#also Ventress would’ve been so much more exciting

[theladyjojogrant]

They should have replaced Morgan Elsbeth with Ventress

[grxceful-ly]

Hello there! I hope you're doing good!

19, 21 and 29 for the Fanfic Writers Ask Game!

hii thank you so much for sending me an ask!! i hope you're doing really well yourself. you picked some good ones and this got kinda long, i'm sorry 🙇🏻‍♀️

19. Give us a small teaser from one of your WIPs.

i'm going to take this opportunity to say that something in me does not allow me to fulfill all the multichapter, long fics of my dreams so i mostly share oneshots. i wish i could be like "this is from my [insert title here] au from chapter 14!!" or something. but alas. anyway, this is from my wip sequel to the sabezra secret relationship i wrote a while back. it's almost done, i'm excited to share the full thing soon!

Maybe the Ezra Bridger who wasn’t in a relationship with Sabine wouldn’t have said that. Maybe he would’ve been a little giddy—like, wow! Sabine is actually touching me! And isn’t completely averse to it! Maybe he should have said something like that. Or just. . .smiled? Or hugged her back? Sabine still wasn’t letting go. His heart ached a little. He let his arms come around her loosely, his gaze stuck to the floor. “So. . .” he started. But nothing else came out. 

21. Have you ever deleted an entire scene after spending hours laboring over it? If so, why?

yes and no. i don't think i've ever had to delete an entire scene--usually i will spend a lot of time writing a scene or two and i hate it a little more than usual so i end up losing motivation for the entire project. this happens often. i don't like it.

however, sometimes i'll write a line i really like but in my heart i know it won't work for the overall goal of the paragraph or scene, so i have to delete it :( i mourn for like three minutes and then move on lol.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

goodness, the amount of star wars time travel fix-it fics i've written in my mind. that's kind of where they stay. but occasionally i jot down a scene that has a chokehold on me until it goes away. i was going to share an anakin one, but for some reason i can't find my doc with that in it :') so you get this scene from my vostress wip where asajj goes back in time. this is kind of a cheat bc i don't know if it'll NEVER be posted, but as of now too little of it is written to share much more than these snippets. also there's very little interest in a fic like this versus my usual stuff lol.

Her eyes softened. “It is more important to reject that power and preserve those things. Understand me, Vos. Truly. There is no power that can take away the pain you feel. No power that is worth it for a fleeting sense of victory.” She realized she'd put a hand to his chest, naturally drawn closer as she tried not to plead with him. This was it. If he should ever listen to her, let it be now.

and for a bonus, here's an 'asajj takes omega to meet quinlan' snippet that was just for fun and will never again see the light of day lol!

“Your jedi?” Omega asked, eyes lighting up, glancing from one of them to the other. Vos flashed a lopsided smile at Ventress. “I love when she calls me that,” he said in that smooth, unserious but oh-so-truthful voice of his. Ventress's eyes slid to him, then went up to the sky in feigned annoyance as her hand fell to her side and she swiveled to walk away. “Come on.” Unfortunately, Vos and Omega were making quick friends. He was the type to do so; always had been, and it seemed she, too, was eager to befriend anyone she set her sights on. A horrifying pair.

[bi-naesala]

The one in which Anakin arrives early

It must be a miracle, but for once in his life, Anakin Skywalker isn't late to school, which grants him the occasion to go looking for a certain pair of people...

(Part of the SW Modern AU)

For once in his life, Anakin isn’t late.

It’s weird for him to arrive at the same time as Obi-Wan, since that asshole of his brother never waits for him because getting late would ruin his pristine record or some other bullshit he’d make up on the spot, but here they are now. He doesn’t even have the excuse that he’s going to meet with his upperclassmen friends, since they’ve all graduated now and are beginning college; Anakin supposes some habits die hard, even when there’s not a reason to keep them anymore.

 Wow, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen so many people at the entrance. It must be because, since he’s always late, everybody’s entered already, unlike this time, when all the students are still outside, waiting for the bell to ring and the doors to open, allowing them inside.

 “Ugh, how long are we gonna wait yet?”

Anakin turns his head to his left, and he notices the person who just talked: it’s Ahsoka, his little sister! Well, she’s not exactly his sister, but she might as well be since they practically grew up together in the neighbourhood, though Anakin supposes he’d have to fight Plo - his adoptive brother - if he ever tried to say it out loud, since Plo prides himself in being her brother a lot.

She’s talking to one of classmates, Barris Oifee. They’re actually girlfriends, having gotten together only recently, but very few people know, and Anakin of course is one of these people - he helped Ahsoka build enough confidence to ask her out after all!

Since they’re trying to keep this recent development under wraps, at least for this initial stage, they’re not acting on that sweet sweet pda they could get otherwise, so Anakin figures he can go interrupt them.

 It’s not hard to sneak up behind Ahsoka, and Barriss is too taken by what she’s saying to notice him, so he can freely poke her in the ribs, making her squeak - and Barriss chuckle.

“Who-- Skyguy! You ass!”

“Language, Snips.”

They still keep calling each other with those dumb nicknames they have given each other as kids, but what can they say? It’s their thing.

Ahsoka huffs, slapping his arm. Ouch, it hurts.

 At least after that outburst, she seems to calm down.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Uh… going to school?” Anakin replies, perplexed. What is he supposed to say?

She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling.

“I meant at this hour, you dummy. Did Obi-Wan drag you out of the bed?”

“Ah. Ah. Very funny,” Anakin says, face completely void of any emotion, then he begins to look around, “I was actually looking for a certain pair of beauties…”

“Well, good luck then,” Ahsoka laughs, noticing that Anakin’s eager to leave, “See ya after school?”

“Of course. Bye Ahsoka! Bye Barriss!”

“Bye Skyguy!”

“Y-Yeah, bye…”

  The more Anakin looks around, the more people he knows he spots, especially Fetts.

They’re known as a huge family, and Anakin swear they make up at least one third of the school. They could take over it easily if they actually wanted to - that would be fun to watch, thinking about it.

 Here there are Hardcase, excitedly gesturing at their older brothers Dogma and Tup. Anakin remembers being excited as well when he was on his first year of school; it will die down, though considering how Hardcase is, maybe it won’t be the case; Anakin really hopes it isn’t.

Wow, it’s been a while since Anakin has seen Tup. Man, he’s gotten taller! Also hey, is he growing out his hair? Nice! He was thinking about doing the same, actually, but he’s still isn’t convinced entirely, even though he’s had many people say that it would certainly be better than the hairstyle he’s sporting now - that’s not true, there’s nothing wrong with how his hair is now they’re just jealous.

Dogma looks like he wants to die. He has on his face the same expression Anakin has seen Obi-Wan wear when he was up to his usual shenanigans. His little brother’s instincts can’t help but to act out at that, and Anakin silently cheers on Hardcase. Yes, keep annoying your brother.

 Here there are Fives and Echo, the twins - at this point Anakin has renounced trying to understand their names, or any Fett name by the way. They’re hanging on their own, but they’re clearly planning something, maybe a new prank against the hated math professor Pong Krell? Anakin hopes so; nobody likes that guy.

On the other hand, however, he hopes it isn’t, if anything because he has helped them on a few pranks already and he’s always had a blast; he doesn’t want to be excluded from what looks like is going to be a good time. At least he hopes they’ll eventually come to him if they’re actually planning something.

Usually it’s Fives the one who comes up with the ideas and logistics. No matter how crazy the plan may sound, they always manage to pull it off. Echo is more of a damage control kind of guy, misdirecting the attention from him and his sibling and making up alibis for them. He may seem like the less innocent of the two, but it’s all a façade.

Anakin would love to stop and chat with them, if anything to tell them to count him in if they need to wreck some shit, but he’s looking for other people already and he doesn’t want to waste too much time finding them.

 Here there are Waxer and Boil, classmates of Fives and Echo and another pair of twins - so many twins in this family - talking about something with Cody. Cody’s the one Anakin’s more familiar with, since he hangs out with the same group as he does.

He’s paying attention to his cousins, but it’s all gone when he notices Obi-Wan by the door, and all his attention turns towards him as he stares at him with such a pitiful stare that makes Anakin want to vomit.

He can’t believe he and his brother aren’t together anymore, they were such a cute couple!

Some things just don’t work out it seems, though Anakin would love it if they got their shit together - which they don’t, no matter how much it may look like it. How weird is it that he of all people thinks that about them?

At least they’ve remained friends, even though this makes things awkward sometimes but oh well, it’s not Anakin’s place to tell that story, not to say that he’s also quite tired of it if he has to be honest. One day he’s gonna butt their heads together and who knows, maybe things will change for the better.

 Anakin shakes his head. He should get a move on.

  As he walks to the back of the school, he begins to step in the “bad kids” territory, the one where you find those who always get in trouble.

 The first one he meets here is Asaj Ventress, chilling on her own listening to that goth music she likes so much; Anakin could never stomach it.

Her presence in Anakin’s group is weird; if she wasn’t an old friend of Obi-Wan - though she’ll get offended if you call them friends - she wouldn’t even bother with them, and sometimes Anakin can’t help but to wish that was the case.

The worrying thing is that Ahsoka has begun looking up to her - something about being an “experienced gay” and something else about “girl power” - and Anakin’s starting to get worried, not wanting Ahsoka to be ruined by her. Not that Anakin himself is such a better influence, but whatever.

Knowing that Ventress would hate him even more if he interrupts her alone time, he doesn’t bother greeting her.

 As he goes on, he’s surprised to find Jesse, of all people, there, though he looks like he’s walking away towards the main gate again. Jesse is another Fett, and Anakin’s classmate - along with Jesse’s twin Kix.

“Oh hey! Jesse!”

“Anakin!” Jesse greets him. They do a handshake and kiss each other on the cheeks. “Nice seeing you up and about already. Looking for Rex?” Rex being another Fett, Cody’s twin.

“Yup,” Anakin replies, popping up the p. “And what are you doing here?”

Jesse shrugs.

“Had to ask Wolffe a thing for Kix. He would’ve come himself, but you know how he hates the smell of smoke.”

“Yeah, I know,” Anakin replies. Yes, given how badly it smells in here, poor Kix wouldn’t have survived.

“Well, gotta report back now. See ya in class!”

“Later Jesse!”

 Of the cluster of people Anakin meets next, he recognizes Wolffe. He too is a Fett, and Cody and Rex’s twin. Yes, their mother had a triplet, poor woman.

He’s smoking a cigarette with the rest of his class, the 5C. See, that class is infamous because it’s full of heathens: if something bad happens, you can be assured that at least someone from 5C is involved.

He also sees Hondo Onaka, the resident weed dealer, Cad Bane, a guy that has been charged for felony a couple of times already and… Maul Oppress.

 Now, Anakin doesn’t know the whole story since he came into the neighbourhood late, when his mother and Obi-Wan’s father begun to see each other, but basically the Oppress family used to live in the same neighbourhood as theirs, and Maul and Obi-Wan were even best friends. Then… something happened and Maul lost their legs, having to replace them with prosthetics.

They blame Obi-Wan for it, or at least he used to: as of late his hatred for him seems to have died down a bit. Maybe it’s because he’s living with his mother and brothers again instead than with his father - yes, his parents divorced - but Anakin doesn’t know. Given that his father is professor Palpatine, it could be. Lord knows how messed up that dude is - and they still haven’t thrown him out. Anakin shivers as he remembers how much he tried to get closer to him during his second year. Gross.

Anakin hopes Maul will get his act together one day, because if they try shit with Obi-Wan he’ll punch his teeth, and he’ll do so with his prosthetic arm, so it’ll hurt more.

 He’d like to say hi, since Wolffe’s in there, but given the other people who are present, he passes them without a hint of acknowledgement.

  When he finally arrives to the spot under the fire escape stairs, he finally sees the people he’s been looking for.

Padmé, his girlfriend, and Rex, his boyfriend. Anakin still doesn’t know how he managed to score the prettiest people in the entire school - ok that Rex has twins, but he’s way prettier than them anyway.

Padmé’s the first one to notice him, and a big smile appears on her face as she waves at him.

“Ani!”

Anakin runs at her, picking her up in his arms and twirling her around, only to then give her a quick kiss on the lips.

He immediately hears a cough and he turns towards an amused Rex, who’s pointing at himself.

“What? Nothing for me?”

Anakin chuckles and drags him into a kiss by the scruff of his shirt.

“Hi Rex.”

“Hi Anakin.”

 “What are you doing so early here?” Padmé asks, making Anakin groan.

“Not you too!”

“I mean, can you blame me?” she points out. Well, she’s not wrong…

“Anyway,” he deflects, raising his eyebrow suggestively, “What were you two doing?”

“Little Missy over there was telling me that she won’t be available after school,” Rex provides.

Anakin’s face falls immediately. “What? Why?”

“Me and Satine have a meeting to figure out our course of action during our next school council,” she replies, “I’m sorry guys.”

“It’s chill,” Rex shrugs, understanding that as class president she has duties towards the school.

Anakin… understands a little less. He knows it’s not nice to think that way, but if he could he’d have Padmé and Rex all for himself, without sharing them.

Still, in the end he can only sigh in defeat, even though the frown he was sporting soon becomes a smile as he exposes a plan that is immediately approved by the others.

“Well, since it’s still too early for the bell to ring, might as well make up for lost time in advance.”

 Maybe he should put some effort and get to school early every day. If he gets to spend some good times with his partners, it’s definitely worth it.

[anakincausesmayhem]

So the Clone Wars trailer was dropped the other day at Celebration and it made me feel so many conflicting things. 

Firstly, this is awesome. We get to see the Siege of Mandalore, the most talked-about arc out of all the unfinished ones! We get to see Ahsoka again, and Anakin and Obi-Wan and Rex and everybody else! That’s great! And the animation is just top-notch; it’s so, so good. 

But, you know, besides all this excitement, I also started to feel a little nostalgic, and then resentful and even angry at Disney. 

Honestly, the thing that started everything was seeing Anakin. Like, look at him:

Does the animation look great? Yes. Does he look like Hayden!Anakin? No, not really. 

The reason why the first trailer made me so happy--besides the fact that CW is back, bitches!!!--was because while the animation looked maybe even better than season 5 and the Lost Missions, it was still the same style. And not only was it the same style, they made Anakin and Obi-Wan look so alike to how they look in RotS! Look at them: 

Anakin’s hair, longer and blonder, his robes, Obi-Wan’s robes and cloak and his hair and beard and everything--they look like they do in RotS! And that made me and a lot of other fand so happy because it made us emotional! The end is near and we all know how it’ll end. anakin why

This new style might be of better quality; I honestly like the smooth lines on some characters--I especially love how Ahsoka looks--and the changes on the clones are so small you can barely see them. But what hit me was how different Anakin looks. His hair is longer, yes, but it’s so dark and his jaw is like, huge? I don’t know. It’s not the same, man.

And after watching the CW panel, I don’t blame the crew for it being different. Like Dave said, it’s not like they could turn a switch and go back into CW-mode. They had worked on other projects, they've grown and changed. Of course, it’s not the same. Still, I can’t help but wish that it was. 

So my anger is not directed at the cast and crew. Like I said at the beginning, it is directed at Disney. Because everybody was just so happy with Disney when they announced that Clone Wars is coming back, and I was too, you know, but now? Now I’m not, because if it weren’t for their greed, we could have had all this and more. Not the same, although I made it clear that I prefer the old animation style, but more. Hear me out:

We are going to get 3 arcs: The Bad Batch (which you could already watch on YouTube in a pretty rough version), Ahsoka in the Underworld, and the Siege of Mandalore. If Disney hadn’t cancelled CW, we would’ve gotten the following arcs: 

Bad Batch: which apparently we will see in a completed version

Son of Dathomir: which would have shown us what happens with Maul after Sidious kills Savage and before he returns to Mandalore for the Siege. This is now a comicbook series

Dark Disciple: Ventress is still a bounty hunter, but then Vos gets thrown into the mix and then Dooku and Vos goes bad and this would have been so cool; Ventress is a character introduced in TCW, so I think that we should have seen the end of her story on TCW as well. Still, for those interested, this is now a book by Christie Golden

Ahsoka in the Underworld, which we will get to see, albeit in a different version

A Mystery Under the Jedi Temple: now this is one I really regret not getting to see. We would’ve seen Ahsoka and Anakin pair up before Mandalore! We would’ve seen Ahsoka having to go back to the Temple! How would she deal with that??? We would’ve seen them search the tunnels under the temple--where a Sith temple used to be. We would’ve seen Ahsoka fight back Palpatine! It would’ve been amazing!!!   

Yoda on Kashyyyk: finally, we would have found out why good relationships with the Wookies, Yoda has

A Captain Rex/R2-D2 Team-Up: do I need to say more

Mon Cala’s Political Crisis: This would have also been epic! We would have gotten to see Padmé return to Mon Cala and meet people who talk against Palpatine! This was probably one of the moments that made her decide that somebody has to stand against him, and so the Rebellion was later born! This is a crucial moment! Not to mention, I am so bitter that we will most likely never see Padmé again in TCW 

The Canonization of the Yuuzhan Vong, a really cool alien species which we have only seen in Legends so far  

Crystal Crisis on Utapau (you can find the story reels on Youtube): where we would have seen Palpatine’s first attempt to get a huge kyber crystal for the Death Star. Plus, we see Anakin deal with Ahsoka’s leaving and this was just a classic SW adventure, it’s just a pity   

Boba Fett vs. Cad Bane: Epic. Boba fans would have finally see him get his iconic armor and we would have gotten to see the end of his transformation to the guy from the OT; not to mention that we would’ve gotten to see the end of Cad Bane’s arc, who is in the same situation as Ventress: he was introduced in the show, so I think it would have been only fitting for his story to end on the show.  

The Siege of Mandalore: we all know about this, we’ve been waiting for this, we’ll get this. 

Some of this arcs we got in books or comics, yes, but still: it would’ve been so cool to see them in the series! Others, most of them, are forever lost. And this is why I cannot be grateful to Disney. I am happy CW is coming back, yes, but I am not grateful to Disney. Disney is the one who took CW away from us in the first place, and now that their new projects never got the same amount of love from the fans, they’re coming back with their tail between their legs. And we’re not getting this because Disney cares about the story or about the fans or anything like that. We’re getting more CW because Disney is launching that streaming service of theirs and they need to give people a reason to subscribe. And they’re giving us just a taste of it, just enough to make us give them our money. If they actually cared about the story, they would’ve allowed Dave and the others to finish all the arcs. 

TL;DR: I'm happy Clone Wars is coming back and I am so grateful to Dave and the cast for not giving up and for loving this show as much as we the fans do, but seeing the new animation style made me nostalgic for the old one and about everything we could have had if it weren't for Disney's greed.

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

New month! I’m a couple days late but things have been Busy…

Usual updates behind the cut (along with a Prompt Call because why not!)

So, I didn’t get as much done as I would’ve liked over the past month--mostly because I really ended up in crunch time with my SWBB over the first week or so, and then needed a break, and then work got slammed. (Which I knew was coming, technically, I just didn’t know it was going to be this bad, since it wasn’t last year…)

Anyway. So I didn’t get any origfic done last month, like I hoped I would, or much of anything on Precipice. But I did finish my BB project! I’ll be editing it/etc. over the next few weeks and posting on May the Fourth. Should be fun! (It, uh, still needs a title, but I have like a month to come up with one, lol…)

Other things I hope to get out this month:

Next Precipice chapter at last--I do have it about half-written, I just need to sit down and finish it (and also probably map out a little better what some of the others are going to be up to for the first section of this arc).

(Hopefully two or three chapters over the course of the month, but at the very least this next one.)

(I have been doing some Plotting/planning/etc., but most of that has been related to some things that happen towards the end of this arc, or even later. Like, uh, arc nine or ten.)

(…yeah, uh, occasionally I talk about this fic as if I have Everything Planned Out and while it is true that I’ve done a lot more in the way of outlining/plotting than I usually do, there are still some pretty big gaps. There’s a couple arcs that are like “plot points A, B, C, and F happen here” but I’m less sure of what characters who are not directly involved in said plot points might or might not be up to…which is the situation with Arc Seven at the moment, lol.)

AU outline. Probably the next installment of Ventress, but maybe something New. Or Let’s Go Steal a Crossover.

Get some origfic writing done.

I’m also hoping to get out some other fanfic content of some kind, whether that’s as a bonus fic or additional content for one of my established AUs, as a new project (i.e., our faces like a mirror; which I’ve done teasers/draft bits before but not gotten to a Proper Postable State) or as a standalone piece of some kind, but we’ll see.

…on that note, impromptu/informal prompt call? Anything in particular you’d like to see me write? Request as many things as you want, for any fandom I’ve talked about on this blog or referenced in my index post. I will do my best to fill at least one prompt per person.

…and, since this is really short…here’s a couple teasers for upcoming content! As with all teasers, these are not in final form and are subject to change/editing before they get posted.

Precipice:

“We’re not going to liberate it. We’re going to keep our heads down as much as possible.”

“Right,” she said. “So, we’re Maia and Joren Retak again?”

“Nope,” he said. “Obi-Wan and I set up some new IDs, just for this trip. Ones that, if we get caught, can’t possibly trace back to your mom and Luke.”

Leia nodded. “So, are we meeting a contact there, or something?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “We’re going to land, make our way into the center of the city, and break into the Temple there.”

She blinked. “The Temple? …wait--”

“I have something for you,” he said, opening one of the false panels under his seat and pulling out a little box and passing it over to her.

She opened it, very carefully, clearly trying to demonstrate her self-control and patience even as she was all but vibrating with excitement.

Inside was some metal tubing, a power cell, assorted wires…everything she needed, except for the one key component that was hardest to source, for her to...

She looked up at him. “I’m going to build a lightsaber,” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “And for that, you need a crystal. So we’re going to Jedha.”

our faces like a mirror

“Take me with you?”

I wanted to. Stars above, I needed to. Korkie was my son, he had been from the moment he was born and my sister had placed him in my arms. There were times when he felt like the only good thing in my life, especially as things between Satine and I got more and more tense.

But I couldn’t.

Korkie was only eight, and while he might make a fine warrior someday…

I didn’t bring children to war. I wouldn’t. Not for such a selfish reason, at least.

I shook my head.

“Mom--”

“Where I’m going, ad’ika, is no place for children,” I said.

He was quiet for a moment, then asked, in a very small voice, “Will you be safe?”

“I…” Have I ever been?

But that was not something I could say to my eight-year-old child. He deserved some measure of innocence. I had always believed that.

“I will fight to make myself safe,” I said instead. “To make all of us safe.”

“Where will you go?” he asked. “I can find you, later, when I’m grown—”

I squeezed his hands. “Someday, maybe,” I said. “I don’t know exactly where I’ll be, but…if you think it’s right, you’ll find me.” If that’s what you think is right, let it be a test. If you want to walk my road, ad’ika, you’ll need to prove yourself.

And maybe he would for Satine’s, too. A different kind of fight, a different kind of test.

Jedi of Valdemar:

He turned to see a man leaning in the doorway, wearing worn and weathered Whites, watching him with a closed expression. The stranger was a few years older than Kallus himself, perhaps forty, clean-shaven, with light brown hair, almost blond, just long enough to tie back.

He was also missing his right arm, which had been amputated just above the elbow.

Kallus felt his spine stiffen almost on instinct. Despite Zeb’s assurances, he felt like he’d been caught out of bounds somehow. He steeled himself for trouble, preparing the best way to explain himself without getting his partner or anyone else in trouble, when--

“You know,” the stranger said, pushing himself away from the doorway and padding into the center of the room with easy grace. “In my experience, practice tends to go better if you have someone to bout with. I have some time, if you’re interested.”

He considered him for a moment, more concerned about why he was being extended this offer than anything else.

A lesser operative might have taken in this stranger, his age, his injury, and underestimated him. It was possible that he assumed Kallus would do the same, and planned to put him in his place accordingly.

But Kallus was very, very good at what he did. And he didn’t get the impression that that was the stranger’s goal. To test him, yes, absolutely, but...not for that.

And he did have a point, that Kallus could use someone new to bout with.

He inclined his head. “Sir,” he said--as good as his command of Valdemaran was, he preferred to speak as little as possible, mindful of the attention his accent and occasional pauses to search for the correct word or grammar drew.

The stranger grinned at him, then selected a hand-and-a-half longsword from the weapons rack, settling into a guard stance as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Then let’s have some fun.”

[aphorisnt]

Padawan Ben Continuation Part 10 (End)

You read that right; this is indeed finally the end! Holy shit this has been a wild ride and I’m still kind of in shock that I managed to complete all this abd actually posted it and that so many of you folks actually read and liked it!!

So part 10 is actually 2 parts, what was the rest of part 9 (I split it because 3k is a lot to read in a tumblr post) and an epilogue. I’m not 100% sure I like the epilogue but I’ve looked at it for I don’t know how long and fixing it would entail doubling or tripling the length which would take another few days and I kinda want to get this out now (maybe I’ll rewrite it or make the long version in the future, I dunno).

Huge thank you and endless love and appreciation to @swpromptsandasks​, the one who started it all!! (I know I said most of this already in an ask I sent you but I’m gonna say it again.) Without you none of this would exist and I just can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to finish this fic. Also, without you spreading the word and reblogging, none of the people reading this now would’ve even found it in the first place, so in the end I owe every single like, reblog, reply, ask, and new follower I’ve gotten to you. That support just means so incredibly much to me and I wish I had better words than just “thank you” to express my gratitude.

Another huge thank you to anyone and everyone who has read along with me as I’ve posted this thing!! I can’t put into words how much your support means to me as a beginning fic writer and just in general. I always got so nervous right before posting, just wondering if what I was writing would be even remotely ok, but the overwhelming positive response made everything worth it and it’s thanks to you folks that I’m feeling a tiny bit more confident in my writing. And if any of you have any feedback you want to give or comments you want to make

Thank you everyone who has joined me on this adventure and I hope I do the ending justice!!

(Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6/Part 7/Part 8/Part 9)

It started with a small twitch of fingers, the movement barely perceptible and small enough that Anakin might have missed it completely if it weren’t for the accompanying soft nudge he felt through the Force. His eyes snapped open as he pulled himself out of his meditation.

Ben was starting to wake.

Fingers twitched in his hand again, this time stronger and Anakin felt hope begin to swell. He kept his eyes glued to that copper-framed face looking for the slightest flicker of eyelids and listened for any change in the man’s breathing.

“Ben?” he calls gently. “Ben, wake up, it’s me.”

Ben’s eyes stayed shut but this time his face twitched along with his fingers before stilling. Anakin called again, this time a bit louder.

“Ben, it’s me, Anakin, your husband. Can you hear me? Ben, if you can hear me I need you to open your eyes.”

He gently squeezed the other hand in his and reached out with his free hand to stroke his husband’s hair.

Ben’s breathing picked up a bit, his heart rate climbing ever so slightly. He was coming back, surfacing from his long sleep. Anakin could feel it.

“Yes, Ben, I’m here, I’m here. I just need you to come back to me, open your eyes and come back to me.” Reaching out to his husband through the Force, Anakin said, “I love you, Ben. I’m here for you, I’m waiting for you; come on, just open your eyes, even just a crack. Just come back to me.”

“Slowly, with near painful effort, Ben’s eyes blinked open.

“Anakin?” he tried to say, throat dry and voice rough from disuse.

“Ben!” Anakin yelled in sheer joy, nearly launching himself at the other man in his excitement but catching himself just in time. Instead he moved his chair that much closer and leaned over so he could look into Ben’s eyes.

“Oh, Ben,” he said as tears pricked his eyes. “You’re ok.”

He bent forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his husband’s forehead, then pulled back, a huge grin stretching across his face.

“What happened?” Ben asked.

“That’s a long story,” Anakin replied, wiping his eyes. “But it doesn’t matter, the important thing is you’re safe now.

“Water?” Ben asked, unable to say more than a few words at a time.

“Oh, yeah, of course, let me get you some to drink.”

He grabbed the cup of water off of the small bedside table, placing a straw through the lid and handing it to Ben.

“Here, let me help you sit up,” he offered.

He used his arm you pull Ben up to an almost sitting position, supporting Ben who gratefully drained the entire cup. Anakin took the cup back, replacing it on the table, then helped Ben to lie back down.

“Better?” he asked.

“A bit,” Ben answered, voice still rough.

Anakin regained his seat, taking Ben’s hand back in his and returned to carding fingers through Ben’s hair.

“I love you so much,” he whispered reverently.

“Love you,” Ben said back.

Master Che chose that moment to walk into the room.

“Ben!” she exclaimed. “Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. You look to be doing better. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Ben replied.

“After all you’ve been through I would imagine so. Well you can get back to sleep in a bit, but first I need to run some tests and do some labs. If you like, Skywalker here can keep you company,” she said with a grin.

Ben nodded, a smile stretching across his face, and gripped Anakin’s hand that much tighter.

While Che checked him over, Anakin took the opportunity to fill him in on the events of the past several months: Ben falling into a coma, getting kidnapped from the Halls, Palpatine revealing himself and the subsequent battle, the second shorter battle with Ventress in the Works, the chips, and everything else up to that moment. Throughout the whole retelling Anakin kept Ben’s hand in his, only releasing it when he needed to move out of Che’s way.

“But now you’re back and you’re safe and you’re ok,” he reiterated as much for Ben as for himself and squeezed his husband’s hand. Ben just smiled.

All right,” Che said. “I’m all finished. So far you seem to be healing quite nicely. The bacta is doing its job though there may still be a small scar at the incision site and your heart and lungs sound good. You did lose a significant amount of weight during your convalescence and we’ll work on putting that back on you as you recover. We’ll start slow, liquids only, and then we’ll steadily bump you up toward the high calorie diet you’ll need. You’re also pretty dehydrated right now, but between the IV drip and just drinking enough glasses we should be able to solve that quickly. You also spent a few days in a Force suppression collar while with Ventress, so if the Force feels a little hard to reach, that’s why, but your Force sense should return to normal in a few days.

“Now,” she said, voice turning stern. “You are going to be on strict bed rest for a while. That means no getting up or walking around except to use the refresher, and even then I want you to get someone to help you for at least today and tomorrow. I don’t care how good you think you’re feeling or how recovered you think you are, you are not to get out of this bed until I say so. Is that clear?”

Ben made a face, hating being stuck in the halls, but he acquiesced. “Fine. No moving.”

“Don’t worry, Master Che, I’ll make sure Ben follows your instructions to the letter.”

Ben narrowed his eyes at Anakin, unhappy at this betrayal, but Anakin just smiled back.

“That’s what I was counting on,” Che said.

“Well, that’s all I have for now until we process these labs. Remember: you,” she said pointing at Ben. “Bed rest. And you,” she turned to Anakin who grimaced. “You can visit a while longer but then you need sleep. Don’t make me hit you with a sedative. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

With that she swept out of the room.

Ben turned to Anakin, narrowing his eyes again. “Sleep?”

Anakin smiled sheepishly. “I know, I know, I’m sorry, just I was too worried about you to sleep. I know I need to take care of myself, and I will, but later.”

“No, we’ll sleep now.”

“We?” Anakin asked.

Ben nodded and pulled Anakin’s hand, inviting him up into the bed. Anakin gently helped Ben shuffle over and climbed into the space on the bed before pulling Ben to lie against his chest.

“I love you so much,” Anakin said, pressing a kiss to the top of Ben’s head.

“Love you,” Ben said back, voice tired and eyes already drooping.

Anakin wrapped his arms tighter around Ben holding his husband close, and the two quickly drifted off to sleep.

Epilogue

“Sure, you are that want this, you do?”

Anakin and a fully recovered Ben stood hand in hand before the full Council, every one of the Masters present. It had been one year since Palpatine had died, the Sith dying with him. A full year since the end of the Clone Wars and peace was restored to the galaxy. A full year since saving Ben.

While his recovery had been long and arduous, Ben had since gained back most of the weight and muscle he had lost, was performing katas and sparring at near his former ability, and was one check-up with the healers away from being put back on active duty.

Or he would have been.

“We’re sure, Master,” Ben said, smiling at the diminutive green Jedi. We have thought long and hard on this, have spent much time meditating and discussing, and I believe we are following the will of the Force.”

He squeezed Anakin’s hand and Anakin shot him a quick smile before turning back to face the Masters.

“ We both agree that this is what’s right for us,” Anakin added. “It’s what we want and what we need. I talked it over with Master Jinn as well and he supports us in this. We’ve made our decision.”

The Council members looked at them with expressions ranging from gentle smiles of encouragement to outright sneering disgust. Not that it mattered to Anakin anymore; he was done caring about what the council thought.

Yoda just gazed at them both, face sad for a moment, before a tiny smile broke out.

“Understand and respect your choices, I do, and wish you well.”

“Thank you, Master Yoda,” they both said in unison.

“Well then,” Mace said. “Let it be recorded that on this day, Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawa–“

“Wait a moment, you will,” Yoda interrupted, holding up one hand. “Other business we must attend to first. Ben,” he beckoned to his Padawan. “Step forward please.”

Ben looked confused for a moment but did as asked, walking closer to the front of the room and standing in front of his Master. Yoda stood up from his chair and walked to meet him.

“Kneel, you will,” Yoda said.

Ben again followed instructions and dropped to one knee.

“Ben, a wonderful Padawan you have been. Learned much you have; an accomplished Jedi and good man you have become. Proud I am to have been your Master. Many trials this year, you endured, and faced them all you did, mastered them. For that, upon you I bestow the title of Jedi Knight.”

Yoda stepped forward and, in one quick motion, ignited his lightsaber and severed Ben’s padawan braid. He then pressed the braided strands into his apprentice’s–now former apprentice’s–hand.

Ben just stared at him in shock. “Master?” he asked.

“Deserve this, you do,” Yoda said. “And forever acknowledged your skills and efforts will be.

A wide grin stretched across Ben’s face and he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around the Master in a tight hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered, tears pricking his eyes. “For everything.”

They broke the embrace but before Yoda could return to his seat Ben caught him by the arm.

“Wait, Master, I want you to have this.” He pressed the braid into Yoda’s hand and closed three clawed fingers around it.

“Thank you, Padawan,” he replied with a smile, and before Ben could interrupt he said, “because to me, my Padawan you will always be.”

Ben stood back up and returned to his place next to Anakin, who quickly pulled him into a tight hug.

“All right,” Mace said. “Then let it be recorded that on this day, Knight Anakin Skywalker and Knight Ben have chosen to step away from the Order and live their lives as private citizens. From this moment on they are no longer a part of the Jedi Order.”

Anakin grinned, the smile stretching wide across his face. It was over; they had done it. He and Ben were free to live their lives however they chose, together forever as husbands.

“Thank you,” Anakin said, bowing in once last show of Jedi decorum. He decided he could give the council that much.

Ben followed his lead, bowing as well, and the two walked forward to hand over their lightsabers but Mace just shook his head.

“Keep them,” he said. “You’ve earned them.”

With one final glance back, Ben and Anakin rejoined hands and turned to walk out of the council chambers for the last time. Anakin wasn’t sure how he felt. There was joy at finally leaving the order and escaping the council’s judgment, but also sadness and a little fear at leaving the life he’d spent so long building. One look at Ben, however, and everything but overwhelming love faded away.

“So,” he said, still smiling. “What would you like to do on our first day as not Jedi?”

“I don’t know,” Ben answered. “But I don’t really care as long as it’s with you.”

Anakin leaned over and kissed his husband’s cheek. The two of them continued on their way, walking out the main Temple entrance, down the stairs, and into their new lives.

[meandmyechoes]

seriously fuck reylo go read dark disciple

I don’t believe I’m actually comparing them but reylos should read dark disciple for an actually good redemption arc. There’s an ex-dark-side murderer falling in love with the unorthodox Jedi and there’s even both emotional and physical abuse that you guys are so hyped about. Their duel was emotional and carried great meaning. Heck even one of them *beep for spoiler*. just spend your time on better things. *eyeroll*

Ventress/Vos (I wanna cry)

I think Dark Disciple is the very first arc where romance is in center stage as a tool to further character. (Obitine was more about their clash of ideologies and less about how they view their individual positions in their relationship, and there’s this whole mess with Clovis that I primly forgot about). I’ve browsed the internet, and while 90% of the readers love the book, there is a faction that finds a love interest for Ventress felt misplaced and some says she should be a lesbian. I’ve given a little bit of thought on that. and especially after reading Katie Lucas’s foreword, I believe in the potential of a romance to further Ventress’s character. Dark Disciple is a story about redemption, it’s about Ventress allowing herself to love again after all the loss in her life. It’s a healing process for her character and to have her love somebody like Quinlan Vos added to the chemistry of the story that I never thought I would love so much. I hadn’t even finished the book and I’ve already loved it so much. I kinda got spoiled but I’m still very excited reading every word.

I mean giving her a female love interest could work, I guess. and frankly Quinlan Vos is the not first guy I thought of given I had no knowledge about his EU storyline. But I wholeheartedly support this beautiful final outcome that the canon decided.

---

This latest pit I am in called dark disciple got me thinking about my shipping experience as a whole.

The meaning of the word has definitely evolved from when I first learnt about it. Scanning through my ships, I think I ship people mostly in a soulmate way, in the sense of you’re the person that understands me the most and my life would’ve never been the same had we not met, and that the two of them having a symbiotic vibe. And they can take it platonically or physically, either way I don’t really mind. 

I actually have a lot of family ships (re: all clones being brothers), and my favourite ships are soulmate ships. (no really they are master/apprentice ships i drink that) [Holly/Fowl, Val/Skul, Skyguy/Snips] You can see them in a romantic way (never for anisoka but the first 2 sticks… with a weird age gap…), but most times that word degrades the perfect match that they are. and I hate how people thinks romance is superior to friendship. Yes, a friendship that elevates into the exclusive romance is fascinating but friendship on its own is very valid too, thank you.

I mean there’s the OG ship of Booth/Brennan from Bones. (comes to think of it I think my very first active ship in life is Tai Nui Fa but l was like 6 and didn’t really have any thought except crying my eyes out at the finale) When they were introduced, I knew I loved the duo so much, especially when I can relate to Bones. I shipped them romantically (and frustratingly) for 3 seasons before I took a step back and examine the possibility of a show where the hero and heroine don’t have to fall in love. I kinda liked the idea. (and was hoping Castle to be that show. luckily, The Mentalist also came on air) I think it’s equally good to have your best friend fighting crimes along with you. And whether they get together or not actually wouldn’t make me enjoy their interaction any less. Well, eventually they did get together and I’m more than happy to see them FINALLY admit their love for each other and I legit CRIED at their wedding as if a dream came true. They are PERFECT for each other. 

And another ship that I value over my life is Yumi/Ulrich. I just smile like an idiot watching them (more so now that I’ve passed their age). However I’ve never really given much thought about their dynamic outside being a battle couple. To this date, I’ve never given a realistic look at what would happen between them when they actually get together and how would their relationship function outside Lyoko. They were the Samurai and Princess to me and represented a childhood’s image that cannot be broken. Their journey is so full of conflicts of both their headstrong but reserved personalities that it’s not the easiest thing for any of them to make the first move. They had a rough start, and perhaps deep down I know it would not be the fairy tale story I wanted. I guess that mirrors a little bit of my own parents and that’s why I feel such an urge to see Yumi/Ulrich finally overcome their stubbornness and JUST KISS ALREADY. 

(NOT GONNA MENTION TRAUGHT BECAUSE TIME CONSTRAINTS)

Now come Star Wars. I don’t think I have an active ship until Kanera, and that’s 2016, 7 years after I went into this franchise. An earlier one was Obitine but they were more of a missed opportunity case that I felt like I respected their wishes to not further pursue their relationship. It was done beautifully, but still only a sub-plot for the show.

My motivation for the Star Wars movies came from their necessity in understanding The Clone Wars, which I only started watching for Ahoska. There were no romantic subplots for Ahsoka, the protagonist in my eye, in the premise of the show. It was a simple show of space adventures (which was why I was absolutely stunned at Anidala just four episodes in WITH NO SET UP because I had NO IDEA who Padmé was). Romance was never an essential character development tool in Clone Wars, and I enjoyed it for the action and the story. The thing with shipping anyone with Ahsoka is the topic I want to address today (after all that chunk of history above).

I think I've made myself very clear that I'm opposed to the idea of Ahsoka being romantically involved with anyone at all. I just don't see that as part of her character. Sure relationships help people grow and it's a great character development tool, but the exclusiveness that a romance imply, that doesn't fit Ahsoka for me. She has a greater mission, and her arc was always about asserting, finding a place for yourself in the universe (both in tcw and later rebels). To her, it's not a place of domestic bliss, it's about stepping into the world and doing the right thing at the right time. I also don’t think romance as a concept was a big part of her upbringing. So exploring her side in a romance sounds like an irrelevant idea to me. Why fill in that void, when you can have her personality solidified? My argument here is more on a behind-the-scenes view for how to treat her character. But we have to keep in mind that if she did choose to involve herself in a romance, it would be a writer’s conscious choice. and maybe that’s the moment I will frown heavily upon. (A big reason I've put off reading the Ahsoka novel)

This comes around to the majority of this site saying Ahsoka is a lesbian. I've never hc anything related so it certainly surprised me. While this puts me off a little initially and sounds contradictory to what I believe, I have the self-respect to not go around berating people's opinions. Also it’s not entire implausible seeing how even I can see that it is possible to fit the interpretation into the show, especially in season 7 where there are potentials I downright see without being a shipper myself. So what really bothers me is people rooting for her to be in a certain relationship (instead of developing interesting characters around her and let the characters develop their own foundation as opposed to the single purpose of being a love interest), a course that I see as mistreatment to Ahsoka’s character when there are other more interesting aspects. (But really most people here are just rooting for her to be happy, which I want too, and they think if she ends up with a girl she would be happy. *dismissing smirk*)

I am aware that Rexsoka exists. I condemn it. They are family. Case closed.

---

In my original train of thought there was a piece on LGBT characters and ships so I'm putting it here too.

I don't have a lot of exposure to LGBT in media until recent years. I never gave a lot of thought about my gender or sexuality in puberty because I simply think that when the time comes to meet the right person, I will know. So it was never even a small part of my identity.

The point I'm trying to make is what draws me to a character is always their personality, not their sexuality. Of course, their experience as a minority is a sure part of their identity but that alone would not be reason enough for me to like a character right away. I need to see their personality through their decisions, whether it's showcased in their experience as a minority or any other generic conflict.

In 2018, I watched this Japanese mini-series called Joshi no Seikatsu (Life as A Girl, NHK). It's about a trans girl making her way through life when one day she couldn't help being kind and took in an old classmate. It was brought to my attention because I really liked the lead's previous works and he looked so cute as the protagonist. In its four episode, we learnt about Miki's career, romance, friendship and family and I couldn't stop admiring how strong this character is. She is determined, confident, mature, disciplined and compassionate. She has given a lot of thought about her way of life and had overcome many cold words and I'm on the floor worshiping this girl before the first episode ends. Although the lead is cis but the show make up for the realist decision by giving trans people a voice sharing their different experiences in love as a foil to Miki's. It opened my eye in more ways than I expected and gave me dilemmas that I never knew I could relate to. By writing about my experience with this show, I guess I just want to prove that I'm not discriminating anyone based on their sexuality, but who am I to judge?

I think Korra is a gold example of subverting expectations and success at selling an unconventional romance. At the beginning of Book 4, I was very worried about how the show's gonna wrap so many problems that Korra was facing, both internally and externally, that I worried there was not enough time if Mako/Korra will be endgame. And I wasn't wrong, they hardly reconcile them as a couple and just gave us the Korrasami ending. I didn't see that coming, but in retrospect reviewing the whole season's clues, it made sense! and I'm genuinely happy Korra finds somebody who understands her the way Asami does. That was an enlightening moment that only the right person matters, not the right gender. See this is how I want it be done if Ahsoka’s put in any relationship.

By saying a character is of a certain faction of LGBT is not going to immediately recruit me or disown me. If you sell the character well enough in the writing, and when their experiences move me, I think I will find myself treasuring that person very much.

[kyberled]

hc + light saber form/combat style

Send me  “HC”  + a word and I’ll write a headcanon about it. || ALWAYS ACCEPTING

God bless you and your crops, Zach, because I have a lot of things to say about this.

To start off with, Braig is capable of using one saber, but he vastly prefers his two, for Jar’Kai. When he was a little tot, he and the other initiates trained with one training saber, so that’s what his initial instruction was in; and, I imagine, he’s been made to learn to fight with just one, in case of injury or loss of weapon. But, his main style is absolutely Jar’Kai. He feels significantly more comfortable with a pair, and it reflects in his movements and fighting style. Since we’ve seen Obidad dual-wielding a few times, most notably in the fight with Vos against Bane, it’s 100% possible that Obi taught Braiggo how to use two, and that’s the canon for this blog. Now, if I remember right, Obi originally practised Form III, but, following Qui’s death, added some Form V into his personal style to develop a bit more of a defence. So, that would mean that the core/base foundation of Braig’s fighting style would likely be a similar mix, only adapted for Jar’Kai. (It’s also worth noting that Braig is Obi’s padawan after Anakin gets knighted, so I imagine Obidad’s got his mixed style well-established, by then.) 

A while ago - I think a few months - Liz told me that her Mace considered Braig an eligible candidate for learning Vapaad, and would teach him, if Obi-Wan said it was okay (and since Dad has a very hard time saying no to his kiddo, I can’t imagine him veto’ing this, but I’d have to run it by Rodi for hard-and-fast confirmation) [Update: Rodi says ‘Obi is of the mind that Braig choosing to learn from other Masters can only make him that much more well informed and learned. He supports it 100%.’]. According to Liz, Mace would start teaching Braig Vapaad when Braig was about twelve or thirteen (incidentally, about the same time Braig was padawan’d), which means when Braig left the basic training initiates get, he got some pretty mixed education irt: his saber training. But, he wouldn’t have it any other way. When Mace offered to teach this bean, Braig would have been literally vibrating - he was so excited, but also trying to appear like a ‘proper’ Jedi who was worthy of the offer, so he’d literally be minutely shaking because he’s so excited and hyped up and also honoured? I mean, for one, Mace is offering, of his own free will, to train Braig, and having this be so soon after the emotional disaster that was Braig’s attempts to find a master, feeling that- wanted, for lack of a better word, was a pretty big deal for him. On top of that, he’s learning a form from the person who created it. That’s gotta be a huge honour. Not to mention, People Who Know Vapaad is a pretty exclusive club to be in. You could probably count them all on one hand, and still have fingers left over. I know in the Jedi Path, Anakin complains about how Mace won’t teach him Vapaad, and Ahsoka adds that, quote, ‘Nobody learns Vapaad’. So, the fact that Mace chose him, chose Braig– I’m serious when I say, if Braig hadn’t been taught to keep his emotions in check, and wasn’t worried about Mace changing his mind, Braig probably would’ve started crying. Like, the kid was just completely overwhelmed. But, yes; Braig does, in fact, know Vapaad, in the blog’s ‘main canon’ (as in, it applies to 99% of threads, but, if I were to write with another Mace who didn’t share this headcanon, then Braig’d only know Forms III and V in any real, extensive detail). He would spend the bulk of his Vapaad training (or, at least, the early days) learning Vapaad with one saber, as the form was originally made, and then working on adapting it to work with two lightsabers both on his own time and with Mace’s guidance, and then, once Braig was more comfortable with the form’s movements and applications and all, I imagine lessons would be a mix of training with one and two sabers. 

But, that ramble is just there to let you know that Braig’s fighting style would be pretty weird. A nice mix between Soresu (Form III), Shien / Djem So (Form V), and, of course, Vapaad (Form VII). Which shows through most while he’s fighting depends on the day, the situation, who he was working with most recently, and so on and so forth (Though I will also note, that since Vapaad requires a lot of mental focus and Force-use, he’s less likely to employ it if he’s tired or worn-down, especially when he’s younger). When he trains, he usually takes the time (when he can) to practise sets specific to each individual form, and then when he’s doing more free-flow exercises, or just sparring with his friends, he lets himself slide back into his little blend/adapting style, where all three blend together. (I would also like to say that he is quite glad that he practised the individual forms after Order 66, and especially after he takes on an apprentice/apprentices of his own. Being able to switch his fighting style up makes him harder to find when he doesn’t want to be, sure, the came as changing up any MO would, but it’s more than that. He considers the forms, Vapaad especially, an important part of the history of the Jedi, and he’s glad to be able to preserve it and pass it on - though he, like Mace, would be very selective with who would get to learn Vapaad).

As a final note, it’s important for me to add that Braig’s sabers are made to be joined together at one end, making them into a saber-staff (If I remember right, we see a similar mechanism in Asaaj Ventress’ lightsabers, but I could be wrong). The Book of Sith claims that saber-staves are a Sith-exclusive weapon, but Vos writes that he knows at least one Jedi (can’t remember the name) who has a staff, and we know Krell has two - though Braig is loathe to be compared to him for any reason. So, I’m taking all of this to mean that it’s uncommon for a Jedi to use a saber-staff, but it’s not entirely unheard of. So Braig probably had to scrounge around for a saber-staff instructor. It’s not something he uses as often as he does his dual sabers separately, but he is proficient enough to use it in combat. Now, the thing is, you can’t use a saber-staff the way you would use a regular staff. You just can’t. (Also, minor pet peeve, it’s not a ‘bo staff’. ‘Bo’ means ‘staff’. ‘Bo staff’ = ‘staff staff’. Just. Don’t. On behalf of the entire dojo.) But this realisation came to me when I was swinging a guandao around with Sifu Sam and my younger brother. Why the idea of lightsabers and staves came to me during practise with a guandao, which is neither a sword, nor a staff (though it is staff-like), I’ll never know, but it did. See, the thing is, in our kobudo at least, there are a number of forms, including the bo-lengthening exercise and a number of kata, where your hands slide to the bottom-third of the bo, rather than the middle, where your hands would normally be. The bottom third of a saber-staff is the blade. … I don’t need to tell you why that’s a problem. There are also moves where the ends of the staff are braced against your bicep, or come very close to your neck/head/shoulder when you set up for some strikes. I can imagine that’s somewhat disconcerting when the ends of the staff are made of superheated Force-powered plasma. Similarly, in our style of kung fu, when you use a spear, you typically hold it by the bottom-third too; you do the same with a guandao for a few moves (though a bit less frequently), and there are parts where you kick up the ends, or you use your elbow to push the handles into some parts, and basically what I’m saying is if you used a saber-staff like you would a normal polearm you’d probably get sliced up. The weighting would be so weird, too - from my understanding, it’d be focused in the middle, with the metal handles, and the blades might not weigh anything at all? @Lucasfilm give me lightsaber physics please. Aside from that, on the end of this OOC tangent, I’d add that I write Braig’s footwork/movements as mostly what we’ve seen in The Clone Wars, since there’s no way I’d be able to learn how to move like a Jedi (esp. in regards to Vapaad, which, to me, seems to have some of the most distinct movements of any form we see thus far), but there are notes of the martial arts I do in there, too. Namely the kung fu, since that fits him best, in my opinion. But this is long enough, and I could rant about that for long enough to put myself to sleep.