so proud of everyone who helped make Tumblr the most empathetic community on the internet: Nicole Blumenfeld, Jeff D’Onofrio, @skiphursh “Dolphin", @dougrichard, Andy Sebela, Jess Frank, Sarah Won @swon, @pauwow, the brilliant and diligent Michelle Johnson. From building the blog, commissioning the art, recruiting and onboarding the partners, writing the endless number of give/gets, planning the sponsored posts and social content, running the day to day on the blog (and bequeathing that role to Lily), then doing it again with the Mental Health Quilt and IRL with the Post It Forward Summit - I’ve found my new track as a special projects person who can take on any issue, even suicidal teens. If this is my legacy, I’ve planted seeds in the garden I might never see. And special thanks to Victoria, who allowed me to speak at Obama’s White House about why kids need a place on the internet that can help heal - so long as they can find each other.

As it turns out, adults need that, too. From tailing Frank Ocean’s Ferrari to the most woke, mentally aware community and on to, thank god, a bonafide company to match - I will forever cherish my time at Tumblr and I’ll forever been asking #whenislunch. But from every tomorrow on, it will be somewhere else. And you can find me on the internet!

Here’s my LinkedIn, I’m looking.

#bye tumblr #good luck david karp #this is my job #this is my life #memes #tumblr hq #tumblr staff

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zombiemaids · 7 years

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what did YOU get for xmas???

books; dreamcatcher by stephen king, heroes: saving charlie by aury wallington, kira kira by cynthia kadohata, hawkeye vol 3 by lemire & perez, and chloe sevigny’s self-titled photo bookcds; daydream nation by sonic youth, goo by sonic youth, american teen by khalid, funk wav bounces vol 1 by calvin harris, pure cult by the cultdvds; kids by larry clark, gummo by harmony korine, captain america civil war by marvelother; chocolate, cosmetics, jewellery, stationery, money, a laptop, and some socks

#Anonymous

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keldae · 1 year

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Writer’s Month 2023: Day Two

Word: Perfume / Setting/AU: camping AU

If anyone asked, Theron running across the Hero of Tython in a cantina on Nar Shaddaa was completely happenstance. It wasn't like he'd discretely arranged his schedule to come across Xaja Taerich here, after all.

Absently, Theron wondered if tracking Master Taerich's movements like this was perhaps a little bit stalkerish. Except, he reasoned, he had no ill intent for Xaja. He just wanted to reassure her that he was okay in the wake of the SIS putting a bounty on him, and get a brief status check with her, in the shadows cast by neon lights. It wasn't like he was stalking her with the plan of getting her attention or causing her harm…

… still, it's a bit stalkerish, he grumbled to himself. Maybe this was why he was single, apart from being a workaholic.

He looked up from his whisky when he suddenly smelled something faint, yet familiar to him, something he associated in his mind with the feisty little redhead who he couldn't get his thoughts away from. Said redhead leaned against his table a second later, green eyes twinkling down at him. "Hey, handsome," she said, "looking for a good time?"

Oh, am I, Theron thought before he could stop himself. "I could be persuaded," he responded with a smirk, giving her a very obvious once-over. She'd forsaken her normal tunics in favour of a cropped shirt and a leatheris jacket; the peek of bare skin around her navel sent a burst of heat through Theron that was completely unrelated to the whisky. She'd dressed for Nar Shaddaa, and yet to him, she still looked like Xaja. It had to be her normal ponytail, and her jade-green eyes, and the perfume she wore. Now that he'd identified it, it was all he could smell – and he definitely wasn't complaining. "How about you sit your pretty ass down and I get you something?"

Xaja grinned, then surprised Theron by coming around to sit right beside him, instead of across the booth. The spy couldn't complain about that either, as he reached his arm to wrap around her waist as though he did this all the time with her. "What's a charmer like you doing in a place like this?" she asked, playing up the flirty spacer act (or maybe the flirty hooker act) by resting her legs over Theron's lap and forcing him to suppress a groan.

"Lookin' for a good time with some good company. And I think I found it." Theron smirked and leaned in to boldly kiss Xaja's cheek, using the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "Korin teach you how to act like this?"

"Nah, Doc and Kira gave me the run-down on how to act," Xaja whispered back. "You okay?"

It touched Theron's heart that Xaja, the pretty Jedi he was not pining for, was worried about him. "Been way worse," he softly assured her. "Any news?"

"A couple of attacks we think are connected to the Revanites, but can't prove," Xaja murmured. "They seem to be staying quiet. How long are you safe here for?"

"Hmmm." Theron grunted in acknowledgement, then sat back up, letting his gaze openly trail down to Xaja's cleavage – in case of any Revanites watching, or other Republic spies, if anyone asked. He would have loved to keep his nose buried in her hair, where the scent of her perfume seemed strongest, but this view was definitely okay with him. "Baby, for you, I got all the time in the world," he said out loud.

Xaja's cheeks went pink, even under the neon lighting. Still, she smiled, and shivered as his fingers started touching the exposed skin of her lower back. "You promise, loverboy?" she asked, returning to her flirty persona. "You're gonna give me high expectations."

"I'm in good with my bosses," Theron assured her. "You name it, girl, it's all yours. Even a ticket off this rock with me to show you the galaxy."

"Ohhh?" Xaja grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Like where?"

"Like Tatooine, or Ylesia, or Ryloth… I'll show you the stars on the edges of the galaxy." He couldn't say where his next destination was, mostly because he himself wasn't sure yet. But he could tell her where he'd been for the last couple of months, since Manaan. His fingers fumbled around with the back of her belt until he found a pocket in her tight pants; it was easy for him to slip a datachit into the pocket without being noticed. "Check your pockets when you're back in your ship," he lowly instructed, under the premise of kissing her jaw and ear again. The scent of her made him want to forget his job and just focus entirely on her, disastrous as that could be for the mission.

Xaja nodded, but didn't say anything. Was Theron imagining things, or did she seem to be breathing a bit more shakily than normal? It must just have been wishful thinking on his part. A moment later, she sat up straight and winked at him. "So, how about you start showing me that good time you promised by showing me if a cute guy like you can dance?"

Theron grinned and let Xaja pull him to his feet. "Like I'll say no to dancing with a pretty thing like you."

#kel writes #swtor #writer's month 2023 #Theron/Xaja #technically pre-relationship #when they're still refusing to admit their mutual crushes #Shadow of Revan arc #what happens on Nar Shaddaa stays on Nar Shaddaa #Theron Shan x female Jedi Knight #Theron Shan #Xaja

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keldae · 2 years

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I posted 420 times in 2022

That's 6 more posts than 2021!

66 posts created (16%)

354 posts reblogged (84%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@storyknitter

@keldae

@greyias

@alexsrandomramblings

@starknstarwars

I tagged 336 of my posts in 2022

Only 20% of my posts had no tags

#swtor - 61 posts

#theron/xaja - 24 posts

#xaja - 19 posts

#korin - 14 posts

#i love this - 13 posts

#thanks for the ask! - 12 posts

#korin/kira - 12 posts

#theron shan - 11 posts

#sorand - 10 posts

#reanden - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 113 characters

#i stg if you find a fourth platform i will publicly put your name on blast for all to see and know the creepiness

My Top Posts in 2022:

For Theron and Xaja: ❝ keep your eyes on me— just focus on me. we’re gonna be okay. ❞

The first thing Xaja was aware of was pain. Her head throbbed like a bantha was trodding all over it, and the rest of her body didn’t feel much better. She was sitting vaguely upright, she realized as she started to take stock of her battered self, trying to remember what had happened. One moment she and Theron had been walking down an alley on Nar Shaddaa – in hindsight, not their wisest move – and the next, they’d been swarmed by gangsters, too many for a pair of blasters and two lightsabers to deal with. Xaja groaned and tried to move her hands enough to wipe what felt like dried blood away from her forehead, and immediately felt panic rising in her chest when she realized her hands were bound behind her. “Shit,” she whispered, fighting down a whimper of pure terror.

There was a grunt from a few feet away, and then what felt like a booted foot nudged her shin. “Xaja?” Oh, thank the stars, Theron was here, and he sounded relatively okay. “You with me, babe?”

Xaja forced her eyes open, squinting in the dim light of the makeshift holding cell that she and Theron currently occupied. Slouched on the other side of the cell, his own arms behind his back, Theron looked awful – his hair was messy, jacket slashed up, and dried blood stained both his nose and his temple around his implants. When Xaja focused, she could see one of his shoulders looked to be painfully dislocated.

The worried expression around his eyes seemed to ease slightly when he realized Xaja was conscious. “Talk to me, Xaja,” he coaxed, making an effort to keep his voice level and relatively relaxed. “You okay? They hurt you anywhere?”

“... Not as bad as you,” Xaja finally said, swallowing back her fear as she gingerly tried to straighten her back against the wall. Pain and fear waged a war in her mind for dominance – for a moment, fear won out as she tried to pull her hands free of the binder cuffs holding her wrists immobile. The metal devices cut cruelly into her skin, tight enough that she didn’t have a hope of wiggling free. “Where… where are we?”

“As far as I can tell, still on-world,” Theron quietly said, frowning. “I don’t think these are Zakuulans who caught us – there’s too many aliens in the crew. Must be just ordinary slavers.”

“Could be taking Zakuulan credits if they figured out who we are,” Xaja finally answered, squirming despite the pain it caused her. “It… it wouldn’t take much for them to find Arcann’s bounty posting.”

Theron scowled. “All hyperlanes do wind up leading back to Zakuul,” he grumbled. “Can you sense anything outside this cell?”

Xaja closed her eyes and tried to reach out with the Force. A second later, her eyes flew open again as panic choked her voice into nothingness. Now she could register the collar on the back of her neck, suppressing her connection to the Force. And most Force-inhibitors could double as shock collars, in her painful past experience… She couldn’t stop the terrified whimper at the memory of her previous capture on Bandomeer, only a few short months ago.

“Xaja?” Theron sounded worried. “What’s wrong? Is it that bad out there?”

“I can’t… I can’t tell,” Xaja finally gasped out, fighting back a terrified sob. “They put a collar on me. I can’t… it’s blocking me…”

Theron swore in a language Xaja didn’t recognize. “Hate it when they’re smart enough to use Force-inhibitors. It’s okay, we’ll… we’ll figure something out.” He paused for a moment. “Xaja? Look at me, baby. Please?”

Xaja forced herself to register looking in Theron’s direction, panicked jade eyes briefly meeting worried amber before squeezing closed again. Every moment of Xaja’s lifetime of Jedi training seemed to desert her, leaving her panicking and vulnerable, in this dark cell, with her wounded boyfriend bound across from her, and with her access to the Force cut away from her. A little voice inside her head insisted that she needed to focus, to get her composure together and figure out a plan of escape, like any competent Jedi Master could do – but how, when she herself was bound so painfully tight, and when she couldn’t sense the Force at all?

“Come on, Xaja. Keep your eyes on me – just focus on me,” Theron’s voice cut through the cacophony of panicked noises in Xaja’s mind. “We’re gonna be okay.” She forced her eyes open again, frantically seeking out Theron’s gaze in the dim light. “There’s my girl,” Theron murmured in approval. “There’s my brave girl. Stay with me, okay? Just focus on me. Sorand and Lana know where we were, and Korin or your dad have probably already sliced into this sector’s security cameras to find out where we were taken. They’ll come for us. Just please don’t panic, babe. I know you hate being tied up and Force-blind, but stay with me. We’ll be okay.”

“I’m…” Xaja shakily inhaled. “I’m glad you’re confident,” she finally managed to whisper.

Theron seemingly forced himself to chuckle. “Hey, I’ve gotten into, and out of, way worse situations than this,” he said, shrugging his good shoulder. “If my arm wasn’t dislocated, I’d probably already be out of these binders and working on getting you free. Hell, we’d probably be halfway to fighting our way out of here already.”

But his arm was dislocated, and instead of freeing himself, Theron was occupied trying to calm a panicking Jedi Master who, frankly, should not have been so panicked in the first place at being bound, and in this dark, cramped cell, and cut off from the Force… Shame managed to cut through the panic enough for Xaja to take a shuddery breath, trying to force herself to focus. “We need a plan,” she finally said.

“Well, good news is, I’ve got a rough idea for a plan already, in case Sorand and Lana decide to take their sweet time in getting here,” Theron announced. "I have a lockpick in the top of my boot. I just need to… get it…" He grunted in pain as he tried to squirm his way to the hidden lockpick.

"And it's on your right side, isn't it?" Xaja asked, frowning in concern. "Your hurt side?"

"Naturally," Theron confirmed with a hiss of pain. "Fuck, that hurts!" He struggled for a minute longer, then groaned and sagged, seemingly taking a minute to focus on his breathing. "Okay… new plan. Can you dislocate your thumbs?"

"I…" Xaja frowned. "I can't say I've ever tried."

"Okay." Theron groaned and straightened back up as much as he could. "This was so not how I wanted you to learn how to escape binders. Do you have any give on your wrists at all?"

"Not really," Xaja admitted, trying to rotate her wrists as best she could. "They're too tight. I can't even rotate my wrists without it chafing."

Theron muttered a colourful-sounding expletive. "Dammit. It'll be really hard to talk you through it when you can't move much." He sighed. "Okay. Hang tight, I'll… figure something out."

"You're injured pretty badly, and I'm cut off from the Force and fending off a panic attack…" Xaja bitterly laughed. "We're kriffed."

"Not yet, we're not," Theron quickly said. "Besides, being the pessimist is my job. We'll be fine–"

The door to the cell slid open, and Xaja felt herself pale when she saw the four gang members standing in the doorway. Two of them wielded blasters, the third had a wicked-looking vibroknife, and the fourth had what looked suspiciously like the controls for her shock collar in his hand.

"... Never mind, you were right," Theron muttered.

—---------------------

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20 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

Fall From Grace

The most important debate of Xaja's life, and she wasn't permitted to be involved. In the past, she might have railed against that restriction, loudly voiced her complaints -- but that had been before she'd fallen and had the weight of the galaxy thrust on her narrow shoulders.

Right now, Scourge and Doc were both in a closed meeting with the Jedi Council, arguing opposite viewpoints. Xaja knew Doc wanted her to go on leave and recover from her ordeal, while Scourge insisted that Xaja had no time before the Emperor enacted his terrible plans. Why me? she silently asked her hands as she waited outside the Council chambers, watching her pale fingers tremble.

If she thought too hard about it, she could still see lightning racing down her arm and off her fingers, arcing to whoever she'd been told to torture. No, no, don't think about it, she tried to tell herself as she squeezed her eyes closed. I'm not a Sith. I didn't fall, I was dragged down, and Master Orgus helped me crawl back up. I'm not a Sith… I can't be a Sith…

She shuddered. She knew Master Kaedan at least considered her to be a fallen Jedi, little better than a Sith, and would probably vote to expel her from the Order that she had called home. Who else would agree with him? Maybe the Council would let her stay for healing before banishing her to the galaxy at large and eliminating a monster from the Order's ranks. That would be a small mercy, Xaja thought. And more than you deserve. Didn't you enjoy causing pain? Don't you want to track down the Sith who hurt you and make them hurt just as badly? That was a dark thought, but not an inaccurate one. Xaja flinched from her own dark mind and tried to focus on the Code. "There is no emotion, there is peace…" she whispered. "There is no emotion, there is peace… peace is a lie, there is only--" No! She flinched and tried desperately to banish the Sith Code from her mind. "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge…"

Hurried footsteps didn't make her look up, even when the footsteps were approaching her. She kept her eyes closed, trying to make herself unnoticeable, not wanting to see more judging looks or hear the whispers from the other Jedi on Tython -- the real Jedi, the ones who hadn't fallen and done terrible things at the Emperor’s bidding.

Then a pair of large, battle-roughened hands settled on Xaja's own fingers and gently squeezed, ignoring how she flinched and tried to pull back before she could hurt their owner. "Hey, short stuff," came a too-gentle voice from over Xaja's head. "You with me?"

Xaja opened her eyes, and immediately looked away from Jakar’s worried look. His concern made her heart hurt. She had to look as awful as she felt, if he wasn't teasing her like normal. "I feel like I'm in a nightmare I can't get out of," she confessed before she could stop herself.

Jakar squeezed her hands again. "I came as soon as I heard you'd made it back alive," he said. "We were worried about you, Xaja. Are you… no, dumb question, you're not okay."

Xaja shook her head in agreement with her oldest friend's diagnosis. "I'm a monster," she whispered. "They're arguing over my fate." She gestured with her head to the Council chamber door.

"You are not a monster," Jakar firmly insisted. "You're my adopted little sister who just escaped from months as an Imperial POW. Whatever happened to you there, you're here now, and safe. They can't get at you here." He squeezed her fingers again, hard enough to make Xaja look back up. "I know you too well, Xaj. You are not a monster, no matter what they tried to tell you. The Council knows this too."

Do you know me as well as you think? Do you know what evil things I'm capable of? How much pain and suffering I can inflict? Xaja opened her mouth, then looked away from Jakar, shame making her eyes burn with unshed tears. "They made me do terrible things… they made me hurt people…" A tear escaped her eye before she could blink it away. "... They cut my hair," she finally whispered, her tone plaintive. Something stupid to be so upset about, when it was just hair… hair that had been to her waist, long and luxurious, before the Sith hacked it off to barely brush her shoulders.

"I see this," Jakar acknowledged. "It'll grow back, I promise." One of his hands left hers to run his fingers through the shorn locks. "It'll take time to get to where it used to be, but it'll get there. As far as everything else..." He sighed. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve any of this. And you don't deserve to be hurt for what they made you do while they were trying to break you."

Xaja just shuddered and looked down at her hands, unable to share in Jakar’s optimism. How could she tell her oldest friend that the Sith had broken her, and only Master Orgus' intervention had brought her back? "I hate this," she finally whispered.

"I know you do. And I hate that you had to go through everything that you did." Jakar gave her hands an upward tug. "C'mon. We're going to Corellia so Essi can get her hands on you, and so you have a chance to recover from--"

"I'm afraid that won't be an option, Master Forseti," interrupted Master Bakarn's voice. Xaja jumped as she looked up -- the Council had ended their session, and nobody looked happy. "Knight Taerich is back on active duty as of now."

"Against my recommendation," Doc muttered in a tone that was clearly intended to be heard by everyone present. "I'm still not clearing her for active duty."

"The needs of the galaxy outweigh the opinion of one biased doctor," Scourge dismissively said. "She's the only one who can stop the Emperor before he destroys us all."

Jakar shot back to his feet, protective fury radiating from him in the Force. "Are you insane?" he demanded. "Stop the Emperor himself? When she can barely function as it is?"

"She can still wield her lightsabers," Scourge shrugged. "She's combat ready. And would you rather have her go at the Empire now, while the memory of her wounds are still fresh, or wait until the memory is cold and old?"

Jakar opened his mouth to tell Scourge exactly what he thought, immediate presence of the Jedi Council be damned, but Xaja set her hand on his arm as she stood up. "Jakar, it's okay," she quietly said, trying to convince herself as much as him. "I'm okay enough for duty. And someone has to… to stop him." And I need to atone for what I've done. What better way to seek atonement?

"You are not okay," Jakar protested. "Masters, sending a recently-traumatized Jedi out on a suicide mission is cruelty, and asking for a disaster!"

"We understand your worries about Knight Taerich," Master Kiwiiks finally said, her voice low and calming. "But she does have the best chances of being able to strike at the Empire, and at locating the rest of the missing strike team. If the Emperor’s Wrath was willing to defect based off a vision of her, then we need to take that into consideration."

"And before you ask, you can't lead the Rift Alliance to do this task in her stead," Master Bakarn added. "The Children of the Emperor are a serious threat, and one that only you can deal with, Master Forseti. Knight Taerich simply isn't ready for that."

"No, but she's ready to go charging off and fight the blasted Emperor himself?!"

"Be mindful of your emotions, Knight Forseti," Master Kaedan interjected. "Corellian though you may be, you still need control of your own feelings. Your fear for your friend is blinding you to the needs of the galaxy."

Xaja looked away from Jakar’s furiously flashing eyes and looked for Master Shan in the group, who had been quiet so far in this argument. "I can have my ship refueled and ready to go shortly," she quietly said, and tried to not flinch when she saw the sadness in Master Shan's eyes, or heard Doc's frustrated sigh.

"Whatever support we can give you while you're on your mission, you'll have it," Master Shan finally said. "May the Force be with you, Xaja." She was definitely worried if she was using Xaja's first name and not a more formal tone of address.

It could start being with me any minute now, Xaja thought, but didn't voice that out loud. She just bowed to the Council and turned to Doc, who looked equal parts worried and pissed off. "Can you and Scourge get the Serenity ready to go?"

"Against my better judgment," Doc finally said. "Bloody Jedi," he muttered as he left, with a sidelong glare at the assembled Council. Scourge followed in his wake, uncaring about the angry doctor he was following, or the stares he got from the Jedi in the Temple.

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28 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

So my roleplaying buddy Jonal and I went in on a commission from Danpur (on the Artists and Clients website, according to Jonal!), featuring our respective main characters in one of the sketchier areas of Coruscant during a story we wrote. We just got the finished art today, and I LOVE IT.

Xaja is mine, Jonal Bol'garra is the Mando who belongs to my buddy. And the amazing artwork is Danpur, who doesn't have a Tumblr, but his Twitter handle (for those still using the Other Hellsite) is @danpurnm.

(Ask nicely, and I'll share the story with you lovelies too. 😉)

32 notes - Posted December 9, 2022

Common Interests

Tau was usually more strict with punctuality, Arn had come to realize over the course of his apprenticeship to her. She was notorious for being early for everything -- training, meditation, meetings with Master Gnost-Dural. And she expected nothing less than punctuality for her Padawan. But apparently meetings with Master Xaja were known to run for longer than expected -- especially where Lord Beniko and a stack of datapads were involved. Odessen's residents had gotten used to it over the past few years of the Alliance. Arn obviously hadn't.

He closed his eyes and leaned against the metal wall of the Odessen base, basking in the warm sunlight and trying to summon the patience that Jedi were legendary for. It wasn't nearly as easy as his old masters had made it out to be. Tau had been in that meeting for over an hour already. Arn was in his twenties, certainly not a child anymore – but that didn’t stop him from wanting to groan at how bored he was.

A cough from somewhere to his left drew Arn's attention from his own boredom back to his surroundings. "Excuse me -- is the Commander still in her meeting with Master Idair?" asked a low baritone voice.

"Yes, she--" Arn cracked an eye open and nearly squawked in alarm when he recognized the human man addressing him. If being around Sith (or ex-Sith, in Darth Imperius's case) made him anxious, being around the former Emperor of Zakuul himself was terrifying. His voice cracked with his alarm -- he had to swallow hard before he made even more a fool of himself. "Yes, they're, uh, still in their meeting."

Ex-Emperor Arcann, Tyrant of Zakuul and conqueror of the galaxy, nodded and politely stepped back from Arn. It was one thing to know in the abstract that Master Xaja had her old nemesis working for her, and quite another thing entirely to have him standing only a metre or so away! "You are another one of the Jedi that came from the Republic with Master Idair?"

"Er, uh, yes. Arn Peralun, Jedi Padawan. Tau -- er, Master Idair is my Master." It never hurt to be polite with former tyrants, especially when said former tyrants were powerful enough with the Force that Arn could all but feel it radiating from the other man, strong enough to make Tau look almost Force-blind in comparison.

"A pleasure to meet you, Arn Peralun," Arcann's voice rumbled. “I am Arcann -- although you probably already knew that.” He shifted his feet, looking as awkward as Arn felt -- but that was impossible. Why would someone as powerful as him ever feel awkward and unsure? "May I wait with you? I have some reports for the Comma -- for Master Taerich to see."

"Uhh…" Every instinct of Arn's wanted to tell the Zakuulan man to kriff off, or better yet, to run like hell to the opposite end of the base. But what came out of his mouth was "Yeah, sure, go ahead."

Arcann nodded his thanks and moved to stand a little further from Arn while he waited. His hands clasped a datapad in front of him -- one of those hands, Arn realized, was a cybernetic prosthetic. So the rumors concerning that, at least, were true. I wonder if his arm used to really be a Skytrooper limb? He couldn't stop himself from curiously looking over and eyeing the other man's left hand, just visible under the white sleeve covering his arm.

Wait, you're gonna make it weird. He sheepishly glanced up to Arcann's face, in time to see the former Emperor quickly look away from him, ears flushing red, much to Arn's surprise. Was he… checking out my own prosthetics? Had to be, unless he was eyeing up a Jedi Padawan for a fight. But would he pick a fight right here in the middle of the base?

"Dakot Seven," he finally said, making Arcann start in surprise. "My old Master and I were escorting refugees and got hit by artillery fire. He died, but I survived. More or less. Is that what you were wondering?"

Arcann hesitated, then nodded. "I am sorry," he rumbled. "You must get a lot of people staring at your cybernetics."

Arn forced himself to shrug. "So do you, probably." Between the scars on the other man's face, the cybernetic hand, and the notorious reputation, Arcann must not be able to go anywhere in the galaxy without being gawked at.

Arcann nodded in confirmation. "Korriban," he murmured. "I got in the way of a grenade." He ruefully chuckled. "There's very little that hurts as much as a field fitting for a prosthetic."

Arn winced in sympathy. "I can imagine. Dakot Seven, where I was… they don't use kolto, so it was cybernetics to fix everything. I mean, it saved my life, so…"

"That is definitely the important thing," Arcann agreed. "Zakuul didn't have kolto at all, although even if they had, it wouldn't have made a difference for me. That grenade took everything off in one blow."

"Ouch."

"I would say you have no idea, but you're probably the only person in this base who does."

Arn nodded, then decided to indulge his curiosity. "So if they had to do a field fitting for your arm, was it a Skytrooper arm, or…?"

"The original one was," Arcann nodded. "I lost that one in a fight with Master Taerich some years ago. This one was made custom for me, after she finished beating sense into me." He rolled his sleeve up as much as he could to show off the gleaming black metal. "Doctor Oggurobb and his team are very good at what they do."

Suppressing his glee at finally knowing that Emperor Arcann had once had a Skytrooper arm, Arn leaned over to inspect the other man's prosthetic, briefly forgetting his fear. "They did good work," he agreed. “Maybe I should talk to him about upgrades for my own prosthetics.”

Arcann nodded his agreement, then gave Arn's cybernetic torso a critical look. "Yours look like they wouldn't need upgrades for some time though. The people of Dakot Seven know their cybernetics well, it seems."

"Well, when you can't use kolto due to genetic incompatibility, I guess you get good at cybernetics pretty fast," Arn shrugged. "Worked out for me, anyway. Just wish they'd had a kolto tank for offworlders when…"

"I don't blame you," Arcann quietly said. "Your wounds were earned with honour, though. Mine… weren't."

An awkward silence fell for a moment before Arn forced himself to chuckle. "Hey, you got those fighting Imps on Korriban. Coming from a Jedi, that's not bad." He suddenly paled and quickly looked around for either Lord Beniko or Darth Imperius. "Just don't tell anyone I said that."

A grin showed itself on Arcann's face. "Your secret is safe with me," he promised with a wink of his good eye. "If you would permit a question?"

"Yeah, sure." Having the former Emperor of Zakuul ask permission for a question was definitely not something that Arn had expected. But then, he also hadn't expected Arcann to be so quiet and awkward, or polite.

"I would be terrified at the idea of doing maintenance on life support cybernetics," Arcann admitted. "Doing maintenance on my arm is bad enough. When yours take damage or need maintenance done, how do you do it?"

"Honestly? It hasn't really come up much. My cybernetics are pretty tough," Arn proudly said. "If anything, it's my eye that gives me more of a headache. Agent Shan and Cipher Nine both said they'd help me with upgrades for that, though." He glanced down at his abdomen for a second. "If these did get damaged… I guess I'd just have to hope for a medcentre where the medics know how to deal with prosthetics. Or hope I'm near here, or Dakot Seven."

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56 notes - Posted February 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

GUYS

THIS JUST HAPPENED AND I'M STILL FANGIRLING OVER IT

61 notes - Posted April 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #lmao so my longest tag and third most popular post were in the last week #Kel does Tumblr #proof that I spend way too much time on this hellsite #hellsite (affectionate)#2022 wrapup #maybe I should post my Spotify Wrapped while we're on the subject

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keldae · 2 years

Note

♡: Accidentally falling asleep together

The flight from Tython to Dantooine was a long haul at the best of times. This week, with the Dancer crammed full of Jedi refugees fleeing Zakuul's onslaught? It was miserable, and squished, and not doing anything for Korin's claustrophobia.

But, this was Xaja's people he was transporting to safety. He felt like he owed it to his sister's memory to help Jedi survivors find safety where Zakuul wouldn't look for them. He liked and respected Master Shan well enough, after the entire Yavin IV debacle from only a year and a half ago; it helped that she was one of the only Jedi who didn't look down on him for being a scruffy-looking spacer. He didn't know if that was due to her own opinions of him after defeating Revan and his lunatic followers, or if it was because he was Xaja Taerich's brother. And frankly, he didn't care.

Being in a confined space with Kira Carsen definitely helped the deal, though.

He sighed and gazed out at the streaks of stars in the Dancer's hyperspace tunnel, then looked at Kira, sitting in the copilot's seat. "Credit for your thoughts?"

Kira shrugged, not taking her eyes off the hyperspace tunnel. "More worrying, about the Jedi and the Republic, and if Zakuul is going to hunt us down here too. More stuff you wouldn't be interested in."

"You're invested, an' its affecting you," Korin responded. "That means I'm interested. Might not be able to do much beyond fly people and shit around, but I'll do what I can for you and yours."

Finally, Kira looked away from the window to smile at Korin. "That sounded almost caring," she said with a little smirk.

"Pffft." Korin snorted. "Don't get used to it, Jedi. I got a reputation to keep up." He winked, then held his arm out to the side in an invitation. "Come on over. My lap is lonely."

"Are you actually going to try that on a ship full of other Jedi?!" Kira hissed, glancing at the closed door of the cockpit. "Someone will hear!"

"I have a very good memory, and as I recall, you can definitely keep quiet when you want to." Korin winked again, and got the pleasure of watching Kira blush in the dim light. "But who's gonna hear an innocent cuddle?"

"There is nothing 'innocent' about you, Taerich," Kira retorted. But, after a moment of thinking about it, she did get to her feet and come across to perch herself on Korin's lap. The chair wasn't really made for two fully-grown adult humans, but Korin still adjusted to balance Kira on his lap, comfortably wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her still and secure. "How can you smell so nice after being on a crowded ship for the last few days?" she asked.

"I can't tell all my secrets," Korin said with a smirk. "Although I figured you already knew – you smell pretty damn good, yourself." It took a willpower he didn't know he had to not simply bury his nose in Kira's red hair and inhale the scent that was uniquely her.

"My secret is a mystical Jedi skill that was rediscovered on Tython a few years back," Kira retorted, although Korin thought she looked and sounded pleased. She sighed, for a moment going quiet before she surprised Korin by nestling her head on his shoulder. "This does feel nice," she admitted. "Even if it'll be my reputation in shambles if anyone walks in on us."

"And you thought I only knew one way to help with de-stressing…" Korin teased. His arm shifted upward until he could rub his thumb in a circle on Kira's arm. "Which, if you're feeling adventurous, I'll never turn down that other way… no pressure though."

"What, meditation?" Kira cheekily asked. "That seems just like you to offer. How thoughtful of you!"

"... Yes, meditation. Because I am all about meditation," Korin deadpanned. "Call me a pro at it, even."

That actually made Kira laugh, which made Korin immediately decide it was worth it. She relaxed into his hold as he comfortably rested his chin on her hair. Silence fell on the cockpit for a moment before she quietly spoke again. "What are you gonna do after you see us off?"

"Dunno," Korin truthfully answered, shrugging the shoulder that Kira wasn't currently snuggled against. "Probably see if Master Shan has more work for me to do. Or I might fuck off to Hutt Space an' try to meet up with my dad, figure out some sorta plan for fighting back. You gonna stay with the Jedi?'

"For now," Kira nodded. "They need me, and I need them. We've already lost too much of the Order with the war." She went quiet for a moment. "I feel like I'm going to wind up leaving though, doing my part to fight back. The Force feels… unsettled."

"That's putting it mildly," Korin snorted. His own Force-sensitivity was a closely guarded secret, but he trusted Kira with the knowledge, like he trusted no other Jedi who hadn't been related to him. "If it's any consolation, I hear the Sith are hurting with casualties just as bad as the Jedi are."

"That does help," Kira admitted. Silence fell for another minute before she stirred. "Talk to me? About anything? You talking makes me feel less alone."

"Well, this is a change from normal. Usually I'm gettin' told to shut up." Korin smirked as Kira softly laughed. "But if it helps you feel better, I guess I can talk about somethin'. Did I ever tell you about when I met one of those other Mandos we ran into on Rishi? Corey?"

"No, I don't think you did."

"Well, we first met over a game of pazaak, which I handed him his own ass in, and then we got into a cantina brawl. There were a bunch of bounty hunters of Rogun's all lookin' for me. Bit of a misunderstanding about some stolen blasters and some dumbfuck schutta-spawn named Skavak… Anyway, turns out Corey's a hunter too, but he wasn't searchin' for me, an' decided he liked me well enough despite me winnin' a beskar knife off of him. It turned into an epic brawl for the ages. I think we're still bein' talked about to this day in the Coruscant system. He even brought his ship around with the automated cannons an' we made our grand exit, and somehow didn't get banned from the entire kriffing system. I guess we were entertainment enough for the Senate?" He smiled at Kira's soft chuckle. "Course, the next time we met, he wound up punching me in the face an' kidnapping me so an SIS goon could have a chat with me…"

When Korin finally stopped talking five minutes later, he looked down to see Kira's eyes closed, her breathing slow and relaxed against him. "Heh… no sleep for stressin'," he whispered, shifting his hand up to gently brush a strand of her hair back from her cheek. "Sleep while you can. I'll be a Jedi's body pillow for now. Just for you."

And thank the stars that nobody else was present to witness this, otherwise they would have accused him for catching feelings for his late sister's old Padawan. I'm not in love with her, Korin insisted to himself. I just really like her. Not many cute Jedi girls who'll give me the time of day, much less let me kiss or cuddle them. And she's stressed out; I'm just being a good friend and letting her rest. Force knows she needs a break. That doesn't mean I'm in love with her.

He kept trying to tell himself that for the next hour until he dropped off to sleep as well.

#thanks for the ask!#kel writes #SWTOR #Kira Carsen #Korin #Korin/Kira #KOTFE era #probably fits best into Drastic Measures 'verse #slow burn #friends with benefits... and FEELINGS!#someone's in denial about said feelings #also the story with Corey actually did happen

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keldae · 2 years

Note

for the cute shippy starters, #42 “I swear it was an accident.”

(So it's not "shippy", and it is a million years late, but!)

Some days, being a parent was more stressful than it needed to be. This was definitely one of those days.

Reanden sighed and paced back and forth in front of the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What in the blazes were you thinking, again?"

"... I wasn't?" Korin cautiously looked up from his seat on the couch, fingers nervously fidgeting with the computer spike he'd lifted from the caf table. "I swear it was an accident."

"You don't 'accidentally' have sex, Korin. That's not how it works and you know it. And especially not with a Jedi."

"It wasn't exactly a planned event, either," Korin protested. "Besides, didn't you do the exact same thing with Mum?"

"We're not talking about your mother and I from almost four decades ago. We're talking about you and your sister's Padawan from apparently the last few years."

"By the way, thanks for talking Xaja down from–"

"I only told your sister she wasn't allowed to murder you for sleeping with her Padawan," Reanden interrupted, eyes glinting warningly in the Shadow's light. "Maiming you is still a possibility if Theron doesn't talk her out of it."

"Technically, Kira's her ex-Padawan–"

"Korin."

Korin shrunk at the warning tone in his father's voice. "Shutting up."

"That's the smartest decision you've made that's even tangentially connected to Kira." Reanden sighed and rubbed his temples. "And yes, I'm aware that you and her are both grown adults and can make decisions for yourselves, but did either of you even think about the potential consequences of this?"

Korin shrugged. "The Jedi can be… willfully oblivious when they feel like it. We figured, as long as we weren't doin' it in the Council chambers, we weren't gonna get in shit for it. The reformed Council hasn't given Xaja a hard time for being married and having kids, after all…"

"Xaja also saved the galaxy multiple times. Kira contributed, certainly, but she wasn't the driving force behind your sister's actions." Reanden looked skyward for a moment, as though seeking patience. "And I wasn't thinking of those consequences. I'm talking about the ones you two have to deal with now. Did you even discuss the very real possibility of a pregnancy?"

"It… uh… no," Korin sheepishly admitted. "It just… never came up much?"

Reanden muttered something about Jedi apparently trying to use the Force for birth control, then looked back at his son. He could feel a migraine forming behind his temples. "And have you discussed this with her now that you know she's pregnant?"

"We didn't exactly have an opportunity to do so!" Korin protested. "Between Xaja trying to strangle me and you doing that whole scary cipher agent glare that you're doing right now…"

"If only the scary cipher agent glare worked on you," Reanden muttered. "Have you given it any thought?"

Korin shrugged. "I dunno… I wasn't planning on ever having kids, I figure Kira was in the same boat. I guess… I'll back her up, whatever she decides to do?"

"And what if that entails her leaving the Jedi and becoming a full-time mother to your child?"

Korin raked his hands through his messy blond hair and released a heavy breath. "Then I guess I pay child support? Or… I dunno, maybe I try to settle down with her and raise the kid?"

"You? Settle down, when you're flirting just as much with Arn as you are with Kira?" The migraine ramped up; Reanden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again. "Your love life is more dysfunctional than the entire fucking Senate. At least your type seems to be Jedi."

"Hey!"

Reanden glared at his son, and Korin subsided with a grumble. "It's not that dysfunctional," the spacer muttered.

"I beg to differ."

"... You know, I would have thought you'd be delighted at the prospect of another grandkid."

"Oh, I am. But I'm more worried about that grandkid's future, and if its father is going to be step up and be responsible for it. You realize that if you do back Kira up, and if she wants to settle down and raise that child, it'll mean a significant restriction on your current roaming around the galaxy, seeking out shenanigans in every port. And I don't see Kira putting up with having competition for your affections."

Korin groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "I know," he sighed. "And I really do lo–" He coughed. "I really do care about her. I want to do right by her, and the kid. I just… Impending fatherhood is fucking terrifying. I dunno how to be a dad to the little squirt!"

Reanden huffed out a small laugh. "That's something every first-time father says, son," he said. "Force knows I didn't take it well when your mother told me she was expecting Xaja. But that's something for a different time." He took a seat on the caf table in front of his son. "You ready to own up to the consequences of your actions, kid?"

"I don't really think I have a choice," Korin mumbled.

"Oh, you've got a choice. The cowardly choice would be to run off to the Outer Rim and never be seen in the Republic again. The honourable choice is to stick around and back Kira up, whatever her decision is – and if she chooses to keep and raise the kid, then so be it." Reanden reached over and set a hand on Korin's shoulder. "And you are not a coward."

Korin shrugged. "Yeah, well, don't go around spreading the rumour that I'm honourable or some such nonsense. I got a reputation to uphold."

Reanden snorted. "Your secret's safe with me… for now. Think real hard about what you should do, Korin." He sighed and got to his feet. "And while you're doing that, I need to go remind your sister that her former Padawan is a grown woman who can make her own choices about who she sleeps with."

"Please do, before Xaja decides to actually murder me," Korin muttered.

"I'll do my best to talk her down. You had better track Kira down and have a long, serious conversation with her, now that you two are potentially about to have your galaxy upended." Reanden patted Korin's shoulder. "And if you do decide to give parenthood a shot, you know you won't do it alone. I'll be around, and your brother and sister will be delighted with a new niece or nephew."

Korin finally looked up and offered his father a small smile. "Thanks, Dad. It means a lot."

"That's what I'm here for." Reanden smiled back, then released his son. "Go find Kira. I'll go talk your sister out of something she'll eventually regret."

#thanks for the ask!#kel answers prompts a million years later #swtor #Reanden #Korin #referenced Korin/Kira #Parental Chats #or: Korin has some Consequences he needs to think about #mention of pregnancy #Korin/Kira #Kira Carsen x Smuggler #also Korin is VERY much his father's son #I'm not saying the exact same thing happened with Reanden and Airna #but it DID

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keldae · 2 years

Note

Obligatory OTP asks for Korin and Kira, #s 12, 15, 19, 43, 49 and 60

Eeeeeee!! More asks!! Thank you! <3

12. Do they have many heated arguments? How do they smooth things over?

They don't have a ton of major arguments. But they few that they do have are NOISY, with a lot of yelling. Because Kira might be a Jedi, but she's a Jedi who was Padawan to Xaja Taerich, and Korin is a hothead who looooves to push buttons... especially on Jedi.

Naturally, their make-ups usually involve getting laid. ;)

15. Do they always say ‘i love you’ before leaving?

Not in as many words. They'll say it as "let me know when you make it there safe" or "let me know if you need anything", but I don't know that they've ever said "I love you" to each other. That would be a fun story to write...

19. How do they feel about PDA?

If Xaja's not around? They're ALL FOR IT. If Xaja's in the same system, they're being VERY cautious with the PDA so Xaja doesn't strangle both of them.

43. Who would give their life for the other without a second thought?

Kira, the "dumbass self-sacrificing Jedi" of these two idiots, would probably be more likely to die protecting Korin. And then Korin would never, ever forgive himself for letting Kira die like that.

49. Does either of them have a hard time being away from the other?

They both do okay being apart from each other, but Korin surprisingly has a bit of a harder time being alone. He makes a whole show of being independent and not tied down and all, but really, he loves knowing that Kira's out there and has a space open for him with her.

60. Who pulls the other closer when they’re sleeping?

Korin is the bigger snugglebug out of the two of them. If he's spending the night with Kira, he legit rests better when he's touching her somehow -- and even better when he's full-body spooning her. So much for being all fiercely independent and not-tied-down, right? ;)

#thanks for the ask!#Kel answers asks #Korin/Kira #headcanons

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keldae · 2 years

Note

18. “That was kind of hot.” - Korin/Kira

Korin didn't mind Manaan, typically. Sure, the locals weren't the friendliest people around, and he wasn't fond of the constant humidity in the air, and he would never admit to anyone that he had nightmares about the giant sharks that lingered under the deceptively-calm sea. But Manaan was important to Xaja and the Republic, so he would do his part to keep Manaan Republic-friendly.

Although he wished that it didn't involve skulking around Imperial-built facilities, at night, in the rain, with Imp stragglers roaming around, with only Kira's dualsaber for any sort of decent visibility when they were in combat. The only part he liked about this entire arrangement was getting to work with Kira. Everything else could kriff off to the lowest Corellian hell… especially the Sith who had just detected the Jedi on his Force-radar and attacked the pair of them, red lightsaber igniting at the last possible second.

Korin yelped and dived to the side as the Sith slashed through the durasteel deck where he'd been standing a second ago, grateful for his own Force-enhanced reflexes that kept him alive. Green light filled the air around him as Kira activated her dualsaber and engaged in combat with the Sith, sparks flying as green met red, again and again. Korin rolled for cover behind a supply crate and drew up in a crouch, blasters at the ready in case Kira gave him an opening to shoot. But he couldn't get a clear shot without risking hitting her… and that was something he wouldn't be able to handle.

He tried telling himself it was only because Xaja would give him hell if he accidentally shot her former Padawan.

But it turned out that Kira didn't need his help to dispatch the Sith. "Eat lightsaber, jerk!" she snapped as she landed a solid hit on the Sith, driving one end of her dualsaber through his chest. The Sith dropped with a heavy thud and didn't move. "Kriff that guy," Kira muttered as she lowered her dualsaber, then looked over at Korin. "You okay? He didn't get you, did he?"

"Nah," Korin assured her as he stood back up. "I'm all good." He looked down at the Sith's body, then back at Kira, and grinned. "Not gonna lie, that was kinda hot, Carsen."

In the Force, Korin could pick up threads of Kira's emotional response to that: embarrassment, smug pride, and amusement all mingled around her mind. "Are you actually gonna try making a move on me right here, in the middle of this Imperial facility, with pissy Imps roaming around and my hair a wreck from this planet's humidity?"

"You know me," Korin said with a laugh. "You say this like I've never hit on you in a warzone before. Better question is, is it working?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing you're cute, Taerich," she said.

"So it is working?" Korin smirked. "One would think you like getting hit on in the middle of a dangerous situation. Doesn't that just get the adrenaline flowing…"

"Keep it in your pants until we're at least in friendly territory, flyboy," Kira laughed. In the light cast from her dualsaber, Korin could see her wink. "I don't think either of us will appreciate getting interrupted by grumpy, trigger-happy Imps."

Korin groaned, but had to admit that Kira had a point. "Okay, then let's hurry up and finish stealing these supplies back. I got a date with a cute Jedi that I'd much rather be on instead of shooting Imps in the rain. About the only upside to this entire situation is getting turned on by you being a certifiable badass."

"You charmer," Kira chuckled. She fell into step beside Korin; the hand that wasn't holding her dualsaber reached around to teasingly squeeze his ass. "Come on so I can keep getting awed and stunned by your sharpshooting."

"Show off for a hot Jedi? Don't mind if I do."

"Never change, Korin."

#thanks for the ask!#kel answers prompts a million years later #swtor #Korin/Kira #flirting in the middle of a warzone #because why not?#maybe spoilers-ish for Manaan?#Korin definitely has a type #and Kira reciprocates #Kira Carsen #Kira Carsen x Smuggler

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keldae · 3 years

Text

Fictober 2021 -- Day 8

Korin had, for the last several years, prided himself on being the type of person who couldn’t be tied down. He had at least one partner in just about every port he came into (even the ones in Imperial Space), and hadn’t had one single dedicated significant other in… he paused in thought. Literally forever. Sure, he’d been witness to a dedicated marriage once or twice in his life -- look at his parents, where his father had all but worshipped the ground his mother had walked on. But that, he swore, wasn’t for him.

And it especially wasn’t for him where a Jedi was concerned. Never minding the little detail that Jedi typically didn’t go for such things as “marriage” and “dedication” and “family”. In some respects, one might have thought that the smuggler would have pursued a Jedi far earlier, with the shared lack of inclination to attachments and so forth -- except they made up for that with their rules and preachy-ness, which was even less appealing to the spacer.

He definitely never expected to find himself here, in a field in the middle of nowhere on Dantooine (like the entire planet wasn’t the “middle of nowhere”), gazing up at the stars instead of flying through them. His companion murmured something about an old legend of ancient lovers being set among the stars as constellations, but Korin wasn’t paying close attention. Instead, his focus was directed to Kira’s bright hair, and gleaming blue eyes, and the smile on her pretty face. She was far from the only pretty girl he’d seen, or even the only pretty Jedi he’d met, and yet…

This is it, isn’t it, he finally realized. This was the feeling that had made his father abandon the Empire and swap his loyalties to the Republic, and to his Jedi mother. This was the feeling that had made a Green Jedi fall for a nominally-hostile offworlder, so long ago. This was… He was reluctant to put a name to it, but he knew the feeling, of butterflies in his chest and yet, something more intense and long-lasting than that. This was…

“Credit for your thoughts.” Kira nudged him, drawing his attention back to the present; the stars reflected off her eyes, a vivid blue that Korin could see whenever he closed his eyes and thought of his sister’s former Padawan.

“Nah,” he snorted. “My thoughts ain’t worth a credit, if you ask my asshole of a little brother.”

“Yeah, but he’s Sith.. even if he’s nice for a Sith.” Kira smirked. “I’m not known for taking advice from Imps, no matter how friendly. C’mon, open up.”

Any other Jedi asking that, even his sister, and Korin would have shut up faster than a vault in a Hutt palace. Instead, he shrugged. “It’s a nice night,” he finally said. “An’ the company’s good too.”

Kira snorted a laugh. “Nice to know I’m better company than the inside of your ship,” she said, amusement in her voice. “You get much of a chance to just admire the stars when you’re not flying around them?”

“No,” Korin finally admitted. “This is different, but… it’s nice.” It really was nice, to have a pretty girl (even if she was a Jedi, and his sister’s Padawan at that) snuggled up under his arm, with a clear view of the galaxy and Dantooine’s constellations over his head. But there was no way to put that into words without making this weird. And Kira was, among other things, a really good fuck buddy. Why ruin a good thing with words and feelings?

“This is nice,” Kira agreed. A moment later, Korin felt her head resting on his chest as she snuggled in closely to him. “This is really nice. I’m glad you could stay an extra night.”

“Me too,” the smuggler agreed as he ran his fingers through Kira’s hair and sighed in contentment. Even if he didn’t want to give a name to this feeling, it was still a really nice feeling, one that he wanted to hang onto forever.

#fictober21 #SWTOR #probably during the KOTFE timeskip #Korin/Kira #OTP: Floating In Deep #denial ain't just a river in Egypt #Dantooine #dear Korin #just admit that you caught feelings for your Jedi fuckbuddy

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keldae · 5 years

Photo

I’m still not entirely happy with this, but if I keep poking at it I’m going to go mental. So have a Korin/Kira totally-not-an-OTP-picture!

And a shout-out to @corey-067 for coming up with their definitely-not-an-OTP name: Floating In Deep.

Because they’re neck-deep in De Nile.

;)

(Like what you see? Buy the Jawa a kofi!)

#kel draws #fanart #Korin/Kira #OTP: Floating In Deep #denial is not just a river in egypt #;)#Sketchbook #SWTOR #Smuggler/Kira Carsen #rare pair

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keldae · 6 years

Note

8, 9, 16 - Korin/Kira; 6 & 7 - Mai/Reanden; 19, 21, 28 - Xaja/Theron.

Korin/Kira

8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?

They haven’t really told me much about this yet! So far all I’m getting is a lot of “Jedi” or “Captain” from them. Standby on that. ;)

9. Who worries the most?

Believe it or not, Korin. Under that cocky carefree attention-span-of-a-Jawa-on-stimcaf spacer veneer, he’s constantly worrying about something, ranging from his ship’s fuel supplies to his job working for Theron/the Alliance to the well-being of the people he cares about, Kira included.

16. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

Korin is definitely the sleep-in-til-noon person. Half of it’s because he regularly doesn’t go to bed until after 2 AM, and half of it’s just because he likes his sleep. If Kira’s in bed with him, she’s resigned herself to the fact that even if she wakes up early, Korin likes to snuggle and trying to get out of that is nigh impossible. ;)

Mai/Reanden

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

For Reanden, the first thing was Mairen’s hair. He’s got a thing for gorgeous redheads. ;) For Mairen, I think it was the resemblance to Karl Urban his eyes, and then when she got to know him more, the absolute devotion he has to his kids.

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Reanden: A lowkey feeling of “oh fuck I am NOT doing this again” dread when he finally realizes it’s more than just a friends-with-benefits thing, because in his experience, the people he loves tend to have Bad Things happen to them. He didn’t want to risk that happening again.

Mairen was way more open to realizing that oh, this is actual FEELINGS involved. She was the first one to decide that she was in for the long haul, and pretty much surrogate adopted his kids as her own before even meeting Korin and Xaja.

Theron/Xaja

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Xaja. I think the first person she ‘fessed up to was Kira, followed probably by Jakar. And I’m not saying both of them promised to make Bad Things happen to Theron if he ever hurt her like her ex did, but... (Said ex, the Taerich ‘verse Trooper, wound up hitting Xaja and calling her a traitor and a Sith after the Emperor’s Fortress incident. Hence why Kira and Jakar were both a liiiittle paranoid.) Theron didn’t really tell anyone, not until after Xaja was reported KIA and he had Jonas AND Jace AND Marcus trying to figure out why he was so grief-stricken. Satele knew right from Yavin but she knew she couldn’t really say anything. Awks.

21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

Xaja LOVES to dance! She’s been known to pull Theron onto a dance floor when a song hits that she loves. Theron grumbles most of the time but goes along with it (and sometimes surprises her by pulling her out to dance first).

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

A lot of work. Theron tends to hyperfocus on his work, Xaja keeps busy with running the Alliance or spending a LOT of time in the sparring rings. When they can, they contact each other as much as possible, traitor arc being the noted exception since Theron cut off all contact and Xaja all but shut down completely.

#thanks for the questions!#andveryginger #headcanons #Theron/Xaja #Reanden/Mairen #Korin/Kira #it's a really good thing Kira and Jakar weren't around for Theron's TR8R stunt

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keldae · 5 years

Text

Drastic Measures (Chapter Twenty-Eight)

Saresh wasn’t sure if the emotion racing through her veins was fear or wrath. Her instincts suggested fear might be winning out: Destruction of one of the last hidden Jedi outposts was terrible news for the Republic, and that news was beginning to spread. She could already imagine morale plummeting at the report. Worse, Republic operatives sent to investigate the massacre indicated that Satele Shan’s ship had been found on the planet, shot almost beyond the point of recognition by Zakuulan forces. The former Grand Master’s body hadn’t yet been accounted for among the dead — it could only be assumed that she was taken prisoner by the Zakuulans.

The Twi’lek ran a hand down her face. On a personal level, she hadn’t been fond of Master Shan, but blast it, the woman had been Grand Master of the Jedi Order. She was a valuable strategic prisoner, even before her role as the mother of Theron Shan. Saresh almost pitied the Jedi.

But perhaps having Master Shan would make Zakuul loosen their stranglehold on the Republic. Rumours filtered in -- sightings of Xaja Taerich and Theron Shan, their last confirmed location being Dromund Kaas. And they had reportedly departed with notorious Imperial agent, Cipher Nine. Known and feared throughout the galaxy, Saresh still couldn’t quite believe the report Kovach had sent to her, indicating that the infamous spy was father to the rogue Jedi. It did perhaps explain the girl’s sharp temper and vicious language when provoked, however, she mused.

A ship matching the description of Cipher Nine’s was reported to have landed on Nar Shaddaa. But neither the old spy nor his charges had been found on board. The SIS station chief in that sector, Ardun Kothe, hadn’t reported seeing the Imperial agent on the moon, nor had he seen Taerich or Shan. It seemed the pair of fugitives had vanished into thin air once again.

This time, however, they left more trouble in their wake: Arcann had all but accused Empress Acina of sheltering them to stir trouble in the Republic. Acina had, in turn, accused Saresh of sending her problems to Dromund Kaas, creating strife in the Empire — which certainly had happened, with Darth Imperius having shown himself a traitor and disappearing. Saresh only wished it had been intentional. As it was, she took the news as proof that Taerich and Shan were both traitors and working with Imperius — to what end, even back before the war had broken out, she wasn’t sure.

But now the galaxy teetered toward open war again, and this time the Republic was terribly crippled. Saresh found herself missing the quiet reassurance of the Jedi only a short hyperspace jump away on Tython, and Jace Malcom’s brilliant strategic decisions.

We don’t need them, she tried to tell herself. The Empire is even more fragmented than we are right now. We can win without the Jedi, or Malcom. Perhaps if she told herself that more, she would start to believe it.

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Korin knew that his younger brother had a reputation for being tough and unfazed by almost everything around him. It was why he was such a good leader for the resistance and why he’d done so well on the Dark Council, after all. And it made Sorand hurrying up to him, pale-faced like he’d seen a ghost, way out of character. The smuggler frowned as the Sith made his way over to him. “You okay?” Korin asked as he took in just how spooked Sorand looked. “You look like that one time you walked in on Skadge losing strip sabaac to Andronikos.”

“Don’t remind me of that…” Sorand muttered. “I’m still considering taking up drinking to purge that memory.” He paused and shook his head. “Actually, I might take up drinking anyway.”

That made Korin blink. “Darth Paranoia, going for alcoholism? I thought you hated drinking after the one time with the tihaar--”

“Oh, shut up.” Sorand furtively glanced around, then lowered his voice. “I need a list of every single Jedi in this cell — Tythonian, Corellian, questionably dark, whatever.”

“There a particular reason you need a roster?”

The younger Taerich hesitated, lips pursed.“There’s a literal near-duplicate of Mum walking around here,” he admitted at length, “and I need to figure out who the blazes she is.”

Korin’s brain stalled out for a moment as he tried to process the statement. “Uhhh… what?”

Sorand pinched the bridge of his nose. “There’s a woman here, wearing Jedi-type clothing in shades of green, makes me think she’s Corellian. She has a saber-staff, and it sure as hell isn’t of Sith design or a Sith outfit. And kriffing hells, Kor’, she looks like Mum -- just with hazel eyes and no freckles.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch of red-haired Jedi ladies who look like —”

“No, she looks like Mum. Like if Mum had a sister, that would be her. If I didn’t know Mum was dead…”

“Shit, she looks that much like Mum?”

“Yeah.” Sorand shook his head and hissed out a heavy breath through his teeth. “It’s damned creepy is what it is, even by Sith standards. And I have no idea who the hells she is.”

“If she’s Corellian, that’ll narrow the options down,” Korin murmured, frowning at his crossed arms. “Not a hell of a lot of Corellians who jump off-world for anything unless they’re pilots, and even less Green Jedi who’ll leave the Enclave. I’ll grab Vector, see if he knows anything.”

“Green isn’t exclusively a Corellian colour, so she could be Tythonian…”

The smuggler gave a snort. “Yeah, but they’re boring and tend to go for every shade of brown known.”

A grin tugged at the corner of Sorand’s lips. “Right. So maybe give Cantarus a call, see if he can track down which Jedi have left Coronet City in the last couple of years,” he added. “ I mean, Mum… didn’t have a sister, right?”

“Not as far as she or Dad knew. Maybe someone cloned her?”

“A clone would probably have her freckles and the right eye colour.”

“Bah, details.” Korin shrugged one shoulder, trying to act unperturbed about the whole thing, even if he felt a chill up and down his spine. If Sorand was this spooked by the mysterious Jedi lookalike of their mother, it was serious. Worse, Korin could feel the Force tugging at him, as though demanding his attention regarding the Jedi. He knew that tug meant this was significant — and hells, how he hated feeling it. Sometimes being Force-sensitive just wasn’t worth the headache and paranoia. “I’ll snoop around, see what I can dig up.”

Sorand nodded. “When Dad gets here, I’ll try to figure out how to ask him if he’s sure Mum didn’t have a sister. Maybe he knows something… or he’ll have the heart attack I’m still having myself.”

“Hey, I’m the one who gets to make Dad have a heart attack, not a creepy lookalike of Mum.”

“I’m pretty sure I can out-heart-attack-potential you any day, my miscreant asshole brother. Sith and dumbass Sith things, remember?”

“I’ve got no less than six and a half people who want my head on a plate!”

“How the hells did you get the half person in there?”

“Carefully.”

“Dumbass. You’re going to make Dad have a stroke from you being a moron, while I have the entire bloody Empire gunning for me right now!” Sorand paused. “Wait, no, Xaja’s going to be the one to make Dad have the heart attack with the entire galaxy looking for her.” If she’s still alive went unsaid.

“Yeah, Xaja wins, I think. First and last time you’ll hear me say that about a Jedi.” Korin stepped back and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “Lemme track down Vector and see what he knows.”

“Works for me.” Sorand turned, craning his neck to look around. “I need to find Lana and see what--”

“Hey, Sor’ika?” Corey called, earning both brothers’ attention. When Korin looked over, he could see the Mandalorian intently looking at a computer screen. “I think you’re gonna want to check this out...”

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The Aegis rapidly descended through Alderaan’s atmosphere, the crew setting the cruiser down in a valley between two snow-capped mountains. A kilometre or so from the official boundary of the Organa lands, it was situated in an out-of-the-way location that didn’t receive too much attention from Zakuul — indeed, it was almost impossible to access via the main roads.

But Commander Malcom’s crew had no need for the roads. There was a hidden entrance to the killik warrens running under Alderaan’s mountains. The rebels utilized the caverns and winding paths to stay out of sight. Malcom hoped it would now serve to protect the two most hunted fugitives in the galaxy from those seeking their heads.

A security cam discreetly placed in a rock formation focused in on the faces of the disembarking refugees. As the programmed algorithms recognized the features of Xaja Taerich, arguably the most wanted person in the galaxy, an alert triggered deep within the warrens, notifying the resistance of the newcomers.

Corey Black, the nearest person to the computer console when the alert flickered to life, frowned down at the monitor for only a second as recognition kicked in, both of the Jedi woman and some of her travel companions. “Hey, Sor’ika?” he called out, a grin starting to spread across his bearded face. “I think you’re gonna want to check this out…”

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The group of Dantooine survivors entered the cool darkness of the killik tunnels, looking around with no small amount of suspicion. Xaja wrinkled her nose at the scent of damp earth and the lingering traces of the killik pheromones. “When you said you were getting us underground, Commander, I didn’t realize you meant literally.”

Malcom smirked, the expression eerily like Theron. “Not many people do. We’re reasonably sure the Zakuulans expect some form of resistance down here, but so far they haven’t found us. The killiks do a good job in scaring them off.”

“I can’t say I blame ‘em,” Kira muttered as she followed a step behind Xaja, looking around warily. “At least it’s better than the last time we were in a hive. Nothing’s trying to kill us... yet.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Theron answered quietly. For perhaps a couple hundred metres, the group moved in near-silence, until the spy spoke again. “You sure this is the right cave? It seems suspiciously empty.”

“If it wasn’t, we would have already been swarmed by killiks,” Jorgan piped up from a few paces back. “But there should be some sign of life by now.”

Worry settled into Xaja’s chest as she heard Malcom’s mutter of “There hasn’t been any news of an attack here” as the old soldier warily looked around. If the Zakuulans were already in the caves, waiting in ambush to take out the Dantooine survivors… they had no place else to flee to, and wouldn’t be able to escape. And there wouldn’t be a miraculous rescue from Havoc Squad to save their—

She froze, making Kira bump into her back. The sound of running footsteps echoed ahead; when she focused, she could hear more than one pair of feet. “Someone’s coming,” she hissed, sensing the rest of the group around her freeze as the other Jedi warily reached for lightsabers. Jorgan raised a hand, making one quick gesture, and his soldiers spread into formation as Malcom stepped back closer to the Jedi protectively, blaster in hand—

“Riggs, you son of a bitch!” came the yell from down the tunnel, a welcome voice that made Xaja sag in relief. Corso stepped out to the side of the formation, a delighted grin on his face. Moments later, Korin came flying around a bend in the tunnel, his own grin flickering as he registered a pack of armed soldiers and Jedi bracing themselves for a fight. “Whatever it was, I didn’t do it. Probably,” he quipped, coming to a stop and raising his hands placatingly.

“Bantha shit, Captain,” Corso promptly retorted with a laugh as Xaja darted around him, running the few paces to her brother. She had a second with which to sense Korin’s sheer relief under the veneer of carefree laughter, and then she was being tightly hugged by the tall spacer — a form of affection he didn’t go for too often. He must have been legitimately mourning her presumed death, or terrified for her safety.

As other members of the Alderaanian cell started hurrying around the corner after Korin, earning a chorus of delighted shouting and reunion between friends and comrades, the smuggler finally set his sister down. Real worry sparked briefly in his hazel eyes. “You okay?” he asked, squeezing her shoulders. “Sorand mentioned you’d been sick as hell, but…”

“Better now. Happy to still be in one piece.” Xaja smiled up at her brother, concern darkening her own mood for a moment. Hells, even Korin looked older — she swore she could see grey in his blond hair. “You been okay? Dad didn’t have any new updates on you last time I saw him.”

“I’m fine, all things considered. Hells, my favourite zombie sister’s back with us, so I’m doing great—”

“Zombie?” Xaja gifted her brother with a scowl as he grinned unapologetically. “Zombie? Listen, you asshole --”

“Last I checked, you’re still legally dead, and you know as well as I do that the walking dead are technically zombies.” Korin laughed and dodged a swat from the Jedi. “And since you’re clearly not a ghost, that only leaves zombies as our undead option.”

“I’m pretty sure you can’t put a bounty on a legally dead person, you twit,” Xaja muttered with a scowl. “My status seems to have been rescinded.”

“Bah. Details. You’re still my favourite undead sister—” The smuggler ducked out of reach again with another laugh, only to trip and fall backwards over an outstretched boot.

“If you get stabbed, that’ll be your own damned fault,” Sorand interjected with a grin as he looked down at his brother. Ignoring Korin’s scowl up at him, the Sith hurried to give Xaja a hug. “I’m glad to see you in one piece, Xaj.”

“You, too.” Xaja returned the hug, for a second aware of Malcom side-eyeing them before looking back at her brother. “When I heard there was a hit out for you…”

“Acina’s going to have to do a lot better to take me down,” Sorand smirked. Worry flashed through his dark eyes as he lowered his voice. “How did things go?” he asked.

“Uhh… partially good?” At Sorand’s frown, Xaja shook her head. “I’ll explain later.” Catching him up on the details of the parasite in her brain was not something to do with so many listening ears around.

Sorand nodded in understanding, squeezing her shoulders before letting go. His gaze drifted over to Ashara; Xaja watched him hurry over to his apprentice before she turned at Kira’s delighted cry. Recognizing Doc and Rusk as they hurried up to the group, an excited Tee-Seven beeping in tow, she ran over to her old crew, feeling like the team was almost complete.

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Theron felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he watched the Alderaan rebels gladly embrace the Dantooine survivors. For the first time since fleeing Zakuul with Xaja, he felt reasonably safe… in the middle of a killik hive. Still, this was stable and out of Zakuul’s grip, for the moment. Sorand being here in one piece indicated that this location was also safe from the Empire; it would also help that the Organas weren’t fond of Saresh and could help keep her agents from finding the rebels. He lowly sighed and relaxed, the tension in his back easing.

Then he made eye contact with an approaching Korin Taerich, and had perhaps half a second to think shit before the smuggler’s fist connected with his jaw and knocked him down. “You fucking asshole!” Korin growled, his earlier joy at seeing his sister alive turning into a well-justified anger at his apparently-former friend.

Theron grunted as he gingerly ran his tongue over his teeth, pleasantly surprised to realize none had broken loose from that punch. “Brave words coming from the guy who punched a guy who got shot three days ago,” he muttered. His shoulder flared with pain as he gingerly shifted it. At least the bandages didn’t seem to have come undone.

Korin faltered for a second, brow wrinkling in confusion. “The fuck you mean you got shot?”

“Bunch of Zaks who really wanted to chat up your sister,” Theron retorted as he tugged his shirt to the side, revealing the bandages. “Asshat.”

“You still had that coming,” Korin snapped, dark eyes flickering with anger. But at least he apparently felt bad enough about hitting the wounded spy to offer a hand back up.

“Yeah, I know.” Theron grunted as he accepted the hand back to his feet, lowly hissing in discomfort. “Would saying ‘sorry’ make it a little better?”

Korin’s eyes narrowed in threatening anger. “Not in that kriffin’ tone of voice it—”

“No, I’m legitimately sorry,” Theron quickly interjected as he saw Korin’s fist tightening again. “You’re right. I’m an idiot and deserved that punch.”

“You think?! You’re making me look like a certifiable genius, Shan.”

“You are a certifiable genius. I’ve seen your aptitude tests, Taerich.”

“Shh!” Korin furtively looked around. “Don’t go ratting me out! I’m tryin’ to dodge responsibility, not adopt it!”

Theron rolled his eyes, then caught Korin’s shoulder. “For what it’s worth I am actually sorry, Korin. I was an idiot. It won’t happen again.”

“It’d better not,” Korin muttered. The fury seemed to have finally cooled down from the fiery temper to a low simmer under the surface. The smuggler shook his head, then frowned at Theron’s shoulder. “Sorry about the punch. Your shoulder more buggered up now?”

“Whose shoulder’s what now?” Sorand interjected as he appeared on Theron’s left. The Sith frowned at the spy, already reaching for the wounded shoulder. “The hell did you do?”

“Target practice, gone really badly,” Theron deadpanned, and earned a snort from the Sith. Feeling a prickle on the back of his neck, he turned his head slightly, just enough to see Jace frowning at Sorand. Right… his father wouldn’t trust a Sith, even one who had abandoned the Empire for his Jedi sister.

“I suggest thinking of a better story before Lana hears it and laughs at you for the rest of your respective natural lives.” Sorand smirked as he settled his hand on the blaster wound. “Hold tight for a minute.” A violet glow appeared around his gloved fingers; Theron shivered as he felt a cold trickle seep into his shoulder, knitting the injured muscles and tendons back together. Dark Side healing was never a completely comfortable experience, despite Sorand’s efforts to be gentle; but, when the Sith withdrew his hand and Theron rotated his shoulder experimentally, the wound was completely healed.

“Good as new,” Theron pronounced when he didn’t feel pain flaring in the joint, and gave Sorand a grin. “Thanks.” The Sith had even healed the bruising Theron could feel forming on his jaw from Korin’s punch.

“Don’t mention it. Force knows you’ve been through enough without having a kriffed-up arm on top of everything else.” Sorand stepped back, gesturing for Theron and Korin to follow him. If he was aware of Jace staring at the back of his head, mistrust showing in his dark eyes, the Sith didn’t reveal it. “I know you’re probably tired enough to see double, but we’re going to need to catch up on all the osik following you since you got off of Dromund Kaas. You lot good for a quick debrief?”

“As long as it’s relatively quick,” Theron agreed. Craning his neck, he caught a glimpse of Xaja, still surrounded by her closest friends, excitedly chatting away. At least she hadn’t witnessed her brother sucker-punching him like that — that would have been much harder to explain to her. Nervous dread settled in his stomach before he shoved it down to where he hoped she couldn’t sense it. “You said Lana’s here?”

“Yes, and you’d best hope she doesn’t feel inclined to make like Korin with the punching — which, by the way, I’m perfectly fine not knowing the reasons for.” Sorand grinned and stepped toward the tunnel. “Come on.”

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Jace had never been sure how to take the news that a Jedi war hero, and his son, both had non-hostile connections with powerful Sith Lords. With the Revanite crisis, he supposed it was reasonable for Republic and Imperial assets to cooperate. But the extended communication and open friendly behaviour made him frown.

He watched suspiciously as Darth Imperius caught Master Xaja up in a tight hug, both siblings clearly happy to see each other. Now that they were beside each other, he could see the resemblance between the two, far too similar to be mere coincidence. The Hero of Tython had one brother recently on the Dark Council, and one brother who was a proud career criminal and privateer -- not to mention their father.

He frowned, caught up enough in his thoughts that he missed Theron getting punched, still focused on Imperius. Sith weren’t exactly known for being affectionate or protective of their families, much less family members who came from enemy space, yet Imperius had risked his own safety to hide both his sister and a known enemy spy on Dromund Kaas. Had she known who he was sheltering, Jace suspected Empress Acina would have killed the younger Sith. So perhaps despite being a Sith, the boy — and how did a boy who looked like he was barely into his twenties make it to the Dark Council? — wasn’t a bad sort. He certainly wasn’t as shrivelled as Darth Malgus, nor did he carry himself in the same way. The eyes that darted around were dark brown and openly relieved, not tainted with sulphuric rage. Jace even dared to say the Sith was happy.

But surely the son of Cipher Nine had learned to hide his true motivations. The former Supreme Commander of Republic Forces pursed his lips, frowning. Master Xaja had also been fathered by the infamous Imperial spook, but she had been raised among Jedi; Jace figured that didn’t count, as she hadn’t grown up around her father’s influence. How much had the legendary cipher agent taught his sons?

“He’s not Malgus.” Satele’s voice by his right shoulder made him start. He looked down and got a raised eyebrow in turn. “Sith he may be, but he’s not steeped in the dark side like too many others. He’s actually far more like his sister than you might think.” She paused, giving Master Xaja a look as the redhead knelt to give an old astromech droid a hug, the droid beeping loudly and happily enough to be heard a few metres away. “Arguably, he could claim to be the more Jedi-like of the two.”

Jace snorted. “A Dark Lord of the Sith and a Dark Councillor, more Jedi-like than a hero of the Order?”

“He wasn’t the one who yelled a few interesting curses at Revan on Yavin, or told a mercenary where to go and how to get there. He’s far less hot-headed than his sister is.” Satele smiled slightly. “It’s unfortunate he wound up on Korriban; he would have done very well as a Jedi.”

“Hmm.” Unconvinced, Jace watched as a blonde woman hurried to the reunion throng in the tunnel, frowning at her sulphuric yellow eyes. His gaze darted toward the lightsaber on her hip, noting the metallic fins and blackened metal -- a very Sith style. Master Xaja didn’t seem to mind that, or the Mandalorian bounty hunter behind the Sith — she shot back to her feet and hurried to give the blonde a hug, one that was gladly returned. Lana Beniko was a known Imperial asset, and the SIS’s records indicated she was Imperius’ top advisor. “Blast, they’re still Sith, Satele. You know what they’re capable of.”

“Yes. And I believe Imperius would unleash it to protect his siblings… not unlike you might protecting us, the Republic.” Her hand tightened on his arm. “It doesn’t make him a bad person, Jace.” They watched as Theron turned from talking to Imperius and Captain Taerich, an open smile on his face as he went to greet Beniko. His arm was moving much more freely, Jace noticed, like it was no longer damaged. “I have never had cause to be worried around him. And he did protect Theron along with his sister.”

To what end? Jace wondered as he watched the reunions: Master Xaja was animatedly talking to Beniko, Theron standing at her side and interjecting commentary before turning to greet a newcomer with dark hair and a brown coat. Imperius had turned to speak to a Mandalorian woman in green armour -- the Champion of the Great Hunt, Shara Verhayc, Jace recognized -- while his smuggler brother slipped out of the crowd and neatly disappeared. No matter that Satele didn’t consider Imperius or his right-hand to be threats, no matter that Theron greeted the Sith like friends — Jace couldn’t bring himself to feel at ease around them.

And this was before bringing Cipher Nine into the mix, he thought. He frowned. Nothing involving the Empire’s top spy could ever end well.

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As the crowds beganto disperse toward the main sections of the hive, reunions still ongoing, Korin slipped away to send a message to his father. The old spy was probably in hyperspace, but if the Shadow ever dropped back into realspace for course corrections, he would hopefully see the message before having a worry-induced heart attack. The smuggler sighed — his father picked the most inconvenient times to be radio silent.

“What’s this? You, dodging out of the closest thing to a party we’ve seen in years?” A familiar -- and very welcome -- voice to his left startled him. Looking over, he saw Kira leaning against a stalagmite and smirking at him. “Who are you and what have you done with Korin Taerich?”

“It ain’t a party til the booze and strippers are out,” Korin retorted with a grin as he slipped his datapad back into his pocket, the message to his father half-written. “You remember Rishi.”

Kira grinned as Korin stepped up to her, resting his forearm on the stalagmite over her head. “Vividly. Those were some good times with the crazy cultists.” She straightened enough to slip her arms around Korin’s neck. “So what’s this I hear about the dumb spacer thing being an act and you leading a proper strike team?”

“I call shenanigans. I still dunno how I got roped into that,” Korin muttered as Kira laughed. The smuggler grinned as his other hand came to rest on the Jedi’s waist. “You missed seein’ some of my best shootin’, Jedi.”

One auburn eyebrow raised. “So if that was your best shooting, what’ve you been showing me the last year and a half?” Bright blue eyes pointedly glanced up and down, suggestive amusement pulling her lips into a grin.

“I said some of my best shootin’. You get the special showin’, Carsen.”

“Do I?” Kira’s eyes danced with pleased mischief, as her fingers started lightly tickling the back of his neck. “I’m not convinced, Captain. You got some persuading to do.”

“Challenge accepted,” Korin retorted with a smirk as he leaned in to kiss her. “Real talk though,” he murmured, sobering for a moment, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.” For a brief moment, lingering grief and fear flickered through Kira’s Force-signature before she withdrew to where Korin couldn’t sense her emotions. She covered her brief slip with a smirk. “Your life would’ve gotten a lot less interesting without us in it.”

“And a lot less fun without you in particular,” Korin murmured as he pulled her into a side tunnel and kissed her again.

For a second, he thought about the message sitting half-written on his datapad, and almost pulled himself away to finish sending it. But then Kira’s hand had slipped down, nimble fingers finding his belt buckle, and he quickly decided it could wait. Chances were the old man was already in hyperspace. He would just finish the message later… much, much later.

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Oh, stars, she looked just like her mother. Mairen watched as the group of evacuees from Dantooine and their Havoc Squad saviours scattered within the resistance base — some people heading for the medics, some to meet friends, and still others to just go and crash from post-trauma exhaustion.

But she wasn’t watching the refugees. She was watching the red-haired Jedi woman walking toward the command centre with Lord Beniko and Captain Vortena, animatedly talking to the Sith. Even if the girl’s face hadn’t been broadcasted around the entire galaxy for the last month, along with the face of the tall, handsome spy beside her, Mairen would have recognized her.

She remained still as the group walked past her, able to observe without being recognized. Agent Shan, she noticed, seemed to be more alert, looking about with a slightly paranoid look; his gaze landed on Mairen for a moment before moving on, apparently taking her to be only a curious onlooker. Airna’s daughter glanced at her for barely a second before her attention turned back to Lord Beniko. Mairen had known that her cousin’s daughter wouldn’t recognize her, not like her brother had — she had never met her own mother. But that didn’t quite stop the slight ache in her heart.

At first glance, the pretty redhead didn’t seem to take after her father much at all. She had her mother’s hair and eyes, her mother’s slim build, and the same graceful stride. And the laugh that came from her at some quip Lord Beniko made was an eerie echo of Airna. Even her reputed sharp temper and fondness for creative insults came from her mother. And you went after a spy, too, she thought, shaking her head. Truly your mother’s daughter. At least Agent Shan was a Republic agent, and not in the service of the Empire.

It was like Mairen was watching her cousin again, before she had left Corellia with Taerich. She wanted to go to the girl, see how much of Airna lived on in her — but the younger Jedi wouldn’t know who she was. And she had just survived one terrible ordeal after another. And your journey isn’t done yet, Mairen thought as she watched her cousin’s daughter walk up a ramp to one of the command platforms, Agent Shan never far from her. With any luck, there would be time later to meet Xaja Taerich properly. The Jedi Shadow could only hope that the only thing she had inherited from her father was his surname.

#drastic measures #look! I haven't forgotten this yet!#KOTFE AU #SWTOR #Theron/Xaja #reunion time!#Xaja finally caught up to her brothers again #Suspicious Jace is suspicious #now we know where Theron gets the trust issues from #meanwhile on Coruscant #more family drama inbound!#this story is never going to end I stg #and look! Korin/Kira!

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