#obi wan: sheev is a stupid name too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

vaguely-concerned · 6 months

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I’m on a Star Wars books roll so here we go with my — unhinged thanks for asking! — thoughts on Dooku: Jedi Lost, specifically the audio play. Short version: I fucking loved this one! For maximum emotional devastation, pair with Master and Apprentice and Padawan the way my stupid ass did and then be sad about it forever I guess that's what I’m going to have to do.

Long (LONG oopsie) version:

- So. First of all, let’s get the most important thing out of the way on this here old man yaoi website. We all agree dooku and sifo dyas explored each other’s bodies right. Or at least definitely would have if not for the laws of this order etc., potentially. That’s not just me. Good. Thank you. We can now move on

- Secondly. Well. Guess I’m just going to be inconsolable about Sifo-Dyas forever now. I miss the days in which he was just a throwaway line in AotC spawned by a random misspelling to me, rather than an eternal raw aching wound in my heart

- poor poor ventress just reading through all the proof that dooku absolutely does have it in him to be a good dad I mean master and just — idk got tired of that and went the force lightning route with her. I love the move of having her dead master hang out with her all that time as well (having her slip up and refer to ‘us’ did something to me, god this is so sad. Is he actually there in spirit or is it just her grief dreaming him up because dooku is awful and cold as a cliff wall and she needs some kind of attachment figure even if she’ll have to reinvent him herself, rebuild him word for word, gesture by gesture. Pain. sorry about your terrible track record with father figures asajj)

- Lene: (About Averross): He hasn’t changed.

Dooku: (In the warmest fondest voice you ever heard) And I hope he never does

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH MYSELF? MUST I SET MYSELF ON FIRE TO ESCAPE THE PAIN???

Another strong showing for Rael in general, btw. He’s so warm and charming as a presence even though he’s also a little chaos gremlin. (He’s quite similar to how Sifo-Dyas was when he was young in some ways, I can definitely start to see what Dooku responds warmly to in terms of character traits.)

- the fact that good ol’ sheev showed an interest in rael, dooku and anakin… interesting huh! He’s just got a soft spot for the disaster lineage I suppose, maybe there’s an element there of luring yoda’s most direct lineage into the dirt with him without yoda even noticing for the longest time. Also cackling at the idea that he looked at qui-gon ‘too fucking stubborn and insufferable to fall to the dark side out of sheer spite’ jinn and went ‘...not that one tho’ fhdskjfa. And obi-wan is more like ‘that one blorbo all my little guys seem wild about but I just don’t get it guys’

IF rael’s refusal to join dooku at the end of ‘master and apprentice’ is the last word (which I am not convinced of ;___; be safe cowboy jedi we never see in mainline canon so far), then he’s the only one who has dodged palpatine’s attentions. Wonderful if true love that for him

ALSO rael is one of the few people we know to be on (or at least to consider himself on despite what palps might think lol) first name basis with palpatine. Hilarious. I concur with dooku never change rael

- Sifo-Dyas: That’s insane.

Dooku, deadpan: Yes.

Sifo-Dyas: The worst plan I’ve ever heard.

Dooku, somehow even more deadpan: Most probably.

Sifo-Dyas: I’m in.

Crying… weeping and dying………… what if someone could have helped sifo with his unfortunate prophecy propensity and they hadn’t drifted apart. Clone Wars averted methinks if dooku still ended up leaving the order he would have been too busy having tender gay sex with the love of his life (and only person who can call him out on his shit and have him actually listen) to be a war criminal (I am being extremely facetious of course this is very much a ‘time traveler killing baby hitler’ situation where the underlying forces causing this point in history are way too powerful to avert the catastrophe in one move. but at least palps would probably have had to pick someone else to wreck the galaxy through and sifo-dyas would be kissed & held instead of going slowly mad. A net plus some (I, me) would say)

- I just wanted to applaud both the writing and the voice acting for the characterization of Dooku in this, from his young self trying so hard to be haughty and self-possessed but also being like, y’know, twelve and a dweeb and easy for Sifo-Dyas to pull into trouble, to the dry wit and warmth he shows with Rael and Qui-Gon or his sister later. It took me a little while to get into the voice acting specifically (the actor makes no attempt at going the full Christopher Lee, which in hindsight was probably wise), but now I love it. It gets a bit goofy in places but you know what, I am a long time lover of audio plays, that’s part of the charm

- “Master, have I done something wrong?”

My heart is clenching… do you think… that master yoda’s deal with leaving his student to try fucking everything to have some kind of relationship with him until he just breaks down in tears of despair… is the kind of thing that maybe started a little bit of a generational trauma cartwheel through the ages. The point that bb!dooku is arrogant isn’t without merit and he strikes out incredibly ungracefully about it (in fact I would be a lot more worried than yoda seems to be that he decides to try to kill a tree about it, ‘I felt like destroying something beautiful’-style) but I just don’t think a… fourteen year old? A teen anyway, Is going to learn what you think he learns from this. I simply don’t believe that silent treatmenting kids will teach them emotional intelligence I guess especially if they already struggle with that naturally lol

(It is exactly the same mistake (in my opinion) that Qui-Gon makes with Obi-Wan, too, just leaving the kid completely alone and forcing them to come to you every which way for comfort or guidance instead of meeting them or reaching out to them. Especially once you see that really Dooku’s prime emotion/big core wound right from the beginning is loneliness. And that doesn’t only come from a feeling of superiority (which to be sure is also a big factor), because he has no idea where he comes from until he meets his sister. I don’t think the jedi as a whole were unsalvageable by any stretch of the imagination, but Yoda specifically… you are on such very thin ice with me at this point you little green fuck. You’re very funny and moving in yoda dark rendezvous and that’s all that’s keeping you in my somewhat good graces.)

- Okay, coming back a bit later I think I’ve found the right words to say this. more precisely dooku has two big issues which you can later see haunting all the way down his lineage — loneliness and control. (and not incidentally the intersecting elements of the two haha.) We see from his relationship to sifo-dyas that he’s not incapable of having close mutual relationships with an equal, but that kind of crashed and burned for reasons neither of them could really help and after that it seems quite telling that he has the easiest time with deeper connection in a teacher-student sort of form. I think his affection is unconditional and real, but you can’t get away from the fact that he also has the most control in that relationship structure by default, he gets to dictate what form it takes to a big extent. He doesn’t trust other people — the underlying idea ‘Only I can do this’ that eventually leads him down the Separatist path is there the whole way. It speaks both to a sense of superiority and an utter lack of faith that other people can or will help him. And then that echoes down through the master-padawan line:

Qui-Gon with his self-righteousness and utter refusal to compromise leaving him isolated among the jedi (only he is right. Yeah the Force told him so. Don’t worry I’ve got a permit *insert parks and rec I can do whatever I want meme here*), Obi-Wan with his anxiety and perfectionism and incredible sense of shame and responsibility that he should be able to carry the whole world on his shoulders alone and beating himself up for failing, all feeding into not knowing what to do with Anakin and his complete lack of control of himself and his desperation to gain and maintain connection and love (which earns him the title of ‘Dooku’s least favorite family member’ fhdsa his immediate disdain for him is so funny and so in character. Repress and go slowly mad like a normal person anakin the way you’re carrying on is just undignified and that is much worse than being evil)…

- Rael gently telling Dooku to take on another padawan soon… so sweet, so sad, local cowboy jedi looking out for his dad. Also highlights something about Dooku I think is true: that he does much better and seems to have an easier time holding to the light when he’s responsible for someone else. Again, I do feel like Dooku’s core problem is loneliness, but it seems like raising kids is the one point where that relaxes somewhat. Maybe if Sifo-Dyas had stayed in a better mental place and they kept in touch it could have been different.

- Lene Kostana is SUCH a character! Charismatic and deeply fucked up, when it’s revealed how her and Sifo-Dyas’ relationship remains long after his padawan stage is done I felt a little bit sick, to my surprise. Because that could just be kindness on her part, of course, it’s good that he has someone he trusts to look after him when he can’t himself, but also there’s something… queasy about the way it keeps him continually young, in a way. (Notably he still calls her ‘master’ even as an adult, when they’re working together. Not uncommon in Star Wars, of course, but together with everything else going on vibes-wise… hm.) The inherent unreliable narration of this story really worked for me in this regard especially — do we know that young Dooku was entirely wrong when he sensed the dark side in her? She certainly is willing to go to lengths that are… worrying! in her fascination with sith shit, she tempted children into a dangerous place they didn’t understand and couldn’t know the consequences of and she continually puts sifo-dyas in situations that are implied to be a risk to worsening his condition. Run of the mill incredibly irresponsible at best, sincerely sinister at worst. Did she choose Sifo over Dooku because he’s more vulnerable and shapeable? There is an undercurrent of something icky and emotionally incest-y going on with how she relates to Dooku and Sifo-Dyas in general (right down to the ‘NO, no one can know about this’ intensity after the… evil moss cave. I can’t believe I’m this emotional about a book with an evil moss cave). I don’t think she’s a proper sith in any way and I also believe there is real affection there on all sides, but idk something about the whole thing makes me deeply uneasy. Yoda where the fuck are you your son is out there with his irresponsible mom again they’re looking for dirty needles in haystacks and they’re not even wearing any gloves

- dooku telling sifo-dyas he can come back to haunt him if he likes as a joke… well well well I’m sure that doesn’t ring with some dramatic irony at some point down the line lmao

- honestly looking back at master and apprentice after reading jedi lost makes qui-gon's apparent lack of reaction to dooku leaving seem — let's call it highly suspect haha. rael asks him if he's spoken to dooku after and qui-gon is like 'no. why would I. it's literally fine. anyway this topic is done now'. (and rael seems to just go ‘*older brotherly knowing* uh-huh’) meanwhile he's thinking about dooku *all the time* trying to figure out his role as master to obi-wan, thinking about being a padawan himself, the parts of his life he shared with both dooku and rael. The jedi doth protest too much methinks

ALSO how much of qui-gon thinking the council was too lenient with rael after he had to kill his padawan is about that actual situation, and how much is a ‘our family still likes my older brother more than me even though he Fucked Up so bad and breaks just as many rules as I do’ sort of deal mixed with his own neuroses about how he’s failing obi-wan (to which rael’s situation symbolizes the worst possible outcome, i.e. the kid dies and it’s basically your fault). Many thoughts.

- moment of silence for jenza of house serenno. Girl your only sin was being surrounded by asshole male family members and I’m so sorry I think you did all you could with what you had to work with here.

Not… entirely sure how dooku’s claim to the title supersedes hers — is he a year older than her? (she’s eleven when they first meet, he might be twelve or older at that point I don’t remember haha) Does she just give up her place in the inheritance order? Are primogeniture and male heir preference factors in Serenno inheritance law? Not the most important thing honestly it works anyway thematically but could have been clarified quickly!

- interesting to see that the council’s restrictive policy against engaging with prophecies had a surprisingly big impact on how things went down. Kostana has a lot of responsibility in Sifo’s fate for insisting he keep it secret, but there is genuine fear for what might become of him if the rest of the order finds out he’s got 24/7 futurevision hovering over him threateningly… listen it’s not like the poor guy can help getting the future constantly pumped into his brain at nightmare resolutions, I think maybe if there had been more willingness to at least engage curiously with the concept of prophecy and how it works, even if you don’t put your faith in the particulars of what the prophecies say, this wouldn’t have had to be such a shitty isolated secretive life for him. hearing him slowly fall apart over the years considering how bright and lovely he started out... oof is all I can say

- when dooku was a good jedi he was such a good jedi!!! The scene where they’re saving the kids from the collapsing hospital, every time he teaches his students anything…the impulse of someone has to do something about this! that made him so good at saving lives turning dark with the tarnish of frustration and rage over the years… nooooooooo problematic grandpa why did it have to be like this :(

- …do you think infant jedi can sense what’s going on around them in the Force. Because it makes a very sad kind of sense if dooku on some level remembers bodily or in the Force that he was not only abandoned but rejected in disgust as one of the first things he discovered in the world. Oh boy. With all the ways attachment relationships can go wonky in the first few years in real life I don’t even want to consider how much more wrong it can go when the baby is fucking psychic lol

- vaguely related: the way dooku seems to find the very idea of being truly reliant on anyone, emotionally or otherwise, personally offensive, terrifying and humiliating lol. Yoda saves him from being crushed by rubble and he is outraged because that means he can’t save himself (and his newfound sister) without anyone’s help like he thought for one glorious moment he could. The fantasy of perfect emotional self-sufficiency, doing away with all the messiness and risk of interpersonal relationships and cutting off the possibility of really being abandoned again. It’ll get ya every time. This is also a thing you see reflected in his lineage — they’re all quite inward-turning that way until you get to anakin, to different extents and with varying presentations but it is there I think. Qui-Gon turns to the Force, Obi-Wan to perfectionism and shame and rumination, Rael to the bottle and depression and hedonistic apathy, but they all struggle hugely with letting anyone in to help them. Dooku’s line are all much more comfortable being the helpers rather than the helpees, as it were.

- “Thank you for everything, Lene. Tell Rael and Qui-Gon — tell them… tell them the Force will be with them, always”

Emotional terrorism against me specifically and personally. You asshole you just excused yourself from the non-attachment rules there’s literally nothing in the world except you to stop you from reaching out and telling your children you love them yOURSELF why are you like this

- the recurring theme of dooku seeing something beautiful (the tree in the temple, the tirra’taka as a child and an adult) and ending up lashing out to destroy it… but the tree was old and mighty and he was young and new and couldn’t truly harm it, so he was saved from his own impulsivity. And then when he sees the tirra’taka as an adult he loves it immediately. And in the end he still mangles and destroys it. He didn’t mean to, but he did. He woke it up and hurt it just by existing as a child and then he had to kill it as a mercy because he was too powerful at that point for anything to buffer his mistakes. The parallel with the bird he loved that he also couldn’t protect. He starts out with an aching loneliness somewhere at the core of him through no real fault of his own but by the end it is entirely his own fault that it’s worse, because he starts wrecking everything he loves in an almost absent-minded but definitely intentional way, like it’s a nightmare he’s listening to through the door as it happens in the next room over. He really IS the ‘I just felt like destroying something beautiful’ central of the jedi.

at the end qui-gon is dead and through dooku’s own influence, however indirectly. Rael has had to turn away from him. Sifo-Dyas is dead on Dooku’s own orders and so is his sister, he might as well have done it with his own hands. (though I think it’s very interesting that in each case he didn’t do it with his own hands, he consistently uses a middleman.) He lives within the coldness of his sterile empty castle and horrifically mistreats the one person he might have found something like connection with the way he did with his students before (Ventress), deliberately trapping her in a similar state of utter desolate isolation and telling her, essentially, ‘We’re like this as people and nothing can be done to change it. We can’t escape, we’re already doomed, stop trying, it’s too late. You are just like me (and if you aren't already I'll make you like me)’. And that’s the closest thing he gets to love anymore. When he accused Ky of using her ‘as a salve for his own loneliness’ and you’re like well well well mr projection man how’s that working out for you. He is completely, shatteringly alone and he is so entirely as a consequence of his own actions and he's too far gone to understand or care. I’m howling you useless fucking FOOL dooku

- dooku 🤝 john gaius

“Hm. I have observed that there are in fact many flaws in our society and the government is deeply corrupt. So if I kill a few billion people here and there in order to fix it, is that not basically okay when you really think about it”

Dooku making salient points about the political and ethical failures of the Republic and then, just when you think he’s onto something, he goes and makes The wildest fucking decisions about what to do about it. Sure. dark magic and genocide are probably the only ways out of this you’re so right bro. If we make enough minuses to add together surely we’ll end up in plus sooner or later

- *head in my hands once more* I can’t believe I am genuinely emotionally invested in someone called Count Dooku with the looks of a knockoff dracula and ultimate moral character to match right now this is terrible. hey. hey dooks. what you have to go and fuck everything up so bad for huh I’m so incredibly sad now

there is something to be said about how getting to see glimpses of what dooku looked like in the light makes it so much more heartwrenching that he never came back. he could have, a thousand times. and every time he chose not to.

#star wars #dooku jedi lost #count dooku #sifo dyas #dooku x sifo dyas #disaster lineage #lene kostana #star wars meta #rael averross #qui gon jinn #I'm being peak on my bullshit in this one. you're welcome and/or I'm sorry as appropriate

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kenobster · 1 year

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Chapter Seven of Five Peggats Each

Prior Chapters: [One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six]

Summary: Months after the Rako Hardeen incident, the Council sends two of their best generals together on a mission meant to repair their damaged friendship. Luckily, Anakin and Obi-Wan will have a lot of time to do just that while imprisoned on a planet in the outer rim with no one but each other for company.

Characters: [For this chapter] Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sheeve Palpatine, Padmé Amidala (in memories), Miraj Scintel (in memories), original characters for nefarious purposes only

Warnings: [For the below excerpt] graphic noncon, somnophilia, sex with a Zygerrian... which involves fur? idk. [For the fic] graphic noncon, graphic violence, severe resultant mental illness (Note: Comprehensive list of warnings are listed in the notes at the end of chapter one.)

Anakin is briefly nudged out of a deep slumber as he feels someone untying his boots. He blinks, languidly, his eyes blurry and his mouth crusty. Yawning, he decides it’s Padmé. Based on the headache he has, he must have overdone the wine at her apartment. The muscles in his shoulders throb, so he must have overdone a battle, too. Someone whispers his name. It doesn’t really register. “Th’nks,” he murmurs to his wife who is sweet to take care of him. The next thing that wakes him are hands slipping under his robes and grazing against his upper chest. They should be Padmé’s, but they’re not. The palms are covered in something fuzzy, and the nails are a bit too sharp and not in the manicured way. Also, something smells horrible. Like a hosed-down anooba shaking out its wet fur. Groaning, Anakin rolls away from the stench, and sharp, claw-like nails dig into his collarbone. Oh. It’s Her. Anakin’s heart skips a beat, or two, or three. It’s better if She thinks he’s asleep. If She thinks he’s asleep, then She won’t make him touch Her or kiss Her or fuck Her. And if he really is asleep, then he won’t remember whatever She does to him. Even though it sounds wrong, too deep, too masculine, Her voice purrs in approval as She scopes out his upper chest. Then She unbuckles his belt, and tugs at his trousers until they’re slipping off his sore ankles. Go to sleep, he tells himself, sternly. But he can’t. His shoulders hurt. His flesh wrist aches. She must have tied him up again. It’s stupid when She does this because She doesn’t need to. They both know that he is Hers. “Anakin," someone whispers, "wake up." It's Obi-Wan’s voice, but Anakin doesn’t want to wake up. He wants to sleep. He wants to dream. He wants to pretend it’s Padmé tugging open his robes one by one until the flesh of his chest and abdomen are completely bare. He wants the illusion of Padmé's hands caressing his ribs and waist and thighs, not Hers. “Anakin,” Obi-Wan hisses. Obi-Wan isn’t even supposed to be here. Obi-Wan is supposed to be with the rest of the Togrutan people, toiling away in the slave processing facility on Kadavo. Ahsoka is here, somewhere, in a cage, but Obi-Wan is with Rex, both of them are suffering, and that’s why he has to—wait. Oh. Oh no. Obi-Wan is a slave processing facility on Kadavo, and Anakin has known this entire time, and he’s done nothing. His eyes shoot open and he jolts upward. [link to chapter 7]

#zygerria #miraj scintel #palpatine #obiwan & anakin #obiwan #anakin #obi-wan & anakin #anakin x miraj #anakin x padme #anakin & palpatine #obi-wan #fic #mine #five peggats each #CW noncon #in excerpt & fic #be safe kiddos

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whetstonefires · 3 years

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heavier than a mountain, lighter than a feather

[my take on @misskirby's not-prompt about obi-wan beating palpatine to death with an office chair]

Obi-Wan had once touched the cold-burning edge of the Dark Side to give himself the extra edge he needed to cut down the Sith who had cut down his Master. He had fought with rage pushing him, he had fought with all the fear that Qui-Gon lay expiring on the reactor floor, that he might yet win and find himself seconds too late to bring the emergency med-treatment necessary to survive a lightsaber to the chest.

(Not that it had mattered; all he’d gotten from his desperate, hasty win was a few seconds of farewell bereft of comfort, and the burden of Anakin hung around his neck, and oh, he wished his padawan was not a burden. There had been no option but to take him and thus taking him must have been right, but no one should take on a student they did not feel ready for, and he had.)

If he had fought that way this time, he would have lost.

The Sith Master would have done what the apprentice could not, and twisted the Dark Side within him as it rose, and snared him in it, so he could not find his way back to the Light, and used that grip to bear him down with Sidious’ greater power, because the Sith said the Force will free me but it was the way of the Dark to place one will over another by pure force, so even what narrow freedom there was on the dark path was offered to one alone. Even in the best case, he would have been overwhelmed too heavily to fight for more than long enough to finish him.

Perhaps he would not have been killed. Perhaps he would have been kept alive to be used as leverage against Anakin. But assuredly he would not have been able to win.

Obi-wan however had what he would have thought of, if he had allowed himself to think about it, a trick for using his attachments and the desire not to lose them as fuel without reaching into the destabilizing, consuming whirlwind of the Dark Side. It was a dangerous, stupid trick, really, at least the way he used it, although Obi-wan thought of that way as fundamental to being a good Jedi, which would have explained a great deal about him if anyone had known.

The trick was this: it was easy to push yourself to where your limits should have been and beyond using your attachment to a person, without falling into the hungry selfishness of the Dark Side, if you simply did not intend to survive.

When he was thirteen, he had tried to persuade Qui-Gon Jinn, who had not yet been his Master, to use the bomb in his recently fitted slave-collar to blow open a door, killing Obi-wan but allowing him complete the mission, which was not Obi-wan’s mission

It was not difficult to return to that place, that space in himself where serenity came easy because soon there would be nothing left to go wrong or to lose—Anakin had made it difficult, for a long time; Anakin he was obliged to raise and train. Anakin who needed him.

All his obligation to the war and the Council and all the men under his command had not pinned him to himself the way his duty to Anakin had, and—knighting him had been helpful. It had been a relief, to finally cast off that weight. There is no death, there is the Force was much easier to believe of oneself than of those one grieved, and some weeks Obi-wan breathed it in and out with every breath, and there was no fear.

He knew several things, as he entered the Senate through an entrance that was technically, perhaps, a window. One that did not open, at that. That the Chancellor had some kind of failsafe embedded in the GAR’s brains. That the Chancellor was a Sith Lord. That the Chancellor had been using his access to Anakin all these years to hurt his Padawan.

That if he took the time to assemble the rest of the Council and try to stage this as a proper arrest, word would have time to reach Palpatine of Obi-wan having been publicly informed, because Maul was the least subtle sentient Obi-wan had ever had the misfortune of meeting more than once, and that if Palpatine knew the jig was up he would use his fail-safe.

So Obi-wan needed to do this alone.

It was possible, of course, that it wouldn’t be difficult. Sidious was a creature of stealth and insinuation. He spent most hours of his life maintaining a posture of harmlessness. When could he have found the time to do regular lightsaber drills, let alone practice live combat?

But Maul probably feared the man for a reason. So Obi-wan was going to do this as quickly as possible, but he wasn’t going to be hasty.

Spring the trap.

He’d closed himself down in the Force before he got near the Senate building, jumping through the hole he’d sliced into the window with only his physical strength and no Jedi edge, and only when he got near the Chancellor’s office did he reopen his senses just a thread, to make sure there was no one in there meeting with Palpatine whom he needed to keep alive. The Force didn’t slam into him with a warning, which would have to be confirmation enough.

Obi-wan yanked the door open, hurled five primed thermal detonators in the direction of the great ship-like slab of an occupied desk, slammed the ornate portal shut again, and threw himself to the ground at the foot of the wall, as far away as he could get, head tucked under his arms. He was fairly sure he’d seen Mas Amedda in there, standing beside the desk as the Chancellor in his thronelike chair raised his head with a gratifyingly startled look on his face.

Pity. The Vice-Chancellor could probably have explained so much of what had been going on behind the scenes, all this time.

The blast left the office door half-shattered, belching smoke, but Obi-wan escaped with just one splinter, not terribly large, in the back of one calf. His robes and boots had absorbed the rest of the shrapnel that had made it that far. He tugged it out as he got up—no time to do anything more, it wasn’t bleeding much. He drew a deep breath of half-clean corridor air and dashed into the opaque ruin that had been the Chancellor’s office, senses fully unfurled now that the time for stealth was over. Though in the interest of not being an irresistible target, he did not ignite his lightsaber just yet.

The Force guided him through the smoke, and he brought his sword to light even as he swung it through the murk.

It stopped, humming, against a bar of red light that hissed into being at the last instant, and that felt equally inevitable.

“You.” Sheev Palpatine’s face looked like a Sith Lord’s now, twisted with hate and lit red from below. And, gratifyingly, somewhat scorched. His hair had sizzled from the heat, and his left arm seemed to have something at least mildly wrong with it. Obi-wan hoped the explosions had affected at least one of his legs, as well, since his own maneuverability was cut by the shard of door to the calf.

“Me indeed, Chancellor,” he said, taking advantage of his two-handed grip to bear down against the block with extra force. Palpatine bore up admirably, but as his snarl tightened it was clear that it was not without cost. “Or should I say, Lord Sidious?”

The smoke was starting to thin, leaking away out of the shattered room. Sidious was still behind his ruined desk with its weakly sparking console, which seemed to have taken much of the impact for him—he was standing, anyway, sadly. Mas Amedda’s corpse, on the far end of the desk from the one Obi-wan had circumnavigated, was one of the things that was still smoking. Most of the brocade and other decorative fabric in the room must have been thoroughly treated with fire-retardant, but he had not been.

“I thought you might have learned my true name,” Palpatine said, far too complacently for someone whose long deception had been uncovered and who was staving off death one-handed. “But what brought you racing here in such haste?”

“Well, you see, they used to call me Sith-killer because of Maul, and since that’s been proven regrettably in error, I thought I had better—” Sidious tried to fling him back against the opposite wall with a sharp jerk of his wounded hand, and Obi-wan had to push back with the whole of his will and stance to slide back only a few feet.

This had freed their lightsabers, though, and Sidious chopped low with a terrible speed. Obi-wan leapt clear, knowing the blood soaking into the pale fabric of his pants was betraying the weakness in his leg—Anakin had had a point, he admitted grudgingly, about black hiding all kinds of stains.

For better and for worse.

He tried to catch Sidious with an overhead slash while he was up, to keep that red lightsaber busy for the most part, and when it was intercepted used the force of that impact to somersault back in a momentary return to his master’s old Ataru style—not too far, though, at all costs he must prevent the Sith Master’s escape.

Sidious wouldn’t need to get far, just to a room with a working holo transmitter, to destroy everything.

He flung himself back in.

Palpatine sidestepped his next attack, parried another, stepped back with the third. His single arm was telling against him, and while he was regrettably fast his movements were stiff enough that he had clearly taken at least one other hurt. Probably somewhere in the right hip. Obi-wan stayed on the offensive—it was how he’d beaten Maul, after all, though he was at pains to avoid overreaching to the point of recreating Anakin’s loss to Dooku.

His attacks did more damage to the sparking desk, bisected the thronelike monstrosity of a chair, which turned out under all the gilt, padding, and chromium to be mostly of durasteel, got close enough to put additional charred rents in Palpatine’s ornate sleeves. Nearly a minute had passed since he threw those detonators, and Sidious was still alive. Too long.

“Really,” said the politician, dropping his stance to one that would allow him to parry more from the shoulder, his first hint of fatigue. His style was not quite Makashi even as he adapted to the one-handed approach that was clearly not his preference, but there were some notes to it that rang so strongly of Dooku they could come from nowhere else. “What do you hope to achieve?”

“You won’t have Anakin,” Obi-wan said, the plot that had been in retrospect laid so horribly bare with just a few sentences from Maul, supported by a few more from some of their most trusted troopers, put together with a hundred hints and oddities and he should have guessed on his own.

Sidious grinned, the amiable wrinkles of his face lying deeper and more correct, somehow, in this attitude of wild, infinite gloating. “Possessiveness, Master Jedi?”

“No,” said Obi-wan, and it was true because he had given Anakin up, given everything up before he came here. He was holding onto nothing, he was an object in free-fall but not falling, because he was at exactly the right place and momentum at the outer edge of a gravity well that would let him remain at a constant height.

Orbits degraded, given time, if not carefully maintained. And if they were disrupted sharply enough it meant a violent, flaming spiral down into explosive doom, or sometimes out into the fathomless dark. This was not a true, secure serenity like a Jedi should strive for. But it would serve. For today, it would serve.

He fell on Sidious again in a flurry of blows, pushing his physical advantage, but although the Chancellor was clearly straining to keep up this defense, his stamina continued to fail to run out or even noticeably decline, as though he had learned to subsist on some constant well of the Force alone.

Probably he had, because it was welling up out of him, filling the room, an endless pit of the Dark that had lain concealed like a trap under pinned canvas and scattered leaves all this time. He was drawing heavily upon the Dark Side now and that wasn’t precisely goodbut it was promising.

He was beginning to develop something that was not quite optimism or confidence but approached both by the time the progress of the humming, crashing process of the duel took them past the far end of the desk, back into sight of what had been Mas Amedda. Palpatine angled his next fractional retreat toward the corps, away from the cracked and blackened windows, avoiding the treacherous footing of a shattered vase that had probably been a valuable antique.

Obi-wan tried to take advantage of the change in angle in the next rapid, whirring clash of lightsabers.

Unlike every other time they had crossed blades this duel, Sidious simply—shut his off in the moment before contact.

Obi-wan had committed a little too much of his weight to the blow to abort it entirely. Sidious ducked away from the remainder with a sinuous grace even as he activated his weapon again, now on the inside of Obi-wan’s guard—trakata, executed with terrible excellence.

The need for the dodge was the trakata maneuver’s great weakness, and gave Obi-wan time to avoid the worst of the stroke, but even still the red lightsaber clipped him across the wrist—not a clean sweep slicing off the hand entire, but a glancing blow, that seared through the skin and flesh and took a significant bite out of the ulna.

Obi-wan didn’t try to repress his strangled scream, and Sidious leaned into it in the Force, pressing at the pain, stoking it and encouraging it to drag him down into the Dark, where he would be the Sith Master’s plaything. He was smirking now, more deeply and honestly than ever, a laugh rising into his mouth, for if Master Kenobi had had a slight edge in their fight with two hands to one, with the Jedi’s primary weapon-hand incapacitated, the Sith would surely dominate.

In that moment, Obi-wan moved to rebalance the odds. His blue lightsaber chopped down—not onto Sidious’ flesh, which it was clear he guarded with the preternatural awareness of a being whose own self was as valuable as all the Galaxy else, but to sheer through the emitter end of the crimson lightsaber.

It spat and burst but, unfortunately, tragically failed to explode.

As Sidious raised his eyes from the ruined weapon looking like he might explode in its place out of pure outrage, Obi-wan brought his sword back up to go for the decapitating blow now that the Sith had no weapon to block with, but in that moment Sidious’ burnt and broken hand jabbed up, and shot a gout of lightning into his face.

His back arced so violently it threw him off his feet, and it was all Obi-wan could do to keep hold of his lightsaber in his good hand and deactivate it as he went down, to avoid doing himself a worse injury than Sidious had yet managed. The lightning followed him down, scouring its way from just beside his left eye down every nerve ending he had in a screaming, jerking chorus of pain.

The deep lightsaber burn on his right wrist somehow hurt more now than it had to receive, but the force of his constant convulsions kept him from screaming again.

Then it stopped. He had no idea how long it had been, and wondered if Palpatine had become too fatigued to keep up the electrocution. There had to be a limit to how long he could maintain that kind of power output. His chest was heaving, trying with animal need to make up for lost oxygen. Smoke and the scent of dead Chagrian weighed down his sensory world, since his eyes declined to open and most of his body would only say pain.

The whisper of expensive Senate slippers crunched toward him over the rubble of the ruined office with a surefootedness that no one would have expected of the elderly Chancellor. At least he was still here; Obi-wan had angered him enough to bother sticking around to kill him rather than running off to activate the troops.

Or maybe he was confident he could spin this whole event to his benefit—Obi-wan had destroyed the security cameras that would have recorded his Sith activities, after all. Maybe he would say Master Kenobi had been tragically killed defending him from the dreadful Sith Lord. Maybe he would ask Anakin to become his constant protector in Obi-wan’s memory. Anakin would do it.

He was struggling to turn his lightsaber back on and raise it, though getting it between him and the next round of lightning seemed unlikely when he was exposed in a supine position, when Palpatine kicked it. Kicked his hand, actually, so hard at least one bone cracked and the lightsaber went flying.

This weapon is your life.

“Should I summon it back and use it to kill you?” Palpatine murmured, with a deadly, vicious good humor that suggested he knew very well Obi-wan had no backup coming, that the only interruption they could expect would be Commander Fox and his men in red, here to protect the Chancellor. “Or should I step on your throat until you breathe your last? Or should I keep you alive and put you on trial, and drag the name of the Jedi in the mud through you, so that when your Order falls it will be your name that the Galaxy uses to call the killing just?”

Horror twisted in Obi-wan’s chest and Palpatine chuckled, a whispering foul sound that still resembled his polite politician’s laughter. “Yes, very good. I’ll make young Skywalker believe you tried to kill me out of pride and greed and because you despised him, until he curses your memory. Everything that happens now will be your doing.”

The rage and the fear that he had left behind when he entered were flaming up now in Obi-wan, the orbit deteriorating, the gravitational pull of abandoning them and letting the Order down and ruining everything and too little, too proud, the same hopeless arrogant padawan and of that terrible, world-tearing no dragging him down to shatter in fire against them, like he had on Naboo all those years ago but so much more utterly and irrevocably and--this wasn’t all him.

He sucked in his breath, shaking through teeth still clenched too convulsively tight to pull apart for a witty retort to all that poison, and melted away inside himself.

Over him, Sidious frowned, feeling the Jedi escape his grip in the Force. “Are you dying already, Master Kenobi?”

He thought Sidious had mentioned summoning his lightsaber through the Force to encourage him to try it. It wouldn’t be impossible. He knew the feel of it in the Force like he did few other things in the Galaxy; he didn’t need sight to reach for it.

But it was too small, and too far away, and his senses were too scorched and blasted by that awful lightning. Long before his weapon could make it to his hand, Sidious could kill him, even with no working lightsaber of his own. He couldn’t win that way, or even (that far lesser goal) live.

Instead, Obi-wan grabbed for the closest large object he knew to look for that wasn’t a corpse: the sliced-loose upper half of that baroque monstrosity of a desk-chair, conveniently bulky and only a few long steps away, just behind the desk he’d fallen from behind.

It came, and in coming swept Palpatine’s legs from under him, knocking him not quite sprawling, and then the curve of it had smacked into Obi-wan’s outstretched left palm, jolting the broken bone which did not matter in the slightest, and he rolled up onto his knees, graceless but fast, the slab of steel and leather still moving with the momentum that had dragged it to him, and clobbered the sitting-up Sith Lord across the face with it.

One of Obi-wan’s many faults was his tendency to take a vicious glee in striking low his enemies, but he did not think he had ever taken quite the joy from any beautifully executed maneuver that he did from watching Palpatine knocked to the floor by a slab of office chair. Obi-wan lunged after him, not bothering with niceties like getting to his feet, and brought the chair-slab down on his face again, this time with the strength of both arms—his right hand was mostly numb but for hurting, only the thumb and forefinger would move at all, and it was very weak, but none of that interfered with placing his whole forearm against the upholstery and slamming the searing-hot, bare metal inner side down.

There was a crunch, probably nose, and then instead of diminishing the awful seething presence of the Dark Side rose like a hurricane, and Obi-wan felt his throat close as from a powerful phantom hand, cutting off all breathing.

This caused him not an instant’s hesitation, because he had come here fully intending to die.

He raised the sheered-off slice of chair, adjusted the angle so the sharp edge where he’d cut the durasteel was pointing down, and aimed for the throat.

The ensuing explosion threw him after his lightsaber, and he knew nothing after hitting the wall.

#star wars #my writing #obi wan kenobi #fanfic #darth sidious #blows up on dying #it's canon #i feel like this wasn't #quite the intended timeline #but anyway here we are #chairdeath au #i gotta logic things #hoc est meum #i love a fight scene #i wanted to make this one more acrobatic than it is #but logistics intervened

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vanishedangels · 3 years

Text

Stand by me

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6

Summary: Din Djarin, a young introvert Mandalorian, meets the golden boy Luke Skywalker on Naboo the last year of high school. He's about to learn that love's not easy when you are not willing to embrace your feelings.

Or 5 times Din comforts Luke after a break up, and 1 time Din shows him that he's a keeper.

Pairing: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker.

Characters: Din Djarin, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Paz Vizsla, The Armorer, Anakin Skywalker, Padmè Amidala, Grogu, Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Biggs Darklighter, Boba Fett, Obi Wan Kenobi, Fennec Shand, Wedge Antilles, Han Solo, Omera, Winta, Mara Jade, Cobb Vanth, Moff Gideon, Sheev Palpatine.

Rating: Mature +18 (rating will change)

Warnings: Mentions of a character trying to force themselves on their partner. Harassment.

Tags: Canon Divergence AU, 5+1 Things, Meet-Cute, Miscommunication, Friends To Lovers, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, Bisexual Luke Skywalker, Demisexual Din Djarin, Protective Din Djarin, Top Din Djarin, Bottom Luke Skywalker, Coming Of Age, Possessive Behaviour (not from the main characters), Toxic Relationship (not between the pairing). Sassy Anakin Skywalker. Confused Din Djarin. Human Disaster Paz Vizsla.

Chapters: 6.

Navigation: Next Chapter ->

Chapter 1: Millaflower

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to - Lesley Gore

Luke was staring down, perfect lashes over his golden cheeks, Din wanted to caress his face so bad, and his hair, Oh, his golden hair. He looked up smiling at Din, so pure, so shy. "We're gonna be school mates this year, Din."

Please angel, say my name again.

Din was beaming, he didn't realize he was going to see Luke every day at school until the boy suggested it. He took a sip of his drink and it burned his throat. "Oh, kriff!" He coughed. Luke laughed tossing his head back. Din couldn't get enough of this boy. Suddenly someone approached them putting a hand on Luke's shoulder.

Din Djarin wasn't excited when his buir told him they were moving to Naboo for his last year of school. The seventeen years old boy hated opulence and Naboo was full of wealthy assholes, or so he heard. His vod, Paz, on the other hand loved the idea and spent the trip rambling about the perks of hanging out with the rich kids and how they were going to party every single night of the week.

"You're delusional vod, partying on school nights? Buir won't agree with that shit." He said resting his back against the cockpit wall. "Naboo will be a nightmare."

"You're a little saint, Din. I'm partying every night and you should come with me. It's our last year of freedom." He tilted his head and shrugged "You're so boring, I'm doing you a favour here. Boys, girls... Whatever you want, I'll get them for you. Just ask."

"Fuck you!" Din flipped him off. Paz choked as he moved closer to his brother, punching his arm "Damn, Paz! Shit!" And he was walking away from Din mouthing some unintelligible, but unmistakable, insults. Din watched the blurred stars before his eyes, he didn't understand, why did his mother choose Naboo among every single fucking planet in the Galaxy? Rich kids, he thought, stupid snob rich kids.

Oh, little did he know.

As a matter of fact, Din was a rich kid too, more precisely a new rich kid. He was adopted by The Armorer, a prominent and well respected Mandalorian woman, when he was twelve years old. And with position, money came too. Din didn't care about credits or position anyway, he became a foundling the day their biological parents died. Sometimes, if he tried really hard, he still could remember his father's voice, or the warmth of his mother's arms around him, his parents' sacrifice and those nights when they went to bed with an empty and roaring stomach, but they were happy, they loved Din and Din loved them back.

For a boy who spent his teens on a planet like Nevarro, the moment he put a foot on Naboo he was stunned. "Vod, this is..." He said turning his head to look at Paz behind him "breathtaking." His brother nodded, Din gasped admiring the green grass plains. "It's beautiful."

Theed was indeed beautiful, hills of green and lakes of blue surrounding the imponent city "I'm in love" Din said under his breath.

"You're the only bastard that falls for a city, vod. Wait till we crash Cara's party tonight. Then you can fall in love for real, for kriff's sake!" Paz walked away shaking his head and staring down. Din shrugged, he knew he was, well, different. Din used to stay at home on Nevarro while his brother and his friends went out to have fun. Reading a book while he was wrapped in a blanket was everything he would ask for. But since he hasn't seen Cara for several months he agreed to make it that night, he wouldn't let her down, and he really wanted to see her.

The Naboo Royal Family arranged an apartment for The Armorer and Din and Paz were delighted. "I'm choosing this bedroom, Din, I saw it first." Paz was pushing Din in order to get inside the chamber.

"Kriff off, Paz! Keep this shit, I don't care!" Din walked down the corridor exploring the rest of the rooms. He found a beautiful and small bedroom two doors away from Paz' and, for the second time that day, he fell in love. He opened the windows to feel the air on his face, the smell of flowers was addictive and Din found himself smiling and closing his eyes, taking deep breaths.

"That fragrance, it's millaflower, Din." He turned around to find his buir approaching him to stand by his side. She was smiling under the helmet, Din could tell about that. "I missed millaflower so much." She gently caressed his son's back, out of adoration and to give him comfort "I see you've found the one that will be your place in the world for the next year." She looked around "This bedroom suits you, my beloved son." Din fondly smiled, he loved and respected his buir with every fiber of his being. "Now, get your stuff in here, I heard you guys are going to visit Cara tonight, so you should hurry up."

Din frowned, staring down "It's a party, buir." He said as she cupped his face in her hands.

"Then have fun." She nodded and left the room. A party. Din thought. A rich obnoxious kids' party. Fuck me.

Paz might be an asshole by nature, but he loved his little brother more than himself, he really thought that he was helping by choosing Din's outfit and making suggestions on how to do his hair for the night out. "Look at this, try this shit on you."

Din looked at the black leather jacket his brother was offering to him "Are you serious? For real?" Din was surprised, his eyes and mouth wide open.

"Yeah little shit, take it." He threw it at Din's arms, Din caught it beaming.

"I can't believe it, vod! Thank you!" He said putting the jacket on "But what about you? This is your favourite."

Paz froze staring at Din, he looked amazed, Din tilted his head to a side like he was trying to assess what was going on. Paz made a strangled sound. Din startled "You're scaring me, what is it?"

"Vod! When did you get those broad shoulders? Look at you!" He grabbed Din's shoulders with both hands from behind as he moved him to face the mirror "You sexy motherfucker! You're gonna turn every head tonight!" He patted his back so hard that Din started coughing.

"Get off me, Paz, and..." His eyes traveling up and down taking a sight of his own reflection, he shrugged one arm "Uh... I doubt it." Paz chuckled and grabbed his wrist.

"Come on vod, you're ready. Let's go." Din reluctantly walked behind his older brother already regretting going out for the first time in ages. "Sexy bitch!" Din frowned at his brother's words.

"I hate you." Not really.

Greef Karga's house was pretty flashy, Paz rested a hand on the main door frame whistling "Old man owns a fucking palace, huh?" Din put his hands in his pockets as a tall skinny girl opened the door.

"Come in, have fun!" She winked at Din and gave them her back as she was inviting them to follow her, Din blushed like a kid and Paz laughed.

"Shut up." Din said under his breath.

"Didn't say a word." Paz was smiling.

The music was loud and the place full of, naturally, rich kids. Din rolled his eyes, already hating everything and everyone. Fortunately he saw a familiar face among the strangers, it was his friend Cara. And then she saw them, she was yelping and walking into their direction. She jumped and hugged both of them "I can't believe you are here guys!" She looked at them and Din was smiling so hard that his cheeks hurt.

"Cara! I missed you so much". They were catching up until Paz saw something that caught his attention. "There he goes." Din shook his head, both hands resting on his hips. Cara looked at him narrowing her eyes. "What?"

"You've changed a lot." She was half smiling.

"I didn't. I'm the same, Cara."

"Oh no sweetheart, I'm talking about your looks." She squeezed his biceps "You're looking good, Djarin." Someone approached them and said something to Cara Din didn't catch. "Oh shit, Din, wait here, some assholes are inside dad's office, I'm coming back."

"I'll go with you." Din moved to follow her.

"No, stay here, have fun, please. Just, just give me a minute." Cara walked away and Din was feeling anxious all of sudden.

"Fuck." He looked around and it wasn't helping him at all. He found some girls checking him out, they were smiling and talking to each other, Din avoided their gaze and kept looking around. "This is hell. Fuck. Where's Paz?" He was trying to find his brother, searching, he started walking, then he came to a halt. Still looking for Paz he spotted a mop of blonde hair under the strobing lights. It was a boy. A blonde boy. Din could only see his back from where he was standing, the boy was dancing, Din smiled staring at him, he was wearing a yellow jacket and skinny black pants, he was tiny and, Oh fuck, he turned around and Din's world stopped. And if he was dumbfounded, after seeing the boy's face Din was already fucked. He was pretty, more than pretty, he was beautiful. With bright blue puppy eyes and plump lips, he was laughing and having fun. He was perfect. He was an angel.

Out of nowhere, a brunette girl with two huge side buns threw herself all over the angel and hugged him as he held her by her waist. Din's heart plummeted the moment they started dancing and laughing while the girl put both arms around the angel's neck. Of course, the angel wasn't single. He thought. Cara's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I see you've found the twins."

"Huh? Tw-twins?" He asked not able to take his eyes off of the angel boy.

"Yeah! We call them Tatooine suns, come, I'll introduce you to them." Din walked beside his friend and his heart was racing faster with every step. "Oi! Skywalkers! Having fun?" The twins pulled apart from each other and Din locked eyes with the boy, he was even more beautiful now that he was right in front of Din. The boy froze, staring at Din as Cara continued "This is my best friend in the whole shitty galaxy, Din Djarin."

The girl closed the distance between them and hugged Din as she gave him a kiss on his cheek, Din stared at her "Hi Din, I'm Leia! Oh Gods, you're handsome, boy! Look at those chocolate eyes, I love chocolate, you know?" Din snorted and Cara agreed nodding. Din couldn't help but look at the boy again with an intensity he didn't know it was possible. "This is my twin brother, Luke." Luke. What a beautiful name. Din was silent dying.

"Hi Din!" The boy said waving at him, smiling and closing his eyes and, Oh shit, Din had to restraint himself from taking the angel, Luke, in his arms and never let him go.

Din was gaping staring into Luke's blue eyes, finally he managed to say under his breath "Millaflower." Thinking about the way he was overwhelmed by the flower's scent just the same way Luke was making him feel.

Leia frowned "Millaflower? You want a drink? I can get you a drink."

Din blinked "What?"

"A Millaflower. It's a drink, very strong." Luke said "I can get one too."

"Alright! Wait here you guys." Cara said as Leia was heading to the bar. Din looked at the angel beside him, the boy was staring at him under his lashes biting his bottom lip and, for the third time that day, Din fell in love. But this time it was the real thing.

"Are you having a good time on Naboo?" Luke asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's actually better than I thought. My brother and I are going to Mandalore next year to get our intensive training." He said scanning Luke's face. Perfection.

Luke's eyes widened "Oh! You're gonna be a Mandalorian!" Din nodded "Amazing! I'm, uh, going to Coruscant next year."

A Jedi.

"You're a Jedi." Din was nervous now, knowing the rocky past between his people and Luke's.

Luke chuckled and Din's knees weakened at the bubbling sound. "I'm not one yet, I'm a force user, we had some light training on Tatooine and on Naboo when we were kids, but I'm gonna be a padawan next year."

"We?"

"Oh, yes, Leia and me, we're both force users, our dad is a Jedi Master, the force runs strong in my family." He shrugged "But Leia wants to study politics here on Naboo, so she's gonna coming back and follow our mother's path."

"Your mother is a senator?" Din asked.

"Yes, she was Queen of Naboo when she met my father."

Holly shit. Angel and royalty. Din thought, nodding at Luke as the girls came back with two drinks.

"Here guys, enjoy." Leia said as Cara grabbed her arm leaving the boys behind.

Please angel, say my name again.

Luke's face lit up "Biggs!" He said enthusiastically.

"Hi sweetheart." The guy kissed Luke on his cheek. Then he looked at Din who was holding his breath "Thank you for keeping an eye on my boyfriend for me, man." He looked around "People tend to hit hard on him." Din blinked.

"Biggs..." Luke scolded him.

"What? It's true, baby." The man chuckled encircling Luke's waist with his arm and kissing him again, this time on his temple. Din was shocked staring at the scene before him. "You're drinking."

"Uh, no, actually it's the first drink of the night." Luke frowned staring at the glass.

"You shouldn't drink." The man said, Din was already hating him.

"I hardly took a sip of it, look." He raised the glass showing it to Biggs.

"You know I don't like it when you drink, are you doing this on purpose?" Din snapped his head to look at the man, alright, now he was furious.

"Din, can you take my drink? It's yours now." Luke looked so tiny and pale now, even tinier than before. Din nodded taking the glass from Luke. "I'll see you around, okay?" He said as the other man was taking him away from Din, Din's heart broke in pieces as the man, Biggs, winked at him with a smile on his face. How could someone so good and pure as Luke date some bastard as this man? He suppressed the urge to follow them and give the man what he deserved.

Din was feeling miserable, convincing himself that he shouldn't be at that party the moment Leia found him "Dance with me, Din." She didn't give him a chance.

When they were dancing Din couldn't wait any longer and asked her about Biggs.

"Oh, Luke's been dating him for like two months now, he's older than us, so he's on Coruscant most of the time, he's training as a pilot for The Republic."

"How older?"

"Three years." Leia caressed the back of Din's neck. Din's body tensed. "Luke had a crush on him since he was twelve. I don't know why." She shrugged. "He's not my type I guess."

"So Luke's in love with him?" Din's voice cracked a little.

"I hope not. He deserves something better." Din nodded. She rested her face on Din's chest "You smell nice, Din." Din didn't know how to politely ask her to not get to tactile on him.

"Is Luke coming back?" He asked under his breath, Leia moved her head to stare into Din's eyes, she narrowed her eyes and then she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh!"

"What?" Din asked nervously.

"I didn't notice, Din. I'm sorry." She started pulling apart from him.

"What?"

She smiled and shook her head. "I'm leaving you alone." She fondly smiled at him.

Well, fuck.

Din needed some air, if Luke's sister could tell he was all smitten with Luke then Luke could too. Gods, no. He walked through the partygoers and made it to the gardens, the fresh air hitting on his face viciously. He opened his eyes when he heard whimpers. He couldn't believe his eyes, it was Luke, sitting on the grass hiding his face behind his knees and arms. Something ignited inside his body as he ran to Luke's side kneeling before him "Luke, what is it? Luke? Please."

Luke moved his head and looked at Din, his blue eyes brighter than before as his cheeks were covered in tears "Di-Din, please, leave me alone." He closed his eyes shaking his head "I don't want you to see me like this."

Din had a suspicion and he looked around to find the scumbag that Luke called boyfriend. "It's about Biggs?" Din asked staring into Luke's eyes again. Luke nodded, his baby face looking so sad. "Okay, just, if I can help you, just tell me, yes?"

"He-he" Luke shivered sobbing "He said I was a kid and that he was wasting his time with me. He dumped me! Because I said no, Din, because I wasn't ready."

Din frowned hoping Luke wasn't talking about what he thought he was talking. So he just nodded.

"He said that he deserved it, being my first and took me to a bedroom, I asked him to wait for me, that I wasn't sure and he started yelling at me, oh Din! I'm so scared!" Din could feel his blood boiling and his heart thumping in his ears. He reached out to hold Luke but he waited giving Luke time to move away, but Luke threw himself over Din holding him tight, grabbing his jacket in his fists, crying out loud. Din felt his throat tightening, sadness leaking from him, blinking back tears.

"I'm here Luke, just let it out, let it out." He rocked Luke in his arms, he wanted to ease his pain, to hold Luke until the last tear rolled over his pink cheek.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Luke composed himself. That was when Luke moved his head to look into Din's eyes, he sighed as Din moved his hand to wipe the tears away from his face. Luke closed his eyes, he looked like he was relishing the tenderness of Din's fingers.

"You're really fast, Skywalker." A voice said and both startled pulling apart from each other.

"What?" Luke asked staring at the guy in front of them. Din didn't know who this guy was, but Luke seemed to know him well.

"First Biggs and now the hottie in leather jacket." Luke stood up.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked him.

"Oh, you know, you riding Biggs for the first time, he said that you're really easy." Luke gasped as Din approached the guy.

"Where's Biggs?" Din's voice was rough.

"He's inside the house, man." Din rushed inside the house while a desperate Luke followed him.

"Come back, Din, please! Don't!" He yelled but Din didn't listen to him. He could only feel anger, he wanted to kick the shit out of the man.

Until he found him.

"Biggs, what do you think you're doing, huh?" Din asked him, whit both hands on his hips looking broader than he really was.

"What's your problem, kid?" Biggs laughed at him and then he saw Luke behind Din "Oh, little baby needs a bodyguard? I get it." He chuckled.

"You take back what you said about Luke, or..."

"Or what kid?" Din clenched his fists. "Yeah, I thought that." He looked Luke up and down "I don't know why are you trying to impress the princess, he's not gonna give it to you, not even give you head." Din saw red and he threw himself over the man, they both got into a fistfight.

Luke was desperate "Please help me stop them!" As he was trying to reach for Din "Din! Din!" Din was strong, but he still was a seventeen years old boy and Biggs was older and meaner. Biggs kicked Din in the stomach and took that as an opportunity to punch him in the face, that was when Luke held Din from behind and as Biggs was going after them Paz tackled the man, pinning him on the floor by pressing his right knee on his torso. Paz was big and heavy for a seventeen years old boy, Biggs couldn't escape from his grip.

"You touch my brother or the twink again and I snap your back like a popsicle stick."

Cara helped Paz to haul the man to his feet "Get the fuck out of my house, whoever you are!"

Din was sitting on the floor gasping, Luke took his face with both hands, kneeling between his thighs, staring at the cut on his cheek "Din, Din, I'm sorry." He started crying again. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Din's, Din sighed and shivered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Luke, the guy had it coming." He smiled relishing Luke's smell, and how soft and warm the boy felt against his skin.

"Thank you" Luke said staring into his eyes as he kissed him softly on his cheek.

Din took a deep breath feeling his heart melting as Leia took Luke from behind, pulling his brother apart from Din in the process "Luke! Oh Luke!" She hugged her brother and Din didn't notice that Paz was helping him to get on his feet.

"The party's over, vod." He huffed a laugh "My hero!" Din groaned.

He didn't say goodbye to Luke, he didn't find him. He was walking home with Paz by his side. They didn't say a word for a while. When they got home Din stared at Paz and asked "Did you call Luke a twink?"

Paz laughed "Yeah." He shrugged. Din covered his eyes with one hand and laughed too. "Goodnight, my knight in shiny armour."

Din closed the door behind him. The night air was chill and smelled like millaflower. It warmed his heart. He smiled thinking of the angel he met that night. Luke, he thought, my millaflower.

#dinluke #dinluke fanfiction #din djarin #luke skywalker #stand by me fanfic #skydalorian

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certified-anakinfucker · 2 years

Text

Rules: Copy and paste these questions and make your own post, please do not add onto this one, it’ll get too long too fast. Mahalo. Then tag some of your friends to let them know you’d like to hear more about their ocs! (original by @/queen-breha-organa and I was tagged nine different times so ha)

——— yall are gonna love this one

Name: Anakin Skywalker

Pronouns: he/him

Nickname: Ani, Daar'Ani (Brother Ani; Togruti), 'Kinnie, Insufferable Pain In The/My Ass, Dipshit, Skywalker, Skiirunner, Bro, Kiddo, K'et (son; Cheunh)

One Word To Sum Them Up: Extremely

Noun to Describe Them: Pride

Temperament: Anakin can be very headstrong and more stubborn than a bantha, but it's safe to say he puts his heart into everything he does. He's a very excitable and loving guy, always looking to make more friends to drag into his antics.

MBTI Type: ENFP - The Champion

Enneagram Type: 3 - Competitive Achiever

Other’s First Impression of Them: "Is this dude for real? Or is he fucking stupid?" / He can come off as that over-excited puppy, or that hunt-trained grown ass dog.

General Likes: LOVES spending time with other people, getting to learn from others, showing off, having time to unwind and be obnoxious just a little bit, starfighters, thrill of the chase, friends :)

General Dislikes: Strict order, strict rules, lectures (sometimes), thoughtless chaos, Palpatine., loneliness, denial, motherfucking Ventress, Grievous, this entire war

Romantic Status: Depends; he's either married, fucking, or single.

Love Interest (s): Generally depends on au; sometimes he's with Padmé (albeit under different initial circumstances) or I'm undecided.

Good Friend (s): [Canon] Obi-wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano , Dama Montalvo, Tiplee, Tiplar, Finn Ertay, Barriss Offee, Rachi Sitra, Serra Keto, Varrom Selon; [OCs] Omura Vane, Jicelli Molidero, Aster Biando (@pentothestars), Chandrika Banshara (@/pentothestars), Nathan and Grace Warren (@keys-to-the-stars), Losnook Kuri, Master Mizza'lat'ano and Knight Mizza'ohuwa'langu, Ceres Fauna (@penguinkiwi), Ouro Kronii), Nanashi Mumei

Enemy (s): Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Ventress, Grievous, Every Kaminoan Ever, that one guy who spilled his Space Horchata this one time, probably more people he's forgotten

Hobbies: Avoiding meditation, avoiding saber practice, sparring with his crechemates and losing, being adoringly insufferable, taking on scores of battledroids because one of them said something mean to one of his clones, fistfighting depression

Songs They Relate To: Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Fictional Characters Similar To Their Personality: bestie you're gonna laugh,

Fun Fact: Anakin is apart of a creche group I like to call "Calamity Creche", comprised of highly-adept beings that were pretty much spawned in by the Force to answer for a long-standing upset in the balance. Members of this creche group include Jicelli Molidero, Aster Biando, Chandrika Banshara, Omura Vane, Nathan and Grace Warren, Losnook Kuri, Tacar Anulig, Serra Keto, Tacar Anulig, Varrom Selon, Ceres Fauna, Ouro Kronii, and Nanashi Mumei!

Free Space/Ramble: - The design I use for Anakin is @nibeul's redesign! - Anakin, now that he's situated in a creche group, is now the middle child who can and will get away with everything. Not that he isn't noticed, but most people don't bother stopping him! - Anakin is stupidly afraid of spiders and Will call the Temple Guard at ass o'clock in the morning to come kill it. - He runs hotter than a furnace, which was hilarious considering his master is Chiss. - Anakin is twice as strong in the Force as Grandmaster Yoda. The only thing that stopped him from curbstomping Yoda was Master Mizza'lat'ano asking him very nicely not to.

Tags: @penguinkiwi, @milfplo-koon, @sith-lord, @purgetrooperfox, @amikoroyaiart, @arcjesse, @friedennic, @shiniest-captain, @jawajawas, @mysteryhacked, anyone else >:)

#cheeri's ocs #technically i stole him #he belongs to me #anakin is someone that can be so personal yknow

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apriki · 4 years

Text

Every Argument About Star Wars Since 2015

We Need to Talk About Kylo

Kylo Ren never did a thing wrong in his life

Kylo Ren is a poster boy for the alt-right

Kylo’s narrative is about abuse

Kylo’s narrative is about how society offers constant concessions for straight white men

Kylo Ren is going to be redeemed

I will murder my own cat if Kylo Ren gets redeemed

His name is Ben Solo and you will use it

Why are you calling him Ben Solo like it's a pet name

Adam Driver is beautiful

Adam Driver is like one of the gargoyles from the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Han and Leia were bad parents

Han and Leia were amazing parents. Did you ever consider that Ben Solo had bad vibes? Or was simply unpleasant to be around?

Kylo overreacted to his uncle trying to murder him

Kylo’s choices were his own and he joined the space fascists so fuck you

I hate the mask

Kylo Ren is Aldi brand Darth Vader

Kylo Ren was made for fanboys

Kylo Ren was made for fangirls

The crossguard lightsaber is stupid

Kylo Ren is the villain and you can’t like the villain

Have you watched Star Wars?

Kylo killed Han Solo so he can’t be redeemed

Well Vader killed Obi Wan and he was redeemed

Yeah but I was emotionally attached to Han Solo so fuck you

Adam Driver is 6′3′

Ship Wars

Poe and Finn belong together

Finn and Rose belong together

Finn and the new girl belong together

Finn and Rey belong together

Rey is a lesbian

Poe is gay

Rose hitting Finn over the head was abuse

Kylo and Hux are in love

Keri Russell’s character was shoehorned in to stop Poe and Finn’s love story

Trio, Trio, Trio

Rey/Finn/Kylo is the true sequel trio

Rey/Finn/Poe is the true sequel trio

Poe was meant to be killed off

Kylo/Hux/Phasma is the true sequel trio

Just... Reylo

Reylo is abusive

Reylo can’t be abusive because they’re not in an established relationship

Kylo violated Rey’s mind in the interrogation scene

Rey violated Kylo’s mind right back

Lucasfilm isn’t brave enough to do Reylo

Lucasfilm isn’t stupid enough to do Reylo

Reylo are brother and sister

Reylo are cousins

Reylo is twilight fanfiction

Reylo is phantom of the opera fanfiction

Rian Johnson has a Reylo Agenda

Women who like Reylo are endorsing violent toxic relationships

Women who like Reylo were right all along

Reylo is the best Star Wars love story

I’ll end a friendship over Reylo

DNRey

Rey is a Skywalker

Rey is a Solo

Rey is a Kenobi

Rey is nobody

Rey is a Knight of Ren

Sheev Palps fucks

Rey’s father is Darth Maul

Rey’s father is Jar Jar Binks

Rey’s mother is Keri Russell

Rey’s mother is the lady from Rogue One

Rey’s mother is Daenerys Targaryen from Solo

Any brunette white woman in Star Wars is Rey’s mother

There are only brunette white women in Star Wars

Rey is a miracle messiah baby like Anakin

Don’t be stupid, girls can’t have magic powers out of nowhere

But think of the Children!

Rey is positive representation for young girls

Why does she just have to be representation for girls

Reylo is bad representation for young girls

Everything in Star Wars has to have a moral core because it is made for children

Rey is a Mary Sue

If Luke can magically destroy the death star in a one in a million shot with little to no training, Rey can use a fucking lightsaber

The Jar Jar Saga

Don’t talk about the fucking prequels

Anakin murdered a bunch of kids but he’s still better than Kylo Ren

Anakin force choked his wife you ghoul

The Franchise Awakens

The Force Awakens was good fun

The Force Awakens was nostalgia pandering bullshit

The Last Brain Cell

The Last Jedi is the greatest blockbuster in the last twenty years

The Last Jedi was SJW pandering bullshit

The Canto Bight storyline was an important anticapitalist plot that showed how no one can be neutral in war

The Canto Bight storyline was a waste of time

Space Monaco pretty

You can’t have an anticapitalist storyline in a Disney film

The kid with the broom is the future of Star Wars

I don’t get the purpose of the kid with the broom

Is the kid with the broom a Skywalker now?

ForceSkype is stupid

ForceSkype is abusive. Kylo didn’t ask if he could force connect to Rey’s mind

Poe was right

Admiral Holdo was right

Leia can’t fucking fly in space

You can’t say that Leia cannot theoretically fly in space

Old Man Luke is Not My Luke

Old Man Luke is a logical progression of Original Luke and you’re just angry about it because you’re getting old too

Rose is the best new addition to Star Wars

Rose is the worst new addition to Star Wars

Why did they change Rey’s space buns?

Are you seriously complaining about Rey’s space buns

I hate the porgs

The Rise of Skywalker

D̸͓͕͔̠̿̈̿̕͝Ö̵̟̰͖́Ṉ̴̾'̷̣͙̇̍̍̚T̸̬͑̓ ̸͙̤̳͕̆̄̎͘T̴̨̖̥̚͝͝ͅA̵̛̲̩͘ͅL̵̨̲̫̲̚K̷̛͚͔̐̌̕ ̸̣͚̈́̐T̸̫̠͕̞̝͗̓̿͝O̸͈̱̮̦̹̍͘ ̵͉̣̤͆͛́Ḿ̶̢̡̡͓͈̅̅́̉Ë̶͎͇̱̌̓̑̆ ̷̹̙̾Ă̶̠B̷̡̫̩͋̋Ȍ̴̦̦̪͈̓̋Ȕ̶̬̤͎̹̎̅T̸̢͖͉̬̬͗̄̑̈́͝ ̸̨͓̜̝͒ͅR̵̡̯̖̲͍̾͗͛͆Į̴͇̺͍̰̓Ş̶̢͓̦̂̉̎É̴̪͙͉̩͒̈̄͐ͅ ̷͈̹͐̏͊̕͘O̷̡͕̜͕̒̚͠ͅF̸̡͇̣͇̖̔̿͗ ̴͚͚͓̗̍ͅŠ̶͍͚̬͈̾̚̕͝Ḳ̴̐͛Y̵̛̠͉̼̻̿͂̈́̈W̴͕̄͘A̴͈̹͉̞͉͐L̶̲̓̒́̅͝K̷͈̒Ḙ̸̛̪̎̓̀̊R̶̯̆̍̈́

Droids?

Why did C-3PO have a red arm

I can’t believe they shelved R2D2 for BB-8 so they could sell toys

Do droids have rights?

Droids are sentient and represent a slave class in the Star Wars universe

Droids have free will and are choosing to help humans

How does everyone understand droid beeps?

How Does Everyone Speak Wookie?

Is Wookie the lingua franca of the galaxy

Like Boats Beating Back Into the Past

Force Awakens was too nostalgic

The Last Jedi wasn’t nostalgic at all and it ruined what I loved about Star Wars when I was a bébé

The Rise of Skywalker was too nostalgic

Star Wars shouldn’t be nostalgic

Star Wars needs to be nostalgic but not too much but just enough

The sequels are about the original trio

The sequels shouldn’t be about the original trio

Cassian Andor should Call Me

Rogue One was amazing

Rogue One was terrible

Rogue One is the only good Star Wars movie

That Vader scene was dope

Yeah, the Vader scene was pretty dope

Why is there only one woman in Rogue One

Why do Star Wars movies always look radically different from their trailers?

Is That Ansel Elgort?

Fuck Solo

Darth Maul, though

The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian will save Star Wars

i hate Disney+

But... Baby Yoda... Capitalism won again

I don’t think it’s always Pedro Pascal under the mask

I’ve devised a system of body language interpretation to figure out when it is Pedro Pascal under the mask

Baby Yoda is a balm for my soul

If the Mandalorian is a Western, Baby Yoda is a native child that has been stolen

Don’t call it Baby Yoda. We do not know its species and Yoda died decades ago

Baby Yoda

Everyone Ruined Star Wars

Rian Johnson ruined Star Wars

JJ Abrams ruined Star Wars

Chris Terrio ruined Star Wars

Kathleen Kennedy ruined Star Wars

The Disney machine ruined Star Wars

George Lucas ruined Star Wars

Star Wars ruined the internet

Star Wars ruined pop culture

Maybe Star Wars was always bad?

#star wars #*

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twilightofthe · 4 years

Note

Tell me ALL your SW faves

Aaaaaa thank you! This took a while cuz this got long, lol sorry! Aight, so here’s ALL my SW faves for this ask prompt list!

FAVE MOVIE: Revenge of the Sith. 10000%. It just has everything! You get to see the Obikin relationship in all its glory, first and foremost, how much those two loved each other more than anything and knew each other better than anyone, and just how much they genuinely got along and then we got our hearts broken watching them have to fight after Anakin made his Goof Of The Millennium and just oooooof all the feels about my boys! Seeing Padmé and just loving her so gotdang much for being strong and wanting the best life for everyone, all while she was so scared and had so little support from anyone, and just couldn’t do it in the end. Seeing the end of the Republic, how after a thousand years, just, *poof*, just like that in like two days (yes, I know Sidious was planning it for over a decade but still), the horrific fascination on how Sidious was able to do that. Just the brilliance of Sheev’s character, how you despise him, but how brilliantly everything was pulled off. The angst of Order 66, how especially after TCW you love these characters SO MUCH and then you gotta watch them DIE HORRIBLY BY THOSE THEY TRUSTED, THOSE WHO NEVER HAD A CHOICE EITHER. Did I mention feeling so freaking bad for Obi Wan and his Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day??? Because I really do, he’s so good and kind and we see his life fall apart and ugh I love him. And y’all, watching Anakin Skywalker fall from grace like the brightest angel he was, you hate him for what he did, but you still can’t help but love him and cry for him and his loss because he was so good, and he did not deserve all this to happen to him but he did it to HIMSELF AAAAGGHHHH. Also, Obes and Ani were at peak prettiness this movie!! Just asdfkjglkdskajsrlk best movie love so diggity dang much

FAVE PAIRING: Oh, how EVER will I choose– Obikin. It’s Obikin, all the way, no contest. I know I’ve yelled about it a million and one times so I’ll save y’all the rant on how much I adore these disasters and their relationship and how I think they’re goddamn soulmates and the most interesting dynamic in the entire Saga. I ship them romantically and platonically and just everything, they’re so fucking important to one another and that’s why it hurts so much to watch them fall apart, and that’s why I’m so incredibly happy that they get to canONICALLY SPEND THEIR ENTIRE AFTERLIFE TOGETHER BECAUSE FORCE GHOSTS HELL YEAH. If I had to pick just secondary fave romantic and platonic relationships, hmmmm that’s hard. BUT, I’m gonna have to go with Kanera for romantic; SWR was what got me back into Star Wars and one of my favorite parts of it was watching Kanan and Hera, how much I loved them separately, but just how much they were a team together and I love them and I was unbelievably upset when Jedi Night happened (and I still have a rant about how animated Star Wars kills off their romantic couples in the exact same manner, pls ask me about how TCW’s The Lawless and Rebels’ Jedi Night had basically all of the same plot points that ended in killing off a romantic lead). For other fave platonic relationship, gonna have to go with Luke/Han/Leia BROT3 (separate from Hanleia as a romance, which is probs my 3rd fave). These disasters were the original Golden Trio, they saved the galaxy together all while yelling dramatically and having each other’s backs to the bitter end (or, at least ‘till the end of ROTJ lol) and I just love them as a team so dang much

FAVE TV SHOW EPISODE: Okay, since there are four TV shows, it’s only fair for me to pick one (or more don’t judge me) from each! Let’s see, from The Clone Wars, my fave eps have to be the entire Mortis trilogy arc in S3 because Obes/Ani/Snips family dynamic, Force Shenanigans, BEAUTIFUL scene designs, Anakin angst, just so many good things oof, and also Dooku Captured from S1, which I just adore because Obikin snark, annoying Grandpa Dooku, Hondo Fucking Ohnaka making everyone look so bad at their jobs, I just love it agh. Whoops that was technically four faves, so gotta do four for Rebels too! Gonna go wiiiiith World Between Worlds from S4 for Badass Ahsoka Tano, Ezra being brave and talented, Sheev being Absolutely Ridiculous, and just the overall Force Shenanigans cuz canon time travel y’all; The Lost Commanders from S2 because Rex is awesome, Kanan angst, and really good Kanan and Ezra bonding and Jedi awesomeness, Fire Across the Galaxy from S1 because of Ghost fam dynamics, Kanan angst, more Kanan and Ezra bonding, and just good stuff, and Twilight of the Apprentice in S2 (lol what about my username?) for being creepy and cool and maKING ME CRY ANAKIN YOU STUPID THRICE COOKED TOILET SEAT LEAVE AHSOKA ALONE. *cough* Ok, fine, I’ll stick with only one ep for the other two series. For Resistance, gonna have to go with the latest ep, actually! We get to see Kaz being clever and caring about his fam on the Colossus, really cool designs for Aeos and its people, Tam angst, and just everyone shining! For The Mandalorian, it’s gotta be the finale, Redemption, we get Din name, Armorer kicking everyones asses and me loving it, BABY YODA DOING THE HAND WAVE, Din getting over his issues with droids and connecting with IG only for IG to FUCKING DIE, DIN AND BABY YODA BEING AN OFFICIAL CLAN OF TWO, Taika just knocking this whole episode out of the park with the funny scouttroopers at the beginning who still deserved the ass-whooping they got for fucking murdering Kuiil and hiTTING BABY YODA YOU SLIMY FUCKNUGGETS–

FAVE CHARACTER: Alright, look, I can narrow it down to FIVE and that is IT. I just love too many Star Wars characters, I can’t go lower than top five! Ok, so my four favorites are Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa, Kanan Jarrus, and Finn Skywalker-Dameron-Tico (i SAID what i SAID.) AIGHT so for starters, a lot of my favorite characters in different franchises fall under various archetypes I have for faves. Obi Wan fits one of my more popular ones: “Old, reluctant and more than slightly-questionable parental badass with a mysterious past that makes you love them all the more when you realize just how beautiful and tragic and deserving-better they were when that past is revealed”. I latched onto this dude from the start when I just liked the OT (tho Leia was always my fave lol), and I wanted to know about him, and then when I finally started getting into the PT and TCW, it was just a steady stream of “oh no he’s hOT?” “oh no he’s sAD?” “oh no he’s nICE?!? REALLY FUCKING NICE AND A BIT OF A MESS HELP” and then I just totally latched on because he’s hypercompetent at literally everything and looks damn good doing it and boy do I have a thing for competence, charming as all hell and goes through so much and comes out strong despite the fact that fate hates his fucking guts and tries to destroy his life constantly and guys he tries so hard and he’s kind of messy sometimes and a bit of a dick and I love him all the more for it because he’s trying, none of that do-or-do-not shit, he is doing his damn best and deserves happiness and not Anakin tearing him apart. SPEAKING OF SAND MAN. Ugh, so I love Anakin to fucking death and that makes me REALLY MAD ABOUT IT BECAUSE HE MAKES EVERYONE ELSE I LIKE SAD. So I love Anakin regardless because he’s not your typical protagonist. He’s fucking brilliant, hot when he fights, is amazing at fighting and flying and building stuff and there’s that competence thing for me again, oh boy! He’s funny and kind and he cares. And somehow, this bitch manages to have the two most beautiful, amazing people in the galaxy in love with him and willing to do basically anything for him like the fuck?!? Jealous much??!?!?!?! I am!!!! He’s so fucking bright and it’s impossible to look away. He’s also a dorky, messy disaster who’s not good with people or feelings or emotions and he panics over stuff and doesn’t know self-control and is kinda really bad at his job a lot and pushes away the people who care about him and screws up literally all the fucking time and he always feels like he’s drowning and alone and I get to watch him crash and burn under the weight of it all. Basically, minus the anger issues and the child murder and the murder in general, I kinda relate a lot to Anakin. I feel like a self-hating mess who doesn’t know how to control my ow head and the world hates me a lot too. I can project my mental issues onto him, enjoy the good parts of him, live vicariously through the things he does that I can’t like be loved by pretty people and be hot and athletic and smart, and then when he crashes I can side-eye and remember that at least someone’s doing worse than me lol. So yea, I love this messy boi to death and he’s the one I get the best characterization reviews on, so I guess we have an understanding. Leia I loved since as a kid. I’d want to be her, brave, talented, smart, strong as hell and snarky to boot. I realize that Leia fits another fave character archetype of mine: “Powerful young adult raised for greatness, did not ask for all the horrible shit that’s happened to them, highkey wants a break and for the bad guys to just roll over and die, is generally clever, hypercompetent, and 100% done with everyone else’s shit, overdramatic as all hell and enjoys insulting people”. Her and Han were my first Star Wars ship and she just always made me happy seeing her kick names and take ass. She’s gone through almost as much hell or maybe more so than Obi Wan, she also keeps getting back up and fighting, she deserved SO MUCH BETTER than what the Sequel Trilogy gave her and you may quote me on that. She’s also gorgeous and I wanted to wear all of her clothes (bikini not included). I also love her relationship with Luke and I am so goddam happy it is now canon that Leia Organa did Jedi training and can use a lightsaber!!! She has a lightsaber!!!!!!!!!! Ugh oof I love her. Kanan fills the similar “mentor” archetype as Obi Wan does, but with a smidge of youth because he’s younger when he gets dropped into this role. He’s more of a punk, more of a mess, and oof. Basically I’ve said it a zillion times how Rebels resparked my love of Star Wars, but really, it was Kanan on the screen that did it. It happened when the Rebels season 3 premiere eps ended up on the TV and I saw it and I thought in order 1. holy shit that Maul fucker’s actually alive? and 2. Oh no sad blind Jedi man! He’s cool and mysterious and I want to know why he’s sad and who made him sad and also want to give him a hug!!! He was my fave character all throughout Rebels and his training dynamic with Ezra, struggling to help this kid all while flying by the seat of his pants because he had Issues and no clue what he was doing and no support and ugh, he was smart and brave and I’m so sad he’s dead and yea. Finn!!!! Last but not least!!!! He was my favorite character from The Force Awakens. People have said it before, but he was just so new, a rebel Stormtrooper stolen and brainwashed at birth, finding the good guys and fighting to do the right thing! Possibly Force Sensitive! Super duper cute!!! Funny and kind, dammit, when not many other people in the galaxy were!!!!!!!! I was so, so sure Finn was gonna be a Jedi along with Rey at some point, that might have been my biggest letdown when I saw TLJ, but ugh I just loved his enthusiasm and his war within himself, ultimately loving his friends and trying to do what was right at the risk to his own safety, even though that was why he ran scared in the first place!!!!! I shipped him with Rey and with Poe and now I am NOT above the post TROS Jedistormpilot shipping!!!!! Finn was just always the most interesting part of the Sequel Trilogy for me and I personally feel like they could have done more with his character.

FAVE ACTOR/ACTRESS: Aight, so I try my best not to “stan” anyone famous because literally no one is perfect and everyone’s done something problematic at some point and if I dare say I like a famous figure, someone’s gonna find something about them and come after me all “OMG THIS PERSON DID/SAID/IS X YOU MONSTER GO DIE!!11!!1″. In terms of performance, I think all the actors in Star Wars did a lovely job and I’m happy with all of them! If I had to crush on any, it would probs be Ewan McGregor, John Boyega, or Diego Luna cuz, uh, they hot. If I had to pick one I liked most, it would honestly probs be Carrie Fisher. Maybe that’s just partially from missing her now that she’s gone, but I really admire her advocacy and transparence for mental health, and she just seemed like such a funny, kind, strong person.

FAVE PLANET: Aight, this is HARD and I refuse to only pick one planet! Ok, gonna start off with Coruscant because an endless city planet made up of lights is amazingly gorgeous and it has a Jedi Temple stacked on top of a Sith Temple and is just so cool aaaaa. Also love Felucia just for being so bright and colorful and pretty. Mortis for being just as weirdly gorgeous and also Weird Force Shit. Lothal for the beautiful mountains, the wolves, and the fucking lightspeed center of the planet passage what, Dathomir is delightfully creepy to look at, Crait is really cool with the salt and the red and the ice foxes, Kashyyyk because Wookiees and it’s pretty and I love their treehouses. Basically if it makes me clap my dumb monkey hands and go “oooh pretty!”, I love it. The more “not like Earth” it is, the more I love it.

FAVE SPECIES: Hmmmmm, this is a tough one……. There’s just so many cool-looking species that we know so little about, ya know? I wanna say either Togrutas or Wookiees. Togrutas just because the character design is incredible and so fun to work with and also I love Ahsoka, and Wookiees because they have such an interesting culture and backstory and also I want to give Chewbacca a hug.

FAVE CONCEPT: Uhhh, not quite sure I get the question; you mean like just story concept in general? If that’s it, I’m gonna have to go with just the whole concept of the Force and the Jedi in general. I mean George, George my man, what the fuck? How the hell did you come up with this?!? Mystical psychic space wizards with magic abilities to connect with and use the sentient godlike life force that combined the entire galaxy together. Oh and also they have COLORFUL GLOWING LASER SWORDS?!?!? It’s honestly one of the most creative things I’ve seen in popular culture, and that makes me sad that Star Wars now seems to be trying to separate itself from what I think is its most interesting quality because “ugh not EVERYTHING should be about the Jedi guys!”, when like, y’all, without the Jedi, the entire SW universe is basically just another military scifi war story…… Just my opinion tho.

FAVE SHIP: Ok, since pairing was already up there, I assume this means actual ship? Well, uh, gonna have to be square with y’all, I’m a bad Star Wars fan for this part; I’ve never been the one to memorize ship names and designs and know the exact make and model number of some fancy ship, I’m real bad at that lol. I’ll say my favorite ship is the Ghost. Hera flies it and the Rebels Fam lives on it and it’s super cool and it makes me happy!

FAVE WEAPON: LIGHTSABER. LIGHTSABER LIGHTSABER. LIGHTSABERLIGHTSABERLIGHTSABERLIGHTSABERLIGHTSABER. Y’all, c’mon, what did you think I was gonna pick? xD Lizard brain want glowy shiny colorful big stick that goes whoosh!

FAVE BACKGROUND EXTRA: Again, not entirely sure what this means, but do you mean fave background character? If so, then it’s a tie between Wilrow Hood and his ice cream machine for the memes, that one clone in TCW who yeets a plate of toast at Cad Bane’s face, or that one background soldier who scoots between Han and Leia arguing in ESB and also Hera and Kanan arguing in Rebels (yes I do headcanon it’s the same guy lol)

FAVE MOMENT/SCENE: This one’s actually pretty easy. Anakin dying in Luke’s arms in ROTJ, and then his ghost showing up to Luke later at the Ewok party. I just care so ridiculously much about stupid Anakin and his stupid story and mistakes, and even before I was a prequels stan and had only seen the OT (and wasn’t a huge Vader fan, believe it or not), some part of me just felt so solemn, so fragile watching this, watching the giant monstrous machine falling apart as he fades away to reveal a weary, tired old human man, and it always made me wonder, what the hell happened to him to turn him into that thing? Seeing that young, beautiful man, basically Luke’s age, showing up as a ghost later, just the fascination, the tender look he shared with Old Ben, just how young he was, that made it all the more mysterious and knowing what I do now, it’s just so much better because my poor, horrible Disaster Man finally did the right thing and he finally found peace and it’s just the only ending I could be happy for Anakin with, And Luke, I always felt so bad for Luke, being so strong, so brave, finally getting his father back for like five damn minutes and then having to lose him again and just hurting for him but also knowing that it was gonna be okay because Luke had more family now, the ghosts, and Han and Leia and Chewie and R2 and 3PO and Lando and everyone.

FAVE KISS: Luke and Leia (HANG ON LET ME SPEAK) forehead kiss in The Last Jedi. I know (this one) isn’t meant as romantic, and I know the question is probs about a romantic one and I know that it’s not even a real mouth kiss. But. That Luke and Leia scene was my favorite part of the entire movie. Again, I was missing Carrie a lot, and ugh, after all these years, after not getting to interact the entire previous movie and not at all during this movie, the ONE scene with Carrie and Mark and the pure emotion of it all just knocked me out of my fucking seat. You could see how connected they were as siblings, how much Leia had missed Luke, how much he had missed her and how sorry he was for leaving, sorry for Ben, sorry for having to leave her again now, Leia knowing Luke was about to die, and just, acceptance. Love and acceptance. It was just a final, tender kiss on the forehead, and it was perfect and yeah. If I do have to pick a romantic lip smooch, it’s probably the Hanleia classic “scoundrel” kiss in Empire Strikes Back. I still remember watching ESB the first time as a KID and being all eeeeeeee are they gonna– YES they kissed they kissed they kissed finally! and that’s enough for me.

FAVE FIGHT: Obi Wan and Anakin on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. WIthout question. It’s brilliantly and precisely choreographed to show the intricate nuances of the Obikin breakup in alllllll of its painful glory. It breaks my heart every time I watch it because every time I watch it I still hope it’s gonna end differently. That Anakin realizes he can’t kill Obi Wan and ditches Sidious and goes back with Obi Wan to save Padmé. That Obi Wan realizes he can’t let Anakin die and saves him from burning and from Sidious and takes him back too. That Obi Wan at least puts Anakin out of his misery which would be godawful painful, but would save him from the horrid life as Vader. That while they’re fighting, a lava monster appears like in the concept art and Vader and Obi Wan have to put aside their differences and fight the thing and remember how much they mean to each other. But ugh, this fight was beautifully choreographed and was originally supposed to be a MULTI-MINUTE SINGLE SHOT WHAT THE HELL??? Oooof Hayden and Ewan did such an amazing job and the whole thing just rips my heart out every time in the bestworst way possible

FAVE LINE OF DIALOGUE: Now THIS is hard, I’m not the best at picking favorite lines. Hmmm, this is HARD. Let me think. Gahhhh, it’s hard because I have so many lines I like and I can’t even just narrow down a couple!!! Ultimately, it’s probably gonna be Yoda’s monologue from Empire Strikes Back: “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter…” Just that entire line saying how basically all of us are more than the sum of our parts, that everyone is their own sparkling light made of stardust, I loved it as a kid and I love it now.

FAVE BOOK/COMIC: Answered here

FAVE HERO: Gonna go with Obi Wan! I already rambled about why I love him, but y’all……. I love him.

FAVE VILLAIN: Anakin Skywalker/Darth McFucking Vader. I loved him when he was a hero and the silly poor sad boy makes me sad when I see him as a villain all while being an overdramatic asshole and it just makes me wanna hit him with a newspaper for ruining his life and everyone else’s I love him.

FAVE OUTFIT: Answered here

FAVE CREATURE: I love Lothcats/Tookas! I just heckin’ love cats and now there’s spACE KITTIES WITH SUPER FOOFY TAILS AND BIG EARS OMG Y’ALL I LOVE THEM I JUST REALLY DO AND I REALLY WANT ONE SO I CAN CUDDLE IT ;_;

WHEW. That was all of the faves, thanks so much for asking me!!! Sorry this took so long to do, this was kinda a hell week haha!

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the-archlich · 4 years

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Clone Wars: The Dathomir Arc

This is one of the biggest arcs we've had in a long time. Not only is it a solid 3 episode story, it's one that actually changes a lot. It really shakes up the status quo of this show and pours on a huge amount of character development for Ventress, something we haven't gotten before. It introduces an interesting new villain (with a bad name) in Savage Opress, and a very interesting character in Mother Talzin.

Things begin with Palpatine skyping Dooku. He's sensed that Ventress is growing very powerful and is suspicious that Dooku is training his own apprentice and will try to replace him. Rule of Two and all that. Dooku insists he's not going to do that, but why would any of us believe that? Palpatine orders him to kill Ventress, which Dooku reluctantly agrees to do.

This does address a question that bothered me when Ventress was first introduced. As far as we knew, the Rule of Two was still a thing; so what exactly was her deal? Given that we've really only seen some limited use of the Force from her, it seems like she was only partially trained - deliberately. Not trained enough to really qualify as a full Sith apprentice, but enough to be useful against Jedi. Sort of a preview of the Inquisitors we'd see under the Empire. And while I don't think the Sith actually care about technicalities, they do care about their own apprentices getting strong enough to kill them before they're ready.

Dooku doesn't do the job himself. When he learns that she's on one of his flagships, he has the rest of the fleet fire on it, hoping to kill her that way along with Obi and Ani. Of course this doesn't work out. He presumes she's killed, but she escapes. She's picked up by some scavengers and takes their ship to her homeworld of Dathomir.

If you've read a lot of Star Wars lore, that name means something to you. As usual I don't know what's canon and what isn't anymore but it's got significant history. It's an isolated world covered in fog, said to be filled with witches.

And witches there are! Ventress arrives and is greeted by others of her kind, including their leader Mother Talzin. To heal her, they perform some kind of magick ritual, during which we see flashbacks to Ventress's past. She was given away as a baby to protect the clan. Her owner was killed by some pirates and she was taken in by a Jedi, who trained her for several years. After her was killed in battle, she lost her shit and went dark. This eventually led her to Dooku, who took her on as an acolyte (their term for those below the level of a true apprentice).

All told, it's a pretty tragic backstory. Up until now we really didn't know anything about Ventress and this really puts her in a new perspective.

Now healed, Ventress is ready to kill Dooku. Mother Talzin uses more dark magic to turn her invisible, along with some other assassins. They catch Dooku sleeping (in his exquisite pajamas) and attack him, but even 3 v 1 and poisoned Dooku is actually really fucking good at this and fights them off.

Talzin doesn't mind that they failed, though. She sees an opportunity in it. So she calls up Dooku and offers him a replacement for Ventress. He takes her up on the offer and comes to visit. Obviously she's going to use his new apprentice as a means to assassinate him.

They talk a little bit about their history. Talzin's group is called the Nightsisters, and evidently they used to have some alliance with the Sith in the past. Of course, she's not willing to pledge allegiance to Dooku, so relations are still a bit strained. But Dooku did her a solid sometime in the past. Talzin brings up Darth Maul, who Dooku only knows by reputation. She offers him someone from Maul's bloodline; given what Maul was capable of, Dooku is in.

There was a time when I would have criticized Dooku for not asking more questions about this. It's suspicious. Right after you betray your apprentice and someone tries to kill you, you get a call from someone you haven't seen in years offering you exactly what you need. That should set off some red flags. But I've seen enough people like Dooku now that while it's stupid of him not to question this more, it's deeply in character. People in those sorts of positions - people born into power, who have had the world handed to them - never question it when they're handed even more. They've always gotten everything they ever wanted, often without even asking. This is normal for them.

We aren't told much about the Nightsisters and their history; Obi-Wan has heard of them (and Mother Talzin) and calls them an ancient order of witches. Dooku indicates they had some past alliance. That's all we're told explicitly. Again I don't know what' s still canon, but as a general statement:

There are Force-wielding traditions outside of the Jedi and Sith. The Force is in all things, and while most need some training, there are individuals so naturally talented that they'll reach out to the Force even without it. Sometimes these individuals are just hermits, or maybe they take an apprentice or two. This sort of thing grows into a local Force-wielding tradition of its own, with its own structure and rules. Traditionally the Jedi leave small groups alone, only involving themselves if they become a problem. The Sith sometimes recruited from among these groups (it's a good place to find potential apprentices) and also tended to ignore them unless they grew too powerful.

A more recent example I can confirm in canon is the Knights of Ren. Ren was the name of an individual who was strong in the Force but didn't have any formal training and followed the path of the dark. He recruited other Force-sensitive people with a similar mindset, forming his little group. While they had some passing similarities to the Sith (both being users of the Dark Side), Ren's traditions and structure were his own. Ben Solo (later Kylo) killed Ren and took control of his group and his name.

The Nightsisters of Dathomir are a similar group. Mother Talzin is obviously a powerful user of the Dark Side, but she exists outside of the Jedi or Sith traditions. If she was more ambitious or more involved in affairs outside of Dathomir maybe she'd warrant being a target for Sidious or Dooku, but if she stays in her lane there's no need for conflict. And she can provide a ready supply of potential apprentices should the need arise, as Ventress and Savage show.

Ventress goes to the part of Dathomir where the men live (because I guess their society is exceptionally gender segregated?) and after putting a bunch of them through violent and deadly trials, chooses the toughest one. Talzin and the Nightsisters use a ritual to make him stronger and more powerful, and more under their control. His name is Savage Opress, because sometimes Star Wars is just dumb.

Talzin presents Dooku with his new slab of beefcake and he's pretty pleased, especially after Savage successfully kills some Jedi. Dooku accepts his present and tells Savage that he does indeed plan to turn against Sidious eventually - because of course he does. That's literally how the whole Sith thing works. We know Sheev doesn't want to play by those rules, but no one should be surprised.

After seeing a video of Savage killing some Jedi, Obi and Ani go to Dathomir to investigate him. This leads them to Talzin and the Nightsisters. Dooku has sent Savage to kidnap the king of Toyderia, and Talzin sends Obi/Ani there as well. Savage fucks up by killing the king instead, so Dooku is pissed and zaps him (his usual method of correction.)

Ventress arrives and attacks Dooku along with Savage. This gives us a pretty good fight scene, although the fights in this show are generally sub-par. (I'll talk about the concept of weight some other time). We've got 3 fighters, 5 blades, and totally different styles. Dooku has his classic, almost courtly style, often with one hand at his side or behind his back. Ventress has a more acrobatic style with two sabers, while Savage is just flailing away with the Darth Maul special (without the technique). What makes this fun is seeing these visually distinct styles of fighting all mashed together. If you removed everything identifying about these characters, you could still tell who was who base don how they're fighting. And that makes for a good fight scene.

The whole fight really breaks down when Savage gets tired of being treated like shit and starts attacking Ventress as well as Dooku. Dooku runs and Ventress pursues, while Savage is left behind and has to deal with Obi and Ani. There is a lot happening.

Savage escapes, but now he's on Dooku's bad side. Obi and Ani get out too. Dooku proves to be too strong for Ventress and she barely gets away. So now there's just a bunch of red-blade assholes running around who all hate each other. And that makes for a fun galaxy. Speaking of...

Savage returns to Dathomir, badly wounded. Talzin tells him that he still has a living brother - Darth Goddamn Maul. She sends Savage off to find him, setting up the storyline that is the reason I started watching this show in the first place years ago.

This is a very good arc. Stories that put a focus on the villains for a bit usually are, because we get to see sides of a story we aren’t usually exposed to. Ventress is a character we knew very little about, and this greatly expands her as a character. Getting a new wildcard in the form of Savage is fun, as is the promise of Darth Maul’s return. And this was good to get Dooku some of his villain credibility back. He’s been rebuilding that lately. If your bad guys never win, they never seem dangerous. So giving him a W helps the show as a whole.

This episode also expands the universe in a a way we haven’t seen any of the TV shows or movies do before. It shows us other traditions of the Force outside of the Jedi and Sith; while those factions are dominant there are others in this world. It’s the sort of thing that really makes you want to know more; and when we get more, we love it. Hell, when I heard Darth Maul was being resurrected for this show, I went back and watched the episodes that were relevant to it, starting with this arc. It was good enough to make me watch a show that I’d previously dismissed.

In terms of character development, plot advancement, and worldbuilding, this is the best arc in Season 3 by a mile. From what I’ve watched this time around, I’d put it just below the Mandalorian arc from season 2. It tells a very good story that expands the world and its characters in compelling ways that make us want to know more; and those promises are more than fulfilled later down the line.

It’s the good shit.

#clone fights #clone wars

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startrailed · 4 years

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*cracks knuckles*

Rewritten Palpatine’s Son AU, HERE WE GO

disclaimer: the Sheev Palpatine mentioned is almost exclusively my own Sheev Palpatine on my multimuse @galaxyofmisguidedstars to maintain consistency. It’s just easier THIS way bc then I’ll not be making assumptions about another person’s muse.

Senator Palpatine first saw Obi-Wan Kenobi waiting for the next transport to Bandomeer, and the sight took him aback. Not because he was knowingly seeing his child for the first time, not because he could sense in the Force his connection to him, and certainly not because he had any compassion for the steely yet wet look in the Jedi Temple reject’s eyes.

This boy he was looking at looked so strikingly like his former fiancé, a fellow Senator from StewJon he had not seen in nearly thirteen and a half years. He had her eyes, her nose, her cheekbones, her freckles, that familiar look he saw on her face the last time he ever saw her...the look she gave him when he demanded the engagement ring back. It had been for the best; if his Master ever found out about this moment of weakness, she surely would’ve been held over his head and eventually killed anyway.

Sheev knew he should leave this boy to go off into the unknown. He had official Senate business to attend to, and he already had an apprentice. In fact, if he did have any care for his beloved’s memory he’d leave this boy well enough alone.

Several hours later, while Obi-Wan Kenobi was asleep in a guest bedroom, Sheev secretly ran a blood test to confirm what he had suspected upon further interactions with the child - this indeed was his son, his own flesh and blood. Started training as a Jedi, and the irony was not lost on him. Even now, fast asleep and still surrounded by sorrow and fear and anger and uncertainty, Sheev knew there was no turning him no matter how much of him was in there. He was strong in the Force, but in the wrong direction.

At least that’s what Sheev told himself when he sat Obi-Wan down the next day and spoke of his mother, how they were drawn together despite their many political differences, how they were engaged to be married but broke it off because Sheev had made political enemies and didn’t want to turn her into a target (a half truth), and how he respected the Jedi (HA) but would never have let Obi-Wan be sent to them if he had known about him.

The Force held its breath as he asked Obi-Wan if he wanted to stay with him. If provided the right stresses and griefs then the former Jedi initiate would easily Fall, irreparably tipping the balance firmly one way. His very destiny had been changed in one small act of selfish compassion already.

An hour later Sheev and his son were on a ship going to Naboo, Sheev’s entire schedule shifted and upturned for the next month (including a very important bill that would help him later in his plans in the long run, but that could be worked around). There would be tutors he would need to hire, clothes to be bought, time spent to weave a protective shield of people with low Force signatures to throw off Plagueis, careful planning to slowly acclimate Obi-Wan to who he truly was without his Jedi learning rebelling against him, backup plans put in place should that fail, altering of records so the home he was taking him to couldn’t be traced back to him (yet)...

...

Obi-Wan Kenobi (he kept his mother’s last name) wasn’t one for politics, but it was the least he could do if it meant keeping his father happy. Politicians irritated him with their two-facedness and groveling. They annoyed him even more after Sheev was elected Chancellor.

But what infuriated him, truly and utterly caused spikes of pure anathema to surge through him, was how stupid and blind most of them were. His fellow senator from Naboo (and former queen) was a close friend and one of the smarter ones, sure, but the vast majority of them were so easily led by the passions and opinions of others. It made Obi-Wan want to do something reckless and potentially dangerous. He was frequently playing a balancing act between doing what he knew was for the betterment of the Galaxy and not interfering with his father’s plans, but the one thing that always swung the pendulum of fate back towards Sheev’s side was how eager many Senators were to accept their Chancellor’s manipulations. It was almost as if they wanted to be subjugated under imperial rule.

Sheev had long ago accepted that Obi-Wan would never be on board with his plans, just as his mother hadn’t been. He could’ve (should’ve) killed him when he grew enough to be a threat, but what he faced instead was like a vast game of chess where the stakes were the Galaxy and everyone around them were chess pieces. Despite knowing it was reckless and dangerous, Sheev indulged him; he had, after all taught Obi-Wan all he knew...it was like playing a game against himself.

Besides, Obi-Wan didn’t do too much damage, all things considered. A few of his more destructive plans were at risk, but Obi-Wan had almost as much antipathy towards the Republic as he did. He just wished Obi-Wan would stop flirting with danger and courting discord during important (yet tedious) dinner parties. His son seemed to always know exactly which buttons to press where in order to make the entire event dissolve into chaos where nothing could get done.

#i'll have other details #but this is the start of it lol #and I need to figure out a name for Obi's mother #v:and in that darkness when I'm blind with what I can't forget (Sheev's Son AU)

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themikeymonster · 7 years

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heyo, i still haven’t been able to write anything, but please have this unfinished snippet inspired by @/likealeafonthewind’s talk months ago about Obi-Wan getting hijacked by the temple and becoming its guardian or smth like that. I didn’t publish it at the time that i wrote it because it was?? idk darker or more upsetting than I really wanted to deal with at the time.

(it’s really not all that dark or upsetting at all, that was just how i felt at the time lol)

without further ado, post-Temple slaughter!Vader and Obi-Wan-of-the-Temple encounter

It's his worst nightmare.

(no it's not, his worst nightmare has come and past and come and past and come and past, in sand and heat and blood and the sick-sweet stench of rot, of blood and flesh gone putrid. In something clawing into the part of him tender and weak, something wretched, like venomous teeth, slimy and sticky, vile fangs sunk into flesh that now fevers and an infection that spreads. Something is wrong. Something is wrong. He's known this, but he hadn't had the words. The worst nightmare comes and passes and comes and passes, a thousand deaths behind his eyelids in darkness and it slips between his fingers.

His worst nightmare has been realized. The reality now proves to be much, much worse.)

"Obi-Wan," he says, and the name scraps through his throat and past his lips like it rips something vital out of him. His hand tightens on the wretched 'saber in his hand. "Obi-Wan. What are you doing here?"

Obi-Wan kneels. He looks strange - or maybe it's Vader that is strange. He can hardly see straight, through the wretched throb of red-and-black-and-red like his heart pumping the poison putrid teeth left when they bit and tore into the core of him. Obi-Wan blurs to his sight - strange and blue and gold around the edges. He kneels on the floor of the Temple. He looks strange and scooped out.

Obi-Wan kneels on the floor of the Temple, facing the grand entrance and the hundreds of stairs that Vader has scaled to reach him. It's the posture of a Jedi facing judgement - or readying himself for battle. His hands are folded on the unlit lightsaber held over his knees, his shoulders slumped, his head bowed and his eyes shut. Vader does not mistake this posture for vulnerability or surrender.

"Darth Vader," Obi-Wan acknowledges. The throbbing red-and-black at the corners of Vader's vision worsen, like tunnel vision and too many blows to the head. He reaches reflexively for the Force, but it's too dark, too strange, and the cool ripple of the Temple has become choppy waves that crash and break against him and make the throbbing worse. He feels like clawing at his chest to rip his own rotting heart out. "If you have come to finish the job laid before you by your master, you won't have an easy time of it."

The Temple security systems, Vader realizes, though it comes as no surprise. He'd known. He'd known. But he'd thought that any Jedi who came close enough would have been slain long before reaching the archives. If he'd thought for one second that Obi-Wan would survive and make his way back, and not only that but storm the Temple and retake it -

(Hadn't he? Oh, he had hoped. He had hoped that Obi-Wan would have sensed something wrong, and would have escaped his soldiers and fled into the wide galaxy to make his living somewhere else. That was what Vader had hoped. Or, too, he had hoped for - )

"My master has sent me to investigate the upheaval at the Temple," Vader says. The words tug only sluggishly from his mouth, a weak pulse of blood from a mortal wound (or he wishes it was, he wishes-).

"Upheaval?" Obi-Wan echoes, delicately skeptical. His brow furrows further. It's a knot of bewilderment and pain that Obi-Wan has ever sought to hide from him, that he recognizes nonetheless, imprinted upon it as he had when only a child. "Surely he understands the cause for that, as do you."

The Temple, quivering and shaking, awful and frightful. Blaster and lightsabers do not spill blood, but over and over and over again, he thought of it staining slowly red. His hands and his feet. Red and black. Sith colors. He painted them on himself.

Righteous, his master reminds him again and again. Traitors. The worse thing is - the worse thing is, it's true. It's true. Sheev is the Chancellor. Mace Windu came to arrest him. And by law they are traitors, they are - they are not the victors this night, and so history does not get rewritten in their favor. They moved against the Grand Chancellor and so they are traitors and so they die.

And Obi-Wan is the most Jedi person that Vader knows. He is here, now, on the ground of his home, salted and burned and desecrated by the bodies of his brethren, the old and the young alike. His family. (Anakin's family.) He he faces their Judge and Executioner, and here he trades words rather than blows with him.

The choppy waves of the Force below the Temple surge and crash, and thrash and heave. It feels more like an angry, wild thing than the peaceful, sluggish swirl of thoughts and feelings that it had been for the last fourteen years. Obi-Wan kneels on the Temple floor in the darkest part of the night in pitch black, and yet there's something of a gold and blue light around him when Vader turns his gaze but slightly away.

I had no choice, he does not say. You'd never understand. I had to save her. I couldn't save my mother so I had to save her in anyway I could. You wouldn't understand, you could never. Even now you stand untempted. Have you ever? Could you ever feel anything -

The saber in his hand snaps and crackles. It sounds wrong, not like any lightsaber Vader has ever heard. Too harsh. Sith blades always sound just ever so slightly off and this one is no different. It casts a red light, that dashes and slaps across the floor with violence, that crawls and scrambles up and over Obi-Wan's knees and hands and arms, up to his chest in a hurry to corrupt the strange blue-gold light that doesn't exist.

It doesn't exist and it does not corrupt. Obi-Wan is blue and gold and red.

He opens his eyes and glances down to regard the Sith blade with only passing interest. His eyes skirt up it and slide over the heavy metal arm, dash up and down the length of Vader's body - measuring him. Disappointed. Finding him wanting. Vader's heart thuds painfully, furious, and his vision throbs. His head throbs. His jaws clench. His entire being reverberates with outrage.

Obi-Wan exhales into the clashing light-not-light and looks away. "I failed you," he says, slowly and with difficulty. "I have been over my memories, back and forth and upside down, and I still do not see what happened to you. How it could have come to this. I didn't see. I still don't see." He inhales, slow and measured, and Vader sees now, how much of a struggle it is for him. When he continues, his words are clipped. Clinical. He asks, "What did your master promise you? Power? Prestige?"

The leather glove of Vader's false hand creaks around the handle of the red bladed 'saber. He wants to dash himself against the waves of the Force, to force them to part, to cut them asunder and bring them under his will. He wants to cut the Jedi's head off and mount it on his wall. (he wants to dash against the floor and shatter into a thousand pieces that can never be put back together again.)

He does not owe the Jedi an answer. He doesn't owe the Jedi anything, not even a painless death.

His mouth opens like a wound. "Padme's life," he says.

Obi-Wan's eyes are blue and gold under the flutter of his lashes. "Padme's life," he repeats, softly. The Sith saber stains his mouth and teeth red. "And does Padme know the price her life came at?"

It stings all the worse because the Jedi is right. "She can never know," he snarls. His boots scrape over the stone floor, but the Jedi's gaze pins him, and the Force thrashes, and his vision is red-and-black-and-red.

"But you do," he continues, soft and relentless. "You placed a price on her life, and you can never change that. How many Jedi is she worth to you, Vader? A hundred? A thousand? A hundred thousand?"

"She's worth more to me than anyone! Everyone," Vader shouts, shaking with it, straining with it, and "Clearly," the Jedi speaks back to him, even still, soft still, and utterly unsurprised. But disappointed, yes. It should have no power over Vader - he is strong, stronger than ever, more than any Jedi - and yet, and yet...

He feels young, and stupid, and foolish. Like he's done something, agreed to something he never should have done, like his temper and his impatience have gotten the better of him yet again. Obi-Wan has always made him feel small and foolish.

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