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dragonlady7via http://ift.tt/2qolNUr:
My time has come!
Okay, I have a headcanon post about Breha here, as well as Alderaanian culture headcanons here and some very important information about Breha’s punning style here.
I’ve also got a fic about Breha and Bail as an asexual couple here.
Now that all the linking’s out of the way, here are some other thoughts.
In the supposed debate between nature and nurture, I tend to come down more on the nurture side, and in that regard I think Leia takes after her mother pretty strongly.
Breha is known for both her compassion and her devastating wit. She’s an accomplished debater, and she takes a hands on interest in every aspect of Alderaanian politics.
She always encourages that interest in her daughter: she brings Leia with her to everything, from state visits with foreign dignitaries to trips to dairy farms and nerf pastures. Leia watches the way her mother talks to people: the openness and genuine interest in her conversations with mountain herders, the closed off, careful mask she puts on for every meeting with an Imperial Moff.
When Leia is seven, she sneaks into one of the Queen’s top secret briefings, and later that night she asks her parents, “Mama, Papa, are we Rebels?”
Bail is terrified. How had she found out? Were they putting her in too much danger? And if she’d overheard something, was it possible others had, too?
But Breha hesitates only a moment before telling Leia, “Yes. We are.”
In a galaxy where the Empire poses an imminent threat to everyone, ignorance will not protect their daughter, she tells Bail later. Leia is already very aware of the political realities of the Empire, and she’d seen enough to ask the question. She deserves an answer, and Breha isn’t going to lie to her. The only sure protection will be the liberation of the galaxy.
Growing up, Leia sees more of her mother than her father. Bail is away on Coruscant with the Imperial Senate for about half the year, but Breha, as the ruling Queen of Alderaan, is based in the palace in Aldera. She travels frequently, though, and almost always takes Leia with her.
And she receives frequent visitors at the palace, too. In particular representatives of the Imperial government. When the system of regional governors is first introduced, Alderaan is one of the first worlds they visit. Breha entertains the newly appointed Governor Tarkin with a steely grace and cleverly disguised disdain - something Leia recognizes instantly but Tarkin doesn’t seem to pick up on at all.
As a child Leia thinks her mama is invincible. She can lie to Moff Tarkin’s face and never lose her smile. She can use her words as weapons and her silences as a shield.
When Leia follows her father’s footsteps to the Imperial Senate, it’s her mother’s cool, sarcastic, fearlessly direct approach she takes as a model.
My time has come!
Okay, I have a headcanon post about Breha here, as well as Alderaanian culture headcanons here and some very important information about Breha’s punning style here.
I’ve also got a fic about Breha and Bail as an asexual couple here.
Now that all the linking’s out of the way, here are some other thoughts.
In the supposed debate between nature and nurture, I tend to come down more on the nurture side, and in that regard I think Leia takes after her mother pretty strongly.
Breha is known for both her compassion and her devastating wit. She’s an accomplished debater, and she takes a hands on interest in every aspect of Alderaanian politics.
She always encourages that interest in her daughter: she brings Leia with her to everything, from state visits with foreign dignitaries to trips to dairy farms and nerf pastures. Leia watches the way her mother talks to people: the openness and genuine interest in her conversations with mountain herders, the closed off, careful mask she puts on for every meeting with an Imperial Moff.
When Leia is seven, she sneaks into one of the Queen’s top secret briefings, and later that night she asks her parents, “Mama, Papa, are we Rebels?”
Bail is terrified. How had she found out? Were they putting her in too much danger? And if she’d overheard something, was it possible others had, too?
But Breha hesitates only a moment before telling Leia, “Yes. We are.”
In a galaxy where the Empire poses an imminent threat to everyone, ignorance will not protect their daughter, she tells Bail later. Leia is already very aware of the political realities of the Empire, and she’d seen enough to ask the question. She deserves an answer, and Breha isn’t going to lie to her. The only sure protection will be the liberation of the galaxy.
Growing up, Leia sees more of her mother than her father. Bail is away on Coruscant with the Imperial Senate for about half the year, but Breha, as the ruling Queen of Alderaan, is based in the palace in Aldera. She travels frequently, though, and almost always takes Leia with her.
And she receives frequent visitors at the palace, too. In particular representatives of the Imperial government. When the system of regional governors is first introduced, Alderaan is one of the first worlds they visit. Breha entertains the newly appointed Governor Tarkin with a steely grace and cleverly disguised disdain - something Leia recognizes instantly but Tarkin doesn’t seem to pick up on at all.
As a child Leia thinks her mama is invincible. She can lie to Moff Tarkin’s face and never lose her smile. She can use her words as weapons and her silences as a shield.
When Leia follows her father’s footsteps to the Imperial Senate, it’s her mother’s cool, sarcastic, fearlessly direct approach she takes as a model.
