@Ashcroft_Writes on Ao3. Fallout, Star Wars, and original fiction and art, fresh as a lemon-scented ghoul! Big guns! Big hats! Big gay! You should also know I have the personality of a happy golden retriever in terms of cheerfulness and enthusiasm. BE BEFRIENDED, IF YOU DARE. (He/them)
Raven Song (book one of Inokiās Game):
Post-nuclear-apocalyptic dark fantasy sci-fi
A smuggler with secret magic and a scientist ripped from her own time meet in a world that seems to want them dead.
Buy at: Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org
Eclipse of the Sun (book two of Inokiās Game):
Post-nuclear-apocalyptic dark fantasy sci-fi
On the run in an irradiated wasteland, two magic wielders and budding friends discover ancient magic and dark truths that may destroy a city.
Buy at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org
Harmony (short story, part of the Add Magic to Taste anthology):
LGBTQIA+, non-explicit meet-cute gay/transmasculine romance, modern fantasy
Toby, a magic-user in hiding, has been trying to live his life as a normal barista. Unfortunately, a charismatic outlaw mage has chanced through his drive-through.
Buy at: Duck Prints Press, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Smashwords
Metamorphosis (short story, part of the Monsterotica anthology):
LGBTQIA+, explicit trans masculine, fantasy
Jakob returns to his inherited family farm, and discovers an ancient, sacred bargain made with a spirit of the land.
Launched at: Kickstarter
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Fan Works by Ashcroft_Writes
STAR WARS
Gunslingerās Paean
Series featuring Cad Bane and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the long road of what it means to survive, change, and be tempted by connection with others. Explicit longfic, enemies-to-lovers with slow-burn emotional bonding, adventure, fun OCs, and big guns/big hats. New installments in progress. Includes:
1. The Idiotās Array (Clone Wars era) (Completed)
After the trials of the Box, Cad Bane and Obi-Wan Kenobi forge an unlikely connection with far-reaching repercussions.
2. Homeworld Elegy (Clone Wars era) (Completed)
After The Idiot's Array, Cad Bane finds himself in uncharted waters. And now the war comes for his homeworld, forcing him to reckon with a lot of things he thought were long gone.
3. Summerās End (Clone Wars era) (Completed)
A short story collection about changing seasons in the life of a Duros bounty hunter.
#gunslinger's paean Tumblr Tag - See for series announcements, questions, art, and more!
FALLOUT 4
Rot, Dust, and Steel (In-progress, hiatus but not abandoned)
Longfic adventure featuring John Hancock and bi male Sole Survivor slow-burn romance. In a destroyed world, a man trying to survive grief and bring hope finds a new life nothing like he imaginedāand it's one worth fighting for.
Strong Hands (Completed)
Short story featuring John Hancock and bi male Sole Survivor. Pre-romance, unspoken yearning.
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Fan Works based on my work:
(coming soon!)
Fan Playlists for the Gunslinger's Paean Series
Spotify: Death Walks Beside You (by ghostofthemotif)
Spotify: Death Walks Beside You 2 - Cad Bane (by zephyrus77)
I love when fanfic authors are freakishly unhinged. "Yes, hello, I am here to write a heart wrenching story about relationships and mortality. My medium is Ducktales (2017)"
Yeah. I mean, yeah. āIām going to write and publish to the world a story about how ptsd affects different people in different ways. My medium is the old man comic relief character from hit kids show gravity falls.ā
the audio is from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas Read by James Arnold Taylor (the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Corey Burton (the voices of Cad Bane and Ziro the Hutt)" by James Arnold Taylor on YouTube
A collection of 16 erotica tales about monsters and the partner(s) of their choice engaging in courtship and then getting together!
Today is the last day to back the crowdfunding campaign for MONSTEROTICA: TALES OF UNUSUAL COURTSHIP AND COUPLING!
16 queer stories! Monsterfucking! Awesome merch! Original work by fanfiction authors! We're only $1,300 from our first stretch goal, which will unlock bonus merch and enable us to pay all our authors double. Please help spread the word, we'd love to hit that goal!
campaign ends at 1:05 pm Eastern time on 12/2/2025.
Meet the Monsterotica Contributors: Annika Sage Ellis and I. A. Ashcroft
Our crowdfunding Kickstarter to fund publishing Monsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling has crossed the 90% funded line!! Only 10% ā just over $1,000 ā to go before we hit the our base funding goal! Want to help us hit that goal? Check out our campaign or signal boost this or other of our posts about this sexy queer monsterfucking anthology!
ā¦or, read on to read biographies of two of our authors, and excerpts from their stories!
Author: Annika Sage Ellis
About: Annika Sage Ellis (he/she) is a life-long creative with a passion for telling queer stories. In the scarce moments he didnāt have his nose in a book, he could be found immersed in the worlds of his favorite video games, or even creating his own tales to tell to friends and family alike.
Growing up and discovering the queer community just gave her more to tellācountless stories about people whose narratives are sidelined or silenced. Now, he explores the fantastic in the mundane and the mundane in the fantastic, with a focus on queerness, sexuality, and the radical act of changing ourselves and our world for the better.
Annika has been featured in her self-published collection of flash fiction, Escapism. He maintains an online readership for his Magnet Monday poetry series, and for all the various fictional and fandom projects on her roster. When not writing, he can be found dancing, baking, gaming, or reading.
Links: Personal Website | Ko-Fi | Tumblr
Title: Hands-On Learning
Excerpt:
The sun shone in spectacular rays over the city, a sure sign that spring was here to stay. With the trees and flowers coming back to life, it was no surprise that the citizens were up and about too. Creatures big and small took advantage of the perfect day, and Kieran was about to celebrate the change in the season with an opportunity heād been waiting years for.
āAre you positive I look okay?ā Utethi asked for the dozenth time as she slithered up the porch to their destination. Her black and red scales glittered, accented by creamy white stripes running from the end of her snout to the tip of her tail.
āYes, Iām still sure,ā Kieran replied. āYou just shed last week; youāre practically glowing.ā
āOf course youād say that.ā
āThatās what Iām here for, right? Iām your emotional- support mammal.ā
She laughed, a jumping hiss. āDonāt say it like that.ā
āItās a little true.ā
āNot if anybody asks.ā
āDeal.ā
Author: I. A. Ashcroft
About: A writer and web developer, I. A. Ashcroft journeys through life alongside their constant feline companion, Potato. Ashcroft has published two original sci-fi/fantasy novels, some short stories, and has been writing for fandoms for over a decade, loving tales that emphasize unlikely bonds, mythology, magic, and hope in the darkness. In between storytelling efforts, he enjoys cooking, fiddling with technology projects, and rolling dice with friends while wearing funny hats.
Links: Archive of Our Own | Bluesky | Tumblr
Story Title: Metamorphosis
Excerpt:
Jakob breathed, whimpering, frozen. He shouted mentally at his stupid feet, panting like an animal, but they still didnāt move. And the thing, the creature, it just kept staring into his soul, those twin micro-suns blazing merrily in its hewn face: terrifying, but beautiful. The damage to the grasses and mosses encasing its form was healing. All down its back, a carpet of fragrant flowers bloomed at unnatural speeds, dots of white, red, and deep purple brilliance; sprigs of culinary rosemary were even plumping up where its throat might have been, a strange beard where the seed packet had ruptured.
Silent, they just kept staring at one other, until Jakob felt like his heart would burst open and fertilize all of this lush, living green with his blood.
Then, the stone head cocked. A shudder of emotion rippled forth, a tangible curiosity and utterly alien intelligence.
Jakob finally managed to move. Memories ruptured through the adrenalineāall of his grandmotherās tales of land spirits and their ancient powerāand he rolled to his knees, bowing to what his instincts knew as a ruler. For this, it was the Bauer wealth, wasnāt it? Theyād managed to speak to this thing centuries ago.
First look at my new short story out soon from the anthology Monsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Coupling, where protagonist Jakob encounters an ancient land spirit with whom his family made a sacred bargain.
I'm super excited that this unabashedly queer and delightful anthology has great interest so far, and if you'd like to get in on your copy, learn more here!
Cover Reveal for āMonsterotica: Tales of Unusual Courtship and Couplingā!
Later this month, we will be launching the Kickstarter campaign to fund publishing our next anthology, our second collection of erotica short stories ā MONSTEROTICA: TALES OF UNUSUAL COURTSHIP AND COUPLING. This collection includes 16 incredibly hot stories of monsters ā the more unusual, the better! ā and their lovers courting and then coupling. Some stories are monster x monster, and all are very queer. Whether youāre into tentacles or wings, aliens or cryptids, beasts or gentlefolk, youāll find something to love in this anthology of monsterfucking stories.
You can learn more about Monsteroticaās contributors be visiting our website.
Want to back the campaign to fund Monsterotica? Follow our pre-launch page on Kickstarter!
And now, without further adoā¦ (drum roll please)ā¦ our gorgeous cover, featuring art by Siao Bell (Instagram | Bluesky)!
Iām so delighted to share that I have a new work that will be published in the wonderful anthology Monsterotica, which, along with 15 other stories by very talented writers, is gonna give a lot of my followers with *ahem* discerning tastes everything they want. š I had the pleasure of working alongside this press previously, and their love of good craft and LGBTQ+ support and joy canāt be overstated.
Stay tuned for more details. And please share to help the word spread! š š
Itās taken me years to reach out and ask so Iām sorry if you have already answered this a thousand times over - are we allowed to use the belief system and culture and such youāve made for the Duros for our own characters? (With credit of course!)
Iām the only Duros mando in a costuming club and my character is quite proud of his kin and roots! Iām even going as far as to try and make a more useable language!
I also wondered if you ever wrote out more about it all? Culture, foods, beliefs, fashion?
Either ways, I adore your work and anytime I think of Cad your writing and how you portrayed him springs to mind.
Well howdy there! This was a super cool ask to getāabsolutely made my week, thank you for reaching out! Believe me, I get asked things like this not often at all, and it's a huge honor for someone to enjoy the stuff I've made so much that it inspires their own creations and characters. <3 <3 <3
So 100% yes, you are totally cleared to use any Duros lore I dreamed up for your own character. And I would love to hear more about him! You're not obligated to do so; I just love seeing what people make, and I'm a sucker for a cool Duros OC! :D
AND YOU ARE LANGUAGE CRAFTING I SEE š š š HELL YES HELL YES HELL YES! If you ever want to share then plz, plz share
To answer your second question, while I've been working on the next installment to Gunslinger's Paean, I definitely have been working on some additional worldbuilding. Right now I've been filling out some bits regarding how young children experience little rites of passage and religion on the homeworldāfor example, my kid OC Wulo, he was taught to follow an old, old star-based faith, attending at one of the ancient temples that's long since gone to ruin. He learned his constellations, which are shorthand for various gods/protection forces, through a few hundred simple rhyming songs about their placement and shape in the sky, and during ceremonies, he often served as a lamplighterāigniting the stars below, so to speak, to mirror those above. There's a lot more going on there, but that's the kind of thing I've been working with just at the moment! I also made up some really silly stuff around hatch-days, including a thing called a hatch-hat, which is sort of a gold egg-shaped cap lol. Ngl, I don't know if I'm ever going to use that bit š I just thought the idea of a bunch of Duros suffering to wear this silly gold cap during a hatch-day celebration was fun. It's a work in progress and I'm always happy to chatter about worldbuilding and the kind of stuff you'd love to hear more about or things you've been working on yourself!! It's really great just how much leeway we have to play with Duros culture as fans!
I know I left a couple of reviews for Homeworld Elegy and Summerās End, and I absolutely flappy-hand fangirled the moment I saw your responses then proceeded to dance around my room in pure glee.
I can honestly say Iāve never felt the urge nor truly understood the need to highlight, annotate, and deep-dive into someoneās workā¦ until I read yours. And now here I am, annotating like a madwoman and even making my own playlist to match the emotional damage (I mean that lovingly).
I definitely stole your recommendation of āI Am the Moonā and added it to the lineup. Hearing othersā inspired playlists lit such a spark, I couldnāt resist joining in and throwing mine into the mix too.
Thank you for the teaser of whatās to comeāthrows handfuls of confetti-flattery in your general direction! I hope studying (and everything else life throws your way) goes as smoothly as possible.
And of courseā
May the Force be with you!!
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcMw5Abrr5JlJYxGhFpaaTqm6_nlix7Oi&si=9mJtfDVlJnEL14Pe
NEW FAN PLAYLIST??? :D :D :D :D
I know Iāve already flappy-hand fanwriterād right on back when I saw all your kind words on my fics, but genuinely, thank you so much again, and for this message too!! Truly. I am still really honored that my workās found people that enjoy it so much, and it still really makes me glad the stories seem to be standing up to reads and re-reads and deep divesāhonestly, itās a wonderful feeling to have as a creator, one that never, ever gets old. I absolutely revel in the confetti youāve thrown at me and I continue to be really excited to make progress (however slow itās probably seemed) on the next installment. :D
BUT A NEW PLAYLIST!!! Ohooohooohohoooo! Yesssss! Thank you for taking the time to create and shareāthe previous playlists sent my way have been such awesome things to explore, learn new music from, and sometimes let āem go in the background as I write. And itās super cool to get some new recs to add into the mix! Crazy thingāI actually see a couple songs and artists on here that I actually ALSO kept in a lilā āwriting ambianceā playlist I built myself years ago, and itās wild to see that handful reflected (howdy to my old friends, KALEO, EivĆør, and The Dead South <3) This is gonna be a 5+ hour experience I am really gonna enjoy. Truly, thank you, and I hope other readers have a great time discovering this too! :D
its so important to me that you know that your fic the idiots array is SO significant and comforting to me i read it in 2022 and go back and read it at least once a year 10/10 one of my favorite books ever
ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø!!! I have drowned in a pool of my own tears RE: these kind messages from over the last couple days. The Idiot's Array has a real special place in my heart, and I can't tell you how cool it is to know folks are still reading and enjoying my work to this degree. It really buoys a person through the hundreds of hours it takes to make these storiesāI'd do it anyway because I'm Just Wired Like That, definitely some kinda knock I might have gotten on my head, but I gotta say, knowing folks like you are still along with me for this crazy lil' AU makes me happy. Thank you so much! šā¤ļø And I hope to see you for the next one in the series!
(Additionally, if anyone has questions about the stories or what's coming up, I'm happy to answer 'em.)
It's so nice to see you back!! I was just re-reading your whole kenobane/cad bane centric series and it is such a great comfort for me, it really gives you hope, I feel like I can love and endure whatever comes my way when I read your words. As I was reading I listened to Die With a Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga and I thought it is a perfect song for your kenobane! The dream, them being forever connected, the way they shared how they want to forever rest... I got goosebumps!! Do you have any songs that remind you of the world you have built?
Oh goodness, thank you so much! š„¹ This was such a kind and heartfelt message to have arrive; I appreciate it more than I can say. Themes of hopeā¦ honestly, itās probably the core of myself that I have to offer the world and so it tends to come through a lot when I write. The night is dark, the world is hard, and terrible things happen, but we all have each other. We can learn and change and try again and make things better than where we found them, and it is never too late to try and make that difference. Iām honored I can help make your world a little better too.
Also, Die With A Smileānice! You hit on a fave of mine quite by accident there! Great pick! Lady Gagaās Mayhem album is such a great listen in general, and I confess Iāve written many a word in the Banefic recently while looping it, heh. It must be the slide between being intensely unhinged, and then also sweet š Also. You know. Sometimes she dresses like this and my brain says "does this hat remind you of anyone? Anyone at all? HAT FOR YOU, KING? š"
Bane Gaga crossover WHEN
But I digress.
I actually did have an experience of a song hitting me like a truck regarding the Kenobane I've written. Might I heartily recommend āI am the Moonā by The White Buffalo?
Omg, I would also be very remiss if I didnāt resurface the Spotify playlists some awesome folks have also assembled for the series. Thereās some real gems in there. If youāre on Spotify, you totally should check out:
EDIT - had to remove the embedded Spotify widgets due to this post overloading Tumblr's abilities. But check out the links yourself! It's worth it!
Death Walks Beside You (by @ghostofthemotif) : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0HwKgQM2SRmNDfXtv0TfwV
Death Walks Beside You 2 - Cad Bane (by @zephyrus77): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5grMErzVmNaGF6dvookZ1p
Hi!! I hope you are doing great! Now that Andor season 2 dropped i went back into my star wars era and I remembered how good your The Idiot's Array series is!! I don't know when you are going to publish your third work - take all the time you need, really! - but I just wanted to let you know there are still people thinking about it and loving it! ššš
Howdy there!!! This super makes my day, thank you so much for the very kind words! And welcome back to the Star Wars era! :D I haven't seen the new Andor yet, but I'm real excited. And it always makes my heart glad people are enjoying Gunslinger's Paean years down the line, especially because I have ABSOLUTELY been working on the next installment all this time; just had a couple turbulent years that's slowed it up! But I'm persistent. :D Just gotta be like the cowboy alien man himself... dramatically slow-walking to the destination lol. Heck, I just wrapped up one more of the chapters yesterday. So it'll get here eventually!
But, before I ramble too muchāthank you again for reaching out with the encouragement and love. It means a lot, and I hope you have a wonderful week! ā¤ļøāØ
Me, sitting straight up from a dead sleep: So! Each of these titles contained the word "Good," which sure is an irony for a descent-into-darkness narrative.
The Good Life: that taste of a good thing that would snare an innocent kid into crime
A Good Turn: likely referring to the phrase "one good turn deserves another," a revenge philosophy that would cement an angry young Cad into his fall
One Good Deed: OKAY LOOK. I didn't understand this one at first; thought it was maybe a reference to "good deeds never going unpunished," since despite Niro always trying to do the right thing, he was going to die. Cad would never listen, still locked into his need to settle scoresādespite Niro even raising his very son as his own. BUT LOOK. I think it was about Cad's vanishingly rare decision to try and do the right thing that is best for other people, his ONE consciously good deed this seriesāstaying the hell away from his own sonānot adding the calamity that he is to the boy's life on top of all the harms he's already caused. ššš LISTENā
I almost never post analyses of my fave fandom things! But I've been thinking about nothing but this show for a solid 24 hours, haha. Honestly, I've been pretty light on sharing my thoughts on the beloved blorbos previously because I don't often care for engaging in the hot take trading in Star Wars fandom... and I also know things tend to grow on me over time, even if something bothers me at first. Iām also in times when people like me worry for their lives and futures, so the me that shows up for Star Wars anymore honestly just wants to have a little fun with it and appreciate what these creative teams manage to do, especially today, when I get Cad Bane content so enchantingly rarely!
BUT, these episodes definitely had a big effect on me. So I've sat with them a little, let āem roll around in my head, and though thereās parts of the narrative I think I would have also liked to seeā¦ what was done with this story, I ultimately really enjoyed.
But let's dig in deeper, because it IS fun.
THE RELATIONSHIP
Alright, to get it outta the way, anything that involves showing a past relationship for a character seems to set off a bomb inside fan heads. And as a queer writer with an MLM Bane series, some folks have seemed to kind of want to feel me out on this one!
Honestly, the Bane and Arin relationship intrigued me, and I like her.
But first, before I dig into why, I have seen some folks uncomfortable with the idea of a character that's had a blank slate backstory past now being given a "love interest," so I'm going to speak to that first. What is presented here doesnāt change all that much about what we know of Bane as a characterāthis was a relationship that was definitely physical and involved SOME sort of emotional attachment, but that's about all that was said, and I don't see how it really threatens most interpretations of Bane. Yes, even and especially the queer ones. One can write Bane and/or Arin with any earth-equivalent sexuality, gender, or romantic preferences (or lack thereof) that you choose and these interpretations would still work within this canon information (if you even want to keep canon information in your works!) I've been looking at this relationship from the angles of queerplatonism, aromanticism, bisexuality, pansexuality, heterosexuality, gay with a confusing puberty, etc. etc. etc.. And thatās just if Arin is in fact a woman in the sense that many earth humans mean it.
Thereās a lot of wide narrative holes for creatives to nest in here, and I'm really happy I can say that, because I'm already building a nest. And, besides all THAT, Baneās a cowboy alien?? Like. I think we should all keep getting weird with it, because he SURELY would be up to things outside of our earthly human day-to-day perspective.
So yeehaw. Do Whatever You Want Forever!
Moving on.
THOUGHTS ABOUT ARIN HERSELF
I really like her. I love the idea of this young person who was kind, who was trying to pull Cad back from the worst parts of his nature, who was wiser than he was about the possibilities of a future past the violence of their world. That is part of what my own OC Nuni was when I wrote him. And now in canon, there were at least two peopleāArin and Niroāboth trying to pull Cad back from his fixation on gold and blood, and I like that theme!
Was I curious how Cad and Arin came togetherā¦? Yeah. Of COURSE. But I know this was limited time we had, and decisions were made about how to convey the most telling details in shorthand and the story in broad brushstrokesāso here, I settle for the subtle body language, which honestly was very deliberately rendered. Itās clear Cad is attached on some level to Arin; the way he works easily alongside her and doesnāt leave her behind when the going gets tough isn't without meaning at all. For him, it seems as close a relationship as he's able to have. But a lot of their interaction regardless comes across as a very Cad way of handling someone, especially while younger, rasher, his anger hotter. He doesnāt confide in her, he snips, he barely listens. He hardly looks at her or even touches her, though her own gaze is often on him, analyzing, hoping, bidding for him to let go of what doesnāt matter. But he doesnāt consider her needs for a single second as more important than him coming out on top. And thisā¦ this was a relationship Iāve seen before in life, in which one side is too focused on what theyāre chasing to properly, truly notice the other person, even if some facet of having the other person around comforts them. I couldn't help but wonder if Arin was indeed startled by how easily Cad hugged Niro, when Cad just doesnāt seem to be like that with anyone else that we see, not even her. So yes, his and Arinās relationship was strange, one-sided, with so much unspokenā¦ but it was a lot we can glean from very little.
I wish in some ways that Arin had still been alive in the final episode, but I am sensing perhaps why it was decided that she wouldnāt be. Thereās a narrative hole here Iām going to have to speculate inside, butāwhen Bane returns an unspecified amount of time after he was arrested, heās grown up a fair amount. Got new scars. He has crew coming to meet him as if they want to give loyalty, when he didn't exactly come across as Lazlo's second in command previously. And now, the community council seems like theyāre wetting their pants about him showing up, and they ALL know and seem to fear his name, whereas when he was arrested, they absolutely didnāt.
Frankly, the writing seems to imply that there was some serious stuff that happened in the interim between when they arrested him and he made his way back to his old stomping grounds. I don't know if it was a situation in which Bane still managed to make trouble from inside his cell, pulling strings, or if there were periods in which he was free, then arrested again.
But either way, Arin was left behind for a long while, just like Niro was once. Enough for Cad to get up to his own mischief, forge at least some part of his intimidating legacy. But again, heās been so sucked into his own workings that the world he left behind moved on without him. I don't think he ever says that he was coming back for Arin when he does arrive; thatās a guess everyone ELSE is throwing around. Heās seemingly just there to settle accounts in general, and the mention of Arin having married Niro just seems to stick him in the pride. Either way, he's come back far too late to have done anything about it. They've both long moved on, and he wrote her off as a traitor long ago. Arin's had a life alongside a kinder person, and now is gone, and perhaps Cad could have tried to learn anything at all about what had happened before now, found a way for someone to bring him intel, wrote a letter, etc. But he didnāt.
He only returns to old places in this story when itās time for revenge.
I think it fits his character fairly well, so unwilling to deal with these emotional difficulties that any question of Arin he still held in his heart was answered by a life fully lived without him, one he stayed ignorant of until it came back to needle his ego. The fact that Arin is dead isn't the point. It was that he didn't know she was dead, years gone. If that isn't a character statement, I don't know what is.
So yes, despite the missing parts, Arin is a character I like. I see some folks mentioning the concept of her being āfridged,ā but I personally donāt think that entirely fits. Fridging isā¦ specific. She wasn't there in the story only to die of violent or sad means, all to inspire the protagonist into having character development. Conversely, Arin doesnāt pass the Bechdel test, no, and I wish she did! Regardless, the tragedy is that Arin DOES have agency and uses it to live, not dieāand her sacrifice doesn't inspire or change Cad, because he was hurtling down into the dark all on his own. She chose to end the violence, defy Cad and steal his gun because sheās kinder and wiser than he is, and knows how to let go and move on. She only died after having lived a life she chose, even an offscreen one, Cadās choices be damned. I canāt call it a fridging. I do still wish she had more time to tell us more about who she was, but I suppose fic is here, and Iām just going to have to write something about it sometime.
CAD BANEāS SON
I yelled when he appeared. Jfc what a cute kid. This story also told us Cad was a cute kid too. And the narrative spares neither of them. :(
Iām going to get it out of the way: the only thing, literally the only thing, I am having difficulty accepting about this story is the kidās name. Isaac. What? What?? EXCUSE ME. IS THE BOOK OF GENESIS IN STAR WARS?? Iām going to need ten linguistics and history enthusiasts in my replies immediately so we can figure out what the hell happened culturally with the Duros and Judaism in a galaxy far far away.
BUT I DIGRESS. This kid Isaac looked into my soul with those big eyes and I opened a door in my heart for him and now Iām in hell, so whatever I guess.
I AM IN HELL AHHHHH.
But. The moment when Cad looks in that kidās eyes and knows EXACTLY who the father is was almost startling. Like, he even reaches out for a second. Just a split second. Itās this razor-sharp shard surprise-cutting him inside his moment where he thought he was just wrapping up all the loose ends. All that gloating to Niro about āIāll take care of him like you did Arinā had so little real caring behind it that I doubt it was any kind of real promise.
But itās then that Cad sees. For one of the few times in this story, Cad looks into someone elseās eyes outside of himself, and he properly sees them.
And he reaches out.
But thatās shut down fast. The interfering mayor clearly knows who Isaac comes from, just like Cad knows now. And neither of them say anything about it, but their understanding is clear, and Cad walks away, quietly agreeing, perhaps, that itās the right move to do so. What heās become canāt help this kid in any meaningful way. Heās just made another abandoned orphan like he was, and who knows what kind of life is in store for that child now?
Obviously, later in canon, Cad will have a go at helping another kidās journey, mentoring Boba Fett. I wonder if, perhaps, he did it to try and prove to himself he could, gnawing inwardly over what happened on this day with the son heāll now never know.
After all, he's not very good at letting things go.
THE STORY IN GENERAL
Iām kind of working backwards with my thoughts, from this very specific musing regarding the important relationships to the larger story... I haven't even gotten into Niro! Did you see that moment where Cad was the one to hug him, and he couldn't quite manage to do it back? When the last time they saw each other, he was the one being abandoned? How he faced Cad in person, and so is NEVER the person running away to save himself? I am gently patting this Duros' face. Excellent. But. I am going to have to wrap this up eventually and save any other thoughts for later.
At the end of the day, there was a lot inside this short little visit into Baneās life that really delighted me. The scores of different Duros characters (shoutout to the guy in that giant hat, hahaha. LOVE A DUROS IN A GIANT HAT <3) The love given to the modeling, texturing, and overall craft of this production... all my love to the Star Wars animation team. The small look at the culture in the area Bane lived in as a child. The way he discourages his friend from buying a little toy their hearts clearly want, in favor of that which is practical. That moment when child Bane gets a taste of what money can do, hungry, licking the box clean that held his first real, good meal in a long time. The moment when Niro tries to get him to walk away from Lazloās scheme, and he immediately spins around and agrees itās not worth it unless theyāre paid twice as muchāthe budding negotiator!
Being fast, agile, sliding over the hood of a car as he runs from the cops.
Choosing to save himself, then the instant regret, lack of surety, fearādrowned in his first handful of gold.
The visual of him as an adult seeing his childhood self in the glass before shooting that thought right through the heartā¦ the foreshadowing. Goddamn.
Like, I do have mixed feelings on some level. It was too big a story in too small a space. The first episode was plain excellent, but the latter two suffered from the broad brushstrokes preventing us from being able to get to know some of the new faces introduced, and raised a lot of questions about other thingsātruly, we never get to see what Lazlo comes to mean to young Colby, why he inspired a boy to become so like him. We never see when Colby decides to leave behind his old name and why. We never see where Todo comes from, or why Cad chose Arin to spend his time with. It also doesnāt show the whyās and howās that made Cad Bane the Legend exceptional at what he is.
But it did give us tantalizing tidbits, the smallest pieces of the before-times we can explore more on our own. It showcased that Cad Bane's greatest strength as a bounty hunter, why he's so feared, is the precise fatal flaw that made his life the way it is: the fact that once he has the scent of his goals, heāll never let go, not everāhe'll chase them from one end of the galaxy to the other to settle accounts, inexorable, deadly.
Hi everyone, I'm not dead! Apologies for the social media hiatusāit was actually quite unintentional. For the past 6-7 months, I've been preparing to leave my country while having a whole cartful of other things happening, and it's been QUITE a lot. I have been just excessively tired. Thank you so much for kind messages while I've been away!
Alas, see, I know there's been a big Cad Bane episode drop, so I will simply HAVE to chatter about some stuff, haha. The blorbo compels me!!
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