Introduction to my Infected Tenoo/YJA AU
Hello there!
This AU is dedicated to my twin sister. Without her (and her insistence that I should give Young Jedi Adventures a chance), none of this would have existed.
It was around two years ago when my twin sister asked me to give Young Jedi Adventures a chance by watching a Season One episode of my choice. At this moment in time, I had my reservations about The High Republic; I had read mediocre to negative reviews of the books and I was skeptical of this new era. Plus, YJA was a preschooler show. But, my sister compared YJA to Bluey: even though the shows were aimed at a younger audience, I needed to ease myself in by watching a few episodes, then I would enjoy it. I relented. From reading THR character bios, my sister knew I was most intrigued by the character of Bell Zettifar since he owned a charhound (and the best girl) named Ember. So, my very first YJA episode I watched was Charhound Chase.
My first impression of the episode was it was…alright. It was nothing special and it wasn’t Bluey, but it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed Bell and Ember and that was it. I think my sister sensed my reluctance in continuing YJA because we didn’t watch another episode after that.
Fast forward a year. My sister, still invested in The High Republic, was talking to me about a plotpoint in a THR middle-grade book titled Beware the Nameless. With excitement, she told me that a Nameless egg was almost transported to Tenoo- the planet where YJA took place. She also described to me the terrifying effects of the Nameless. Her descriptions somewhat reminded me of Infection AUs which were gaining popularity. No one is going to create a YJA Infection AU, I thought. It’s a unique idea and imagine those younglings dealing with the Nameless, ha. At that time, the idea amounted to nothing.
Spring 2025. My sister and I were discussing which T.V. show we should watch together next. Ever persistent (and incessant), she added YJA as an option. I can’t remember exactly why, but I begrudgingly agreed to give YJA a second chance on the condition that we watch it only when I felt like it, and that was enough for her.
It started slow- an episode per week. But despite it being a preschooler show, I discovered that I was enjoying myself. Taborr was my favorite character from episode one as I theorized about his emo backstory. As someone who is passionate about wildlife conservation, I connected with Lys and to some extent Nubs. I adored Tenoo as a planet. And I was pleasantly surprised by the show’s themes and the care behind them: empathy, compassion, respect for nature, how to handle fear in a healthy/positive manner, sometimes the concept of good and bad/right or wrong may be complex, and individuals themselves are complicated.
Summer 2025. My sister and I flew through YJA Season 2- an episode or two per night. And YJA became more than just a preschooler show to me, it was something my sister and I bonded over. Having watched both seasons before me, my sister got to witness all of my reactions: my shout of surprise at the Taborr-Cyrus reveal, my initial five-second dislike of Wes Vinik, my gushing about Raxlo’s character arc, my rage for Toda Joh, my excitement for how accurately Batuu and Black Spire Outpost were portrayed (and Celesta Kami), and my tear-filled eyes at the ending of Unmasked (karabast).
We finished Season 2 at the end of June and now are (impatiently) waiting for Season 3.
During July and August, I was struggling with worldbuilding and plot logistics for my original series’ kingdom. The worldbuilding dilemmas were specifically related to nature. In addition, I knew my sister had an oc from The High Republic era and I thought it would be fun if I created my own High Republic oc to roleplay with hers. Believing I might benefit from taking a break from working on my original series, I remembered my inkling of an idea for a YJA Infection AU. With a new investment in the series, I returned to the AU just to let my imagination run wild.
But like a seed, the AU grew and grew and grew.
Over the last two months, I roughly plotted two novels, two seasons, and a fun Disney World spinoff. And of course, my twin sister was my sounding board, patiently listening to all my rambles, ideas, and headcanons. After commissioning artwork from the amazing stealingpotatoes of my High Republic/YJA oc who is a protagonist alongside the YJA cast, I decided I wanted to share my AU with fellow fans.
So, here is my Infected Tenoo/YJA AU. I really hope you enjoy it! For light and life & may the Force be with you! 💫
Additional Caveats
Although I have created Star Wars AUs before (I created/outlined/somewhat wrote a Star Wars Resistance AU spanning five books, many novellas, and AUs of original AU. Even though it is far from perfect, I’m still very proud of the story and I may post about it periodically), my YJA AU is the first one that I’m sharing with the public. So, please excuse my nervousness and self-consciousness.😅
Sarracenia Sabrewing (Sarra- she/her/hers) is my High Republic/YJA oc who is one of the protagonists in this AU (there are other ocs- like Sarra’s family- but she’s the primary one). Please feel free to ask any questions about Sarra and depending on what I’m willing to disclose/spoil, she or I will answer.
As mentioned in the Introduction, although my YJA AU has been occupying my imagination for two/three months, this AU is a secondary project. As an aspiring author who hopes to be traditionally published someday, my original series is my primary, long-term writing project. Thus, my posts/posting schedule may reflect this. I’m also a senior attending university, so there may be periods of inactivity.
For the life of me, I can not draw. In addition, whatever writing time I have I often devote it to working on my original series. So, there are two storytelling formats through which I’m hoping to share my YJA AU.
When I need to freewrite or I encounter writer’s block, I often turn to my YJA AU and write a random scene- dialogue, description, lightsaber duels, etc. (I’ve written a scene from Arc #1 Book #2 without writing a scene from Book #1 yet, lol!) I’m planning to share some of these writings but I want to emphasize that it will not be my best writing and I apologize in advance. The main goal of these scenes is to get as many words on paper that I can.
Through writing short posts about character headcanons and answering questions from the Askbox. So, the more questions there are, the more of the AU can be revealed… (but if there are any other means through which you want to learn about my AU, please let me know! 🙂)
I just want to reiterate that my YJA story is an AU. It is set during 230 BBY- 229 BBY after the fall of Starlight Beacon. One aspect which makes my story an AU is the presence of Bell Zettifar. Canonically, Bell can’t be present on Tenoo during that year, but in my AU he is because I had to include him since he was the character who drew me into The High Republic. I also took creative liberties with the AU’s primary antagonists (more details later).
Technically, my YJA AU is not an Infection AU (at least from my perspective). However, the heroes still have to confront a Nameless-related threat (again, more details later)
I also want to emphasize that my YJA AU is still a work-in-progress. There may be contradictions/retcons, questions which I don’t know the answer to, or storylines and characters that haven’t been fully fleshed out (looking at Cyrus’ and Inaya’s). I apologize in advance for the inconsistencies and confusion.
Watching Young Jedi Adventures has actually been my only exposure to The High Republic. I haven’t read the books or comics (and I may or may not in the future). But, I have read countless Wookieepedia articles and I have asked my twin sister for all of her THR knowledge. If there is any vital information you believe my AU may benefit from, please feel free to let me know. However, depending on how the information alters my AU, I may or may not incorporate it into my story.
Spoiler Alert: No one dies in my Infected Tenoo/YJA AU. Hooray! 🎉 But unlike the show, my AU is not geared to a preschooler/younger audience. My original series which I’m writing is aimed towards an older middle-grade/young adult audience, and this YJA AU is reflective of that as well. Granted, the main characters are older: in 230 BBY, the youngling trio is around 12 years old, Wes and Celesta are around 17/18 years old, and Bell is around 20 years old. However, all of the cast experiences intense situations, and Sellaccc and the Gangals are more vicious, cruel, and ambitious in my AU. The worst scenario is a character (not one of the younglings) being experimented on by Phase III’s primary scientist. But that occurs in Arc #2 (and I don’t know if I’ll ever talk about Arc #2). For Arc #1, the worst scenario is a character is shot non-fatally in the side by a blaster. But, characters are injured, captured/abducted and imprisoned, and confront the Nameless-related threat head-on. In addition, heavier themes which are tackled include fear, mental health, trauma, grief, the loss of loved ones, justice versus revenge, betrayal, and the manipulation of others. As a person who is easily squeamish, I will avoid unnecessary graphic details and I will place trigger warnings before any of these themes if I discuss them.
But, light, life, hope, and love will always triumph in the end.
If at any time my YJA AU becomes too dark, I do have a hopeful spinoff of this AU. Inspired by the fact that Celesta lives at Galaxy’s Edge/Batuu and Black Spire Outpost and my experiences at Disney parks, there is an AU where all the main characters/Team Tenoo visit Disney World! And chronologically, Team Tenoo’s Disney vacation occurs after both arcs of the AU with minimal spoilers. Any posts about this Disney World AU will be tagged with #YJA Disney World AU. (And feel free to ask questions about this spinoff as well!)
If you have read all additional points, thank you so much! May the Force be with you!✨
