I need to explain how thermostats work
May. 22nd, 2026 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyYour furnace has one setting: off/on.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
Your air conditioner has one setting as well.
The thermostat is just a way of automating the offs and the ons.
Turning the heat to 80 doesn’t heat the house faster. Turning the a/c to 60 doesn’t cool the house faster.
Keeping the heat on 80 so your employees are forced to run the a/cs constantly in order to keep the house merely “sweltering” is deeply wasteful, and I have spent considerable time trying to discreetly open the case to the thermostat. Alas, I cannot pick the lock.
Trying to draft a text to the manager about this that doesn’t involve the words “I don’t want to tell you how to do your job”. Calling attention to what I’m doing is unlikely to help.
Wildlife
May. 18th, 2026 11:35 pmysabetwordsmithAn 8-year-old boy's backyard discovery literally changed science forever
One summer day, 8-year-old Hugo Deans spotted a cluster of tiny, BB-sized spheres near an ant nest under a fallen log in his backyard. He assumed they were some kind of seed, because that’s what they look like.
But his father, Andrew Deans – a Penn State entomology professor – recognized them instantly as oak galls, unusual plant growths caused by insects.
What he didn’t realize at first was that those little galls were clues to a surprisingly complex relationship between ants, wasps, and oak trees.
One summer day, 8-year-old Hugo Deans spotted a cluster of tiny, BB-sized spheres near an ant nest under a fallen log in his backyard. He assumed they were some kind of seed, because that’s what they look like.
But his father, Andrew Deans – a Penn State entomology professor – recognized them instantly as oak galls, unusual plant growths caused by insects.
What he didn’t realize at first was that those little galls were clues to a surprisingly complex relationship between ants, wasps, and oak trees.
Sign my name.
May. 18th, 2026 09:27 pmhannahIt took two needles, but the second one worked, and I got to give blood today. I always think of it like that these days, getting to give blood. It's a privilege to be able to do it, and I don't take that lightly.
My iron was 14, my blood pressure 110/70, I was told my blood is also Code 96, and probably because my veins weren't cooperating it took over six minutes thirty seconds to fill a bag. If I could figure out a good hydration and exercise schedule for the days leading up to a donation, I might be able to manage another rapid tap. I scheduled my next session for July before I left, eight weeks to the day, so I'll take those early July days to try increasing my liquid intake even more. It should give the nurses more volume to work with.
I haven't done many other things today, and having done this one important thing is carrying me forward.
My iron was 14, my blood pressure 110/70, I was told my blood is also Code 96, and probably because my veins weren't cooperating it took over six minutes thirty seconds to fill a bag. If I could figure out a good hydration and exercise schedule for the days leading up to a donation, I might be able to manage another rapid tap. I scheduled my next session for July before I left, eight weeks to the day, so I'll take those early July days to try increasing my liquid intake even more. It should give the nurses more volume to work with.
I haven't done many other things today, and having done this one important thing is carrying me forward.
Star Wars Time Travel: Leia to the Clone Wars
May. 18th, 2026 07:48 pmsenmutAO3 Link | Save Us (5590 words) by Merfilly
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Leia Organa, Ahsoka Tano, Yoda, Plo Koon, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It
Summary:
Shortly after Bespin
In the course of trying to hold up her part of leading the Rebellion, hunting for leads on Han, and being hope for the survivors of Alderaan, Leia rarely had time to herself. One too many people trying to extend sympathy on a major Alderaanian holiday had her demanding time to herself.
Luke was gone with R2-D2, C-3PO had been co-opted by Intel, and who knew what trouble Chewbacca had found with Lando. She checked out a speeder bike, logged a course to go survey the moon they were on, and just let herself escape.
She had a blaster, survival gear, and too many emotions to escape. The speeder bike became an extension of who she was, as she navigated by the seat of her pants, enjoying the rush of air around her.
"Commander Organa, there is an anomaly building near where you logged your exploration," came across her comm in the helmet. She didn't sigh; no, this was a greater invitation to escape while still being the consummate Rebel.
"Understood. Will get eyes on and report back, Control."
She'd have to find out who had been on duty, and be nice to them for remembering her rank instead of her title.
Not much past that, she could see the anomaly, a swirl of energy with the false illusion of a dark place limned in murderously red lighting. She pulled up far short of it, bringing out binocs to see it better.
The device only showed the energy swirl.
Putting it down, Leia moved forward slightly on the bike, ignoring its protest at idling and barely throttled motion. The illusory place looked as if a barrier was dropping, and almost ghostly figures exchanging blows with proscribed lightsabers.
"Why isn't Luke here," she muttered rhetorically, using one hand to rub at both eyes, before peering into the swirl again.
One ghostly figure remained, seated in meditative pose, looking almost like no one Leia had ever seen.
Almost. Memories of her father's study, a woman in a cloak and armor, the hood tented high above her sparkling blue eyes, and the impish smile when she looked directly at Leia's hiding spot came back. Leia remembered orange-toned hands clasping her father's, and the sheer presence of the person when they moved past to leave.
The presence had easily been as imposing as she would learn Vader's was, but with the warm promise of a sun-drenched hike in the plains as opposed to the slicing cut of desert-burning winds.
Leia knew that memory had a name, one that came to be applied to key intel agents that could buy great strides forward, or open full populations to the Rebel Alliance.
Fulcrum.
As if the ghostly one could touch her thoughts, that illusion opened her eyes, and looked directly at Leia across the distance.
"Save us."
Two words preceded the anomaly spiraling out at a rate Leia could not have outran even if the speeder bike had been at full throttle… and the galaxy ceased to exist as Leia had known it her whole life.
After Felucia & Wasskah
Anakin rested his hands on Ahsoka's slim shoulders a moment longer, then gave a lopsided grin at her. "I know I just got you back, but we won't be leaving right away for the Resolute. Thought you might appreciate a day and night in the calm of the Temple before we go rescue Rex and the Admiral from plotting campaigns without us."
She looked at him in that skeptical way she had, before giving him a sly grin in turn. He half-wondered if she was seeing through the excuse, and chose to believe she just had mischief of her own to get into.
"Alright Skyguy. I'll be at our ship when you comm me tomorrow."
"Try not to get in trouble?"
"Right back at ya."
They turned to part, with Anakin going to acquire a speeder, and Ahsoka — after considering her options — going to one of the meditation rooms she preferred.
Leia felt as if she had been turned inside out, twisted like a wet rag, rung out, and then laid out to dry by the time the anomaly stopped reshaping the galaxy. She managed to bring herself to her hands and knees — apparently the speeder bike had not come with her — and fight the roiling nausea down. Opening her eyes was a mistake, and she shut them swiftly, before depending on her other senses.
Moist, plant-and-soil rich air, sounds contained as if in a smaller room, and… a voice talking to her like she was a scared anooba pup? She tried harder to make her ears focus, to understand the soft, calming words.
"…kay, you're going to be okay, just stay still."
"Not moving," Leia managed to say. "World's still spinning opposite the galactic spiral."
"Given I just saw you appear from nowhere, I'm kind of not surprised."
The voice sounded young, but with a sort of confidence that Leia recognized from herself, or Winter. That kind came from being tested by life.
"Where am I?" she asked, since the owner of the voice seemed to be handling her sudden appearance with aplomb, worrying more of getting Leia settled down than the weirdness of it.
"The Jedi Temple. Which means someone's likely to come check on us, given that was a massive Force ripple."
The Jedi Temple?! But that was imposs — no. Wait.
Save us.
"Luke, when I get my hands on you! The Force things are supposed to be your problem, not mine!"
"Hmm, I don't know that name. And I don't recognize your uniform… sort of like the Alderaanian guards? But not quite."
Alderaan. If Leia was in the Jedi Temple, and she had to believe it with the way her day had gone so far, Alderaan survived. The Republic was still whole, but…
"Don't think I am insane for the question I am about to ask," Leis said quietly, measuring the cadence like a speech in the Senate, "but what year is it?"
"Nine seventy-nine, Ruusan Reformation calendar. Not really up on translating that to Huttese or anything other than Shili's world system," the other person said. "I dimmed the lights a bit, in case you want to try opening yours?"
Leia shifted onto her butt first, folding her legs in front of her, an unconscious mirror of the ghostly Fulcrum, and tried that. She was looking at a … small version of the woman that had been her father's friend? Same species, anyway, maybe a relative, given the markings.
Two full years before Empire Day. She wanted to hyperventilate, but the strength of will she'd found in resisting the torture probe on the Death Star helped her hold that at bay.
"My name is Leia Organa — yes that family — and before I got caught in an anomaly I was scouting, I was on a moon, far far away from this world, and a full generation in the future."
The girl tipped her head curiously, then nodded. "I am Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Padawan. I'm only here tonight and part of tomorrow, because my Master is being kind enough to let us both have a rest from the war.
"But if you're really from the future, you know things that could change history, and that means I really need — "
Her words cut off as the door to the room opened, and a small non-human of a species unlike anything Leia had ever seen walked in, using a small staff to help support him.
"— a Jedi Master." Ahsoka smiled brightly. "Master Yoda, we have a Force puzzle. Her name is Leia Organa."
"Hmm, find such, often, my line does." He walked over to be beside Ahsoka, and then settled himself to a sitting pose as well. "Strange, moves the Force. To you, padawan, the Force has brought this piece. Wisdom, yes, wisdom is needed."
Leia caught the slight eyeroll and sense of Ahsoka knowing she didn't have that trait. It actually made her want to smile, but … how could she? She didn't know anything of this era, other than one burning fact.
The so-called Chancellor was prepping the galaxy to transform it into an Empire, and there were no Jedi in her time. Well, except Kenobi, so briefly, and Luke, fumbling his way forward.
"Master Anakin said we were heading back to our unit tomorrow, but now you're here to help her!" Ahsoka said with bright cheerfulness.
Anakin.
"Skywalker?" Leia hesitantly asked.
"Yes!" Ahsoka answered, even as Yoda's ear tip twitched a bit.
"Right. I am certain now that the energy field meant to grab Luke. And he wasn't even on planet!" Leia muttered.
"Hmm?" Yoda inquired.
"My friend Luke, he's the only Jedi I know. And his father was Anakin Skywalker."
"Uh-oh," Ahsoka said, skin flushing a deeper orange. Yoda merely sighed, shaking his head, before looking at the padawan beside him.
"With you, she stays, this night. Decide tomorrow, shall we. Now, care given; needed it is."
"Yes, Master Yoda." Ahsoka bounced to her feet, and then offered a slim hand down to help Leia up, doing so with … a refreshing surge of energy? Leia had half-felt something like that from Luke, when he was worried she was running herself into the ground.
"I… thank you. Both of you. I need to not go near the Senate, but at least part of my assistance will require a meeting with my… with the Senator of Alderaan."
"In the morning," Yoda promised, but made no move to rise again, staying as the other pair left.
Ahsoka frowned at the condition of the apartment. It really didn't help that Obi-Wan still lived here, that none of the three of them were even in the Temple all that often. But the state of the place really showed that as she opened the door and brought Leia inside.
"I got sent to my Master in the field, and he and his Master have been in the field since mine was Knighted, so… there's technically three of us living here, when it should only be two. I could probably find a set of quarters that are empty for you?
"Or you can take the couch and I will crash in my Master's room. He won't mind. And the couch is comfortable, for all it's now on at least the fourth person living here and sleeping on it."
Leia had to smile, to cover for her horror that this kid — how could she be anything else — was in an active war zone. Yes, Rebels had a lot of younger members, but the war… wasn't like anything her older Rebels had said the Clone Wars were.
"I can take the couch. I… is there a datapad I could use, to make my notes, prepare for talking to the Senator and others?"
Ahsoka grinned. "You're a politician; I have seen Senator Amidala using her spare time to work out what to say like that."
Amidala. The man that both Leia's father and her mentor called the Mother of the Rebellion, despite dying on Empire Day. And this girl knew her.
Ahsoka was moving to a small box of odds and ends, came up with a data pad. From the flick of fingers over it, she was backing it up elsewhere, checking the power, and finally she handed it over.
"Basic connection to the Holo Net, ready for you to set up a password! While you do that, are you hungry? I need to eat something. Any food preferences? There's probably teas. Water of course. Won't be any milk currently; I made sure to clear out things like that my last trip back."
"No dietary restrictions, if it's a little spicy, that's good, and I'll trust your choice on the tea." Leia settled on the couch, removing her belt with the blaster and various pouches. Oddly enough, despite knowing the Emperor was on this world, she did feel safe.
Ahsoka vanished into the kitchenette, and Leia got to work.
Anakin had made it back earlier than he'd intended, due to Padmé having an early committee meeting. He slipped in, hearing voices in the eating area, spaced it out because Snips was a lot better than he was at making friends, and headed that way. He found himself pulling up short, though, as the stranger sitting at the table with Snips looked so much like Padmé just before Geonosis.
He knew that was impossible.
"Snips, who's your friend?" he asked, hoping he'd managed casual.
"Hey, Skyguy." Ahsoka grinned over at him. "I guess the Force decided I needed a new friend, huh?"
"That is an interesting way to look at it," the stranger said, smiling, and that only intensified the familiarity.
"Anyway, this is Leia Organa — yes that family as she told me — and we have to meet with Master Yoda in not quite half an hour, along with the Alderaanian senator, and whoever else Master Yoda chose. Force things, in a big way."
"Huh."
Okay so that wasn't the best response to the info-dump, and now that he focused on the Force, something he tried not to do, it was… expectant? Humming? Anticipating something?
"Anakin Skywalker, as she might have remembered to tell you," he did make himself say, before continuing into the kitchen to zap a meal for himself. "Am I supposed to be at this meeting?"
"I didn't volunteer you, and set a timed message to warn you that was where I was. But you weren't not invited either," Ahsoka answered. Her words made him remember why he didn't pay close attention to the Force on Coruscant; it started clanging discordantly.
"If it's all the same, Snips, mind if I go check the Twilight over and let you handle this?" Anakin said, once the Force stopped thrumming at him that he should not go.
"I don't mind; I kind of feel responsible until I know Leia is in good hands with what she has to say."
"Good."
"I… after you explained about Jedi not actually being part of families, I have to say thank you for keeping that meeting calm," Leia said quietly as she walked with Ahsoka toward the meeting room. "I can't see any of Luke in that man, other than… the pressure? The feeling of something innate to him?"
"That's the Force, and yeah, my Master has a lot. I bet a kid of his would radiate it." Ahsoka caught Leia's hand and squeezed. "Pretty sure when the war is over, Skyguy will probably retire from the Order, because it doesn't fit. He might go Altisian; they do allow families."
Leia grimaced, but was glad for the hand, because Ahsoka had reacted, during their discussion of possible futures, with flat out refusal to allow it to come to pass. Apparently the clones were not the enemy? And the Jedi were stretched very thin commanding them? Leia was looking forward to winning her father's trust enough to get a better picture of it all.
"Don't worry. The Force sent you here to help. We'll find the right path to kick the Sith in their teeth and protect people," Ahsoka assured her with all the confidence of youth. Leia even remembered being a little like that… but it was tempered by remembering the woman named Fulcrum, whose every smile had held grief.
The longer she was near Ahsoka, the more she suspected Fulcrum was this Togruta grown up. She didn't know why that stayed with her, any more than how she was more aware of the pressure — the Force, Ahsoka said — all around her.
"I mean to make that happen, even if I have to figure out a big enough distraction to get close enough with a blaster," Leia muttered.
Ahsoka gave her a grin for that, before she straightened herself up at a door, and led Leia inside.
Leia saw her father — so much younger! — next to the one called Master Yoda, and there was a large being of a species Leia didn't recognize. She was beginning to curse, even more fully than ever before, that the Empire had gone so fully human-centric. The other being present, that Leia dimly recalled from her father's holo collection, was the Pantoran Senator of this era. Leia could have sworn that Ahsoka seemed even lighter in spirit for that reason, and she was really starting to wonder if Luke's Jedi weirdness was contagious.
"Master Yoda. Master Plo Koon. Senator Bail Organa, and Senator Riyo Chuchi," Ahsoka began, having shifted to focus on Leia, gestures made in each direction. "This is Leia Organa, and I truly did watch her just appear out of thin air, with the Force swirling all around her."
"Organa?" Bail questioned, and Leia watched him take in the uniform as well as her braids.
"Yes," Leia answered him firmly. "I was adopted, have known that all my life, but I was raised by you and mother to live up to your stations and the expectations for all people."
He smiled at that, nodding. "Spoken as a true daughter of our houses," he agreed.
"Padawan Tano, as the one present at her advent, do you mean to stay for this meeting?" Master Koon asked in a gentle voice. "We are aware of your recent brush with death and the trials entailed on that world, and would excuse you."
Ahsoka centered, and the impression of a youth almost vanished, giving Leia a better glimpse of that woman from her father's study. "Masters, Senators. The Force brought Leia to me, specifically, and I feel it is my duty to stand by her for that, as well as to be the ears of the Vod'e to this meeting, since none are present."
The way the ancient one almost softened in his eyes and ears, and the fact that the tall Jedi Master literally straightened with pride told Leia that Ahsoka had made a good impression. She saw her father's faint worry; he hated seeing the young take on terrible burdens. And the other Senator, one of his allies all the way back to this time, just smiled, as if expecting no less.
"Harm, certain knowledge of future events, can bring," Yoda began. "Ask Master Koon, I did. Gifts of his people, make private our words, hmm? Help to cloak knowledge, prevent theft of it by others, he can. Agree to this, do you, young Organa?"
Leia wondered, eyes going to her father who gave a slight nod, before Ahsoka rested a hand on her arm.
"Master Koon is a Kel Dor, who are natively telepathic. He is also a Baran Do Sage, in addition to being a Jedi, and can help your mind's protections," she explained more fully. Leia had the impression that her father approved of it being put in plainer words, and neither Jedi objected.
"I don't think anyone in this room is going to care for what I share, but even though I will miss every connection I held dear in my life, I want to prevent the death, the destruction, and the collapse of everything my father told me of the galaxy before I was born." Leia squared her shoulders, and looked at the Kel Dor Jedi. "If you would, Master. And I'll try not to regret that the Rebellion never had such protections."
"We are all certain that the portents must be terrible, for the Force to have acted in this fashion," Riyo said firmly, "and we will do all we can to both use the knowledge for the better of all, as well as to take care in not leading to worse."
The Senator's words, coming from someone who didn't look much older than Ahsoka herself, were met with avowals from the others, before Master Koon gathered their minds into a private meeting.
After having her mind buttressed, and with a promise to join them soon from Plo Koon, Ahsoka had dutifully left with a mission. It had been drawn out by Leia being unaware of the men existing in her time, the general impression that the men had been considered the evil of the war presaging the end of the Republic, and the awareness of where the real Sith threat sat in the chain of command.
She would sift through her connections with the men, and try to determine how their blinding loyalty to the Republic, and their devotion to those Jedi that they cared for, could possibly lead to an end game with the Sith in charge.
Bail had openly embraced Leia, promising her that he would maneuver the Senate more subtly, and begin investigations to nibble at the web of corruption in that body enabling the Sith. Master Yoda had gone to his meditations, while Senator Chuchi left with Leia's father.
That left her alone with Plo Koon, whose paternal worry over these men she had to meet had done him no harm at all in her eyes.
"You could have handed me off to Ahsoka, but didn't. Why?" she asked, just to get a better feel for the nebulous threat at something in her young friend's life because of who the Sith was.
"The Chancellor was keen to foster a deep relationship with the boy who saved his homeworld, over a decade ago," Plo told her. "Ahsoka can guard her knowledge, look for ways to mitigate that until I can arrive and convince the young man to allow me to help him, alongside her investigation into the men themselves.
"But you might well trigger a failsafe, if you were to ever state clearly who the Sith is in his hearing."
Leia's eyes went wide as she realized what Plo was saying, and she had to take a deep breath. "So… Anakin Skywalker is both at risk and possibly a risk in himself, without knowing it?"
"Yes. As we never, ever had reason to suspect."
"Right, far better for me to aid you and your unit. I'm no pilot, but I do understand tactical command, and I am a decent shot."
Plo inclined his head. "And, if you wish, we can begin opening the nascent Force ability I sense in you. You are older, but strike me as someone who grasps all tools to move forward for the better of all."
"Me? No, Luke is the one with the Force," Leia protested, and yet…
… she'd known he needed her. She'd found him. She had been aware of the mood of people around her…
"It is part of you, possibly sublimated by outside persons to protect you, given the murder of the Jedi in your history."
Leia took a deep breath. "Alright, but I don't want to use a lightsaber. I like my blaster."
Plo chuckled. "My Commander will quite like that attitude."
Leia was not to mention the truth of the Sith, and she was fine with that, understanding the necessity of secrecy. She couldn't do nothing, though, not when she had been primed for politics or battle by life. Politics was barred, even as a new aide to her father because of what she knew, and joining Plo as an Alderaanian volunteer soldier was her safest way to keep helping.
Wolffe was suspicious of her from the first meeting, while he reminded her very strongly of several die-hard military men that had found the Rebellion as their haven against the Empire's destruction of individual system militias.
Their first battle, a combined ground and space assault saw the suspicions thaw gradually, as Leia ably handled the tactical display and telemetry, allowing Wolffe to divert another officer directly into ground support.
"Commander," Wolffe said, after the hours of managing from the flight deck had come to an end. "You have a good eye for seeing the holes in a net maneuver. Wasn't certain of your call with Squad Delta, but you cut fatalities by at least ten percent."
"A little too much experience running battles as the under-gunned, under-manned side of things," Leia said. "I could use more formal training than what I've picked up, Commander Wolffe."
"Once we're in hyperspace again, I'll work with you on that. I'd like a few pointers on the guerrilla tactics you brought to bear in the space battle."
She held her hand out to him, and he shook it, sealing their choice to be allies more firmly.
Meeting up with the 501st — Leia was trying desperately not to think on that unit designation from her own era, and who led it — let Ahsoka catch up with Leia while the two senior Jedi had a talk that was going to be difficult at best. Leia noticed Ahsoka was holding herself in almost a listening pose every time they paused in their tour of the Resolute, all the way back to Ahsoka's quarters.
Leia noticed it was a dual cabin, showing the Jedi shared living space even on campaign.
"What's eating at you?" Leia finally asked. "Did you make progress on your mission? I haven't been able, as an outsider, to figure anything out, even if Wolffe has been re-mediating my military theory."
"If Wolffe's gone that far, you won't be an outsider long," Ahsoka said before shaking her head. "I have a theory, but I need for my Master to be brought up to speed to be able to prove it, because I'm going to have to get away from GAR medical equipment with a man or two.
"I'm positive they cannot volunteer for what we need done, and that hurts, but I know my brothers. They would if they could. So, I will make that choice for them, and then we'll know."
She'd kept her voice low, even though they were definitely private. Leia approved, and felt a twinge, remembering being the teenager who had to be very careful in what she said and where.
"So what were you listening for?"
"The men," Ahsoka said. "I know why Master Plo is here, and I was trying to make sure my men are as calm as they can be right now, because at least some of them are going to react when the Force storm breaks on them.
"It's part of why I, and Master Plo, were convinced that somehow the Sith will use them for the murder of the Order. They're so deeply imprinted on us, and that would be very Sithly, to use that against both the vod'e and the Jedi."
Leia nodded. "I see the bond between Plo and his men. It's … breathtaking, in many ways."
"Yeah. And we just want to get as many of them alive as possible to the other side of the war, see them learn to just be people with their own goals," Ahsoka said sadly. "Every loss… especially now, knowing what you lived through, it — "
She cut herself off abruptly as the Force pressed in all around them both, full of fear and anger and rejection, swirling and cutting like desert sand caught in a simoom. Ahsoka looked unerringly in the direction of where Plo and Anakin were, before a sheen of white covered her eyes, and Leia knew this was the apparition that had chosen her. The warm sun-drenched plains ghosted along every nerve Leia had, as Ahsoka focused her will, channeled the Force to contain and hold the simoom away from them all.
Leia didn't speak, didn't do anything but lock her own focus on Ahsoka, throwing her will into the padawan's efforts to shield both units from the destruction.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the anger and rage gave way to hope and grief, then even that faded, and Ahsoka wavered, falling heavily back into the cushions of the couch they shared, the white gone from her eyes, the blues of her lekku distinctly faded.
"Oh Skyguy, you better be alright," the girl said softly, before weakly lifting a hand and floating a nutri-paste pack over to handle her immediate need for fuel.
"Can you tell what… anything?" Leia asked. Maybe it was just being on a ship of the 501st, but the rage had felt so much like Vader.
"I think he chose healing, but it was very close. My poor master. Whatever the Sith has done to him… it's at least half as nasty as what's planned for my brothers."
Maybe… maybe Leia's imagination wasn't so far off. But if that was the case —
— oh she was glad Luke would never know that. And she would ask Plo to help her truly see Anakin Skywalker as someone separate from Darth Vader.
Leia waited until they were into hyperspace, then slipped into Plo's outer chamber, the one he used as an office. She hadn't wanted to ask questions, as they had actually had a campaign to see to. The absolute ferocity of Anakin and his people had been well-directed at least, and the campaign short.
"I know you can't tell me things that are Skywalker's to protect, but… is Ahsoka and their unit safe now?"
"From the manipulations on that boy? Yes. All removed. We are shuffling battle plans to keep them at the front and away from Coruscant for now," Plo said.
"Ahsoka said she had a working theory about the men," Leia offered. "In case she didn't get a chance to tell you that."
"I knew it would be in safe hands with her. But you have something else you need of me; the Force is heavy with it."
Leia looked down at her hands, gathering her thoughts together. She looked up with a firm jaw and a steel spine. "I believe I knew Anakin Skywalker, the Sith version, in my time. And it was not … good. I need to know how to separate those pieces, to be more fair to a man that my friend so obviously respects."
"Ahh, I see. I will gladly meditate with you, and help you reinforce the boundary between the man he will not become and the one that he is, my young friend." Plo tipped his head. "Do you wish aid in… the not good part?"
Leia drug in a deep breath, then nodded once, decisively. "It's not pretty," she warned.
"I had no doubt."
The first indication that Ahsoka, and Anakin, had solved the mystery of the clones was when most of the unit reported a headache after a full briefing from Open Circle's High General. Leia glanced at Plo, who nodded briefly to her.
It was technological, a monstrosity that could have stripped them to nothing but following orders. There is no need to burden them with the knowledge just yet.
Wolffe didn't complain of one. It was still odd to think her conversation at the man she saw as a teacher and mentor in her growing ability to use the Force to measure a situation.
The device was destroyed, in the actions that led to his cybernetic eye.
What now?
Ahsoka, a detachment of her men who do know the truth, are coming for you. Skywalker and Kenobi will be bringing the proof needed to a full Senate meeting. She, you, and the squadron of men will be on hand to provide support. Others will also be present.
Leia let her satisfaction with this plan seep through. She would ensconce herself in her father's party, most likely, unless Ahsoka had different ideas.
And she would see the Emperor unmasked… hopefully dead… all because she investigated a Force anomaly. Privately, she was just as glad it had been her, not Luke, with the turns this had taken.
Epilogue
"Your mother is very eager to meet you, even if you are closer in age to us than a daughter could be," Bail said happily. "All of your effort, bringing a viewpoint we needed to restructure the Senate and the courts has been marvelous. But I feel ashamed that it's taken two years to get to a point where I could take you home."
Leia smiled brightly, having been fully in her element after Palpatine came crashing down, serving Alderaan and the galaxy by advising her father. She had paid attention to those former Separatists — not that she had known them as such — in the Rebellion, had listened to Mon Mothma debate the old ways with such people.
That it could make for a better Republic helped her lay to rest the ghosts of a future that could never be.
"We've had so much work, and I would not have been happy to put it aside for a short time. Now I can focus on learning my place in our family now." She accepted the hug he offered her then.
"Word came from my friend Amidala," Bail said as they walked to his waiting ship. "She had twins. She said that she was so struck by your calm and resolve that she chose to name them Leia and Luke, in your honor."
Leia paused, the Force running over her spine in knowledge of that moment. "I have a feeling, Father, that those names were meant to be," she finally said, a gleam in her eye for knowing just who the father was, even if that wasn't open knowledge yet, not with the Order doing its own reorganization. Bail tipped his head, considered, and then breathed out.
"I think… you are correct. I would certainly have stepped up for a child of hers, had things gone so poorly."
"Well, the galaxy will just have to deal with two of me in time," Leia said firmly. She thought she almost heard Fulcrum laughing softly in her mind, as she looked forward to a future shaped for the better.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008] - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Leia Organa, Ahsoka Tano, Yoda, Plo Koon, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It
Summary:
Leia just needed some time to herself. A Force Anomaly gives her a different type of time to deal with.
Save Us
In the course of trying to hold up her part of leading the Rebellion, hunting for leads on Han, and being hope for the survivors of Alderaan, Leia rarely had time to herself. One too many people trying to extend sympathy on a major Alderaanian holiday had her demanding time to herself.
Luke was gone with R2-D2, C-3PO had been co-opted by Intel, and who knew what trouble Chewbacca had found with Lando. She checked out a speeder bike, logged a course to go survey the moon they were on, and just let herself escape.
She had a blaster, survival gear, and too many emotions to escape. The speeder bike became an extension of who she was, as she navigated by the seat of her pants, enjoying the rush of air around her.
"Commander Organa, there is an anomaly building near where you logged your exploration," came across her comm in the helmet. She didn't sigh; no, this was a greater invitation to escape while still being the consummate Rebel.
"Understood. Will get eyes on and report back, Control."
She'd have to find out who had been on duty, and be nice to them for remembering her rank instead of her title.
Not much past that, she could see the anomaly, a swirl of energy with the false illusion of a dark place limned in murderously red lighting. She pulled up far short of it, bringing out binocs to see it better.
The device only showed the energy swirl.
Putting it down, Leia moved forward slightly on the bike, ignoring its protest at idling and barely throttled motion. The illusory place looked as if a barrier was dropping, and almost ghostly figures exchanging blows with proscribed lightsabers.
"Why isn't Luke here," she muttered rhetorically, using one hand to rub at both eyes, before peering into the swirl again.
One ghostly figure remained, seated in meditative pose, looking almost like no one Leia had ever seen.
Almost. Memories of her father's study, a woman in a cloak and armor, the hood tented high above her sparkling blue eyes, and the impish smile when she looked directly at Leia's hiding spot came back. Leia remembered orange-toned hands clasping her father's, and the sheer presence of the person when they moved past to leave.
The presence had easily been as imposing as she would learn Vader's was, but with the warm promise of a sun-drenched hike in the plains as opposed to the slicing cut of desert-burning winds.
Leia knew that memory had a name, one that came to be applied to key intel agents that could buy great strides forward, or open full populations to the Rebel Alliance.
Fulcrum.
As if the ghostly one could touch her thoughts, that illusion opened her eyes, and looked directly at Leia across the distance.
"Save us."
Two words preceded the anomaly spiraling out at a rate Leia could not have outran even if the speeder bike had been at full throttle… and the galaxy ceased to exist as Leia had known it her whole life.
Anakin rested his hands on Ahsoka's slim shoulders a moment longer, then gave a lopsided grin at her. "I know I just got you back, but we won't be leaving right away for the Resolute. Thought you might appreciate a day and night in the calm of the Temple before we go rescue Rex and the Admiral from plotting campaigns without us."
She looked at him in that skeptical way she had, before giving him a sly grin in turn. He half-wondered if she was seeing through the excuse, and chose to believe she just had mischief of her own to get into.
"Alright Skyguy. I'll be at our ship when you comm me tomorrow."
"Try not to get in trouble?"
"Right back at ya."
They turned to part, with Anakin going to acquire a speeder, and Ahsoka — after considering her options — going to one of the meditation rooms she preferred.
Leia felt as if she had been turned inside out, twisted like a wet rag, rung out, and then laid out to dry by the time the anomaly stopped reshaping the galaxy. She managed to bring herself to her hands and knees — apparently the speeder bike had not come with her — and fight the roiling nausea down. Opening her eyes was a mistake, and she shut them swiftly, before depending on her other senses.
Moist, plant-and-soil rich air, sounds contained as if in a smaller room, and… a voice talking to her like she was a scared anooba pup? She tried harder to make her ears focus, to understand the soft, calming words.
"…kay, you're going to be okay, just stay still."
"Not moving," Leia managed to say. "World's still spinning opposite the galactic spiral."
"Given I just saw you appear from nowhere, I'm kind of not surprised."
The voice sounded young, but with a sort of confidence that Leia recognized from herself, or Winter. That kind came from being tested by life.
"Where am I?" she asked, since the owner of the voice seemed to be handling her sudden appearance with aplomb, worrying more of getting Leia settled down than the weirdness of it.
"The Jedi Temple. Which means someone's likely to come check on us, given that was a massive Force ripple."
The Jedi Temple?! But that was imposs — no. Wait.
Save us.
"Luke, when I get my hands on you! The Force things are supposed to be your problem, not mine!"
"Hmm, I don't know that name. And I don't recognize your uniform… sort of like the Alderaanian guards? But not quite."
Alderaan. If Leia was in the Jedi Temple, and she had to believe it with the way her day had gone so far, Alderaan survived. The Republic was still whole, but…
"Don't think I am insane for the question I am about to ask," Leis said quietly, measuring the cadence like a speech in the Senate, "but what year is it?"
"Nine seventy-nine, Ruusan Reformation calendar. Not really up on translating that to Huttese or anything other than Shili's world system," the other person said. "I dimmed the lights a bit, in case you want to try opening yours?"
Leia shifted onto her butt first, folding her legs in front of her, an unconscious mirror of the ghostly Fulcrum, and tried that. She was looking at a … small version of the woman that had been her father's friend? Same species, anyway, maybe a relative, given the markings.
Two full years before Empire Day. She wanted to hyperventilate, but the strength of will she'd found in resisting the torture probe on the Death Star helped her hold that at bay.
"My name is Leia Organa — yes that family — and before I got caught in an anomaly I was scouting, I was on a moon, far far away from this world, and a full generation in the future."
The girl tipped her head curiously, then nodded. "I am Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Padawan. I'm only here tonight and part of tomorrow, because my Master is being kind enough to let us both have a rest from the war.
"But if you're really from the future, you know things that could change history, and that means I really need — "
Her words cut off as the door to the room opened, and a small non-human of a species unlike anything Leia had ever seen walked in, using a small staff to help support him.
"— a Jedi Master." Ahsoka smiled brightly. "Master Yoda, we have a Force puzzle. Her name is Leia Organa."
"Hmm, find such, often, my line does." He walked over to be beside Ahsoka, and then settled himself to a sitting pose as well. "Strange, moves the Force. To you, padawan, the Force has brought this piece. Wisdom, yes, wisdom is needed."
Leia caught the slight eyeroll and sense of Ahsoka knowing she didn't have that trait. It actually made her want to smile, but … how could she? She didn't know anything of this era, other than one burning fact.
The so-called Chancellor was prepping the galaxy to transform it into an Empire, and there were no Jedi in her time. Well, except Kenobi, so briefly, and Luke, fumbling his way forward.
"Master Anakin said we were heading back to our unit tomorrow, but now you're here to help her!" Ahsoka said with bright cheerfulness.
Anakin.
"Skywalker?" Leia hesitantly asked.
"Yes!" Ahsoka answered, even as Yoda's ear tip twitched a bit.
"Right. I am certain now that the energy field meant to grab Luke. And he wasn't even on planet!" Leia muttered.
"Hmm?" Yoda inquired.
"My friend Luke, he's the only Jedi I know. And his father was Anakin Skywalker."
"Uh-oh," Ahsoka said, skin flushing a deeper orange. Yoda merely sighed, shaking his head, before looking at the padawan beside him.
"With you, she stays, this night. Decide tomorrow, shall we. Now, care given; needed it is."
"Yes, Master Yoda." Ahsoka bounced to her feet, and then offered a slim hand down to help Leia up, doing so with … a refreshing surge of energy? Leia had half-felt something like that from Luke, when he was worried she was running herself into the ground.
"I… thank you. Both of you. I need to not go near the Senate, but at least part of my assistance will require a meeting with my… with the Senator of Alderaan."
"In the morning," Yoda promised, but made no move to rise again, staying as the other pair left.
Ahsoka frowned at the condition of the apartment. It really didn't help that Obi-Wan still lived here, that none of the three of them were even in the Temple all that often. But the state of the place really showed that as she opened the door and brought Leia inside.
"I got sent to my Master in the field, and he and his Master have been in the field since mine was Knighted, so… there's technically three of us living here, when it should only be two. I could probably find a set of quarters that are empty for you?
"Or you can take the couch and I will crash in my Master's room. He won't mind. And the couch is comfortable, for all it's now on at least the fourth person living here and sleeping on it."
Leia had to smile, to cover for her horror that this kid — how could she be anything else — was in an active war zone. Yes, Rebels had a lot of younger members, but the war… wasn't like anything her older Rebels had said the Clone Wars were.
"I can take the couch. I… is there a datapad I could use, to make my notes, prepare for talking to the Senator and others?"
Ahsoka grinned. "You're a politician; I have seen Senator Amidala using her spare time to work out what to say like that."
Amidala. The man that both Leia's father and her mentor called the Mother of the Rebellion, despite dying on Empire Day. And this girl knew her.
Ahsoka was moving to a small box of odds and ends, came up with a data pad. From the flick of fingers over it, she was backing it up elsewhere, checking the power, and finally she handed it over.
"Basic connection to the Holo Net, ready for you to set up a password! While you do that, are you hungry? I need to eat something. Any food preferences? There's probably teas. Water of course. Won't be any milk currently; I made sure to clear out things like that my last trip back."
"No dietary restrictions, if it's a little spicy, that's good, and I'll trust your choice on the tea." Leia settled on the couch, removing her belt with the blaster and various pouches. Oddly enough, despite knowing the Emperor was on this world, she did feel safe.
Ahsoka vanished into the kitchenette, and Leia got to work.
Anakin had made it back earlier than he'd intended, due to Padmé having an early committee meeting. He slipped in, hearing voices in the eating area, spaced it out because Snips was a lot better than he was at making friends, and headed that way. He found himself pulling up short, though, as the stranger sitting at the table with Snips looked so much like Padmé just before Geonosis.
He knew that was impossible.
"Snips, who's your friend?" he asked, hoping he'd managed casual.
"Hey, Skyguy." Ahsoka grinned over at him. "I guess the Force decided I needed a new friend, huh?"
"That is an interesting way to look at it," the stranger said, smiling, and that only intensified the familiarity.
"Anyway, this is Leia Organa — yes that family as she told me — and we have to meet with Master Yoda in not quite half an hour, along with the Alderaanian senator, and whoever else Master Yoda chose. Force things, in a big way."
"Huh."
Okay so that wasn't the best response to the info-dump, and now that he focused on the Force, something he tried not to do, it was… expectant? Humming? Anticipating something?
"Anakin Skywalker, as she might have remembered to tell you," he did make himself say, before continuing into the kitchen to zap a meal for himself. "Am I supposed to be at this meeting?"
"I didn't volunteer you, and set a timed message to warn you that was where I was. But you weren't not invited either," Ahsoka answered. Her words made him remember why he didn't pay close attention to the Force on Coruscant; it started clanging discordantly.
"If it's all the same, Snips, mind if I go check the Twilight over and let you handle this?" Anakin said, once the Force stopped thrumming at him that he should not go.
"I don't mind; I kind of feel responsible until I know Leia is in good hands with what she has to say."
"Good."
"I… after you explained about Jedi not actually being part of families, I have to say thank you for keeping that meeting calm," Leia said quietly as she walked with Ahsoka toward the meeting room. "I can't see any of Luke in that man, other than… the pressure? The feeling of something innate to him?"
"That's the Force, and yeah, my Master has a lot. I bet a kid of his would radiate it." Ahsoka caught Leia's hand and squeezed. "Pretty sure when the war is over, Skyguy will probably retire from the Order, because it doesn't fit. He might go Altisian; they do allow families."
Leia grimaced, but was glad for the hand, because Ahsoka had reacted, during their discussion of possible futures, with flat out refusal to allow it to come to pass. Apparently the clones were not the enemy? And the Jedi were stretched very thin commanding them? Leia was looking forward to winning her father's trust enough to get a better picture of it all.
"Don't worry. The Force sent you here to help. We'll find the right path to kick the Sith in their teeth and protect people," Ahsoka assured her with all the confidence of youth. Leia even remembered being a little like that… but it was tempered by remembering the woman named Fulcrum, whose every smile had held grief.
The longer she was near Ahsoka, the more she suspected Fulcrum was this Togruta grown up. She didn't know why that stayed with her, any more than how she was more aware of the pressure — the Force, Ahsoka said — all around her.
"I mean to make that happen, even if I have to figure out a big enough distraction to get close enough with a blaster," Leia muttered.
Ahsoka gave her a grin for that, before she straightened herself up at a door, and led Leia inside.
Leia saw her father — so much younger! — next to the one called Master Yoda, and there was a large being of a species Leia didn't recognize. She was beginning to curse, even more fully than ever before, that the Empire had gone so fully human-centric. The other being present, that Leia dimly recalled from her father's holo collection, was the Pantoran Senator of this era. Leia could have sworn that Ahsoka seemed even lighter in spirit for that reason, and she was really starting to wonder if Luke's Jedi weirdness was contagious.
"Master Yoda. Master Plo Koon. Senator Bail Organa, and Senator Riyo Chuchi," Ahsoka began, having shifted to focus on Leia, gestures made in each direction. "This is Leia Organa, and I truly did watch her just appear out of thin air, with the Force swirling all around her."
"Organa?" Bail questioned, and Leia watched him take in the uniform as well as her braids.
"Yes," Leia answered him firmly. "I was adopted, have known that all my life, but I was raised by you and mother to live up to your stations and the expectations for all people."
He smiled at that, nodding. "Spoken as a true daughter of our houses," he agreed.
"Padawan Tano, as the one present at her advent, do you mean to stay for this meeting?" Master Koon asked in a gentle voice. "We are aware of your recent brush with death and the trials entailed on that world, and would excuse you."
Ahsoka centered, and the impression of a youth almost vanished, giving Leia a better glimpse of that woman from her father's study. "Masters, Senators. The Force brought Leia to me, specifically, and I feel it is my duty to stand by her for that, as well as to be the ears of the Vod'e to this meeting, since none are present."
The way the ancient one almost softened in his eyes and ears, and the fact that the tall Jedi Master literally straightened with pride told Leia that Ahsoka had made a good impression. She saw her father's faint worry; he hated seeing the young take on terrible burdens. And the other Senator, one of his allies all the way back to this time, just smiled, as if expecting no less.
"Harm, certain knowledge of future events, can bring," Yoda began. "Ask Master Koon, I did. Gifts of his people, make private our words, hmm? Help to cloak knowledge, prevent theft of it by others, he can. Agree to this, do you, young Organa?"
Leia wondered, eyes going to her father who gave a slight nod, before Ahsoka rested a hand on her arm.
"Master Koon is a Kel Dor, who are natively telepathic. He is also a Baran Do Sage, in addition to being a Jedi, and can help your mind's protections," she explained more fully. Leia had the impression that her father approved of it being put in plainer words, and neither Jedi objected.
"I don't think anyone in this room is going to care for what I share, but even though I will miss every connection I held dear in my life, I want to prevent the death, the destruction, and the collapse of everything my father told me of the galaxy before I was born." Leia squared her shoulders, and looked at the Kel Dor Jedi. "If you would, Master. And I'll try not to regret that the Rebellion never had such protections."
"We are all certain that the portents must be terrible, for the Force to have acted in this fashion," Riyo said firmly, "and we will do all we can to both use the knowledge for the better of all, as well as to take care in not leading to worse."
The Senator's words, coming from someone who didn't look much older than Ahsoka herself, were met with avowals from the others, before Master Koon gathered their minds into a private meeting.
After having her mind buttressed, and with a promise to join them soon from Plo Koon, Ahsoka had dutifully left with a mission. It had been drawn out by Leia being unaware of the men existing in her time, the general impression that the men had been considered the evil of the war presaging the end of the Republic, and the awareness of where the real Sith threat sat in the chain of command.
She would sift through her connections with the men, and try to determine how their blinding loyalty to the Republic, and their devotion to those Jedi that they cared for, could possibly lead to an end game with the Sith in charge.
Bail had openly embraced Leia, promising her that he would maneuver the Senate more subtly, and begin investigations to nibble at the web of corruption in that body enabling the Sith. Master Yoda had gone to his meditations, while Senator Chuchi left with Leia's father.
That left her alone with Plo Koon, whose paternal worry over these men she had to meet had done him no harm at all in her eyes.
"You could have handed me off to Ahsoka, but didn't. Why?" she asked, just to get a better feel for the nebulous threat at something in her young friend's life because of who the Sith was.
"The Chancellor was keen to foster a deep relationship with the boy who saved his homeworld, over a decade ago," Plo told her. "Ahsoka can guard her knowledge, look for ways to mitigate that until I can arrive and convince the young man to allow me to help him, alongside her investigation into the men themselves.
"But you might well trigger a failsafe, if you were to ever state clearly who the Sith is in his hearing."
Leia's eyes went wide as she realized what Plo was saying, and she had to take a deep breath. "So… Anakin Skywalker is both at risk and possibly a risk in himself, without knowing it?"
"Yes. As we never, ever had reason to suspect."
"Right, far better for me to aid you and your unit. I'm no pilot, but I do understand tactical command, and I am a decent shot."
Plo inclined his head. "And, if you wish, we can begin opening the nascent Force ability I sense in you. You are older, but strike me as someone who grasps all tools to move forward for the better of all."
"Me? No, Luke is the one with the Force," Leia protested, and yet…
… she'd known he needed her. She'd found him. She had been aware of the mood of people around her…
"It is part of you, possibly sublimated by outside persons to protect you, given the murder of the Jedi in your history."
Leia took a deep breath. "Alright, but I don't want to use a lightsaber. I like my blaster."
Plo chuckled. "My Commander will quite like that attitude."
Leia was not to mention the truth of the Sith, and she was fine with that, understanding the necessity of secrecy. She couldn't do nothing, though, not when she had been primed for politics or battle by life. Politics was barred, even as a new aide to her father because of what she knew, and joining Plo as an Alderaanian volunteer soldier was her safest way to keep helping.
Wolffe was suspicious of her from the first meeting, while he reminded her very strongly of several die-hard military men that had found the Rebellion as their haven against the Empire's destruction of individual system militias.
Their first battle, a combined ground and space assault saw the suspicions thaw gradually, as Leia ably handled the tactical display and telemetry, allowing Wolffe to divert another officer directly into ground support.
"Commander," Wolffe said, after the hours of managing from the flight deck had come to an end. "You have a good eye for seeing the holes in a net maneuver. Wasn't certain of your call with Squad Delta, but you cut fatalities by at least ten percent."
"A little too much experience running battles as the under-gunned, under-manned side of things," Leia said. "I could use more formal training than what I've picked up, Commander Wolffe."
"Once we're in hyperspace again, I'll work with you on that. I'd like a few pointers on the guerrilla tactics you brought to bear in the space battle."
She held her hand out to him, and he shook it, sealing their choice to be allies more firmly.
Meeting up with the 501st — Leia was trying desperately not to think on that unit designation from her own era, and who led it — let Ahsoka catch up with Leia while the two senior Jedi had a talk that was going to be difficult at best. Leia noticed Ahsoka was holding herself in almost a listening pose every time they paused in their tour of the Resolute, all the way back to Ahsoka's quarters.
Leia noticed it was a dual cabin, showing the Jedi shared living space even on campaign.
"What's eating at you?" Leia finally asked. "Did you make progress on your mission? I haven't been able, as an outsider, to figure anything out, even if Wolffe has been re-mediating my military theory."
"If Wolffe's gone that far, you won't be an outsider long," Ahsoka said before shaking her head. "I have a theory, but I need for my Master to be brought up to speed to be able to prove it, because I'm going to have to get away from GAR medical equipment with a man or two.
"I'm positive they cannot volunteer for what we need done, and that hurts, but I know my brothers. They would if they could. So, I will make that choice for them, and then we'll know."
She'd kept her voice low, even though they were definitely private. Leia approved, and felt a twinge, remembering being the teenager who had to be very careful in what she said and where.
"So what were you listening for?"
"The men," Ahsoka said. "I know why Master Plo is here, and I was trying to make sure my men are as calm as they can be right now, because at least some of them are going to react when the Force storm breaks on them.
"It's part of why I, and Master Plo, were convinced that somehow the Sith will use them for the murder of the Order. They're so deeply imprinted on us, and that would be very Sithly, to use that against both the vod'e and the Jedi."
Leia nodded. "I see the bond between Plo and his men. It's … breathtaking, in many ways."
"Yeah. And we just want to get as many of them alive as possible to the other side of the war, see them learn to just be people with their own goals," Ahsoka said sadly. "Every loss… especially now, knowing what you lived through, it — "
She cut herself off abruptly as the Force pressed in all around them both, full of fear and anger and rejection, swirling and cutting like desert sand caught in a simoom. Ahsoka looked unerringly in the direction of where Plo and Anakin were, before a sheen of white covered her eyes, and Leia knew this was the apparition that had chosen her. The warm sun-drenched plains ghosted along every nerve Leia had, as Ahsoka focused her will, channeled the Force to contain and hold the simoom away from them all.
Leia didn't speak, didn't do anything but lock her own focus on Ahsoka, throwing her will into the padawan's efforts to shield both units from the destruction.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the anger and rage gave way to hope and grief, then even that faded, and Ahsoka wavered, falling heavily back into the cushions of the couch they shared, the white gone from her eyes, the blues of her lekku distinctly faded.
"Oh Skyguy, you better be alright," the girl said softly, before weakly lifting a hand and floating a nutri-paste pack over to handle her immediate need for fuel.
"Can you tell what… anything?" Leia asked. Maybe it was just being on a ship of the 501st, but the rage had felt so much like Vader.
"I think he chose healing, but it was very close. My poor master. Whatever the Sith has done to him… it's at least half as nasty as what's planned for my brothers."
Maybe… maybe Leia's imagination wasn't so far off. But if that was the case —
— oh she was glad Luke would never know that. And she would ask Plo to help her truly see Anakin Skywalker as someone separate from Darth Vader.
Leia waited until they were into hyperspace, then slipped into Plo's outer chamber, the one he used as an office. She hadn't wanted to ask questions, as they had actually had a campaign to see to. The absolute ferocity of Anakin and his people had been well-directed at least, and the campaign short.
"I know you can't tell me things that are Skywalker's to protect, but… is Ahsoka and their unit safe now?"
"From the manipulations on that boy? Yes. All removed. We are shuffling battle plans to keep them at the front and away from Coruscant for now," Plo said.
"Ahsoka said she had a working theory about the men," Leia offered. "In case she didn't get a chance to tell you that."
"I knew it would be in safe hands with her. But you have something else you need of me; the Force is heavy with it."
Leia looked down at her hands, gathering her thoughts together. She looked up with a firm jaw and a steel spine. "I believe I knew Anakin Skywalker, the Sith version, in my time. And it was not … good. I need to know how to separate those pieces, to be more fair to a man that my friend so obviously respects."
"Ahh, I see. I will gladly meditate with you, and help you reinforce the boundary between the man he will not become and the one that he is, my young friend." Plo tipped his head. "Do you wish aid in… the not good part?"
Leia drug in a deep breath, then nodded once, decisively. "It's not pretty," she warned.
"I had no doubt."
The first indication that Ahsoka, and Anakin, had solved the mystery of the clones was when most of the unit reported a headache after a full briefing from Open Circle's High General. Leia glanced at Plo, who nodded briefly to her.
It was technological, a monstrosity that could have stripped them to nothing but following orders. There is no need to burden them with the knowledge just yet.
Wolffe didn't complain of one. It was still odd to think her conversation at the man she saw as a teacher and mentor in her growing ability to use the Force to measure a situation.
The device was destroyed, in the actions that led to his cybernetic eye.
What now?
Ahsoka, a detachment of her men who do know the truth, are coming for you. Skywalker and Kenobi will be bringing the proof needed to a full Senate meeting. She, you, and the squadron of men will be on hand to provide support. Others will also be present.
Leia let her satisfaction with this plan seep through. She would ensconce herself in her father's party, most likely, unless Ahsoka had different ideas.
And she would see the Emperor unmasked… hopefully dead… all because she investigated a Force anomaly. Privately, she was just as glad it had been her, not Luke, with the turns this had taken.
"Your mother is very eager to meet you, even if you are closer in age to us than a daughter could be," Bail said happily. "All of your effort, bringing a viewpoint we needed to restructure the Senate and the courts has been marvelous. But I feel ashamed that it's taken two years to get to a point where I could take you home."
Leia smiled brightly, having been fully in her element after Palpatine came crashing down, serving Alderaan and the galaxy by advising her father. She had paid attention to those former Separatists — not that she had known them as such — in the Rebellion, had listened to Mon Mothma debate the old ways with such people.
That it could make for a better Republic helped her lay to rest the ghosts of a future that could never be.
"We've had so much work, and I would not have been happy to put it aside for a short time. Now I can focus on learning my place in our family now." She accepted the hug he offered her then.
"Word came from my friend Amidala," Bail said as they walked to his waiting ship. "She had twins. She said that she was so struck by your calm and resolve that she chose to name them Leia and Luke, in your honor."
Leia paused, the Force running over her spine in knowledge of that moment. "I have a feeling, Father, that those names were meant to be," she finally said, a gleam in her eye for knowing just who the father was, even if that wasn't open knowledge yet, not with the Order doing its own reorganization. Bail tipped his head, considered, and then breathed out.
"I think… you are correct. I would certainly have stepped up for a child of hers, had things gone so poorly."
"Well, the galaxy will just have to deal with two of me in time," Leia said firmly. She thought she almost heard Fulcrum laughing softly in her mind, as she looked forward to a future shaped for the better.
Podfic!
May. 18th, 2026 05:54 pmsenmut[podfic] Looking Forward (25 words) by xia_pods
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lost Boys (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: David (Lost Boys)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: Download
Summary:
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lost Boys (Movies)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: David (Lost Boys)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: Download
Summary:
Audio Length: 1min 6s
David surveys the house, and chooses
Podfic of Looking Forward by Merfilly.
[ SECRET POST #7073 ]
May. 18th, 2026 04:18 pmcase posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #7073 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 28 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1010.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
(no subject)
May. 18th, 2026 02:17 pmgreghousesgfHad some orange blossom tea. When I went out this morning to swim there was broken glass on the floor in front of my apt door. I didn't see it in front of anybody else's door. I'm just glad I didn't cut my foot open. I know some people here don't like me but that is so messed up.
I'm going to make pasta for dinner tonight so I had to go to Trader Joe to get tomatoes.
I'm going to make pasta for dinner tonight so I had to go to Trader Joe to get tomatoes.
check in day 18
May. 18th, 2026 09:51 pmlilly_c posting in writethisfanficHow is the writing going?
Discussion: do you have favourite lines of dialogue from your own work?
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3
Today I
View Answers
wrote
3 (100.0%)
edited
1 (33.3%)
posted
0 (0.0%)
sent to beta
0 (0.0%)
researched
0 (0.0%)
planned
0 (0.0%)
had a cheeky break
0 (0.0%)
dealt with life
1 (33.3%)
Discussion: do you have favourite lines of dialogue from your own work?
Bungou Stray Dogs: tell me we do not live in vain by valleykey
May. 18th, 2026 09:45 pmsasheneskywalker posting in fancakeFandom: Bungou Stray Dogs
Pairings/Characters: Dazai Osamu/Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Dazai Osamu & Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Length: 57,127 words
Creator Links:![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
valleykey
Theme: journey & travel, trans & non-binary characters, ambiguous relationships, non-sexual intimacy, road trips, hurt/comfort
Summary: Fyodor’s weak heart thuds violently within its cage of flesh and bone, ba-thump. Dazai’s knife kisses cold on the skin of their throat. They swallow, and the bob of their Adam’s apple against it draws blood.
“Alright,” Fyodor decides, “let’s find a way to die.”
// In the Decay’s aftermath, Fyodor and Dazai quietly slip through the cracks, and set on a journey.
Reccer's Notes: After Fyodor’s defeat, Dazai agrees to a double suicide instead of killing him and the two set off on an unexpected road trip. It’s a fantastic exploration of Dazai and Fyodor’s characters and their relationship. The themes of recovery, philosophy, religion, disability, gender, mental health issues, codependency, and intimacy are handled beautifully, and the writing is absolutely gorgeous <3
Content Notes: suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, self harm, right to suicide stuff, progressive & disabling genetic condition, religious elements, codependency, more detailed content notes in the author's notes
Fanwork Links: tell me we do not live in vain
Pairings/Characters: Dazai Osamu/Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Dazai Osamu & Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Length: 57,127 words
Creator Links:
Theme: journey & travel, trans & non-binary characters, ambiguous relationships, non-sexual intimacy, road trips, hurt/comfort
Summary: Fyodor’s weak heart thuds violently within its cage of flesh and bone, ba-thump. Dazai’s knife kisses cold on the skin of their throat. They swallow, and the bob of their Adam’s apple against it draws blood.
“Alright,” Fyodor decides, “let’s find a way to die.”
// In the Decay’s aftermath, Fyodor and Dazai quietly slip through the cracks, and set on a journey.
Reccer's Notes: After Fyodor’s defeat, Dazai agrees to a double suicide instead of killing him and the two set off on an unexpected road trip. It’s a fantastic exploration of Dazai and Fyodor’s characters and their relationship. The themes of recovery, philosophy, religion, disability, gender, mental health issues, codependency, and intimacy are handled beautifully, and the writing is absolutely gorgeous <3
Content Notes: suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, self harm, right to suicide stuff, progressive & disabling genetic condition, religious elements, codependency, more detailed content notes in the author's notes
Fanwork Links: tell me we do not live in vain
Nomination Clarifications #1
May. 18th, 2026 03:41 pmsummerofhorrorexchangeNomination reminders
- We DO NOT accept nominations with "/" ships. All character groupings must be nominated with "&". For example, we will not accept "Timon/Pumbaa (The Lion King 1994)"; please nominate "Timon & Pumbaa (The Lion King 1994)" instead. If you have nominated a "/" ship, please edit it to have "&". (You can still request ships as part of the optional details of your request.)
- Please disambiguate your nominations. This means putting the fandom after your nomination in parentheses, as in the example above.
- If your nominations are lingering, you should also doublecheck the nomination guidelines to be sure you're using the correct format.
Nomination queries
- Yellowjackets: Nominator(s), is there a more specific label you could use for The Team? And can you confirm whether The Wilderness is a character or a form of relationship?
- Any nominations for the following fandoms: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XII, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Nominator(s), if your tags haven't been approved, please edit to specify whether you mean any group of characters (Any & Any) or Solo: Any. If your tags have already been approved, please let us know here, and we can make the change for you to make these either Any & Any or Solo: Any Character.
- Carrier Wave - Solo: Infected (Carrier Wave): Nominator(s), is this Any Infected Character, or is it a group nomination?
- Left 4 Dead - Solo: Special Infected (Left 4 Dead): Nominator(s), is this Any Special Infected Infected Character, or is it a group nomination?
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Solo: Monster of the Week: Nominator, just to check, is this Any Monster of the Week, or is there a specific character known as Monster of the Week?
- Five Nights at Freddy's - Solo: Possessed Animatronics: Nominator, do you want this as a group relationship tag or a solo character nom for Any Possessed Animatronic?
Schitt's Creek: Fifteen Hundred Miles, by MoreHuman
May. 18th, 2026 08:40 pmbirdylion posting in fancakeFandom: Schitt's Creek
Pairings/Characters: David Rose/Patrick Brewer
Rating: Mature
Length: 30758 words, 2:56h podfic
Creator Links: written byMoreHuman, podfic available by Amanita_Fierce
Theme: Journey & Travel, Canon LGBTQ+ characters, AU
Summary:
It’s an attractive thought, that changing your life could be as easy as doing a hard thing.
Instead of moving to Schitt’s Creek, Patrick decides to hike fifteen hundred miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, through the wilderness, alone. He ends up meeting someone else with something to prove.
Reccer's Notes:
This someone, obviously, being David Rose. The story has them meeting while both solo-hiking the PCT and running into each other again and again. The "Journey and Travel" part is not just a backdrop for a different first meeting and getting together. Instead, the difficulties they face on their journey feel true to my experience of long distance hiking in spirit if not in detail, loving and awe-inspiring descriptions of the landscape included.
The fic also inspired a very well produced podfic that is 100% worth listening to if you like podfics.
Fanwork Links: Fifteen Hundred Miles on ao3
podfic of Fifteen Hundred Miles on ao3
Pairings/Characters: David Rose/Patrick Brewer
Rating: Mature
Length: 30758 words, 2:56h podfic
Creator Links: written by
Theme: Journey & Travel, Canon LGBTQ+ characters, AU
Summary:
It’s an attractive thought, that changing your life could be as easy as doing a hard thing.
Instead of moving to Schitt’s Creek, Patrick decides to hike fifteen hundred miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, through the wilderness, alone. He ends up meeting someone else with something to prove.
Reccer's Notes:
This someone, obviously, being David Rose. The story has them meeting while both solo-hiking the PCT and running into each other again and again. The "Journey and Travel" part is not just a backdrop for a different first meeting and getting together. Instead, the difficulties they face on their journey feel true to my experience of long distance hiking in spirit if not in detail, loving and awe-inspiring descriptions of the landscape included.
The fic also inspired a very well produced podfic that is 100% worth listening to if you like podfics.
Fanwork Links: Fifteen Hundred Miles on ao3
podfic of Fifteen Hundred Miles on ao3
Birdfeeding
May. 18th, 2026 01:49 pmysabetwordsmithToday is cloudy, mild, and wet. It has varied between light rain, pouring rain, and "the air is water" outside. We need the rain, though.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen any.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder, and a few small birds.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
It's still drizzling on and off.
I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen any.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I've seen a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder, and a few small birds.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 5/18/26 -- I did more work around the patio.
It's still drizzling on and off.
I am done for the night.
Poem: "A Spark in the Dark"
May. 18th, 2026 01:33 pmysabetwordsmithThis poem came out of the May 2026 crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "wait" square in my 5-1-26 card for the Greek Myth Fest bingo. This poem belongs to the Blueshift Troupers series.
( Read more... )
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman. It also fills the "wait" square in my 5-1-26 card for the Greek Myth Fest bingo. This poem belongs to the Blueshift Troupers series.( Read more... )
Check-In Post - May 18th 2026
May. 18th, 2026 07:23 pmbadly_knitted posting in get_knittedHello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: What do you wish you could get right first time, every time?
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
I now declare this Check-In OPEN!
Half-Price Sale in Polychrome Heroics
May. 18th, 2026 11:49 amysabetwordsmithThis week, the poetry of Polychrome Heroics is on sale for half price from Monday, May 18 through Sunday, May 24. This series is superhero fantasy. It features themes of heroism, coming of age, diversity, identity kink, family of choice, friendship, and cultural engineering. Sale prices range from $5 to $319, so hopefully there will be something for everyone.
Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support. There are no open epics at present, so you may open one if you wish.
We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit. If you host a pool, please close it the day before the sale closes, so you have time to collect funds and turn them in on time.
Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.
Linkback perk: The following poems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale and tell me which poem you want to extend.
"A Sense of Weather Changes"
"The Loving Embrace of Night"
"Generations of Cooks Past"
"Homefree and Clear "
"One Bite at a Time"
"Mishpocha"
"Changing Your Nature"
"Besa"
About characters and storylines: The storylines feature multiple characters, so if you want poems about ONE specific character, look closely. The thumbnail descriptions here give some indication who features in each poem. The storyline pages are adding precise, complete information about which characters appear in each poem. If you need more than what's already visible, you can ask me.
About timing: If you want maximum choice, shop early. We usually send a batch of things to my father near the end of a sale, and those poems will be posted as I have time.
About pools: Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to get the quarter-price rate. Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to buy a bigger poem. Yes, you can offer to match donations by other people. However, the wordsmith is not also a math whiz! After several attempts to find a way that I can work with pools and matches, I have concluded that this is over my head. (I did figure out how to avoid generating fractional pennies, though: all initial prices are now whole dollars, which means they cut evenly into halves and quarters.) So if you want to host a pool or a match, make a post for that in your blog or other venue, then comment here with what you're doing and include a link to wherever the discussion will be. You figure out the poems, you collect the funds, and when stuff is fully funded, you send me the money and the list of what it's for. Then I'll post the goodies. Please close the pool in time to collect donations by the end of the sale, so I can start posting pool poems no later than the day after the sale.
Before placing your order, please check this sale page to see what is still unsold! I will try to update the page as things sell, and it's likely to be the case that some poems will be marked SOLD before appearing in posts. People often buy things in batches, which means that selling gets ahead of posting. Also sometimes people ask for the same thing at the same time, so that not all overlaps are preventable. If you have alternate instructions in case you request something that has just sold, please include that in your message; otherwise I'll email you back and ask what you want to do.
Poems that unlock sequels: "Your Emotional Abilities"
Poems that have prerequisites: "A Beautiful Paradox"
FOR SALE
18 poems, $3,322 ÷ 2 = $1,661
prices from $5 to $319
BROKEN ANGELS (2 poems,was $323, sale price $161.50
"A Proper Community Is a Commonwealth"
Story Date: Mid-February, 2016
Summary: Boss Blaster watches Pressnall Pocket Neighborhood go from a site plan to a community with new residents.
329 lines,was $165, sale price $82.50
"Play Off the Energy of the Crowd"
Story Date: Saturday, June 18, 2016
Summary: Shiv takes up Boss Blaster's offer to treat him at the food trucks.
316 lines,was $158, sale price $79
KRAKEN (3 poems,was $154, sale price $77)
"The Frequent Passage from Hand to Hand"
Story Date: April 2002
Summary: Kraken appreciates BookCrossing.
56 lines,was $20, sale price $10
"Filled with Things You Don't Know"
Story Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Summary: Marjane works on library decor and gets a new assistant.
98 lines,was $49, sale price $24.50
"Lágrimas da Floresta Tropical"
Story Date: Monday, November 17, 2014
Summary: Pinion and Camberhawk team up with Kayapó forest guardians to stop a logging incursion.
170 lines,was $85, sale price $42.50
RUTLEDGE (5 poems,was $867, sale price $433.50)
"Nothing Like Looking"
Story Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Summary: Aria visits Rutledge as part of Many Paths Up the Mountain.
466 lines,was $233, sale price $116.50
"Your Emotional Abilities"
Story Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015
Summary: Amethyst gives Johan some ideas about accommodations that might help cope with his current challenges.
366 lines,was $183, sale price $91.50
"Shag Carpet Cuddles"
Story Date: June 2015
Summary: The Vermont Shag Carpet Cats love snuggling with people.
19 lines,was $10, sale price $5
"A Beautiful Paradox"
Story Date: Friday, June 5, 2015
Summary: Johan loses his temper
259 lines,was $130, sale price $65
Available for posting after "Your Emotional Abilities" has been sponsored and published.
"Learning New Skills"
Story Date: Sunday, June 12, 2016
Summary: Wrenley Immen teaches her new neighbor about gardening.
311 lines,was $311, sale price $155.50
Double price for research.
OTHER POLYCHROME POEMS (8 poems,was $1978, sale price $989)
"The Four Marks of True Repentance"
Story Date: Monday, August 13, 2013
Summary: Three former child soldiers move to America.
953 lines,was $477, sale price $238.50
"When Everyone Around You Has Theirs Bowed"
Story Date: Sunday, April 6, 2014
Summary: Therapy for men's genital injury tends to focus on loss, but Marvis Willing knows the proud history of eunuchs.
304 lines,was $152, sale price $76
"Let's Go on This Journey Together"
Story Date: Monday, September 29, 2014
Summary: After breaking his arm, Linus gets a lot of support from his friends.
638 lines,was $638, sale price $319
Double price for research.
"Hear a Thousand Stars Singing"
Story Date: Night of Sunday, October 25, 2015
Summary: Fascinated by the idea of becoming a robonaut, Quain takes up stargazing.
28 lines,was $15, sale price $7.50
"Far Stronger Links"
Story Date: Friday, September 4, 2015
Summary: A coworker's loss inspires support at work.
515 lines,was $258, sale price $129
"Aim a Little Above It"
Nagi deals with a young man who tries to rob her.
260 lines,was $130, sale price $65
"Formidable Tasks of Adaptation"
Story Date: Sunday, March 20, 2016
Summary: Denim has had enough of her parents' shit.
359 lines,was $180, sale price $90
"Upholding It, Wherever Found"
Story Date: Thursday, November 3, 2016
Summary: Gail Somerville works for Interpol, but feels increasingly uncomfortable with it.
256 lines,was $128, sale price $64
Prices on open epics are locked at the time of opening; however, if anyone wants to donate to open epics and buy poetry, spending $100 will get you the quarter-price rate on the new poems, regardless of the rate on the open epic(s) you support. There are no open epics at present, so you may open one if you wish.
We are repeating the special discount for purchases of $100 or more, in which you get poetry at 25% of its original price instead of 50%. (Note that this increases the amount of poetry you get, rather than reducing the amount of money spent; the point is to get this stuff off of my desk. Yes, I can afford it.) That size of donation also makes you a k-fan which comes with some other perks, like a year-end collection of a poetic series. If several folks want to bundle their orders to make the $100 threshold and have one person send it all, that's okay; you'll get the discount and I'll list all your names as donors, but you'll have to decide amongst you who gets the k-fan credit. If you host a pool, please close it the day before the sale closes, so you have time to collect funds and turn them in on time.
Some of the poems are in sequence of related action, so in places there are prerequisites before a poem can be published. They can be sponsored at any time, just might have to wait for publication until something else gets posted first. Those are marked accordingly. I have also made lists of poems which unlock sequels, and poems which have prerequisites.
Linkback perk: The following poems have verses left to reveal. Boost the signal for this half-price sale and tell me which poem you want to extend.
"A Sense of Weather Changes"
"The Loving Embrace of Night"
"Generations of Cooks Past"
"Homefree and Clear "
"One Bite at a Time"
"Mishpocha"
"Changing Your Nature"
"Besa"
About characters and storylines: The storylines feature multiple characters, so if you want poems about ONE specific character, look closely. The thumbnail descriptions here give some indication who features in each poem. The storyline pages are adding precise, complete information about which characters appear in each poem. If you need more than what's already visible, you can ask me.
About timing: If you want maximum choice, shop early. We usually send a batch of things to my father near the end of a sale, and those poems will be posted as I have time.
About pools: Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to get the quarter-price rate. Yes, you can combine your funds with other prompters to buy a bigger poem. Yes, you can offer to match donations by other people. However, the wordsmith is not also a math whiz! After several attempts to find a way that I can work with pools and matches, I have concluded that this is over my head. (I did figure out how to avoid generating fractional pennies, though: all initial prices are now whole dollars, which means they cut evenly into halves and quarters.) So if you want to host a pool or a match, make a post for that in your blog or other venue, then comment here with what you're doing and include a link to wherever the discussion will be. You figure out the poems, you collect the funds, and when stuff is fully funded, you send me the money and the list of what it's for. Then I'll post the goodies. Please close the pool in time to collect donations by the end of the sale, so I can start posting pool poems no later than the day after the sale.
Before placing your order, please check this sale page to see what is still unsold! I will try to update the page as things sell, and it's likely to be the case that some poems will be marked SOLD before appearing in posts. People often buy things in batches, which means that selling gets ahead of posting. Also sometimes people ask for the same thing at the same time, so that not all overlaps are preventable. If you have alternate instructions in case you request something that has just sold, please include that in your message; otherwise I'll email you back and ask what you want to do.
Poems that unlock sequels: "Your Emotional Abilities"
Poems that have prerequisites: "A Beautiful Paradox"
FOR SALE
18 poems, $3,322 ÷ 2 = $1,661
prices from $5 to $319
BROKEN ANGELS (2 poems,
"A Proper Community Is a Commonwealth"
Story Date: Mid-February, 2016
Summary: Boss Blaster watches Pressnall Pocket Neighborhood go from a site plan to a community with new residents.
329 lines,
"Play Off the Energy of the Crowd"
Story Date: Saturday, June 18, 2016
Summary: Shiv takes up Boss Blaster's offer to treat him at the food trucks.
316 lines,
KRAKEN (3 poems,
"The Frequent Passage from Hand to Hand"
Story Date: April 2002
Summary: Kraken appreciates BookCrossing.
56 lines,
"Filled with Things You Don't Know"
Story Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Summary: Marjane works on library decor and gets a new assistant.
98 lines,
"Lágrimas da Floresta Tropical"
Story Date: Monday, November 17, 2014
Summary: Pinion and Camberhawk team up with Kayapó forest guardians to stop a logging incursion.
170 lines,
RUTLEDGE (5 poems,
"Nothing Like Looking"
Story Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Summary: Aria visits Rutledge as part of Many Paths Up the Mountain.
466 lines,
"Your Emotional Abilities"
Story Date: Saturday, May 30, 2015
Summary: Amethyst gives Johan some ideas about accommodations that might help cope with his current challenges.
366 lines,
"Shag Carpet Cuddles"
Story Date: June 2015
Summary: The Vermont Shag Carpet Cats love snuggling with people.
19 lines,
"A Beautiful Paradox"
Story Date: Friday, June 5, 2015
Summary: Johan loses his temper
259 lines,
Available for posting after "Your Emotional Abilities" has been sponsored and published.
"Learning New Skills"
Story Date: Sunday, June 12, 2016
Summary: Wrenley Immen teaches her new neighbor about gardening.
311 lines,
Double price for research.
OTHER POLYCHROME POEMS (8 poems,
"The Four Marks of True Repentance"
Story Date: Monday, August 13, 2013
Summary: Three former child soldiers move to America.
953 lines,
"When Everyone Around You Has Theirs Bowed"
Story Date: Sunday, April 6, 2014
Summary: Therapy for men's genital injury tends to focus on loss, but Marvis Willing knows the proud history of eunuchs.
304 lines,
"Let's Go on This Journey Together"
Story Date: Monday, September 29, 2014
Summary: After breaking his arm, Linus gets a lot of support from his friends.
638 lines,
Double price for research.
"Hear a Thousand Stars Singing"
Story Date: Night of Sunday, October 25, 2015
Summary: Fascinated by the idea of becoming a robonaut, Quain takes up stargazing.
28 lines,
"Far Stronger Links"
Story Date: Friday, September 4, 2015
Summary: A coworker's loss inspires support at work.
515 lines,
"Aim a Little Above It"
Nagi deals with a young man who tries to rob her.
260 lines,
"Formidable Tasks of Adaptation"
Story Date: Sunday, March 20, 2016
Summary: Denim has had enough of her parents' shit.
359 lines,
"Upholding It, Wherever Found"
Story Date: Thursday, November 3, 2016
Summary: Gail Somerville works for Interpol, but feels increasingly uncomfortable with it.
256 lines,