Saga - PT [DDC 2016] Letters Never Sent (OCs | ROTS) - COMPLETE, PARTIAL E-BOOK

Title: Letters Never Sent
Author: Ewok Poet
Genre: Diary, political thriller, romance
Characters: Lil, who is writing to Ranni. Many others, all of whom appeared/will appear in my other stories
Timeframe: 24-19 ABE /20-15 BBY
Rating: PG-13 (rare instances of violence, sexual references, but primarily spice use)
Length: 52 chapters ("entries") + epilogue on December 31st. ~70K words.
Summary: A 40-something bohemian travels the Corellian sector, occasionally recording messages to the woman he abandoned without a notice, hoping that they will either reunite someday or that, in case of his death, his recordings will be passed on to her.

A/N:
This is my first DDC. It's meant to be a companion story to all my non-Ewok stories, as they take place in a shared micro-universe that does not contradict anything that happens before the Sequel Trilogy and is therefore canon-compliant. If you have not read anything I have written in 2015, you're more than welcome to, though it's not obligatory. Ask whatever you want to know - I will be happy to help.

E-book containing the first 15 entries, aka "The Corellian Arc"

http://ewokpoet.ewoksfan.com/ <---download here



What does DDC stand for?
DDC stands for "Dear Diary Challenge" and it's a long-standing tradition on this message board. A character has to keep a diary for one year and update twice a month, or more. You can read more about it here.

Important
All my fics take place in a shared micro-universe that does not contradict anything that happens before the Sequel Trilogy and is therefore canon-compliant. If you have not read anything I have written before, you're more than welcome to, though it's not obligatory. Ask whatever you want to know - I will be happy to help! And flattered that you're interested!

Links to "help files"
- My OCs (original characters)
- My fanon entry on Sacorria

Links to related works, listed chronologically:
- Forever Away from Home
- Midday Darkness // The Light Is Me, I Am The Light
- Letters Never Sent
- The Black Star
- My short stories

*If there is anything new in this shared universe, this list will be updated*

---

Table of contents
Entry 01 - January 05th 2016, 16:02 CET
Entry 02 - January 12th 2016, 14:05 CET
Entry 03 - January 19th 2016, 08:06 CEST
Entry 04 - January 26th 2016, 21:31 CET
Entry 05 - February 02nd 2016, 00:36 CET
Entry 06 - February 09th 2016, 00:36 CET
Entry 07 - February 16th 2016, 13:50 CET
Entry 08 - February 23rd 2016, 17:31 CET
Entry 09 - March 01st 2016, 03:29 CET
Entry 10 - March 08th 2016, 09:42 CET
Entry 11 - March 15th 2016, 12:52 CET
Entry 12 - March 22nd 2016, 20:00 CET
Entry 13 - March 29th, 2016, 23:25 CEST
Entry 14 - April 06th, 2016, 02:10 CET
Entry 15 - April 12th, 2016, 07:49 CET
Entry 16 - April 20th, 2016, 14:30 CET
Entry 17 - April 27th 2016, 22:00 CET
Entry 18 - May 04th 2016, 03:21 CET
Entry 19 - May 10th 2016, 06:37 CET
Entry 20 - May 17th 2016, 09:26 CET
Entry 21 - May 24th 2016, 22:18 CET
Entry 22 - June 03rd 2016, 01:32 CET
Entry 23 - June 10th 2016, 23:47 CET
Entry 24 - June 14th 2016, 23:58 CET
Entry 25 - June 21s 2016, 09:22 CET
Entry 26 - June 29th 2016, 00:07 CET
Entry 27 - July 05th 2016, 15:31 CET
Entry 28 - July 13th 2016, 00:31 CET
Entry 29 - July 19th 2016, 11:45 CET
Entry 30 - July 29th 2016, 12:46 CET
Entry 31 - August 04h, 2016, 23:52 CET
Entry 32 - August 09th, 2016, 11:29 CET
Entry 33 - August 16th, 2016, 02:43 CET
Entry 34 - August 23rd, 2016, 23:46 EET
Entry 35 - September 02nd, 2016, 14:47 CET
Entry 36 - September 06th, 2016, 20:56 CET
Entry 37 - September 16th, 2016, 06:56 CET
Entry 38 - September 20th, 2016, 07:17 CET
Entry 39 - September 27th, 2016, 13:18 CET
Entry 40 - October 06th, 11:46 CET
Entry 41 - October 15th, 22:02 CET
Entry 42 - October 22nd, 13:05 CET
Entry 43 - October 26th, 11:36 CET
Entry 44 - November 02nd, 10:15 CET
Entry 45 - November 10th, 03:27 CET
Entry 46 - November 15th, 01:34 CET
Entry 47 - November 22nd, 19:24 CET
Entry 48 - November 30th, 12:25 CET
Entry 49 - December 08th, 2016, 01:36 CET
Entry 50 - December 15th, 2016, 11:45 CET
Entry 51 - December 23rd, 2016, 13:59 CET
Entry 52 - December 27th, 2016, 12:53 CET
Epilogue - December 31st, 2016, 21:59 CET

*CET stands for Central European Time, which is my timezone. EET stands for Eastern European Time, which is the timezone entry 34 was posted from.

 

Entry 01

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 01:23>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: CORONET CITY, CORELLIA>>

Kriff this, how do I turn the location feature off?

Ranni, Ranni, Ranni...you must be waiting for me at our secret place and I'm light years away - which is not a metaphor by any means, but how could you know? We always tend to think the worst about those we love, especially in a relationship like yours and mine, where we always had to be so secretive in a world where secrecy has become the breakfast, lunch and dinner of champions. Maybe even a twenty-three hundred snack, one of those dehydrated, vile rice crackers that I don't think anybody actually likes. That said, I was offered a bunch of those with some sort of a slightly spiced tea.

I know, I know, Ranni, I said spiced tea. I never learn. And I'm starting to feel slightly shaky, because I don't have any of the you-know-what with me. Ironically, the ship that smuggled me to Corellia was carrying spice, in the same hidden compartment that I was hiding. Imagine that! The emotional torture of the credits I paid to be taken here, and then some! Not to mention that it was the dirtiest ship I have ever seen. Are all interplanetary vessels like this? In that case, I am going to crawl into a corner somewhere and never leave.

I am inclined to say that, if you were subjected to all I will be subjected to - from the destruction of my person that I have to go through willingly, to the destruction of my person on THEIR behalf - you would have reached for spiced tea, too. And yes, I reached out to it to enhance my capabilities in the cold and grey world we live in, but that was my decision and nobody else's.

By tonight, you will be angry with me. I can totally see you with that hateful neighbourhood girl. She will complain about her deadbeat boyfriend who has not graduated yet and who parties hard at whichever cantina they had not kicked him from yet; and you, you will complain about me and express your concerns about so many women whom you saw as a threat. Then you will be making all these vague guesses about how I eloped...AS IF. As if I was allowed to marry in the first place...good joke, Ranni, will you tell me another, please?

By the time her boyfriend calls her over and wonders if she was cheating on him, you will both have resolved to never ever trust men again and never ever have children. And I know beings like her: she will eventually have a child with that deadbeat. You...I cannot see that happening. You're too hostile to be in a relationship with anybody other than me and not the type to jump into the arms of whoever comes along next, like your sister did. I can see you as a leader. I can even see you becoming one of THEM.

Wait, are you actually one of them and you never told me about it?

Kriff you, Rani!

Whom am I kidding? I love you. We were never a perfect match, but I love you. I wish I could have left you a datacard or one of those handy cubes, but had I done so, they would have been able to trace me. They eventually will - they can find anybody, in any place. But I would like to live for a couple more years.

I'm a new person. Whatever that means. I have a new life and I am not looking forward to it. I don't even know what my profession will be. I was not schooled for useful things like you and your very important friends.

Please, pat those perky twins for me. And by "perky twins", I mean your niece and nephew, not what the neighbour thought that one time when she slapped me upside my face. But I don't hate her, or her controlling boyfriend. I don't hate your family. I don't hate anybody...

...but I do hate myself. Sometimes. Tonight.

Now I need to think of how to rely this audio recording to you. And I apologise for the noise behind me - there are some large furry creatures that communicate in weeps, meeps and yelps and I can't tell if they're fighting or not. This place is full of creatures I have never seen and tonight, I have to sleep among them, as they're rolling drunk on the cantina floor; as I am not in the right state of mind to be looking for an apartment.

<<LOCAL TIME: 01:42>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED. ERROR 1337: DATACARD FULL>>>

 

A great opening to your DDC entry, well written and with the right amount of mystery to make me hungry to read more, mixed in with a dollop of humour. I love the vague references to Them and I'm keen to find out why They are and why they're after MC. I also liked the realism of the situations with the neighborhood girl, they keep the narrative well grounded. The idea of letters never sent is a great one, there's something really tragic about a message to someone who may never hear it.

Looking forward to the next entry!

 

Love, simply!!!! The snarky confiding tone of this. What a blend! I will be reading more of this of course and reading your other stuff featuring these characters because - Correllian anything gets my strong lovin! Started with Han Solo and never stopped.

 

OH, there's such a sense of sadness underneath all this, a regret that goes into the void and never reaches the person he wronged.

I feel sorry for him, even though I'm absolutely certain he did this to himself. Lil is working through all this, and the letters are cathartic. I'm really intrigued as to where this will go!

I want to know what happened, why it all went wrong.

 

Thanks, all. The second chapter is coming at some point tomorrow. This is not to say that this is a 52-entry diary with entries posted on Tuesdays (now, where have we seen that before? ), as I'm going for a non-linear schedule where the number of entries and their nature does not matter, as long as there's at least one every 14 days.

If anybody has any questions after the following set of replies, just ask. I am really grateful for so many comments showing genuine interest in such an obscure story, but at the same time, I'm aware that this is complicated.

First of all, let's address the topic of THEM.

Spoiler

And whoever They are, they definitely did not sing the song that Patti Smith later covered.

Why, thank you! Those Suns of Fortune just HAVE to be casting a dark shadow. Corellian Sector right before Palpatine's takeover and transformation of Republic into the Empire has got to be pretty, pretty gloomy.

His fear may be realistic to a certain extent, albeit making it look like she would immediately harm him in such a case is...far-fetched. It may be his "special" tea, it may be his actual state of mind...or both.

They were together in an unconventional sense for a long period of time, yes.

I obviously cannot give away any of this at the moment, because then there would not be a diary here, but yes, all these

As for his datacard - logical explanation coming up in one of the next entries, I promise.

Yes, that was a typo. Thanks for noticing.

Big is the right word, not sure about cool. XD

Thank you! I'm honoured to have you as a reader.

As for well-written...I did not have anybody check this because I have waaay too many stories going on at once, so thanks. That is not to say that I'm not going to be making the kind of errors a non-native speaker normally makes.

That girl is one of his annoyances, yes. But there's more to it than just having her as the token grouch in Ranni's group of friends. You'll see...

Coming right up.

Thank you and welcome.

These characters all live in the same universe as the protagonists of The Black Star, Radiophonic Heart and Nolevorution, Of Course!. I know you commented on Dear Father, but I pulled that one down, because a) it was bad, b) I changed some things in the timeline.

Lil has the snark, yeah. Now, is his snark exactly welcome wherever he came from and what else goes with that snark?

I can remember you saying that you worked with substance abusers - please, correct me if I mixed that up with somebody else saying something else - so I definitely welcome the idea of having a counselor POV here, even though Lil is not likely to be a heavy addict.

As far as Han goes, he's a toddler at this point in time, but we can think of something. I'm sure he was snarky at that age, too; so if he meets Lil...hehe.

There was a hint of sadness going 'round, yup. Now, the time will show what he can do about it, if anything. The time will also show in what way he wronged her and probably some of the story from her POV, once he comes to his senses...but we'll see.

If he did that to himself:

That may take a whole year, though the links I left above will help as well. In some way, Lil connects everybody in that universe, like Forrest Gump. That's the only thing they have in common, though.

 

Entry 02​

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 01:23>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: CORONET CITY, CORELLIA>>

Well, kriff me, Ranni. Kriff me!

I listened to the data I recorded for you last night and I realised that I was under influence of that spiked, spiced tea. I can imagine you never arriving to my saying this because you threw the playback dongle away after I dropped the k-blast. But…you did, so...prog. It's me, again, and I am very, very sober. Today was quite a day.

I cannot remember falling asleep at the cantina last night, but at some point, a man woke me up and managed to drag me and my luggage out of the corner near the 'fresher door, where I had apparently spent the night. He asked me what I was doing in one of the worst possible places to be on the whole planet and added that I was lucky not to have been robbed. I was scared, Ranni. They were always telling us about how hard it is to make it alive on Corellia, with all the violence, debauchery and lack of discipline. And then...he appears and he's nice. I bet you would be confused, too! Not to mention that nobody attempted to kill me yet..?!

He took me out of the cantina. His son was waiting by a hovering speeder outside. After hours spent drowning my sorrow in suspicious beverages, I was blinded by the light outside…

…and snow. It snowed...a lot. Do you remember how we met? Of course, you do, unless she told you to forget me. It was snowing, they were chasing me and then, there was you – the big girl with an authority who kicked the poodoo out of them. I remember being convinced that you were much older than me, perhaps even one of the teachers. Isn’t that funny, Ranni, to mistake somebody five months younger than you for a teacher? And I never had the courage to share this story with you, the coward that I am.

Anyway…the boy asked me if I was a Clone Wars refugee. I shrugged. I was about to ask him what kind of “clones” he was talking about, and then I remembered that field hospital back at home, where a lot of troopers looked suspiciously similar. I did not realise they were not ours back then! Not to mention that nobody ever told us about devastating wars raging through the Galaxy. And now, this youngling tells me that the Republic is fighting Separatists. I don't understand how they would physically separate from the Galaxy, as the intergalactic void is increasing and all...how do you move planets, Ranni?

And I told him all that, yes. I asked him how one would go about moving planets and systems to another Galaxy. The youngling was bemused.

"Were you frozen in carbonite or something?" He tells me, and I have no idea what that means. He explains that I did not appear aware or how the universe worked. I’m not sure if I like that.

Then his father overhears our conversation and tells him to shut the kriff up.

This is where they finally introduce themselves to me. The father is Jax Pavan. He says that there are millions, if not billions of people sharing his name. Then he proudly adds that his son's name is unique. The young man begged him not to tell me anything beyond "Dale", but his father proudly said that Dale is short for Dandelion Roba. The earlier is a plant, the latter is an animal and the Pavans found those words in thesaurus.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ....ahahahaha hahahahaha hihihi...

<<LOCAL TIME: 01:35>>
<<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 01:39>>

Sorry about that, Ranni. You were always saying that my cackling resembled a swarm of horny grain flies who had some bad corn, so I turned the recorder off. Now, where was I?

So, yes, Jax said that his son’s actual name was Dandelion Roba and…hehe…I’m sorry…a couple of people turned around and poor Pavan youngling looked as if he was about to fall through the ground. I felt sorry for him, but a part of me wanted to laugh - tall as a sturdy Selonian trooperette, there he was, nearly crying. I wanted to put my hand on his shoulder, but I could barely reach to his buttocks, he’s got to be 190 centimetres tall, Ranni! Luckily, that made him laugh. Now I understand why important beings like you have to deal with the so-called protocol. Imagine if you grabbed one of Them like that?

I know I will never have descendants, Ranni...but in an unlikely event that we are back with each other and that you are expecting, promise me that you would never name a child Dandelion Roba!

Jax realised what planet I came from even before I told him. I told him that it was pretty easy to get away yesterday, with a suspicious large shuttle escorted by our glorious ramships heading the same way. Nobody cared about the ugly freighter that I was on. The second question he asked, I had no answer for it, not at all. He asked me what I want to do and where I was going.

He laughed when I told him about my profession and my degree. He studied for a mechanic in his hometown, a place called Tyrenna and he wants Dale to become a mechanic like him, too; because “there are credits in the game, lots of credits”. Then he said that I should find a job as a teacher and that he “knows the right scoundrel” to set me up with a new name. Dale was slightly concerned when he brought up this person’s name, but Jax dismissed his concerns.

They took me to what they called a “much safer neighbourhood” and left me in front of a place called AurekAurek.

"Corellia is the best place to disappear in times like these. Good luck!" Jax told me as he climbed back into his speeder. Dale waved to me until they disappeared from sight – or I like to think that he did, these speeders are actually fast - and then, only then did I realise that I forgot to ask for their comm codes.

So, I’m sleeping in what appears to be a hostel, told them I was twenty and they believed me, and tomorrow, I’m waiting for my scoundrel to help me get a work permit and whatever else I may need to blend in. We’ll see what happens next.

<<LOCAL TIME: 02:22>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

This Jax Pavan has nothing to do with THE Jax Pavan. I read that the name was common, so...yeah.

Dandelion Roba "Dale" Pavan is 13 here and accompanying his father. In the coming years, he will become a drummer and eventually wind up playing drums for Steamy Wasaka Stew (SWS). You can see a 20-something Dale in Radiophonic Heart and a 30-something Dale in chapter five of The Black Star.

 

Ah. No relation than to the other Jax I was wondering Love the tone you have in this. Lil is so dare I say chatty? But it is very much something you'd expect in someone who is either half-asleep, half-juiced up on something or just verbose. You also get the sense that he feels he can tell Ranni anything. Very wonderful to have in a friend or love-interest.

 

Okay, so the first thing I noticed on reading this in more detail is that I had the characters wrong -- for some weird reason I thought the narrator was Anjie from your other fics (perhaps because of the addiction references?) and instead these seem to be all-new OC’s. This is what I get for (thinking I read?) reading late at night and not jotting down notes. Whoops!


Entry 1

Anyway, very intriguing introduction that brings up so many questions. Such as the obvious that Lil can’t seem to address directly (which seems quite believable given his state of intoxication and apparent recent breakup) -- just what happened to drive him into hiding like this?

From the sounds of it, Ranni was on a different career path than Lil, maybe some shadowy thing like they were contemplating with Doria in The Black Star -- leads one to wonder just how much of the Corellian Sector’s graduating class each year gets snapped up for these nefarious-sounding mystery jobs! He also seems to have burned his bridges somehow, with the fear that someone will be coming to find him. Then again, maybe his only “misdeed” is leaving his homeworld and they are that serious about keeping everyone corralled. Hmm.

Liked the detail that even in the GFFA everything has a helpful location feature that is hard to find and turn off. Figures.

The rapid switches between bitterness and longing make a lot of sense for someone who seems to be just recently leaving behind a relationship. (Not to mention their whole homeworld and identity!) You’ve done a really good job of blurring the lines as to whether Lil is a reliable narrator; it’s hard to tell how much of the way he describes things is driven by addiction, intoxication, fear, and/or heartbreak, and how much is “real” -- for whatever value that holds in the surreal environment of the Triad worlds. (After the Nolevorution tale, there’s little that would surprise me. ) It certainly sounds like he was in some kind of terrible bind, but we don’t yet know what.

As Findswoman noted, the contrast between this more uninhibited voice and the one that he apparently has when sober is really effective.


Entry 2

And here our narrator encounters the big bad world of Corellia, which isn’t quite as advertised. [face_laughing] (Well, parts of it almost certainly are!) Lil’s expectations based on what he was apparently taught about how terrible it is there are really telling. Other Jax Pavan seems like he means well, though his underworld connections are a little suspicious. Nice to see Dale again.

Great example of that alternate universe that his home world exists in. Pretty scary that most people weren’t even allowed to know about the extent of the Clone Wars. But of course not. The question about moving planets is priceless, and I like how it ties into the weird rumors surrounding the Triad headquarters in Nolevorution. There are apparently some really strange beliefs about astrophysics afoot there.

Lil’s mention of his being so short makes me think he’s a Drall, maybe?

 

Thanks for reading, everybody - including those couple of folks who just left likes. I welcome your theories, comments, etc - they can't be too far off, since this story is surreal, so don't be shy about saying something.

Nooopers. Perhaps their ancestors of twenty-five millennia ago or something were related, but that's it.

Glad that it worked. Since I, err, don't get juiced up, the mix of sleep deprivation and caffeine, and writing right before falling asleep does the trick. It means a lot to me to know that it looks believable, thank you.

Now, if she was only there to actually listen... He's lonely.

Thank you.

Yup, that plus he's tired and overwhelmed by the scaaaary place that is Corellia, because his views of the world as it is are pretty warped. I...wouldn't want to be him.

Spot-on, on both things.

The said friend is the type who is likely to be a thorn in anybody's side.

As for the rest, see my reply to Kahara below.

Unlike some others, Dale's been pretty constant over the years, bar loss of hair later in life. He's a sanguine, stable type. But even those like him can't cut some slack to the bizarre nature of Lil's beliefs.

Nah, he's literally just a killjoy, no innocence to him, he may want to help Lil, but

Anjie is not Lil, nope, Lil is good 35-36 years older than him. But since you mentioned him, I'm just going to say that Anjie's character arc is very, very, very long.

He may be in need of hiding traces, juuust in case, at least until he turns the location feature off; but other than that, I see him as the type who speaks candidly about everything in general, for a variety of reasons - mostly the fears he's having.

The misdeed part is definitely not it - but the rest, yup, spot on...minus Ranni's path, which came for other reasons.

As far as Doria's mysterious file goes, that will be revealed soon. I promise.

That was how it was meant to be. As for bitterness and longing, he would not have needed the Triad for that - "spiced spiked" tea would have been enough.

Perky twins know!

That is only the tip of the iceberg...just wait for his shock horror in the next chapter, when he realises what kind of ABSOLUTELY UNHOLY things are OK on the non-progressive world of Corellia!

He says hi back.

Alternate universe? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Well-said. That did improve overtime, hence what Doria knows in The Black Star, but this was still the dark age.

And yes, those rumours...the tie was intentional.

Yes, he is. Their males aren't the prettiest things ever, for whatever reason.

 

Entry 03

<<<RECORDING STARTED >>
<<LOCAL TIME: 01:23>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: GUS TRETA INNER MARKET STATION, GUS TRETA>>

Why is it 1:23 every time I start recording, Ranni?

If I was in your huge library at home, there would’ve been your ancient chrono ticking behind me...that awful little thing from the days we were allegedly brought to the Sector by the Celestials, looming over me. You know, I never believed that story. That chrono would have been millions of years old and it would have not been a chrono in the first place. And you, you were trying to tell me that Celestials invented chronos…or something.

I’m looking at Corellia from a durasteel-frame window. It’s a pretty planet, you know? Much prettier than ours. It has oceans and continents! Sure, it’s frightening to a certain extent, but it's beautiful! Not to mention that I can gawk at it as much as I want to and I won't be arrested for it.

I apologise for this digression, Ranni. I need to tell you what happened throughout the day and explain why I’m here. I’m slightly hungry right now and I have no idea what time of the day it actually is where I am, so I’m longing for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, anything. But my priority is you.

In the morning…yes, I really woke up at seven in the morning, me out of all beings, Ranni…do not look at me like that, because I know you are…the owner of the AurekAurek hostel brought me food. The bread was awful. What are they doing to our beautiful dust corn when it reaches other planets? What do they mix it up with?

So, the owner…her name is Klootil Geelmen and she introduced me to her husband, Tiodre. He was not particularly chatty, he had to take these two magnificent creatures with long things on their heads to a place called Lastdark, where they were to perform for somebody called Blobbo the Hutt. Klootil herself did not like the way he was looking at them, so they ended up arguing. Tiodre implied that he does not think they will be coming back and she asked him how he can take part in this, then. His response was that some people’s fate is “just like that”.

Me, I had no idea what was going on, so I sat in the hostel’s large den, overlooking the snowy fields outside. The tall buildings of the city centre were visible in the distance, though it was really, really foggy.

Tiodre and Kloo’s children were already done with breakfast and they were playing nearby - a toddler named Aerenna and a fourteen-year-old named Aryan. They have bright red hair, unlike their parents. And they’re quite smart. Kloo joined me after she sent Tiodre away and we talked about the younglings. She had nothing but praise for her eldest! Aryan had been to Coruscant, she said. He’s in a special programme for gifted youth and he says that he wants to be a xenobiologist.

Now, I was not convinced that it was the right career choice, the same way I never thought that gemology was for you, Ranni. There was something weird in the way Aryan was looking at me. Perhaps you are not the best comparison, because you never seemed particularly interested in the gems, nor you ever told me much about your business…and he, on the other hand, seemed way too interested in…me. I could swear that he stared at my right ear and then he pulled a hair from my shoulder!

I asked him why and he said that he wanted to see if I was the same as the Drall from, well, would you have guessed it, Drall. Kloo was slightly angry at first, but then she rolled her eyes and said that Ary gets carried away so easily. He nodded and offered to show me teeth, nails and hair he picked from other non-Humans. I politely declined the offer. Then Aerenna walked up to me and sat on my lap. That was unpleasant, Ranni, she’s almost as big as me and quite heavy! The only good thing about this was Ary telling me that the creature I saw earlier was a species named “twilight”. I thought there were only three species in the Galaxy...but yes, ever since Zizi told me that there were so many more, I’ve been hoping to meet some of them…

…but I should not have said that to Ary. He said that he could name a couple of thousands of them and he went on and on about it. In Aurebesh order…

…and that’s how I got stuck with a toddler and an adolescent, until Jax and Dale picked me up early in the afternoon. They explained that we will leave Corellia and I was slightly worried. There came Jax’s long explanation about how I need to re-enter the planet from a different point and pose as a Clone Wars refugee, and that their friend Bastard will help me.

I asked them why they call their friend that, Jax laughed out loud and Dale said that Sacorrian accent is pretty unique. I am not sure why would anybody name their child Bastard, but when a Dandelion Roba tells you it’s normal, then I guess they’re a bunch of grannos, all of them! I thought the non-progressive, mind-damaging granno culture was a Vagran thing and Vagran…is close to home, but far away from Corellia. How do these scary cults spread?

They took me in their runabout. I had to sit on Dale’s lap, which was a pretty odd experience. He’s a man, Ranni, a man sitting on another man’s lap is strange! Don’t They send you to Prison for that? At this point, I was wondering if this little ship’s name was actually Bastard, but no, its name is Ysica. So, who or what is this Bastard and why aren’t they telling me more?

And then, they left me here. This place is called Gus Treta Inner Market Station and it orbits one of the three little moons… Yes, I am allowed to look at the other two - Gus Talon and "the moon". Funny that, it doesn’t have a name, like the other two. Back at home, we have that Trindello family who had a whole star system named after them and these Corellians cannot name a single moon! And then...just who is crazy there? Us or them?

I really need to get something to eat, but it seems like I’m on some sort of a fuelling depot?! And there is a kriffin’ baby with a starfighter toy stuck in its mouth…?

<<LOCAL TIME: 03:00>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

---

Footnotes:

Spoiler

AurekAurek is a fanon location.

Klootil and Tiodre Geelmen are new characters and not likely to be referenced much, unlike their children.

Aerenna Geelmen, aged four here, previously appeared in The Black Star, and got shoved down the garbage chute on Vagran long before Captain Phasma.

Aryan Geelmen has been mentioned in the same chapter his sister appeared in.

Blobbo the Hutt appears in The Black Star. He's...quite hard to describe, you have to read it to believe it.

Lil is definitely Drall, hence the reference to Celestials, which is a common Drall belief and many other clues. As determined in comments, he's from Sacorria.

Gus Treta and Gus Talon are two of the Corellian moons. The third one does not have a name, indeed.

Gus Treta Inner-System Market Station, where Lil ended up...is quite an interesting place.

There are some Easter eggs in this.

 

Blobbo the Hutt - his name evokes such a mental image love the snarkiness as Lil doesn't have much use for Ary and Erenna - "quit being a pest."

 

Entry 2

There’s such a sadness here. They must have had a catastrophic, painful separation if “she” told Ranni to forget him. He remembers how they met, but he never told her so. Why? Why did he never have the courage to tell her?

This hostel doesn’t seem to be too picky about who they let in. They didn’t seem too interested in confirming Lil’s story.

Entry 3:

Is he describing Twi’leks? It sound like Tiodre is involved with trafficking. To dismiss their fate as “just like that” is pretty harsh and uncaring.

Yup, sounds like they were Twi’leks. It’s strange that Lil thought there are only three species. You’d think, even living on Drall, that he would be more aware of the galaxy.

So now he is off to Corellia. I’m not sure what will happen to him there. He seems so innocent, in a way, and so lonely without Ranni.

 

Entry 1:

Oooo, this gets off to a very intriguing start! The atmosphere is ominous with Lil seeming to have run away from his old life, being under the influence and the environment he's in, with the drunk creatures he's never seen before in the background... and him hating himself, too. I get the impression that he might not say these things to Ranni's face - that she's sort of become this character in his mind that represents what he's left. I also wonder if they've already broken up - either because she's one of "them" or because of his habits, or something like that - and he's hanging onto the memory. And who "they" are... hmm.

Lil's personality really comes through, too!

Entry 2:

I assumed Ranni's friend was just an unpleasant person in the first entry, but it seems she may be more than that now. Hmm, and that combined with him wondering if Ranni is one of "them". I also assumed that Lil was human, but now I'm wondering if he isn't because of his height. But yay, we get to meet Dale and see him before he was in the band!

Entry 3:

Ranni has a huge library? This could mean that she's very rich or that she has access to something bigger, both of which could mean... something. Hmm. It's sad and strange that he's referring to Ranni as his priority when she isn't even hearing his recordings. His wondering about the dust corn feels very sad and nostalgic, too. He comes across as more innocent in this entry - with his lack of knowledge on species and all - and I'm starting to feel a lot more sympathetic towards him.

Ah, so Lil is a Drall? Eeeek, baby Aerenna. Nice to see where she came from, though, even if we don't like her. Aryan is kind of creepy, too, and I assume his fascination may be a hint about his future. Now I want to know who Bastard is, of course. And I wonder if the baby at the end is who I think it is...

 

I saw the title of this, and I just kept hearing Justin Hayward singing in the background, "Letters I've written, never meaning to send." Nights in White Satin. It is a very intriguing diary. Very stream of consciousness which I enjoyed very much. I admit to being somewhat confused with the character's recollections. I think that is because I have not read your other stories yet. But because I enjoy your style of writing and the development of the characters, I will likely go and read your other stories, so I can better understand this fascinating diary.

 

Thanks for the wonderful comments, everybody! Next entry coming up in a bit and, until then, here are some responses. Hope this clears things up where necessary!

Blobbo is exactly what it says on the tin - one Blob of a Hutt! By the time one of my longfics takes place, he relocated and picked some very un-Hutt habits. He eventually becomes a hipster!

And Lil is not exactly snarky around those two - Aerenna grows up to be an incredible creep who (trigger warning) tries to rape a semi-stunned Selonian male and Aryan...well, I have not revealed it yet, but let's say that it's worse. Far worse. Disturbing.

Darn speech-to-text translators in combinations with peculiar accent. Those twilight bastards!

Most definitely. His home planet may be a freak show of its own kind, but all three sentient species are perfectly equal.

Yup. Arriving to Corellia and immediately getting juiced sort of saved him from the initial shock and INSTANT CORRUPTION. Now, he's going to be discovering it bit by bit...an yes, that's the theme, at least for a while. Just wait until you see what will shock him in tonight's chapter.

Yup, AurekAurek, as in Aerenna and Aryan.

YES to what you said about Aryan.

Drall folk, they LOVE all things shiney!

Not an OC. Somebody from the Legends lore that I have never written about and I hope I'll get him right once it's his time to appear here.

- Yes to @leiamoody's Zizi. Zizi for president, even. I love that guy and I would shake both of his pairs of hands if he was real.

- Yes and yes.

- I guess I have a thing for foggy big cities, that came unconsciously.

- Yes, you do.

It was very random, but gosh, now I learned something new from you (as usual) and I totally need to elaborate on that chrono!

It's pretty easy, yeah.

He's somewhat intimidated by Ranni, for reasons that are yet to see the light of the day. Other than that, it's all assumptions, including bits about "her". Ranni herself could have her own assumptions, too.

I don't think they even asked him anything. This place is ten steps below Taliore, from my longfic, and Taliore is not exactly classy.

Yes. And once you see Aerenna and Aryan as grown-ups, it will...make sense. Growing up with a father like him, regardless of how normal the mother is... Not to mention that this is happening during the rise of the Empire, with growing Humanocentrist tensions.

He's Drall, but not from Drall. He's Sacorrian. I guess this is my fault, as I have not yet written it in the story - it's said out loud in chapter four, though - and I totally forgot that you didn't read The Black Star and Nolevorution, where overusing words such as "progressive" is a hint that somebody is Sacorrian. I apologise! If you go through those two and my fanon entry, some hints will look more hilarious - I promise.

He is super-innocent for somebody who's 40, definitely. It's a severe case of an artsy type being trapped both in his own world and the warped world he comes from. I have seen one, I have seen the other, but never at the same time and I thought that having somebody experience both would be...quite interesting.

Hard to get a good guess from the entry he wrote after he had crazytea, which is exactly what the deal is right now. But yes, the idea of writing or speaking to somebody that cannot read it/listen to it at the time is disturbing as much as it's cool to a certain extent.

And yes, the Ranni he loves and Ranni he hates may BOTH be far-fetched versions of who she is.

He's got quite a personality...you've not seen all of it yet.

Ranni's friend is...a piece of work.

As for the rest, responded below.

Lovesick, she's got him lovesick. Boom boom supersonic boom boom...

That's one of the songs that inspired the title, next to the one in the spoiler. You got it right.

Spoiler

That was one of the main reasons to do a diary, actually! So glad you noticed. I have not seen that approach before and I thought that it would be really interesting for the kind of a character that Lil is - a deranged artist lost in the big, wide world. Not to mention that having readers who are so knowledgable about this particular period of time is some sort of a blessing. I'm yet to see CW (long story...) and I'm quite frightened about how I'll reference a couple of events in this diary.

Those are some major compliments. Thank you!

And I have provided some reference in my first post in this thread, so as to what is relevant, etc; hope that helps. If not, just ask me in PM.

 

Entry 04

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 09:54>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: GUS TRETA INNER MARKET STATION, GUS TRETA>>

The baby eventually managed to get that fighter plane toy out of his mouth, with a lot of effort on behalf of two people in the fuelling station uniforms. All of that at the expense of my sleep! The amount of times I heard “Wedge, cut it out” and “Wedge, don’t eat it” almost makes me want to order topato wedges. I am not sure if these Corellians appreciate true, progressive Sacorrian sense of humour, but…but it matches! It matches, I swear! That baby is not to be handled raw, he might give you an illness. My ears are still ringing. Why don't they put some nice whiskey into his food? It's not like he was destined to save us all, or anything, he does not really have to be alert all the time.

Eventually, an aloof young girl who introduced herself as Syal brought me a glass of bantha milk and a nerf steak sandwich. It was about time!

And that is how I went from being stuck with an adolescent and a baby to being stuck with…an adolescent and a baby! The girl, she seems distant, but to me, that is a good thing - she is not interested in dismembering me, examining me or whatever. Trust me, I have been sober for two days and that Aryan got me more paranoid than when I was examined by Them. You don't know about that, Ranni, do you? Of course, you don’t, you were probably on their side all along.

Syal asked me where I was from and she was the first Corellian who did not laugh upon hearing it – if these moon-people are true Corellians, that is! Sacorria fascinates her, she said. Any place with beautiful women is fascinating, she thinks. She wants to change her last name, because it's too common. And she wants to be famous. She does not want to be stuck on a space station orbiting a moon, she wants to feel rain on her skin and sunbathe whenever she wants to. She even has a new name made up for herself: Wynssa Starflare. Younglings, they’re so silly sometimes! The next thing you know, she’ll be running away from home or something!

Two hours later, I finally got introduced to Bastard. Bastard Terrik is his name. He had just docked his ship and he was not in the mood for talking, because the trip from Naboo took too long. He only shook my hand and mumbled something about Jax and Dale and their “shady schemes”. A woman and a child stepped out of the freighter and proceeded to the sandwich conservator in the fueling station. And I’m looking at them eat, three tables away from me. Looks like they didn’t want to sit close to me.

But Naboo. Naboo!

Ranni, I am not sure how I will get over the fact that Naboo exists! Sure it was this...this beautiful, mythical place that we learned about at the Academy...okay, you were taking notes and I was passing notes, but still...it was a myth. A planet that is beauty and art, at its finest. Apparently, this is where a “separatist crisis” that begun these “clone wars” had started eleven years ago. Sounds pretty real to me! These two people couldn’t have come from a made-up place, right? Also, it’s shaped like all other planets, it’s not exactly a giant statue. Sometimes I wonder if They…

<<LOCAL TIME: 10:08>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 10:10>>
<<VOICE IDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO A HUMAN OR NEAR-HUMAN CHILD, AGE 3-5>>
<<ADD A NAME TAG FOR THIS USER? Y/N>>
<<NO NAME TAG GIVEN. SPEAKER ADDED TO MEMORY AS HUMAN. USER ADDED TO MEMORY AS HUMAN CHILD #503>>

If I become a tooka, do I get to eat tooka food?

The big girl wants to be famous. I want to be famous too. I want to have my own show.

Brave, brave, little banthas
Brave, brave, little banthas
Brave, brave, little banthas
Serving the Republic, salutes!


<<LOCAL TIME: 10:22>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

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Special thanks to Katana_Sundancer whose input on the Antilles family was more than helpful!

Footnotes:

Spoiler

I'm adding Legends stuff to the New Canon - that's what profic authors do too, anyway.

Yes, the Wedge here is Wedge Antilles and Syal would be his sister.

Similarly said, "Bastard" Terrik is obviously Booster Terrik.

Clone Wars and Separatist Crisis are not capitalised here, due to the context - for Lil, they're just alleged events, bless him.

 

I listened to the song in the spoiler. I've never heard it before, but I quite like it. Of course, now that I know Nights in White Satin was an inspiration for the title, I'm going to have to go put it on and listen over and over again. That will be easy. The Moody Blues are my favorite band. I will certainly check out your references in the initial post, but I imagine I will get around To reading everything. Once I get interested in something, I have to get all the way on board.

 

Cool to see Wedge and Syal. And wow, to think someone thinks Naboo is a myth/legend. Hmm.

 

Ummm... kinda.

Syal is an interesting contrast to the other two children. Already she has dreams and ambitions.

Love the line about the tooka. But what is the child doing with the recorder? What happened to Lil? He kinda.. dropped out there.

 

"It's not like he was destined to save us all, or anything" I laughed at this, too. I wasn't sure if Lil was being sarcastic or genuinely believed the baby could give him a disease, since he seems so naive about some things, like not knowing that Naboo really existed. I wonder if his naivety is meant to tell us something about his past and possibly what "they" did? And hmm, another mention of "them" and Ranni being on "their" side.

Also had to laugh at a kid stealing his recorder. Right as he was about to talk about "them", though! Damn, now we don't get to know. I wonder who this will be, though...