Tumgik
#next will be some Sabine action
starwarsshippings · 8 months
Text
I find it kind of hilarious how they gave Hera and Ahsoka god awful contact lenses that stick out about a mile just for canon sake, and yet Ahsoka still doesn't have Lekku that even somewhat closely resembles her animated counterpart lol. They sure have their priorities right over there at LF don't they?
7 notes · View notes
fabseg-reader · 2 months
Text
Miraculous fanart: Chloenette Date + Miraculous rewriting: Chloenette AU (Prologue)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
This is a Chloenette image and it exists in two versions (left: Normal version; right: lipstickprint/post-kiss version).
I think about an AU that diverges from the canon (Miraculous but Chloé is one of Marinette's love interests (alongside with Adrien and Luka and Zoé)).
Season 1 rewrite
Season 2 rewrite
The Story and its changes:
Prologue/Before the Season 1:
Marinette and Chloé are childhood friends.
Chloé is still a bully. She keeps her rude tone (Chloé being Chloé) towards the Miraclass but with a moderate level (drastically less bully than her canon counterpart during the pre-Queen Bee period (Season 1-2) and the Derision flashback).
Chloé commits some bad actions against random teens for fun (roasting language, pranks, school expellement threats) but she makes these at the low level, She is a "semi-bully".
Identically to canon, Sabine is still worried about Marinette and sees Chloé as a bad influence on her daughter. She calls Soqueline for care/protect Marinette.
Effectively, Soqueline knows Chloé is a problematic case at the Françoise Dupont school.
Soqueline wants to get Marinette away from Chloé for bring the former to the good path (even if Marinette is globally preserved from the Chloé's bullying if it was a little bit of).
Marinette has issues with her mother when Chloé is the subject of the conversation. Meanwhile, Sabine respects Marinette's choices.
Chloé is attracted by both Marinette and Adrien (Sorry, Sabrina ! 🤷‍♂️).
Following the next years (prior to the Season 1), Chloé develops a crush to Marinette and she gradually expresses that with her own manner. But Marinette misunderstands her. She just believes the "bully" is joking.
Marinette already knows Adrien but only from Chloé's words.
Adrien hears about Marinette but she never met before (because of the education his father imposes to him)
Chloé sees Sabrina as her associate (not yet equal friend but not sidekick).
Marinette is aware Chloé has a questionable behavior but she continues to hang out with her. She is hoping the blondie can be improved into a good girl.
At the classroom, Marinette seats with Chloé. But she switches places with Sabrina, her second friend (a more normal girl than Chloé in the beginning). That depends of Chloé's decisions.
In the beginning, Marinette's and Sabrina's relationship is a normal/classical friendship (not besties but equal).
In this universe, Marinette has no reasons to run away from Chloé because they are already "friends". So, she doesn't need any protection and she hasn't any interest to Kim. She just considers him as an ordinary trustful friend.
In this AU, the events of Marinette's flashback from Derision (5.14) never happened too (no trauma).
But Marinette will eventually suffer a love incident: It will happen at the Grand Hôtel when she finally accepts Chloé's feelings. The date will be supposed to be an experimentation for Marinette. It would be perfect for the two girls until someone comes to mess it all.
The person who will ruin the Chloenette will be not Sabrina, neither Kim (who dates with Ondine), neither Audrey (Chloé's mom who is still at New York in this moment) or neither Adrien (who is mourning his mother's "death"). It will be Socqueline.
Socqueline will have decided to secretly follow Marinette in mission of protecting her after she will have seen her to enter to the Grand Hotel (Chloé's home). Worried, she will come to thé Chloé's bedroom and she will surprise the two girls kissing each other on the bed (interupting them).
That will be enough for Marinette. Ashamed by the situation, Marinette will become mad, upset and angry towards Socqueline because of her overprotective behavior. It would have enough. And a infuriated Chloé will yell both Marinette and Socqueline to go out of here.
Marinette will eventually end up her friendship with Socqueline next to the incident. The latter will be sad and remorseful after the incident.
The last day of school, Chloé will announce to Marinette she breaks up considering the idea of romance between them as a ridiculous "mistake". By circumstance, the incident has affected the two girls. 💔
Marinette becomes the protagonist we know as in Canon.
Chloé remains the classical bully from the show. Despite she is still attracted on Marinette, she represses her feelings by turning her interest to Adrien.
End of the Prologue.
Tumblr media
Bonus: Extended (sorry for the design of teenage people but it was fast)
Tumblr media
From left to right:
Socqueline silently objects the cursed odd ship. She is resigned to respect Marinette's feelings.
Sabrina is heartbroken. She just wanted to confess her love to Chloé since the previous years but Chloé always didn't have cared about.
Zoé feels like troubled and sad about seeing her love interest and her half-sister dating each other. She is supposed to confess to Marinette.
Adrien feels like ignored while he sees his love pretendants making their date. In this AU, he can be used to be single. Plagg is hidden behind his holder's back.
Alya is confused. Her best friend dates her "bully".
Lila Cerise discretly watches the scene from afar with a sadistical gratification. She is planning to ruin the Chloenette couple for enact revenge for her exposure as "Lila Rossi". What girl do Cerise could destroy her life first (Marinette or Chloé) ? Or what girl do Cerise could seduce first ? (attempted Cerisette plan) 😈
The basis for this post:
83 notes · View notes
moonflowerdamie · 5 months
Text
the injury of finally knowing you
Tumblr media
Word Count: 7.9k
Title from 'Unknown/Nth' by Hozier
*****
You’re frozen. Sabine is skewered on the end of a guttering orange lightsaber, her eyes wide in shock and pain, immobilised, and you’re frozen.
You’d heard her distress call, you and Ahsoka both, and had come as quickly as you could. You’d both drawn your sabers—the blue of yours with the white of your master’s lighting up the interior of the rattling ship—before Huyang had even opened the drop-doors. Ready to fight, ready for action.
And then Sabine’s assailant had turned in the headlights and you’d turned to stone.
It’s been years—years­—and her hair is different, her frame taller and leaner, but you know those eyes. You’d know them anywhere.
“Shin.” You breathe, and you feel something you thought was dead reawaken in your chest.
She meets your eyes for a split-second, fear and anger and brief recognition flashing across her face, before she turns tail and runs.
She doesn’t look back.
*****
Once Sabine is stabilised in the medbay on Lothal, Ahsoka finds you.
“You knew her.” You look up from your hands. Your master leans against the door to Sabine’s room, staring at you with an unreadable expression. You hate it when she does that; it makes you feel scrutinised, like the Togruta is peeling back the layers of your skin, staring at your very essence.
“The mercenary.” She prompts after a moment of silence. You sigh. Though the conversation was almost certainly inevitable, you’d hoped it could wait until after Sabine was up and about again; she was a pain in the ass, but your best friend, and you’d always dealt with things better when she was around. Things, this time, being the sudden reappearance of a girl you’d thought was lost to you.
“I do. I used to, anyway.”
Ahsoka stays quiet but raises an eyebrow. Go on, she gestures.
“Back on Aris, my home planet—before I got out—Shin was…” you trail off. How do you even begin to describe what you and Shin were to each other? Barely teenagers, you’d found one another in the dusty underworld of your shithole of a planet. Both orphans, friendless, starving, you’d stuck together, first for convenience and necessity, and then, after trust was built and connection found, for companionship. She’d been your only light in the darkness of your life, and you the same for her.
My sunshine, that’s what she used to call you. With that achingly fond smile, the one that made your heart skip and your hands shake. She’d brush her hands against your cheek, brush lips against your temple, and then you’d share the food you’d both scavenged for the day, huddled together for warmth in some back alley or abandoned building.
What had you been to each other? Something undefined, something unable to be put into words. You’d sunk desperate teeth into one another, searching for survival, searching for a home neither of you had anymore. She stuck to the back of your teeth even now, over a decade later. How on earth could you compress what Shin had been to you into something understandable?
“Shin was my friend.” Is what you settle on, averting your eyes, swallowing harshly. “We hung around together when we were kids. Scavenged food, kept each other out of trouble.”
“What happened?” Your master asks and you wince at the memory of what came next.
“There was a man. Baylan, he said his name was. Came to us both one night saying he could…he could sense us. The Force, I mean.” You bring your hands together in your lap and take a breath, fighting to keep your voice steady. “He said he wanted to train us, to—to help us, and…”
You still remember the look on Shin’s face, how her eyes had glimmered as Baylan spoke of freedom, of power beyond your wildest dreams. You feel sick even now, just thinking of it.
“He offered to get us out. To take us with him, away from Aris. I…I didn’t trust him. He felt—dark. But Shin, she didn’t listen when I told her something was up with him.”
You had fought that night, your first and only fight. Shin was frustrated that you couldn’t see the opportunity Baylan was offering, and you were afraid. Afraid of what would become of you if you went with this stranger. Afraid of the girl you knew—the girl you loved—being changed into something she wasn’t. And so—
“Shin left. She went with Baylan, and I stayed on Aris for a few more years. Then, made my way to you. I never saw her again. Until last night.”
You’re trembling by the end of your story, and Ahsoka places a gentle hand on your shoulder. Heart clenching, you swallow back the lump in your throat. Pull it together.
“She had a padawan braid.” Sitting up, swiping a hand down your face, you focus up. Ahsoka nods.
“Which means she’s probably taking the map to her master—to Baylan.”
“We have to get it back, Master.”
“We do. We will.”
*****
The next time you see Shin, she tries to kill you.
Sabine and Ahsoka are occupied with the other one, with his full-face mask and spinning double-saber, leaving you to chase after her.
You call her name through the trees that seem to cover half the surface of Seatos, and when she stops running and turns to face you, there’s a wildness in her eyes that takes the breath from your lungs.
“Shin.” You say again, voice soft, panting from your race through the forest. Her jaw ticks at the sound of her name, hands clenched in fists by her sides. You take a step towards her, hoping for—you don’t even know what you were hoping for—and then her lightsaber ignites and comes swinging at you.
You manage to dodge her strike, heart cracking as you grab your own weapon and ignite the blue blade, not even getting a chance to decide if you really want to do this—if you really will fight her, the girl you once rested your head upon, who once called you sunshine with adoration in her eyes—before she’s attacking again, lightsaber arcing towards your head.
You catch the swing and hold it, grunting in effort as she bears down. Your faces are inches apart, lit by the glow of your weapons, and a warring plethora of emotions rage against your ribcage.
A part of you wants to step back, to sheath your blade and plead with her. You want to tell her you were wrong not to go with her, that she was wrong to leave—that no matter what, you should’ve stayed together, because she had been your only family for years and you had loved her and—fuck—you love her now, even still, after all this time.
But this is not the Shin you once knew. This girl, with snarling, snapping teeth and feral eyes, she is not the girl you once called home. She is changed, just as you feared she would be, and you sense that if you try to reason with her, she will simply run you through, just as she did Sabine.
So, you grit your teeth. Push back against her and send her stumbling back a step. And when you collide again, both of you have murder in your eyes.
The fighting is brutal and quick; Shin is clearly well-trained and you barely manage to parry her strikes, using all your energy to keep yourself in the battle. Your blades clash and hum angrily, lighting up the clearing as you charge each other.
You’re not sure you’d have survived if not for Ahsoka and Sabine taking out Shin’s accomplice. Your knees are close to buckling, arms shaking violently as Shin’s head whips around to see her masked partner dissolve in a burst of green smoke. Shock is evident on her face, lips parting and eyes widening, and she steps away from you. Your arms drop to your sides, breath escaping you in wheezes and coughs.
There’s a moment then, where you see the chance: her attention is drawn, she’s distracted; you could just kill her now, one clean slice, and be rid of her. But you know the way she haunts you—her memory has lingered for over a decade now, slicking your gums, nestling in your bones. Death would not keep her away.
Besides, some stupid part of you still has hope. Hope that, one day, she will smile at you again, call you sunshine in that lilting accent of hers, and you will finally come home to each other.
That day seems a long way off when she turns back to you, fury boiling over in her eyes, before throwing a smoke bomb at your feet and racing away.
*****
Ahsoka goes over the cliff, Sabine hands over the map to Baylan, and all in all, it could’ve gone better.
Now, you’re sitting in a holding cell—bare, apart from the solid metal ledge you suppose counts as a bed—with your hands bound and your head absolutely pounding, flying on a giant golden ring through hyperspace towards perhaps the one man with the power to restart the Empire. Outnumbered, outgunned, and fresh out of ideas. Fucking brilliant.
You’re leaning back with your eyes shut and your head on the cool metal of the cell, trying to alleviate your headache, when the door to your prison slides open with a hiss.
You don’t open your eyes. You can sense her now, feel her presence—both of you now being strong with the Force is probably to blame for that extra fun little sixth sense.
“What do you want?” You ask flatly. Defeated, exhausted and more than a little angry, you want to be left alone.
Shin doesn’t answer, but you hear her step into the room, the door sliding shut behind her.
You sigh and open your eyes, staring defiantly up at her as she lingers by the entrance. She’s watching you, eyes intense but also curious. Her lightsaber hangs from her belt, a visible threat, but you don’t feel anger coming from her like you did on Seatos. The air sizzles with unspoken words and thick tension.
“Y/N.” She finally speaks, and it feels like a relief to hear your name rounded by her voice after so many years. It seems to catch between her teeth though, uncertain, and you huff out a mirthless laugh.
“So you do remember me.”
“Of course I remember you.” She almost spits, that familiar fury bubbling under her tone, and you raise an eyebrow. You see her swallow, eyelids fluttering, reigning herself in.
“It’s been a while.” You remark, unsure of what to do. She has all the power here; you’re on her ship, shackled in her prison, weaponless, armourless, defenceless. Yet somehow you feel her wavering. She seems just as uncertain as you, just as…lost.
She inclines her head in agreement and takes a step forward, saying nothing. You keep quiet too, for no other reason than you simply do not know what to say. What can you say? To Shin, what can even be said? ‘You have changed and it scares me but somehow you still keep a piece of my heart’? ‘You left me and it damn near killed me, but god you’re so pretty it hurts’? No, you can say none of it, none of how you feel, so you stay silent.
“You’re a Jedi now.” She ventures after a while and you shrug.
“I guess. I’m not fully trained yet, plus Ahsoka isn’t technically a Jedi, so.”
Another stretch of silence.
“What’s it like?”
You cock your head in confusion. Shin looks smaller now, more vulnerable, and it baffles you. Angers you too. She has you locked up in here, comes to see you of her own free will after god knows how many years apart, just to..what? Make small talk? Fuck that.
“What’s it like? You left me, left me stranded on that hellhole without a second thought, tried to kill me and have taken me prisoner and you come here to ask what training to be a Jedi is like?” You say, venom in your tone, hands clenching into fists as rage climbs the ladder of your ribcage.
Shin starts towards you, eyebrows furrowing. Her mouth opens to reply but you cut her off, lost to the currents of your rising anger.
“We were supposed to stick together, Shin, that was how it worked. I needed you and you needed me and we survived together.” You rise from your seat, blood roaring in your ears, heart pounding as all the hurt, all the confusion and the pain and the anger comes flooding out of you.
“I told you not to go with him and you didn’t listen.” You take a step towards her. She is motionless, eyes stuck on you. “I told you not to leave me, and you did it anyway.” You’re getting louder, losing control. You’re barely a metre apart now, your chest heaving as she watches you.
You step into her personal space, inches apart.
“You told me we’d stay together no matter what and you fucking lied. You abandoned me.”
Shin, who has been silent throughout your little rant, finally reacts, mouth drawing into a thin line as you practically corner her against the wall.
“I didn’t abandon you.” She whispers, and her voice is hurt. It surprises you enough to suck in a quick breath, eyes darting about her face. “We were both supposed to go with Baylan. You were supposed to come too.”
It feels like your heart is crumbling to dust as you stare at her, realising the pain she’s in. You can see her clearly, can see the girl you knew hiding behind a hard mask of stoic indifference. She’s still there, just tucked away behind anger and hurt and suffering, and it feels like breathing for the first time to know it.
“Shin.” You breathe, wanting to reach for her but your hands are bound; wanting to run from her but the door is locked. All you can do is stare, try to convey everything you’re feeling with the weight you put on her name.
The moment is broken by the communications panel of her vambrace beeping loudly and insistently. You step back, dazed, blinking and trying to come back to yourself. Shin seems similarly disarmed, shaking her head and clearing her throat before looking down at the message. She furrows her brow. You want to ask her what’s wrong, want to ask her to stay. But you don’t get the chance. She taps a response out, the door to the cell opens, and she leaves without a word.
After she’s gone, the door closed behind her again, you slump back against the wall. Your mind is spinning, heart twisting itself into knots. You don’t know what you’re going to do now—Shin is technically the enemy, and her master killed your master, but she is also the girl you loved, the girl you love, and you feel light-headed with all the complications.
You slide to the ground, rest your head against your knees. You’re fucked and you know it.
*****
Peridea is beautiful, in its own deserted, haunting way. The Noti take you in, and Ezra is going home, Ahsoka is alive and Sabine seems to be making her own peace, and yet you remain restless.
It’s not just being stuck in an unreachable galaxy, far away from everything you’ve ever known, whilst a warlord capable of unspeakable evil speeds away to destroy all you worked to rebuild—though it’s certainly not helping.
Aside from that, you’re restless. And you know why.
You can still feel her.
After the fight, after Ahsoka offered her hand and Shin ran, you’d assumed that would be the last of it. She’d isolate herself on some remote corner of the planet and starve, and you’d finally find some measure of peace. But no.
She’s there—barely—but there all the same. At the edge of your awareness, tiptoeing on the borders of your consciousness. Her presence is hazy, cloudy, but undeniable. You don’t know if she’s a mile away or hundreds, but she’s there. Her confusion, her anger, her desperation…it’s all buzzing just out of reach, millimetres from your fingertips, and you’re not sure if you want to grasp for it or shove it away. You try both. Neither works.
The days roll on and you fall into a routine of sorts: you wake with the sun, spar with Sabine, help out with chores around camp; you meditate with Ahsoka, practice your lightsaber forms and sleep when the moon rises. All of it is permeated by that tickle in the back of your brain, that sense, her.
You know your friends notice the distance in your eyes—both Ahsoka and Sabine approach you separately to ask what’s bothering you, but you give them the same non-answer: ‘I’m just worried about home.’ You can tell neither of them believe you, but thankfully, neither of them push the issue.
You’re sure you’d have gone mildly insane with it, had she not shown up that night.
*****
The hand slapped over your mouth jolts you from a turbulent sleep, and your eyes widen in shock as you immediately begin to squirm, trying to throw your attacker off. It’s dark out, with only the stars lighting the sky, and your eyes haven’t adjusted yet, so you can’t see your assailant.
Panic rises in your chest, heart pounding as you try to yell, only for the sound to get muffled by the gloved fingers curling over your lips. You toss and turn, slapping at the arm of your attacker, trying to bite their fingers, kick them, claw them, anything.
“Shh, shh, stop it. It’s me, it’s me.” The person hisses, alarmed, and your body goes slack with a mixture of shock and relief.
“…Shin?” You whisper once the hand is removed from your mouth. You blink rapidly, and Shin’s face comes into focus above yours. Her eyes are wide and frantic, dirt smudged across her cheeks. She looks wild, looks skittish, and you can’t even begin to describe how you’re feeling.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Is what comes out of your mouth after you’ve composed yourself a little, sitting up quickly, narrowly avoiding headbutting her.
She shuffles backwards and her eyes dart to the ground, like she hadn’t expected the question. That pisses you off to no end—she fucking snuck into your camp in the dead of night, like some kind of predator, and now she has the audacity to look sheepish?!
“Seriously, Shin, start talking, or I swear to—”
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
Her voice is small, weak, and it’s just then that you notice the way her left arm is hanging, slack and limp, by her side. Blood covers her armour and sleeve, some dried and some still dripping, and immediately your brows furrow.
“What happened?” Your tone is low and concerned, and you reach for her hand without even thinking about it. She flinches away and you draw your hand back quick as lightning. You mutter an apology under your breath.
“Bandits. I tried to join them…to rule them, but they mutinied. I wasn’t quick enough. One of them got me with their sword.”
There’s pain in her voice now, and it’s clear to you that she’s struggling. She wouldn’t have come to you unless she really needed help.
Part of you wants to turn her away. Wants to tell her to get lost and to stay the hell away from you; there’s still a lot of unresolved tension between the two of you, with your history both old and recent. She’d abandoned you. She’d tried to kill you, for heaven’s sake.
But, looking into her eyes, you see that girl you knew on Aris. You see Shin, your Shin, and you know you can’t leave her like this. You sigh. Stand up and jut your chin towards the log settlement around the fire in the middle of camp.
“Come on, then.” You start walking, not waiting for her to follow. You start gathering the supplies you’ll need to clean and wrap her wound, and when you turn back around, you see Shin sat by the fire, warming her hands. It’s pitiful and endearing in equal amounts, and you shake your head to try and rid yourself of those soft-rounded thoughts.
Once you have everything you need, you take a seat next to her. Her eyes dart your way, a flicker of…something glimmering deep within them, but you can’t afford to overanalyse right now—not with how blood still drips from Shin’s fingers, how she has started to shiver.
“I need to touch you to help you.” You murmur, warning her, and she nods faintly in return, turning back to face the fire. The flames cast a warm glow over her cheeks, making her seem softer. That biting edge, that snarling fury you’ve come to know of her seems a distant memory as you begin to cut away her sleeve, being mindful not to nick her skin or graze the wound.
A quiet sigh of relief escapes your lips once you finally see the full extent of the wound; it’s a deep cut—you can see where the sword bit into her arm, swung likely with a fair amount of force—and it’s probably causing Shin a decent amount of pain, but it doesn’t look like it’ll cause lasting damage. It’ll almost definitely scar, but she’ll heal. She’ll be alright.
You’re not sure why that makes you feel so much quieter inside.
The process of cleaning her arm is methodical, relaxing. You lose yourself in it for a while. Silence settles over the two of you like a comfortable blanket, enveloping you in a world of your own, and you haven’t felt this peaceful since before Lothal.
Surprisingly, it’s Shin who speaks first. You’ve applied some bacta to the cut, wiped the blood and grime away, and you’re just waiting for her to bolt—the job finished, your services no longer required—when she opens her mouth.
“Baylan abandoned me.”
The words are measured, quiet, but you can hear the betrayal and the hurt seeping into her tone. You swallow, unsure of what to say, but she continues before you can start rambling.
“He said he could sense something here. A great power, greater than the witches. He told me to kill you, Sabine and Ezra, then join Thrawn. Then he was just…gone.”
Shin’s lower lip is trembling, eyes glazing over, and an ache of sympathy pangs in your chest. The bond between a Master and a Padawan is almost unbreakably strong—to have it shut off like that, cut so abruptly, must be agony. You felt a little of it when you thought Ahsoka was dead, and you know that if she actually were to perish, or, Makers forbid, abandon you, you would feel it like a knife through the heart.
“Shin, I—” You start, but she cuts you off, head turning to face you, and you see clearly the tear sliding down her cheek.
“He was like my father.” And there is rage now, undercutting her sorrow. “Why did he leave me?”
It’s a question you cannot answer. Yet she looks at you with such desperation, like you’re her anchor as she is tossed about by towering waves, that you wish so gravely that you could.
You don’t know what compels you then—she had flinched back when you tried before—but she looks so angry, so sad, so broken, that you reach for her. To your surprise, she meets you halfway, collapsing into your arms, burying her head in your shoulder. You wrap your arms around her, let her cry silent tears as your heart beats out of your chest.
Holding Shin, feeling her pressed up against you, is something you haven’t had in a very long time. It takes you back to a simpler time, to nights snuggled together for warmth; to blushing smiles and brushing hands and eyes that looked like home. It breaks open something you’d buried and tears of your own gather in the corners of your eyes.
She pulls away after what feels like seconds, like an eternity, and clears her throat, swiping harshly at her eyes. You feel cold almost immediately, the absence of her touch chilling your skin.
“Sorry.” She mutters gruffly and you shake your head, waving her off. The air between the two of you is changed now, somewhat awkward but still charged.
“What are you going to do now?” You venture to ask after a moment. It’s a valid question; after all, Thrawn and his ship are gone, Baylan is off on his mysterious quest and the bandits (whatever’s left of them) have made clear that Shin isn’t welcome with them. Her future seems highly uncertain.
“I don’t know.” She replies, shifting uncomfortably. Clearly she hadn’t thought about what came next after you’d patched her up. “I can’t go back to the bandits.”
“Yeah, no shit.” You murmur and she chuckles, a low sound from the back of her throat, and it brings a smile to your face. Quiet falls between the two of you again.
In the silence, in the gaps between your breaths, an idea starts to take root. It’s stupid and illogical and entirely driven by your nonsensical heart, but once it plants itself, it grows and grows and grows, until it covers every corner of your mind like ivy.
“You could…stay?” And it’s out of your mouth before you can catch it. Your own eyes widen in surprise at what you’ve just suggested; Shin is the enemy. She’s tried to kill you, had damn near killed Sabine, has hunted you and hurt you. There’s a darkness in her that almost scares you, and she is so far from the girl you once knew, but she isn’t at the same time. She’s Shin, feral and furious, but still Shin, all the same. You look in her eyes, and you still see home.
You lost her once. You won’t lose her again.
“With us, I mean.” You carry on, confidence seeping into your voice as you fall more in love with the idea. “Ahsoka already offered and the Noti would appreciate the extra help.”
Shin’s expression is unreadable. It almost throws you off, but you’ve convinced yourself of this now, and you won’t let her go unpersuaded.
“Stay? Why?” She asks, seeming genuinely curious, as if weighing her options.
“Because you have nowhere else to go. Because you’d have somewhere to sleep here, somewhere to feel safe. Because we have food and water.” You quiet your voice. “Because I’m asking you to.”
Her eyes meet yours at this last sentence, and you think you see something akin to hope blazing in their depths.
Your pulse is hammering as she looks at you. You’ve laid yourself bare, made yourself vulnerable, and your heart is in the palm of her hands. Should she so choose, she could crush it, turn it to bloody pulp between her fingers. The thought of it scares you. But not as much as the thought of her leaving again.
“You want me to stay?” She whispers, voice raw. Her body language is open, fully turned to face you, hands by her sides, eyes wide and searching. She looks, for a second, just as she did the night you first met: shaking, terrified but hopeful, wanting help, wanting a friend, wanting to put down the weight of the world and to just breathe.
The moment feels monumental; make or break. She has your heart in her hands, as you believe you might well have hers.
“I want you to stay.” You whisper back, and with her bashful nod, something inside you knits itself back together.
*****
Sabine is sceptical, to say the least.
Ok, she’s downright furious. Understandable, the rational part of you whispers as your friend draws her saber, she did try to kill her.
“Sabine, please, just listen.” You start, a hand out to placate your angry companion as she stares murderously at the woman standing behind you.
“What the fuck is she doing here.” She spits, eyes narrow and blazing. Ahsoka stands off to the side, arms crossed over her chest, expression unreadable. You sort of wish she’d intervene—after all, she had been the first to offer Shin a place with your group, surely this is what she wanted? But she remains impassive, watching on as you try to talk your best friend down from attacking the silver-haired mercenary.
“It’s ok, I promise. She won’t hurt any of us. Right, Shin?” You call over your shoulder, not taking your eyes off Sabine in case she tries to go for her.
“Right.” Her monotone voice decidedly does not fill you with confidence, and Sabine takes another step towards the two of you.
“Hey, hey, stop.” You raise your voice, panic seeping into your tone. “She’s alone. Baylan left her, the bandits attacked her. She has nowhere else to go.”
“So leave her to it then. Let her rot, what do you care?” Sabine snarls, and you feel Shin’s anger pulse. You try to project calmness into the air, trying to push it both ways between the two women on either side of you. You’re not sure it’s working. Ahsoka, for the love of everything that’s sacred, please step in.
“We have a history. You know this; I told you. Remember?”
It’s true. It had felt wrong to leave your friend out of the loop, so you’d sat her down on one of your first nights on Peridea and told her everything. Your past with Shin, how you’d survived together, and how she’d eventually left you. It doesn’t seemed to have changed anything about how Sabine feels about Shin, judging by the dangerous look in her eyes as she advances.
“I remember her stabbing me. I remember her trying to kill us all on multiple occasions. I remember that she’s the enemy, Y/N.”
“Sabine.” Ahsoka calls, stepping forward at last, and your shoulders lose a little of their tension. You heave a relieved breath, chancing a glance away from your friend towards Shin behind you. She meets your eyes, and behind the frantic gleam, you see her soften. She nods, almost imperceptibly, and you relax even further.
Sabine looks to her master, eyebrows furrowed.
“There is no such thing as enemy out here. On this planet, there can only be survival.” Ahsoka’s voice is level, easy. She speaks softly but firmly, and you nod along with her.
“But Master—”
“Sabine.” The Togruta arches an eyebrow, like a teacher admonishing a schoolchild, and Sabine falls silent. “Shin will have to gain our trust, this is true. But we will give her that opportunity.” She turns to you, and to Shin. “And should she fail—betray us or hurt us in any way—then, and only then, will we, as you say, ‘let her rot’. Is that clear?”
You wait with bated breath for Sabine’s response. Almost unconsciously, you take a step back, closer to Shin, ready to defend her should you need to.
After what feels like an eternity, Sabine sighs. Shakes her head.
“Crystal.” She murmurs, and a ghost of a smile dances on your lips.
*****
It takes a while, but eventually, Shin starts to settle in.
Ahsoka takes over from Baylan with her training—something that had taken a lot of convincing from both you and your master—and the Noti welcome her with open arms (they’re mostly just happy to have someone else to help with the constant moving, but it’s a win and you’ll take it). Sabine even stops trying to murder her with her eyes after a couple of days.
It’s actually pretty painless, the way she slots into your lives on Peridea. She spars with Ahsoka whilst you spar with Sabine, helps out with chores around camp with minimal complaining, goes hunting and returns with fresh kills for the Noti to cook and eat. She’s…calm. Calmer than you’ve ever seen her, come to think of it. Perhaps it’s something to do with community, or belonging, or any of that sentimental bullshit you think about when the stars come out.
Things between you and Shin are complicated, but also unbelievably simple. Simple, in the way that you trust each other (somehow, after everything). In the way that you go to each other when something is wrong, when you are happy, when you need peace. Gravity. Simple gravity, holding the two of you close, keeping you in each other’s orbit. She sleeps beside you at night, and you listen to her breath even out and fall asleep yourself.
She begins to open up more; about Baylan, about her time with him, her travels and fights and the life she’s lived apart from you. You sit around the fire in the evening, after everybody else has gone to bed, and watch the moon rise together. Sometimes, she rests her head on your shoulder, like she did when you were younger, and it makes your heart race every single time.
That’s why it’s complicated.
Complicated, because the more Shin grows comfortable, the more she softens and opens herself up, the more you start to realise just how deep your feelings for her go.
And it’s stupid. It’s absolutely idiotic, nonsensical and just downright dumb. You want to do silly things like hold her hand. You want to brush her hair out of her face after she spars, want to kiss her forehead and hold her at night, and it’s all so out of place. You’re on a graveyard planet, surviving day by day, uncertain whether your home has been destroyed by Thrawn and the Empire, and all you can think about is Shin. Her eyes. Her smile. Her stupid, kissable lips. Fuck, it’s disarming how much you want to kiss those lips.
You kick yourself for it internally, scold yourself every time you catch your thoughts wandering into dangerous territory, but what doesn’t help is the fact that you’re almost certain she feels the same.
It started small—you catching her staring just a little too long across the fire, her getting distracted when sparring with Ahsoka—and you almost hadn’t noticed it. But as the weeks pass and you all settle further into life on Peridea, it becomes more obvious.
A hand on your waist as she passes you. Toothy smiles you’re sure nobody else gets to see. Blushes when you compliment her fighting style or praise her for her contributions to the camp. All of it begins to add up, to the point where now you’re just dancing around each other, waiting for the other to make some kind of move.
It’s maddening. It’s exhilarating.
It is, apparently, glaringly obvious to those around you.
*****
“When are you two gonna stop eye-fucking and actually get together?”
You almost spit your mouthful of food out, eyes nearly bugging out of your head, as Sabine plops herself next to you by the fire. You cough, clearing your throat, before turning to her with incredulity written across your face.
“What?! What are you talking about?”
She gives you a look. A ‘come on, really?’ look. You don’t waver.
“Seriously? You and Shin. When are you gonna woman up and do something about the tension between the two of you?” You sputter and stammer, trying to string a sentence together to deny the truth. Sabine watches you with amusement.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Is what you finally manage to spit out, and she scoffs. You feel your cheeks turn pink and your mouth dries. Is it really that obvious?
“Bullshit. It’s impossible not to notice you two staring at each other, pining all the damn time. It’s annoying. Please do something about it, it’s making her testy. She almost cut my head off when I asked her to stop snoring the other day.”
So yeah, maybe Sabine and Shin have formed something of a friendship. Well, enough of a friendship where Sabine feels safe antagonising Shin without the fear of murder. It’s almost sweet.
You struggle for words, unable to fully explain just how much you want to do something about it, but also just how scared you are. Not just of rejection, but of ruining everything. You and Shin are just getting comfortable together again. She trusts you. Keeps you close again. You don’t wish to jeopardise that by acting on your feelings, no matter how much you want to. It could ruin things between you for good, could scare her away from the camp entirely. And then you’d be abandoned again, heartbroken, and you’re not sure you’d survive that a second time.
“I can’t, ‘bine. It’s just too complicated.”
Sabine snorts, and you’re offended for a full second before she explains herself.
“Is it though?” You tilt your head, confused. She sighs, shakes her head with a wry smile. Softens, a little. “She came back for you. She’s staying for you. We all know it’s not for me and my stellar company.” You chuckle a little at that, a fond smile tugging at the corners of your lips. “She feels the same way about you, you know. My advice? Don’t lose her again.”
Her words strike a chord, and you feel very, very stupid all of a sudden. You meet her eyes.
“Thanks, Sabine.”
“Anytime, Y/N. Now, please, for the love of the Makers, kiss her so I can sleep in safety once more.”
*****
The next day, you offer to spar with Shin.
It’s not something you’ve done since she joined the camp—Ahsoka had tried to make you, but you’d refused; unsure of whether it was a good idea, given your past. She had sparred with Ahsoka only, their skills in battle fairly evenly matched, whilst you had continued to work with Sabine.
But you know you need to do something, and you need to be alone with her, so when morning comes, you both ride out of camp to a little plateau you had found on a scouting trip.
The journey there is comfortably quiet. Even now, Shin is still a woman of few words, and you respect that. It’s nice, though. Being with her, not speaking. It’s comfortable. Peaceful.
When you arrive, you let your Howlers loose and begin to warm up. You feel nervous, jittery. You know it’s not from anticipation for the fight.
You watch Shin as she moves through some forms with her saber. It steals the breath from your lungs, so at one with her body is she. She is grace and savagery all in one, and you know right then that you’ll love her until your heart stops.
“Ready?” She eventually asks, rolling her shoulders into a fighting stance, and with your nod, you’re away.
Instantly, you see the improvements Ahsoka has made to her form. She fights just as fast she did when you’d clashed before Peridea, just as dangerous with a blade in her hand, but she is also more deliberate. More defensive. She’s precise and calculating and so, so beautiful.
Your lightsabers clash over and over, humming through the air and buzzing against one another, sizzling in the space between you. You’re panting, gritting your teeth, fighting with everything in you. You catch her swings and attack her back, but she’s just too fluid to pin down. You’re losing this, and you know it.
When she looks like this, though—eyes bright and cheeks flushed, teeth bared in a playful snarl—you can’t really find it in yourself to care.
Shin disarms you after nearly 5 minutes of sparring with a move you should’ve seen coming, and your lightsaber is sent flying out of your hands. Triumphant, she levels her blade under your chin, a Cheshire cat smile on her lips, and cocks her head to the side.
“I win.” She declares, smug and proud and blazing bright, and it’s all you can do not to fall to your knees in front of her.
“Yeah, you win.” You agree hoarsely, hands up to show your defeat, gazing at her from the other end of her orange blade with worship in your eyes.
Something shifts, then. On that plateau, with nobody else around for miles, you at the mercy of her blade, Shin seems to crumble. She shuts off her saber, throws it to the ground. Your eyes widen. Your heart races.
Shin throws herself into you and the both of you shatter.
The kiss is bruising, nearly painful in its intensity, and you grin into it like a madman. Shin’s hands are in your hair, on your face, your shoulders; pulling, scratching, digging in, touching you like she needs to prove you’re real. You reciprocate in kind, gripping her waist hard, pulling her so close there’s not an inch of space between you. It’s too much and not enough.
Heat floods your body when she bites down on your bottom lip, the iron taste of blood coating your mouth, and you groan, feeling like you could burst, like you could float away, like you could die in this moment and be forever immortalised by the moan she releases into your mouth, the way she scratches at your scalp, the blood smeared across both of your lips.
Her tongue breaches into your mouth, curling over the backs of your teeth, and the shiver that runs down your spine is involuntary, inevitable, indescribable. Your hands scrabble for purchase on her lower back as hers cup your face with antithetical tenderness. The stroke of her thumb over your cheek almost makes you want to cry—this is all you’ve wanted for months now, all you’ve wanted since you were teenagers on Aris, and it feels like finally coming home.
“Shin.” You breathe in between kisses, forehead resting against hers. She pulls back a little, just enough to look you in your eyes. She looks wild again, but in the best way: her hair is tousled, cheeks pink, eyes half-focused. You think you’d rather go blind than ever see anything other than her.
��Lie down.” You murmur, after having caught your breath. Her pupils, already blown, flash dangerously, and you can’t help but surge forward and press another heavy kiss to her lips.
You manage to manoeuvre yourselves down to the ground, Shin on her back, you hovering above her, one leg slotted between hers, arms holding you up beside her head.
She looks so pretty like this, you think, and screw it, you’re in this now, might as well tell her.
“You’re so pretty, Shin. So beautiful like this.” Your words elicit a low whimper from the woman below you, her hands reaching for you, tugging you down until she can connect your mouths again.
She kisses you hard, filthy; licking into your mouth like you’re her last meal, and you moan, wanting more, wanting everything. You disconnect your lips, and Shin’s whine of protest morphs into another whimper when you begin to trail open-mouthed kisses over her jaw and neck.
Red and purple marks rise in the wake of your tongue and teeth, sucking and biting hard enough for Shin to gasp and arch up into you, leaving bruises that will stay on her skin for days. Just the thought of it, of claiming her like this, is enough to have you nearly feral with need.
It’s not long before Shin’s moans turn desperate, the hands on your shoulders beginning to scrabble.
“Y/N.” She groans, tone pleading but frantic, like she’s not even sure what she’s asking for.
“Yeah?” You murmur, pulling away. The marks littering her throat make something dark inside of your roar proudly, and your mouth practically waters at the sight of her—needy, wanting, begging.
“Please.” She sighs, eyes wide and dark, and you couldn’t deny her even if you wanted to.
Between the two of you, you manage to tug her pants and underwear down her legs. If you’d been back at camp or on the ship, you’d have taken your time. Worked her up slowly, spent hours worshipping her body. But you’re out in the middle of nowhere, and Shin is practically halfway gone already, and you’d rather die than leave her hanging.
The first swipe of your fingers through her folds makes her gasp, makes you moan. She’s dripping, so riled up she’s soaked, and you feel a little light-headed, nearly overwhelmed.
“Fuck, Shin, you’re so wet.” You mutter, moving your fingers to her clit and starting to rub it in slow circles. She whines again, head falling back, mouth dropping open. You lower your mouth to her neck, biting another mark into her pulse point. She writhes underneath you, hips bucking, and you feel like you could come from this alone.
You keep your attention on her clit, not wanting to overwhelm her with anything too soon. You keep it relatively slow, occasionally pressing harder in order to draw out another of her pretty whimpers, or drawing back to hear her beg. Every so often, you press your lips to hers, kissing her softly, whispering praise and encouragement, telling her how beautiful she is, how well she’s doing.
It doesn’t take long for her thighs to start trembling around your hand—if she’s the same as you, she’s been worked up enough about this over the last few weeks to hold out much longer. Her moans take on a higher pitch, coming more frequently as her eyes clench shut. You keep your pace, circling her clit, pressing kisses to her neck.
“Let go, I’ve got you.” You murmur, when it’s evident she’s close, and she falls over the edge with a cry of your name. Her back arches off the ground, hands holding you tight as she shudders through it. You think stars would be jealous of her beauty in this moment.
She comes down slowly, breath evening out, and you pull your hand away once you’re sure it’s over. Her grey eyes open, hazy and soft, and you chuckle at the sight of her. Hair mussed, lips bitten-red, dazed look in her half-lidded eyes; she looks like the rest of your life.
“Hey.” You whisper, cupping her face. She grins lazily.
“Hey.” Shin murmurs back, reaching up to card through your hair with one hand. “You’re pretty good at that.”
You laugh, bury your face in her neck, blushing. She scratches gently at your scalp.
“I think I might love you.” You say quietly, waiting for the regret to hit you. It doesn’t.
“I think I might love you too.” She says back, easy as breathing, and you feel something loosen in your chest that had been wound tight for years. You smile. Press another kiss to her throat.
“Wanna show me?” You ask, cheesy and silly and lovesick. Shin laughs, and you hear eternity. She smiles down at you, presses a kiss to your forehead before rolling you onto your back. You look up at her, breath stolen by her beauty.
“I’ll show you.” She breathes, capturing your lips again, and you let yourself be lost in the wonder of her.
*****
A/N: Holy shit this took a long time to write, and I'm so sorry about that! But it's finally here, and I hope you guys enjoyed it :)
125 notes · View notes
rinravenkeep · 3 months
Text
The Trees are part of the Squid's Plan! (major main quest spoilers)
After spending way too long playing through the new quests in SSO, I've come up with a theory. A real long theory. That the Life Wardens are siding with both Dark Riders and Soul Riders in order to repair the Wild Weave and reconnect with one another, inadvertently helping the Dark Riders to free Garnok.
Lemme explain.
Tumblr media
This is the map in the Fort Maria portal room. It shows the seven major Life Wardens that we know of, but it also gives us some clues about the story going forwards.
First, the obvious.
Tumblr media
Yeah, there's no way that little illustration in the corner is anything but Ol' Squiddy's Tentacles. But we knew he was imprisoned between worlds, in neither Pandoria nor Jorvik - so finding out he's been chilling in the Wild Weave, or a location only accessible by it, makes sense.
Tumblr media
Next, when it comes to putting a name to each of these trees I think most are fairly self explanatory. We've known about most of these trees for years, even if they've never been a part of the story, such as with the Ice Tree by the Stonecutter's Vault in Dino Valley, and the Unnamed Tree way up near where you finish the Red String Trail in the Firgrove Mountains.
Where it gets interesting is with the two trees I couldn't place; such as the one between the Sentinel Tree in Mistfall and the Ice Tree in Dino Valley; and the one on the far left, signified by floating islands.
In my mind it makes sense to have a couple of the trees sprouting in Pandoria, since the two worlds are connected by the tree roots - and the only floating rocks I know about are in Pandoria - but who knows.
Tumblr media
Overlaying the normal map on top of these locations makes it pretty clear that they're supposed to correspond to real map locations. The only anomaly is the Ice Tree and Sentinel Tree, whose positions are reversed on the portal map.
What's interesting is that Garnok, if I'm following the map's logic correctly, would hold exactly the same positioning as the Dark Core Oil Rig.
(For context, we know the Rig's position from old skybox errors that used to show it when stood in the right spots, some maps from the books (which I know aren't always canon anymore, but hey it's the best we've got) and, most recently, if the player looks South when entering Devil's Gap, thanks to that little black hole we helped Sunshine open up recently.)
Tumblr media
Where am I going with all this? Okay!
Firstly, we know that the trees have helped the Dark Riders in the past. The Life Wardens have repeatedly said the only loyalty they have is to each other, and quite frankly after what the Jarl did, who can blame them. (Thanks Jon).
This is going into massive spoiler territory for the most recent quest as of 17/1/24 so if you haven't completed it yet, flee.
Tumblr media
The Sentinel Tree in the Wildwoods has been corrupted by Pandorian magic for a while now. But in the newest quest, we saw Sabine using the Runesmasher to break into it and create a portal to free Erissa.
Side tangent about the hammer:
Tumblr media
For those who didn't play the Halloween quests, basically one of the Jarl's servants got the ice valley smith to make a hammer that could destroy runestones, broke one open, and a Vala witch gave him immortality. Aka. Sive (or an identical Vala witch), who is deeply connected with the Life Wardens and who probably gave Sabine the hammer when we saw her in Devil's Gap, has no problem with this action.
The Life Wardens, or at the very least Sive, their ally, wanted the portal opened and Erissa freed.
Why?
To re-grow the Wild Weave.
Tumblr media
Assuming Garnok's position on my map was correct, the only way the Dark Riders now have to free him is to go directly through the Wild Weave.
And since we're good people who like nature... yeahhh the Soul Riders are totally going to end up healing some trees and inadvertently opening the path to Garnok wide open.
Tumblr media
Oh yeah. We're going to mess up royally.
60 notes · View notes
ana-cantskywalker · 8 months
Text
Mandatory Sabezra hype post because some of us are struggling after the premiere
Spoilers for Ahsoka below the cut
So, I know a lot of us are a bit down after the 'like a sister' line but do not get it in your mind that this is it and the ship has sunk.
Consider this, you are Ezra, you are about to do something very scary and you know you may never see your family again. You want to leave a separate message for the girl you have been in love with since you were 14 to let her know how much she means to you, but you also know that she has said several times how she does not reciprocate. If you tell her how you feel, in what might be the last thing you ever get to say to her, it would make it awkward for her if she never feels the same, so you panic and settle for the next best thing.
Also, his body language was soo awkward during that part specifically, like he didn't really believe what he was saying, and Sabine scoffed like she didn't believe it either.
There is also A LOT of subtext implying that she cares a lot deeper for him than just as a brother. I mean is dripping off of both episodes. Even if she is still in denial, her actions point to her almost definitely having deeper feelings. Ten years is a lot of time for feelings to changed/ be realized.
I am more worried about what their reunion will be like than a hologram that is a decade old.
All of this to say, DO NOT LOSE HOPE. We are still sailing a ship.
141 notes · View notes
silver-starss · 8 months
Text
I have (spoilery) Thoughts on Ahsoka episode four
First of all how dare you
Second of all how dare you
THIRD OF ALL HOW DARE YOU
Bro why is Hera taking Jacen on this mission? I know she has a penchant for lugging around badass kids, but he's what, 10? A bit young imo.
Called it. Marrok was a red herring. Filoni knew that we'd all go nuts about the identity of yet another cool masked dude and let fan speculation run wild. Though him turning to dust does bring up new questions...
Sabine and Shin round two! I like that Sabine was actually able to use her armor/equipment this time and fight Shin on more even ground.
That moment when Marrok died and Shin seemed genuinely shook? And Sabine recognizing this and trying to take advantage of Shin's shookness? *chef's kiss*
Really good special effects in the shot with the ring coming out of the atmosphere! That was stunning!
Ahsoka and Baylan fight was genuinely cool, and the choreography felt much more Ahsoka-esque. Particularly that flip she did, which didn't look wired like the one from Ep 2.
So Clan Wren is dead. :/ Not surprising, I assumed that would be Sabine's character arc when the series was first announced (feeling survivor's guilt after the Purge), but what does Ahsoka have to do with that? Is it an emotional support thing?
Sabine joining up with the bad guys makes sense. Her #1 priority is finding Ezra and they're her only means of getting there. She's probably planning to gun down Thrawn in the process, though I imagine Baylan is fully aware of that and planning accordingly.
On the bright side, this gives us more opportunities to explore her rivalry with Shin...
Speaking of, love the dynamic with Shin being the feral one yet actually listening to/respecting her master. I imagine there's a story there and I'm very curious to hear it.
I don't know whether to be mad or impressed that Jacen said part of the Iconic Star Wars Line but not the full thing.
Beautiful transition between the ocean and the World Between Worlds. It looks absolutely gorgeous in live-action.
Why and how is Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds?
HAYDEN ALREADY???? I didn't think he'd show up until episode 5.
"SNIPS" (!!!!!)
Holy fucking shit I'm losing my mind.
He looks way better than he did in Kenobi, but the de-aging isn't 100% great. Still though.
Interesting that Ahsoka's first instinct was to call him "Master". Old habits (and attachments) die hard I guess. They're going to have some serious issues to sort out next ep though.
Lmao casuals must be super confused by this ending. Imagine that.
Goddamn that's a cliff-hanger. And on the strongest episode so far!
95 notes · View notes
randombrambles · 7 months
Text
Okay...going to wade into the Sabezra discussion. May the flying spaghetti monster in sky have mercy on my soul...
I guess you could call me a "causal viewer" because, despite being a life long Star Wars fan, I'd never watched an episode of Rebels before watching Ahsoka. I just never got around to it and I've only watched a handful of eps of The Clone Wars too. But anyway once I started Ahsoka I was like "this show will clearly make more sense if I watch Rebels" so I started. I'm almost done season 3 of Rebels as of writing this post. And really loving Rebels btw. Part of me of like "why didn't I watch this earlier?" but on the other hand I don't have to wait for the next episode and I know the major spoilers already so I'm not going to get the rug yanked out from under me.
So back to Ahsoka and Sabezra...the big questions. Did I see the romance "coding" (not sure I agree "coding" is the right word but whatever, that's semantics) in Ahsoka? Yes. Sabine's actions definitely come across as her being in love with Ezra to me. That said I can also see the platonic angle, especially after having watched some of Rebels, so I'm not going to tell anyone they are wrong for viewing Sabine and Ezra's relationship as platonic. These things are subjective and open to interpretation until anything definitively romantic or definitively not romantic happens on screen. And at this point nothing definitive has happened either way on screen. Nobody has been proven right and nobody has been proven wrong yet. Sabezra is basically schrodinger's cat right now.
Next how did I interpret the "like a sister" line in Ezra's holo. Um...full disclosure the first time I viewed that scene I didn't even register that he'd said she was "like a sister" to him. I'd never even seen Rebels at that point so I didn't know Ezra yet. So as a causal viewer my take away from that scene was Ezra meant a lot to Sabine and Sabine meant a lot to Ezra. And I'd be wiling to bet that that was the takeaway for most causal viewers.
So on rewatch do I think the "like a sister" line means that Ezra truly sees Sabine as a sister? No. On rewatch, paying close attention to the body language, and after having watched some Rebels, I think Ezra is both struggling to find the words to tell Sabine how important she is to him and telling her what he thinks she needs to hear in that moment. The problem is that in English we don't have a word to describe someone isn't technically family but who isn't a lover either but who's also way more than "just" a friend. Sister is the best word Ezra can come up with in that moment but you can tell from his awkward body language and his literal scoff as soon as he says it that its not the right word. And yeah I think Ezra thinks that Sabine sees him as a brother so he tells her what he thinks she wants to hear right before he heads of on what very well could have been a suicide mission.
Do I think Sabezra is going to be made canon on Tuesday's final episode of Ahsoka (of season 1 at least). No, but hold on nobody panic!!! I also don't think that means Sabezra is dead in the water either. And frankly I'm kind of mystified as to why Sabezra shippers seem to think that the next episode is make or break for Sabezra when its clearly not? If there isn't a love declaration or a kiss or both (which is what I'm assuming people would interpret can them being made canon) its not like either Sabine or Ezra are going to marry someone else on Tuesday either. And since much of Ahsoka has been set up, meaning not much is actually going to get resolved in the next ep (Thrawn hasn't even left Perida[?] yet! I fear we are ending on a cliff hanger), we'll be seeing Sabine and Ezra again. There's no rush for them to get together romantically (and I know that's hard to hear for people who've been shipping for years but its true).
And further to the "there's no rush" point I actually have to say I that I think its WAY too soon for anything definitively romantic to happen between Ezra and Sabine yet (and again I get how hard that is for those who've been shipping them for a long time). And I say that as both a "casual viewer" and someone who's also watched a good chunk of Rebels now. For the causal viewer who hasn't watched Rebels, which is probably a big chunk of the audience for Ahsoka, they barely know Sabine, have just met Ezra and have only seen them interacting for ONE episode and don't know any of their history. A kiss or a love declaration would seem out of the blue at this point I think. And as someone who's getting into Rebels I still think its too soon. While I agree that Sabine is very likely in love with Ezra I don't think she's admitted to herself yet (that's why Baylan used the word family when he was getting her to hand over the map thingy imho) no way is she ready to tell HIM. And as for Ezra...dude is clueless that Sabine might might have non platonic feelings for him so no way is he going to risk ruining their friendship by blurting out that he's in love with her. And not only that they've been separated for 10 YEARS ffs. They need to get to know each other again before anything romantic can happen, again imho. I want Sabezra to become canon but I want it done WELL. Sabezra is a friends to lovers ship, they are still firmly in the friends stage right now, it needs to be a sloooooow burn.
And finally do I think Sabezra will become canon? Honestly...I don't know. I'd like it to, it would be really nice to have a non problematic ship, especially after the sequel trilogy robbed us of FinnRey and tried to force freaking r*ylo. But I think Filoni and the other powers that be over at DLF (he is NOT the sole person calling the shots here, keep that in mind everyone) are probably testing the waters right now and waiting to see what the audience reactions are like before they make any decisions. I'd be wiling to bet that by the end of Tuesday's episode the door will be left wide open for pretty much anything to happening shipping wise. So we'll just have to wait and see. Time will tell, it always does.
92 notes · View notes
illuminatedquill · 5 months
Text
Ahsoka Variety Interview Thoughts
Hello, Sabezra nation!
So, it will probably start spilling out soon but, yes, some of the cast members from Ahsoka - Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Hayden Christensen and some guy named Dave Filoni - did an interview with Variety recently to talk about the show.
Now, I know what you're thinking: was there anything regarding Sabine and Ezra's relationship?
And the answer is a resounding NOPE.
But, it's still a very interesting article and there were a few tidbits that stood out to me that I feel is Sabezra related. So, I'll talk about that here.
First up: an interesting quote from Sabine Wren herself, Natasha.
Tumblr media
I've written about this before in a previous post but it's very nice to have it be validated here by Natasha: that Sabine is, indeed, meant to come off as Anakin-coded in this first season of Ahsoka.
Others in this fandom have also noted this and this certainly lends credence to Sabine's feelings for Ezra being more than platonic. Sabine's decision to doom their galaxy in exchange for her friend's safety has enormous ramifications for the Star Wars universe going forward - and only one other character has had such an impact on the franchise: Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin made his choice out of desperation to save his wife, Padme. Star Wars loves its mythological cycles. Lucas passed on that love to Filoni so, in theory, Sabine should be following in the foot-steps of the disaster lineage of Jedi she is now a part of.
But, as I've noted before, one of Ahsoka's themes is trying to break cycles. Baylon wants to break the cycle of endless wars, Ahsoka wants to break the cycle of darkness plaguing her Jedi lineage, and Sabine wants to break the cycle of loss that's all too prevalent in her life.
What does that mean? It means that Filoni has the opportunity to do something that Anakin couldn't with Sabine: show a proper redemptive arc. Find a way to move forward with Ezra and everyone else she betrayed. Find a way to be forgiven and properly atone for her mistakes - preferably without dying or someone else dying on her behalf.
Of course, this is just interpretation on my behalf. The skeptic in me points out that Natasha is only referring to Sabine's recklessness and inner struggles as being what Ahsoka sees as similar to her former master. There's no mention of Ezra.
But we know that one of Anakin's "inner struggles" was his increasing attachment and feelings for Padme. So, is a stretch to say that these inner struggles that Sabine is wrestling with include her yet undisclosed feelings for her friend Ezra? No, not really.
With what Filoni set up from this first season, it's an inevitability that - at some point - Sabine is going to be questioned about why she made that decision. I personally see it as integral to her journey as a Jedi. Which means that Sabine needs to search her feelings and come to understand them.
It's significant that Natasha points out the echoes of Anakin in Sabine's personality and actions. It says quite a lot.
And to back up the whole "reverse Anidala" theory I have, here's what Filoni says in this next quote:
Tumblr media
So this quote is Filoni referencing Ahsoka's struggles with Anakin's legacy as Vader during Rebels and then later in Ahsoka.
"How does that affect somebody when a person that they really admire and looked up to turned out not to be the person they thought they were? Are we all just capable of a fall from grace? And what is forgiveness? What shape does that look like?"
But, keeping this in mind, you could also apply this to Sabine's situation with Ezra, along with everyone else she cares about that was put directly in harm's way with her decision (Hera, Jacen, Zeb, Chopper).
Ahsoka, having come to terms with her own long struggle of forgiving and accepting Anakin for who he was, now has something else to offer Sabine other than showing her how to fight: how to forgive.
Sabine is, presumably (hopefully if Filoni isn't just going to sweep her actions under the rug), going to be struggling with the ramifications of her betrayal at some point in the future. And, not to mention, everyone else also finding out and will most likely be upset, to say the least.
Ahsoka, armed with her own knowledge of how to navigate that thorny path, can be a mediator in that regard. She'll stand with Sabine, as she promised - not condoning her actions, but providing understanding and her own special viewpoint on how to forgive and move on from such an incredibly selfish and destructive action (thanks to Anakin) - and help everyone else find a way to do so, as well.
I figure Ezra and Hera will probably be the focal point of conflict for Sabine. Hera, for obvious reasons, will be upset since Sabine helped kick-start another potential war with the Empire - something she does not want her child to experience growing up in like she and countless others did.
And there's also the matter of how it directly undermines what Kanan and Ezra sacrificed so much for.
As for Ezra . . . I don't know. It's complicated. No idea how Filoni is planning to tackle that. But it's going to hurt him.
It's going to hurt him so much.
But with Ahsoka's presence, it stands to reason that Sabine and Ezra can find a way to reconcile and build something new and stronger from the ruins of their prior relationship.
Other interesting items/observations from the interview:
Filoni already has an outline for Ahsoka season 2. (Nothing confirmed about a renewal, but he's got one ready.)
Hayden Christensen makes an interesting observation about Anakin's return being that he now has the power to wield both the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force, which also gives him the power to save Ahsoka . . . the same power he was trying to obtain when he pledged himself to the Dark Side during Revenge of the Sith.
There are no current plans on Baylon's recasting as of yet. Filoni is still figuring that out. (RIP, Ray Stevenson).
Natasha sees Ahsoka season 1 as setting up "enduring drama" between Ahsoka and Sabine. They still obviously have a lot to work out to mend their relationship - like what happened to Sabine's family and how that was somehow Ahsoka's fault, also Ahsoka stopping her training shortly afterwards.
There is only one direct mention of Thrawn and Ezra: Filoni's decision to send them to another galaxy was because keeping them in the home one was too easy ("too many people travelling, flying around; you can send a signal and get found"). He knew about other galaxies from a scene in Attack of the Clones.
A word of caution: we'll probably be getting more interviews like this within the coming weeks so there will be, presumably, lots of new info coming in.
Hopefully we'll be getting interviews from Eman and Ivanna, as well, since I'm interested to hear more about their characters (Ezra, for obvious reasons, but Shin we definitely need to know more about) and what they might be up to in a future season.
But . . . some of these interviews might contain, shall we say, indications of where certain relationships might go or where whomever is being interviewed think they might go.
So saying this now: unless it comes from the hat man himself, don't get too caught up in whatever is said. It's all fun and speculation.
Sorry for the long ramble. Hope this all makes sense.
See you all down the road.
67 notes · View notes
Text
STAR WARS DOESN’T LIKE LGBTQ+ MEN?
(A SHORT FAN ESSAY)
First and foremost. I’m REALLY enjoying the ‘Ahsoka’ series and I can’t wait to see how episode 8 plays out.
I’ve really enjoyed seeing some of my favourite characters, old and new, translated so beautifully to live action.
Almost…all of them.
As of today, there is 1 episode left. 1 episode left of ‘Ahsoka’. Otherwise known as the “sequel” to the Animated series ‘Star Wars Rebels’.
Yet, 2 crucial characters from the aforementioned series, are nowhere to be seen in this series.
We have been very fortunate to see the Ghost Crew, consisting of Hera Syndulla, her son Jacen, Chopper, Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger make appearances in the series.
We were doubly fortunate to see Anakin Skywalker again in his true form, appearing in a greater capacity than I could have predicted, which was amazing.
Grand Admiral Thrawn has also returned in glorious fashion, portrayed by the very actor who provided the voice for him in ‘Rebels.’
We’ve seen countless appearances from characters from Loth cats to C3PO in our most recent viewing excursion.
However, the only characters missing from the series are Captian Garazeb ‘Zeb’ Orrelios, and (Agent) Alexsandr Kallus.
For those who might not know, Zeb is the ‘muscle’ of the Ghost Crew, who sadly had his planet and people destroyed by the Galactic Emprie. He believed to be the last of his species, until he discovered the secret home world of Lira San, where an entire planet of his kind live and thrive.
Agent (Alexsandr) Kallus is an ISB agent who aided the Empire in the destruction of Zeb’s home world and people. Not only that, it is revealed that he has trauma and survivors guilt because of a rouge Lasat mercenary that worked for Saw Garrera, resulting in the death of his friends on his first unit and the hardening of his heart.
During the series, the two share an episode where they crash land on the ice moon of Bahryn, where they work together to survive and learn a bit more about each other. In the fandom, the entire experience, atmosphere, the relationship between the two men and the episode, as a whole, is regarded as very homo erotic.
As the series progressed, because of his experience with Zeb, Kallus quietly changes his heart and allegiance to the Rebels and acts as a double agent under the code name ‘Fulcrum’. Eventually, escaping the Empire, he joins the Rebellion and fights alongside the ghost crew to liberate Lothal.
During the epilogue of the series, it is revealed, that after the war, Zeb had brought Kallus to live with him and his people on the hidden Lasat home world of Lira San. Zeb reveals that Kallus hadn’t destroyed his people. His people even accept Kallus as one of their own kind, in an astonishing act of forgiveness, despite his transgressions against their species.
In doing so, Zeb gives his mind, soul and heart peace.
Despite how very homo erotic the overall storyline seems, it ultimately started off unintentionally.
Fans expectations of wanting to see the two get together grew more and more in popularity during the course of the shows run. At fan conventions, voice actor Steve Blum, who provided the voice for Zeb, was also very much inclined to agree with the fans that the relationship between the two characters was indeed romantic in nature. He often advocates, to this day, for the two to get together openly, much to the delight of the fans.
Despite the accidental roots of what the fandom refers to as “Kalluzeb”, The shows creator, Dave Filoni, has stated that he is okay with fans shipping the two characters and revealed that the ending for Zeb and Kallus (which was partly the result of Steve Blum’s wishful thinking at ‘Star Wars Celebration 2017’), was left open ended for viewers to decide wether or not the two were a romantic couple or not.
For the next 5 years, that would be enough.
That is until, the announcement of the ‘Ahsoka’ series, and fans were excited to see their favourite rebels on screen once again.
Before the series started, however, Zeb Orrelios made a surprise, 30 second, live action cameo in the 3rd season of “The Mandalorian”. Zeb was seemingly working as a pilot for the Rebellion, donning a blue pilot suit. This lead to fans excitedly speculate that they would see him again in the “Ahsoka” series. This also had them asking the question: Why wasn’t he with Kallus on Lira San?
Over the course of the next few months, trailers would be released for the ‘Ahsoka’ series as well as character announcements at “Star Wars Celebration” in London. In all of these trailers, the only ‘Rebels’ characters missing were Zeb (and Kallus by extension.)
Upon the release of ‘Ahsoka’, as weeks and episodes have gone by, Zeb and Kallus still have not appeared in the series, nor were they even mentioned (until Zeb was mentioned by name in Episode 7). All the while, various characters from ‘Rebels’, ‘Clone Wars’, and even the film series made cameos and took supporting roles in the story, all the while, leaving Zeb and Kallus unaccounted for. Which is unusual, considering that Zeb and Kallus’ story was one of the most crucial plot points in the ‘Rebels’ story, and yet, here they were being left out of the “Rebels sequel”.
At the same time, it’s typical of Star Wars to do exactly this.
In the original run of ‘Rebels’, Zeb, as a character, was often overlooked and underdeveloped in terms of plot and character development. Originally intended as the comedic relief, it’s safe to say, in Season 1, not much was planned for the character. Season 2 however, is where Zeb truly has his chance to shine. From Saving Ezra and Sabine from Inquisitiors, to finding his secret home planet of Lira San, discovering he’s part of a prophecy and surviving and understanding his worst enemy turned ally, Kallus. It truly is his best season in the shows run.
In seasons 3 and 4, Zeb’s storyline was left pretty much underdeveloped and overshadowed by other plots such as the Jedi storylines, the Maul arc, Hera’s ascension through the ranks of the Rebellion, Sabine’s family conflict on Mandalore and the Liberation of Ezra’s home planet of Lothal. Zeb’s only notable story after season 2, was in the episode “WarHead” in which he was left alone to guard the base with Chopper and AP5, while the others leave to do exercises with recruits in space, almost demonstrating my point exaclty; Zeb gets left behind a lot. The episode made little to no impact on the overall narrative of the story. The only significance being that Thrawn gains a slightly better knowledge of where the Rebel base might be.
If anything, Agent Kallus’ storyline acts as a Zeb storyline extension as it was his kindness that inclines Kallus to change allegiances throughout the course of season 3.
Due to a shorter episode count in season 4, little time was spent on either Zeb or Kallus as the story had to reach its conclusion in a short matter of time. The one saving grace, is that both Zeb and Kallus had several great moments in the finale episode, resulting in their “open to interpretation”LGBTQ ending.
With the previous points in question, it has lead me to believe, that Star Wars might be trying to retcon their “maybe they are, many they’re not”LGBTQ ending and eradicate the possibility of Zeb and Kallus being in a same sex relationship in favour of “straight washing” them.
It wouldn’t be the first time it has happened.
Previously, the characters Poe Dameron and Finn from the Star Wars Sequel Series were supposed to be in a romantic relationship, but Disney never went ahead with it due to fear of loss of box office financial success from less open minded countries. (Which personally, I think is a stupid ass reason, but I digress.) In the past, any LGBTQ characters in Star Wars were often background extras that were on screen for 3 seconds or goofy comedic side characters. Only recently did the franchise include a lesbian couple in the series “Andor”, but all the same, we have yet to see two men in a same sex relationship that are leading characters and not being played for laughs. Lesser minded “fans” also often try discourage any LGBTQ content of any kind in Star Wars and will argue that Zeb and Kallus are just “best buddies”. (Because it’s totally straight to bring your “best buddy” to live with you on your highly secret home planet where your species accepts a human as one of their own kind…Yeah. TOTALLY straight.) To which I say, we’ve seen PLENTY of male friendships in Star Wars and LGBTQ people are not going anywhere, so I strongly suggest those “fans” and their fragile insecurities cop on and cop on FAST.
Only time will tell what happens to Zeb and Kallus as we head in to the final episode of ‘Ahsoka’, but my gut instincts say that we might be seeing history repeat itself. However, with the time passed since 2018, the change in LGBTQ visibility in media over the last half a decade, and the fact that ‘Ashoka’ is not constrained to the barrier of “children’s cartoon” as ‘Rebels’ was, I also chose to remain somewhat optimistic that the canonisation of my favourite Star Wars couple comes to be.
AUTHORS NOTE:
In a surprising twist, whilst writing this essay, the official Star Wars account mentioned the term “Kalluzeb” by name in a promotional video, seemingly giving validation to the canonisation of Zeb and Kallus as a romantic couple. Whilst this is very exciting for the fandom, we must also be sure to hold Star Wars to the mark that they deliver on this name drop.
Putting it simply; No take backs.
FanEdit95.
69 notes · View notes
open-hearth-rpg · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Welcome to the Open Hearth Gaming video roundup!
These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the games we play every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play in games like these, join our Playabl community and click on the "Calendar" tab to sign up for upcoming games. To browse our entire library of session videos, please visit our YouTube Playlists page.
Open Hearth Gaming Calendar
Monster of the Week: The Rockies (Session 6) Blake Ryan runs for David Montgomery, Dom, and Grey Cult comes calling
Trail of Cthulhu: Fearful Symmetries: Arc Two (Session 1) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, Sherri, and Will H A year has passed and our investigators have dealt with the trauma and cost of dispatching the Dragon in different ways. But when an old debt is called in, Richard must re-assemble the group to look into the mysterious death of a member of the Rollright Coven.
Trail of Cthulhu: Fearful Symmetries: Arc Two (Session 2) Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., Paul Rivers, Sherri, and Will H The circle continues their investigation of the happenings at Convivial House. Talking to locals they begin to put together a picture of events happening in the two Quintons. Richard remains at the house overnight and has a vision of the hungry darkness lying to the north. Eventually they begin to piece together a picture of the sinister events surrounding Bradbury House and the grove which lies upon its grounds.
Tomorrow City (Session 1 of 2) Lowell Francis runs for Bryan, Cale P, Jo Lene, and Robyn Choi The first half of a two-part series of Tomorrow City, a new dieselpunk TTRPG from Osprey. We set up characters, jump into the action, and afterwards give the crew their new assignment.
Tomorrow City (Session 2 of 2) Lowell Francis runs for Bryan, Cale P, Jo Lene, and Robyn Choi The second half of a two-part series of Tomorrow City, a new dieselpunk TTRPG from Osprey. Our heroes develop, reject, and settle on what could loosely be called a plan. We spend some time with the characters before they execute their dangerous mission-- where nothing goes exactly as hoped.
Godbound: Sundered Cycles (Session 27) Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack In the aftermath of their defeat of the Angels, the pantheon considers what to do with Neeharik and the nation of Geznya as a whole. Ransom and Ivesro work to calm and organize the citizenry, and then look to the wild sorcery schools. Darius begins to find their place in all of this. Threadless constructs on several levels. Tasos tries to organize his found family and begins to extends the dreamscape.
Against the Monster Andrea Rick runs for Madelancholy, Robbie Boerth, and Sabine V. A story game about a monster hunt, the good of the monster, and the monstrosity of the hunters (currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter). We hunt a ghost in a desert and muse about loss, rage, and memory.
Godbound: Sundered Cycles (Session 28) Lowell Francis runs for Ethan Harvey, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack The pantheon looks to decide on next steps, as we see each god interact with NPCs and more. Ransom meets with representatives of the allied pantheon and extends his dominion. Tasos speaks with a scholar of souls and anoints his feline followers. Darius decides to build a shrine and looks to get interns. Threadless decides to build a dragon, or an angel, or both.
Star Wars Saturday
Fellowship: A Fellowship in Rebellion Rich Rogers runs for Cody Eastlick, Greg G., Kae, Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack
Off-Calendar Highlights
Trophy Dark: The Forbidden Archives (Session 1 of 2) Madelancholy runs for David S., Gabriel Robinson, Robyn Choi, and Tentacle Duck (Sandra) Knowledge hunters seek to enter the lost Azure Archives, doing terrible things to find out where it is, and most likely delving deeper in their own darkness to capture the secrets within.
Trophy Dark: The Forbidden Archives (Session 2 of 2) Madelancholy runs for David S., Gabriel Robinson, Robyn Choi, and Tentacle Duck (Sandra) Interconnected, secrets revealed by the Azure Archives making more demands of the intruders than they can steal away. Who will survive but be forever changed, and who will be lost, never to leave the Archives?
23 notes · View notes
wolfwrenbrainrot · 7 months
Text
i'm torn.
a few of the problems I had with the ahsoka show (vfx, too many cuts during fight scenes and in general, a rushed season finale) would be fixed if it was animated, but on the other hand we wouldn't have ivanna and natasha!!! if it was animated and they had the same dynamic, i'd probably still ship them 'cause im a sucker for sapphic enemies to lovers and i've always seen sabine as either lesbian or bisexual (nowadays im more inclined towards lesbian!sabine, but it makes no difference to me), buuut ivanna and natasha are the reason why I'm so obssessed with wolfwren. they played them soo well. also, eman esfandi and ray stevenson were great and seeing live action anakin is always a pleasure!! at the end, i'm satisfied.
another cool thing is that with live action more people can get to know the ghost crew and maybe some of them will get to experience the magic of wstching the clone wars and rebels for the first time. this is always a good thing, 'cause honestly both shows are the best star wars out there. even if i sometimes feel the urge to gatekeep lmao
and to my fellow wolfwrens, the set up for next season is promising!!! I don't know if Disney and Lucasfilm would allow it to happen happen but if it gets popular enough, we could at least get crumbles of a reluctant allies to friends to something implied!! (obviously I want them to be canon and get a happy ending, but lucasfilm isn't as progressive as it likes to paint itself and romance in star wars never end well, so I'm not optimistic)
34 notes · View notes
frasier-crane-style · 6 months
Text
I'm not sure Ahsoka is even a story
People have been comparing the writing to an AI and... they've got a point there. I mean, stuff happens... barely... but it's like there's no attempt to dramatize or sex things up or impart any excitement or conflict or nuance into the story. Dave Filoni has one move and it's spamming lightsaber fights and starship dogfights constantly.
(Speaking of which, remember in the movies when lightsaber fights would end with SOMEONE dying or at least being maimed? People get IMPALED in Ahsoka and they're there in the next scene like "get some sleep, you need it." Like being impaled by a lightsaber is a cold. Not even a bad cold. They might as well put the lightsabers away and settle things by arm-wrestling, it resolves as much!)
(I'm convinced that Marrok was a studio note added at the last minute because someone realized they had made a show with eight hours of people trying to kill each other with laser swords and no one actually dying.)
I actually read a quote by Timothy Zahn where his idea was that, in their decade-long exile together, Thrawn and Ezra had been forced into an uneasy alliance against an even greater threat. Like, yeah! That's dramatic! That's Something and not Nothing.
When you watch the show, though, it's more like they've just gone off to summer camp. Ezra sees Sabine again and he's just like "hi, how are you?" He's older and he hasn't changed at all. Neither has Thrawn. He's painted his Star Destroyer a bit and he calls his Stormtroopers Nighttroopers now (surely not to sell new merchandise instead of the same old action figures)... other than that, no change in his character whatsoever. Same guy.
Oh, he's teamed up with the Nightsisters, but that just amounts to him getting the obligatory Imperial superweapon. Does anyone really think this isn't going to turn into another plot coupon quest to stop him from using his new toy to destroy the New Republic before it gets destroyed anyway?
I mean, how can you not brainstorm SOMETHING interesting happening with this setup? It's impressive! A kind of anticreativity.
What if Sabine was in love with Ezra, then gets there and finds out he's gotten hitched to a cute Rodian or something. Or maybe he's gone kind of mad with isolation and is using the Dark Side, but doesn't know better in his crazed state?
Or Thrawn could be this Colonel Kurtz figure who's gone around the bend and his Stormtroopers all worship him like a cult leader. Like, right now, what does he even have against the New Republic? Why does he like the Empire so much? What is he trying to achieve? What benefit does he get from challenging the NR over simply suing for peace? It's insane--this one specific character is meant to be a galaxy-killing threat based solely on him as a person, but we know nothing about him as a person. (And he squeaks out a victory over three people, BARELY, and we're supposed to buy that the universe should be quaking in its boots.)
Filoni actually even stumbles upon a good vein of drama. Sabine betrays the galaxy to save her platonic friend. No one cares. Ezra doesn't care, Ahsoka doesn't care--why should the audience care?
Ahsoka trains Sabine to be a Jedi (that's its own rant, by the way), but stops because she worries Sabine will go the same way as Anakin. Jedi are all about nonattachment and Mandalorians are all about clans and lineage. Then, at the worst possible moment, Sabine proves her right, makes the exact same choice that Anakin did to go with saving a loved one over the fate of the galaxy... and Ahsoka just shrugs and goes "eh, no big!"
And I get it. I'm a comic book fan. I don't want to see noble, experienced characters flying off the handle at the drop of a hat and attacking their loved ones because it's their turn to hold the conflict ball. But these characters have no emotions at all! I don't care how good a person you are, if your bestie sells a nuke to Neo-Nazis to get you out of debt, you should probably raise your voice a little.
Also, is the last episode the first time they actually set up that Ahsoka and Sabine's conflict is over this "I'm afraid of her turning out like Anakin" thing? Well after it's resolved? Why? You have eight hours of TV show, you can set this up early on and then pay it off later (not next season, but later).
'Ahsoka has an astral-plane pow-wow with Anakin and gets over her issues' is a decent plot, but you have to actually depict her issues ahead of time, you have to dramatize them in a certain way so we know what the heck you're talking about!
Imagine if in Back To The Future, the first time we saw George McFly was when he punched out Biff and saved Lorraine. You wouldn't care at all, right? It's just a guy punching another guy. We have to know that George is a pussy and that Biff is his tormentor and that he's in love with Lorraine from afar--once we know all that context, THEN it's a triumph for him to punch Biff.
Your show can't just be people punching each other out! It also has to be reasons to give a shit about the punching!
You don't have to spell everything out, but you can't just show Rosario Dawson crossing her arms and expect us to know "oh, she's traumatized from Anakin becoming Darth Vader, she never got over that." You have to put that into words and imagery! Show us her ACTING! Let us RELATE to her! Introduce these people to us and let us get to know them! You can't coast on everyone already liking them because they look like old cartoon characters.
24 notes · View notes
violetjedisylveon · 7 months
Text
Ahsoka Series, But Kaeden Is There, And She's Super Cryptic This Time
Spoilers for Ahsoka Episode 5
Hera, seeing Kaeden chilling in the middle of a weird rock formation chilling on her phone with the space birb Sabine drew on her armor once: What happened? What's going on? Where's Ahsoka? And where's Sabine?!
Kaeden, not even looking up: Jedi Force bullshit stuff happened, it'll all make sense in a bit.
Hera: Do you... Know what happened?
Kaeden: yeah but I'd rather explain it once and I don't know all the details.
Jacen: can I pet the bird?
...
Jacen: I hear someone fighting in the ocean! Maybe Ahsoka's out there!
Kaeden, still chilling: damn, sounds like a pretty intense therapy session.
Jacen: ???
...
*Hera ordering extra searches once Jacen tells her the stuff*
Carlson: what?
Kaeden: Jacen's a little Jedi, his dad was a Jedi too, just go with it.
...
*Ahsoka wakes up and sees Kaeden reading a book with two piles of books next to her*
Ahsoka, sighing: how many books have you read?
Kaeden: Four.
Ahsoka, flopping back down onto her bed: a whole twenty-four hours and I'm still exhausted.
Kaeden, smirking: Guess that's what you get when you avoid therapy or any kind of emotional healing for twenty something years.
Ahsoka: oh shut up
*then they kiss cause they love each other*
...
*Kaeden, explaining the situation*
Kaeden: okay, while Ahsoka was off getting some therapy and emotional healing slammed into her by the Force itself, Baylan manipulated Sabien into giving him the map and they got the coordinates and they took Sabine with them. I think she is coming back with a Jedi girlfriend.
Jacen, very excited: I get a new aunt?!
Kaeden: Yes, I like your attitude about this.
...
*Shin sees Sabine's sketch book open*
Shin: Why are you drawing me so much?
Sabine: 😳
...
*Ahsoka the white happens*
Kaeden: damn, you look good~😏
Ahsoka: not in front of Jacen, Kae😉
...
Carlson to New Republic people, reading from notes Kaeden gave him: so they are going to ride the purgil and find out what the Imperial remnants are up to out there, and Kaeden Larte says "Fuck the whole Senate except for Organa and kinda Mon Mothma but not entirely, get a better hold on your senate, the Empire isn't dead idiots"
NR Fleet: ...
*Ahsoka goes out to talk with the purgil*
Kaeden, to Morai: told you it'd be the whales, you owe me fifty credits
Morai: *annoyed divine birb sounds*
Bonus, Omega(from bad batch) x Miara Larte!:
Miara: I haven't heard from Kaeden in a while, you think she's okay?
Omega, doing some space magic practice: Probably? I can check real quick.
*does space magic*
Omega: Mia honey, your sister's in a purgil.
Miara, sighing: do we gotta get involved?
Omega: maybe? I kinda wanna ride a space whale.
Miara: alright let's go, I was getting a little bored anyway.
*Omega and Miara suit up in Mandalorian armor and call up a space whale with nightsister magic to take them to where the action is*
That's it. I enjoy a good cryptic slightly chaotic Kaeden, being married to Ahsoka comes with that.
Also Nightsister Omega is one of my favorite things so I shoved it in here.
Be back Wednesday for part 4!
25 notes · View notes
divinegrey · 2 years
Text
𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 / 𝐯𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐠𝐧!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫
i have nothing to say here except you guys are very thirsty for viper but honestly me too
prompt: Waking up, hungover after a celebratory night filled with drinks and dancing then realizing Viper is next to you. And see clothes on the floor 👀 has reader accidently confessed their undying love to Viper and maybe it led to a particular event 🤔
words: 1250
warnings: NSFW themes, nudity, mentions of alcohol
Tumblr media
God, you’re never fucking drinking again. 
Raze’s jungle juice might be the most dangerous thing anyone can ever touch known to mankind. Screw getting hit in the face by Chamber’s sniper rifle— whatever combination of alcohol Raze made at the Protocol Work Party knocked you flat on your ass. 
What even happened last night? Your memories are blurry; you recall taking shots of sake with Yoru, then shots of whiskey with Breach, and then having a cup of Raze’s jungle juice…
Yeah, your liver is currently missing-in-action and may never come back. 
You turn over on the bed, burying your face into a soft, silky pillow. Wherever you are, it feels like you’re in the clouds. With a faint hum, you stretch your arms over your head. Who turned on the fucking lights? If there’s any chance of you getting some more sleep to get rid of your head-pounding hangover, you’re going to need to flick off the light switch. 
“Good morning, Y/N.” 
Wait. 
What?
Your eyes shoot open; off the bat, this is not your room. You have posters of hot ladies from horror classics in your room. This one is bare and empty. You turn to the pillows, looking at the silk green pillow cases, then down to the black comforter. This… is evidently not your bed. 
“Over here, sleepy head.” 
Following the sound, your eyes meet Sabine’s through the mirror on the wall, her back turned to you. Just in time to see her pull a sleek white button-up shirt over the muscles of her back. A smirk curves at the corner of her mouth as she starts threading the buttons through the holes on the front of the shirt. You exhale, eyes dropping down toward the clothes scattered across the floor. 
Your clothes. And Sabine’s clothes from last night— you remember her wearing that plum colored turtleneck very clearly. 
Oh, no. 
At that second, Sabine chuckles. “Don’t tell me you forgot.” 
“I— We—” the words struggle to come out of your mouth. “Did we hook up?” 
“Hook up?” Sabine finishes buttoning her shirt, then pulls her pants over it, no crease to be found as she pulls the buckle of a shiny black belt tight. She turns around, walking over to you; the top buttons of her shirt are loose, and you spot shiny purple marks on her neck and one peeking from her chest. Sabine comes to the edge of the bed, leaning down and holding your chin in her hand. “I don’t think you confessing your love for me and us fucking each other for three hours afterward is just hooking up, sweetheart.” 
“I what?”
Sabine’s jaw flexes with a harsh swallow, her demeanor changing ever so slightly. “Did you not mean it?” 
“No!” You clap your hand over your mouth, flopping onto the bed. “No, I did! I did mean it, I’m just— I fucking said it when I was drunk!” Your face burns and you hide behind your hands, groaning. “I hate myself.” 
The bed dips as Sabine lowers herself to sit. “Y/N, will you look at me, please?” 
Despite you wanting to save what little you have left of your pride, you drop your hands, resting them on your stomach. Sabine places her hand on top of yours, sliding her fingers through yours. The motion causes your heart to pound as much as your head is, though you push the headache to the side and focus on how Sabine is looking at you. Sabine doesn’t look at anyone like that, not that you know. 
“There’s your pretty face,” Sabine says, her voice low. “Do you regret saying that you love me?” 
“The only thing I regret is not remembering much from last night,” you say, your voice thick. You sit upward, flexing your abs until you’re eye level with the scientist. You exhale, running your thumbs over Sabine’s knuckles. “I would’ve liked to remember my first time having sex with you.” 
Sabine laughs once, running her hand through your hair— you must have a nasty case of bedhead. “Maybe this will teach you not to have shots and drink Raze’s juice. You know the things she puts in that probably aren’t safe for human consumption.” 
You shrug. “Best way to get wasted, though.” 
Sabine merely shakes her head. She cups your face and to your surprise, leans in and presses her lips against yours. You inhale, chasing the smell of her perfume that lays thick in the room, a pervasive scent that curls in your nostrils and down into your stomach. You lean into it, wrapping your arms around her waist. 
Kissing her is the best thing ever, and you’re not even fucking joking. 
Something in your brain clicks, your memory jogged by the action. Flashes of what happened last night play in your mind, blurred by the alcohol you drank, but what happened is so very clear. 
Not only did you and Sabine crash into her room, making out furiously, but she absolutely rawed you. That would explain the soreness between your legs. 
A soft smack fills the air as Sabine pulls away. You laugh, nerves riddling the sound. 
“Sorry, my breath probably smells like shit,” you say. Sabine tilts her head to the side, tracing her nail over the ridge of your eyebrow. 
“I can taste the whiskey you drank. Breach really has no taste,” Sabine says. You snort, leaning forward to rest your head on her neck. Her skin is cool, as it always is, and you find comfort in it. 
You really still can’t believe this happened. You’re buck naked, in Sabine’s bed— the woman you’ve been in love with since months after you joined the Protocol— and she… wait, does she return your feelings? 
“Sabine?” 
“Yes, darling?” 
Pulling your head back, you meet her gaze. “Do you… feel the same?” 
“I do,” Sabine says, no moment of hesitation. “I realized that a week ago when you came back, holding Jett in your arms because she twisted her ankle on the mission and you refused to let her walk. I think I realized it even more when you made sure everyone was drinking water and eating crackers last night despite how drunk you were.” 
The smile on your face cannot be contained. “Really? I should’ve taken my own advice.” 
“Yes, you should’ve,” Sabine says, laughing along with you. She stands up from the bed and you let out a whine. “I have to go check on something in the lab, but I promise I’ll return with some food. There’s some medicine on the nightstand for your headache with some water. Take it, I’ll be back soon.” 
“I’ll accept this,” you reply, flopping back onto the mattress. “If you take all your clothes off when you get back.” 
“And I accept your terms, Y/N,” Sabine murmurs. She puts her hand on the headboard of the bed, the other on your hip. You meet her in the middle, kissing her again because now you can, and a whole fucking world of possibilities has been unlocked. You might as well be on the moon at this point. 
You stare into Sabine’s eyes, a lovesick but slightly hungover grin on your face. “You’re pretty.” 
Sabine rolls her eyes. “Flatterer. I’ll be back. Get some more rest.” 
“Aye aye, captain,” you say, saluting her as she backs away. Sabine sends you another soft glance before exiting the room, turning off the light to drape the room in darkness. 
Goddamn. You’re one lucky person, getting the legendary Sabine Callas. 
The hangover is worth it. 
~~~~~ A/N: do NOT drink raze's jungle juice, jett is currently dead on the floor
243 notes · View notes
jwilliams051197 · 7 months
Text
Just watched the 4th episode of Ahsoka,
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
and it's the best episode of the show so far. We get some more exploration into Baylon Skoll's character, played phenomenally by Ray Stevenson. The scene of him talking down Sabine was so great. The duel between Ahsoka and Sabine vs Shin Hati and Marrok was great too, with the setting reminding me of the final duel in The Force Awakens. I find it hilarious the weeks people spent to guess Marrok's identity, only for it to be revealed that he is a complete nobody. Just some Dathomirian zombie probably animated by Morgan Elsbeth. This episode is also very beautifully shot, especially with Morgan's ship as it sets course for Thrawn. The final scene in this episode, though was something I never thought we would see. Seeing live-action Anakin reunite with Ahsoka is a dream come true. Hearing Hayden Christensen say "Hello, Snips." was such a good moment, and seeing them in the World between Worlds from Rebels season 4 is so unreal. After that ending, I can't wait till next week.
14 notes · View notes
kalevalakryze · 6 months
Text
Barbs
Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types Pairings: Sabine Wren/ Ketsu Onyo Characters: Sabine Wren, Ketsu Onyo Warnings: Blood, Injury,  Notes: For Whumptober Day  15, For @sabineweek Day 1 Prompt: “I don’t need you to help me, I can handle this myself.” | Makeshift Bandages | Suppressed Suffering | “I’m Fine.” + Imperial Academy  Word Count: 1,419 AO3 Link: Here!
Tumblr media
Their very first field exercise came with higher stakes than most; Talk of  Rebellion and Insurgent activity, along with whispers of a ‘Death Watch’ that was credited with the fall of Mandalorian civilization, needed looking into, and the class of rookies in the Imperial Academy seemed like the perfect candidates. 
Sabine had been sent ahead to scout when tripwire sprung; Wire sliced through the cheap plastoid of the subpar armor they’d been supplied with, until the point they were considered to have ‘earned their beskar’. 
Barbs cut through her skin before she could get back in time, feet scrambling in the dirt to avoid the wrap as both ends snapped from the ends of the trap, just avoiding having the trap wind its way around her entire leg. Sabine didn’t want to think about how fast she’d get the boot from the academy and Mandalore, if she would have been taken out so quickly. 
“Karabast!” The young Mandalorian hissed, yanking her bucket from her head and dropping it into the dirt as she dropped, hands moving to squeeze the meat of her thigh above the torn open wound.
The thorns in the wire were made of a beskar alloy; something every Mandalorian was meant to understand, their metal was for armor, to be used to protect themselves, not spill blood, yet here she was, staring at the impure metal where it sat coated in the dark red ichor it had ripped from her body.
There was a crunch of boots nearby, Sabine’s hand flew to her blaster, eyes squinting in the direction of the noise before she caught sight of the Imperial Academy logo on their gear, and the noticeably not regulation helmet. “What do you want, Onyo.” She called with a huff, letting her blaster drop back into the dirt as she focused her attention back on her marred leg.
“Should’a known you’d go and get yourself into a mess,” The older Mandalorian remarked, a smirk pulling onto her lips and a haughty sway in her hips as she eased from the brush to the opening Sabine had gotten herself caught in.
Ketsu dropped to her knees in front of Sabine, brows furrowing even as a teasing smile pulled at her lips. “Gnarly, ‘bine. You need a hand?”
Sure, Sabine knew that Ketsu had been assigned as the recon squadron’s reluctant medic, and that she would have something to ease the stinging pain and the sluggish way blood oozed from her torn thigh, plastoid warped and pressing painfully into her thigh.
“I don’t need you to help me, I can handle this myself.” She insisted stubbornly, lips twisting as she glanced down to the sickening sight of her own leg; It wasn’t her first time seeing an injury, on herself or otherwise, but it was not on her favorites list. 
“Uh-huh,” Ketsu rolled her eyes before firmly plopping herself down on the ground next to the injured Mandalorian. 
“What are you doing?” She huffed, annoyed, golden eyes shifting to their surroundings as Ketsu got comfortable beside her. The ‘revolutionists’ could be anywhere, watching their trap in action.
“Oh, you know; Thought we could use some time away from the kids, just the two of us.” She bit back, mirth and annoyance like a dance in her tone, a smirk pulling at her lips as violet eyes were rolled hard enough that Sabine could feel her growing annoyance. “I’m the assigned medic, di’kut. If I don’t do my job, then we’ll both be scrubbing the latrines over your fuck up.”
“Well, it’s nice to know you care,” Sabine grumbled sarcastically, stubbornly setting her face to stone as she forced herself to poke and prod at her wound, where blood was finally beginning to clot and well up, slowing the flood that pooled into Mandalore’s surface. 
“Come on, Wren. It’s not like that, and you know it.” A closed fist bumped into her shoulder. “Your stubborn ass needs my help though, you know it, I know it; krif, Tarre Viszla himself probably knows it.” 
“I’m fine,” Sabine snapped, weight shifting painfully and forcing a harsh breath to be sucked in between her teeth, eyes snapping shut as the jostle of bone-deep pain. “Alright! Fine! I need help.”
“That wasn’t so hard,” Ketsu answered sweetly, a sickly thing that dripped with false pity, though her hands were gentle when they moved to finally press around Sabine’s thigh, checking to see how far her skin had been torn beneath the armor. The woman shifted to drop her bag from her shoulders, digging through it with a hum. “Had to stitch up the infantry, they got spooked and blasted each other,” Ketsu’s eyes rolled as she shook her head. “How they passed the entrance exams will always be beyond me.”
“That’s probably why I’m out here,” Sabine commented sourly. “Not a combat major, they pulled me from my work for this,” She grumbled, thinking back to her climate controlled lab, and the last pieces that the Duchess needed to be operational. 
“Yeah yeah, you’ve got a brain on you, and a lack of knowing where the tripwires are.” Ketsu started sliding the plastoid from her own arm, working quickly to toss each piece into her bag without care. “Just means you’re the lucky winner who has to wait till we get back in for any bacta or real bandages, less you want me to go scrape some extra off that Eldar kid’s ass,” 
“I’m good,” Sabine shivered and shook her head, forcing her breathing to even out and relax the heavy beating of her heart. 
The Mandalorian slid a blade from a sheathe inside of her shin guard, cleanly slicing through the sleeve of her undersuit and working her arm out of it. “Alright, move your hands,” She ordered, grabbing the remnants of a cleaning solution bottle and dousing their makeshift bandage with it. 
Golden eyes flashed between the gash in her leg and the growing annoyance in violet hued eyes. “Don’t tell me, Sabine Wren is scared.” 
“I’m not!” She snapped back, glowering at the older woman as she finally, slowly, forced her hands away from the wound, hissing out a soft “ah-” at the rush of blood, pain, and the return of too much and too little pressure. Her hands dropped to the dirt, the fingers of her gloves digging indents into the dry outer layer. 
“I’ve seen braver Tookas.” Ketsu remarked dryly as she pushed her way into Sabine’s personal space, making quick work of ruined armor. 
Cutting away the artist’s underlayer brought quiet sounds of barely muffled agony into the space between them as she twisted and writhed, doing her best not to move her leg and avoid adding more pain onto her list. “Dude, do I need to tie you up and gag you, or something?”
Sabine’s brows furrowed immediately as she froze. “What?” She stammered, face flushing as Ketsu used the distraction to cut away the last of the ruined flight suit. 
Chuckling to herself, Ketsu began winding the remains of her sleeve tight around Sabine’s leg, using her fluster to her advantage.
“I’ll have to keep how loud you are in mind for later,” She teased mercilessly after a moment had passed and the younger woman had started to react to the pain again. 
Sabine blanched, mouth opening and closing dumbly; at least the older Mandalorian could say that she made ‘Ms. Overachiever’ dumb and speechless.
“Now come on, I’d rather not leave you behind with these demagolka’s running loose.” 
Ketsu worked Sabine up and off the ground, slinging one of Sabine’s arms around her shoulders as she wrapped an arm securely around the smaller woman’s waist, using her free arm to sling her bag, full of their armor, back over her shoulder, 
“Hey, if we’re lucky, maybe they’ll let you go to medical before they send you out to dust the courtyard.”
“Hmmph, yeah, in a perfect world-”
Grunting as she helped Sabine down a hill (carried was more like it, kid could barely stand on her ruined leg), Ketsu allowed a traitorous thought to form on her tongue. “Would be cool to get out of here, one day. Live like our ancestors, instead of an Imperial lapdog.”
Sabine said nothing to this, but Ketsu could see the gears turning behind the tormented artist’s eyes.  It wasn’t a horrible idea; Bounty hunting and traveling the stars, like Mandalorian’s were meant to do. And.. if Ketsu was at her side, maybe it could even be… nice.
Translations: Di'kut - Idiot Demagolka - Monster
14 notes · View notes