#can i get like...a sort of galaxy quest au

[healstars]

thrash got me thinking about cabha going to a con and somehow being mistaken for just a fucking amazing fursuit

[swinging-through-the-stars]

Okay, Sith!Luke au sounds incredible!!! I haz questions

What's Din's whole perspective on things? Is he (like canon) blissfully unaware of who and what Luke is? Does he know and just not care? Is he just doing anything to protect Grogu, only to realize that the 'teacher' is very dangerous but has also imprinted on Din just as much as Din has fallen for him?

What about Grogu? Does he understand the darkness in Luke? Is he averse to it? Or does he go all in on the dark side to protect his dad?

OOOOHHH YES YES YES I'd LOVE to get into Din and Grogu stuff! (I'm realizing this will be another long one so there's your warning lol)

As for Din --

In my AU, after the Death Star blows up in 0 ABY, Luke begins to take personal undercover missions to continue undermining the Empire. To stay anonymous, he hires an untraceable mercenary that doesn't ask questions and is also not fond of the Empire - this is where Din Djarin comes in. (Din doesn't have a lot developed pre-Mando season 1 other than he's been bounty-hunting - and before that - taking mercenary jobs for a while, so why not utilize that for a story I want?) While working with Luke in this time period, Din has absolutely no idea who Luke is other than he carries a "red laser-sword" and doesn't show his face. He knows Luke as The Stranger, and for a few years takes jobs from Luke since he pays very well (that Empire money eh). Din is vaguely aware that his jobs have small impacts on the war against the Empire, so he is fine with complying, especially since they are relatively low-risk.

Things take a turn in 4 ABY when Luke hires Din to rescue Han Solo from Jabba's Palace. (one of the few pieces of fic I finished -- FREE SOLO) In this mission, Din sees Luke's face, learns his name (however doesn't recognize it from anywhere), and learns that he KNOWS specific people that a key to the rebellion (Lando, Han Solo, Leia, Chewbacca). The whole ordeal puts Din in more trouble than he bargains for. Luke declares an end to their business relationship because of this and cuts Din off, but it doesn't kill Din's festering curiosity as to who Luke is. He doesn't pursue further, but that curiosity lingers until they meet again.

Luke and Din meet again in a way that mirrors the end of Season 2 of Mando (because I thought it was a fun idea, and YES I have managed to write that out too -- SHADOW ON THE BRIDGE). This is where Din learns that Luke is not only a Sith, but the EMPEROR of the Neo Empire. I've been (ever so slowly) updating the fic of the aftermath of that, where Din meets with Luke again and where they begin to have those conversations of what will happen to Grogu.

In this next fic - First Steps into Darkness - I do want to explore how Din takes up the mantle of Mand'alor and how he uses his previous relationship with Luke to rebuild his world and also create an alliance to further push the Imperial Remnant threat out of the galaxy. Din deals with opinions about this from all sides, from Bo-Katan who has a difficult time trusting Luke, to Din's Clan that are between against and neutral on the matter. (Also keep in mind that I've been planning this part of the story before Mando S3 -- I do use some aspects of S3 but also very much divert from it).

What keeps Din coming back to Luke is ultimately his curiosity, both in Luke's abilities as a leader/negotiator and in him being this mysterious entity. Luke's fervor for his religion, his quest for familial answers, his internal battle of identity -- these are all things that Din relates to. (Luke's a bit more of a hot mess than Din is but -- you know, they have commonalities that they can lean on).

I also really like the concept of the Darksaber having its own sort of Force sentience to the point where Din has to work with it (it's a little like Haunted!Din but instead of outright possession it's more like -- Venom, or something like that, where they work together). Having Luke as a resource to navigate that territory further connects the two.

Needless to say, despite what rumors and warnings Din has been given, he doesn't understand why the "Dark Side" of the Force is considered the "bad" Force and why the "Light Side" is considered the "good". Perhaps it's because he's only really interacted with Luke, and perhaps it's because Mandalorians have a checkered history with getting along with "Light Side" Jedi users as well. His perspective could be biased or he probably just believes that Luke is not what others want to make him seem. Either way, the fact that Luke is a Sith doesn't necessarily make Din distrust him outright, especially since he's the only one that will agree to help hone Grogu's powers.

OKAY, ONTO GROGU -- YEAH THERE'S MORE --

Since's Luke's appearance in rescuing them from Gideon's Cruiser, Grogu is INTRIGUED with Luke and the pull to the Dark Side. In his little mind, Luke is powerful, really cool, and can make Gideon pee his pants -- of course he sees that and goes "ooh I wanna be like that guy".

First Steps into Darkness, while I mentioned will go into some of Din's story, will ultimately be a focus on Grogu (when I eventually finish it lol). I think child characters (especially cute bait like Grogu) often get the short end of the stick in terms of development, and it's SUCH a missed opportunity in my eyes. Children have very simple and blunt observations, and they SOAK up the world around them -- putting the mess of Sith Luke and through GROGU'S perspective is so fun to me.

Luke is not afraid of teaching Grogu, but he's afraid of Grogu idolizing him like HE did Vader. Despite Luke's attachment to his father, Vader was -- NOT really the best father, and deep down Luke knows that and is afraid. He keeps a distance from Grogu that Grogu is always trying to close. Grogu knows that Luke is just a teacher and that he's often not very personable with him. But Grogu sees how Luke's power has the ability to protect, he sees something in him like did with Din (who was also not very warm at first). Grogu believes that if he learns what Luke knows, he can too can become that protector that can stop wars and help those he cares about.

Grogu also continues to learn from Din about Mandalorian culture, so he isn't completely split between one or the other -- in fact, Luke encourages Din to keep sharing his roots with his son. The teachings of both Mandalorians and Sith are eventually the teachings that shape Grogu's perspective on loyalty, emotions, power, and so on. He's observant as hell, so he soaks everything up like a SPONGE.

And let's be honest, the Grogu realizing he could learn some tricks that maybe the Jedi forbade sounds a bit fun to him. He is still a kid after all.

Sorrynotsorry that was long -- I love talking about these concepts, and honestly answering these questions is helping me type out my thoughts to use as reference later. It's getting me fired up to keep writing and editing too.

Thank you again for the questions @just-prime -- I hope you found this interesting!!

[quaranmine]

May I ask what is the Hgttg au? I can't seem to find it and/or I don't remember what it is

Absolutely! I don't have an official tag for it yet (or at least I don't remember it) but it's been an idea rattling around my head since at least 2022. It's a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy AU with Boatem. In the book, earth gets destroyed in the very beginning. Main character Arthur Dent learns that his friend Ford is an alien who's actually been stranded on earth this whole time, and they hitchhike off the planet just in time.

In this AU, the inciting event for everything is obviously moon big. Grian and Pearl are both siblings, and loosely full Ford's role as the resident aliens. They manage to figure out a way off the server and save Mumbo, Scar, and Impulse before the moon crashes. Mumbo is the main pov character, loosely filling Arthur's role as "confused man who is just along for the ride." (Though honestly every non-alien member of Boatem fills this role.)

This is where the concept...kind of diverges? And where it starts becoming clear that I am also a long-time Doctor Who fan, because this AU also has time travel! It's very wibbly-wobbly timey wimey in a way that has occasionally forced me to scrap ideas because, oh wait, I messed up the timeline again. So. Boatem survived moon big, but did anyone else? They get to see their entire planet horribly destroyed. It's incredibly apparent that everyone else on the planet has to be dead. But Grian is convinced he can fix this--with time travel. If they can go back in time and either prevent the moon from crashing, or evacuate everyone else in time, then all of this will be fixed. Don't panic! It'll all be fine!

They just...need to get a time machine, first. Also, avoid dying. Also, avoid getting arrested.

Grian and Pearl both have experience with time travel. They're actually from the future and got "stranded" on Hermitcraft some time ago (this is relevant), so they are not in possession of any form of time travel or space travel. I put stranded in quotes because they're quite frankly pretty happy to be there and not to keen on going home.

Anyway, it's like a space comedy story in a sort of mission/quest format. It should be...crack treated seriously? It will occasionally lean into a spot of angst (i.e. with all the hermits being dead) but should bounce back pretty fast. It is not a MCD story. The working title has been "the moon, and other misbehaving celestial bodies" and I first wrote it in 2022, and the rewrote that part at Thanksgiving last year. It's about 6700 words so far, two chapters. The premise is pretty much that they need to run around space in order to find what they need in order to time/space travel back to HC-8 and prevent moon big. Of course, it can't be that easy though...

[worldenough-and-time]

dystopian au + forgotten first meeting for wolfstar ✨

Omg literally all I can think about with this prompt is @rollercoasterwords werewolf fighting ring au which I’m currently losing my mind over and has this exact combination of tropes. Feels very fated that I am looking at this ask now after just having read the latest chapter, on the night of the worm moon no less! Anyway, just taking the opportunity to rec one of my favorite WIPs.

But alas that is not the game so I will come up with my own premise (which will not be nearly as good as that fic, but what can a girl do in five minutes)

I think I’d be down for a sort of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle structure where they have to go on a quest to find missing memories. So it’s a Voldy Won AU, and also a space opera (I just saw Dune 2, so yeah), where Remus is part of a rag tag group of rebels and Sirius is a Space Duke and double agent for the rebellion, and together with their Space Comrades they discover that Voldy (Space Emperor) has made Space Horcruxes to achieve immortality, however whoever tries to tamper with the Space Horcruxes gets their memory wiped and their memories scattered like puzzle pieces in the remaining Space Horcruxes. I think Sirius is probably the one who loses his memory, and Remus and the Rebels have to bring a very confused Space Duke from planet to planet to find the remaining Space Horcruxes and Sirius’s missing memories. Obviously it goes without saying that they were romantically entangled before the whole memory loss debacle and now have to start from square one whist traversing the galaxy together and dodging imperial Space Death Eaters.

Idk, the space opera bit might be a “hat on a hat” situation, but I had fun.

[eriadu-in-the-wildwood]

Fooooor the recent writer's questions:

6 (AD&VD), 12 but both for smut and general, 18 (SbS), 26, 34, 50!

6. What’s one fact about the universe of A Dark & Verdant Door that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

I didn’t really get a chance to explore Yaz’s world beyond Sheffield, or the world the Warden is from, since those were beyond the scope of that story. Things that would be fun to think about/write about would be the politics of Yaz’s world, what was up with her early military training, maybe some sort of new conflict arising from the history that I threw hints at with the ruins around the town. And the Warden, well there’s not much DW canon to draw from on the Doctor’s place of origin, so that would just be me pulling a world of shapeshifters out of a hat and making up a bunch of stuff about it. Which sounds FUN.

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you? (smut and general)

For a DW-specific general trope, I’d say I’ve never really liked fobwatch fics, and yet I find myself playing with the concept in something I’m working on currently. (Sort-of. Because it’s also an AU. And very hard to describe.)

Smut-wise, hm, that’s actually a difficult question, I tend to stay not-interested in the few things I’m not interested in… I’ll say roleplay scenarios in general might be growing on me a bit.

18. If you wrote a sequel to Star by Star, what would it involve?

Oh you got me with this one, because I have a pretty robust outline just sitting here in my google docs folder… It involves the growing conflict between the Alliance and Gallifrey, money problems, more of Theo’s secrets, and an increasingly complicated quest gallivanting across the galaxies to find Theo a new cybernetic heart.

26. Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that was only dialogue?

If I had to choose, I’d go with no dialogue, because you can pry action and description from my cold, dead hands! I think I could still get my point across writing something like that. Hmm… that one’s going into the “concepts that interest me” file…

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

Any time you find me waxing poetic about art or throwing art-related terms into a story, that’s because of my background in fine arts. The way plants creep into every story is mostly cause I think they’re neat, but also because of childhood summers spent building forts out of branches and my current obsession with gardening. Other weird ideas come from reading approximately 1 zillion books and mixing and matching bits and pieces of them with stuff I’m interested in!

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

I’ll answer "49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!"

One of the many projects I've been juggling lately is an western-fantasy AU that I’m going to have a hell of a time tagging if I ever get it done. I’ll throw in a little bit to try and get the vibes across:

“I know what you are.”

Does she, now? How can that be possible?

Deep shadows under Grace’s eyes betray her exhaustion, but her gaze is pointed, dangerous. “I should have seen it last night. But the Oncoming Storm only appears under the light of the full moon. Why are you still here?”

She’s sharp; not that Yaz isn’t, but Yaz is young. Not experienced in the way Grace is.

“I don’t know,” they say. “I seem to be stuck.” 

Grace paces to the end of the porch, boots thumping against the boards. She leans on the rail and looks out over the street. “I’m sorry.” She glances back, then to the street again. Rain dampens her shirtsleeves, droplets hang in the threads of her poncho. “I think we might have tethered you here, somehow, when we summoned you.”

Thanks for the asks!

[finnpoerebelscum]

FALLOUT - Chapter 5

Chapters Posted: 5 of 18

Rating: T+

Warnings: Canon-typical violence/blood/gore/hurt/comfort

Characters/Pairings: Poe Dameron/Finn, Karé Kun, Iolo Arana, Leia Organa, BB-8, OCs.

Summary: Still reeling in the aftermath of Crait, Poe Dameron and Finn are sent to a secret Resistance base tucked away on Lothal to serve as acting generals. Their numbers dwindled to barely a handful, and with General Organa’s order grounding all surviving Resistance personnel to heal and regroup, morale is at an all time low. Poe grapples with his inability to sit still; the First Order looms, an ever-encroaching threat to what remains of the Outer Rim’s free space; intimate feelings grow impossible to ignore and a shocking return promises devastating consequences not only for those stationed on Lothal, but for the Resistance and galaxy at large. 

A/N: An AU adventure, a side-quest of sorts, to account for some of the time between TLJ and ROS. Stormpilot centric. Canon up until the end of TLJ (but does not take into account Resistance Reborn or the Finn/Rose arc).

Thank you to all who have taken the time to read/like/reblog! I so appreciate your time.

Masterlist

CHAPTER 5

The five of them stood in silence that stretched to a void, unable to detach their eyes from Sim Kaspen’s body. They crowded the mouth

of the little galley, blocking it from view of any passersby intrigued by the commotion. Karé and Iolo huddled together, dazed. Finn’s hands shook as they hung at his sides—a sudden stab of longing hit Poe as he watched them tremble—a longing to hold them until they stopped. Next to him was Vrees, usually so stoic and unperturbed, deep, worried lines creasing his brow. 

Poe had to shake himself into action. “Lock it down, Beebee-Ate.”

His droid trilled one sharp acquiescence then sped off to incident command. Shortly after came a dull thunk. The lights dimmed, then blinked back to full brightness. A mechanized voice came over the base-wide communication system, “Emergency lockdown sequence initiated. T-minus ten minutes. Shelter in place.”

Dr. Rand and several medics guiding a hover stretcher finally rounded the corner. 

“General Dameron…” The doc raked a hand through his mane, brows drawn together in a deep frown.  

“What is it?”

“The mayor is calling in.”

Poe’s heart thumped in his throat. This was the last thing they needed, for the mayor to come poking his nose around while they were trying to contain a new crisis. 

Leaving Finn in control of the scene, Poe made his way back to incident command. 

A grainy, flitting holo popped up, the big-jowled face quivering with rage. 

“Mayor Greer, how can I—“

“You listen to me!” He spat each word. “One of your people is prowling the streets with a weapon. Either you get out here and take care of it, or we will be forced to take matters into our own hands.”

The holo snapped out. Poe stood rooted to the spot, mind ablaze trying to fit all the events of the last few days into a picture that made sense. The crash, the murdered local—now one of their own… Something was seriously wrong here, but no matter how he looked at it, none of the pieces fit.

“Poe?” He turned to find Finn standing in the doorway. He looked as uneasy as Poe felt. Poe leaned forward, splaying his hands flat on the empty holo-projector. 

“One of our own is out there. Armed. Whatever they’re chasing, it can’t be good.” 

* * *

The search team Poe put together predictably included Finn, Vrees, Karé, Iolo and BB-8. The lockdown sequence had to be broken for them to enter town, but the rest of the base had strict instructions to continue to shelter in place while they searched the city. Dr. Rand and his assistants took custody of Sim Kaspen’s body, and maintenance droids were working quickly to clean the gruesome scene to keep some of the alarm quelled. Word travels fast on base, however, and a palpable anxiety permeated the now eerily silent corridors. But, priorities had to be drawn up. First, they had to get to whoever was out there by themselves, before they tried facing off with whoever (or whatever) they were chasing alone.

Freed from its lockdown command by BB-8, the door leading to the square slid open. They stepped out into the market and Poe’s heart sank. 

It was bursting at the seams with travelers, Kothalites, vendors. No sun peered through the clouds today, which hung low, gray and heavy, pressing down onto the masses of beings milling about the stalls. They fanned out, shouldering their way through market patrons. BB-8 at Poe’s heels, they took the center, around the fountain—Vrees and Finn to his left; Karé and Iolo to his right.

No one stood out, at first. Poe thought he caught a glimpse of Kemi, braids swishing at her shoulder blades, and she disappeared into the crowd without noticing him.

Then, a few paces before the alley dead ahead, the flash of red—a Resistance shoulder patch. Finn had already seen it and was plowing forward through the crowd. Poe pushed his way after him, BB-8 chirping away anxiously. 

“I see them, buddy.”

Finn and Poe convened in the middle of the square. 

“Did you get a look at who it was?” Finn asked. The soldier had reached the mouth of the alley ahead. 

“Hey!” Poe called. A rush of relief flooded him as the familiar figure stopped. “What are you doing out here?”

Torin Baz turned to face them, jacket falling open to reveal a poorly concealed blaster, and a shirt splattered with blood. Poe stepped forward on instinct, but Finn threw an arm across his chest, stopping him.

The raw vulnerability that had hung like a shadow over Torin’s face, the haunted, frightened look that never faded after the crash, melted away before their eyes, taking with it any trace of the good-natured, Tanaab farm boy Poe once knew. A smile that didn’t reach his eyes picked up the edges of his mouth. 

“Please tell me it’s not true, Torin,” Poe heard himself say. His brain lagged, reeling, as the full realization took hold. Torin just shook his head, features suspended in the dissonant smile. 

Then, he pulled his blaster and fired. 

The blue flare smacked into a building on the square, missing any beings by a longshot—but it was clear the intent wasn’t to hit anyone. The echo alone warped the low bustle of the market into panicked screams. 

Torin took off running, away from the square. Poe tore after him, Finn right behind him, and Iolo, Karé and Vrees split off parallel—to hopefully corner Torin if he came out on the other side of town. 

BB-8 picked up chase too and squawked excitedly at him whenever Torin would telegraph his next direction, movement too subtle for anything but an astromech to detect. 

Torin was a star student during his time in training for the New Republic Navy. The peak of physical and mental fitness, he was sharp, smart and loyal. Something had gone seriously wrong. If the First Order had gotten into his head… The mere thought of them corrupting someone as steadfast and staunch as Torin, tugged the dark shadow of self-doubt over Poe again. Torin was still in perfect shape, maintaining a continuous lead of several paces as they pounded after him. 

On the fringes of town, Torin shoved his way through a group of Aqualish women chatting around a doorstep, sending them sprawling. Poe and Finn darted through the cleared path, still behind a few paces. Poe spared a look to his left, and flashes of orange and white told him Karé’s group was still maintaining chase. 

Trees jutted up around them—the forest—and they crashed through a clearing after Torin.

He was gone. 

Poe skidded to a halt, whirling around in a circle, scanning the treeline.  Karé, Iolo and Vrees burst through to them in quick succession. 

Finn grabbed his arm, and when Poe turned to look at him, his eyes were closed. Finn’s hand came up, in a detached, almost robotic motion, and he pointed in the direction they had just come. “That way.” 

Poe followed Finn’s hand to a gap in the trees—there. A flash of blond hair. The brown jacket. Back toward town. Back toward the packed market. 

The crowd had only thinned slightly from the blaster fire, but a bated hush had fallen over the square. Vendors and patrons milled about cautiously, eyes darting about for further threats. Poe caught sight of Kemi again, who noticed him this time, shock flitting across her features as her eyes bounced between the blasters they all held. 

Torin had eclipsed them again.

Iolo grabbed the hair at his temples in frustration. Vrees bent over, hands on his knees, sucking in heaving breaths. 

“We have to warn the others,” Karé panted. 

A strange realization suddenly hit Poe. The circling pattern… Almost as if Torin was trying to lead them back to base. 

Finally, down the alleyway to his right, Poe saw him again. He launched forward to follow when a bone-shattering force snatched away his balance and slammed him to the ground.

[nyaskitten]

Tell me all about that there Ninjago Connected Universe! Is it a crossover of sorts of all your aus + show & movie?

hehe, no, it's something way bigger than you think. It's my own version of the "pepe silvia" meme. This whole idea is very WIP, but rn, I am gonna consider it canon to ANS, until I can develop it more. Also, if you don't know much about other Lego themes, this'll probably be rlly confusing, sorry.

This will take a fuckton of explanation, so it's all going under the cut :)

Bascially, the idea goes as follows; A good portion of Lego themes take place in the same universe, including Ninjago. You COULD say it's insane because Ninjago doesn't even slightly address any other themes, outside of minor references.

But, the thing is the inclusion of Tox and Mr. Pale all but confirms the existence of the Ultra Agents universe in Ninjago, which includes Astor City.

If Ultra Agents exists in this world, so does Solomon Blaze, the guy who leads the Ultra Agents, and was a member of the Galaxy Squad before then. (Galaxy Squad is abt humans and robots fighting insectoid aliens).

If the Galaxy Squad exists here, so do Monster Fighters (a theme ab humans entering the monster realm to stop a vampire king from uniting six artifacts called Moonstones), because the same race of insectoid aliens are said to have been drawn to the convergence of the Moonstones (from an old magazine), and are alerted to Earth's existence.

This means that Monster Fighters is before Galaxy Squad, and Ultra Agents is after both those themes, and some time during or before Ninjago (as Tox and Mr. Pale aren't criminals in the show). AGAIN, this is a crazy theory, but then again it's my ideas and y'all I'm STILL not done.

Clutch Powers exists, which means Power Miners and Lego City also exist in this world. Because of this, theoretically, Lego City Undercover and Lego City Adventures could be canon to Ninjago.

BUT WAIT, there's even MORE. Jake Raines, the protagonist of "Pharaoh's Quest", has a particular eagle pin on his jacket, the same one that Twitchy Tim has! AND they also share the same pin of a circle with what looks like the front of a light aircraft!!!

This is gonna sound so weird, but then, amidst all this connection, there's Atlantis, Aqua Raiders, and Alien Conquest. According to some other magazines, apparently, an alien warlord helped build the pyramid in Pharaoh's Quest, and when that went south, he aimed to try get the help of the Golden King from Atlantis. In one Atlantis set, there's the skeleton of an Aqua Raiders Diver.

Now, I'm not saying you could squeeze Aqua Raiders and Atlantis in and just say the creatures they deal with are all from Merlopia, BUT ALSO, you could totally do that.

I know this is a huge brain mess but I swear, it'll all make sense! I'll probably just make a lore doc for all this tbh, because this is a LOT.

Now, as for how all this would fit with Ninjago, that's easy. I'd like to think there's a large circle of islands far beyond Ninjago, which are all so close together that most explorers of olden times assumed there was nothing beyond. But the rest? Those presumed lost at sea, dead, or stranded, discovered that far beyond the circle lays several larger landmasses, all with traces of... something. The explorers who DID find these larger landmasses, with remnants of ancient civilizations, went on to populate and build upon these fallen lands. These lands were probably discovered a few hundred years after the Stone Wars, so who knows who or what could have lived there eons ago?

TL;DR: Ninjago, Monster Fighters, Alien Conquest, Pharaoh's Quest, Ultra Agents, Lego City, Clutch Powers (movie), Power Miners, Atlantis, Aqua Raiders, and a fuckton of other themes, and Lego worlds could exist in one continuous world...

[foxofninetales]

A Star to Steer Him by fox_of_nine_tales

Written for the Pingxie Exchange 2022 as a gift for @thelaithlyworm / Thimblerig

Fandom: DMBJ | The Grave Robber’s Chronicles and related fandoms

Relationship: Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling

Rating: Teen

Tags: Alternate Universe, Space Opera, Action/Adventure

Summary:

To a starship, what is home?

Excerpt:

When the gate opened, it bloomed like a flower. Empty space was suddenly anything but, alive with energy that unfurled from a pinpoint and spread to stain the blackness with brilliant light. It was a riot of color; azure shading to bruiselike gold and bronze, then spilling over into purple and the ultraviolet-and-beyond that Wu Xie’s helmet told him was there, so bright that the automatic faceplate shading began to shield his view. He gave an impatient override and the spreading shadow leached away: nothing to come between him and what he had come so far to see. The wealthiest in the galaxy would have paid a planet’s value for this sight, but Wu Xie was looking, not at the wormhole, but for what he could see against it, dwarfed by the vastness of the riotous display. The moments stretched eternal: one heartbeat. Two. Sleek and graceful, delicate and deadly, through the iris of the gate flowed the most beautiful starship in the universe.

Author’s commentary (minor fic spoilers):  

Ahhh, the everlasting aroace dilemma: do you want to bond with the sentient spaceship, or you do want to be the sentient spaceship?

This idea came together from @thelaithlyworm​‘s prompts in this and previous fic exchanges, and once it had bitten me it would not let go.  I’ve always adored stories about sentient spaceships and their bonds with others, so this is strongly influenced by many different fictional universes even though it is not strictly based on any one of them.  There’s just something about the vast differences of scale and time and experience and personality still finding a meeting point that is intensely important to those involved that parallels oddly well to the PingXie dynamic. 

As always, one of the most fun things about an AU is translating canon events and characters to a new universe.  Jumping back and forth between timelines can be a little jarring, but it’s an effective narrative way to cherrypick just the bits you want to play with!  I was especially surprised - in a good but melancholy sort of way - how well A Ning’s fate tied in.  Wreck-diving for tomb-raiding as such a natural substitution, and the adventures-in-translation snippet was just too fun to toss in there.  I’m afraid that I wasn’t able to come up with a solid story for the overall Why of the whole bronze gate plotline before I REALLLLY had to finish this up for the deadline, so I had to settle for NPSS style mysteriousness and hope it doesn’t show too badly.

I especially loved sneaking Hei Xiazi in as a junk-heap of a starship that should never have been sentient in the first place. While Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling’s relationship in this verse may be purely a meeting of minds and souls, we do not want to talk about the hinky stuff that Hei Xiazi and Xiao Hua get up to.

The auction scene may or may not have been somewhat inspired by the end of Galaxy Quest.  I’m not telling.

Read it on AO3

[manchasama]

Galaxy team wants to live in peace at all costs, for reasons that I am certain are spoilers.

The two clans have been at war for awhile, but are attempting some sort of peace. This is in part of the galactic team attempting to keep a war from starting that would affect them. I also presume its because of the two leaders, who have their own sort of issues/fears, which I believe the games at least hinted at. (Stuff like Irida becoming leader at a very young age, )

The galactic team also theoretically has more power then ether the diamond or pearl clans together, as they actively make pokeballs and are attempting to Research and Use pokemon. (people theorize that the games take place in the era that is in the mid 1800s. The first train in America was in the 1820s. Therefore its at least a reasonable assumption that the Galactic Team has a Technological Edge.)

For my evidence of the war, the pearl clan owns the runes are in the crimson mirelands, which is where the diamond clan lives. I would presume those runes would be the diamond clans', except perhaps the rights to those runes were won by a previous war.

(also the war machine thing is in part taken from someone else's au/musings of the game. The Pearl clan has a massive weakness to certain type elements, except for Ingo's Team.)

I agree though. pokemon does things like introduce neat concepts and NEVER FINISH THEM. So i had 0 hope in anything ever being done with any of the characters, ever. I'd have to write my own stories for that. (If it helps, there WAS a free update that you presumably updated the game to get! At the very end of the game/in the postgame so to speak, it added in some additional story beats and a few more interactions with the different characters. Its not much, but it at least sorta tried to do something. This however was a free update that wasn't available at the launch of the game.)

Do not worry about spoilers, I'm aware in general of what happens in the full game, and I haven't been avoiding them. I just am also reserving some opinions on things until I play them myself! Because as a fandom old, I know how different fan community opinion can be from reality, even if it's in a good way, or even if it seems everyone has the same opinion. (Fun fact I love this honestly, because it's really neat how fandom comes together. Before he was more than an optional side quest in ff7 OG, before the movie or other games, fandom came together around Zack Fair and gave him a fairly consistent and wonderful personality. I will always love that :)

I did understand the clans are in a fairly new truce, but not the reason why other than they wanted to. Valid of course! Just, unsure if the catalyst was stated in canon or not. I'm not very good at remembering things like that anymore. I wish you could replay pokemon games without having to delete your save.... Looking it up on youtube is not the same.

Like, I get that the Galaxy team are the newcomers to the area, and may have had something to do with the truce (or the reason why). And they definitely have an advantage since they are actively growing and pursuing new technology. That subtext is all there in the game at least.

Also I don't bother trying to label pokemon timelines as equivalent to real timelines. 1800s? Yeah, but modern pokemon doesn't reflect our world all that much, so why should their past reflect it? *hand wave* I'm not sure I can articulate it, but a society that grew into what moden pokemon world is wouldn't follow the same tracks as our world. Trains were invented in 1820? Or maybe they were invented more recently, since they are still so popular and prevalent in the world. Cars are a minority, technology is all over the place, and the world changes to accommodate sentient animals. Its method of development was very different to ours.

This is mildly disjointed because I'm cooking lol, and I'm very hungry.

[gffa]

I have often given Qui-Gon Jinn a hard time because he’s so often used in STAR WARS fandom as a weapon to beat on other characters I love and it makes it difficult to like him, as well as it overshadows who the character himself is. So, to help balance that out some, I wanted to do a set of recs to remind myself–and just share some happiness in!–that I actually do very much like Qui-Gon! He’s a good person who really loved the people around him, he cared very deeply, he had an amazing friendship with Yoda (seriously, that Yoda’s the one he reaches out to when he becomes a Force Ghost, that even after death, Qui-Gon loves his Jedi family, it gives me feelings in my feelings place every single time), and one of my favorite things about Master & Apprentice is that I often got the impression that he knew he was kind of obnoxious sometimes, but he was at peace with it, he was fine with that. That was a straight shot to my heart, I love that dude! So, here have some fics that celebrate that Qui-Gon is actually a really great character. He may not always be the central character, but I remember him being well portrayed in these and they gave me good Qui-Gon feelings! STAR WARS - QUI-GON JINN FIC RECS: ✦ Reprise by Elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon & anakin & dooku & mace & cast, time travel, 491.1k wip    Ben Kenobi dies aboard the Death Star in the year 0 BBY. He wakes up shortly thereafter in the Jedi temple in the year 41 BBY. Haunted by memories and regret, Ben must forge a new path for himself in the Jedi Order of his youth while navigating the murky waters of time travel. Crafting a better future from bitter experience is hard, but learning to heal is even harder. Major AU. ✦ The Way Back Home by Anakinstopyourpanakin, happygiraffe, obi-wan & qui-gon & bant & tahl, 39.5k wip    He had been missing for nearly four years. How could Obi-Wan be alive? It was too good to be true, and simultaneously too horrifying. What had been done to the innocent child who was currently falling asleep against his shoulder, and did his wounds run too deep for Qui-Gon to mend? ✦ When the world gets too heavy put it on my back by nematoda, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon, 29.8k    Obi-Wan is different when it comes to relationships. Not in a bad way, just… different. Studies of platonic love in the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi, exploring the master/padawan relationship with Qui-Gon and eventually with Anakin. ✦ Shadows of the Future by stormqueen873, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 129.3k    ObiWan lost the duel on Mustafar, but instead of dying, he finds himself on a ship leaving Tatooine, with his old Master and a familiar young boy. As events begin to unfold, can he stop the future he knows from occuring? ✦ No Galaxy for Good Jedi by Annie_Walker, obi-wan & anakin & padme & qui-gon & dooku & yoda & cast, some obi-wan/satine, sith!qui-gon, 124.8k wip    Obi-Wan Kenobi was only a young padawan when he ran away with three-year old Anakin. He had no choice after his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, fell to the Dark Side by Master Dooku’s manipulations. ✦ Masters and Padawans: Three Generations by GirlwithCurls98, qui-gon & obi-wan + obi-wan & anakin + anakin & ahsoka, 24.6k    Three generations of incredible bonds. ✦ What Is My Heritage? by Marnie, qui-gon & yoda, 7.7k    Qui-Gon, age 13, tries to find a place to belong. ✦ Coming Home by Marnie, qui-gon & yoda & dooku, 18.1k    A story telling how Qui-Gon comes to be Dooku’s apprentice. ✦ Trust Me by Charmisjess, dooku & qui-gon, 2k    A certain Jedi Master is less than pleased about being laid up with the flu. ✦ Triviality and QuiGon by Charmisjess, dooku & qui-gon, 4.1k    The Council’s infinite cruelty gives Dooku the most brutal of punishments: quality time with the Padawan and his plantlife! ✦ Rainy by Charmisjess, dooku & qui-gon, 26.8k wip    A seemingly easy mission goes horribly wrong for Padawan Qui and Master Dooku as they struggle to battle an insane adversary, poisons and curses, and an awful lot of rain. ✦ The Luckiest Man Alive + Letting Go by Elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon & dooku & yoda, 7.9k    Yoda, Dooku, and a twenty four year old QuiGon go to the small planet of Omartia to pick up a forcesensitive infant. + Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan go to pick up a Force-sensitive child. On the way back, Qui-Gon is faced with the fact that someday very soon, he will have to let Obi-Wan go. ✦ Lineage by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & xanatos & cast, 35.9k    AU!Jedi Apprentice. Book I: In which master and apprentice meet for the first time, enjoy a disastrous adventure courtesy of Xanatos DuCrion, and reap the fruits of patience and fortitude. A fanciful retelling of the original. ✦ Lineage II by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 40.9k    A year or so has elapsed since the last time we saw our heroes. BOOK 2: In which master and apprentice investigate an evil brainwashing plot, attend a boisterous wedding, and battle the enemy within. ✦ Lineage III by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & dooku & xanatos & bant & cast, 49.4k    AU!Jedi Apprentice. Book III: Master and apprentice face an important rite of passage, grapple with a traitorous plot within the Temple’s walls, and discover the limits of obedience and intuition. Appearances by Bant Eerin, Xanatos DuCrion, Yan Dooku, and others. ✦ Lineage IV by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & siri & adi gallia, 39.3k    Master and apprentice endure a stint with the Agri-Corps, and find that trouble has a way of coming home to haunt them. Featuring a pile of bantha poodoo, a tentacled carnivorous plant, a desperate escaped convict, and a highly provocative young woman. ✦ Lineage V by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & tahl (& some qui-gon/tahl) & dooku & cast, 50.7k    An evil scientist wreaks havoc when she captures Jedi Knight Tahl Uvain for purposes of obscure research; Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan rush to the rescue, only to be embroiled in further trouble; and Master Dooku joins in the hunt with characteristic aplomb. ✦ Lineage VI by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 66.2k    Master and apprentice undertake a risky undercover mission to expose conspiracy in a far-flung sector; a comedy of manners abruptly transforms into a nightmare when their cover is blown; and a desperate escape gambit strikes deep at the foundations of trust. ✦ Lineage VII by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & siri & adi gallia & some obi-wan/siri, 74.5k    Sent to the aid of their fellow Jedi on a disastrous mission to New Apsolon, master and apprentice contend with brainwashing, genocide, conspiracy, and the perilous realm of the heart. ✦ Lineage VIII by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 83.4k    Hard on the heels of the mission to Apsolon, master and apprentice find new troubles - in their own backyard. Jenna Zan Arbor faces prosecution for her crimes; the Jedi grapple with the disastrous realities of corruption and personal loss; Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon undertake perilous and disparate quests. ✦ Lineage IX by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & dooku & cast, 61k    A year after parting ways, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon struggle to complete their self-appointed quests for enlightenment and justice. ✦ Lineage X by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & dooku, 49.2k    The war-ravaged world Melida-Daan is backdrop to a manhunt, an occult conspiracy, a bitter guerilla conflict, and a test of ultimate loyalties. ✦ Lineage XI by ruth baulding, obi-qan & qui-gon & cast, 56k    The disastrous situation on Melida-Daan takes a turn for the worse; the Jedi dispatch a team to capture a dangerous murderer; and Qui-Gon Jinn and his former apprentice face the consequences of their rebellion. Series finale. ✦ Snakefic by esama, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & yoda & cast, 6k    It was only the matter of time before the egg hatched. ✦ Strokes of Colored Grey by Elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon, 9.5k    ObiWan has been drawing since he was a small youngling, but only a few people know, including his teacher, Vianro Dleka, and the elderly, trustworthy archivist, KinWan Terius. But what happens when his master discovers his secret? ✦ Pies, Books, and Swords, obi-wan & qui-gon/tahl, 1.2k    Qui-Gon Jinn has made quite a good name for himself, as far as holonet cooking shows go. ✦ They Are by Charmisjess, dooku & qui-gon, 1.7k    This is their moment, their eternity. They think its going to be like this forever. ✦ Strongest Stars by Elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon & chirrut & cast, 2.6k    The Force works in mysterious ways. A few quiet moments in the dark create a touchstone spanning across three generations, two orthodoxies, a war, time, space, and the galaxy. A maverick meets a visionary and listens for a song. Spoilers for Rogue One, sort of? ✦ Anecdotally by Elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 14.6k    The biggest stories are always made up of smaller ones. Here are some of the forgotten moments in the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Will feature a wide variety of genres, characters, eras, and AUs. Oneshots from whenever inspiration strikes. ✦ the floor under our feet by FoxGlade, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & qui-gon & dooku + background pairings, 4.5k wip    or, the adventures and exploits of Qui-Gon’s three adopted children. ✦ A Long, Long Time Ago by ruth baulding, dooku & qui-gon + qui-gon & obi-wan + obi-wan & anakin + anakin & ahsoka, 5.8k    A wisdom tale handed passed down through the generations poses troublesome questions for a line of masters and Padawans, from Dooku to Ahsoka Tano. ✦ Family by lilyconrad, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & darth maul & cast, sith!obi-wan, 6.8k    Seven years after the duel on Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi has turned to the dark, Maul has turned to the light, and young Anakin is caught somewhere in-between. Can Qui-Gon rescue his Padawan before it’s too late? ✦ Fountain of Force by esama, qui-gon & cast, final fantasy 7 crossover, 8.9k    In which Qui-Gon Jinn comes from Gaia. ✦ Midwinter Sun by orphan_account, dooku & qui-gon, 4.2k    Padawan Jinn is a rebel and Dooku is very much not ready. ✦ Jedi In Winter by bluedragoninamber, obi-wan & qui-gon & dooku & yoda, 12.3k    In which Yan Dooku understands regret and tries to make things right. Something new will be born from the ashes of the old but exactly what remains to be seen. ✦ A New History by Annie Walker, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & dooku & cast, time travel, 533.4k wip    During a heated battle, Dooku escaped into the past! Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker follow to stop him, but discover that Dooku went to the past where Obi-Wan is a young padawan to a very much alive Qui-Gon Jinn. Now, the two must go undercover to stop Dooku’s plans from coming to fruition in order to save not only the future, but also young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. ✦ In the Heart of the Force by ReneeoftheStars, ahsoka & qui-gon, 1.7k    Ahsoka Tano travels back to the world between world’s. Searching for answers, she comes across a past event that only makes her question the past even more. ✦ Stitches and Time by ladyarcherfan3, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & ocs, 4k    Alara Nel is a seamstress who keeps getting an unusually large number of orders for Jedi robes from an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Over the years, she learns why and gets to know the Jedi a little bit better. ✦ The Uses of a Sandwich by Laura Kaye (laurakaye), obi-wan & qui-gon & oc & cast, 17.6k    A few months after being taken as a Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi faces a challenge: meeting his Master’s first apprentice. ✦ untitled by elfpen, obi-wan & qui-gon, 3.1k    Anonymous asked: if you’re still accepting prompts: smol padawan obi-wan letting slip his law abiding exterior and letting loose the terrifying intensity beneath it. preferably in defense of qui-gon or something. ✦ The will of the Force by Lysore, obi-wan & yoda & qui-gon, 2.7k    Obi-Wan piqued Yoda’s interest early on, except the Grand Master of the Order had known for just as long that the Initiate was destined to be Qui-Gon Jinn’s Padawan. ✦ I thought I fought this war alone by stonefreeak, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, time travel, 3.7k    Obi-Wan is thirteen years old, just about to start learning Ataru from his Master. Obi-Wan is sixty-one years old, dead and one with the Force since four years back. Obi-Wan is both, and neither. ✦ The First Trial by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon, 2k    Accompanied by his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, young Obi-Wan Kenobi undergoes his first trial and rite as a Padawan Learner on the frozen planet of Ilum. ✦ Hearts Entwined by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & shmi & qui-gon, time travel, 6.5k wip    stolen moments between Padawan Kenobi and Shmi Skywalker, glimpsed by Qui Gon Jinn, and his continued attempts to understand both this strange new addition to the Temple and the unexplained relationship between the pair ✦ The Orchards by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 3.6k    When young Obi-Wan Kenobi is injured on a previous mission, Qui-Gon Jinn refuses to accept further off-planet missions until his Padawan’s recovery. Yoda assigns the pair an in-Temple mission of utmost importance while Obi-Wan heals. Master and Padawan welcome the change of pace. ✦ The Path of Totality by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & yoda & qui-gon & cast, 1.8k    Before going their separate ways into exile, Obi-Wan Kenobi shares with Yoda a lesson of wisdom he’d learned from his late Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. A lesson of darkness, light, and hope. ✦ Finding Balance by Raven_Knight, qui-gon & dooku & jocasta, 1.4k    Eleven-year-old Padawan Jinn is left behind while his Master goes on a mission off-planet. Qui-Gon is left in the care of Jocasta Nu, and he’s not exactly enthusiastic about it. ✦ Warmth by Tomatosoupful, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & xanatos & tahl & shmi & cast, child endangerment, time travel, 59.8k wip    Time Travel AU. Anakin has woken up in the past. Time to say hello to past friends, right? Only problem, Anakin is a walking talking human disaster and makes a lot of stupid decisions. Stealing a Jedi baby from the temple certainly isn’t the smartest thing he’s done. ✦ Abducted by devilinthedetails, obi-wan & qui-gon, 1.6k    In trying to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a planetary leader, Qui-Gon finds himself abducted and in need of Obi-Wan’s rescue. ✦ Trust Fall by devilinthedetails, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon, 1.4k    Two generations of Masters and Padawans. Two generations of trust falls. ✦ Something Borrowed, Something New by Raven_Knight, qui-gon & dooku/jocasta, 1.6k    Qui-Gon Jinn had only been claimed as Knight Dooku’s Padawan for three weeks before he’d managed to get himself into trouble with his Master. ✦ In Memoriam by ruth baulding, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & evan piell, 6.4k    In the midst of a desperate escape from the Citadel, Obi Wan mourns a friendship. A tribute to Jedi Master Evan Piell. ✦ One Day by ruth baulding, obi-wan & qui-gon & mace & shmi & bail/breha & palpatine, 9.9k    A single moment in time, on five different planets. A birth, an election, a discovery, a marriage, and a mission. Because all things are mysteriously united in the Force. ✦ They Are by Charmisjess, dooku & qui-gon, 1.7k    This is their moment, their eternity. They think its going to be like this forever. ✦ The Exchange by MissLearn, obi-wan & anakin & some anakin/padme & ahsoka & qui-gon & rex & cast, time travel, 77k wip    ROTS Obi-Wan and Anakin are swapped with their younger, TPM, selves. It changes things, in both parallels. ✦ Family by lilyconrad, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & darth maul & cast, sith!obi-wan, 6.8k    Seven years after the duel on Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi has turned to the dark, Maul has turned to the light, and young Anakin is caught somewhere in-between. Can Qui-Gon rescue his Padawan before it’s too late? ✦ Fountain of Force by esama, qui-gon & cast, final fantasy 7 crossover, 8.9k    In which Qui-Gon Jinn comes from Gaia. ✦ Rewrought by esama, obi-wan & qui-gon & maul, time travel, 4.4k    Bit o time travel ✦ Lion Jinn by esama, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 5.7k wip    Qui-Gon Jinn reincarnates as a lion. ✦ Brothers (working title) by Charity_Angel, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & padme & shmi & yoda & cast, 17.3k wip    In which Qui-Gon has a very near miss on Naboo, Obi-Wan is very stubborn, and they end up breaking a lot of rules accidentally as a result. All because of that kid they picked up on Tatooine. ✦ untitled by legobiwan, yoda & dooku & qui-gon, 1.5k    Yan Dooku was getting too old for this type of thing. He had rushed into the healer’s ward, Qui-gon’s limp body in his arms. That in itself had been a feat, as the boy’s gangly limbs were everywhere, but somehow the older Jedi Master had been able to deposit his wayward Padawan on a bed before an errant arm took his nose off. ✦ Drifting Starlight by Pandora151, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & qui-gon & cast, time travel, 60.3k    Just before the fateful Battle of Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn is brought to the future, to the Clone Wars. He doesn’t know why or how, but he knows one thing for sure: He never, in a million years, expected the galaxy to end up like this. ✦ Although He Smiles by AutumnChild22, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & padme & qui-gon & cast, time travel, 86.9k wip    She’d counted the 750 steps down from the Temple. She’d said her goodbyes, and left Master Anakin standing below the great pillars. What more could the Force want from her? ‘Everything’ sums it up nicely. Waking 13 years in the past, Ahsoka faces a harsh reality. As events begin to unfold, she faces a ticking clock that times a galaxy’s end. ✦ A New History by Annie Walker, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & dooku & cast, time travel, 533.4k wip    During a heated battle, Dooku escaped into the past! Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker follow to stop him, but discover that Dooku went to the past where Obi-Wan is a young padawan to a very much alive Qui-Gon Jinn. Now, the two must go undercover to stop Dooku’s plans from coming to fruition in order to save not only the future, but also young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. ✦ The First Trial by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon, 2k    Accompanied by his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, young Obi-Wan Kenobi undergoes his first trial and rite as a Padawan Learner on the frozen planet of Ilum. ✦ Hearts Entwined by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & shmi & qui-gon, time travel, 6.5k wip    stolen moments between Padawan Kenobi and Shmi Skywalker, glimpsed by Qui Gon Jinn, and his continued attempts to understand both this strange new addition to the Temple and the unexplained relationship between the pair ✦ Highly Dissatisfied by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon, 1.1k    Obi-Wan enters the quarters he shares with his Master, intending to ask for help in preparation for his exams. Qui-Gon, however, is dealing with a far more urgent matter. ✦ playing yourself like a red three by EclipseMidnight (EternalEclipse), obi-wan & xanatos & qui-gon, 7.7k    As usual, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s mission has gone spectacularly sideways, this time before they even reach the planet they are meant to be helping. Luckily for them, they get some help from an unexpected source. ✦ so far the suns by blackkat, mace & qui-gon, 1.3k    “My old friend,” Qui-Gon tells Mace, quiet, and his presence comes closer. “I fear I made several mistakes in the past weeks, and I would ask you to correct them for me.” ✦ The Cry by batsojopo, obi-wan & qui-gon & xanatos & ocs & cast, 4.2k    This is my version of how Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived at the Jedi Temple. ✦ kybersong by Shadaras, obi-wan & qui-gon, 1.6k    Obi-Wan Kenobi goes in search of his lightsaber’s crystal heart. ✦ What Have We Become by Batsutousai, feemor & qui-gon & obi-wan & anakin & cast, time travel, 43.7k    One of Feemor’s greatest regrets, was that he never had the chance to get to know his brother-padawan, but the Force is willing to give him one more chance. And maybe, if he’s lucky, he can finally make amends with his former master and save them all in the process. ✦ We Start and End With Family by Batsutousai, feemor & qui-gon & obi-wan & yoda & cast, time travel, 8.8k    Qui-Gon had been mostly joking when he’d originally brought up the idea of a lineage dinner, but when his former padawan grabbed for the idea with both hands and a desperation Qui-Gon didn’t understand (and privately hoped he never would), he knew he would never be able to refuse. ✦ turning dust right into gold by blackkat, mace/qui-gon & depa & cast, 1.3k    Mace knows Depa too well. She’s absolutely going to do something terrible, particularly for Mace’s dignity. ✦ A Price to Be Paid by Peach_Bitters (Starf), qui-gon & dooku & cast, 3.1k    Young Qui-Gon learns there’s a price to be paid for his curiosity. ✦ For the Future of the Order by thetorontokid, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 3.9k    There are important lessons to be found in the Jedi Temple crèche.

[andorlorian]

a little bit insane ahsoka and luke au

the lovely @picazos-angsty-typist inspired me to just post my au ideas as opposed to giving them away, and this one is my absolute favorite! it's an au in which 19 year old ahsoka finds the time travel crystal from the lego star wars christmas special and is transported onto tatooine right before a new hope. then she gets to go along through the original trilogy and be best friends with luke! (this is honestly just an extremely convoluted way to get my favorite characters to be best friends. this au is for me <3.) extremely long elaborations and plot stuff in bullet points under the cut:

okay so 19 year old ahsoka! it would be about 2 years post order 66 and about 6-8 months since the ending of the ahsoka novel, so she's traveling the world and doing fulcrum things, attempting to build a rebellion with bail organa. this, naturally, means she needs to hide from the empire.

because it needs to be life day for the crystal to work, that's the day this all starts (in ahsoka's original timeline). ahsoka finds out randomly that it's life day, and has a moment remembering the day before order 66, before the empire. 

she gets into a skirmish with the empire close by kordoku, the planet with the time travel stone on it. she feels a pull from the force, like there's a safe haven on the planet below, so she lands and immediately knows why: she's in front of a jedi temple. she knows she'll be safe inside from the empire. she walks in, and seals the temple with the force

she picks up the weird rock thing in the middle of the room, as it's singing to her through the force. the second she touches it, a wormhole opens up, and she's dropped directly in the middle of a tatooinian sandstorm.

we the audience know that she's time traveled, but ahsoka has no clue. and as I'm assuming she doesn't have much experience wandering ancient abandoned jedi temples (in her time, very recently, they'd been populated and upkept), she wouldn't suspect she was hallucinating. she assumed the rock somehow teleported her, but the sand and the wind of the sandstorm make it impossible for her to find the rock. where before it had been singing to her through the force, she couldn't feel anything now.

she has no choice but to try and find shelter from the storm and wait it out. she finds a sort of cave, a small hideout, so she sets up her small camp. having nothing else to do, she opens herself up to the force to meditate, hoping to locate the rock and find more information about her new situation. however, she instead discovers something she wasn't expecting: the faint and utterly familiar force prescence of one obi-wan kenobi

it feels damaged and weak, almost as if he'd cut himself off from the force somewhat, but there was no denying that it was obi-wan. ahsoka thanked the force for sending her to the rock, as she assumes it had just sent her to obi-wan and nothing else.

during this force meditation, she also discovers the planet that she's on is tatooine. this heavily reminds her of anakin, hearing echoes of their conversation as they crossed the desert from what seems like a million years ago. 

once the storm settles, she makes her way through the tatooinian desert, and just as the suns are coming up and she knows she would need to find shelter, she happens upon the Lars farm.

she meets Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke. they are kind and good people, and do not hesitate to offer ahsoka a place to stay + some food and water. ahsoka rests up somewhat, but insists on helping them in return.

this part I haven't quite nailed out yet. tatooine side quest featuring ahsoka and luke doing whatever one does on a moisture farm. I assume ahsoka would offer technological help as she's a good mechanic (perks of master skywalker) so maybe they're going around and fixing vaporators?

that day and into the night, she and luke really hit it off. she learns more about tatooine and more about how they've been affect by the war. however from the way luke talks about it, the empire has been around as long as he can remember. this strikes ahsoka as extremely odd, and wonders what else is going on, but fixing things doesn't leave much room for another galaxy warping revelation, so she doesn't dwell on it immediately.

she and luke discuss kind of everything. they become buddies bc that's important to me. the next day, she tells them she's looking for obi-wan kenobi. "do you know someone named obi-wan kenobi?" luke does his little "do you think she means old ben kenobi?" number which is fun n nostalgic hehe.

owen seems to freeze. he hasn't heard that name in quite some time, and it doesn't exactly conjure pleasant memories. he reluctantly agrees to let luke point her in the right direction, and she buys a speeder from them (they try to give it to her but she insists on paying. ahsoka ftw)

ahsoka manages to avoid the tuskens on her way into the jundland wastes and runs into.... this really old dude. this is when she really has to confront the time travel of it all. she and obi-wan have a Talk. there's still a little bad blood between them considering obi-wan was on the council that condemned her without remorse or apology, but they're both so relieved to see the other alive.

ahsoka learns that it's been 19 years since order 66, since the empire took over. she remembers the day it happened, what only feels like 2 years ago to her.

she mentions that luke helped her find him, and obi-wan freezes. this obviously gets noticed by ahsoka, and obi-wan drops the real bomb on her: luke is anakin and padmé's son. obi-wan tells her that anakin died in order 66 and padmé died with the rebellion, that he's here both to hide out and to protect luke. she remarks in her head that the whole chosen one thing is ridiculous, that pinning the entire galaxy's hopes on a nineteen year old kid that up until now obi-wan has refused to even CONSIDER training (skywalker trauma lolz) but she can sense the strong emotions from him, that he wouldn't have it in him to stand up to the empire alone, so she drops it.

as to how padmé died: i hate the way that she dies in the prequels so I am deleting it. this is my canon. she actually survives and stays with the rebellion for a good 3-5 years before she's killed in a rebel vs. empire conflict. ahsoka is especially devastated to learn about her death from obi-wan (who bail organa risked communication with to tell him, as he was also close with padmé). 

she and obi-wan spar, both to get Ahsoka's mind off of the everything about this situation and because it's been so long since either of them have been around another jedi. it's cathartic for both of them. (ahsoka beats obi-wan easily btw haha)

obi-wan offers to officially knight her as a jedi knight, as that was what the council had intended after the whole fiasco and he says "you're just as experienced and powerful as I was when I was knighted." but ahsoka declines. she isn't ready to be considered a jedi yet, and may never be.

this is when a new hope really starts. obi-wan and ahsoka find luke unconscious in the jundland wastes, and that sequence goes pretty much the same. r2 is beeping and trilling like crazy because ahsoka!!!!!! that's one of his best friends!!!!!!! luke is like "you know this droid?" and ahsoka freezes, because how exactly does she explain to the nice dude she met yesterday that actually she's from 17 years in the past and was very close with both of his parents, who both were extremely close to r2?

she does in fact explain all of that to him when they get to obi-wan's house. she has no idea how she got here or why, but she did know anakin skywalker and padmé amidala naberrie, and tells him as much as she remembers about them. luke misses both of his parents like an ache in his chest, wishing more than anything he could have known them. 

obi-wan offers his own perspective on it, and tells how anakin died (which ahsoka is just as eager to know). obi-wan, on the spot, says that another jedi fell to the dark side and joined sidious, and that anakin died defending the temple. (he obviously couldn't say that vader was his pupil, because ahsoka would see through that immediately.)

luke asks why he couldn't have lived with his mother in the rebellion, but obi-wan says that she wanted him to be safe from the galactic conflict and stay with anakin's family. (which is partially true, but the whole sith-sensing-the-overly-powerful-skywalkers was a big factor as well.) obi-wan says he's truly sorry that luke never got to know her.

after learning about the message r2 brought, ahsoka knows she has to get to the rebellion however possible and rejoin the fight. obi-wan agrees, and gives his little elevator pitch to luke about becoming a jedi and joining the rebellion. when obi-wan gives luke the lightsaber, a million memories with anakin flash through ahsoka's head. luke still comes to same conclusion at the end of that conversation: he's willing to guide them out of tatooine, but he can't join the galactic conflict, at least not now. 

however, as they're leaving, they find the destroyed jawa crawler. luke, as before, realizes it means the stormtroopers found his family. ahsoka knows that only despair waits there for him, and urges him not to go, but when he doesn't back down hops in the speeder with him (for protection and emotional support). 

luke gets to have more emotions about the fact that the empire killed his /entire family./ ahsoka doesn't try and use it to convince him to go, only offers to help him bury them. she openly uses the force to move things around and make things easier, while luke is still in shock, almost numb. they're buried next to shmi and cliegg. 

luke is ANGRY at the empire. he is PISSED. he decides to go with them to fight not because he longs for adventure, but because he wants to hit the empire where it hurts. ahsoka can recognize that isn't the thought process of a jedi, but she feels the exact same way after learning about anakin and padmé. 

now it's mos eisley time. i feel like han would definitely like/admire ahsoka at first, but ahsoka would not like him. she finds him deplorable and a little annoying, and joins in on the whole bagging on the falcon jokes. this leads to han getting his feelings hurt and he's like fine :( we are not friends then >:(. 

the interesting thing is that chewie and ahsoka actually know each other! they were both kidnapped by bossk and hunted for sport in that one clone wars arc, so they're both like "oh hey person who was there for one of the most terrifying and traumatic times in my life! what's up!" they become fast friends yet again, and chewie is like "wow you did not age at all. are you sure you're not a wookiee?"

on the millennium falcon, she and obi-wan get started on luke's training. he asks her about his parents constantly (what they were like, what they did, where they came from, etc). she also talks about what the jedi were like (providing a less rose-colored-glasses perspective, but still with a lot of positives). 

she feel the same pain obi-wan does right before they get to alderaan, and can feel bail and breha organa in particular (having known them fairly well after the ahsoka novel). 

they get pulled into the death star's tractor beam. ahsoka can feel the cold and horrible presence of vader, a sick dread building in her the closer they get to it. they go to hide under the floorboards of the falcon. han knows how the empire operates better than anyone, which ahsoka is shocked to learn is much different than the Republic or the empire she remembers. (i imagine she lived in a more transitional period, so while the empire was terrible during her time, they were only getting started.)

she tries to go with obi-wan to shut off the power beam, but obi-wan still does his "I must go alone" little number. sensing the end of something, but not what it is, she hugs him goodbye. he's still obi-wan and she missed him dreadfully. he tells her to protect luke. 

she along with luke refuses to indulge han's obi-wan slander, and when han says "great at getting us into trouble!" she says "you should have met anakin."

then it's princess rescue time as it should be. that goes exactly the same except ahsoka is much better at defending them from the stormtroopers lol. leia still does the blasting and "somebody has to save our skins!" line because I love that

ahsoka can tell immediately that leia is padmé's daughter. she had probably heard of leia, being in the rebellion for about six months before time traveling, but now having met her it's completely obvious. she doesn't vocalize this immediately though, planning to discuss it with obi-wan. 

yes I'm keeping the garbage monster scene because I think it's funny :)

ahsoka goes with han and chewie after the stormtroopers while luke and leia head for the ship. also ahsoka + han banter because I think it's funny

she can see obi-wan and vader's fight (which I'm hoping will be a lot more like their fight in rots. a new hope is incredible but the lightsaber fights got way better as time went on. their final fight deserves to be epic). she tries to run and help obi-wan but luke pulls her back. "he can handle it," he says. "we need you to help us get to the falcon."

however when obi-wan is killed, both of them are distraught. his voice appears in ahsoka's head, telling her not to face vader yet, telling her to run. chewie literally has to hold her back and carry her to the ship. 

they blast their way out of the death star, none of them having the time to dwell on what just happened. 

ahsoka and luke are both numb. luke lost 3 parental figures in one day, and obi-wan's death after going through order 66 just brings it allll up again. leia is also hanging out in the numb dead parents circle, because her entire planet got blown up today and obi-wan's death just feels like another nail in the coffin. all three of them can sort of feel each other's emotions, and unconsciously they're comforting each other with the force. it's a healing moment for all three of them

han is kind of awkwardly standing in the background. "there wasn't anything any of you could have done," he says, in a rare show of emotion. (i like han wanting to help them despite his i-don't-care-about-anything facade.)

this doesn't stop him from saying he's only in it for the money later though. leia gets to blow up at him about it same as in the movie because she deserves it methinks.

they make it to the rebellion, and a few of the people who've been in it from the beginning recognize her (mon mothma maybe?). I also like the idea of ahsoka being something of rebellion legend, having been one of the last jedi who presumably died fighting the empire for the rebellion. 

also general hera syndulla gets to be there bc i love her. she is the one who shows the plans to the pilots and explains the plan. she also references the rogue one crew because i love them also. 

ahsoka in an x-wing with the red team attempting to blow up the death star. when vader makes an appearance, she can sense him in the starfighter nearby them, the same cold and evil presence. she personally goes to fight vader and defends the rest of the team from him, somehow falling into a perfect rhythm and anticipating every move. she doesn't kill him obviously, but she gets close. the things that happen stay the same: they sustain heavy casualties, she survives the battle, han comes back to save the day, luke is the one who blows up the death star.

luke, han, chewie, and ahsoka get medals in the end, because each of them were instrumental in the blowing up of the death star (and a lot more pilots survive thanks to Ahsoka's defense). there are references to the phineas and ferb star wars special because I want it. 

there's a bit after the official end of a new hope in which she's talking to Luke like "I can't stay. this isn't my timeline. I have to go back. and if I can go back, maybe I can try and save the jedi. maybe I can fix things." however luke changes her mind. "maybe you're in this timeline for a reason. maybe NOW is when you can change things. I would've died without you in the battle of yavin. plus, how am I supposed to become a jedi without you?" luke + leia + han + chewie + r2 + 3po all convince her to stay. they are all very attached to ahsoka at this point, and ahsoka realizes she doesn't really want to leave them either.

also. because the battle is over and they all have a moment to breathe, she tells leia that she's positive she's padmé and anakin's daughter too, not just because of the physical resemblence but also her force sensitivity. there's no doubt about it.

ahsoka agrees to train both of them in what she knows, though she warns that she wasn't a master or even a knight.

it ends with the whole crew hanging out on the falcon (han, leia, luke, chewie, r2, c-3po, and ahsoka)

those are my bullet points for the episode IV section of this! if people want to see where this goes in the rest of the trilogy let me know I have so many notes about this au

also tagging: @togrutanduin @padme--amygdala @bisexualobiwanrights @grimthejedisith @senator-nahberries you get to watch me lose my mind in real time <3

[popatochisssp]

Heya Poppy! I’m loving the new gem headcanons and was wondering if you have a diamond au too? Or any other stuff about the new gems? I love this au so much

Ohoho, of course I do! I do have the new gems’ Backstories, but since you asked about the Diamond AU specifically... UwU

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Cubic Zirconia (Undergloom Sans) emerges alone, in an abandoned Kindergarten galaxies upon galaxies away from Homeworld’s (known) reaches. He doesn’t stay alone for very long, and not too much later, Moissanite (Undergloom Papyrus) emerges too--another gem.

...Not that they...know too much beyond the fact that they’re both gems. They certainly have no idea that they’re both products of diamond replication experiments at this outpost, commissioned by the (recently ceased) Void Diamond and forgotten when The War began and other priorities became more important.

But! They have each other, so even if their origin is shrouded in mystery and there’s nobody else here on this dusty, deserted rock of a planet, they both decide things could be worse.

They go about their lives for awhile, poking around in things, bonding with each other, making guesses about their species and civilization from their bare-bones programming and the artifacts of the Kindergarten.

It passes the time.

And then, one day, the seismic activity starts.

The two of them have no idea what’s happening or what to do about it; if there’s anything to do about it, and it’s a stressful few cycles before they get any solid answers.

Raw Diamond (Horrorfell Sans), clawing himself up through the ground from the deepest, darkest caverns of the planet, is about as ‘solid’ as an answer gets.

Cubic and Moissanite shouldn’t know the newcomer at all, yet they find themselves automatically saluting, calling him ‘My Diamond,’ and Raw...

Raw is just as confused as they are.

He doesn’t know what’s going on either, where they are, what he is, who he is… he simply is.

He couldn’t know that he’s a forgotten project of Void Diamond’s, too, a new diamond meant to join the ranks with him and Brown and Gray as their empire expanded and needed more leadership. He was simply left in the ground to incubate without being refined or even cut.

(He's monstrous, huge even for a Diamond, and oddly formed with a crooked jaw that won’t open and a hole in his skull…but Cubic and Moissanite hardly know any better than he does what he’s supposed to look like, so no one makes any mention of it.)

Freshly emerged and very lost, it goes without saying that Raw wants answers. The Imitation brothers have a few, but nowhere near as many as he’s after, and he stubbornly demands to be shown around the Kindergarten and the outpost, to see it for himself.

And it all lights up for him in a way it never did for the two that came first, doors and sensors and screens coming to life, responding to the signature of a true diamond. There’s brand new access to everything, reports, records, files and procedures… they learn a lot about what they are, what they’re supposed to be and what they’re not.

They also learn how true diamonds are made, in full and not just halfway.

Raw is certain this is the answer. Cubic and Moissanite are the first of their kind, they barely have any programming, but a diamond…a diamond done right and not left unfinished like he was, surely they would know more and be able to make sense of…whatever it is they’re not getting.

The brothers aren’t totally convinced... but admittedly, they don’t have any better ideas and well…rough he may be, but Raw is a diamond…

Champagne Diamond (Horrorfell Papyrus) unfolds himself gracefully from a craggy cliffside on the abandoned planet, massive in size but otherwise perfect—and he does have some answers.

Champagne knows he is a Diamond and he knows of gemkind. He knows of their society and of their directive to expand their empire.

…What he doesn’t know is the answer to Cubic’s well-meaning query of ‘...what empire?’

Champagne has no clue where the hell all the other gems are, where this little rock is in relation to the Empire, if the Empire even still exists if this place has been abandoned as long as all the charts and data logs say it has been.

He wants answers as much as Raw does, possibly even moreso…but to even start looking for them, they have to get the hell off this planet.

As it turns out, what he lacks in inherent knowledge of their status and origin and social structures, Raw has a real knack for gem-tech, understanding the principles and functions of even the old and mostly broken down devices they have access to, enough to design a passable space-faring craft that they all pitch in to build.

The first world the quartet comes across is empty now, but was once uniquely occupied by both gems and by organics. There’s a handful of gem structures, Kindergartens, bases, et cetera--long abandoned and in disarray of course, but hiding lots of new data and potential clues to mine about what happened to gemkind, and more importantly, where the fuck Homeworld is...

(Like the lost city of Punt, it seems that nobody ever thought to store something as obvious as Homeworld’s coordinates anywhere in the days before warp pads--why bother? Everyone knew where it was.)

There’s a lot to repair and sift through, a whole planet’s worth of it, and there’s only four of them, so it’s probably going to take awhile…

So when Raw finds some old notes that this planet would be a good candidate to incubate a diamond if not for all the useful organic life on it, he nudges Champagne and jokes that all the organic life is gone now, maybe they should…?

To Raw’s surprise, however, Champagne is intrigued.

It could be something worth thinking about, actually… Another pair of hands, another set of eye-sockets… a diamond would be a costly investment, both time and resource-wise, but certainly more bang for the buck than a mess of soldiers or technicians that they really don’t need…

Plus, it’s something to do while they scour the whole damn globe for everything of use on it.

So... might as well try it.

A nice chunk of forest is summarily leveled by Cloudy Diamond (Horrorswapfell Sans) when he decides he’s good and ready to emerge—and while he’s certainly an extra pair of hands for the group, the eye-sockets…didn’t really work out the way they’d thought.

Cloudy, it turns out, is blind as a bat, a defective diamond—but still a diamond, able to interface with and access everything the other two diamonds can, if guided to it.

He sticks with Cubic and Moissanite, mostly, a quid pro quo sort of arrangement that works for everyone, at least until everything of use and worth is mined out of the artifacts of the planet, and it’s time to move on to the next lead: what seems to have been a military base on an almost entirely aquatic world.

Cloudy isn’t interested in visiting a water-world, not for a long-term stay like they’re talking about. He prefers solid ground beneath his feet at least most of the time...and he actually has very little investment in their Quest for Homeworld, so he decides that he’ll stay here.

The others question if he’s sure, and even offer to leave at least Moissanite with him to help him around, but he refuses. Aside from not feeling altogether right about splitting Moissanite and Cubic, Cloudy has his pride and he’ll manage just fine. He is a diamond, after all!

And so off the others go to the military installation.

Raw has a great time digging around in all the decaying ships and weaponry, Cubic and Moissanite explore the things left behind by the gems that were once upon a time stationed there, and Champagne researches.

Cloudy’s defect...weighs on him, though...

(Possibly because they kind of…created the poor guy, imperfect, and then left him there, which sucks… but Champagne is a diamond and doesn’t have half the emotional intelligence to realize the injustice of that is what’s bugging him.)

He somehow decides that it’s the defect itself that’s bothering him, that he failed to create a 100% functional diamond. But he didn’t fail, he could do it, if he tried again…which he’s not going to do, just to prove a point, to himself even and not anybody else!

………

That’s exactly what he does.

Pink Diamond (Horrorswap Sans) rises from the sea one day, kicking up a tsunami in his wake, much to the surprise of the others who were definitely not kept in the loop on this matter.

Champagne, for his part, is unapologetic and unashamed: Pink is a total success, strong and complete and perfectly formed (aside from, perhaps, the occasional, very minor glitching of his physical body... but that can surely be put down to all that water he was incubated beneath, smoothing his intended rose-cut over time into something more like a cabochon. That’s nothing to do with him...)

Pink, for his part, is happy to help and join the search for answers.

He dives right into it all without complaint…until…

Well...

Seeing Cubic and Moissanite, and Raw and Champagne…they get along so well, and his recent arrival hasn’t opened up any space for him in their dynamics.

He’s very pointedly the odd man out, and it’s enough to make a diamond quite lonely,  quite aware that he’s the only gem here without a brother to call his own.

………

Taking a page from Champagne’s book, telling absolutely no one, Pink sets out to squeeze one more diamond out of this big ball of water, even though the planet’s resources are low after his emergence.

It’s not long before Olive Diamond (Horrorswap Papyrus) is slogging out of a dark, wet swamp, assisted by his brother—which is appreciated, because he seems to have a hard time keeping his legs to retain the ‘hard’ part of ‘hard light projection.’ Sometimes they’re solid light and sometimes they’re only light and maybe that’s what happens when you try to make a gem from a planet that’s running on empty...

Pink is delighted by his new sibling all the same!

Even so, a rule is made amongst the gems after that and agreed to by all: nobody makes anymore gems without telling somebody, no more surprises!

………

In retrospect, they probably should’ve decided on that rule a lot sooner, maybe a planet ago.

By the time they all return to the ghost world with a stockpile of newer tech and ships, they find Cloudy in the middle of a fully-operational and tidied up base, with everything rigged to accept voice commands and read out text, and a brand new shadow hovering around him.

Pepper Diamond (Horrorswapfell Papyrus) emerged from the ruins of one of the abandoned cities, Cloudy explains, and has been very helpful in the others’ absence, wonderful company—he told them he’d manage fine. > 3c

Well.

After all of that, the military base had been their last, best clue to finding Homeworld, or at least the remains of it, if gemkind were truly gone…

After a bit of discussion among the group, they decide to take communicators and ships and anything else they wanted/needed and just…go their separate ways, to do their own things.

Cubic and Moissanite set up shop on the first world they can find with sentient organics that will accept them, wanting to be around other people and to live peacefully.

Raw and Champagne choose to stick to their mission, going on the wild goose chase that is the search for other gems somewhere in the universe, even without any solid leads—the gem empire was expansive, but not As Infinite As the Universe-expansive, so they haven’t had any luck yet.

Pink and Olive are curious about other gems, too, but make it their mission to hunt down all the deserted bases, Kindergartens, and outposts in their neck of the universe and fix them up, restoring everything to its former glory as best they can—whether those places are promising in terms of leads/clues or not. It’s their heritage and they want to explore it and restore it, if they’re able.

Cloudy and Pepper intend to stay put on their birth world…but when Cloudy’s done everything he can on their planet, he gets a little bored sifting through the ruins of this dead world and wants to go find somewhere with living organics to stay instead. Pepper (reluctantly) agrees and they stumble upon a fledgling, primitive society that seems to think of these giant, shining and glowing immortals as some sort of deities… Oops, it seems as if they’ve started a colony of sorts on accident!

They’ll all keep on keeping on, and if anything interesting happens or someone needs a hand, they can reach the others to get back in touch.

…

Unbeknownst to the Outer Galaxy diamonds or the Diamond Authority back on Homeworld, a strange pair of Chameleon Diamonds—one Reverse (Gastertale Sans) and one Classic (Gastertale Papyrus)—are spat out of a singularity, somewhere in a galaxy in between.

They’ve got a lot of knowledge between the two of them, in the skulls behind their briolette-cut gems, but not a single solid memory, and their only clue is a whole lot of wreckage of some strange machine scattered around them in space.

They don’t know what they are, where they came from, how they’re alive, or what all this junk is…but once they make their way to a planet with gravity and stuff they can fashion tools and parts out of, they do figure out that they can cobble together a ship out of all this...

What better use of a couple of brothers’ time than a bit of adventuring, leisurely exploring the universe and any interesting lifeforms or civilizations they find along the way, with little more than respect of the Prime Directive to argue about? ;3

[storytellingdreamer]

Mandalorian AU - role swap

In a Discord I’m part of, someone suggested the idea of a role swap AU, where Grogu is an adult and Din is a child. Premise: Grogu rescues Din after his covert is destroyed, and they go on a quest to find Mandalorians. The prompter was thinking of something that stuck a little more closely to The Mandalorian series’ story-beats & time-frame, but I came up with something different. (Long post.)

The story begins in 15 BBY. It covers Grogu rescuing Din, then Din growing up with Grogu as they try to find other Mandalorians, and slowly growing into the family they both need. 

Prelude: 

Grogu - 

Was a young Knight in TCW; led a search-and-rescue recovery group that followed behind major battles as a clean up crew. 

Formed a strong bond with his clone battalion; knowledge of Mandalorian culture informed by them, including Mando’a. 

Escaped Order 66 with the strength of his skills while trying to harm as few of his vod’e as possible (e.g. using a strong sleep suggestion or something).

Spent the next few years travelling alone, hiding his powers, very confused and hurt. 

Found it difficult to trust others; it had been well-known that he was one of only two known living members of his species, both of whom were Jedi.

Became a hermit figure, following the Will of the Force across the galaxy, and trying to avoid populated areas. 

Got itchy feet after too long spent hiding in the one place, which led to “accidental” exposure through him listening to the Force a little too much and interfering in some injustice or other. 

So instead, he travelled through the galaxy in his little ship; helping where he could, then disappearing again.

Din - 

Growing from a child to a pre-teen, had slowly begun integrating into the Aliit. 

Had been given a training helmet, and learnt the stories, and the risks of the Way. 

These risks meant that most stayed hidden; while they weren’t as completely underground as they would become after the Great Purge, they still kept to themselves. The Empire had put a high price on beskar, after all. 

The Tribe were careful, is what I’m saying. But it wasn’t enough. 

Story's beginning...

Din

The Imperials uncovered and raided the covert, with flimsy excuses – any Mandalorian in beskar’gam, especially those found so far from Mandalorian space, were potential insurgents. 

The Tribe scattered; some trying to flee with the ade, while the others stayed to fight to buy them time. 

Grogu - 

Travelling nearby when he got a distinct shove from the Force, directing him to head towards the city. 

On his arrival, sees a couple of ships punch their way to hyperspace, and wonders; then sees other ships shot down, and a district of the city explode into flame. He heads towards the firefight.

For a long time after, Grogu would feel like he arrived too late.

The place appears deserted, save a few Imperial troops picking through the rubble. Grogu subdues these, picking his way through the area with lightsabre in hand.

Finds Din in the wreckage of one of the ships that had been shot down; the only survivor.

Realises it’s a child pointing the blaster at him from the wreckage, and is moved to help even more than before. 

Decides against revealing the whole “the Force led me to you” thing for the moment, though.

Din -

Scared of Grogu at first, thinking he's some sort of creature sent to finish him off. 

Listens as Grogu patiently explains he means no harm, and eventually, reluctantly, is convinced to go with him. 

“You can’t stay here. For one thing, the stormtroopers will be back soon. I wasn’t exactly discreet when taking down the ones outside. And while I’m sure your aliit taught you how to survive here by yourself if you have to, I can help.” (Spoken in a mix of Basic and Mando'a - may edit more Mando’a in later.) 

“Tion jorhaa Mando’a? Tion Mando-?” ([You] speak Mando’a? [Are you] Manda-?) Din’s posture changed, leaning forward, helmet tilting slightly to the side.

“Some. I travelled with a group of Mandalorian verde some years ago. They considered me one of their vod’e… until we were betrayed, at least. I’ve... lost contact with them since.” (Again, may edit more Mando’a into this later.)

On the way back to Grogu’s ship, they’re cornered by more stormtroopers. Grogu has to use his lightsabre. Din was impressed, and very curious. After they’ve escaped into hyperspace, he asked: 

“What is that?” 

Grogu showed it to him. “A lightsabre. The weapon of a Jedi.” 

“Weapon of a what?” 

“That’s... quite the story.” He began, then explained - including mentioning he’d been given to the Temple as a youngling. 

“You were a foundling. Like me.” 

“… Yes, that’s right.”

Story continues: 

Din - 

Initially quite firm about following the Way (overcompensating after his losses), wearing his training helmet all the time. 

Is prepared to be Annoying about his needs, but then is surprised when Grogu accommodates him easily, including buying/ stealing a med-droid to assist. 

Also has to deal with losing his home and family twice; first his birth parents, now his adoptive Aliit.

Droids aren’t his only fear/ hate anymore...

Grogu -

Initially isn’t sure about his ability to be a parent, which he thinks Din needs. 

The life he leads, running from planet to planet to help as he can while staying one step ahead of the Inquisitors - that’s no place for a child, even one as skilled as Din. 

Plus, the last peoples he cared for as family – well, one betrayed the other, leading to death and strife. 

Those that still live do so in soulless blank armour - which his new ward hates and fears with a passion.

They each have things to discover about themselves, and each other, on the journey. 

Story/ character arcs: 

Din - 

Growing up (including Mandalorian rites of adolescence, the verd’goten or equivalent) and figuring out that what he knew about being Mandalorian isn’t all that there is out there. 

Confusing and painful at first, because he holds onto the covert’s teachings with tight fists in his grief, even as that threatens the growing familial bond with Grogu.

Dealing with his emotions about being orphaned twice, including accepting that not all droids are evil, and that some troopers had no choice in their actions.

Grogu helps him, at times antagonises him, and protects him as he figures out what sort of Mandalorian he wanted to be. 

Less mid-life crisis, more teenage angst/ identity development. 

Grogu -

Negotiating caring for Din while being a Jedi still – realising that they’re not mutually exclusive concepts;

Finding out why his vod’e betrayed him (Order 66), deciding what he wanted to do about that, and dealing with Din’s reaction;

Learning about Mandalorian culture, and developing a place for himself in it, as (eventually) a Mandalorian Jedi.

Rex and Ahsoka guest-star as big-name foils for Grogu’s Jedi and Vod’e connections, while the bigger emotions would come from a member of Grogu’s battalion vod’e and a fellow O66 survivor and old friend of Grogu’s.

Joint arc - 

Eventually get involved in the fledgling Rebellion through efforts to rescue and de-chip Grogu’s vod’e, and other clones. 

Maybe cross paths with the Spectres at some point. 

Towards the end of the story, Din claims Grogu as his parent (Ni kyr'tayl gai sa’buir), and Grogu becomes a follower of the Way (armour scenes). 

Building their own family comprising of Mandalorian (incl. Vod’e) and Jedi connections.

[bryndeavour]

Star Wars AU for Morseverse! Who are the Jedi, who are the Sith? Who’s the chosen one?

NO ONE IS THE CHOSEN ONE but Morse is the main character. Because the Morseverse star wars film would be closer to Rogue One than it would any of the trilogies. 

Okay, so I have been playing Fallen Order recently and I did just see the new movie today.. 

I love the idea of Morse being a padawan or very close to being a full jedi when his master dies (Thursday) and he discovers some sort of corruption in the Jedi Order and has to Go On A Quest

He has a medical droid with special information that becomes his closest friend in the whole world. M-4X .... MAX. Yeah I did that. Morse and M-4X spend basically all their time together. I’m sure the droid gets kidnapped and saved at least once. They have bickering fights and Max makes comments that make morse laugh... but its like all the robot beeping??? so the audience doesn’t even get it??? CMON THATS FUNNY.

Morse has a hard time with the ‘jedis dont do attachment’ thing. He also hooks up with people and flees, hooks up with bad guys, makes generally bad decisions about whether he should be led by his libido... honestly its a shit show. 

He would discover that his master had a Secret Family.. but jedis shouldn’t have families! maybe his master wasn’t full honest with him??!! EMOTIONS. In that vein, Joan is force sensitive. 

Found family outcast space ship crew - Old Captain Bright and his adopted daughter Shirley who do basically whatever (with noble intentions) to make ends meet. Gun for hire peter jakes who is doing his last big job so he gets enough to take him and his girl off to a settlement somewhere quiet.. Jim Strange, all around good guy who we find out knows the ins and outs of the empire so well because he used to be one of them. He’s the face guy. Stowaway George Fancy who latches onto them mid-story (does he die?? obligatory character development for morse?) My husband is upset that Mr. Bright isnt a jedi.. but honestly I like the sort of ex-military angle more for galavanting around the galaxy. 

Ronnie Box with the same fucking haircut as in Endeavour but in one of those black Empire suits he’s probably bursting from. Jago can be empire who is SECRETLY A SITH. Maybe he wears a max the whole time before it’s revealed who he is. 

Honestly I could do more but I looove this idea. I’m also very entrenched in Star Wars right now irl. Hopefully this is agreeable ;D

[squadlessgeek]

wow this is very VERY late but uhhhhh i enjoyed writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it.

Title: Mirror, Mirror

Summary: sort of a medieval/fantasy au in which Roman is an actual literal prince because he deserves it and Patton is but a humble stable boy because that’s one of my favorite tropes alright leave me alone

Warnings: none

Word count: 4,086

Pairings: Royality (Roman x Patton)

Tag List: (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed)  @monikastec @persepinecone @horsesquid @sassy-and-messy @ilivetoexist @lizaelsparrow @galaxy-warping@insanityandimperfection @musikasworld @sander-fander-sides  @swlotakulady34 @llamaavocado @applecannibal@helloisthisusernametaken @wildhorsewolf @justanotherpurplebutterfly @beautifully-terribly @awkward-avocado-of-death@ab-artist @toujours-fidele @an-awkward-gay @anaveragegayfan @gingergiraffe101 @i-just-punched-malfoy @useless-asexual273

Read it on AO3!

The mirror had been passed down through generations, often showing the owner what they most desired. The day Roman had received it, he was perplexed by what it showed him. He had been expecting wealth, riches beyond his own imagination, or riding into a tremendous battle and emerging victorious. But what he had seen was completely different; a small, sweet, humble stable boy.

The image that appeared in the glass was foggy and muddled at best, but at this point the boy was easily recognizable, though Roman was positive he’d never spoken a word to him before. He sighed to himself as he lay on his bed and rolled onto his stomach, resting his chin in his free hand. Normally he had all the confidence in the world, and yet, the right way to approach this boy eluded him. He found himself at a loss for words every time he saw him.

The sound that came through the mirror was just as muddled as the visuals, though Roman could still pick out what was being said. The boy (he still hadn’t even learned his name) spoke to the horses as he tended to them, spending extra time and energy on Roman’s favorite steeds. Presently, he was replacing the shoes on Hercules, a white destrier that Roman had begged his father for. His favorite. While Roman was a prince, and destriers typically were warhorses upon which knights rode, he had been gifted one only after years of incessant pleading. He often fantasized about riding Hercules into battle, the Great Horse aiding him in either the destruction of his enemies, or a brave, heroic death.

But, for now, Hercules remained a horse for casual use, though he was pampered beyond belief by both Roman and the stable boys.

“There you are, kiddo. Much better now. You’re an awfully pretty horse, aren’t you?” The boy cooed at Hercules, having moved on to brushing his mane. “A pretty, big, scary horse.”

The smile on Roman’s lips was one of adoration. He needed to find out his name. He needed to learn everything there was to know about him.

Roman huffed in frustration and set the mirror on a pillow, the image fading away until the glass resembled that of any old mirror. He stood before he could talk himself out of it, figuring that sitting around staring at what he wanted wouldn’t do him any good. He had to actually attempt to get what he wanted; the mirror’s job was only to make him aware of what it was he truly desired, what he was meant to have, and it had always been right with everyone before him.

On his way out of his bedroom, he collided with someone standing on the other side of the door, hand raised, ready to knock. Roman’s royal tutor.

“Oh, there you are,” Logan said, taking a step back and adjusting his collar. “You skipped yesterday’s lessons, so I thought now might be a good time to—”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds great. Listen, would you happen to know the name of—well, actually it may be better just to show you,” Roman rambled, a million thoughts going through his mind at once. Logan was smart, and analytical, he would know the right way to approach this. Roman grabbed Logan by the wrist and pulled him into the bedroom, back-tracking. Logan stood stiff and uncomfortable near the entrance while Roman threw himself onto the bed and picked up the mirror.

“Your highness, this is quite unusual. I shouldn’t be in your chambers.”

“Could you hush for one moment?” He stood with the mirror in hand, furrowing his brow down at it. The glass reacted to his touch and shimmered to life; once again appeared the boy that made Roman’s heart skip.

“I’ve always disliked that heirloom, it’s devoid of any specificity and—”

“Be quiet, you royal pain,” Roman groaned. He turned the mirror around to show Logan what he saw, confidence beginning to falter at the reality of anyone else seeing such a personal thing.

Logan raised an eyebrow at Roman before adjusting his eyeglasses and peering into the mirror. “It’s… a boy?” He asked softly. Roman nodded, taking the mirror back and holding it to his chest.

“Do you know his name?” His voice was low, hesitant. And he swore he felt his heart shatter when Logan shook his head. His eyes were full of interest, though, Roman could practically see the gears turning.

“A stable boy.” Logan shook his head, incredulous. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different from you; you are rather—pardon the word-play—romantic, and it should make sense that what the mirror believes you most desire is…” He met Roman’s eyes, splaying out his hands. “Love.”

The room fell silent as Roman stared down at his feet. He couldn’t explain why, but embarrassment crawled up his spine and displayed itself through the hues on his cheeks. It frustrated him that the one thing that made his confidence falter was romance, and yet it was what he craved most. Fear clouded his judgement. Fear that, despite his undeniable looks and charm and wealth and status, he might fall short. He might be unimpressive to someone who doesn’t care about that, someone humble and sweet. What if the stable boy had no interest in him? What if he resented him due to his status? What if Roman intimidated him? What if—

Logan put a hand on Roman’s shoulder, jerking him out of his thoughts and nearly causing the mirror to fall to the ground. “I can tell you are overthinking all of this, your highness. You know that all you need to do is speak to him, don’t you? And you can do that at any other time! For today, I was thinking...” Logan continued to speak, though Roman blocked it out, his attention still stuck on this romantic dilemma.

Roman took a quivering breath and nodded. He straightened his posture and set the mirror on his mattress once again, flashing Logan a confident smile that had been rehearsed to perfection. He placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder the same way the other had done moments before, and it halted his speech. “Yes. I know that. Thank you, Logan.” 

Roman once again moved to leave the room, leaving Logan to scurry after him, making sure to close the door to the prince’s chambers. He followed Roman outside and past the gardens, talking his ear off about future lessons and such.

“Your highness, if I may, though I do encourage your quest to obtain what you desire, I also encourage you to devote a little more time to learning, and— though I think that speaking to Patton is certainly necessary, doing so during your tutoring hours may not—”

“Patton?” Roman wheeled around, forcing Logan to stumble back a few steps. Immediately, the tutor shrunk in on himself, realizing his mistake.

“Ah… Yes. You see, I—”

“You knew his name.” Roman’s expression was unreadable, but it sent a chill down Logan’s spine all the same. “You lied to me.”

“That— well, yes, your highness, but I didn’t think—”

“Why would you do that? I asked you a question and you just lied, without a second thought?”

“You see—”

“No hesitation. And for what? Why did you feel the need?”

“Prince Roman, if I could just—“

“Stop interrupting me!” Roman clenched his fists to his sides and he could feel the eyes of servants on him, his shout ringing across the courtyard. 

Logan flinched and sealed his lips shut. Roman immediately felt the guilt creeping up into his chest, and he let his hands relax. He glanced around them; everyone he looked at averted their gazes as soon as his was upon them. He sighed and took a step back from Logan, raking his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Explain.”

Logan hesitated, but eventually relaxed and adjusted his eyeglasses before speaking. Roman wondered why he adjusted them so often if they never seemed out of place. Nervous habit? But Logan didn’t seem like the type of person to be nervous. “I simply didn’t want you to be too distracted from your studies. I thought the mirror’s prophecy could wait, until after our lessons. I didn’t want you getting too excited.” His words only angered Roman more, but he shoved it down and listened, his jaw clenched.

“You were the one that told me I needed to talk to him.”

“Yes. Yes, of course, and you should, I just meant… After our lesson.”

Roman shook his head and let himself take a moment to breathe and calm himself down. “There won’t be any lessons today,” he said, turning to continue towards the stables. Logan hesitantly called out after him, but didn’t pursue.

He could read books and pretend to pay attention to Logan’s lectures any other day. This was the first time he’d gathered the confidence to speak to the boy, and he wasn’t going to let it wither away.

Patton…

What a pretty name.

As Roman approached the stables, his heart raced so quickly he was afraid he’d lose track of it. The incident with Logan was completely forgotten, the only thing on his mind a pretty boy with a pretty name and a pretty voice. He stopped beside the first stable boy he saw, gently gripping his arm and glancing around while speaking to him.

“Excuse me, where could I find…” He trailed off, spotting his foci in the distance. Turned away, but Roman could recognize him anywhere.

“Um… Your highness?” Roman redirected his gaze to the poor boy he was still holding onto. Releasing his grip, he mumbled an apology before making his way over to the center of his attention.

He took a deep breath and summoned all of the confidence he could manage into his walk, his expression, he was hyper-aware of where his hands were, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves.

Just as he reached him, Patton turned, nearly colliding with the prince. The shock threw off Roman’s poise, but only for a moment before he gathered himself and cleared his throat, eyes trained on the other boy.

“Oh!” The sudden pink dusting Patton’s cheeks was impossible to miss. “Prince Roman… My apologies, I didn’t see you there.” He beamed up at Roman, and the prince’s heart melted in an instant. Patton was shorter than him by merely a few inches, and an array of freckles accompanied the pink hues along his face and neck. He wore eyeglasses, just like Logan, though Roman found them much more endearing on Patton. “Your highness?”

Roman realized he hadn’t said a word as Patton spoke again, and he snapped to attention. He flashed him a fearless smile and held out his hand. “Patton, yes?”

The smaller man’s eyes widened and he hesitated, lips parted slightly, for a moment before nodding and accepting the other’s hand. “Yes. How did you—?”

“In all honesty, you might say I’ve… had my eye on you for a while, I suppose. And I mean that in the most flattering way possible.” He was about to ramble on, but he caught himself and cleared his throat instead. Judging by the heartbeat he could feel from Patton’s hand and the adorable blush covering almost his entire face, Roman didn’t need to say much more. And he didn’t need to worry about rejection, either, apparently. His confidence seeped back into him, fueling him, and the heart-melting smile on his lips was no longer practiced or forced, but genuine. “Would you like to take a walk?”

Patton wanted to say yes immediately, but for some reason, he hesitated. He could feel his heart rate increasing dangerously, Roman’s big brown eyes staring holes into him. He was vaguely aware that his palms were probably sweaty, and the longer he took to answer, the less interested he might seem even if that wasn’t the case at all.

“I...” he began. He looked around them at the stables, the horses he cared so much for. His chest deflated, his heart sank. He still had so much work to do, he couldn’t just abandon everything to be swept off his feet by a dashing prince. “Your highness, I don’t think...”

A hand on his shoulder startled him, making him yelp and turn his head quickly to see who was touching him. Another boy, one who’s name Patton didn’t even know, flashed him a smile and said, “Go on, I’ll hold down the fort here for you. You work harder than any of the rest of us, anyway. Take a break.” Patton’s shoulders relaxed a little, the grin returning to his lips. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly, before addressing his prince once again. “Yes. I would like that very much.” Roman’s eyes lit up, setting fire to Patton’s heart. He turned without another word, still holding onto Patton’s hand, and pulled him away from the stables.

The heat wouldn’t leave Patton’s neck or face as they walked, completely in silence. He wondered if he should pull his hand away. It felt inappropriate to be touching the prince so casually and so constantly. Suddenly he was very aware of the dirt staining his clothing and skin. Roman was so clean, so elegant, so beautiful, and so deliriously confusing. He realized he was staring up at the prince’s face when he caught his eye, his smile growing wider. Finally, he spoke. 

“I know this might be a bit of a shock,” he said softly, slowing their pace and letting Patton walk beside him instead of pulling him along behind. “But I have something I’d like to show you.”

“Of course, your highness.” Patton’s words were barely audible, the look in the prince’s eyes knocking the air right out of his lungs. He looked at Patton as if he were the most important person in the world, a mix of excitement and adoration and a passion that Patton had never seen in anyone before.

“Roman,” he said, and Patton blinked in surprise. “Call me Roman. You don’t need to bother with formalities with me.” 

Patton averted his gaze to the ground beneath his feet, biting back a smile. “Of course. Roman.” It felt odd, the name rolling off his tongue without Prince preceding it. But nice. He wondered what had so suddenly come over the prince, why he was so suddenly speaking to him, interacting with him, for the first time. Why now? Why him? And why, in general?

He didn’t ask any of the questions bouncing around his mind as they entered the castle, hand still in hand, the high walls and grand staircases and delicate interior design intimidating him to his very core. He drew in a breath, eyes wide, but Roman continued to pull him along as if their surroundings weren’t the most beautiful thing Patton had ever laid eyes on. 

“Your— Er, Roman,” he said, barely a whisper. “May I ask where we’re going?” His eyes raked over every detail of the interior he could pick out at the speed they were going, through so many hallways Patton lost his sense of direction.

“My chambers,” Roman answered, casual and composed. Patton nearly choked on his own breath, stumbling along behind the prince. He barely managed to stabilize himself, speeding up just a hair to look at Roman’s face.

“I’m sorry?”

He only received another knee-buckling grin as an answer. His nerves were alight, a million thoughts racing through his head, a million questions, his heart beating out of his chest.

Roman stopped abruptly. Patton collided with the prince’s back, yelping softly and immediately backing away again. Before he could recover from the sudden touch, Roman pulled him to the side, around a corner, and pressed him to the wall. The prince hovered like that for a split second, hands on both of Patton’s arms, his face only a breath away. But then he moved to Patton’s side and pressed his own back against the wall. Patton was beginning to feel light-headed.

“Roman, what—“

“Shh!” A hand clasped over his mouth, causing another surprised but muffled yelp. Roman peered around the corner before quickly ducking back. It seemed as if he was hiding himself and Patton from someone or something around the corner, but Patton couldn’t see who or what it was. “Sorry,” he mumbled, retracting his hand from Patton’s mouth. “I saw Logan, and didn’t want him to see us. I’d rather avoid a lecture.”

Patton had no clue who this Logan was, but he said nothing as they stood there, breathing in time with one another in complete silence. He felt something brushing against his hand, and looked down just in time to see Roman’s fingers intertwining with his. They’d been holding hands for the majority of the time they’d known each other already, but this felt much more intimate, and he could sense Roman’s nerves as he did it, until Patton gave his hand a gentle squeeze and he seemed to relax. 

Just as Patton was parting his lips to ask one of the many questions infesting his mind, Roman spoke instead. “I think it’s safe. Come on.” The prince continued their walk through the palace, their hands still clasped together, until finally they stopped at the top of a long staircase, in front of a door that could only lead to the chambers. Patton’s heart was beating so loud he was sure Roman could hear it, but the prince seemed just as nervous as him, which was definitely a relief. 

“Roman?” 

“Huh? Oh. Right.” 

Roman opened the door and gently pulled Patton inside the room after him. It was ridiculously huge, with separate rooms extending off of it, leading to who knows what else. Even just the sight of the giant, intricate bed and the red and white curtain frame was enough to stun Patton, his eyes wide as he tried his best to take in all the grandeur. Roman’s hand left his, and the prince wandered over to the bed while Patton examined a worn toy set on a desk. A little clay horse, probably from Roman’s childhood, that looked similar to Hercules. It made him smile, the toy humanizing Roman even more. He wasn’t just some elaborate, over the top prince, royalty to be feared and respected. He was a person, just like anyone else. 

“Be careful,” Roman’s voice said softly from behind him. “That’s probably my favorite possession. My mother made it for me.” There was a shared moment of comfortable silence between the two as Patton set the horse down back where he found it as gently as he could. The queen had passed back when he and Roman were both very young, and yet the death still weighed heavy on every citizen’s heart.

“Your highness,” Patton said softly, turning to face Roman again, who held a mirror now. The glass was facing Roman’s chest, and his fingers fiddled with the handle. His cheeks were red, though he tried to hide his nerves with a big, beautiful smile. 

“Roman.”

“Roman... I’m sorry, I’m still trying to understand why you brought me here.” Before he could continue, Roman stepped towards him, and turned the mirror around. It seemed to be like any other mirror, reflecting his face. Patton flinched as he saw every imperfection. Dirt in his hair and staining his cheeks, his mass of freckles, the redness in his face from this odd experience. For a moment, he was hurt. Was this just to show the difference between him and the prince? To remind him that he was just a simple stable boy, in the presence of someone much more important? Much more perfect? He brought his gaze back to Roman, features muddled with confusion. “Why are you... showing me this?” He asked, feigning a small smile as he tried to understand.

Roman cleared his throat and took another step towards Patton, who instinctively stepped back. “This mirror is an heirloom in my family. My mother had it before me, and her father had it before her. When my mother gave it to me, she told me this big long story about a princess, who didn’t know what she wanted. And it kept eating at her, disrupting her studies and her duties as the princess. She was pressured by her father to marry, pressured by her mother to focus on learning, pressured by the entire kingdom to rule the best she could, but she always seemed to fall short in everything she tried.

“One day she dressed in ragged clothing in order to disguise herself, and fled the castle, in search of what she truly wanted, whatever that was. Deep in the woods, she came across a dragon. She was terrified, but the dragon turned out to be friendly, and also a witch. Don’t ask, I’m sure the details of the story have gotten weird over the years. Anyway, the dragon witch was injured, having been attacked by an adventurer seeking treasure. The princess tended to the dragon witch’s wounds, and nursed her back to health. They bonded, and the dragon witch let the princess stay in her cave, where she was kept warm and fed. 

“The princess revealed her identity to the dragon witch, and told her of her dilemma. Grateful for the princess’s help in her time of need, the dragon witch decided to help her new friend as well in her own time of need. She gifted the princess with this mirror, and cast a spell on the glass, to show whoever holds it what it is they truly desire. Not only that, but whatever the mirror showed would also be completely obtainable by the user. So it wouldn’t just show you a pile of gold, if you had no idea where to get any gold at all. 

“The mirror showed the princess what she could have only dreamed of. A child. A little boy, with features that didn’t match hers at all. Confused, she asked the dragon witch what it meant. But the dragon witch was gone, nowhere to be found. The princess traveled back home, perplexed and disappointed. She didn’t want to marry, and the child in the mirror looked nothing like her, so what could it mean? Well, on her way back to the castle, she came across a small, malnourished orphan boy, being terrorized by merchants he had stolen food from. The princess interrupted the quarrel and paid for what the boy had taken, so he would have enough to eat. When she got a good look at him, she saw that he looked exactly like the image shown to her in the mirror.

She immediately brought him back to the castle, and revealed herself to him as the princess. She took him in and raised her as her own. She never married, and focused all of her attention on caring for him and for her kingdom. When he was old enough, she passed the mirror onto him. And so it went, the mirror being passed down from generation to generation, revealing to the royal family what they truly wanted. And... well, now it’s mine.”

Patton stared at Roman in wonder as he told the story, incredulous. “Is that really true?” He asked, eyes full of hope.

“I think so. I mean, the mirror is definitely magic. It worked for my mother, and it’s working for me, I think.”

“What did you see in it?” Patton asked, and Roman’s nervous smile returned.

“You.”

Patton was taken aback, falling silent, stunned. He tried to wrap his head around it, understand what that meant. “Me?” he asked in a whisper, eyebrows drawn together. 

“I understand if you don’t believe me. But it’s true. I only now got the courage to actually speak to you. Here, I can prove it. Take the mirror,” Roman said, holding the mirror out to Patton. He almost refused, but curiosity got the best of him, and he carefully took the mirror into his own hands. His own reflection faded away, and the glass shimmered, pulling a new image into focus. Patton drew a sharp breath, looking back and forth between the mirror and the prince. Could it be possible? 

“What do you see?” Roman asked, nerves showing through in his voice. Patton laughed quietly to himself and the blush returned, making his whole face hot. But he was as giddy as can be. 

“You.”

[finnpoerebelscum]

FALLOUT - Chapter 8

Chapters Posted: 8 of 18

Rating: T+

Warnings: Canon-typical violence & fighting/blood/gore/graphic descriptions of injury & death (no major character death)/angst/hurt/comfort

Characters/Pairings: Poe Dameron/Finn, Karé Kun, Iolo Arana, BB-8, OCs.

Summary: Still reeling in the aftermath of Crait, Poe Dameron and Finn are sent to a secret Resistance base tucked away on Lothal to serve as acting generals. Their numbers dwindled to barely a handful, and with General Organa’s order grounding all surviving Resistance personnel to heal and regroup, morale is at an all time low. Poe grapples with his inability to sit still; the First Order looms, an ever-encroaching threat to what remains of the Outer Rim’s free space; intimate feelings grow impossible to ignore and a shocking return promises devastating consequences not only for those stationed on Lothal, but for the Resistance and galaxy at large. 

A/N: An AU adventure, a side-quest of sorts, to account for some of the time between TLJ and ROS. Stormpilot centric. Canon up until the end of TLJ (but does not take into account Resistance Reborn or the Finn/Rose arc).

Masterlist

CHAPTER 8

Torin’s next target was Poe. 

He whirled, bloodied knife slashing wildly. 

Then, the blinding, blue heat of blaster fire exploded around them—

A stray bolt lasered a searing hole into the side of Torin’s neck. He dropped, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and hit the floor with a wet smack. 

Poe scrabbled to his knees, grabbing two fistfuls of Vrees’ flightsuit and gently rolling him into his lap. The front was already soaked through, the bright stain spreading at an alarming pace.

“Hey, kid.” Vrees’ glassy eyes finally found his. 

“Hey, yourself. You’re gonna be okay.” Poe blinked back the tears. “We’re gonna get you fixed up.” 

Blood burbled up into Vrees’ mouth and over his lips. He coughed and the hot, ruby-red liquid sprayed the front of Poe’s shirt. Hands trembling, Poe fumbled his way down Vrees’ chest, searching for the wound. It was impossible to distinguish what was what in the mess.

“Okay. Okay. We can fix this, yeah? We’re in medbay after all—”

“Poe,” Vrees whispered. 

Poe knew the look, he just couldn’t believe it. There had to be more time. He shook his head fiercely, placing his hand over Vrees’. 

“You’re gonna be okay, kid.” The whisper of an exhale and he was gone. 

Distantly, Poe heard Finn’s voice, but a roaring sound, like radio static, filled his ears, drowning everything else out. The creaking and groaning of the ruined base, the clinking of the shattered fluorescent lights, the alarm blaring in tones of three, over and over and over again. It all just melted into nothing. In seconds, Vrees was gone—the friendship of a lifetime, one more connection to his mother and father—gone.

Finn’s face appeared in front of him. His lips moved, but there was no sound until Finn reached out and shook him. It was like uncorking a plug and everything flooded back.

“—re you hurt?” Finn cupped his hands on either side of Poe’s face. Karé stood behind Finn, eyes wet. “I’m so sorry, Poe,” he murmured. “But we need you.” 

It’s what Vrees, unquestioningly, would have done. There was no other choice but to keep moving. Poe gently lowered his mentor’s body to the ground and dragged himself to his feet. “Anyone on base make it?”

Karé shook her head, sniffing as she dragged her sleeve across her mouth. “We need to get out of here. It’s not going to hold on much longer.” 

The complaints from the overtaxed foundation and crippled structure had risen from occasional groans to a high pitched keen. 

“Any ships left intact?”

“Our search was interrupted,” Finn said. “We heard the commotion and came running.”

“Okay…” Poe wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Go back and check for any pilotable ships. I’ll grab what I can from the supply lockers here. Then we get ourselves and Vrees out of here.” His voice caught on the name. At his side, Finn’s warm hand found his, squeezed, then released. Then, silently, they turned to their respective assignments, when BB-8 trilled a loud warning. 

In the middle of the hallway up ahead, was a yellow BB unit, its entire photolens gleaming red. It looked almost demonic, rolling toward them in a slow, steady trance. A hole, singed black around the edges, gaped where half its dome cover used to be, and sparking wires spouted out like severed veins. Several durasteel plates had been ripped from its spherical body as well, exposing folded mechanical arms and circuits boards. 

BB-8 squawked, and the other unit stopped in its tracks, glowing convex eye zeroing in on the group. BB-8 whizzed up to it, probing it with a questioning beep.

Zombie-BB gave a garbled growl and a mechanical arm with a sharp point shot out. 

BB-8 screamed. 

The group lurched forward to help. BB-8 plunged a prong into one of the exposed circuit boards and the demented BB powered down, red status light zapping out with finality. 

Poe had never seen one in person. He’d heard about it training, a tiny blip of information on a holo-presentation about astromechs. BB’s didn’t have that kind of sustained, red status light. It was only used by the droid as a last ditch effort to signal catastrophic failure… or that it was compromised. 

“What’s wrong with it?” Poe asked his droid. BB-8 gave a sorrowful beep, confirming his thoughts. 

“What do you mean infected?” Finn said. “A virus?”

“But how?” Karé’s eyes were glued to the dead BB unit. “Our astromechs have impenetrable system defenses.” 

“Our bases too.” A familiar voice startled them. They turned to see Iolo clambering through the ruined door that led to town. He gave a sheepish smile, unsteady, and Karé rushed forward to help him the rest of the way to the group. 

“BeeBeeAte?” Poe urged.

BB-8 whizzed around his compromised friend in a tight circle, beeping and humming. He stopped by an intact durasteel panel and popped it off with a utility arm. Sparks sprayed, machinery whirred. The arm retracted and held up a minuscule object for them to see. 

A chip, tiny green circuit board and gold hardware still intact. 

They all crouched to get a closer look at it and as one, recognized the unmistakable cog-like symbol engraved in black. 

Finn stiffened beside Poe, grabbing his forearm. 

Then, Poe heard it, too. 

A thunderous sound, at the very edges of his hearing. They could all hear it now, and turned toward the source. The broken door to the square Iolo had just come through. A pounding that crescendoed… Thud, thud, thud. A steady rhythm, almost like stomping. No. 

Marching. 

At first, they saw nothing but white. Then the color took shape—shin and breast plates, knuckle protectors, helmets—and a sea of stormtroopers spilled into the corridor.