pronouns: i can bring you in warm/i can bring you in cold

Zam Wesell - Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones (2002)

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones-themed variant covers for December 2022

Star Wars: Zam Wesell

The Prime Override - Chapter 61 is up!

Jango - He's Jango Fett

I wasn't going to update tonight BUT THEN I realized that today's this fic's second birthday! So here's a 2 Year Anniversary Update!

This chapter: “I definitely deserve that one,” Jango agrees.

Warnings: Mild violence between friends who are used to it.

“What did you do to him?!” Zam snarls, loud enough in Jango’s ear that his attention shifts back to her. The vibroblade presses closer. Jango supposes that to an outside observer, it does seem like he’s attacked their leader. And in a way, he kind of has—or at least, one of his mental tag-alongs has.

> > Read Ch 61 on AO3

I really wish Disney would go into Jango's new canon backstory.

Not cause I want Disney to handle it. But TCW retconned what Legends canon we had and Disney un-retconned a bit of it and reaffirmed the rest.

So we are in new territory. And we know Jango was 'friends' with Hondo Ohnaka, Aurra Sing, Bossk, Zam Wessel, and Cad Bane.

That is like... the Insufferable Bastard squad to end all Insufferable Bastard squads.

It was Zam who first mentioned that Boba should read, even though she herself didn't read much. "Want adventure? Read books," Zam said. "Then when you get tired of the excitement, you can close the book. Better than real life."

Boba's father didn't read much. "Books? A waste of time," he said. "Read maps, Boba. Instructions. Warnings. Important stuff."

Boba read all that - but he liked books better. Especially books about droids and starships, stuff he knew he could use someday.

Sometimes Boba thought Zam had told him to read books just because his dad thought it was a waste of time. Zam liked to tease Jango.

(Source: Boba Fett Book 1: The Fight to Survive by Terry Bisson)

Oh, the wise one of the wise ones!

First of all, I want to say, that I hope you're feeling better now (you wrote, that you are worring over earthsquakes in your recent post).

It's nice to see, that you too consider Zam a literall gem among sw characters! I have three questions for you, if you don't mind :) :

Is there any more about her daughter? Beyond her name (was it Sone?)? Is she changeling too?

That's a complex question - do you think she would be proud of adult Boba (in canon/legends, doesn't matter)? What would she think of him?

What were her "deeper feelings" about Jango? By that I mean who did she really consider him? A friend? Partner in crime? Is there any part with her Pov. about him?

PS: It's my first time sending an ask, hope you are honored!

hello hello! :D thank you for your kind words and fun questions about one of my fave star wars characters; i'll do my best to answer!

sadly, if there is any more existing information about sone wesell, i haven't found it. sone was actually "introduced" not as a fully-fledged character, but as a footnote in a source book for wizards of the coast's star wars roleplaying game. it seems likely to me that descriptions of her were intentionally vague so that GMs could more easily fit her into their campaigns if they chose to feature her as an NPC. that said, given that both zam and sone's father are said to be clawdites, it is likely that sone would have been born with at least the capacity to shapeshift!

i'll be honest: i've totally imagined the conversation that would happen between zam and a grown-up boba should they ever meet. (my favorite daydream scenario is that there's a malfunctioning inter-dimensional portal that intermittently spits out people/characters from various points in canon into a massive space-station-city where they all then have to reconfigure how they relate to each other and rebuild their lives, but uh, anyway.) personally, i think that if zam met any version of (legends) boba over the age of 18, she'd just be really sad for him. for one, she's known boba since he was just 5 years old or so, so i think there'd be some inevitable sadness in finding out how much he'd suffered after her death. there's also just the shock of seeing how much that suffering transformed him, how this sweet, funny kid who loved animals and bad jokes and novels about friends going on adventures became a man whose life is so devoid of joy, connection, or compassion that his kneejerk response to genuine kindness is hostility or aversion. zam might be a bounty hunter as well, but she never lost her sense of playfulness, expressiveness, or affection, so i think it would hurt her to see boba take that path. that said, if she met boba much later in the timeline (like, post-yuuzhan vong), i think she'd feel some hope and relief seeing him starting to try for connection again!

we do actually get some of zam's PoV as it regards jango in the novel the shapeshifter strikes! i think it's pretty clear that their relationship went beyond being simply partners-in-crime (jango trusted zam to basically babysit boba, for crying out loud) and they have flirty banter in virtually every piece of media they appear together in. boba himself refers to zam as jango's friend and even considers if she might be his mom at one point (though he ultimately comes to the conclusion that this is impossible bc he's read in books that moms don't shapeshift). zam herself definitely enjoys jango's company and especially flirting with and teasing him. that said, even she is occasionally shocked or disturbed by jango's more callous moments, such as when he's willing to let a terrorist group target millions of civilians on coruscant, or when he uses a cloned child's body to throw other bounty hunters off boba's scent. my personal reading of their relationship is that she genuinely really likes and is even attracted to jango, not least because of the risk he presents (she is a thrill-seeker after all), but that she ultimately trusts him not to do anything to really hurt her. and honestly, not unreasonably! we see from their dark horse comic series that even when they're working as rivals, they do try and look out for each other and keep the other from any serious harm. so, in that sense, she misjudged him; she thought that being his friend and having this history with him would save her from being expendable in his eyes. in the shapeshifter strikes, zam even asks jango if he'd ever really kill her and when he answers quite honestly, "only if i had to," she laughs it off with a quip ("you say the sweetest things!"). so, in sum, i'd describe zam's "deeper feelings" for jango being genuine friendship, affection, and even attraction, along with an unfortunate overestimation of just how indispensable she was as his only friend. which isn't to say that she wasn't truly his friend—we get multiple indications that jango did genuinely care about her—but ultimately, that wouldn't prevent him from sacrificing her once he deemed it necessary.

Discuss!

It’s okay to have an unpopular opinion, just be honest.

I am once again in absolute tears because the FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES of the Coruscant speeder chase has more going on that you can possibly take in on one view, like I have seen this scene many times, I can quote the dialogue right along with them, but the details that go along with that are the funniest thing you could ask for, “What took you so long!?” “Oh, you know, Master, I couldn’t find a speeder I really liked.” we all remember those lines, we can all quote huge chunks of this movie verbatim, I settled in for a fun time with my asshole cat faves, but then Obi-Wan points Zam out, “There he is.” but Anakin keeps going with the bit like he hasn’t even heard Obi-Wan say anything, “--with the open cockpit and the right speed capabilities--” and we all remember that Anakin literally jumped into that speeder in 0.5 seconds after Obi-Wan went out the window, he absolutely did not take extra time to find the right one, he is doing a bit because he thinks it’s funny, and Obi-Wan fucking knows it, “If you spent as long practicing your saber techniques as you do your wit--” it is at this point that Anakin guns the motor and they’re both plastered back against the seats and it’s hard to talk over the rushing chase and the intense staring to see where their bounty hunter goes, but Obi-Wan is 100% dedicated to still giving this banter-lecture, he doesn’t fucking stop, “--you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman.” and Anakin’s got a rejoinder immediately ready, “I thought I already did.” and “Only in your mind, my very young apprentice.” and I cannot stress enough that they have DEAD SERIOUS GAME FACES ON THIS ENTIRE TIME, if you had the sound off, you’d think they were having a very intense discussion about the car they’re chasing, NOPE, THEY’RE ARGUING ABOUT WHO IS THE BIGGER ANNOYANCE THE ENTIRE TIME (boys, boys, BOTH OF YOU are the most annoying, I promise), and then we see Zam skirting the side of a building’s roof and Anakin absolutely could drive off to the side but this idiot, Anakin Skywalker saw his chance and he chose violence, because Zam’s speeder is well off to the side of all this, but Anakin dives STRAIGHT DOWN IN A NOSE DIVE RIGHT AT THE BUILDING’S ROOF and Obi-Wan lets this go on for, I shit you not, a solid twenty seconds in movie time which is probably like five times that in-universe, before he finally says “Pull up, Anakin. Pull up!” but the thing is, up to this point, Anakin’s face has been very On Point Game Face he is SO SERIOUS like he is staring death lasers out of his eyes, but the second he sees that roof, ANAKIN IMMEDIATELY STARTS LAUGHING, HE STARTED LAUGHING BEFORE OBI-WAN SAID A SINGLE WORD, that little shit saw an opportunity and was like “I’m about to be hilarious” because he knows Obi-Wan hates it, HE DID IT ON PURPOSE FOR NO REASON IT DIDN’T HELP THE CHASE HE JUST THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY (it really, really was) and this chase has now hit the FIFTY SECOND MARK AM I AM IN TEARS ALREADY, it hasn’t even been a full minute and this is their love language, especially when Obi-Wan is all, “You know I don’t like it when you do that.” “Sorry, Master. I forgot you don’t like flying.” “I don’t mind flying, but what you’re doing is suicide!” BECAUSE THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED??? ANAKIN DOES THIS REGULARLY??? Obi-Wan deserves sainthood for putting up with this, no wait DOUBLE SAINTHOOD because THEN they go through the Industrial Sector, Zam shoots out the power coupling, Anakin apparently DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO DODGE so he flies them right through it and they get electrocuted, which is just not going to end well if they keep doing this, so Anakin decides to take a different route and zips off the other other, “Where are you going? He went that way.” and Anakin Skywalker, 100% serious because he has the self-awareness of a lobster being dipped into a boiling pot, says, “Master, if we keep this chase going, that creep's gonna end up deep-fried.” when, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, LESS THAN A MINUTE AGO YOU WERE THE ONE GETTING DEEP FRIED, NOT ZAM, like I’m not usually in favor of the “Anakin gets electrocuted so often it damages his mental faculties” theory in fandom but I’m kind of starting to believe it after this, YOU WERE THE ONE GETTING YOU AND OBI-WAN ZAPPED, YOU PRECIOUS IDIOT WITH THE MEMORY OF AN ELECTROCUTED HAMSTER, but at least he has the self-awareness to confidently state, “This is a shortcut... I think.” and end on a questioning note because sometimes he is aware he’s an idiot, and then I lose my entire mind because they appear to have lost Zam and Obi-Wan’s lecturing him and Anakin says, “I’m deeply sorry, Master.” and he 100% IS NOT A BIT SORRY HE IS NOT EVEN TRYING TO PRETEND HE IS, HE’S JUST SAYING WORDS, then Obi-Wan lectures for five seconds more before Anakin says, “If you’ll excuse me.” and jumps over the side and I was so distracted by Anakin being so goddamned extra, I was perfectly willing to roll with this, like, yep, that’s Anakin, he’ll just jump out of a speeder at the drop of a hat, of course there’s no warning or anything, he just Does Shit Like That and, see, it’s funny, because Obi-Wan (and lbr the entire Jedi Order) does shit like that all the time, Obi-Wan’s was FIVE MINUTES AGO, he JUMPED OUT THE WINDOW, ha ha, HE LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU, OBI-WAN, that was the funny part of the scene for me, but then it took me a moment to realize oh my god ANAKIN SAT ON THAT BIT DURING THE ENTIRE LECTURE there was not enough time for Zam to come around a corner or anything, she was already right there, ANAKIN KNEW IT AND SAID NOTHING, BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE DRAMATIC ABOUT IT, he could have said, “I didn’t lose him, he’s coming up under us now.” BUT NO HE JUST MADE A COMPLETELY INSINCERE APOLOGY DURING OBI-WAN’S LECTURE WHILE KNOWING EXACTLY WHERE ZAM WAS SO HE COULD JUMP OUT OF THE SPEEDER AT THE RIGHT MOMENT OF DRAMA, ANAKIN SKYWALKER PLANNED THAT SHIT OUT, and I have never been prouder of my disaster dumpster son, but oh god this scene isn’t finished with me yet, because Anakin falls and falls until he lands on Zam’s speeder and whoa that’s pretty badass! except NO IT’S NOT because Zam does ONE SINGLE SOLITARY fishtail and Anakin goes flying like he’s a spinnerbait on the end of a fishing line being flung out by a flyfisher, just wobbling all over that ship as he tries to hold on, like my cat would have had a field day with him if he’d been a feathered jingly ball on the end of a string type of cat toy, that’s how much he was waving and wiggling around, but finally he gets up on the ship! and he gets his lightsaber out! time to be cool! EXCEPT STILL NO he just stabs his saber into the cab of the ship and FLAILS IT AROUND LIKE HE STABBED A STRAW INTO A CUP OF BUBBLE TEA TRYING TO GET THE LAST BOBA PEARL WITH IT, JUST JAB JAB JAB WITH NO FINESSE, and he does this for all of THREE SECONDS before Zam tilts the ship and Anakin loses his saber and Obi-Wan has to come flying along to grab it mid-air for him and then what does Anakin do? why he just SHOVES HIS WHOLE HAND RIGHT IN THERE and flails it around like he’s searching for the prize at the bottom of a Crackerjack box and then after twenty seconds of trying to hold on while Zam is flailing around he finally falls off the ship when she crashes it down onto the Underworld surface and it has been FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES of this, this movie that has changed my life forever, I am exhausted, I am enlightened, I am in tears because this was the most disaster thing I have ever witnessed in my life and I feel like I’ve reached Nirvana just witnessing it.

Star Wars: Zam Wesell