#yes ketsu is from rebels

[loth-creatures]

More Rebels characters as moths from my moth book :3

the Spectres <3<3<3

Jacen! A Smaller Parasa

Ahsoka! A Regal Moth

Rex! An Abbotts' Sphinx

Ketsu! A Dogwood Borer (yes this IS a moth, there are many that mimic bees and wasps!)

Kallus! A Marsh Fern Moth

Hondo! A Wavy Chestnut Y for @laelish 💜 (hell yeah I'll take a few moth requests!)

[daisychainsandbowties]

Idk, I just don't see Shin being 30 years old??? Ivanna Sakhno is 25, & Shin gives off even younger vibes. If she's in her early or mid 20s, she still would've been a kid during the height of the Empire & a teen when it collapsed, so there's plenty of angsty backstory to mine. Though as far as how an age gap plays out with Wolfwren... well, older women are sexy, yes? ;)

see this is the thing about characters who don’t get to have a childhood. i’m obsessed with the idea that shin hati is in her twenties, somewhere, but she behaves like a much younger person. part of it is the darkside, how it drives you and you end up lacking the composure of most jedi. how the spitting bright anger makes shin so violently luminous, untethered and lost and therefore childish.

because, in the same vein i think that sabine doesn’t feel settled into her life. there she stands, at the end of a war that really wasn’t supposed to end before she did. rebels all little self-sacrificial lambs who don’t know how to exist when they’re not clawing for every breath of air.

everything sabine cared, fought for, for has shattered around her. she won and lost it all.

her best friend is gone, things with ketsu are too complicated, always too many sharp edges for her to hold. and she’s just… stuck. watches her family die on mandalore and then loses her one chance at being something - a jedi, because she is no longer a rebel. not a traitor to her people but still not truly mandilorian. sabine with her boxes of keepsakes, her mother’s hairpin, the pain of death clutched to her chest and that promise she made to ezra to find him again. rotting inside her.

and i picture shin having been made a padawan around the same age as anakin skywalker. both of them too old too broken for it but. nowhere else to go. chosen to be better, stronger. beaten into the shape of destiny, ambition, want want want want

shin rescued, made important, but it was already too late for her not to be scarred by her life and yeah. for sure it can’t have been good, or soft, or safe. you don’t hand a kyber crystal to a child and watch her turn it red unless she’s seen and experienced terrible things.

but i also imagine that she was isolated in those years with baylan - it’s why she’s so taken with sabine!! because here is an equal to her, finally. it’s why she’s at first so smug and then so angry about winning. this blunt creature is the padawan of ahsoka tano?? how dare she be? so like, why not have her be late twenties and just messy messy messy? same as sabine who just… never was a child. first a soldier a weaponsmith and then at FOURTEEN she was a traitor, she watched her weapon kill her own people and she ran, became a bounty hunter. sabine who is young because when you lose your childhood you claw it back in later days. you never escape from the wreckage.

it really speaks to me, actually; they’re the same sort of thing that always washes up in the wake of a war. children who only know rubble and blood and hunger and death. they’re reflections of each other and also so different. shin who just wants to belong to something and sabine who knows that belonging doesn’t save you.

[dio-icarticaae]

6, 24, 35

6: hardest/easiest character to write for?

Clark Kent, hands down, is the easiest character for me to write. I find it very easy to slip into his head and see how he ticks and what he'd do in various situations. Which is why he ends up in most DC fics I write, even when I don't plan for him to be there at first.

Hardest character for me to write is Sabine Wren (Star Wars Rebels). She's such a lovely and complex character with so many different layers (to borrow a description from the show, she's "so tightly wound") that capturing that in fic is . . . very complicated and requires a lot of thought to figure out what she's thinking, why, and how she's going to react to something. It's rewarding to figure it out! but whoof. the process of it is exhausting sometimes.

24: do you outline?

Yes! Though I'm not sure how much it counts as an outline lol. I tend to have a summary of what I need to accomplish in the fic, and then space it out and write around that outline, deleting outline sections as I write them. I'll also add to it as I go when I see how to connect two things but don't want to forget it - i.e. adding [Lois does journalist things to find info] so that I know what I was thinking when I get places. But it's not really a very rigid outline, I'm more of a plantser than a planner.

35: any foreshadowing/symbolism you wrote that you hope readers didn’t miss?

For foreshadowing, considering the amount of time I spent foreshadowing and setting up stuff in I wanted everybody else in the world to know it (but I ain't ever gonna let them take my life from me) I certainly hope readers picked up on what I was doing! Now I just need Andor S2 to come out so I know what I'm working with for some of the details of the first sequel.

For symbolism: I had a lot of fun with figuring out all of the things that Sabine and Ketsu painted and what they meant to each other in gonna find you in the night (come just meet me there), and I hope that readers picked up on that

[katara-stan-club]

I’ve just rewatched all of Rebels while working on a sewing project (and yet I still have more hemming to do grrr), and its finale has me wishing TBB’s had been as impactful/well executed, so I’m putting a tiny bit of salt beneath the cut.

In Rebels they bring back so many old friends for the finale fight: Ryder Azadi, Hondo Ohnaka, Muchi, Gregor, Wolffe, Mart Mattin, Vizago, Ketsu, and Zeb’s boyfriend Kallus. Hell, they brought back the purgill! It’s a nice culmination of how far everyone, both Ghost crew and not, have come during the show’s running, and I wish that TBB had gotten that so badly.

I had been hoping bare minimum the Batch would send word to Rex so his group of fighters could be a part of liberating their brothers from the place they had been searching for!! And yet, come the finale it was just the Batch raiding Tantiss, not a single other ally in sight. No Rex and company, no Phee, no Benni or Syndullas or Romar or Cid or even the Wookiee’s! Literally anyone else they had ever worked with! Hell, even the Zillo Beast gets used somewhat disappointingly, only causing a distraction and breaking a hole in a wall, compared to the purgill herd whisking Thrawn and Ezra away to places unknown.

It feels like such a let down of a finale in terms of keeping the Batch separated from everyone else, when the whole point is they work better together (with every member there grumble grumble). It would feel more like a wrapping up of the Batch’s story if they had gathered allies in the lead up to the finale like the ghost crew did, instead of running around with Rampart for several episodes. Phee was literally right there!!! She was friends with the Batch AND wasn’t an antagonist for a season and a half!!! Was it funny to see Rampart? Yes. Do I think they could’ve used their time more wisely with anyone else? Also yes.

The lack of ally usage really feels like a weird choice writing wise. They set up all these connections, and then they are just never used? We only get some payoff for Roland Durand and Phee, we get way more for fucking Rampart, and everyone else can apparently suck eggs. The absence of any other clones outside of the Batch and Emerie is so jarring, when so much of the show has been about showcasing clones breaking free! I just can’t get over no other clones help the Tantiss clones break out except Echo and Omega, it just feels so out of place compared to the rest of the show.

Also, this is more personal, but I’ve seen the Rebels finale at least 6 times at this point, compared to the 2 times I watched the Bad Batch finale (both on the day it came out). Despite crying every time I watch the Rebels finale, I am still willing to watch it because it’s a satisfying wrap up for so many characters in that show. I don’t know when, if ever, I’ll watch the TBB finale again. It has so many weird writing choices and it hurts me too badly for me to be able to handle watching it. Maybe we’ll get a follow up show that focuses on clone rebellion stuff that will recontextualize it, but as it currently stands I won’t be rewatching TBB’s finale anytime soon. I’ll stick with crying while rewatching The Clone Wars and Rebel’s finales.

[stopthatmyhandsaredirty]

Star Ware Rebels Bechdel Test Rewatch- 2x19 “The Forgotten Droid”

Plot

When Chopper steals a replacement for his original leg, he separates from the Ghost crew and finds himself stranded on an Imperial ship. The grumpy astromech meets an inventory droid in service of the Empire, but will this new acquaintance become friend or foe?

Female Characters: 3

Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Ketsu Onyo

Male Characters: 6

Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Zeb Orrelios, Rex, Jun Sato, Kassius Konstantine

Droid Characters: 2

Chopper, AP-5

Does it pass?

Yes, it does. The inclusion of Ketsu saves this one. She exchanges a line with Hera in the opening briefing scene and later speaks with both Sabine and Hera over comms as the Rebel fleet is under attack. 

I will say, Season 2 is my least favorite season because it often deviates from the main story in order to introduce new characters who eventually become allies to Phoenix Squadron (think about it...Rex and the clones, Ketsu, Hondo, Kallus, and AP-5). I don’t mind that much, because it often pays off later (see- Ketsu in this episode!). In rewatches, I sometimes find those episodes tedious. For some reason that isn’t the case with ‘The Forgotten Droid.’ 

I just find AP-5 so endearing. The whole Alan Rickman meet Eeyor thing works for me. And I love seeing Chopper get the Threepio to his R2. I should also point out, this is really the first fully Chopper-centric episode. Chopper is a great character and I don’t think I fully appreciated that on my first watch. I think he’ll find his place alongside C-3PO and R2-D2 in my lifetime. 

While I do love AP-5, I think it was smart of Rebels to use him sparingly in the following seasons of the show. He’s fun, but I can definitely see him overstaying his welcome if we got too much of him. 

[bellsyafterdark]

If I ever get around to the next installment in the ball and chain AU, which focuses on Paz and Din, and starts with a time jump way, way back when--

"As promised, five doses."

Five steel vials settled on the barrel beneath the small glare of the spotlight from the monger's ship port array. Coils of frost wafted up from the vials, attesting their freshness.

Din looked from the offer to the monger, eyes narrowing beneath his helmet. "You promised seven."

"You ordered, I promised only what I could get. You don't like it, take your chances with an actual clinic."

…

Din takes the deal begrudgingly after the monger makes a joke about re-populating the greatest race of warriors in the galaxy

Din is seen injecting himself with the fertility hormones aboard the Crest, wincing

Din enjoys a heated welcome home with Paz who is glad to see him, Din informs him he's going into heat and he'd like to spend it together; they do and it's the best few days of Din's adult life

Paz takes note of Din's cycle for future reference so he can make himself scarce

Din asks Paz what they would do if they started a new clan (if they got pregnant); Paz responds coldly as he's still grieving the miscarriage of his child with Ketsu with whom he's not bonded but is on a break

Din leaves for his mission to retrieve "the asset" heartsore he's still considered Paz's temporary refuge and secret, not a long-term prospect with whom Paz could start a family; but Din WANTS a family and he wants it with Paz with whom he's been quietly in love for some time

When Din learns his asset is a child, the very thing he wants, and he goes into shock that cripples his performance and decision-making for the rest of the mission; this child is so small and beautiful, but not one to keep

Returning to Nevarro and handing over the child, Din goes to Paz in distress but Paz is horrified and confrontational that Din traded in a child; later learning that he dealt with imperials and was paid in their blood money is the final straw; they brawl before the entire covert and Din leaves, heartbroken (unbeknownst to him, so is Paz), understanding any hope for them is now dead

When the covert saves him and the child in the bazaar, it ignites the tiniest flicker of hope, but then he goes on the run and doesn't see them for several years

On Sorgan, when Omera offers him the chance to take off the helmet, settle and have a family, he nearly breaks down; it's all he wants; they would be kind to each other, but the child won't be safe there, so the dream must wait once more

On Tatooine, Din meets Fennec who he has only heard about in professional notoriety and leaves her in the desert, believing her dead

On Tython, Din meets Boba and Fennec (clearly alive) and is so shaken when his child is taken, he accepts Boba's offer for distraction

Din has grown to care for his child more and more; by the time he hands Grogu over to Luke, he subconsciously considers Grogu his in everything but name and it absolutely destroys him

Din separately finds his way to Cobb who is one of the few people who knew and enjoyed Grogu, who will surely absolve him of his shame (he tries but not in the harsh ways Din is craving); Krrsantan arrives with a job offer and it's the memory of Boba's comfort that seals the deal

When Paz arrives following word of a silver Mandalorian in the court of another on Tatooine, Din is so far in his subspace and wilful disassociation from his reality, he doesn't initially recognise Paz

When they later talk, Din is pained and frustrated: he can't go home because things have changed but he'll be okay because, here, people don't treat him like a guilty secret; he's front and centre, even if he's not family; he's not going to make the mistake of trying ever again (the secret that he took hormones to help him fall pregnant with Paz comes out and Paz is shocked, he had no idea and it's a little bit suss, Din had not discussed it with him; it feels like karma he was unsuccessful); Din declares their time has passed

Worried and guilty and still very much in love with Din himself (Ketsu ultimately left him), Paz makes the choice to stay-- for now

[calebdumes]

gather ye rosebuds - chapter nine

fandom: star wars rebels

relationship: kanan jarrus/hera syndulla

word count: 6k

rating: T

summary: Now that Kanan's secret is known, Sabine is pissed and Hera has to confront some difficult feelings as they rush to stop Runa Tane before it's too late.

author’s note: happy rosebuds day (and Halloween)! I hope you don't find this update to be too spooky! thank you to all who have read and left comments/kudos/likes/reblogs/bookmarks! I hope you are liking it so far!

as always a HUGE thank you to my amazing beta and ghoulishly wonderful friend, @eleni-syndulla​​! I cannot thank you enough!

any and all likes, reblogs, and comments are greatly appreciated and don’t forget to…

Read on AO3

|| CHAPTER ONE || CHAPTER TWO || CHAPTER THREE || CHAPTER FOUR || CHAPTER FIVE || CHAPTER SIX || CHAPTER SEVEN || CHAPTER EIGHT ||  CHAPTER NINE ||  CHAPTER TEN || CHAPTER 11 || EPILOGUE

~

Ice crunched under Sabine’s boots as she stomped the perimeter around Runa Tane’s base. It was cold this far north, but she could barely feel it. Between the thick padding of her armour and the anger boiling in her veins, there wasn’t much she could feel.

Kanan had lied to her.

He was a Jedi and he had lied.

Sabine bit back a scream of frustration. They had been partners for two years and not once did he let her in on that little secret. Not once. Being a kriffing Jedi wasn’t something you just kept to yourself, at least not from your partner. She deserved to know, she had a right to know.

But no, Kanan had kept her in the dark and lied.

The sound of crunching ice stopped Sabine in her tracks, her hands falling to her blasters as she spun around. Zeb stood a few feet away, his giant paws in the air.

“You’re not gonna shoot me, are you?” he asked in his gruff voice.

“Depends,” Sabine responded, losing her grip on her blasters. “Are you going to tell me you're a Jedi too?”

“I wasn’t plannin’ on it,” Zeb said, letting his hands drop. “But even if I was, not really somethin’ worth getting shot over.”

Sabnie rolled her eyes under the cover of her helmet. “What are you doing out here?”

“Hera sent me to come check on you.”

“I don’t need looking after,” Sabine snapped, trying and failing to ignore the sharp sting that came with his words. Hera had sent him. Not Kanan. Hera.

“Not sayin’ I disagree, but you did storm out of there in a fit of rage. So you can’t blame us for being worried.”

Sabine folded her arms across her chest protectively. “Why do you care? I’m not part of your crew.”

“Doesn’t change anything,” he said, resting his hands on his hips and turning his attention to the aurora dancing on the horizon. Sabine had been so distracted by her hurt that she hadn’t noticed the hues of gold and purple flickering in a mesmerizing pattern against the black of night. She bit down on her lip as a painful realization gripped her. She could count on one hand the number of people in the galaxy that genuinely cared about her. Really, she didn’t even need all five fingers.

People just didn’t care about her, not in the long run. They only kept her around long enough to use her skills and then she was pushed aside, left to fend for herself. That was how it went at the Academy and again with Ketsu. Things had been different with Kanan. He'd seen more than just her abilities; he had seen the person she was underneath her armor. He had trusted her, cared about her – or at least she thought he did. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

She just didn’t understand why. Why didn’t he tell her he was a Jedi? It wasn’t like she would have sold him out to the Empire or even made a big deal over it. They had always had an unspoken agreement that they would never ask about each other's past, but being a Jedi? That was a hell of a thing to keep in the dark.

“He should have told me,” Sabine blurted out, grateful for the mask that covered her face, hiding the tears that had begun to sting her eyes.

“Who?” Zeb asked, looking away from the glimmering night sky.

“Kanan!” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “We’re partners! He should have told me he was a Jedi!”

Zeb gazed at her with an unreadable expression, his fingers stroking at the tuft of purple fur that hung from his chin. Sabine shifted on her feet, uncomfortable with his sudden attention. She shouldn’t have said anything. She should have just kept it all to herself. Zeb would see that she was fine and he’d go back to his crew and she could have her breakdown without any witnesses.

“You might be too young to remember the day the Empire came into power but I’m not.” he said in a low voice, his large green eyes still watching her carefully. “I remember readin’ the stories on the Holonet, sayin’ that the Jedi were traitors, and I remember what happened to them after.”

A shiver raced down Sabine’s spine at his tone. “What happened?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer. Everyone knew what happened to the Jedi – the Empire wiped them out of existence. Even still, there was a shadow in Zeb’s eyes that told her she didn’t know the whole story.

“They were murdered,” he said bluntly. “Their deaths broadcasted around the galaxy like some kind of sport. They did the same to anyone tryin’ to hide them too. No one in their right mind would claim to be a Jedi after that.”

A beat of surprise washed over her at his words but it didn’t last. Her anger had returned with a vengeance.

"So what, I'm just supposed to accept that he's a Jedi and move on? I'm supposed to just forgive him for lying to me?" She ripped off her helmet, the cold sting of the night air not even registering on her heated cheeks.

Zeb continued to stare at her with that unreadable expression. “There’s a difference between not tellin’ and lying.”

Sabine scoffed. “Is there? Because it sure doesn’t feel that way to me.”

“Have you told him everything about your past?” Zeb questioned, catching her off-guard.

She blinked at him, feeling a long forgotten fear start to seep into her blood. Of course she hadn’t told Kanan about her past. The second he found out that she used to be an Imperial cadet, he would kick her out the door. And if he ever found out what she had done there… The chill that ran down her spine had nothing to do with the cold.

“That’s what I thought,” he said when she didn’t answer. “He was just tryin’ to keep you safe. It’s what I would have done.” He clapped her on the shoulder, shaking her whole frame. “I know it hurts, but you gotta see where he’s comin’ from.”

Sabine resisted the urge to shake the Lasat off, but as much as she hated to admit it, Zeb had a point. It wasn’t exactly fair for her to demand Kanan tell her everything about his past when she wasn’t willing to do the same. It didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt – it hurt a lot, and she was still mad that he never told her – but she could begrudgingly see why.

“You know, you’re pretty insightful for a rebel,” she said eventually, turning around to face the base.

Zeb chuckled. “I’m just old.” He didn’t say anything about her obvious change in subject, he just crossed his arms and let his eyes roam over the domed top of the buildings.

From the mouth of the cave came the faint sound of crumbling rocks, the ground shaking minutely under her feet. There was no puff of black smoke or familiar taste of fire that followed the sound, so whatever had caused it wasn’t from any explosive device. Kanan must have come up with another way to keep the Empire away from the crystals Tane had been experimenting on.

It was probably some Jedi way. She didn’t know much about them, other than the Empire wiping them out of existence. Her people had their own myths and legends surrounding the Jedi and like most Mandalorian tales, it involved war. They were said to have powers, like the ability to move things with their minds, and fought with laser swords. The longer she thought about it, the more Kanan being a Jedi made sense. He was always a little bit weird, and he got those feelings from time to time. If her people’s stories had any truth to them, Kanan seemed to fit the description pretty perfectly.

“You still want to shoot him?” Zeb asked her after a moment.

“Maybe not shoot him,” she admitted. “But I’m still pissed at him.”

Zeb snorted softly with amusement. “Don’t think you’re the only one.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Hera didn’t seem too pleased with him either.”

“Kanan said they worked a job a long time ago. He said it didn’t end well.”

“I can believe that.”

Sabine drummed her fingers on the top of her helmet, biting her lip in thought. “Do you think Hera knew?”

“What, that Kanan is a Jedi?” Zeb asked.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Zeb seemed to ponder the question for a while, stroking at the long tuft of hair that hung from his chin. “It’s hard to say,” he said eventually. “But I wouldn’t be surprised. If anyone could figure out that your partner is a Jedi, it’d be her.”

“A Jedi, you say?” an unfamiliar male voice said from behind them. “Well now, that is interesting news.”

Sabine and Zeb spun around to face the source of the voice, her helmet crashing to her feet. She reached for her blasters as she turned but she wasn’t fast enough. The figure, hidden in the shadows of the night, fired two quick stun blasts that hit Zeb square on the chest. He fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, unmoving.

Sabine’s heart rate spiked, fear shooting through her body. She started to pull her blasters free from their holsters when the man turned his weapon on her.

“Move, and my next shot won’t be set to stun.”

Sabine froze. The man took a step closer, the distant lights from the base illuminating his face. He was a young man, maybe a few years older than Kanan at the least, with thin blonde hair and blue eyes that were rimmed red. His face was gaunt, the waxy skin pulled tight over the sharp edge of his cheekbones and the dark circles under his eyes made them look sunken and small. He wore the uniform of an Imperial scientist but the dark grey fabric was wrinkled and his rank plaques were askew, giving him a slightly frenzied look.

“You must be Runa Tane,” she said, watching the man carefully. He was obviously quick on the trigger and light-footed to have snuck up on her; however, Sabine was fairly certain she could take him. She was a Mandalorian, after all.

Be smart about this, Sabine, she heard Kanan’s voice echo in her mind. A swift kick to his wrist followed with a jab to his stomach and punch to the head would effectively disarm the Imperial Science officer and render him useless. But then she remembered what Dhara had said. Tane was unstable. Sabine had no idea what that crystal could have done to him and with Zeb unconscious, she didn’t want to do anything that would put him in more danger.

“And you must be one of the rebels who broke into the Imperial Complex,” Tane responded with a nasally Coruscanti accent. The sound of it made the little hairs on the back of Sabine’s neck stand on end. It wasn’t like the accent most Imperials adopted when they entered the service; there was something off in his tone, something...sinister.

“Place your blasters on the ground and kick them over to me,” he ordered.

She did as she was instructed, using the time to scan Zeb's crumpled form. Some of his purple fur had started to turn red from a cut on his temple, but his chest was moving evenly with his steady breaths. Tane took another step forward to collect her weapons, keeping his eyes and blaster pointed at her the whole time. Her limbs itched for action, to take Tane down before he could hurt anyone else, but she resisted.

Get your facts, then make your move, Kanan’s voice whispered again. Act without knowing and you’ll only create more problems for yourself. Sabine ground her back teeth together. Kanan had said those words to her the first time she took a job by herself. He hadn’t tried to convince her to take him along or even tried to talk her out of it. Instead, he had just given her the activation codes to the Escape, a handful of credits, and that little bit of advice.

Because he had trusted in her and her abilities.

Kanan had always trusted her.

“Whatever you think you are going to accomplish here,” Sabine said as Tane tucked her blasters into the back of his belt, “you’re not going to get away with it. We’ll stop you.”

Tane smiled at her, his lips pulling strangely against his face, thin and menacing.

“Oh, I doubt that,” he said. “Now, take me to the Jedi.”

-

“I don’t know about this, Hera,” Ezra said softly, leaning into Hera’s side. Hera kept her eyes on Kanan, watching as he retrieved the pieces of his lightsaber from the table. His fingers hovered over the hilt before it rose a few inches off of the table into his waiting palm. A chill ran down Hera’s spine at the sight. She had seen him use the Force when they had first met, but the shock of not dying had muted the experience from her memory. Seeing it now made her heart flip in her chest and excitement race across her skin.

She had been a little girl when the Jedi came to Ryloth during the Separatists occupation . Like most of her people, she had spent the long months hiding deep in the caves as the battle droids infested their lands. Hunger and terror clouded most of her memories of that time, but she remembered the Jedi who had come to save them.

He had been tall, dark skinned, bald, and carried himself with an air of confidence that, to a small child, had been slightly intimidating. But he had been kind and he had cared about what was happening to her home world. What Hera remembered the most about the Jedi was the power that seemed to flow from him in unending droves.

Hera could see that same power now, reflected in Kanan. Maybe it had always been there and she had just been too blind to see it, or maybe he had been too good at hiding that side of himself, but now it was evident in every line of his body. It was impossible to look at him and not see anything other than a Jedi

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Ezra asked her, pulling her from her thoughts.

Hera tore her eyes away from Kanan to place a comforting arm around the teen’s shoulder. She could tell that Ezra was still reeling from his newly discovered Force sensitivity. Hera was too, a tight pinch of worry forming in her gut. He was just a boy, already dealing with more heartache and trauma than he deserved. He didn’t need anything else to deal with, even if it was the gift of the Force. But at the same time, she wasn’t all that surprised, because there had always been something special about Ezra.

He had always been quick on his feet and a little bit luckier than most. In many ways, he had reminded her of Kanan, the way he had moved as if there was more power in his body that he could contain, though she had tried not to dwell on that thought. There was a part of her that had always known Ezra was extraordinary and now that it was confirmed, it just made sense.

“You’ll be fine,” she told him, giving him a gentle squeeze. Ezra had a resilient spirit; she knew that in time, he’d come to accept this part of him. As for trusting Kanan, that might take longer. For everyone. From the look on Ezra’s face, it seemed he was thinking the same as well. She gave him another squeeze before letting him go.

Kanan had twisted the pieces of his lightsaber together to form one cohesive hilt and had it clipped to his belt. His strange teal eyes danced between her and Ezra, shadowed by the bruises on his skin. There was still dried blood on the sides of his face and his hair was disheveled and damp with sweat, but there was a determined set to his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.

“We won’t be long,” he said, his voice still rough around the edges. Hera nodded in acknowledgement and watched them leave. She closed her eyes as the lab door slid shut and rubbed her temples. Thousands of contradicting thoughts swirled in her mind, all screaming for her attention, each one of them leading back to one person: Kanan.

The fear she had felt when Kanan had collapsed outside of the lab shook something deep within her. It burned through whatever anger she still harbored for him, leaving nothing behind but the cold, empty feeling of terror. And when he woke, bleeding and in pain but alive, Hera could have wept in relief. She had wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and feel his pulse against her skin.

Don’t tell me you were worried about me.

Hera was worried about him. Despite everything, she was terrified for him.

That fear was at war with her anger, and her anger was slowly falling victim to the love that she still felt. All of it was mixed up inside, a jumbled, confusing mess of emotions that demanded to be felt no matter how much pain it caused. She wanted to scream at him, she wanted him to leave, she wanted him to stay, she wanted to grab him by the mouth and feel his skin on hers. Goddess, she wanted, more than anything, she wanted. But she shouldn’t.

He had left her, he had cut her to the bone. Used her, lied to her, and treated what they had like it was nothing. He was cruel and callous and selfish. But he was kind and caring and selfless. He was the bane of her existence and the love of her life. Kanan was nothing and everything to her.

Hera wanted to collapse under the weight of it all but she couldn’t, not when the lives of her crew were on the line.

“Excuse me?” Dhara’s timid voice cut through Hera’s thoughts like a knife. She blinked open her eyes and turned to face the science officer. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Hera offered her a weak smile. “I’ll be fine,” she replied. “Do you need any help reworking the data?”

“I don’t think so.” Dhara walked over to the large computer terminal in the back of the lab. “It shouldn’t take me too long to make the changes.” She paused, her hand hovering over the keyboard with a stricken look on her face. “I’m sorry about what I said – I didn’t mean to expose your friend’s secret.”

Hera sighed. “It’s alright, Dhara. The truth was bound to come out one way or another.” She leaned her hip against the edge of the table, her eyes scanning over the broken fragments of glass. She didn’t see the crystal that Dhara had been experimenting on; Kanan must have taken it with him into the caves. Hera bit back a sigh of disappointment. She would have liked to see the crystal that was the cause of her latest set of problems.

It was hard to believe that a rock had been the cause of Kanan’s pain, but when it came to the Jedi she was aware that she was woefully undereducated. All that she knew came from her experience on Ryloth and through stories passed down from her father. Everything else had been burned away by the Empire.

“Did you already know?” Dhara asked as she began to work.

Hera thought back to that night on the Forager, how Kanan had stopped the catwalk from killing them both, the falling metal hovering inches above his raised hands. He hadn’t said anything then, he had just given her a playful wink before scooting out from underneath the collapsed catwalk.

“I did,” she said distantly, her mind replaying that moment over and over. She wondered, not for the first time, what would have happened if she had never witnessed Kanan’s use of the Force. Maybe things could have ended differently between them. Maybe Kanan would have seen that she wanted him just as he was, not for who he used to be or what he could do. Maybe then he would have never left.

Hera gave her head a little shake. There was no point trying to figure out what Kanan would or wouldn’t do because as soon as she thought she had him figured out, he went and did the opposite.

She thought it was money that had made Kanan agree to Sato’s offer, and once things got complicated he would leave. That was the type of person he had proven himself to be. But when Hera gave him the opportunity to go, he surprised her and stayed. More than that, he actually seemed to care. He was acting more like the man she had fallen in love with on Gorse than the bounty hunter he wanted people to see.

It was confusing and only made the swirling emotions in her mind rage that much harder. Hera glanced out the window into the darkness of night. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to feel like this. Kanan was part of her past, an ugly, painful memory that she had done her best to move on from and she had. Or at least, she thought she had. Hera rolled her shoulders, trying to push the mass of emotions building in her chest aside. She still had a job to do.

After the mission, once Kanan was gone – again – she would deal with it.

“A Jedi,” Dhara said softly, mostly to herself as her fingers typed away at the keys. “I thought the Empire had killed them all. I wonder how he survived.” She trailed off momentarily. “Do you think he’s telling the truth about...about what I am? About why I could hear the crystal?”

“I doubt he would lie about that,” Hera said, folding her arms across her chest.

“You know, there is a legend here on Lothal,” Dhara began, still facing the computer. “About the Loth-wolves and Jedi – the People. They were considered the guardians of the planet.” She paused. “Your friend, is he – do you know if he–” Dhara asked quietly, struggling to get her words out.

“If he what, Dhara?” Hera responded gently.

“Is he one of the People?” she asked, turning to face Hera, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Hera frowned. She hardly knew anything about the person he was today, let alone his past, and what she did know was slowly unravelling. Hera had no idea what planet he was from or if he had any family that lived. Everything about Kanan Jarrus was starting to become one big confusing question.

“I don’t know, Dhara,” Hera said eventually. “Kanan doesn’t like to talk much about his past.”

“You care about him though, don’t you?” Dhara asked, causing Hera to blink at the pointedness of her words. “I watched you on the cams when you were first brought in.”

Hera’s skin crawled at the thought of some unseeing person, an Imperial, watching her for any period of time without her knowledge. She had been frantic those first few hours, restrained and calling out to Kanan, not knowing if he was alive. If it hadn’t been for the light rise and fall of his chest, she would have believed he was dead.

“Well that’s unsettling,” Hera said a little breathlessly when her voice returned to her.

“I didn’t mean to pry, but I had orders.”

Hera took a measured breath, clenching her fists against her sides. “Kanan is a member of my crew,” she answered, keeping her voice as even as possible. “Of course I care about him.”

“But it’s more than that, right?” Dhara continued on. “You’re clearly in love with him, aren’t you?”

“I’m not in love with him,” Hera snapped. “He is a member of my crew. That’s all.”

“I – I’m sorry.” Dhara stuttered, her deep brown eyes growing wide before she spun back around to face her computer.

Heat blossomed across Hera’s face. Was it so obvious that a stranger could tell how she felt about Kanan? She repressed a sigh, rubbing at her eyes. Her lekku felt heavy, her body tense and worn. She was ready to be done with this job, ready to return to the life that she knew, one that was free from these conflicting emotions.

She glanced over at Dhara who was working diligently at her station, her shoulders tense and back uncomfortably straight. Hera felt a pang of guilt for snapping at her. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the fear Dhara must have felt while working for Tane and the fear she must be feeling now, knowing that she was putting her family at risk for helping them.

“I appreciate you doing this,” Hera said softly. “It takes a lot of courage to stand against the Empire like you are.”

Dhara turned to face her again, her expression hard. “I’m doing this to save my family,” she said. “I’m not a rebel like you.”

“You could be if you wanted,” Hera pointed out cautiously. It was a calculated risk, especially now, when Dhara was facing so much change and uncertainty, but it was one that Hera knew she had to take. If Dhara were to become a spy for the rebellion, she would be a powerful ally in their fight against the Empire.

And if she wasn’t willing to take that risk, if she just wanted to get her family off of Lothal, there were plenty of cells that could use her expertise.

“Right,” Dhara said with a roll of her eyes. “An Imperial joining the ranks of the rebellion. As if that could ever happen.”

“It could and it has,” Hera responded. “The rebellion is made up of people from all walks of life, former Imperials included.”

Dhara arched a brow, unconvinced.

“Tell me something, Dhara,” Hera said. “How did you end up with the Empire?”

“I told you, I went to the Young Imperials Academy.”

“There are plenty of other institutions on Lothal you could have chosen, why go there?”

Dhara looked away, biting her lip. “It was the only one my family could afford after we lost the farm, and the stipend I got for attending was enough to keep my father from working in the factories.”

Hera smiled sadly at her. She had heard this story before, a dozen times over. The Empire forced people off of their lands, leaving them with no other choice than to join their ranks, creating another cog in their endless machine. Dhara’s situtionation wasn’t unique but it was still painful to hear.

“So you joined the Empire to keep your family safe.”

“I would hardly find your rebellion to be sympathetic,” Dhara sneered weakly, her eyes glistening with tears. “I was selfish.”

“You were afraid,” Hera corrected. “You did what you thought was right at the time.”

“And look where it got me.” Dhara gestured around the small lab. “Working for a deranged scientist, and my family is no safer than they were before. I could never be part of the rebellion.”

“People are forced to make hard choices when they are afraid and sometimes, they make the wrong choice. What matters is how you choose to fix those mistakes. You can keep working for the Empire, keep living in fear, or you can fight back and start making amends.”

“What about my family?” A stray tear slipped down Dhara’s face. “I commit treason and join your rebellion, what happens to them?”

“We can keep them safe,” Hera said, walking over to the young woman. “There are places they can go where the Empire won’t be able to find them.”

“And if I don’t join, what will you do?”

Hera wrapped her arms around Dhara, pulling her into a hug. “I won’t leave them – or you – here to suffer. Even if you decide you don’t want to be a rebel, we will keep you safe.”

She let Dhara cry into her shoulder, holding her shaking form tightly in her arms. Hera’s own eyes stung with tears. Fear was a powerful weapon and the Empire could wield it well. Dhara wasn’t the only one who had been slain by it.

Kanan had been too.

The Empire had killed his people and left him in a shattered world plagued by fear. He had let it control him, dictating every decision he had made. It was fear, Hera was starting to realize, that pushed Kanan away from her. He was afraid of getting hurt again, of her getting hurt, because of what he was.

It didn’t make what he did right, not by a long shot, but Hera was starting to see why he did it.

Kanan was afraid.

“I’m sorry,” Dhara said, wiping at her tears and stepping away from Hera. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

Hera swallowed thickly. “There’s no reason to apologize.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to join the rebellion,” she said sadly.

“You don’t have to decide right now,” Hera said. “Let’s just focus on stopping Tane.”

Dhara nodded, sniffling loudly before turning back to her station.

Hera rolled her shoulders and walked back to the table, feeling drained. She picked up the datapad that Kanan had left on the table and started to scroll through it. The line of aurebesh made no sense. Hera was in no way a scientist but there should have been bits or pieces that she could understand. It was like these notes were written in some kind of code.

“How can Tane understand this?” she asked.

Dhara’s hands stilled on the keyboard, turning her head slightly in Hera’s direction. There was a slight frown on her face.

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “Sometimes, I don’t think he does.”

“You said before that he was transferred from a project on Coruscant. Do you know what project it was?”

“I don't know what the project was called but I do know who he was working for.” Dhara said. Hera's heart leaped in her chest. Names were a valuable commodity to have in their fight against the Empire. If she couldn't get the project name, knowing the people in charge was the next best thing.

“Who?” she breathed.

“A scientist named Galen Erso and a man named Krennic.”

Neither of the names sounded familiar to Hera but she was willing to bet Fulcrum and their endless stream of contacts knew someone who could dig up information on what the two Imperials were doing. Although, if Tane was constructing a weapon based on stolen notes, it was safe to assume that they were too. Just the thought made Hera’s stomach curl in disgust.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know anything more.”

Hera gave Dhara what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “That’s plenty, thank you.”

Dhara nodded and returned to her work. Hera pulled a small data chip out of one of her pockets and inserted it into the datapad, copying the notes for Fulcrum to examine later. A low rumble filled the air, the ground shaking with some sort of impact. Hera’s attention snapped to the lab door but as soon as the sound began, it had stopped.

“Your Jedi friend must have collapsed the cave,” Dhara said with a hint of awe in her tone.

Hera hummed in agreement. She hated to admit it but collapsing the cave would only go so far. Everything they were doing wasn’t going to be enough to stop the Empire from looking deeper into what Tane was doing here. And getting Tane to admit to treason was an even bigger gamble. She knew that Kanan was set on protecting the kyber, but there was a part of Hera that was starting to think that maybe keeping the crystals secret was a lost cause.

It might be better to just blow the base and smuggle Dhara and her family off world, but this was Kanan’s plan and for now, Hera had to trust that he could make it work. If it didn’t, the Ghost had the firepower they would need to turn the base into rubble.

The files had finished downloading just as the doors to the lab slid open. Hera and Dhara both turned, expecting to see Kanan and Ezra standing in the doorway. Instead, there was a man who was holding a blaster to the side of Sabine’s head. Hera reached for her holdout blaster still on the table but froze when Sabine hissed.

The young Mandalorian was bound at the wrist, the holsters on her hips empty but seemingly unharmed. Zeb was nowhere to be found, a spike of fear piercing Hera’s heart at his absence. Sabine shook her head, silently warning her not to move. Against her better judgment, Hera listened.

“Smart move,” the man said, glaring at Hera before his pale blue eyes swept over to where Dhara stood, frozen in place. “Leonis,” he tisked. “I’m disappointed in you. Where is your loyalty?”

“Runa Tane, I presume?” Hera said, stepping between the man and Dhara. Silently, she cursed Chopper who was supposed to be monitoring incoming ships. He should have warned them of Tane’s approach. Unless Tane had somehow gotten to him too. Hera bit back another wave of fear.

“Indeed I am.” His mouth curled in an eerie smile. “No need to tell me who you are. Your young friend here has told me enough, rebel.”

“I don’t know what she’s told you but we’re not rebels. Our ship ran out of fuel–”

“Quiet!” yelled Tane. “I’m not some weak minded fool! I know exactly who you are and what you plan to do.”

“Then you know that we won’t let you get away with it.” Hera spat back.

“Yes, your friend seems to think the same, but as you can see, you are outnumbered.”

There was a click of a blaster’s safety from behind her. Hera spun on her heel to see Dhara pointing a blaster she didn’t know she had directly at Hera’s head.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a shaky voice. “But I have to protect my family.”

Hera bit back a curse and slowly raised her hands. “Dhara, remember what I said,” Hera said softly. “You have a choice here. Make the right one.”

“I believe she has,” Tane chuckled, malice dripping from every word. “Where is the Jedi?”

Hera’s blood turned to ice in her veins. “What Jedi?” she asked, looking over her shoulder at the Imperial.

“Don’t play dumb with me, tailhead,” Tane hissed, pressing the blaster end into Sabine’s head. “I know there is one here, now where is he?”

“Gone.” Hera turned around, aware that Dhara still had her weapon pointed at her. “He left.”

Tane stepped into the lab, pushing Sabine forward. “I don’t believe you.”

“He’s not here, I swear,” Hera said again, feeling her heart beat against her rib cage. Tane’s eyes flashed over Hera’s shoulder to Dhara. A pit of dread formed in her stomach.

“Is she telling the truth, Leonis?”

“He’s in the cave.”

Tane’s smile grew wider. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?”

Without warning, he depressed the trigger on his baster. Hera screamed as Sabine collapsed to the floor, stunned. Tane turned his blaster on Hera, halting her movement as she tried to reach Sabine. With his free hand, he pointed to the comlink on her wrist.

“Call him,” he demanded.

“You won’t win,” Hera told him. “We will beat you.”

Tane reached out, grabbing hold of her lekku and pulled hard. A spike of pain raced through her, causing her to cry out. Desperately she clawed at Tane’s hand but he didn’t release his grip. Instead, he pulled her forward, lowering his mouth so it was next to her ear cone, his breath was hot against her cheek.

“Bring me the Jedi.”

[herasyndlla]

what are your favoritest femslash ships GIMME A TOP 5 OR 10

OH FANTASTIC QUESTION

ok ok ok it won't be in any order other than how i think of them lol cause i'm too tired to rank BUT i will give you 5-10 good lady ships

• korra/asami (the legend of korra)

OF COURSE MY GIRLS ARE HERE i have been tagging them as "girlfriends" since season 1 of lok and oh that day the series finale aired and my best friend, sister, and i watched it and lost our minds. i will remember these two forever as one of the most important CANON ships of all times. do the avatars have the best relationships in all of tv? maybe so.

• adora/catra (she-ra and the princesses of power)

friends to crushes to enemies to friends to lovers? did adora and catra perfect a relationship trope? they definitely did. i loved that they had such a deep friendship but that led to all their problems which they then worked together to get through and THEN THEY GOT TO KISS!!!!!!! i just adore them so much. they're also very very important to me figuring some stuff out. just. so. good.

• nobara kugisaki/maki zenin (jujutsu kaisen)

my newest bb girls and i just want them to kiss and have eye patches together. i just love them they're both so mean and cool and i just think if jjk wants to be the best shonen series right now it should have these two girls date. just my two cents.

• beau/yasha (critical role)

okay i only watched 4 episodes of campaign 2 of critical role and i know very very very little but.... two strong gay women? now that's hot.

• clarke/anya (the 100)

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO GOOD. i am so angry that it could have been like IT COULD HAVE BEEN but instead we got... a different relationship that i didn't care for. ALAS. fuck that show, but i still like that ship.

• chloe/nadine (uncharted)

WOMEN. THESE WOMEN. they get a whole dlc to be cool and tough and badass and then they tag team beat the shit out of the bad guy on a train?truck? (i don't remember). naughty dogs should make another game for them where they are married and kiss a lot AND beat up awful men.

• sabine wren/ketsu onyo (star wars: rebels)

friends to... business adversaries to coworkers to.... GIRLFRIENDS????? come on star wars which is owned by disney and these two are from a kids show so there's just no way, let them date and get married and be cute and good and cool together. they got the classic "we're like sisters" which we all know is just to deter us from realizing the truth: they're lesbians.

• ahsoka tano/barriss offee (the clone wars)

girls ;_____; it sucks what happened to their friendship in the show but i can hold out hope that barriss survived the prequel era and ahsoka and her can reunite in the rebellion/post rebellion era and find peace (and... smooch).

• marcille/falin (dungeon meshi/delicious in dungeon)

ladies... has the girl you have a crush on from your school days ever get eaten by a dragon so you decide you have to do some necromancy to bring her back from the dead and then you have a bath together? these two did that. (it got messy after that alas lol also... it's not canon? but like... i can't accept it's not canon, i believe it actually is lol)

• sakura haruno/ino yamanaka (naruto)

ah back in my teen multishipper days. sakura was my favourite girl and i hated sasuke so i just wanted her to kiss any blonde possible. ino is blond. and friends to rivals in love to FALLING IN LOVE? it would have been glorious. anyway, sakura and ino should have kissed.

BONUS:

• my dnd character isobel and an npc zephyr

LISTEN i just love the development of their relationship and yes i'm bias but i will ship my girl!!!!!!

[narkinafive]

Liveblog roundup

I’ve been sleeping on zeb this whole time I really have and I APOLOGIZE

ezra legitimately does back off flirting w sabine after the episode with ketsu lmfao I’m screaming he FINALLY GETS IT

*sees ketsu* oH. OH! OK *finger guns away* fskdjskdjlfkljsdf fucking IDIOT

legit that whole episode is like someone trying to convince their ex gf out of a bad situation

i love stealth strike. i LOVE stealth strike

i legitimately could write a whole ass novel on stealth strike

ezra being in command? and competent? the imagery of jedi leading assaults down the hallway of stormtroopers? kanan starting to work through his ptsd and learning to work w rex? isb having jabba listed as one of ezra’s aliases? iconic

also

rex getting a wedgie from the trooper armor sdfdsflkjlsfkdslfdj

“i’ll tighten your face”

YOU SHOT US! i set it to stun! well you should have used kill. WHAT

dON’T YOU DhARE

another day, another tractor beam for commander sato

the single horn of the force theme when kanan and *rex are saluting each other, BRUHHHHH

the baby ithorian is so FUCKINg cute

i’m emo as always thinking about if the inquisitorius had been established any earlier they would have tried to kidnap ezra too

also this? is kidnapping. cradle robbing. baby snatching. none of which the jedi do >.>

ezra and chopper being unexpectedly good w babies makes my heart go doki doki

AHSOKA! THE! WHITE! MY WIFE! MY LOVE! THE LIGHT OF MY ENTIRE WORLD!!!!

and once again, palps’ nursery of evil was thwarted

i’m EMO miriam and ephraim were about to be executed and their last thoughts were of their son and their love for him was so strong it reverberated across the galaxy into ezra’s dreams FUCK

all that early dark side signs as he tries to convince himself that they’re out there

his quiet acceptance of their deathS

i could write a million books about this season being about trying to convince yourself that everything is ok when it really isn’t

yes i did cry when leia appeared thank you for asking

leia either has balls of steel, some serious latent force suggestion, or both to keep getting away with lying to imperials like that

also how does lieutenant lyste keep getting promoted when he keeps getting his shit pushed in by this band of fools

and again, i’m EMO thinking about how in s4 ezra knows he can’t pull his parents out bc then they’d never be locked up w ryder, and they’d never break ryder out, and their sacrifice would never (partly) inspire him to stay and help liberate the planet. fuck me. fu c k

FENN RAU IS A PUNK BITCH

i love this family!

legends of the lasat is so GOOD gimmet aht force mysticism GIVE MEEEEEEE

the force! in other cultures!! zeb charting new space!! multifunctional weapons and religious artifacts!!! byeee

n e way i love rebels shut the fucK UP

[ct-hardcase]

there are so many women in that book that I am so hyped to have information and art about, including but probably not limited to:

(under a cut because I just decided that this is going to be an appreciation post)

Aayla??? Oh my gosh? Her mentoring Ahsoka was great and I love her interactions with Bly and gosh, she is just so good. I want to know more about her, especially in new canon, and how she is as a person.

Adi? Beautiful. Gorgeous. Showstopping. She has such a great personality and she fights well and I am here for it!

AHSOKA MY MAIN LADY. She’s just grown so much and I’m so proud of her and what she was able to achieve in her life. Any content for her is splendid.

Yeaaaa Pryce! She’s so evil and fun to read about! It’d be cool for her to get featured primarily in something like she did in Thrawn ngl and I’d love to have her PoV during the finale of swr.

Ventress! She’s so flawed, but if this book gives us some details about right after she turns to the dark side, I am going to drop to the floor.

Yoooo Barriss. It has taken me all of four years to warm up to her, but now that I have, I’m looking forward to this.

Beru! She deserves it! This is the recognition that the lady who raised Luke and has managed a homestead on the harsh land of Tatooine deserves. I’m so happy for her.

CIENNA! It’s been so long! Lost Stars was I think the first expanded universe novel I read for new canon and I loved it, and I loved Cienna, so I’m looking forward to literally any canon content involving her.

Depa!! I haven’t interacted with her character in canon, but I’m doing this one rp that involves her, so more details are always good.

I don’t read any of the material involving Aphra unfortunately, but I’ve heard she’s cool and gay so I’m down to read about her.

Enfys!!! I’m dying, she’s just such a good person, a radiant force of light, a true rebel, and definitely deserves a spot here. Heart eyes all around.

HERA! PILOT OF MY H E A R T. A Rebel (TM). A good mom, a good Captain, a good person, a good character, and just all around someone who was fun to journey with through swr.

JAS??? EMARI??????? SHE’S GOT CONTENT HOLY SHIT, I love Jas so much but because she’s only shown up in Aftermath, I have not been able to yell about her as much as she deserves, and good god I’m glad to see that she’s got a spot here. She’s a badass and has a heart that she desperately tries to hide.

I really like the fanon surrounding Jessika Pava, so her page is going to be fun :D

Jocasta! Big gun, bigger library.

Jyyynnnn, yes :D

I barely know about Ketsu, but I love what I do! Here’s hoping for some new tidbits maybe in there.

L3-37, the amazing droid who deserved so much better. I expect a full essay on her campaign for droid rights and how they’re treated in the galaxy.

LEIA ORGANA HERSELF. MY PRINCESS, MY GENERAL, TOTAL BADASS. She’s great. I love her.

Luminara! She fights so pretty and her philosophy is super interesting, so I hope that this is a good resource :)

Mira Bridger! My gosh! We can find out more about Ezra’s first Rebel Mom (TM)!

Norra Wexley, I’m weeping, she’s just so good and comes back from the dead enough to rival Shaak Ti, and she’s the mom that everyone in the Aftermath Squad (TM) needed but didn’t deserve.

NUMA YES

Paige? Man, I have a thing for heavy gunners that die during their first appearance, so I’m sure to enjoy this.

Phasma!!!! She’s so evil but I love her, from Parnassos until the Dreadnaught. 

YEAH QI’RA, fight for your freedom too!

Rae Sloane???? Us Aftermath fans have been BLESSED with this fine release

REY! She! Aggressive fighter, aggressive pilot, and the person that I couldn’t be happier to have as a protagonist of the sequel trilogy.

Our cute mechanic Rose Tico! I hope we learn more about her past and what she’s good at mechanic-ing!

SABINE!!! YEA MAN, GOOD REBEL, GOOD DEMOLITIONS, STOLE MY DAMN HEART, I just love Sabine so much, I’m glad she’s in this

AYO SEVENTH SISTER MADE IT IN, BE STILL MY BEATING HEART. Also, this means that there’s going to be art of her! I’m weeping, everyone.

Shaak Ti! What a Jedi, what a woman.

Shmi, who absolutely deserves this spot with all of her being. Deserves better, both by the swu and all of us.

STEELA YES I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE HERE

SUGI!! HOLY SHIT!!! OUR KIND-HEARTED BOUNTY HUNTER QUEEN HAS GRACED US

Ursa Wren??? Gosh?? We are being showered with motherhood in this book and I am living for it

VAL, YOU DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER so I’m glad you’re here

VI????? My gosh, she’s the best, so kind-hearted, such a damn optimist!!!! 

ANYWAY TL;DR I’M SUPER EXCITED AND HYPED TO READ ABOUT THESE AWESOME LADIES

[zareleonis]

Hi! I was wondering, do you ship Sabezra or find them as friends?

@thebeth02 i promised you i’d answer this I’M SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG (and IS so long haha)

tl;dr version is no i mostly prefer sabine and ezra as friends/siblings and i don’t HATE the concept but also i honestly think sabine is a lesbian SO YANNO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

UNGODLY LONG VERSION:

if you asked me this circa season 1 i’d pretty firmly say no, i don’t like sabine and ezra as a couple. now i would say it’s still not really my thing but im…. more okay with the concept i guess? mostly because they BLESSEDLY dropped ezra’s SUPER AWKWARD crush on her.

like just. the scenario of “boy with crush on girl who is very clearly NOT INTERESTED” is just a huuuge turn off for me. sabine is consistently irritated with his awkward flirtations. doesn’t hate it enough to tell him to fuck off, but she either rolls her eyes or has a teasing comeback for him every time. she didn’t think of it as a serious issue so she just tried to ignore it. i don’t go for stuff where a girl is really plainly not into a boy who likes her, as sabine was. i don’t like the implications of that AT ALL.

and ezra’s crush well.. ezra’s rebel journal and bits from the rebels novelizations by michael kogge show that it was pretty heartfelt (check waaaay back in my ‘ezra and sabine’ tag). but even so, sabine’s assessement in ‘sabine’s rebel sketchbook’ of “he’s like a 14 yr old kid he’ll get over it” was Prettyyyyy accurate nonetheless.

i think his crush was a function of two things. one, the really standard situation of a teenage kid totally knocked off his feet by a SUPER COOL slightly older girl – she makes AWESOME EXPLOSIONS!! and DYES HER HAIR! and can PAINT amazingly!!! and two, ezra’s tendency at this point in his life to latch onto anyone who is nice to him and doesnt abandon him. he was a super sad and lonely kid. after his initial reservations he latched onto the entire ghost crew super quickly. same with ahsoka and rex. i think him getting a puppy dog type crush on sabine in this situation

since ezra got over that crush, i’m a lot more amenable to the IDEA of them as a couple i don’t like the idea that oooh he’s secretly still harbored those feelings the whole time. i dislike it for the same reasons i didn’t like the fact he had that crush in the first place. just that “if you wait long enough EVENTUALLY she’ll see the light” is icky to me.

BUT i think, as sabine and ezra have grown closer the mutual respect, care and admiration is all there. these kids love each other a lot, period. i can buy a scenario where Something More™ grows out of that, as long as it’s completely unrelated to ezra’s intitial crush. i like situations where two people who care for each other deeply for a long time experience a shift in their relationship where those feelings develop into a different kind of love, and they figure out where do they go from there.

ultimately though, i just love sabine and eza WAY TOO MUCH as friends/siblings to seriously entertain the pairing. i love the way they mess around and tease each other like brother and sister. i love how they fit into the little family the entire ghost team has built. it warms my heart a lot. the loving and close relationship sabine and ezra have just makes me SUPER SUPER HAPPY 😊

i think the brand of teasing that goes on between sabine and ezra fits really well for people who have a sibling relationship but not-so-much for romantic prospects. like, teasing your kid brother and bickering because as much as you love each other, you get on each other’s nerves, THAT i adore so much.

the other thing is i honestly just think sabine is WAY TOO GAY to ever like ezra That Way 😹 if there was ever a character who makes way too goddamn good a lesbian for me to pass up it’s sabine wren hahaha. my lesbian senses just Know 😜 i mean does sabine EVER look like a lesbian?? if i didn’t know better i’d even say she intentionally looks that damn gay 😹🏳️‍🌈 also sabine totally has it SUPER BAD for ketsu.

and uh (MAJOR PROJECTION TIME SORRY), i know sabine’s Issues with her family mostly stem from other stuff in canon buuuu~uut. i relate to it a lot and YES it has to do with me being gay so that resonates with me too. it’s important to me on a personal level in terms how i relate with sabine’s story, but it’s also something that could very plausibly add another REALLY interesting layer to her relationship with her family.

ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK AND READING THIS ENTIRE STUPID THESIS ON SABINE AND EZRA. IF YOU ACTUALLY READ ALL OF THIS YOU DESERVE SOME SORT OF PRIZE

[gondalsqueen]

Chapters: 18/18 Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels Rating: Explicit Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Ketsu Onyo/Sabine Wren, Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios Characters: Hera Syndulla, C1-10P | Chopper, Original Characters, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, Alexsandr Kallus, CT-7567 | Rex, Mart Mattin, Wedge Antilles, Ketsu Onyo, Jacen Syndulla, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Ackbar (Star Wars), Lando Calrissian, Jan Dodonna, Ahsoka Tano Additional Tags: Pregnancy, vague mentions of abortion, future character death in the background, Season/Series 04, Established Relationship, Oral Sex, Chair Sex, Table Sex, sex during pregnancy, chapter 2 has lots of sex, Secrets, the best pilot in the galaxy, flying combat, character injury, canon torture, flight of the defender, rebel assault, Jedi Night, Major character death - Freeform, Grief, Morning Sickness, Counseling, Masturbation, Dreams, Traditions, Space family, Inappropriate bets, Lothal, Shopping, down time, Space Combat, Battle of Scarif, Rogue One - Freeform, hammerhead corvette!, Yavin 4, Stardust - Freeform, Alderaan, Death Star, labor, Childbirth, domestic life, Lothwolves, Dogfight - Freeform, Hoth, did i mention babies yet?, Babies!, One baby, Work/Life Balance, Advice, Bounty Hunters, Capture, this story has it all apparently, Return of the Jedi, Second Death Star, Existential Anxiety, parenting, Breakups, wine and cheesecake, wine and cheesecake needs its own tag, battle of endor, Battle for Coruscant, forces of destiny: an imperial feast, The New Republic - Freeform, Quests, letting go, Travel, ask me no questions i'll tell you no lies, but one of these days you'll get a surprise Summary: The end. Kind of. 

...

Something had happened to Ezra out there, something he wasn’t ready to talk about until after this vacation was over. None of them pried. He was...different, in a lot of ways. Grown up. He finally believed in his own adequacy. With that confidence came an edge of brooding that reminded her of Kanan, though. Hera hoped he stuck around where they could support him, whatever he was facing.

In other ways he was still their Ezra—surprisingly predictable given all the time that had passed, and still the baby of the crew until they adjusted their thinking and changed the way they treated him accordingly.

To no one’s surprise, he and Jacen got along well. Their bonding mostly consisted of wrestling, with some sword fighting and a little chase for variety. Hera could have done without the just-before-bed play that infallibly kept Jacen awake and hyper. She didn’t say anything, though, because the two of them had a lot of time to make up for.  

Tonight Jacen was trying to push Ezra into Alexsandr’s small fishpond. Since Ezra vastly outweighed him he was failing, but he made up for it by practically strangling his opponent in the process — by accident, Hera was pretty sure. Really, Ezra had bought this when he picked Jacen up off the ground and threw him over his shoulder.

Oh, and that was a knee in the face.

“Ow!” Ezra protested. “Kid, you are deadly!” He twisted out from under Jacen and somehow they both ended up on their feet, facing each other. Quick as a flash, Ezra tapped Jacen’s shoulder.

“Hey!”

“Block me, then. Like this.” He showed Jacen how to bring his hands up in front of him and deflect the blows. Then he tapped Jace’s knee. “Got you! This is how you block with your feet. Try to tap my knees.”

“Your shoulders, too!”

“Sure, if you can reach.”

Hera watched her son eye a nearby boulder. She hoped he was planning to climb on it and not throw it at Ezra.

Then they both went at each other, jumping towards a shoulder or knee and dashing out again, blocking on one side and darting in on the other. Ezra went easy on Jacen, but he sped up as they played and Jace kept pace with him.

The whole thing ended when Jacen got sick of it, yelled “ATTACK!” and somersaulted across the ground towards his target. He bumped harmlessly against Ezra’s legs, but in the attempt not to step on him Ezra backpedalled and, with a whirling of arms, ended up in the water.

Hmm. Somehow they had both ended up in the water.

“Bathtime!” Hera called.

“It’s not!”

“It is, in fact, a solid hour past BEDtime.”

Ezra hit the shower in Zeb’s place while Hera scrubbed the slime off of Jacen in the Ghost’s fresher. Forty-five minutes later they’d finished showering, cleaning teeth, a snack that he didn’t ask permission to get, and teeth a second time, and they were cuddled together on Jacen’s bunk reading their nightly chapter of whatever novel Jace had picked. Since he’d gotten old enough to understand them, he’d mostly chosen from a children’s series of adventure stories about — guess what? — Jedi. Hera, remembering her own childhood, couldn’t blame him.

She read: “Shuyen closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reaching out to the Force as she fell. She could feel the air rushing past her. The wind whipped at her face roughly, but it wasn’t enough to hold her up…”

Sabine passed by the door and stopped to listen for a minute. “Are you reading Knights of the Old Republic to him?”

“Yes.”

“That’s sending mixed messages, don’t you think?”

“He likes it,” Hera told her, aware of how defensive she sounded. “It’s a good story. Who am I to tell him what to like?”

Sabine held her hands up. “Fair enough. Carry on.”

Hera finished the chapter, the Jedi who had fallen off the cliff while being chased by Sith warriors arriving unscathed back at the temple. “That’s a good stopping place for tonight,” she told Jacen, smoothing his hair back. He’d started to grow it out and they were both learning how to manage the tangles that was causing, but right now it was clean and brushed and smelled like shampoo, and she breathed in the scent gratefully.

He nestled into to her side. “Mama?”

“Yes?”

“Is Rex going to come back?”

“No, baby, Rex isn’t going to come back.”

“But Ezra came back.”

“Ezra wasn’t dead, love,” she told him gently. “Nobody comes back from the dead.” She paused for a moment to let that sink in, then continued, “I know it’s hard. It hurts for me, too.”

“I like Ezra.” He was trying to think something out. Hera waited. “But...I’d rather have Rex.”

“I can understand that.”

“But that’s mean of me, right?”

“Well…” she answered as honestly as she could. “You don’t want someone to die. You just miss the person you love. I think it’s very normal. Probably not the best idea to mention it to Ezra, though. It might hurt his feelings.”

He nodded and she tucked him into bed with a song and a kiss. “Sleep,” she told him. “You are exhausted. Go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Jacen said around a big yawn.

Sneaking out of the room a moment later she passed by the open doorway of Ezra’s bunk and caught a snatch of conversation. “...her turn for a while,” Sabine was saying. Then Ezra: “Coruscant is good place to stay, anyway. We’re going to need to talk about defenses. Maybe exploratory missions, but that might be a bad idea. IF they even decide to believe me.”

Keep moving, Hera, she told herself. She went to the cockpit to give the monitors one last check for the evening and tried to remember that Sabine and Ezra were adults and it was perfectly reasonable for them to live on whatever planet they wanted to. But maybe, maybe, maybe she’d get them back for a while. It was worth hoping.

Ezra joined her a few minutes later, a mug of warm hubba juice in each hand. “Best place to watch the sunset,” he explained. The summer sunsets on Lira San were amazing, oranges and purples breaking through the thick cloud cover. Hera swung the copilot’s seat around for him and he passed her a cup.

“Two more days and then Lothal, right?” he asked.

“If that’s still what you want.”

“Yeah. Sabine says it’s changed a lot. I can’t even remember before the Empire came anymore.”

Hera smiled. “It’s a good place. Not perfect, but Azadi made it pretty welcoming even before the Emperor fell.”

“You guys were there a lot.”

“Second home, but it will be better with you back.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, looking like his teenage self for the moment of the gesture. “Everything’s different, but it’s really good BEING back. I’m still trying to...fit in, I guess.”  

“Hey. You do fit in,” Hera told him, giving the chair a little kick to spin him towards her. “You’re one of ours. And Jace loves having you around. Chop and I are too busy to play with him as much as he’d like, and it’s been a while since we’ve had anyone else on the Ghost.”

“Yeah, Ezra Bridger, Jedi Knight, hero to six-year-olds everywhere.” He rolled his eyes.

Hera laughed. “At first that was the draw, sure. But he had a lot of...anxiety, too. He’d heard stories about you his whole life and he knew how important you were to all of us, and to have you standing before him in the flesh…” She shrugged. “But now I don’t think you’re Ezra Bridger, Jedi Knight. I think you’re his friend.”

“He’s really great, Hera. Thinks he can do anything. He...reminds me of you that way.”

She sighed. “He didn’t know you were a Jedi.”

“Okay.”

“He doesn’t know Kanan was a Jedi.”

A pause. “Okay.” Ezra didn’t push. Once he would have pushed.

“The hand game — those were forms,” Hera said. “Lightsaber forms. I’ve seen you practice them with Kanan.”

“Yeah, well…” Ezra ran his hand over the back of his hair awkwardly. “They’re kind of drilled into me, so I guess I just go there automatically when it comes to fighting. Is...that all right?”

“It’s all right,” she said, picking at the fraying edge of the seat cushion. “It’s good. There are so many things I’ve wanted to ask you about that.”

“About lightsaber forms?”  

She shook her head. “Ezra, I know this seems like a subject change, but...were you happy as a child? Or were you...confused?”

“What do you mean? I had kind of a rotten childhood.”

“Before that. When you were small, with your parents, and you could do things that nobody could explain. Did it confuse you or upset you?”

He considered her words carefully. “Let me think.” After a solid minute of silence, he said, “No. I heard things sometimes that I knew were true, and my mom said they were only my imagination. I think that’s not rare for kids, though. It’s just that in my case, they actually WERE true. The rest of the time, it was just fun to run and jump off of things without worrying about how I was going to land, or to know that people were probably going to believe whatever outrageous lie I told. Stuff like that. Hera… Jacen’s definitely Force sensitive. Does he use any of those abilities?”

“Oh…” she laughed to cover her worry. “Yes.” She’d watched for signs all of his life and could give a detailed list of ‘yes’es ‘no’s and ‘maybe’s. “He’s always been good at picking up moods, but I think he’s just a smart, social kid. Sometimes he knows things that haven’t happened yet, but only in a vague way — he has a feeling that someone’s coming to visit, or he knows we’ll find something around the next corner. He can climb and jump off of anything and he somehow hasn’t broken a bone yet. I don’t mean normal child risk-taking. You saw him take a dive off the Ghost the other day. And then there are the animals that seem to follow him around like he’s some kind of magnet.”

Ezra laughed.

“...which I blame you for,” she added.

“How is that my fault?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, but the similarity is striking.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“I don’t want him to be a Jedi,” she said more seriously. “I don’t even want him to be a half-Jedi, partially trained. The Force asks...too much. We know how that ends and I won’t give him up that way. But… if I refuse to let him train when it’s available to him, he’s just going to do it anyway, and he’ll end up doing it behind my back, without my support. Or running off.” She thought of her own childhood. “It’s not my place to hold him back if that’s what he wants.”

“Well...does he WANT to be a Jedi?”

“He’s six years old. Every six-year-old wants to be a Jedi.”

“He’d be good at it. Kind. Flexible. Reminds me of someone else I knew.”

“Me too,” she admitted. “That scares me.”

“Hmm.” Ezra thought about that. “There’s not exactly a trade school for Jedi Knights. The few of us left with any ability have no idea what we’re doing. He’ll probably end up using those talents, but using them in some other field.”

“Maybe. But I don’t want to keep him locked away from the world — locked away from himself — because I’m afraid.”

“Hera, you’re not afraid of anything.”

She sighed and stopped picking at the worn corner of the pilot’s chair so he could see her hands shaking. “That’s not true, and I have changed.”

Ezra frowned. “You want me to train him?” he asked. “Is that what this conversation is about?”

“Not...yet. Not now. But I don’t want anybody else to train him.”

“Luke Skywalker is talking about starting a school.”

“NO. I like Luke. He’s a good kid. But he doesn’t understand the dangers… He hasn’t walked that path, and he doesn’t know what it takes to guide your student safely instead of just following the rules.”

“Hera, I don’t know either.”

“That’s okay. Falling is fine as long as there’s someone to catch you. You would never let anything bad happen to him.”

“Hmph.” Ezra crossed his arms and looked out at the clouds, that stone expression on his face. “I wish I could promise that.”

...

From Lira San they traveled to Lothal. Hera let Sabine show Ezra the sights because she had something else to show Jacen.

The bombed-out Imperial hangar wasn’t hard to reach, despite being perched on one of the dolmens at the edge of Capital City. If you took a shuttle, that is. Hera parked the Phantom halfway up the mountain and made them walk the rest of the way because “it will be fun!” Forty minutes into the uphill hike, Jacen wasn’t finding it particularly fun.

“Why couldn’t we just FLY up there?” he asked, perilously close to a whine.

“Because we’re taking a nice hike together and it’s going to be more enjoyable to see if you make it there yourself than if you just fly up and park.”

Poor kid — his hair was a sweaty wreck. “To be clear,” he said. “I AM getting a real birthday party tomorrow, with friends and cake and stuff, right?”

“Padawan’s honor. Sabine even made you guys those robes and staffs so you could dress up as High Jedi. Though I still don’t know what a High Jedi is.”

“It’s like a really wise, powerful Jedi,” Jacen explained. “Kind of like a wizard.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“It’s from Rangers of the Force.”

“I didn’t know you could read books that hard.”

“I listened to it.”

“Oh. Okay. Look, we made it.” Hera climbed the short flight of steps and crawled over the rubble blocking what had once been the workers’ entrance. Then she waited for Jacen to do the same.

“Whew!”

“It’s cooler up here.” Jacen spread himself dramatically on the floor.

“Yeah, we’re out of the sun.” She handed him the canteen and waited for him to take a long drink. “You recovered?” He nodded. “Good. Come see what Sabine did.”

He saw the mural as soon as he looked up, and his reaction was everything Hera had hoped for. A shout, and he rushed up to get a closer look. “It’s you guys!”

“Yeah.”

“You look like heroes! Like you’re from a holoshow.”

“Sabine makes good art.”

His brow creased in that thinking look. “Were you heroes?”

“Yes,” Hera admitted. “We were.”

“Sabine,” he pointed. “Ezra. His head looks small in this picture. Zeb and Chop. Hey, look at these lothcats! There’s you. Where am I?”

Hera touched her mid-section in the picture, right on the buttons of her flight suit. “Here.”

“So I came with you when you were heroes?”

“Sure.”

“So I helped save Lothal?”

“Let’s say you were along for the ride.”

But now he was pointing above mural-Hera’s shoulder. “That’s Dad.”

“Yeah,” she said softly.

“I don’t think I look very much like him.”

“Well, you’re shorter.”

“Hey!”

She grinned at him, but he shook his head and said, “Uh-uh. You’re sad.”

“Only a little sad.”

“You miss him.”

“Yes,” Hera said honestly, “but that’s not why I brought you here today. I need to show you something else, something… kind of secret.”

“Okay.”

Hera took a portable projector from her bag and placed it on the floor. “Come sit by me. Seven years old is big enough to see this.” They sat cross-legged on the ground and Hera switched on the projector.

“That’s Dad!”

“Yes.”

“What’s he got?”

Kanan was fitting together two metal tubes. He gave them a practiced twist, then ignited the lightsaber.

Jacen lost it. “WHAT?! Where did he GET that?”

“Hi, kid,” Kanan said to the recorder. “Thought I’d go through a few practice drills here, in case you ever need to see them when I’m not around.” He was talking to Ezra, but Jacen didn’t know that. Hera skipped past the part where he demonstrated the basic techniques and on to the segment where he showed the moves in practice by fighting ten combat remotes, leaping into the air, twisting, deflecting shots… He was using the Ghost’s hold as his staging area, which had irritated Hera to no end at the time because those remotes were firing live blaster bolts. The flip from the ground to the platform four meters above his head was awfully impressive, though, she had to admit.

“How did he DO that?”

Another of him and Ezra training together, both blindfolded, going through forms. Hera watched Kanan’s shoulder rotate as the blade spun, the twist of hips as he altered his stance. It was so familiar and so long ago, all at the same time.

“Mama, tell me.” He knew, but he didn’t want to say it.

“He’s a Jedi, Jace. He was raised in the temple on Coruscant and sent out to fight during the Clone Wars. One of the last Jedi Knights.”

“But...” he trailed off.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. Do you want to see a little more?”

“Yes!”

She’d edited this compilation carefully so they got no footage of actual battles. Next Kanan was tossing Sabine in the air over and over, a little Sabine — she couldn’t have been more than fifteen. He’d throw her impossibly high, and then she’d twist in mid-air, draw her blasters, and fire at a target. Jacen laughed. “Ah-ha, they’re good!” Another of that terrible competition he’d had with Zeb, where Zeb picked up Imperial speeder bikes and threw them at Kanan, who caught every one in mid-air. Okay, that probably wasn’t the best thing to include. One of Hera herself cradled in Kanan’s arms, the laughter near the microphone indicating that Ezra was recording.

“Ready?” Kanan asked.

“Go,” Ezra told him.

Kanan jumped up the Ghost’s ladder one rung at a time, tilted impossibly backwards, holding her. Hera from long ago shrieked in laughter. “I get five credits when I do this, right?” Kanan asked.

“Cheating,” said Ezra’s voice.

“I did TELL you I could do it.” Thunk, up another ring. Thunk, up the next. “See, what you want to do is bend your knees…” Kanan explained, annoyingly pedantic. “Then you absorb most of the shock, especially when you have to land rough.” He rolled at the last moment, still holding Hera, and came up on his feet on the upper platform, neither of them worse for the wear.

“Hey!” Hera-from-the-vid protested. “Warn me!”

“Okay,” Kanan said. “Roll up in a ball, I’m going to toss you to Ezra now so he can practice.”

“No, no, wait!” Ezra yelled. “Wait, let me put the recorder down!” The image went sideways and the recorder died abruptly on the sound of their laughter.

Jacen was watching with a wistful, half-jealous expression. “Nobody ever told me he was a Jedi.”

“Well…” Hera considered. “What DID they tell you?”

“Zeb says he could drink a whole gallon of milk in five minutes without throwing up.”

“Yeah, only part of that is true. And don’t try it.”

“Sabine said he loved you the very most, and he’d never let anything in the whole galaxy hurt you.”

She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm. “That is true.”

“And that he was a really good dad and he understood when people got upset or lost their temper and he wouldn’t yell at them.”

“That’s true too.”

“But he wasn’t really Sabine’s or Ezra’s dad, right?”

“No, but he...took care of them when they were kids. Big kids. And he taught them a lot of things.”

Jacen’s eyes lit with realization. “He taught Ezra how to be a Jedi! That’s why they were doing those slow moves with the lightsabers.”

Her kid was too smart.

But now he was mulling over something else. “...He was my dad.”

“Yes.”

“He never met me.”

“Technically, no, but he knew you were on the way.”

“How?”

“You know how you can tell where animals are, even the small ones? You found Alexsandr’s baby chicks when the rest of us were looking in the wrong place.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s the Force, Jacen. He felt you like that before you were born. I’ll bet you guys had whole secret conversations, what do you think?”

Jacen shrugged, clearly pleased by the idea. “So how come you never told me he was a Jedi? And you COULD have told me, lots of times.”

There was the question she’d been waiting for. “Because it wasn’t safe, Jace. The Emperor killed all the Jedi, even the little kids. Only a few of them got away, and then they had to survive by hiding because the Emperor was still hunting.”

“But he died when I was little.”

“Yes, but being a Jedi is still not exactly safe.”

“You mean people are still hunting them?”

“No, I mean they’re still...heroes. Which is good, but it also means that bad guys don’t like them much. You have to learn to keep yourself safe when you’re a hero, and that takes time. I wanted to wait until you were big enough to understand that a little.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t want to be a Jedi.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. If you want to learn to be a Jedi when you get older, I’ll be right there with you. But I want you to understand that there’s always more to these stories than what you hear. And I don’t want you to think that fighting makes you a good person. I didn’t love your dad because he was a Jedi. I loved him because he was kind and funny and understanding, and he couldn’t bear to see anybody in pain without trying to help. And because he never gave up on people. I see a lot of those qualities in you already. You don’t need a lightsaber to be a good person.” Oh, great, now she was sad again.

And Jacen had picked up on it. “Were you scared when he died?”

“So scared. But what do we say?”

“Be afraid,” he said quietly, “but do it anyway.”

“Right.”

A wolf howled nearby, in the middle of the day.

“That’s a lothwolf?” Jacen asked.

Hera nodded. “I think they’re coming to see you. I don’t know why, though.”

“I do.”

“You do? Why?”

“They say goodbyes are over. It’s time for hellos.”  

[sneepity-snoop-snorpity-sneep]

finally watched the finale of Rebels

GUYS THEY KILLED KANAN ARE YOU KIDDING ME I KNEW THAT SOMEBODY WAS GONNA DIE BUT I WAS NOT EXPECTING KANAN TO BE THE FIRST TO GO.

and then Hera added him to her kalikori- cue tears

Pryce needs to die

Rukh needs to go

I like how much of an art nerd Thrawn is, but he also gotta go

magic wolves 

THATS A BIG WOLF 

oh shit the empires got some old dude escavating the temple

holy FUCK the temple has a magic time portal HOW

old dude is starting to remind me of some of my art history professors-i’d actually like this guy if he wasn’t working for the empire.

HOLY FUCK AHSOKA!!!!! SHE LIVES!!!! HALLELUJAH MAGIC TIME PORTALS!!!!

are you kidding me you’re making me watch kanan’s death twice (poor Ezra)

palpatine get your grimy little paws away from my children

oh YES they’re bringing in all the guys! Ketsu’s here, Hondo’s here, the clone’s are here EVERYBODY’S HERE IT’S A REBEL PARTY empire SO going down

zeb and kallus are in the same room omg 

but please don’t die we already lost one half of an OTP (kanera )my poor heart can’t take another hit

ryder’s a traitor???

oh nvm it was a ruse

idc how well-trained or badass of a soldier you are- you can’t take giant, horse-sized magic wolves. suffer, Pryce.

*thrawn bombs the city* and this is why I don’t like this guy

Ezra nooooooo

they’re calling a what and not a who?? what’s the what??

Gregor nooooooooooo!!!

rukh needs to go 

‘ATTABOY ZEB YOU GET THAT SONUVABITCH (woah, electrocution, harsh)

*squints at palpatine* you look in suspiciously good health

oh you absolute evil fuck Ezra don’t listen to him

D O N T L I S T E N I T S A L I E

phew he didn’t do the thing (poor Ezra...again)

*palpatine goes back to looking creepy* I fucking knew it

aw yiss shields up bitch

PURRGILS. PURRGILS ARE THE WHAT. ALMIGHTY SPACE WHALES I SALUTE THEE

yessss get thrawn outta here

WAIT EZRA NOOOOOOOO ASJGILSJFLSS

Ezra’s message

 *ugly crying*

V I C T O R Y

KANERA BABY (where are his lekku???)

AHSOKA (that woman is officially the Gandalf of Star Wars)

BEAUTIFUL FAMILY MURAL

EZRA LIVES???

KALLUZEB CONFIRMED

*ugly crying with background pterodactyl screeching*

[primasveraas]

Rebels Midseason Trailer Breakdown

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but here it finally is. With less than 2 weeks before the show starts, I have my rabid superfan analysis of the Rebels Season 4 midseason trailer. Warning: long post as I am very excited for the second half of Rebels and have an extensive knowledge of Star Wars to be applied in situations in which it may not actually be required. Thoughts below the cut:

It starts on Lothal. Everything traces back to Lothal. It’s where our story began, and ultimately, where it will end. The show and the trailer are returning to their roots, back to the messages of family, and home and growth. The trailer shows Ezra’s journey with this, again, beginning with shots and narration from seasons past. It’s a reminder of how it all started and how far he’s come.

Then, it’s Ezra’s experience with the Force. We see him on the Jedi Temple on Lothal- against the backdrop of nothingness and stars and strange white lines that he sees when he meets Yoda for the first time- similar imagery appears later on, in the new footage.

Next, Malachor. 

Again, a significant event in Ezra’s life. There began his grapple with the Dark SIde- and as we see in the next shots, it’s continuation. Significant moments are shown, with he Sith Holocron as well as the Bendu, and his attempts to understand the Force, especially with his connections to animals, which, as we know from Season 4, has been important with the Loth Wolves and Loth-cats.

Not to mention we see AHSOKA! It’s been a season and a half without a mention of her, but now she’s in the trailer. It this a coincidence? I think not. It never is. Dave Filoni has promised answers and there are starting to be more and more hints of such a thing. In the flashbacks, there are two shots of her- both involving Anakin or Vader (Malachor where they fought and with the hologram she kept of him (below)).

Back to family. There’s the holo of Ezra and his parents, a shot of Rex, Gregor and Wolffe- who we see return in the new footage. As Qui-gon Jinn once said, everything happens for a reason. Every shot from past seasons is important- each reminder of what was is a hint at what will come to be.

Then SABINE WITH THE DARKSABER- a small but effective reminder of her own journey.

Hera narrates about hope, and again, the trailer returns to the main themes of the show (and Star Wars as a whole): hope and family. For four years, we have watched this small ragtag crew grow together, fight together, inspire and struggle and hope together. These fundamentals are what have made this show so good, and the trailer truly emphasizes this.

Now, is this next shot so innocent? No. Of course not. Those are convors- the birds that have, throughout both Rebels and Clone Wars, symbolized Ahsoka. As this video points out, it as always been present during times where she has had to overcome the greatest struggles in her life.

After that, on to the greater struggle and bigger picture: the fight against the Empire. Ezra and the crew’s losses and wins, their moments of inspiration and fight against the Empire. The importance of what their small team, and hope, can do.

At 1:20, there is the first new footage. Again, as always, it starts on Lothal.

We see characters, new and old! THE CLONES ARE BACK! as hinted by the previous footage. Rex is in a uniform very similar to that of the Rebels on Endor- Filoni has all but confirmed he makes it there. We can only hope.

It’s go time- the words and music carry a sense of urgency and determination.The first words spoken are  Ezra’s: “We can do this together” as we again return to the theme of family and the importance of being together.

Kanan speaks next- I don’t think he’s replying to Ezra, but he says “Let’s go get Hera.” THEN HE CUTS OFF HIS HAIR I AM DEVASTATED.

I figure this happens early on, given that it looks like he’s still in the caves of the wolves. There are faint markings on the wall in the background and the knife he’s holding looks like a shard of rock.

Finally, there is Hera, in a prison uniform but looking healthy and alive. She warns the people guarding her that they’re “in terrible trouble.” She knows Kanan is coming- and he’s not messing around. The little white blur in the screencap above is a stormtrooper being thrown out of the window. When it comes to Hera, Kanan shows no mercy. Pity those who stand in between Kanan and Hera; they will never stand a chance.

So, as evidenced by all the previous times in a Lothal Jedi temple, we are probably back in one- it’s the same designs as the before, the same starry backdrop. In the top right corner, there is a drawing of a snake. This likely doesn’t have much significance, but it does remind me of the pictures in the Lothal caves. Additionally, the triangle shape looks kinda like a one-dimensional picture of a holocron, and no, I am not grasping at straws, I am just analyzing every single thing I see and hoping it means something.

And in this temple, what do we see? A convor!!!!! Hints of Ahsoka, NEW hints of Ahsoka AT LAST!  Not only that, but it’s the same color convor as the one at the end of Twilight of the Apprentice, the one that appeared just before the last shot of Ahsoka Tano we have to date. Not to mention, of course, that this bird has the same color scheme as the Sister from the Mortis arc- yes, the one who gave her life for Ahsoka. She’s coming y’all. There’s no doubt about it.

Ugh, the hair. Hera hates it, and so do I. However, he does look so young. Less like a man weighed down by tragedy and war. More like the man Hera first knew, when he was more free, more innocent, more open and blatantly in love with her (not that he isn’t now). It’s a callback to what once was, to who he was as Caleb Dume, and what could have been, in simpler times, happy and free and just a man who wanted to escape his past with Hera. The young look and short hair a very effectively conveys this message, and I think they are both realizing: that they should treasure and love each other while they still have the chance, before the war prevents that from ever happening.

Back to action! Loth wolves running while a Loth-cat watches on. They have been important figures, both to the plot of the story and in Ezra’s journey with the Force. I have no doubt they’ll remain important ‘till the very last episode. 

EVERYONE IS TOGETHER! The crew, Kallus, Rex and Gregor (Wolffe noticeably absent), Kallus, Hondo, Ketsu, Ryder and what looks like Governor Pryce in handcuffs. What a party. Forces are united! Everyone is brought together for the end, and the series won’t end without a proper goodbye, without doing each character justice.

Fighting on Lothal! An epic battle comes, no doubt waged by Thrawn.

Thrawn appears once in the whole trailer. This makes me wonder how big of a role he’ll play, but then again, he could just be pushed aside in the trailer to make room for the main themes of the show. Either way, it looks like he’s doing his job of making life hard for the Rebels. No matter the size of his role, there’s little doubt he’ll go down without a fight. His story will likely take a major turn, and because of the significance of his character, we’ll probably get some answers as to his fate. He’s too important to be killed off or finished in a comic or a book, so the best choice is in this show… or in whatever Filoni is working on next.

But Lothal is under attack and Thrawn’s assassin is back too. Obviously, this is not going to be an easy fight. I do believe the Rebels will win, but at what cost, I cannot say. Besides Hera, Chopper and Rex, who have been cryptically confirmed to survive to and past the Battle of Endor, I’m not certain of any character’s survival. Remembering that this is supposed to be a children’s show, I don’t think any of the Ghost Crew will die, but Kanan and Ezra are conspicuously absent from the OT, so it’s more or less a given that something will happen and they have to leave. As for the side characters like Kallus, all bets are off. Anything can happen, but I truly believe that Filoni will do his characters and their stories justice, no matter what happens.

This next really cool shot looks like it’s on an Imperial Star Destroyer or base. Judging by Ryder’s presence and the backdrop, it’s probably still on Lothal. Whatever they’re doing- looks like an infiltration mission- I hope it goes well.

MORE CALLBACKS TO THE MORTIS ARC! Ezra’s stance here immediately reminded me of when Anakin had to choose to save Ahsoka or Obi-wan on Mortis win the screencap below. I noticed the way the light permeates the floor, just like the surface of Malachor, and the golden designs on the edges look like the white designs from inside the Lothal Temple. Again, this is a significant parallel with Ezra and Anakin’s struggle with the Light and Dark side of the Force, as well as what occured on Mortis with Ahsoka.

SHEEV PALPATINE ENTERS! He says Ezra’s name; he is a threat, he is taunting him and he appears in a blaze of blue fire.

HOWEVER he’s not in the flesh!

This shot is really, really brief, but I slowed it down to see better. Ezra, while engulfed in the same blue fire, is in the Lothal temple: he’s in the stormtrooper armor from earlier, and the backdrop is the same too. It took me like 930 times watching the trailer to pick up on this. But there now is the bigger threat- the Emperor knows who Ezra is, can probably sense his past (possibly current?) struggles with the Dark Side, and wants Ezra to join him. I’m not sure if they’ll ever meet face-to-face, but it could mean that Thrawn has orders to capture, not kill Ezra. 

I think this is the King of the Wolves. 

Okay, I have no idea what’s actually happening here. Maybe this wolf is like the Bendu- maybe it has answers, maybe it can guide Ezra, but ultimately, I have no idea of the true significance of the wolves. We’ll have answers soon enough though. 12 days left!

Here is Rukh fighting Kanan! I think is this fairly early on as Hera is still in her prison uniform from earlier (pictured below). The weapon he is using looks like an Electrostaff, like the ones General Grievous’ guards used.

Then, there are shots of more fighting (and Hera being the best pilot in the galaxy) with everyone, from Death troopers to Hondo, Sabine has Ezra’s lightsaber, and the Imperial base flies so that’s exciting BUT THEN

THE BIGGEST AND MOST OBVIOUS REFERENCE TO MORTIS: THIS GIANT MURAL. Given the Lothal mounds behind the Father and that Ezra is still in his stormtrooper armor, this is in the Lothal temple. On the shoulder of the Sister is the Convor, with the same colors as before. I really think, besides Ahsoka, that we will get to see the bigger picture of the Force, as we have with the wolves and the Bendu, and in the Clone Wars with the Mortis arc. Again analyzing shapes, I noticed that there are a lot of circles in this design, similar to the white designs in the previous shots of Ezra in the temple. The left hands of all three figures are circled too- but with my current knowledge, I have no idea if that actually means something. Another continuation in this design is the way the light floods through the background- again, like on Malachor, on Mortis and a little like the stars in the background of the temple.

You know, I’m not sure who this is, but if you zoom in, you can see a nose sticking out from the cowl of the cloak. I’m going to say it’s Palpatine. It’s an identifiable feature.

Ezra says: “I know what we have to do know” which answers his question from the FIRST Season 4 trailer, where he was wondering what to do and how to fight. Ezra has new confidence, and I believe he found it with the Force. The majority of the preceding shots have been centered around his relationship with the Force, and his trust in in could lead to the answers he seeks; whatever they may be.

WOLVES IN THE BACKGROUND EPIC AND CONFIDENT EZRA WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

I’m still not sure. He says “One last lesson” which is really vague and there is so much we don’t know about the wolves. But I truly believe Ezra gains knowledge from the Force and the wolves; there is such great mystery here. Hopefully, all will become clear soon enough.

Then the trailer ends! Really, the overarching message seems to be of family, of hope, and of Ezra’s journey with Lothal and the Force. It’s beautifully done, and I can’t wait to see it played out in the rest of the season. Two weeks to go! 

If you read this entire thing, thank you. I know it’s very long, but please discuss! I want to know your thoughts. Agree? Disagree? Let me know!

[glompcat]

While you're ranking star wars things: top 5 characters you'd like to see in live action

I am ranking things in general, not only Star Wars related things!

That said:

1. Ahsoka Tano - Rosario Dawson has been rather vocal about wanting to play her sometime, and Lucasfilm REALLY should take her up on that. Also Kaeden Larte should be there too. And Miara. 

2. Sabine Wren - I love Sabine so so so much, and would be overjoyed to see something focused on my favorite Mandalorian artist. I admit in part she is so high on this list because I’d want to see Tiya Sircar play her in live action as well and I have a massive crush on her, BUT STILL. (Also the rest of the surviving Rebels cast and especially Ketsu can join her)

3. Rae Sloane - Hello yes, please show me Grand Admiral THIS IS MY EMPIRE in live action, please and thanks. Seriously though, I’d love an anthology thing all about what happened when the First Order reached Wild Space and how they met Snoke and how he took command of her fleet away from her.

4. Eleodie Maracavanya. Just, Eleodie Maracavanya. Give me a movie about the Pirate Ruler of Wild Space Lucasfilm. Do it. There is so much to explore here, so many stories about what is going on for those living on the edge of space capturing ships and creating their own rules. Plus we’d get to hear all the fanboys cry about the badass pirate using zhe/zher pronouns. Seriously though, I need a movie about the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya.

5. This one is hard as it is the only slot I have left and there are so so so so so many characters I want to put here. Ciena Ree. Evaan Verlaine. Shara Bey. Norra Wexley. Sana Starros. Iden Versio. But at the end of the day I know who belongs here. Chelli Lorna Aphra. We all know Doctor Aphra can carry her own story. That she is fun and there are a thousand stories to tell about her doing her Indiana Jones thing as the Murder Droids now boss her about. There are so many stories about Aphra to tell, and I am interested in consuming all of them. Plus, if we got a live action Aphra, maybe, maybe, just maybe, the artists who draw her will finally actually take note of the fact she is East Asian and stop whitewashing her (Here’s looking at you Marco Checchetto). Because holy shit that nonsense needs to STOP.

[ambiguityisnoonesfriend]

Chocolate Box 2018 Letter

Dear Cupid,

I am very easy to please. All my prompts and ideas are vague suggestions. As long as the relationships I request are the focus, I’m going to be thrilled with whatever you come up with.

The Silmarillion

Nienor/Turin: 

I am deeply into the tragedy of these two doomed characters. I eat up the identity porn aspect and the places where things could have gone differently. What would have happened if Niënor's enchantment was never broken? What if it was broken after their child was born? How would they have dealt with what they did and didn't know if they didn't suicide out of their problems? I am not interested in AUs where they aren’t related. I am heavily interested in AUs where everything went very differently, either in a happily ever after where they never find out (I know, I know, no one gets a HEA in the Silm and I am okay with that), or one of their near-misses of finding each other earlier on didn’t miss, or even Turin didn’t fuck up one of the several times he fucked up, and everything went in a different direction.

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Depa & Mace, Depa & Mace & Obi-Wan:

I am ridiculously obsessed with Depa, and her interpersonal relationships with others. Mace was her Master and her best friend once upon a time, and it's implied heavily in the Kanan comic that Obi-Wan was also good  friends with her. I'd love to see more about her younger days, maybe back when she was a Padawan to one of the greatest Jedi Masters of all time, or spending time with her fellow younglings, or both. As an art prompt, I would be ecstatic for something like Little Depa in her robes beside Adult Mace with or without goofy Little Obi-Wan.

I'd also be interested in seeing her as an adult, and how that transition went with Mace from teacher and student to friend and equal. I'm open to either Legends continuity or the new continuity, and I'd be fascinated to see a reimagining of the Shatterpoint plot or fallout in the new continuity. Not the whole novel, obviously, but maybe a scene of what went differently between them to make her ending what we got in this continuity instead of the old one.

I'm more interested in the friendship aspects of these three characters but I also don't mind if it gets mildly shippy.

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Rey/Kylo: 

I went into TLJ expecting to get nothing for this pairing except maybe one dream sequence. I came out loving them even more. I love this pairing for all the potential. They are opposites. They are exactly the same. Each is incredibly jealous of the other. They keep being drawn together like two ends of a stretched spring, and the only question is if they’ll fuck, fight to the death, or both. My fondest hope is both. I love all variations of dubcon for these two, from The Force Made Them Do It and Sex Pollen, to Forced To Work Together For Reasons. I tend to believe Finn is the most important person in Rey's life, which could be wonderfully angsty for her as she can't figure out why she's linked to Kylo instead, or a situation where Kylo is forced to save Finn to make Rey happy.  Force bond sex also very welcome!

Leia & Ben, Leia & Ben & Han: The pain and the angst and the love in this broken family is the gift that keeps on tearing my heart out and I love it. Ben didn't hate Han, so what caused the rift that led to everything between/among them even before he went away with Luke? What would the final fallout be between Leia and Kylo after TLJ?

Luke/Leia: I was ready for this ship to be sunk in the movie. I was not expecting to walk out shipping it even harder. I want all the angsty history post-ROTJ. Luke Denying his feelings. Leia denying hers. The times denying those feelings failed. I ship the trio, so Han can know, or he can be in the dark, or he can participate, or he can be completely absent. Emphasis on how they know it's a bad idea but they can't not love each other, whatever twisted form that love winds up taking. Were they also Force bonded, and did this turn into Force bond sex, which might be why Luke went oh hell no later?

Star Wars Rebels:

Let me begin with saying I am deeply into "Everybody lives and everything is fine and no one has to die I can't hear you" right now as the final ending for this series. For ships, I am super committed to Kanan/Hera or else no mention of ships at all for either. For background ships, I prefer Sabine/Ketsu and Zeb/Kallus, otherwise please no other ships.  Rebels specific DNW: no character death, except for what was canon in ANH (Alderaan, Obi-Wan, etc)

Kanan/Hera, Kanan/Hera & Chopper, Hera & Chopper:

It's strongly implied that Chopper was Hera's only friend before Kanan came along. She would have met him when she was around eight to ten years old, and given the timing and the history with Cham, Chopper was likely her only support when her mother died. If this were an 80s movie, the pair of them would have a heartwarming relationship where he was her cuddly friend. Instead he's an astromech who swears all the time and she's a driven, closed-off radical intent on overthrowing the government. How did they grow together, and what happened when she brought aboard an alcoholic drifter who is suddenly competing with Chopper for her attention?

Kanan & Hera & Sabine & Ezra, Hera & Sabine, Kanan & Sabine:

I appreciate the complaints about found family tropes in fanfiction, and how it's frequently substituted  with a severe lack of boundaries and unrealistic closeness. That said, this show went there first from the pilot. I love the semi-functional family unit where at any one point someone might act as parent, sibling, or military direct superior. I love how Hera and Kanan are very hands-on with Ezra and very hands-off with Sabine. I'd love to see more of them interacting on this level, especially now that there's so little time left for them to just be together. The show has given us plenty of Kanan & Ezra, so more of a focus on how Kanan and Hera have parented Sabine or the two kids together is preferred. Zeb and Chopper are more than welcome to come along.

Kanan & Depa: 

They had less than a year together as master and student. What would have happened without Order 66? How would their relationship have grown? What would he say to her Force ghost considering the life he's lived here and the choices he's made? How would she react, and would those reactions surprise him or put him on the defensive?

Ezra/Leia, Ezra/Luke, Ezra/Luke/Leia:

I love the idea of Ezra and Luke meeting up after the original trilogy and finding someone who understands what it's like to be them. I love the idea of Leia and Ezra dating briefly during the early Rebellion days with an emphasis on bad dates or failsex. I love the concept of the younger Rebels post ANH all living on the same bases and dating one another.

Likes: toppy women and partners who are turned on by toppy women, humor, endings with hope intact, functional relationships, dysfunctional relationships, secret relationships that aren’t really a secret, canon divergence AUs such as what if they got there five minutes sooner, porn, fluff, friends with benefits, kidfic and pregnancy including mpreg and fpreg (do not like: pregnancy or kidfic with Rey and Kylo, do love: weird preg “because aliens”)

Specific porn likes: failsex including interrupted during or instead of sex, cunnilingus, both slash and het anal, light bondage, sex pollen, aliens make them do it, the Force or similar makes them do it, mental connections during sex, mental connections as a substitute for sex, using the Force during sex including light Force choking, Force ghost sex

Specific art likes: two or three panel simple line comics, playing card or tarot card type imagery, setting a scene, magic and metaphor

Do not want: noncon (as above, yes for dubcon and sex pollen), scat, watersports, omegaverse, unrequested ships except as mentioned, non-canon AUs such as coffeeshops, Poe, DJ, Holdo, Lux, Fëanor