extra notes on the bad au:
in the canon post order 66 stuff, bug wants to split up, because they believe that having three jedi together will only bring them trouble. (which.. they’re not wrong about.) you can see that a bit in this comic
it’s amera and tomilan both saying “no, we need to stay together” that convinces bug to stay. once amera leaves bug can’t justify their own presence putting tomilan in danger, and leaves as well.
GREAT QUESTION! i don’t know the answer. or rather, i do, but id rather not think about it.
i am a terrible writer because i’m awful at putting my carachters in pain. when i think of the bad au, honestly, my mind skips over lyra. she’s not mentioned in anything i’ve written for it.
in actuality, if i was properly writing this and i was FORCED to acknowledge lyra’s existence… i can think of a few outcomes.
she’d probably be hanging out with tomilan. (now that i think about it. this blog IS stream of consciousness oopsies) tomilan would be unwilling to leave her for a whole variety of reasons. (this isn’t what i have written, because as i stated.. i’m terrible at thinking about this stuff.)
however this Is a bad au… so yeah lyra’s dead. actions have consequences and all that jazz.
there are a few things to note about this-
the driving forces of this au is amera’s guilt (over her andromache’s death, her suvivor’s guilt, her guilt of ever putting tomilan in danger) and her selfishness (she’s tends to focus on absolving herself of Possible guilt) and these both result in her running away from her problems, and of course Literally running away here.
because of her reasoning for leaving (not putting others in danger) she would Not bring Lyra with her in this au. i Love making alternate au versions, but i try to draw the line at things being “out of carachter” or just lacking solid in universe motivation.
(lyra, in canon and in lots of aus (most notably the modern au and the marvel au) is one of the few things that amera is ACTIVELY selfless about. lyra is her daughter, and amera would do anything for her without hesitation. what changes in the Bad au is a) amera leaves almos immediately post order 66, and hasn’t formed that connection with her yet, and more importantly b) amera also leaves tomilan. tomilan, while amera still struggles with selfishness, is another person that makes amera self-sacrificing (not quite selfless, yet.) amera leaves tomilan, and this is the bigger issue at this point, and thus has no issue leaving lyra.)
this leaves us with tomilan and lyra. (as bug is gone)
the timeline of this has amera leaving while tomilan is at her mothers’ house.
the bad au is about amera leaning into her bad habits, of running away and being selfish.
and while leaving tomilan with no one, when amera knows she has major abandonment issues, and not saying goodbye, probably wasn’t the Best move.. it was justifiable! tomilan, by all rights, iS safer in a post order 66 galaxy without a jedi girlfriend! it could be very easily considered a selfless move!!!
so now tomilan, who has been a passive carachter in being left by amera and bug, has a choice! leave lyra with her mothers for a life of the stability she was always craving, or take lyra with her as she continues to move around and fight the empire.
so of course tomilan, Abandonment Issues Central, takes the kid with her! tomilan was left behind by Everyone in her life, including the people she now has the option of leaving a child with. of course she’s not going to leave that kid too!!
was this the Wrong choice? no! tomilan was giving a child unconditional love, and someone who would stick by them no matter what! something she never had! what it wAs, however, was tomilan leaning into Her Own bad habits, which are handling everything by herself and refusing help.
so yeah. lyra dies in this au. it’s very important to me that NO ONE blames tomilan for this? this isn’t a question of tomilans competence aT ALL and i want to make that clear. tomilan was a passive carachter until she was forced into a position, and lyra wouldn’t survive with toms moms either. this is more of a “prim always dies in the hunger games, because that’s the whole point”. lyra dies because it’s war, because there’s nothing anyone can do. because a few decisions back people started leaning into their bad habits. the gang is stronger together than apart, and by sticking together they found their one (1) happy ending.