As we approach the end of Wargames, it's time for dueling WIPs time again: this time between Love after Stardust (M) and Now that I've Lost Everything to You (E).
I am wrong every time I try to predict which one I'm going to start posting next but I'll guess.............. Now that I've Lost Everything to You? Tentatively? 😅
The main thing holding me up on that fic was not being able to decide on an ending: Thranto? Thrasseli? Poly Thranto-Squared? ABJECT TRAGEDY??
But yesterday I realized... I can have multiple alternative endings. 😱
I've already posted a bunch on Love after Stardust and I can't remember which bits of NtILEtY (I need a better abbreviation halp) I've already posted so this might be redundant 🤷♂️
Summary: After Thrawn is killed during the Battle for Lothal and Ronan is caught attempting to subvert the CDF, the political situation in the Ascendancy reaches a tipping point. Non-Chiss are banned from military service and Eli—an Imperial deserter—is left without protection… until Thrass fulfills his pact to protect his brother’s friend by offering him a marriage of convenience.
After three years of grieving the man he loved in secret, Eli finally begins to settle into his new life with the husband he never expected, but has come to care for all the same.
But Thrawn won’t even let his presumed death stop him from upending Eli’s life once more.
Or his brother’s.
(Smut-adjacent) Preview
Their wedding, like Thrawn’s funeral, had been perfunctory.
Only what was legally required had been conducted.
Tradition dictated a large ceremony.
But Eli wasn’t Chiss and this was as far from traditional as one could get. Ar’alani and another member of the Mitth family Eli did not know had served as witnesses to the bonding. The woman who’d conducted the ceremony hardly looked either member of the couple at all as she read out the traditional text, only clearing her throat to remind Eli when he was expected to speak to make the ceremony legally binding.
At least, partially.
The consummation, Eli had learned, was legally required. He’d begun to read into the history of why this was the case, but Cheunh legalese was about ten times as complicated as the more simplified language preferred by the military, and it made his eyes water with the strain of reading the more complex (and intricately tiny) characters. His main worry was that there’d be some mechanism by which to confirm this union, but from what little he’d been able to glean, it was a matter largely taken on faith in the couple’s unwillingness to lie on a form.
Honestly, Eli didn’t know how he’d feel about it. Thrass was certainly attractive (arguably, even more so than his younger brother). His features were somewhat more delicate—beautiful. He had the same strong jaw as his brother, but his eyes were softer. He didn’t carry himself with the confident stride of a warrior-prince, but the casual elegance of a dancer.
But, after the ceremony, Thrass had taken Eli to the manor where he would now live, gave him a tour, told him that this was his home now and to treat it accordingly.
Eli didn't know if it was a Chiss cultural convention, or Thrass’s mindfulness, but Eli had been given his own suite in Mitth manor: his own generous bedroom, parlor, and something between a large office and a small library.
Thrass never crossed into the South Wing. That was Eli’s space.
He never touched Eli, except for the occasional hand on his shoulder in public--a declaration and a reminder just who this human was: and who would be coming for his would-be attackers.
Thrass loved him in his own way, Eli supposed. He was gentle, kind, and attentive… when he was home and not off dealing with the cataclysm erupting at the House Palace. He often asked after Eli’s wellbeing, asked if there was anything he could do or obtain to make Eli’s stay in the manor he was forbidden to leave without supervision more endurable.
Two months into their marriage, Eli was starting to think Thrass had no interest in ever consummating their relationship—perhaps he’d been intending to lie to the House of Names upon registering their “confirmed” union.
But when he placed a tentative kiss on Thrass’s throat; the shiver he felt might have been one of disgust, but there was no mistaking the satisfied hum he made when Eli scraped his teeth along the column of his blue neck. Nor the satisfied breath, shaky and slow he let out when Eli threaded his fingers in blue-black hair.
Just a little longer than Thrawn’s.
Eli shoved down the guilt he knew he had no reason to feel before lifting his head to look his husband in his glowing, red eyes.
He could have sworn he saw his own guilt reflected back at him.
Thrass, at least, had no reason to feel guilty.
And Eli was determined to make sure he knew it.
He leant forward, his lips barely ghosting Thrass’s, urging him to be the one to close that distance.
And Thrass did.
The kiss began as tender, exploring—almost apologetic. But soon the hands that had remained determinedly at Thrass’s side moved to Eli’s waist instead, gripping him hard and holding him closer as they learned this new way of being together
Bonus note from Whale: I've been pretty burnt out on Thranto for a while and it's been harder and harder to write this pairing bc reasons. Here's to hoping writing about Eli fucking Thrass while Thrawn watches kick-starts Whale-Brian🧠
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“It’s been over a year,” Eli said. He suspected he didn’t need to tell Thrass what he meant, and this was confirmed when he observed the corners of his husband’s mouth tighten ever-so-slightly. Which meant Thrass knew what Eli was about to ask—and Eli knew the answer. Still, he decided to let this play out.
He didn’t have much else to do.
“Could we not do something here to honor that?” Thrass asked.
“We could—and we should,” Eli agreed. “But I still want to visit him.”
Thrass let out a barely-audible exhale. “He’s not there, Theli.”
“I know his body isn’t there, Thrass,” Eli said tightly. “And even if it were, I’d realize that’s not really him, that’s not the point.”
“And do you wish specifically to visit his grave site, or is this symptomatic of your desire to leave?”
“It can’t be both?”
Thrass looked down at his cup of tea, clearly resisting the urge to sigh.
“What is it?” Eli asked, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not telling me something.”
Thrass looked up with a faintly pleading look. “It’s… complicated.”
“Is it specifically complicated, or is this symptomatic of your desire to keep information from me?”
Thrass huffed a hollow laugh at that. “Very well, point taken. My brother’s actions were not popular, and in light of Brierly’ro’nan’s actions, even less so. As a result it is not uncommon for…”
“For what?” Eli pressed.
“For his gravesite to be vandalized,” Thrass said. “I have already had to have the stone replaced three times.”
“What?”
“In fact, while I am certain Thrawn would have preferred to be memorialized alongside his comrades in the CDF memorial park, I have been wondering if I shouldn’t have his grave moved here. To the Mitth grounds,” Thrass admitted, stirring honey into his tea. He looked up to see Eli’s expression of horror, and then seemed to give up on the idea of tea all together, dropping his spoon to the table with a metallic clatter.
Eli felt his skin flush. “Just how long has this been going on exactly?” he demanded.
“Well,” Thrass said with a definite sag to his shoulders, “since about... six hours after his funeral.”
“I can’t believe you would keep this from me,” Eli snapped, pushing back his chair with a scrape of wood against wood.
“Theli, it is not always the case that when I don’t speak of something I am trying to keep it from you,” Thrass said, his voice infuriatingly level. "Sometimes these things are simply… hard for me to speak of at all. He was my baby br—” Thrass bit off the sentence, like a desperate animal biting off a wounded limb—something that might infect him if allowed to linger. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and sniffed, casting Eli one last tired look before standing from the table himself.
Eli stepped off the shuttle to find Thrass waiting for him outside in a dark burgundy snowspeeder, still wearing mourning white.
“I received one last correspondence from my brother before we lost contact,” Thrass told him once the snowspeeeder began to move. His mouth twisted into a wry smile and he glanced out the window. “One almost always gets the impression he’s far more prescient about these matters than he lets on… in retrospect, at least.”
Eli didn’t comment, and Thrass didn’t seem to expect him to, for which he was grateful. Part of him wondered just how the man was taking his brother’s death with such apparent grace, but the rest of him figured Thrass must have been mourning in his own way for years before now.
“How long’ll you be gone this time?” Eli asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.
Thrass, however, wasn’t fooled. He did not respond for a full minute, only continued to play alongside Eli. At last, he asked carefully, “Do you want me to stay?”
“Yes,” Eli said, tilting his head to let it rest on Thrass’s shoulder. “But I understand that—“
“—Then,” Thrass cut him off, “at least this once, I will stay.” He tilted his own his head to rest atop his husband’s as they continued to play.
"It'll look even better with blood on it" (Tarkin)
You Wear Fine Things Well, part II 🖋️(OFMD🏴☠️)
Blood and Fools ♟
Pierced (Lesser Evil)🦌
Wargames Finale! 🚀
Graduation Present (Book of Dayja)⌚️
Fraternizing in the Nude chapter 2🔥
I mostly post updates on my fanfiction (tagged with the title/ship), meta-fanfiction bits and bobs, and Star Wars fandom shenanigans (mostly Thrawn).
Here are some of the WIPs I am most focused on atm:
1. "Good Day, Lieutenant Vanto": The Series (GDLV)
Thranto crack-adjacent vaguely-Shakespearean rom-com featuring Alive!Thrass because I can. In progress at the moment are the sixth and seventh (and final?) works: Book of Un'hee and The Incident™️
2. Promises You'll Only Make: also a series (Promises) - in progress - rated E
A Kallus-centric series that is too big and probably merits future-me travelling back in time to stop me from ever doing it. Navigates an Imperial task force of ships: Kallivant, Thranto, Kandor, Daylus, Kalluzeb, and more still-secret ships because the Ao3 Emperor has, frankly, given me ⚡️too much creative power⚡️. Accompanying pieces from alternate POVs (Thrawn, Dayja, Yularen, Eli), and AUs also in progress. The sequel--The Stars Did Wander Darkling--is currently in the works as well.
This ask has a list of posted Ancillary Fic 🙌
3. Love After Stardust: A Ronbi Tale (M)
Yet to go live, but heartily underway. Basically Jane Austen in Space featuring Thranto and Ronbi and *secret ships*. Sometimes I just gotta Regency Rom-com, ya know?
4. “With These Will I Go” (Thrawn & Thrass; Thranto - Rated T)
A haunting AU loosely inspired by Peter S. Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place. Thrass uses Starflash to end the Vagaari threat with explosive and unintended results. Unsurprisingly, he’s dead. More surprisingly, he’s still here. And for some reason, Thrawn can still see him. But Thrass’s destiny was hitched to Thrawn’s when he was alive, why should now be any different?
5. HYDRA (Thranto Emperor Thrawn AU - Rated E)
It’s been two years now since my world collapsed aboard the Sempre. Two years since the tin toy Empire I’d built in my mind fell apart and revealed the sickness beneath. The grown-up truth of it all.
I told Thrawn then I wasn’t entirely comfortable knowing the Empire was using slaves. But the moment we were behind closed doors he learned just how much of an understatement that had been.
I screamed. I cried. I ripped my hair out and told him I never wanted to be touched by anyone again, let alone him: an Imperial officer. A complicit officer. We were all complicit, of course—always had been. It was my first time waking up into a nightmare. And I haven’t been able to sleep soundly since.
Thrawn surprised me, though. Always does. He gave me two choices:
Start learning Cheunh—the language of the Chiss. Leave him and the Empire behind to serve a more honorable people.
Or, stay with him. Fight for a perfect Empire.
As the man Thrawn trusted to hold his words in my hands, I should have realized what Thrawn had meant when he said ‘perfect.’ Not ‘better.’ Not ‘good.’ But perfect. Perfect in the way a victory could be perfect.
Or destruction.
And it is perfect. So beautifully, monstrously perfect.
I hold it here now… in my hands.
6. Now that I've Lost Everything to You (E)
Also yet to go live but I remembered past-Whale had already written a lot for it. I work on it when I'm feeling extra angsty.
Summary: After Thrawn is killed during the Battle for Lothal and Ronan is caught attempting to subvert the CDF, the political situation in the Ascendancy reaches a tipping point. Non-Chiss are banned from military service and Eli—an Imperial deserter—is left without protection… until Thrass fulfills his pact to protect his brother’s friend by offering him a marriage of convenience.
After three years of grieving the man he loved in secret, Eli finally begins to settle into his new life with the husband he never expected, but has come to care for all the same.
But Thrawn won’t even let his presumed death stop him from upending Eli’s life once more.
Or his brother’s.
7. From Coruscant with Love (E)
An alternate universe in which Eli Vanto really was a Neimoidian spy. Little does Eli know, he’s not the only spy in the Imperial Navy. The not-at-all-clichéd story of a spy falling for their mark.
8. Savant (E)
(My oldest Thranto WIP featuring Thranto and Savanto)
Thrawn’s rapid climbing of the ranks comes at a price: whatever relationship he might have had with Eli. But, as Eli’s self esteem dwindles, Eli finds himself irresistibly drawn to another admiral who recognizes the savant for his talents: and tells him so.
Unfortunately, that’s not all Savit recognizes.
The story of how Thrawn learned to see battles in the music.
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When you see this share three random lines from three WIPs. Thanks for sharing, @chaos-monkeyy!
1. Now that I've Lost Everything to You
Thrass glanced once more at the feebly smoking pan, then turned back to Eli. "There's so many numbers in cooking, dear, I really thought you'd be better at this."
"Cute."
2. Untitled Thranto Neimoidian Spy AU that I started almost two years ago and completely forgot about but now that I look back at it actually tickles my fancy again
Even if Thrawn rejected him, the Chiss would be flustered—distracted. Too distracted to notice the bite of poison beneath the panic and shame of an unwanted advance.
3. Promises: Book of Dayja
The man dragged his fingers along his left arm, tracing the black swan from wrist to shoulder. Dayja could feel his breath hot against his own ear as he whispered, “Love the tattoo.”
I was cavorting about, trying to find a grocery store with distilled water in stock, and as I was waiting in an epic line wondered to myself what "Good Day, Lieutenant Vanto" would have been like as more tragedy than comedy. So now a new WIP has been born: "Now that I've Lost Everything to You." In lieu of an excerpt, here is the summary (as it is):
After Thrawn is killed during the Battle for Lothal and Ronan is caught attempting to subvert the CDF, the political situation in the Ascendancy reaches a tipping point. Non-Chiss are banned from military service and Eli—an Imperial deserter—is left without protection… until Thrass fulfills his pact to protect his brother’s translator by offering him a marriage of convenience. After three years of grieving the man he loved in secret, Eli finally begins to settle into his new life with the husband he never expected, but has come to care for all the same. But Thrawn won’t even let his presumed death stop him from upending Eli’s life once more... Or his brother’s.
Spoiler: Thrawn's not dead
For Sixish Sentence Sunday, have another glimpse of the double-Thranto that no one will read because it's too sad: "Now That I've Lost Everything to You"
