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you're owen lars. the woman you call mom had another child once. it doesn't make her love you less, but she talks about him in a way that makes it clear that she loved him, too. he's off to be a jedi now and she's very proud.

you're owen lars. your mother's been kidnapped and you have to assume the worst. a man and a woman step into your home and the man announces himself to be that kid who went off to become a jedi. he knows you less than you know him and before anything else can happen, he takes off to bring back his mother, a feat you think is impossible.

you're owen lars. anakin skywalker brings your mom's corpse to your doorstep. her funeral is interrupted by a message of utmost galactic importance.

you're owen lars. your brother is dead. you never saw him again after that first time. there is another jedi on your doorstep, with a baby in his arm and you know what it means and you can't bring yourself to face him as he hands your nephew off to your wife.

you're owen lars. obi-wan ben kenobi is a pain in the ass. he was more your brother's brother than you ever were and he doesn't understand your particular kind of grief, is drowning in his own. you don't even know the full story and kenobi will never tell you all of it. but you have a child to care for so you tell him off and get back to work.

you're owen lars. you didn't know your brother, but you know your nephew and your nephew wants out of this place as soon as possible. you know he won't be safe out there but in the end you're helpless to stop him. and you know the stories, you remember the one time you met him, the days your mother died. and you do this for her and you do this for your father and you do this for your brother and you do this for your nephew.

Like.

Genuinely? The one "twist" I wasn't emotionally prepared for was that Haja was legit, and he really was trying to help, and there really was a massive grassroots shadow-network underground railroad evacuating Jedi survivors and Force-sensitive kids across the galaxy, and he really was part of it.

Because the thing with his whole setup--the magnet tricks, the motion-controlled windows, the cold-reading, the crowd-working kid identifying obvious offworld marks, the "audience plant" stormtrooper playing along over the comm? Yeah, they're cheap tricks, but it's a SOPHISTICATED setup.

This guy is a straight-up conman. He really is every bit the sleazy grifter he appears to be.

That matters. That's important. Haja is not an angel. He's a mid-level fake psychic, callously cashing in on the Jedi's legacy to do, like, bullshit fortune-telling. It's--it's the way you can see this guy's whole backstory in a few minutes of screentime. Because we DO see him identify a Force-sensitive kid....and the escape he offers them is genuine.

So: Haja. And the story we can see in him at a glance.

He's a scam artist! He's dressing in knockoff porn-vid robes, waving his hands, and babbling half-remembered vague tropes before murmuring generic platitudes and sending rubes on their way. The Jedi are dead, right? It's not like they're around to be offended. He's not even really lying, right? He gets people what they want! The Jedi stuff just lets him upcharge! He's just skimming a little, a man's gotta make a living.

And then, one day, someone came to him who'd used all their hope just getting there. Someone with a Force-sensitive child, and the Empire on their heels, stumbled terrified into his little den of cheap tricks, because they'd heard a whisper of a rumor that there was still a Jedi alive on Daiyu.

And in that moment, Haja learned that he was a better person than he'd ever realized.

They must have staked everything on reaching him, and then they found him, and what they found was...Haja. Just some guy in a cheap costume. Just some guy, and not a particularly great one. How much is the bounty on a Force-sensitive youngling? Enough to retire on. Enough to set you up for life. And Haja is just some guy, who had just been slapped in the face with the reality of what he was capable of doing in the next five minutes.

There are moments when you learn who you really are, and sometimes you surprise yourself.

After all that time "acting like a Jedi," when given the opportunity--he chose to act like a Jedi.

That's a wrap!! ✨ As of today, everyone has received their gifts and has hopefully had a chance to read them and thank their mystery writers... so it's time for the big author reveal!

💜 Check out the 2025 Han x Leia Holiday Exchange Collection HERE

We continue to run this challenge every year to offer a creative outlet and a fun, safe distraction to our fellow Han/Leia shippers no matter what else might be going on. So we hope everyone had fun coming up with ideas, getting to know others in the fandom and seeing your stories come to life. Thank you to everyone who participated: our writers, betas, cheerleaders, readers and our generous pinch hitters!

Everyone, please check out the wonderful stories we got this year if you haven't done so yet, and remember to leave kudos and a comment if you liked them!

Writers, you’re welcome to promote your fics and repost them anywhere you want now!

If you haven’t done so yet, please remember to read your gift and leave a comment thanking your writer!

Without further ado...

The masterlist

a glass poured written by @ahsokatanoss for @diplomaticprincess

All mixed up written by @walkawaytall for @barelydaisy

A mission to remember written by @nocturnalgremlingiant for @phoenix-downer

And you're a disaster written by @joybirdsworks for @cowboylikesolo

At rest written by @bookishbrigitta for @nocturnalgremlingiant

at the edge of my consciousness is where the grass grows written by @soloorganaas for @swappingsongswithswallows

By anonymous written by @diplomaticprincess for @dreaming-of-epiphanies

don't go (i'm holding onto you) written by @snipsnipsnippy for @joybirdsworks

every day I add another stone to the walls I built around you written by @otterandterrierwrites for @walkawaytall

Eyes shut, hair unbound written by @kintsu-tai for @snipsnipsnippy

Future Days written by @maggzblair for @kintsu-tai

Gambler's Fallacy written by @dreaming-of-epiphanies for @ahsokatanoss

More like resting than running written by @lajulie24 for @otterandterrierwrites

Rebel intelligence written by @lajulie24 for @soloorganaas

Showing our hands written by @phoenix-downer for @lajulie24

to face unafraid the plans that we've made written by @bb8mangoes for @bookishbrigitta

Parable of the Polygons - an interactive experiment that shows how tiny individual biases can collectively cause segregation on a massive scale.

To Build a Better Ballot - an interactive experiment that shows the alternatives to the voting systems we currently use and how they can be more representative and democratic, along with their faults.

Coming Out Simulator - a short interactive story/novel about coming out, based off of Case’s own experiences. Not one I’ve played myself but still one I can recommend.

Loopy - a very simple but useful tool to show how systems interact with each other and how things can self-propagate.

Thanks for the compliments!

Frankly, there are a lot of characters that either assume Leia and Obi-Wan are in a relationship, or that they could be. Padmé and the handmaidens aren't just joking when they tease Leia. Cody is worried about Obi-Wan because he knows how much Obi-Wan cares about and for Leia, and that he finds her attractive. Darsana and Shea have noticed. Anakin has technically noticed and is deliberately ignoring it. Shmi definitely knows, but also knows Leia will have a hard time acting on any feelings if they grow, because Trauma. It's gotten back to Palpatine, but he hasn't caught anything more substantial than rumors. Bail's noticed, so Breha knows at this point. Several members of the Council know and some other Jedi that have seen the two of them together. Jar Jar knows. It's not a secret.

So often, I seem to see people angry that a story in a video game didn't present a Good Option with no collateral damage and no negative outcomes whatsoever, and if there are any downsides it's seen as the writers punishing you for the decision, because they see the primary purpose of stories to be moralizing rather than exploring the complexities of human experience. Or they argue that the collateral damage didn't really happen, or that the negative outcomes weren't really that bad actually, and thus miss the point altogether.

Vader kills Tarkin, hijacks the Death Star, and blows up Nal Hutta and Nar Shadda