Beyond - Legends We Will Call This Place Our Home | Kessel Run Challenge 2025

Week Nine Challenge: Write a found poem using these selected passages from the novelizations of Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi as your source.

Author’s Note: This takes place during chapter eight of Renewal. If you haven’t read Renewal itself, please don’t start with chapter eight. Not like I can stop you if you want to but it’s really not going to land right, reading that story out of order, and hopefully this is still accessible for anyone who doesn’t recognize the scene in question Thanks to @ViariSkywalker for the title

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9. To Be Loved; Mara and Nadira Jade, 10 ABY


At first you were afraid
afraid to let her in, to let her see
the person you had become—
Dark with guilt and shame;
not the person of her memories
the one she once had loved.

But her voice pulled you; her eyes
glazed with tears even while smiling
intensified the tentative dawn within you

And your shield, no more than glass, shatters
the shadow finally scorched-pale
your mask off and set aside
tears burning your cheeks

And this memory brought a wave of other memories with it:
memories of home, of her, of you
as you once were, as you are, as you could be

It is in this blazing moment that you finally understand
she loves you still and always.

She understands you, forgives you, gathers you to her;
together you breathe, memories flashing
like the light of the sun
and for the first time you know

This is how it feels
to love and to be loved.

You are home again,
forever.

 

A beautiful found poem about her coming home loving and being loved

 

Meltingly touchingly wonderful!

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

It's a big change for Mara! I'm glad you like it

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Thank you!

@Mira_Jade

Aw, shucks My second ever non-school-assigned poem, Mira! But alas, it's not acrostic

 

Week Ten Challenge: Write a story between 100 and 400 words, and include these three words: privilege, vault, cascade

Author's Note: About time a rather important someone made his Renewal debut, don't you think?

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10. All In the Family; Talon Karrde, Mara Jade Skywalker, Nakari, Kaela, and Ben Skywalker, 23 ABY


“If only Aves could see you now.”

Talon Karrde slipped his former second-in-command a sideways glance. “Might I remind you that Aves has consumed the results of these visits. Multiple times.”

“Oh, sure,” Mara said, unabashed, from the kitchen table as she lifted another spoonful of puréed greens to Ben’s mouth. “Hardly the same as seeing the actual show, though, is it?”

Kaela, standing on a stepstool beside Karrde, glanced up from her careful pouring to look at her mother. The container she was holding shifted aim along with her line of sight, resulting in a cascade of chocolate chips pattering along the edge of the counter and down to the floor before Karrde gently caught and redirected her hands over the bowl.

Mara laughed, and Karrde thought about how long it had taken even to see her smile after their first meeting.

“Do not think me unaware of your own misadventures in the kitchen, Mara,” he warned, hiding a smile of his own.

“Then isn’t it fortunate for all concerned that you’re here to assume the privilege,” she responded sweetly.

“Whoops,” Kaela said, glancing at the scattered chocolate. “What show, Mommy?”

Whatever else had changed over the years, Mara’s smirk remained the same. “Oh, just thinking about how much some of Uncle Talon’s friends would love to be here with us right now.”

“Well, yeah,” Nakari put in. “Uncle Talon bakes almost as good as Grandma.”

“High praise indeed,” Karrde said, smiling at her. “I believe we’re ready—”

He was interrupted by a vault from the floor to the counter by a heretofore silent but apparently curious cat, who unfortunately landed upon the waiting sheet pan. Karrde jumped, too startled to intervene, as she, equally startled, scrambled for purchase.

“Starlight!” Nakari yelped—but too late, as the pan went one way and the cat another, taking the bowl of waiting dough with them. Karrde managed to catch the pan, but the bowl eluded his grasp, splattering cookie dough across the kitchen as it hit the floor. Starlight, puffed up with alarm, dashed from the room.

Karrde glanced toward Mara, who was laughing almost too hard to speak.

Almost.

“Is domestic life too much for the vaunted smuggler chief?” she managed, wiping a speck of dough from her cheek.

“Hardly,” Karrde said, amused, and turned toward his honorary nieces. “Let us begin again. I promised cookies, and cookies we shall have.”

 

lovely little scene with Karde making cookies and interrupted by the cat. And Mara with her usual snark

 

I love the idea of Karrde making cookies but what I adore most is how completely he is immersed in Mara's family (Uncle Talon). Beautiful.

Starlight created a big mess. Too bad they lost the first batch of raw yummy dough.

 

@earlybird-obi-wan

Thank you! Starlight just wanted to see what was going on Mara definitely remains snarky

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Of course he would be Thanks so much!

@Findswoman

You're less behind than I am

While I'm not a fan of writing poetry, I did like the idea of a found poem - and then, of course, it was Vader passages while I'm out here writing a happy ordinary family life saga That was a challenge, but that pivotal scene from Renewal contained dramatic enough narrative progression and stakes to make good use of the language I had to draw from, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out

You know, every now and then, I still look back on Renewal and shake my head at my own hubris in not merely writing a story about Mara's birth parents, but having them survive until post-TTT and actually reunite with a Mara who had lived through her canon Emperor's Hand days. Of all the outrageous things to attempt, but gosh, I love it so much

I've been meaning to bring Karrde into this saga from the beginning; he really didn't fit into the narrative of the original story, but there was never any doubt that he'd stay part of Mara's life. I just haven't managed to finish the stories where he has planned appearances, and none of the KR prompts have given me Karrde ideas before now. What sparked his inclusion here was my creative block on how to include the word "vault"; finally I decided my most organic option was probably to bring the cats back for a trouble-making jump I feel like Karrde is a man of many talents, and that once Mara had children, he would become the best honorary uncle ever. He probably brings them all extremely thoughtful gifts on each visit Anyway, he'll definitely appear again in Renewal, but I was glad to give him his debut at last Thanks so much for all your lovely comments!

Final vignette coming up!

 

Week Eleven Challenge: Over the next twelve weeks, you will write a story featuring an embedded narrative, also known as a "story within a story". Maybe one of your characters tells the other characters a story, or watches a play, or discovers a diary containing some long-forgotten tale. All of these are examples of a story within a story, and they can be as simple or as complex as you want to make them.

Author's Note: Thanks for this one are due to @ViariSkywalker both for coming up with the narrative framework that made my idea click and for suggesting that I bring back a certain background character from And They Danced, to @Mira_Jade for suggesting Meetra and Sion as the specific subject of my embedded story, and @vader_incarnate for finding, of all things, a ballet of Frankenstein to help with the vibes for this story. I'm putting the Frankenstein ballet and a Dracula ballet I found on YouTube that was also helpful for vibes (along with the ballet clips that originally inspired this idea quite a while ago) under a spoiler cut just in case anyone wants to check them out, because they are amazing. I didn't honestly expect to get pulled into ballet when I first started writing Renewal, but here we are

Also, much to my amusement, I've seen several online mentions this week that writing with excessive—although I'd like to know who defines "excessive" here — em dashes tends to get flagged as AI, and all I can say is that you will pry em dashes (and oxford commas, and semicolons, and parentheses) from my cold, dead hands. Some of us just like the precision of properly deployed punctuation

Anyway! Thank you for reading along on this year's Kessel Run, and please enjoy the final vignette

Spoiler: amazing gothic ballets

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10. The Exile; Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker, Corissa Jade Vasseron, 33 ABY

The Exile: A New Take On An Old Tale

By Len Shuman

This weekend marked the opening of Awalia City Ballet’s season, and it started with a bang by offering up the premiere of an entirely new show based on an alternate history interpretation of the romance between a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sion, and the legendary Jedi Exile, Meetra Surik.

While Jedi lore remains largely unknown to the majority of the galactic population, such matters are part of everyday life for Awalia City’s long-time artistic director, Julian Vasseron, and his wife and leading lady, Corissa Jade Vasseron, who is younger sister to Jedi Master Mara Jade Skywalker—​

“Look at that, Mara,” Luke Skywalker said, looking up from the datapad he’d been reading from. “You got a mention.”

“I suppose it was inevitable,” Mara said with a sigh, pausing to count her stitches on the current row of the wrap she was knitting for her youngest niece. “Well, go on.”

—and sister-in-law to Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.​

Mara couldn’t quite suppress her snort at that, and Luke sent her a sideways glance before continuing.

Additional Jedi and student Jedi members of the extended family include Master Skywalker’s sister and several nieces and nephews, and thus naturally the Vasserons have had a front row seat to the resurgence of the new Order led by the Skywalkers and Master Leia Organa Solo. It may thus come as something of a surprise that no Jedi stories have made their way to the stage under Julian Vasseron’s direction before now. General demand for more such shows is likely to increase after the rousing success of last night’s premiere—​

“Tionne will be pleased,” Luke remarked.

“No, dear,” Mara said. “Tionne was pleased when Alaine was taken enough with her ballad to suggest that Corissa and Julian adapt it. She was delighted when they agreed. She’s going to be positively smug over this.”

—which demonstrated how well earned is Vasseron’s reputation for innovative performances, and how ready to rise to the occasion his well-schooled company continues to be.

For those unacquainted with the admittedly obscure story of Sion and Meetra, it is perhaps worth knowing that history—at least that which is contained in the Jedi Order’s public archives—does not support the premise of a love story between them, but it has long been said that the two great loves of the stage are romance and tragedy, and this portrayal offers both in equal measure—​

“As though there was ever any doubt of that with Corissa and Julian at the helm,” Mara murmured, amused.

“Hush,” Luke said. “You’re throwing off my concentration.”

Mara lifted an eyebrow. “How embarrassing, that a Jedi Master’s concentration could be so easily disrupted.”

—exploring the themes of loneliness, love, and hope, which resonate and linger long after the curtain falls. Sion and Meetra alike are isolated and lost, and while their respective creeds at first set them in seemingly implacable opposition to one another, they soon find themselves battling instead against both their personal demons and their growing yet forbidden attraction.

Corissa Jade Vasseron shines in the lead role of Meetra Surik, bringing a genuine pathos and yearning to the wounded Jedi Exile. One could be pardoned for wondering at first to what degree her casting is owed to her status as wife of the artistic director;​

“Excuse me?” Mara said, setting down her knitting to turn a laser glare on Luke.

“Hey, don’t blame me,” Luke protested. “I’m only reading it.”

—however, I’m obligated to point out that Jade Vasseron attained the rank of principal sixteen years ago in the Chelruna City Ballet—albeit also under the direction of Vasseron—​

“What was this reporter’s name again?” Mara demanded. “Because I am going to find him. I am going to find him, and I am going to—”

“Mara,” Luke said patiently. “Corissa knew she was opening herself up to comments like this when she first started dating her artistic director.”

“They’ve been married for fifteen years! And she’s been principal here for more than a decade! Why would it even come up now?”

—and has routinely turned in stellar performance after stellar performance since.​

“There, now,” Luke soothed. “See?”

Mara folded her arms. “That doesn’t explain why this hack apparently has a grudge against her.”

Her assured and confident grace captivated the audience from her first step onstage. She executed the intricate pointework with knife-edge sharpness, while alternating between touching vulnerability as Meetra is severed from the Force and exiled by the Jedi Council, a powerful determination to forge her own path and defeat Sion, and an almost effervescent lightness as Meetra and Sion grew ever closer, transitioning to a mature resignation as Sion’s sacrifice leaves her alone yet again.​

“That’s pretty complimentary overall,” Luke pointed out.

Mara’s only response was to pick up her knitting with a disgruntled huff.

Although Meetra Surik is the eponymous character, Tiaoti Manoa turned in the standout performance of the night as Darth Sion, taking to the part with an unmistakably dark intensity. Manoa is well known for his elegant lines and easy jumps, but I admit to initially harboring a certain trepidation over his casting in a role of such complexity. Happily, this was indeed misguided, as Manoa displayed heretofore unexpected prowess, modifying his usual serene exactitude into an otherworldly lissomeness that conveyed a disturbing sensuality.​

Luke lowered the datapad with a sigh. “I’m still not thrilled about a Sith Lord being portrayed as—” he glanced at the review again, brow furrowed “—’disturbingly sensual’.”

“It’s fictional, Luke,” Mara said. “Unlike the slander of my sister.”

“I think that Corissa’s career is secure enough to withstand one slightly snide review,” Luke told her. “Especially one that still praised her performance.”

“Nevertheless.” Mara purled the next stitch with unnecessary vehemence. “Anyway, artistic liberties are inescapable when it comes to something like this. It’s not really any different than Rielle’s series of portraits of historical Jedi, or Tionne’s album of ballads. Both of which you approved, and even told them—rightly, I might add—that there was no need to get your approval in the first place.”

“I know, but—”

“Besides,” Mara interrupted, “you can’t stop people thinking what they want to think, and that includes the subject of Jedi history. Don’t fall for the lure of propagandism, Luke.”

He made a face at her. “I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I want people thinking that a Jedi/Sith romance is something to emulate.”

“There are no Sith around these days, dear,” Mara told him. “And roughly half of the current Jedi are either already married or too young to consider the prospect yet. But we can always add a media literacy class to the curriculum just in case any disturbingly sensual Sith pop up.” She paused, thinking. “Probably a good idea in general anyway. I’ll talk to Kam about it tomorrow. Go on with the review; I want to hear what else it says.”

Perhaps fortunately for all concerned, acclaimed costumer Eilé Leh chose to exercise a fair amount of artistic license in Sion’s portrayal; if the historical records are to be believed, the real Sith Lord was a mysteriously animated yet actively decomposing corpse, which would certainly seem to undermine his ability to inspire any romantic attraction—​

“Told you,” Mara said.

—instead opting for a classically dark and brooding look that, if both Meetra’s character arc and the overheard post-show reactions of certain demographics of the audience are to be believed, was successfully alluring—​

Mara turned her attention back to her knitting, avoiding Luke’s narrowed gaze.

—and which complemented the essence of the storyline, arranged jointly by Vasseron and acclaimed librettist Talie Licia, whose career demonstrates a talent for darkly romantic tales; while the musicality of both leads served to effectively emphasize the dynamic lyricism of the score, courtesy of composer Adil Qamari, with contributions from Jedi Knight Tionne Salusar, who in addition to serving as archivist for the Jedi Order is a talented musician in her own right. The foreboding musical cues well conveyed the predatory nature of Sion and his Sith Master, Darth Traya, brilliantly danced with a stylistic fineness by soloist Ana Mir, who with her truly intimidating portrayal provided a compelling contrast to both Meetra’s riveting journey from trauma to wistful healing and Sion’s progression from predatory villain to doomed romantic hero; and the corps de ballet offered impeccably synchronized group work as the soldiers, Jedi, and Sith who filled out the background narrative.​

“You have to admit,” Mara said, again laying down her knitting to instead take up the mug waiting on the side table, “that it was a stunning show on all fronts, despite Sion ultimately being portrayed as a romantic hero.”

“It was,” Luke agreed with a sigh. “I am happy for them; Julian and Corissa and the whole company worked so hard on this. And you’re right, it’s not like there are a bunch of seductive Sith Lords running around.”

“And considering that anyone interested enough in the ballet to look up Jedi and Sith history will find lovely specimens like Palpatine and our friend Sion the walking corpse and that realistically, ‘tall, dark, and brooding’ as applied to Sith generally translates to something along the lines of ‘black-armored murder cyborg’, it seems unlikely that such infatuations would translate to real life,” Mara said, biting back a smile as she added, “No disrespect toward sons of black-armored murder cyborgs intended, of course.”

“Much appreciated,” Luke said dryly.

Special mention goes to the ensemble of children—students of the local ballet academy—whose refined and dedicated performance as the Force itself crowned the ballet’s final act. Of particular note, at least for the Vasserons, is the fact that their daughter, Alaine, was part of this group, making the show truly a family affair in every way.

Vasseron himself commented, “It’s always been an honor to direct my wife—whose talents gild every production she takes part in—​

“Ha!” Mara crowed. “I hope this so-called reporter was paying attention when Julian said that.”

“Considering that the quote made it into the review, I’d guess he was,” Luke replied, exasperation beginning to edge his tone. “Would you quit interrupting?”

—but it was a special privilege indeed to have my daughter among the cast. Fitting, too, since the initial idea for this show was hers. She’s always had an affinity for history, and Knight Solusar’s ballad about Meetra Surik struck her as a story with great dramatic potential for the stage. Suffice it to say that her mother and I agreed, and couldn’t be prouder of her artistic instincts, or her performance tonight.”

Asked if such family performances were likely to become a staple of future productions, Vasseron smiled with all the affection anyone could expect from a proud father.

“Alaine is an accomplished dancer, with a precision and grace that could only adorn any company, should she choose such a course. But she has a great many interests, and the talent and determination to successfully pursue any or all of them, and she knows that she has our full support there. Corissa and I well know what it is to have an unmistakable calling in life, and we would never keep our daughter from her path, even if it turns out to be very different from our own. For now, we’re both grateful to have had this opportunity to work together with Alaine, and this show will always be dear to our hearts on that account.”​

“And to think that you and Nico tried to drive him away when Corissa first brought him home,” Luke observed, not quite archly.

“The whole point of that was to make sure he wouldn’t be driven away,” Mara retorted. “And now who’s interrupting?”

In short, The Exile showcases a ballet company at the top of its game, uniting each aspect of the craft, from choreography to score to costume and set designs, to bring new life and attention to a story that narrowly escaped being lost to time, and does so with a skill and panache sure to both satisfy loyal audiences and tempt new ones. All in all, a true delight.​

“There,” Luke said, setting down the datapad. “That’s a glowing review by any standard.”

“Not so fast,” Mara told him, narrowing her eyes. “There’s still the little matter of insinuating that Corissa only got cast because she was married to the director.”

“Which is ridiculous, and everyone likely to read this review knows it,” Luke said soothingly. “As you said, she’s been a principal here for over a decade; every ballet patron in the area knows her. Plenty come to shows specifically to see her. Absolutely no one is going to think she got this role for any reason other than merit.”

Mara opened her mouth to respond, but was preempted by the beep of an incoming call. Giving Luke one last glare, she set her mug aside and rose from the couch to instead seat herself at the desk in the corner, glancing at the incoming code on the flatscreen comm. “Looks like it’s the prima ballerina herself,” she said over her shoulder to Luke as she accepted the call.

Sure enough, Corissa’s face appeared on the screen, as cheerful as ever. “Hi, Mara!”

“Hi, yourself,” Mara said, a smile coming unbidden to her lips. “Thought you’d be too busy to talk today.”

“Oh, no.” Corissa waved a hand dismissively. “Just the opposite, really. Julian and Alaine left a while ago; I have the place to myself until I have to leave for the theater. What are you up to?”

Mara hesitated, torn between a desire to share her outrage with her sister and an equal desire to shield her from the cause of that outrage. “Luke was just reading me some of the day’s news.”

“Did you see the review of the show?” Corissa asked brightly. She sipped from a steaming mug, then made a face. “Ugh, forgot the sugar. I must be more tired than I thought. But it’s a great review, right?”

Luke’s amusement brushed against Mara through the Force, and she sent a mental shove back, narrowing her eyes just slightly at Corissa as she did so. “...great, yes.”

“Everyone was amazing, I’m so happy about all the specific mentions,” Corissa continued, oblivious to her sister’s growing skepticism. “Especially Tiaoti. This show really is a departure from his usual style, but Julian was positive he could do it, and he’s been working so hard. Wasn’t he terrific last night?”

“Definitely,” Mara had to agree. “He does tend to be more of a classical dancer, and this choreography requires some unorthodox lyricism.”

“That’s what makes it so fun,” Corissa said blithely.

“Of course,” Mara said, shaking her head affectionately. “He really was outstanding. I was pleased that Alaine got a mention, though it feels a little unfair to the rest of the student dancers.”

“That’s part of why she and Julian are already gone for the day, actually,” Corissa replied, taking another tentative sip of her unsweetened caf. “He suspected that might happen after the interview last night, and had already decided to go to the school today if it did. He took Alaine along so they could spend the afternoon together: lunch, the book shopping we promised her as a reward for her performance, then a swing by the school to give Alaine’s class a primer on how people are sometimes unfairly preoccupied with a famous name, and how that sort of thing doesn’t negate all their hard work and how well they did.”

“Media literacy, in other words,” Luke put in from across the room. The amusement still threaded through his Force sense, but he managed to keep it out of his voice.

“Exactly,” Corissa agreed. “Hi, Luke! Anyway, then I’ll meet them at the theater for tonight’s show.”

“How did Alaine handle her mention?” Mara asked, resting an elbow on the desk and leaning her cheek in her hand. “With most kids her age, I’d worry about it going to her head, but somehow I doubt that’s an issue for her.”

Corissa snorted inelegantly. “Hardly. Julian asked her, after we read the review, that she did of course know that we both supported her in whatever career she winds up choosing. She said, ‘of course,’ like she was surprised he had to ask, then wheedled him out of a promise of an extra book on today’s little excursion. Not that she ever has to coax all that hard with him. You know how he is: whatever his little girl wants, she gets.” She took another sip of caf, wrinkling her nose as she did so. “Fortunately, we were blessed with a ridiculously levelheaded child. Some kids would be spoiled by that; Alaine just leverages it into a bigger personal library.”

Mara couldn’t help but smile. “That’s her, all right. You realize, of course, how easy you have it that she takes after Julian more than you?”

“Do I ever,” Corissa said, grinning. “I look back and don’t know how Mom and Dad ever put up with me.”

“It’s a good thing you’re so charming, to offset the obnoxiousness,” Mara said wryly.

“Isn’t it, though,” Corissa agreed, arching her eyebrows playfully.

The whole conversation was pure Corissa, from beginning to end; yet Mara’s own irritation with the reviewer combined with her curiosity at her sister’s seeming obliviousness to the slight was too great to be ignored. “There was one part of the review that bothered me,” she began.

To her surprise, Corissa laughed aloud. “The implication that I slept my way to the role?”

Mara lifted her own eyebrows. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“I take it as a compliment,” Corissa said, her eyes sparkling. “Clearly I’m almost as scary as you when I want to be. Do you know what high praise that is?”

Luke came over to stand behind her before Mara could decide how best to respond to that. “How so?”

Corissa grinned at him. “I recognized the reporter when he came backstage for the interview. Julian excused himself and they went off to have their little chat out of my earshot, of course, all very professional. But it was obvious enough that he recognized me, too.”

“Recognized you from what?” Mara demanded.

Corissa pretended to ignore her, examining her mug instead and making as if to stand. “This stuff is awful when it’s black; I don’t know how Julian does it. I should let you go while I go add sugar—”

Mara leaned forward, forefinger jabbing at the desk. “You stay right where you are and explain yourself.”

The mischief in her sister’s expression was as irrepressible as always; no one, Mara thought, would ever look at her offstage and guess that she was a seasoned professional with a nearly teenaged child of her own. “Oh, just a little run-in from years and years ago, back during Julian’s first season with Chelruna City, right after we started dating. Hadn’t even told anyone about that yet.”

“I have no doubt whatsoever that the entire company knew well before you admitted it,” Mara told her dryly. “You’re not subtle.”

Corissa laughed. “Yeah, they did.”

“But the reporter,” Luke prompted. “How do you know this reporter, and why did he slip that remark in when he clearly was impressed by your performance, and has to know that being married to Julian had nothing to do with your casting?”

Corissa ran a fingertip along the rim of her mug, pretending innocence and failing badly. “Well, he might have had reason to hold a bit of a grudge against me. Mind you, I remember him, too, and what he said really wasn’t as bad as what I said, so I suppose I can’t blame him.”

“What,” Mara said with deliberate emphasis. “Did. You. Say.”

“Oh,” Corissa said airily, lifting her gaze upward as though deep in thought. “Not much. Just, um, I think my exact words were, ‘you slimy little punk’?”

Mara blinked in disbelief. Behind her, Luke was too obviously stifling a laugh. “You said what?”

“And maybe that he didn’t deserve his job,” Corissa went on, utterly unimpressed with Mara’s astonishment. “And that if he said anything in his article other than glowing praise of Julian, I would ruin him.”

Mara let her head sink into her hands, taking a deep breath before she could look up at her sister again. “You said all this to a reporter?”

Corissa let loose the grin she’d clearly been fighting to conceal. “You remember the community outreach program Julian started in Chelruna City? Which is still thriving, I might add. Well, he was doing a press conference about it, and I was sitting in, and the reporter next to me muttered that he was, and I quote, a ‘smarmy bastard’.”

“So you threatened his job?”

“I was young and impulsive,” Corissa said, shrugging. “And the relationship was new and I thought Julian could do no wrong.”

Luke leaned his arms on the back of Mara’s chair, and she glanced up to see him grinning back at Corissa. “Except for his fondness for grand pliés, of course.”

“Ugh, those pliés.” Corissa grimaced. “Well, he was young too, and hadn’t choreographed all that many shows yet. He knows better now. Anyway, I never knew the guy’s name, just his face. I looked him up after seeing his byline today, and it turns out that he was still new to reporting on the arts back then, but hey, he stuck with it, so clearly I didn’t fatally damage his ego or anything. And his assessments of last night were really pretty insightful. Apparently he only moved to Awalia City a few months ago, so this was his first time covering our company.”

“Does Julian know about all this?” Mara demanded.

Corissa sipped at her caf again. “He does now. He was also annoyed by that part of the review, so I had to come clean before he called to complain.”

“And his reaction?”

Corissa was grinning again. “Less surprised than you are, but then, he’d caught that I was arguing with the guy back at that first press conference. I just never told him before exactly how it went down.” She waved a hand as Mara narrowed her eyes. “What’s done is done. I completely meant to intimidate him into silence at the time, and honestly, I’m not sorry I succeeded. I mean, maybe I was a little over the top—”

Mara threw her hands in the air. “A little?”

“This,” Luke interjected with a studied air of innocence, “from the person who was just calling the exact same reporter a hack and making threats toward him.”

“Ha!” Corissa leveled a finger in Mara’s direction. “I knew it! See, it’s a family trait. You can’t scold me for doing exactly what you would have. It’s fine, Mara, really. I don’t blame him for still being mad; I know I was awful. And yeah, he shouldn’t have said it in the review anyway, but there’s no way Julian won’t diplomatically point out that if he wants to continue to have any real backstage access, he’ll have to avoid personally insulting remarks. You don’t have to threaten the poor guy.”

“Especially since you have that covered?” Luke suggested.

Corissa dramatically laid a hand over her heart. “I can’t believe you’d suggest such a thing. I have a daughter to set a good example for.” She dropped the hand and the act simultaneously, lifting the mug again. “Besides, there’s no need. That was ages ago. Now that he’s got that jibe out of his system, I’m sure we’ll all work just fine together. Are we still meeting up for a late dinner after tonight’s show?”

Mara sighed, but then, Corissa was probably right. And if she wasn’t, and the reporter in question didn’t take Julian’s hint—well. She could always drop him a hint of her own, if need be. “Looking forward to it.”

“Me too. See you then,” Corissa said, sending them a bright smile before blowing a kiss and ending the call.

“Well,” Luke said, resting his chin on the top of Mara’s head. “I’ve always said that she is definitely your sister.”

Mara huffed an exasperated but fond breath, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “So she is. And maybe there’s a bit of Meetra in her, too. After all, if this reporter went from calling Julian a smarmy bastard to understanding ballet to the extent that his review indicates, one could make an argument that she turned him from the artistic dark side. In a sense, anyway.”

Luke laughed as he again stood upright. “Just scared straight instead of falling in love.”

“Whatever works,” Mara said, coming to her feet and leaning in for a quick kiss. “Come on, let’s go make lunch.”

 

Banter between Luke and Mara and her sister Corissa about that reporter and the comments about the ballet. Dark with Meetra and Sion as the lovers/antagonists in the embedded story by the reporter. And the fun with Luke and Mara commenting in between.
A great way to finish your KR and congrats

 

So much banter with these characters, just the way I like it Thanks so much, and thanks for all your comments!

 

@Mira_Jade

I remain terribly behind on everything myself

Oy, third person omniscient, never again I wrote this with Sense and Sensibility open before me, it was the only way I had a chance. Oh, but you're right, Mara definitely shares that sort of dry wit, doesn't she? Well, that worked out nicely

I just really liked the mental image of Mara addressing Lula like a fellow mom supervising a play date And cat moms never seem fazed by much, despite having multiple newborns at once. It probably helps that their kids grow to self-sufficiency in only 8-12 weeks

lol, ngl, I'm pretty pleased with them all myself

It's an important lesson for any child with a pet, but I feel like respect and boundaries and autonomy would be really important to Mara after her own experiences, and of course she and Luke are well aware they're raising potential Jedi here, and respect for all living things is a pretty crucial principle when it comes to using that sort of power responsibly.

For a little bit more than a second, Mira But in true Kessel Run tradition, I wound up loving this challenging story that I would never have written otherwise

Well, we all know how much I love writing everyday stuff But yeah, this is a genuine victory for Mara, to just be able to have a semi-ordinary life. She and Luke and Leia are still dealing with the immense challenge of setting up an entirely new Order and finding students and learning how to be teachers themselves, but in between all of that they get to have all these ordinary moments that we see the characters being wistful for in the books, where politics and various crises keep pulling them away from simpler pleasures.

He's little and has pointy ears, just like in Uncle Luke's stories! I'm imagining various Jedi students over the years responding to Luke passing on the wisdom of the ages with very innocent expressions and the respectful question, "And was that Yoda the cat or Yoda the Jedi who said that, Master Skywalker?" And Luke is so exasperated but Mara and Leia are so consistently and openly amused by it that it only eggs the students on

Valeria has everything all sorted And if a wedding is a sort of grown up party, then doesn't it need party things? What could be more party-ish than confetti? ...is how Valeria sees things. I imagine that she very carefully cut it all out herself, because Nico and Rielle are too sensible to buy her confetti, but after she went to all that work they sighed and said she could use it so long as she cleaned it up. Except that of course once she did, she threw it around for the next wedding. And the next, and the next, and Nico and Rielle gave up

All of the kids are so little here - Nakari is the oldest at 7yo. None of them really know what a wedding is like; certainly not 3yo Valeria, who's directing the game. (Something that got cut from this story because word limits was that the game started after Valeria saw her parents' wedding photos and wanted to know why they were so dressed up, and just really latched onto the idea of this big serious fancy grownup party.) She knows that music is involved. She doesn't really know what kind of music is involved

Oh good, another realistic kid detail I figured, all of us love toy vehicles at some point, right? And so many of the adults in this family are pilots or mechanics; the kids would always be around ships and speeders, and hearing conversations about them

Rylan knows the drill; Nakari is thrilled with the new game

I couldn't resist

Luke can't believe she brought that up, and also he was just an innocent bystander, so if she's going to be that way...

I really love Han and Mara being buddies, and the idea of him filling her in on all the gossip from the Rebel years

Ronan and Nadira made their share of mistakes, but they did their absolute best to keep Mara as part of the family to the extent that they could, and Nico and Corissa don't remember a time they didn't know about her

lol, I'm sure that part of it is due to the fact that Mara isn't there to have all the day to day sibling interactions with. When your big sister is essentially a fantasy rather than a reality, it's easy to assume that she's amazing and perfect and you would never ever argue But also, for all her innate defiance and sass, Corissa genuinely adores Nico, and naturally assumes that Mara would be just as great, and she knows that Mara is eight years older than her, which in her eyes is incredibly grownup and capable and sophisticated, so of course she'd be perfect, right?

Exactly Corissa is a born performer, and although the story she's telling her originated with her insecurity about not having the things her friends did, once she gets going, it's a story - one that's very real to her emotionally if not factually, and which has an audience. She's really getting into it.

Like that bit in ATD, where she remembered jumping the boy who said something derogatory about Nico. No one gets to criticize someone Corissa loves, and her idolized big sister would most certainly not be a tattletale

That's right

Excellent ...I say as an evil author You know, kids are casually cruel sometimes, because they don't fully grasp just how hurtful their words or actions are, and that's what's going on here. Adina had no idea of the reality Corissa lives with, or how these words would split her heart open, and if she had, there's a decent chance that she'd have rolled her eyes and let Corissa have her weird little story. But she didn't, and it did devastate Corissa. Her fantasies of Mara being the perfect big sister are so very real to her, and to have someone brutally yank that away and deny that Mara even exists - to say it was a kick in the teeth is probably an understatement

Right? Poor little Corissa

I'd post the "get back to work" gif I send Vi when she slacks off on writing, but I'm pretty sure I owe you more feedback than you owe me We'll both get there eventually

@Findswoman

Why, thank you

I read and analyzed at least half a dozen reviews at balletherald.com to try to absorb that style, let me tell you My KR WIP doc was littered with sections of reviews that I'd copied and pasted in, with various areas highlighted to use as references; then I watched the Dracula and Frankenstein ballets, pausing them repeatedly to scribble down how I would review them at various points. I'm glad all the research paid off And yes, Luke would

Heh, the credit for Meetra/Sion being the ballet subject is entirely Mira's When I - months ago - first saw those shorter ballet videos that I linked before the vig on YouTube, I sent them to Vi and said, "Tell me that's not Festus/Allana vibes; Corissa and Julian might just have to choreograph a ballet about a Jedi/Sith romance someday," and when I mentioned that writing idea to Mira, she was all, "MEETRA/SION MEETRA/SION MEETRA/SION", and then lo and behold, Vi had a story within a story prompt where I could use my ballet idea And Mira's Meetra/Sion suggestion honestly worked out great, because of course the whole extended Jade family is involved with the Jedi Order to some extent, and it makes perfect sense for the artists of the family to draw inspiration from that. Although I personally know so little about KOTOR II that I read your comment and was like, "wait, how many Sith are in that thing" (I also watched multiple YouTube vidoes about Meetra and Sion as research for this vig; so much research )

"Darth Shirtless" reminds me of a cosplay I saw at a con once, of TLJ Kylo Ren from Rey's vision on Ahch-To, shirtless but with pants that reached halfway up his ribcage; it was fantastic but he was on the down escalator and I was on the up so I couldn't get a picture

But yes, Sion is also not exactly a cover model from all I've seen and from what Vi and Mira and Elli have told me. That's where the costumer took some creative liberties

From an artistic standpoint, what's not to love about a doomed romance? Corissa and Julian had a field day with it And Alaine dearly loves history, and is especially fond of Tionne's ballads because of that, and she also has the artistic mindset one might expect from the only child of two ballet professionals, so she saw the potential too

Corissa and Julian are incredibly proud of Alaine, but I definitely think that they both feel just as strongly about encouraging anyone and everyone involved in making a ballet work. The art form in general means so much to each of them, and they were both student dancers too once, and Corissa herself kind of beat the odds to get that early education despite her family's finances, and Julian believes so firmly that the arts are for everyone. It would be so important to both of them to emphasize to the other students how arbitrary it can be, who gets a spotlight at what moment, but it's consistent hard work that makes a successful career, and how wonderfully they all did. Plus I have to think that everyone in the Jade family has had similar discussions with their children, because not only are Corissa and Julian well known within the dance world on Contruum, but obviously there's Luke and Mara and Leia leading the Jedi Order, and Han and Chewie are famous names too. They'd all want the kids to have a balanced view of fame, and to stay humble and grounded themselves.

lol, not to worry, I'm constantly checking my own master timeline to remember everyone's ages Alaine has just turned twelve in this story. She'll actually be "retiring" from ballet before long, and both Corissa and Julian know it even though Alaine herself hasn't really realized it yet. Naturally Corissa and Julian would enroll her in dance classes at a young age; if she chooses to follow in her parents' footsteps, that early education will be formative, and if she doesn't, she'll still have reaped all sorts of benefits from it - grace, strength, self-discipline, confidence, etc.

But it's been plain to Corissa and Julian for a long time that Alaine, while a decently talented dancer, doesn't love it the way they do, and they fully expect her to do something different eventually. They're just letting her set the pace and direction, and Alaine herself has been ensconced in the world of dance her entire life and doesn't dislike it, so as of yet it hasn't occurred to her to stop. I figure that she's probably just about to start pointe work, and it'll be that development that makes her go, "no, I don't really want to do that," at which point Corissa and Julian will be ready with, "okay, what would you like to do instead?" When she gets to university age, Alaine will decide to focus on history, especially Jedi history, and will eventually work alongside Tionne as an archivist at the academy (and Julian's parents will be so happy that their granddaughter followed in their academic path the way their stubborn artistic son didn't ) - but right now she's just a 12yo who's happy enough to dance with her parents and spend the rest of her time with her nose in a book

lol that's what happens when you make enemies of reporters, Corissa But yes, the show turned out great and everyone is very pleased with it

It was a stroke of genius from Vi to suggest bringing back that reporter from ATD; it gave me so much more foundation to work with, and a reason for there to be some conflict in the story. Because Corissa was in fact awful to him And this story is the furthest I've yet written along the Renewal timeline, and to revisit that early altercation let me obliquely show how Corissa has grown, as well. She's 41 now (she was 25-26 in ATD), and she's still very much Corissa - irrepressible, mischievous, confident, and so on - and she's still pretty unrepentant about her behavior back then, but she's also matured enough to be neither offended or threatened by his rude remark in the review. As far as she's concerned, it's the fair (albeit delayed) consequences of her actions, she deserved it, it's also really funny when you think about it, and hey, let bygones be bygones, he seems like a great reporter otherwise, we'll probably be friends now. That's Corissa for you

I did? I did! I didn't even think about it like that, I was too busy trying to write a realistic review that also conveyed the basics of Meetra and Sion's potential story without derailing my main narrative. The KR is writing bootcamp, let me tell you. I feel like I should be paying Vi for the education rather than being rewarded with colors myself

Aw, thank you, I've really appreciated your comments throughout