A Box Full of Memories
So i had this fic idea hit me at 3am as i was feeding my baby.
Basic premise: Obi-Wan has a tonne of keepsakes of Anakin's Padawanship that he was saving to share with Shmi once Anakin reached Knighthood.
In this story Jedi have the option after passing their Trials and before they swear in as Knights to return to their home planet to make sure that swearing in to the Jedi Order as a Knight is truly the path they want to take. Granting them the opportunity to know their birth families before making the monumental commitment of being a Knight of the Jedi Order.
Obviously, Shmi died before Obi-Wan could send Anakin on his pre-Knighting trip. Obi-Wan knew that he couldn't tell or show Anakin the keepsakes, once he hears that Shmi has passed,so its all just sitting in his rooms in several cardboard boxes. Each of the trophies/assignments/keepsakes has a letter from Obi-Wan to Shmi, detailing its importance and personal backstory. Fond notes and recollections of how proud Obi-Wan is of Anakin and his hope to share that pride with Anakin's esteemed mother. (Let's face it, everything 9 year old Anakin knew about his mother has been repeated over and over to Obi-Wan throughout the years, and in between the rose coloured lenses of a young boy's recollections, Obi-Wan finds the shape of an incredible woman who he would feel honoured to know.)
There are two ways the discovery could play out:
The happy version:
During a campaign shared between the 501st and the 212th, early during the 3rd year, Cody gets sick of hearing Anakin's bullshit of how "Obi-Wan never supported or believed in me. He is always holding me back, jealous of my power." (You know, parroting the Palpatine Persuasion.)
And like, Cody is pissed, because Obi is Anakin's No.1 cheerleader, more than the Chancellor, more, even, than his wife, Amidala. Cody knows all about Anakin's illicit victories on the Coruscant lower level racing tracks as a junior padawan, a late night over paperwork Skywalker had incorrectly filed had revealed. Cody knows more about Anakin than he ever wished to know, Obi-Wan won't shut up about him sometimes, but he's a good friend/boyfriend/queer platonic life partner/husband, and listens, because this is Obi's kid.
They return to the Temple and are working on after action reports together in their still shared Master-Padawan apartment and Anakin makes a comment about how Obi-Wan doesn't really care about him except to find fault (or something). And Obi-Wan just looks devastated, Anakin isn't even looking up, just continues looking at his datapad like he hasn't ripped Obi-Wan's heart out of his chest.
Cody has had it. He stalks into Obi-Wan's room and drags out four heavy boxes, directly in front of Anakin, confiscated his datapad, says " Happy reading, you asshole, stop sending my partner into guilt spirals about not caring enough." He pulls Obi-wan out of the apartment. "We're going to Dex's, don't call until you pull your head out of your ass."
Ani, fuming about how misunderstood he is, but ultimately curious opens a box and spots his award for the Junior Padawan Saber Competition and together with it sees a picture of him at age 11, beaming with Obi-Wan smiling, so proud. He hasn't even started reading the attached note yet and he's starting to feel a lump in his throat. Then he spots it ' Dear Shmi.....'
Cue Anakin ugly crying, because even opening the box, he can feel the love and fondnes that saturates the contents. He wipes his face and notices that it's ordered by his age and documented and stored according to the Archival Practise Code as set by Madame Nu, you absolute nerd Obi.
Anakin feels so very touched that Obi-Wan was trying to include his mum even as his galaxy is being rocked. There was undeniable proof that Obi-Wan 'the perfect jedi' Kenobi loved him. It's as he starts reading through the notes that he realises that some of them are dated past his mother's death. It becomes less Obi-Wan talking about his progress and achievements and more him worrying about where the war is taking Anakin.
He finds a letter with his wedding photos on several pieces of filmsi and realises that Obi-Wan has known this whole time about his marriage. The only words of censure on this letter was Obi-Wan asking what he had done to make his padawan no longer trust him and his hurt that his friend Padmè had hidden it from him, marrying his padawan when he was still considered a minor.
Everything he was worried that Obi-Wan felt about him is all wrong. Obi-Wan is proud of him, Obi-Wan loves him. How could his friend, the Chancellor have been so wrong?
From there we'd move into a fix it, there would be repercussions for the various and sundry illegal actions that Anakin has done *cough* Sand People Massacre *cough* with a focus on rehabilitive rather than punitive consequences. Palpatine is revealed to be a fraud and gets offed with a poetic type justice death. Mostly happy endings all around because I'm a sap and want my blorbos happy.
2. The Angsty Version:
I typically do not enjoy riding the angsty mcangst train, but here's an attempt.
Darth Vader is going through the rooms that once belonged to Anakin, setting out to destroy what remained of the weak Jedi and his traitorous former Master. He stalks through the rooms, blocking out the warm memories that filled a place he once called home, destroying the furniture in his towering rage as he goes.
He enters the room of the man who should have loved him, but instead tried to murder him and finds these boxes, clearly labelled "Shmi Skywalker." The unexpected name jolts Vader out of his destructive rage and the small spark of Anakin still residing in his heart is curious and that curiosity consumes him.
He reads through all the little notes, the keepsakes are rifled through (in a quiet part of him, where the small, scared shadow of the child, Ani, resides, he longs to touch the lingering warmth embedded in them with his bare skin, he's so cold).
Through all the letters and stories that denote Anakin's childhood, words of love and pride for a man left to die on lava shores.
He doesn't know whether to rage or repent, the lies of his Master Sideous, had blinded him to the love of a father that he had so desperately craved and now, now it was too late.
He spends his life, a black hole of self-hatred and regret, drifting through the rise of his so-called glorious empire, alone, no wife, no brother/best friend/father. He cannot bring himself to burn and destroy the last evidence that Anakin Skywalker was loved. He was loved wholly and completely for who he was, not how powerful he was.
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Little Big Fan | M. Verstappen
Summary: A normal Tuesday becomes stressful when you lose your daughter in the grocery store, but then you find her with her favourite driver.
Warnings: none just fluff + max being the cutest with children.
Pairing: max x singlemother!reader (platonic ish?)
wc: 1.6k
Series Masterlist
You were strolling through the aisles in the grocery store. One hand pulling the smaller basket behind you while your other hand was held by your daughter, Isabella.
It was a normal Tuesday for your little family of two, shopping with your six year old daughter. Unable to say no whenever she picks up something and looks at you with the cutest pout.
During the ten minutes of shopping, it has happened twice so far. The first time it was a box of two-bite brownies that she was currently obsessed with, and the second time was chocolate chip cookies.
You continued walking through the aisle, sneaking a glance at Isabella every time she pointed at something and said "mama, look"
Everything was going smoothly, until you had to drop Isabella's hand to open the door to the refrigerator to grab yogurt for your little one.
"Bella, which one do you want?" You picked out two flavours that she liked, wanting to let her choose one but as you looked to your side, she wasn't there.
"Isabella?" You did a full 360 turn, in case she was attempting to hide behind you as she tried once before, but she wasn't there. That's when the panic started setting in.
Dragging your basket behind, you walked towards the nearby aisles hoping to find her. "Shit, shit, shit," you muttered under your breath because you couldn't find your little girl anywhere.
You truly felt like the shittiest parent in the world. Losing your child in the grocery store was something you never thought would happen to you, especially as Isabella was always right by your side. Today, you were proven otherwise.
Close to breaking out into a full sprint, you continued looking for her, becoming less and less aware of the people around you. You accidentally bumped into a few people, but you couldn't be bothered to look at them, only muttering an apology as you passed.
You almost skipped your gaze over her, but did a double take when you spotted her familiar glittery clips in brown hair that was the same shade as yours.
"Isabella!" You almost yelled, but thankfully the aisle she was in was nearly empty. Only one other person was present, crouched close to Isabella, who was speaking animatedly with grand hand gestures.
You immediately crouched down next to her, calling her name again and hugging her tightly.
"Mama, look!" Isabella spoke when you pulled away, not understanding the depth of the situation as she pointed to the man she was speaking to.
That's when you looked at him, wondering why Isabella was speaking to him, especially as she wasn't too outgoing. Sure she'd sometimes speak to strangers, but she wasn't the type to run away from you to do so.
You stood up, holding your daughter up on your hip and watched as the man also stood up. "Isabella, angel, what happened?" You were confused as to why she was so excited.
"It's Max! The race car one," Isabella spoke excitedly, and that's when it clicked for you. Due to her father's interest in the sport, it passed on to Isabella and she would ramble on and on about it whenever she'd return from her dad's house.
"Oh," you turned to look at Max, a sheepish smile making its way to your face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even notice her leave my side." Frankly, you weren't sure if you were supposed to apologize but you knew that he was quite famous and possibly didn't want to be bothered.
He shook his head, “no worries, I should apologize for causing this,” he gestured to your daughter’s huge smile, excitedly moving around in your grasp.
He introduced himself to you, only realizing after that Isabella had already told you his name. You chuckled and told him your name, hearing him say it back to you.
“Mama, I told him that daddy and I watch him race,” Isabella told you, and you indulged in the conversation, knowing how much she loved watching Max on tv.
“Did you tell him how you’re a biiig fan?” You watched her nod eagerly, holding her hands far apart and telling Max, “this big!”
He chuckled, not seeming to mind the little girl interrupting his shopping trip. In fact, he was quite surprised when she first approached him, all shy then the outburst came out of nowhere once she confirmed it was Max, the racing driver.
The main reason why Isabella spotted him so easily was because he was in something similar to the blue and red clothes that she sees him wearing on tv, wearing a cap as well.
“And what about you, not a fan?” Max asked you, taking you by surprise as he initiated another conversation. You shrugged, “I don’t really watch but Isabella does when she’s at her dad’s.”
It was a common interest that the father-daughter duo shared, possibly the only one so you didn’t want to take that away from them.
Max nodded, understanding your specific choice of words saying “her dad’s” rather than “my husband” or something similar.
Just for that, knowing that you were a single mother, his appreciation for you doubled. Mainly because he judged you unknowingly when he spoke to Isabella and noticed the lack of any responsible adult around, not knowing that the little girl ran away from her mother.
“Daddy promised to take me to the track one day,” Isabella’s voice snapped him out of his little bubble, one in which he was only looking at you. He had to remind himself that you were only here because your daughter was a fan, not for any other reason.
You sighed internally, not really wanting to tell Max, your daughter’s favourite driver, that your ex had promised Isabella well over a year ago. It was a promise left unfulfilled for a while, and you didn’t have the heart to tell her that it may never be fulfilled.
However, even without words, Max seemed to notice your expression as you didn’t hide it well enough. He was quick to make a decision, and crouched a little lower to be face to face with your daughter. “How about you and your mama come see me at the next race?”
Isabella instantly looked at you with the same pout that always worked on you, but this time you really had to think about it. Your gaze turned to Max, “oh please don’t do what I think you are suggesting.”
Max’s smile only grew, “I am suggesting that I can send you two paddock passes for the next race.”
Your daughter happily bounced in your grasp and she was wiggling around too much for you to hold her still. Placing her down and holding her hand, you thought about Max’s suggestion.
“Do you want to go, angel?” You asked Isabella, already knowing that she would say yes. “Please mama, can we go? please, please, please.”
You chuckled at her excitement, nodding at her and looked at Max, “looks like the decision is made.”
“Good, I will be looking forward to seeing you both,” Max stated, but remembering an important detail, you blushed in embarrassment. “One question,” you started, watching him nod to let you continue, “when is the race?”
“Next weekend. How about I send you tickets for Saturday and Sunday, would that be okay?”
To think he was a famous athlete, you couldn’t believe his kindness. Sure, not all athletes were rude, and you didn’t have any previous experience but it was still surprising.
“Yes, that should be okay. Thank you so much for doing this.” He just shrugged, “it’s not a problem at all.”
Your daughter was getting restless now, already in the grocery store for a while now plus this conversation was going on longer than she thought.
Isabella managed to release her hand from your grasp, but you instantly noticed. A sheepish smile grew on her face and Max could notice the familiarities between mother-daughter. “Stay right here, Bella,” you tried a stern voice, something you weren’t used to, so she knew you were serious.
“Okay mama,” she nodded and walked to the basket you abandoned once you first spotted Isabella.
Max said your name, bringing your attention back to him. “She’s cute, how old is she?” He asked, watching Isabella play with the items in the basket.
“She’s the cutest six year old.” You two watched her with interest, but while your gaze was still on your daughter, Max’s gaze shifted to you.
“Oh, I was meaning to ask, I need your contact information for the passes,” he scratched the back of his neck while a small smile made its way on your face.
“Are you asking me for my number?” You teased him, unsure where the playfulness in the conversation came from but neither of you were opposed to it.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” he pulled out his phone, unlocking it and giving it to you. Once you handed it back to him, he chuckled when he saw the contact name you saved yourself as. Isabella’s mama
“So I guess I’ll see you soon?” You asked, having spent more than enough time in a grocery store but somehow not wanting to say goodbye yet. “Yeah, I’ll send you the details in a bit. Maybe I might just turn you into a fan?”
“We’ll see, Max, but no promises.” You chuckled, calling Isabella so she could say goodbye to Max.
She surprised you both by clinging onto his legs, and he quickly crouched down to give her a proper hug. “Bye Maxy.”
“Bye Isabella, I’ll see you soon!”
As you grabbed her hand and began walking away, Isabella turned around to wave at Max once again, making him chuckle but easily retuning the wave.
He stood there until you and your daughter were both out of sight. Then, he groaned once he realized that he still had a few more items to grab from his list before he could leave.
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the longer i stay in fandom, the longer i think a huge amount of bad takes and discourse come from an... abundance of identifying with a character
to be clear, i don't think it's bad to identify with a character. far from it! i think that's part of what makes fiction so powerful.
and it's only logical people often attach to a blorbo because they're just like me, for real. a person will see some element of themselves-- their race, their gender, their sexuality, their hobbies, their family life, their specific flavour of neurodivergence-- and something just resonates. it gives them a way to explore and name this important part of themselves, a part they maybe didn't even know existed before it.
and everything is well and good until some split between them and the character shows up
because of course, no character, except an explicit self-insert written by yourself, will ever be a perfect 1:1 for your own experiences. so sooner or later-- maybe in canon, maybe in a fanwork-- your blorbo diverges from your lived experience in a huge way.
I think this is why shipping culture in particular gets so toxic. While it is by no means the only way to indulge with shipping, a significant portion is 'if i was in that character's shoes, i would choose X'. the fight becomes for your own self-identity.
but this gets expanded in other ways. a character who is revealed to be black when the majority of the fandom had just assumed they were white. or revealed to be queer, or maybe the 'wrong' flavour of queer. or fuck, even some more innocuous part of their backstory, one that's nonetheless so meaningful for SOMEONE, but now it feels like the story is saying, fuck you, we're doing something else
i don't know. i just feel acknowledging this perceived-attack-on-identity helps me understand why people react it what seems to be such outsized way to canon and fanworks alike.
at the same time, i think it's a really important thing to check in yourself.
it's nice, to see a character who you identify with. who resonates with for being like you. but it's also nice to acknowledge and appreciate the way characters are not like you at All. how great it is to get insight into this totally different lived experience. and to muse on how wonderful that recognition might be for someone who does have that background.
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。‧General dating headcanons ༻༉
Alastor x Gn! Reader
༉‧.tw - Ep 5 Spoilers, slight nsfw, mentions of cannibalism.
༉‧.words - 0.7k
༉‧.a/n - Just general dating headcanons for my boy </3 I apologize for any mistakes English is not my first language
At first you gained his respect for respecting his boundaries and not stepping over the line and in return he respects yours (not really). Somehow you ended up dating?? So lucky you.
Alastor is such a gentleman. He'd treat you like royalty!!
He adores cooking for everyone but when he'd cook for you Alastor be extra careful to not fuck things up and add extra flavours. Loves making Jambalaya for you!! Would definitely tell you all the stories about him and his mom cooking together.
I bet he'd love to cook or bake with you. I mean just look at you smiling and giggling like a child!! Adorable (in a good way)
Would try atleast one time to make you try demon meat. If you like it he's very pleased but if not?? He's fine with it too. Not everyone likes the taste of it.
Your relationship would be private so PDA is off the table. Maybe linking your arms together, a hand on the waist or a quick kiss on the cheek when no one is looking. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you but he has a high status in hell. He wouldn't want you to be a target for other overlords or sinners.
At first only Rosie would know about your relationship but as time passed by Charlie found out and passed the information to Vaggie then Vagatha accidentally fucked up and passed the information to Angel Dust and again and again. Mimzy somehow found out too.
And as a little revenge for Alastor from kicking her out of the hotel (ep 5) she passed the info to other overlords.
So now sinners are aware of you guys being together and The Radio Demon is not very pleased with it. He started to get a tiny bit more protective of you then he was before. However when someone saw you it leaded to them running off, scattering because they're absolutely terrified of what could happen to them if they did anything and I mean anything wrong in your presence.
They looked at you wrong.. Oops where did their eyes went? They touched you without your permission. Suddenly their arms are nowhere to be found! They tried to hit on you and now they are missing. I wonder where they could be??
As i said he is a gentleman!! Opening doors for you, lending you his coat when you're cold, pulling out the chair and kissing the back of your hand.
Every Wednesday he'd bring you a bouquet and each one of the flowers he'd choose has its meaning. Isn't it cute??
His love language is Acts of service and quality time. Alastor loves when you bring him black coffee or something to eat when he is broadcasting someone's screams on the radio when he didn't even ask you for it. Like what do you mean you remember his daily hours of his "work".
Takes you out on dates without an accasion though he prefers to keep it private then to go to a club. He may take you out on a walk in the garden full of red roses and a buetiful fountain however Alastor would also love to cook you your favourite meal and eat it for as an romantic dinner with youuuuu!!
I don't think that even in private he's a cuddler, he doesn't like psychical touch but doesn't mind it from people he is close with. Maybe if he is feeling a little extra today he'd let you hug him as a good morning. In return he'd kiss the back of your hand.
Not exactly much of a kisser either pheraps a quick peck on the cheek or on the forehead?? This doesn't include the times he's feeling extra romantic and dips you in a long passionate kiss. But he's not the time to do full make out session yk??
One day Alastor would tell you that he likes pineapples on pizza and if you're not a big fan of it (me neither) you would be like WHAAAAT.
Alastor loves seeing you in his clothes it's just looking cute on you and kinda turns him on
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