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#with everything Mace Windu has to put up with I think he should be allowed to swear
tennessoui · 11 months
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hi kit! I was rereading your playmaker au (I absolutely love it btw!!!) and I have soo many questions! Like? How does qui-gon react to obi-wan showing up to the ball/gala/thing(?) with anakin? is he angry? upset (probably not lol)? does he talk to obi-wan/anakin or does he just ignore them outright? does anakin provoke him (of course he does but howwww???)
also, obviously your writing is amazing and I love literally everything you do!!!! <33333333
here is what happens at the policeman's ball! told from mace windu's pov (in this au he was like obi-wan's supervisor)! i think qui-gon is definitely furious, but after this night he also pivots to try and get obi-wan's loyalty back -- but before that, there's the anger
(2k)
Mace Windu has a headache and a terrible feeling about this whole thing. He never likes anything that has to do with the City politicians, especially the Mayor, and the annual Policeman’s Ball is probably the thing he likes the least. 
It’s opulent and gaudy and uncomfortable to have so many eyes on him, on their work, as if they care about him and the department any other day of the year. But he knows as well as any of the detectives that this Ball is the bed they must get into with the politicians, the city’s most wealthy. Here is the night money slides across palms, deals are struck and good men leave their morals at the door.
Just for one night. Just for the sake of their offices, their men. Those who schmooze the best, woo the most politicians, the most wealthy elite, are the ones who get the better budgets, the newer equipment. And Mace is Coruscant born and bred: he, like everyone else, knows that morals are the first things to go when lives are on the line.
Maybe it wasn’t always like this, but Mace cannot remember another way. Not in this city where even the politicians don’t have the actual power nor the funds or means to oust the men who do--the men and women who cut through the crowds with sharp smiles and rough palms, heads high and proud, draped in diamonds and pretty things, suits clean-cut and perfectly tailored.
Members of mobs, inside the city and out. Leaders of far-reaching crime syndicates, the kind Mace has committed his life’s work to fighting, to rooting out of Coruscant.
Everyone knows who they’re climbing into bed with when they shake Asajj Ventress’ hand to seal a deal, when they laugh too hard at Rush Clovis’ comment, when they fall over themselves to give Anakin Skywalker their attention.
No one admits it. 
Mace has lost men—good men—in the pursuit of justice against the mobs of Coruscant, sure that with enough evidence, he can put at least one away for life. It’s a dream he and his captain, Qui-Gon Jinn share.
Tilting his head, Mace finds his superior in the crowd, the man’s tall and unmistakable hair making him stand out as much as his stony silence and refusal to play along this year.
He wonders if Jinn feels the same exhaustion as Mace does. The dream has never felt farther away. The price has never seemed so steep.
Jinn lost his son, not even six months ago. The boy had been bright and clever, and Mace had looked at him and felt hope for the future of the city, all bundled up in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s soft smile.
He never should have been sent undercover. Mace shouldn’t have allowed it when Jinn passed down the orders. Kenobi was too young, too willing to prove himself, too naive for the mission.
And Vader took him, made him into just another bright young light snuffed out before its time.
Mace downs the rest of his drink and cuts through the crowd to reach Jinn’s side when he notices the mayor approaching. Jinn had insisted on coming—truly, he couldn’t not attend as their captain—but he will not be at his sharpest, at his most willing to play along tonight.
Jinn has always had the strongest morality of any guy Mace knows in the force, but he’d been willing to say what he had to say in the past to look out for his men, play nice with the politicians for the better budgets, the new supplies.
Losing his son changed something in him though. Made him colder. Made him cling even tighter to his morals. 
With a dead wife and an estranged son, his convictions were all he had left—save for his job.
“Mayor Palpatine,” Mace says easily, holding his hand out to shake the mayor’s hand. “You’ve outdone yourself this year.”
The mayor smiles at him with a sick sort of grin, but his attention is almost completely focussed on Jinn. “You know how much I enjoy the Policeman’s Ball. All of Coruscant’s best and brightest in one place for one night…a marvelous opportunity to strengthen our friendships, build trust, and honor those who protect us.”
Jinn’s returning smile looks stretched far too thin across his face. Mace closes his eyes in silent prayer that Jinn will hold his tongue.
“All of the riches of Coruscant in one place,” Jinn says, “and those who are bound by duty to protect them.”
“And what a noble calling that is,” the mayor smiles and there is something wrong about it, something terrible. “Only few are truly cut out for such a path, Captain Jinn, and we thank you for your stalwart service.”
He pauses and his face shifts into one of regret. Mace feels on edge.
“In fact,” Mayor Palpatine says, “I was just chatting with your son, and he—”
“He’s here?” Jinn straightens his shoulders, posture becoming ramrod straight as his eyes leave the mayor to roam around the rented room. “How?”
“Oh?” Palpatine raises both his eyebrows in mock surprise. “You didn’t know?”
“My son is no longer with the Force,” Jinn bites out, voice filled with more venom than Mace has ever heard before.  “He should not have been allowed to come tonight.”
“Ah,” Palpatine says. “I see there’s been some confusion. Your son is attending as Mr. Skywalker’s companion for the evening, not as a member of the police force. Though—there they are actually. I do hope I did not ruin a surprise visit!” 
Mace, with a feeling of dread welling up in his gut, turns his head to look at the two men Palpatine is now gesturing forward.
Anakin Skywalker prowls towards them like some great beast returning from a hunt with prey already dead between his jaws, or like an emperor returning to his city fresh from a conquering.
He looks neat and pristine, eyes crinkling with the force of his smirk as he guides Obi-Wan Kenobi to meet them with a hand pressed to the boy’s lower back.
Still some paces away, Skywalker leans down to whisper something into Obi-Wan’s ear, and the boy snaps back with a scowl, voice soft so as to hide his words.
The boy’s hair is short and rather awkwardly cut, but it’s the same strawberry-blonde Mace remembers seeing the boy’s mother wear. His eyes are hers as well, clear, light blue, though they have none of the softness Mace recalls him having before they sent him undercover.
He looks well-fed at least, and he holds himself close to Skywalker’s body, as if he truly feels safe in the claws of a dragon.  
Since the last time he saw the boy leaving the precinct, on his way into Skywalker’s arms, he has wondered how Obi-Wan liked his new life. If he felt like it was worth it, to lose his job and his father and his future for the mobster who would never be capable of loving him back, not truly. 
Looking at Obi-Wan now, dressed in expensive, soft-looking clothes, and carefully held in Skywalker’s arm, Mace can’t deny that the boy looks fine.
Healthy. Happy, if not for the current scowl marring his features.
“Gentleman,” Skywalker says when they reach them, holding out a hand for Jinn to shake.
Jinn does not move.
Skywalker’s eyes flash like flint sparking, and he adjusts his grip on Obi-Wan, pulling him fiirmly into his side and slightly in front of him, even as he drops his hand.
The tension in the air chokes any sort of conversation starter Mace can think of before it leaves his lips.
His eyes, without his conscious permission, remain stuck on the face of his biggest regret, unable to overlook the way Obi-Wan turns into the line of Skywalker’s body, as if taking comfort from his touch—as if Mace and Jinn are the lions and Skywalker Obi-Wan’s champion.
“I hadn’t realized you—” Palpatine starts to say, but he is cut off.
“Obi-Wan,” Jinn says suddenly, tone harsh, every inch the captain of the police. The tension in the air increases exponentially. Mace hadn’t realized that was possible. “You cut your hair.”
Something dark flashes across Skywalker’s face, and Mace watches as he moves his hand up to brush over the collar of Obi-Wan’s shirt, the exposed back of his neck.
“It’s in regulation,” Obi-Wan replies, looking for the first time this evening at his father. “Are you proud?”
The question is heavy, weighted: it always has been with Jinn and his son. Obi-Wan always did care less about if his father liked something he did and more about if he was proud.
“That your hair is in regulation?” Jinn’s lips are tight, jaw clenching and unclenching. “Obi-Wan, you have not spoken to me in six months. And you come tonight, to this event, on the arm of that monster, allowing him to move you about and speak for you, wearing clothes he bought you with money soaked in blood, and you ask if I am proud that you wear your hair to police standards? You have made a mockery of my life’s work, and you have lost yourself completely.”
Obi-Wan’s eyes look wet, and his hand is tangled in the pocket of Skywalker’s pants, seeking out connection. Mace closes his eyes and barely resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He has been witness to more fights between Jinn and his son than he cares to remember. 
Jinn always finds the worst words to say. 
And Obi-Wan learned how to fight from his father’s example. 
They’re ruthless and they’re cruel, and they fight each other like they’ll accept no survivors. 
“You are no son of mine, Ben,” Jinn says, even though Mace knows how much the loss of Obi-Wan has affected the older man, knows he misses him, knows he loves him still.
Obi-Wan blinks rapidly, hurt naked on his face, before he wipes it clean off and raises his hand to tuck a short piece of hair behind his ear. The motion is slow, pointed, and Mace’s eyes catch immediately on the angry red lines circling his wrist.
Handcuff marks. 
Mace takes a fortifying sip of his drink when he hears Jinn’s sharp inhale at the sight.
“Daddy,” Obi-Wan says, “can we go home? It’s close to the twins’ bedtimes, I don’t want to miss it.”
It’s Skywalker who responds, because it’s Skywalker Obi-Wan was looking at when he spoke. It’s Skywalker who wraps his arm securely around Obi-Wan’s waist and presses a kiss to his temple, dark eyes never straying from Jinn. “Yes, of course, sweetheart,” he tells Jinn, smirking like the cat who captured the canary right under the birdkeeper’s nose. “Gentlemen,” he says to Mace and the mayor. “Apologies for leaving early, but family calls.”
They are only half-turned around when Jinn recovers his tongue. “They are not your family, Obi-Wan,” he says. To Mace, he sounds as if he is begging. He wonders what Obi-Wan hears in his voice.
The boy turns his head to the side, posture perfect and nose pointed slightly up in cold disregard. “I would hardly call you an expert in family, Captain Jinn. You do not even have a son.”
Jinn moves sharply forward at this, reaching to touch his son’s arm. But before he can touch him, Skywalker intercepts him and grabs his wrist so tightly that Mace can see his hand flexing with the effort. Jinn’s bones must be grinding together. “Do not,” Skywalker says lowly and darkly, every syllable dripping with implicit violence. “Do not try to touch what is not yours, Captain.”
“Ani,” Obi-Wan murmurs, turning in his hold so as to rest his hand lightly on Skywalker’s chest. Mace tenses, wondering if Obi-Wan will be treated with the same violence, the same dark look for having the nerve to try and tame the beast. 
He is not.
The moment their eyes lock, Skywalker lets go of Qui-Gon’s wrist in favor of tucking a piece of hair behind Obi-Wan’s ear once again. There is nothing performative about the action now—just a man who cannot help but touch his—his lover.
The thought sickens Mace, and he knows it must be worse for Qui-Gon, who is still standing where he was left, hand halfway reaching out to his son and far, far too late to ever catch him.
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queen--kenobi · 3 years
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Tbh I like the idea of Jedi essentially being academics with powers because it implies they have specializations. Like Quigon is a really fucking weird experimental Physics guy, Obi-wan is the ethics and law guy, Yoda is that absolutely batshit insane tenured professor who doesn't give two shits, ect
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phoenixyfriend · 3 years
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Anakin Assists the Jedi Council While On Medical Leave
AU brainstormed primarily by @atagotiak, @gelpenss, and myself.
Basically, a fix-it based in Anakin getting a peek into the daily life on the Council early, and accidentally Figuring Some Shit Out along the way, mostly because Palps Fucks Up.
So, Anakin gets injured in a way that limits him to Coruscant for a few weeks. He can still walk and talk, but he can't fight. The specific injury doesn't matter, just this:
Anakin runs errands on behalf of the council and sits in on meetings to take minutes as a "you're on medical leave but we need all hands on deck, congrats you get to be the secretary until we can send you on stabbing missions again" thing.
Also, there just aren't a whole lot of people with Anakin's clearance level. They had to send out Stass Allie to handle the mission that was originally next on Anakin's roster, and Anakin's the most convenient person to substitute into her position.
He's not super happy about this but he can more or less understand the point of it. Given that he gets antsy about needing to fight almost immediately, he can acknowledge the worth of having something useful to do, if only as the person who's writing down who says what and making sure everyone has the right file on hand.
(Besides, Obi-Wan jokes in a way that Anakin thinks might be encouraging, this is good practice if Anakin ever wants to be on the High Council himself!)
(This is a very helpful conversation.)
BASICALLY, Anakin is resigned to this but agrees because "Usually we have Master Allie handle this but we need her running that mission that was originally set for the 501st, so you get to fill in for her until you can switch back. Think of it as training for eventual mastery or admin or--listen, we're just really stretched thin."
Here's the key thing, though: Anakin isn't supposed to leave the Temple, for medical reasons, so Palpatine doesn't know Anakin is sitting in on Council meetings. They haven't met up since Anakin's last surgery, and because [muffled hand-wave reason] he didn't find out another way, like Anakin comming him or the Council giving him the heads-up about the change in attendance.
It's fine. He's just taking notes and doing preparatory research, he has the clearance, the Chancellor likes him anyway. Hell, they'd have had someone's Padawan doing this, before the war increased the necessary clearance levels. They'll toss in a quick message in the brief they send to Palps that he never reads anyway, and that's really all they need to do. Skywalker's getting some rounded experience and this way the medics won't be freaking out about him stressing his heart after getting electrocuted by trying to spar too early.
Palpatine doesn't talk directly to the Council, he just sends a recording the first time Anakin is there. It's a bit weird, but nothing goes wrong. Anakin's off-screen from whatever device they use to send a response, since he's not technically a member, just assisting for a bit on the part of Master Allie's duties that he's actually allowed to touch (and not the bits that are getting added to Mace, Plo, and Shaak's stuff).
The first four or so meetings are like that. Anakin starts having a bit of sympathy for the Council as he sees how many things they want to do that are hampered by the need for Senatorial approval, things that he would also want to do and didn't think required this much red tape.
About a week in, still mostly recordings with Anakin just sitting on the side playing paralegal, the wheel of fortune turns a few pegs.
Palpatine hands over a an order on the range of injury that a soldier should be treated for, "to ensure that republic resources aren't being wasted on clones that, while expensive, would actually be cheaper to replace than repair."
Oh, he dresses it up in prettier language than that. Anakin doesn't process it as such first.
The Chancellor manages to couch his phrasing in "prioritizing resources for taxpaying republic citizens and employees of the GAR," which... well.
The natborn commissioned officers pay taxes. The Jedi are employees. The clones are neither, because they're slaves.
Probably he frames it as the employees thing, very much the kinda language that sounds halfway ok unless you’re fluent in political bullshit.
And Anakin is really confused at first about why the council is upset by the order because, okay, he would PREFER to be able to use medical supplies on refugees when possible, but he understands prioritizing the soldiers?
He just looks up, totally lost, when someone groans and goes, "That's the third time this year, is he trying to get us all killed?"
And it vibes as such a genuine, aggrieved, sad reaction that Anakin is completely blindsided because it's not the sarcastic, petty resentment he kind of expected? It's just... desperate depression.
And someone gently has to explain that this is the third time they've had resources restricted to only GAR employees and that it's a polite way of saying "prioritize natborn officers, stop wasting resources on clones, we can replace them easier."
Or maybe he doesn't ask, because he's just there to take notes, not argue, and he can see the masters drawing up a response that amounts to "We would like to remind you that our soldiers do not fall into that classification, and to limit their access to our medical supplies is liable to cause a loss of life that we find unreasonably high. Please see the annotations attached to adjust wording so that the clones may receive the same level of care."
Anakin's internally just like "Yeah, that's phrased nice and addresses the main problem, Palpatine will obviously agree and change it!"
And then he comes in the next day and the response comes in and it's just dripping condescension about considering the clones actual people.
"This is why we can't use the bacta tanks on clones anymore, just the patches. We could use them at first, we had a few of the CCs get through fatal injuries with them, but they cut that off and said we could only use the tanks on Jedi and non-clone officers a few months ago. The Banking Clans keep tightening their belts on the army, and the Chancellor insists we put citizens first, and the clones aren't citizens. We've been arguing back as much as we can, but he keeps going on about the economy and we can't... we just can't, Skywalker. We're trying to save as many of our men as we can, but..."
Something like "Allocation of resources reiterated, the Kaminoans have assured the senate that the Jedi are far from exhausting the resources ordered."
And Anakin's like. He can't blame the council for lying about Palpatine's past or future actions. He just saw Palpatine's actions. Those actions were to order people under his control to throw away lives he saw as replaceable commodities.
These are his friends' lives.
His soldiers are being thrown away by a man in a tower that he trusted.
And then that man has the gall to suggest it's the council's fault.
Palpatine is good at what he does, especially in public, he dresses it up in flowery language and everything, but Anakin's just like "Those are my FRIENDS and also this is??? How slavers talked about their property on Tatooine???? FRIENDPATINE, WHAT THE FUCK."
Anakin can be passive aggressive sometimes as well as outright aggressive. So if he brings up the guidelines and why they make him upset in general terms, and Palpatine says something about how he’s sad the council doesn’t care about the clones...
Anakin, internally, having just watched the council scramble to save as many clones as possible within the guidelines that Palps handed down: Uh-huh.
(Anakin is just the gay horror teeth gif from queer eye.)
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Just. “Yeah, funny you say that, Palpatine! Because as I remember, you told the council not to waste more resources than necessary while Mace Windu was arguing to expand the treatment range!”
Palps doesn't even have time to salvage the situation or attack Anakin because Anakin just bulldoze rants for fifteen minutes and then storms out.
Anakin... maybe does a little treason and gets a copy of the orders so he can ask Padme "Hey, can you explain the politics of this?" and doesn't tell her who wrote it so she isn't biased (he tells her that this is why he's not sharing the author's/speaker's name), and just lets Padme pick apart all the 'this is a nice way of saying they don't view the clones as people' details.
Alternately, someone on the Council sees Anakin dithering and manages to get him to admit that he's not great at political language and wants to ask someone to help him understand the full implications. The person--Mace? let's go with Mace--is aware that Anakin is on good terms with Senator Amidala, if not necessarily aware of the depth of said relationship. Mace points out that he's probably going to be seeing her soon just because he usually does and, as a Senator, she can get easy access to these sessions since they're not about specific missions, just allocation of resources, etc. It's not an optimal solution, but she's got a bit more free time than anyone else Anakin knows with the clearance levels, like Order members that are actively involved in the war effort.
Anakin dithers and panics and Mace, trying to be helpful, tells him that plenty of Jedi have made friends among the Senate over the years, didn't you know Qui-Gon Jinn was a personal friend of Former Chancellor Valorum?
At any rate, Anakin goes to Padme and asks her to explain it to him, because she knows how to phrase things so he gets it.
Anakin has to have her pause and he goes outside and destroys some things halfway through.
(Anakin maybe thinks back to the times Padmé or Obi-Wan were really obviously frustrated and when he asked, they said stuff like “I can’t stand Palpatine rn, sorry Anakin I know he’s important to you and you don’t want to talk about politics, let’s just talk about something else.”)
(Obi-Wan: I don’t trust Palpatine Anakin: you just don’t like politicians in general Obi-Wan: yes that is also true)
(Obi-Wan does like Bail and Padme but he does also talk a bit about how politicians generally aren’t to be trusted.)
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wasted-headspace-98 · 3 years
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Cataegis: Part III
Summary: An apprentice to the famed Mace Windu, your master has made sure you are strong with the Force. But, sometimes the Force has other plans. And you happen to be caught in the middle of them. Rating: 18+ Warnings: Nonexplicit sexual content, slow-burn, noncon elements (non explicit), underage elements (non explicit), inappropriate use of the force, etc Pairing: Sith!Obi-Wan x Reader Masterlist
Cataegis (n.) Latin word meaning tempestuous storm
Part I Part II
Power.
That’s what he felt.
There was no denying the waves of it that rolled off of you. It…confused him if he was being honest. He tried to make sense of it all, but there were so many factors to consider that it sent him reeling.
He sighed and rubbed his temple, sitting back on his heels. He hadn’t felt that much power from anyone aside from Anakin. The thought made him frown. During his time training Skywalker, he could sense the turbulent emotions within him. It was like a raging storm that held no end in sight. His Padawan allowed his emotions to guide him. Looking back, he realized that he should have seen the signs and snuffed them out sooner. But, he digresses.
There was no use in dwelling on things stuck in the past.
But you were right there. In front of him, and in the present.
He couldn’t figure out what the point was in the Force binding the two of you together. It was a puzzle that he didn’t have all the pieces to. And it frustrated him to no end.
She’s not a sentinel, that’s for sure, he thought to himself. So why does she conduct herself as one?
From what he knew about the training of temple Sentinels, you had gone through no such thing. In fact, it was incredibly rare for one of them to take a Padawan learner. The Sentinel duty seemed to be ingrained in a youngling from the day they discovered the Force. But there was something different about you.
“Master,”
He opened his eyes, turning to look at his former Padawan. “Anakin,” he greeted. He inclined his head, his golden eyes seeming to pierce the soul of the Lord approaching him. ��What is it?”
“I sense a disturbance.” Anakin said with a frown. His long hair framed his face and blew in the gentle breeze. “And it’s powerful.”
Cataegis hummed in response, nodding quietly. “She is,” he muttered quietly.
Anakin arched his eyebrow, part of it marred by the scar that adorned the side of his face. “She?”
Cataegis let out a chuckle. “Yes, she.” He was loathe to the fact that he didn’t have a name to put to your infuriatingly beautiful face. “She’s becoming a rather annoying thorn in my side.”
Anakin snorted and crossed his arms. “What do you plan on doing about it.”
The blond Sith pursed his lips as he thought. Truth be told, he didn’t know. There were too many unknown factors for him to run headlong into this without a plan. He knew Anakin was usually the one to do so, but spending so much time with his former apprentice seemed to be rubbing off on him. “I…don’t know.” he admitted.
“Let me hunt her-“
“No!” Cataegis snarled at Anakin and threw him backwards, his hold tight on the other man’s throat with the Force.
Anakin grunted as his back hit the wall and he clawed at his throat momentarily before realizing his Master had full control of his body.
“You will not,” he hissed.
“Seems like you’ve found a new pet,” Anakin choked, trying to struggle against the hold Cataegis had on him.
He growled, the sound reverberating through his chest and his eyes narrowing in a primal rage. “Touch her, and you’ll have one less hand to worry about,” he snarled. “She’s not a bantha for you to hunt for sport. She’s someone more powerful than either you or me. And Force help you if I find out you’ve disobeyed me.” He let Anakin go with another growl, and the former Jedi fell to his hands and knees as he tried to suck in large breaths.
“You’ve gotten rather attached,” Anakin said as he pulled himself to his feet.
Cataegis scowled at his former apprentice. “Have care how you speak, Vader. You never know when you’re going to push me too far.”
Anakin rolled his eyes, but the threat gave him pause. Cataegis only used his Sith title when he was extremely upset with him, which wasn’t often. There must have been something awfully special about this woman for him to be so on edge. “Very well,” he said, inclining his head and acknowledging Cataegis. “But is this going to be a problem?
The former Jedi let out a huff of annoyance. “I don’t know.” he said. “There seems to be a lot about this woman that I don’t know. And I don’t like it.”
“All the more reason we need to find out who she is.”
A low rumble came from Cataegis’ chest, a hum of agreement. “True. But I don’t want you doing anything to scare her off. She’s already on edge enough as it is.”
Anakin raised an eyebrow. “Since when have you been concerned about whether someone is scared?” he asked.
Cataegis gave him another warning look. “Since the Padawan I’ve connected with is barely more than sixteen,” he snapped. “Her mind is still malleable, and there’s still a chance I can undo everything that the Jedi have taught her. But if you go scaring her off like that, there’s no telling how she’ll react. We have a difficult enough time as it is. The last thing I need is for you to tear down any work I manage to accomplish with this youngling.”
“Do you really think you’ll be able to turn her?”
He paused for a moment, thinking it over. He could sense the turmoil and fear within you. There was confusion, doubt, and surprisingly, anger. At what, he couldn’t be sure. But it surprised him nonetheless. He could sense the disturbance in your mind. If he really tried, he didn’t think it would take much for him to sway you. “I believe so,” he said, rubbing his beard as he continued to think. “I’m going to Coruscant.”
“What?!”
“Are you questioning my decision?”
“Of course I am!” Anakin defended. “You’ve absolutely lost your mind! Yoda will know as soon as you step foot on that planet. There’s know way you’ll be able to get past all of them without getting arrested. Or killed.”
Cataegis sighed and shook his head. “Such little faith, Anakin.”
~*~*~*~
After what happened with Windu, you’d been avoiding your master like the plague. He understood that you would need your space, and he left you to your own devices. For the most part, anyway.
At least he did until Yoda came looking for you.
He found you in one of the many training rooms within the temple. You’d been going at a program of Darth Maul for several hours, at least. The hologram was giving you quite the workout, you had to admit. And you could land blows and slice it to pieces without actually hurting any of your fellow padawans in a sparring session. You knew the emotions raging within you would cause a disturbance, but at that point, you didn’t care.
You didn’t understand what was happening, much less why it was happening to you of all people.
Cataegis’ golden Sith eyes stared at you every time you closed your eyes. You could feel his presence looming over you. It was as if he were right beside you the entire time.
And it unsettled you.
“Hmm…sense your anger, I do.”
You jumped at the sound of the voice that interrupted your training session. You turned on your heel and thrust out your hand. A wave of powerful force energy flew from your palm and rushed towards Yoda. Your eyes widened when you realized who it was. “Master Yoda!” you exclaimed. He saw your reaction coming before you even acted. He quickly jumped out of the way, somersaulting in the air and landing behind you in the training area.
“Mean to scare you, I did not. Sorry, I am, Padawan.” He tilted his head to the side and watched you visibly deflate. The lightsabers in your hand retreated back to their durasteel handles and you quietly hung them on your belt.
“It’s alright, Master.” you replied. “I didn’t mean to attack you.”
He let out the quiet chuckle you knew so well and shook his head. “Conflicted, you are. Resolve your issues, you must.”
You felt like throwing your hands in the air. “How do I do that, Master?” you asked. “I don’t understand what’s happening to me.”
Master Yoda hummed quietly and observed as you took up a meditation position before him. “Explain what is happening, you will.” You arched an eyebrow. You’d figured that Windu had told the Council everything that was happening with you. It would make sense for him to do so. After all, from what he said, it was highly unusual for something like this to happen. Sensing your hesitation, Yoda shook his head. “Tell the Council the details, Master Windu did not. However, like to help you, I would.”
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You couldn’t help the flinch that took over your shoulders when you saw his eyes staring back at you.
There’s no need to be scared, little one. His deep voice soothed. I’ll soon be with you.
You let out a gasp and opened your eyes. Yoda almost recoiled when he saw the red and gold brimming your normally bright irises.
A chuckle that wasn’t your own echoed through your head and his voice spoke once again, this time a fading whisper. Have no fear, my young apprentice. I won’t hurt you. Yet.
“Hear his voice again, you have?”
You swallowed the fear that lumped in your throat and nodded. “Yes,” you admitted.
He hummed in thought and readjusted his hold on the cane before settling himself in front of you. “Get to the bottom of this, we will. First, discover what this bond is, we must.”
The lights of the training room began to fade away as you closed your eyes and began a light meditation. You’d done something similar with Mace in the past, and you assumed Yoda would want to see exactly what it was that you saw. You were willing to show him, but that didn’t mean you had to like the invasion it would bring into your mind.
But you pushed those feelings aside and opened your mind to him. Everything came rushing forward and you let it.
Everything you were feeling pushed itself towards Yoda. And you didn’t try to stop it. All of your emotions bubbled over the surface and came spewing out like a volcano.
The waves crashed against the edges of your mental shielding, and you didn’t want to hold them back anymore.
What’s happening little one? I can feel your pain from here!
There was a note of concern that you hadn’t heard before. You almost snorted at the thought. You and you let it with a sigh of resignation.
There was no use denying it.
The Dark Side had a hold on you.
And it didn’t appear to be letting go any time soon. didn’t want to hear his voice anymore.
When you opened your eyes again, you were no longer sitting in the training room with Yoda. Instead, you found yourself on a landing platform. The night was cold and dark, and the wind ripped around and billowed your Jedi robes around you. Standing across from you…was him.
Black encompasses him like the shadows of the night, trying to swallow him whole. But the closer you looked, you realized that he was controlling the shadows. The rain pounded on the both of you, soaking you to the bone. Lightning struck the platform to your right, lighting up the area around you. His eyes flashed with the lightning, gold and beautiful.
“You!” you snarled, baring your teeth and glaring at the man.
He held up his hands in what he probably thought to be a placating gesture, but you took it as a threat. You threw your hand forward, and a powerful blast of energy flew from your fingers. Cataegis grunted and crossed his arms to block your blow.
“Get out of my head,” you snarled.
Letting out a scream, you let yourself feel the force around you. The energy flowed through you, became your blood. Everything around you became a part of you. And when you attacked him again, you attacked him with everything.
Yoda watched you with awe. His eyes were wide as a bubble of pure force energy surrounded you. He could see the waves rolling off of you, creating the field. Blue, red, and purple flowed through it like veins in a body. The sphere itself had a golden glow that pulsated with your heartbeat.
His eyes widened and he jumped from his seat as he saw you open yours.
“Get out of my head!”
An intense gold seeped into the color of your irises, intensifying the color. Energy exploded out of your body, throwing Yoda away from you and across the room.
Taglist: @rogueheretic555 @lordofthenerds97 @say-something-nice-missy @doctor-warthrop @auroras-stirring-gaze @venus-armote @say-something-nice-missy @cosmicsierra
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gch1995 · 2 years
Note
I see you writing about Obi-Wan having should have given Anakin a "clean death penalty" after he dismembered him on Mustafar, but there's a problem with that argument. Ethical debate aside, it's the same problem with Mace Windu killing Palpatine right before Anakin would have turned. The Jedi didn't have that authority to "execute" unarmed people without trial, so it wouldn't have been a death penalty as much as 1st degree murder, especially after they'd been denounced as traitors, so if Yoda had killed Palpatine like they wanted, the Senate would have charged both Yoda and Obi-Wan with murder, especially since Palpatine and Anakin were both so popular. If Yoda had failed, but Obi-Wan had killed Anakin, Palpatine would have gotten another apprentice out of his Inquisitors and he and his Empire still would have stood whether or not Padmé had survived.
If she did, like @helbertinelli said, she would have never forgiven the Jedi for attacking and/or killing her husband and she would have taken herself and the twins away from them, leaving the Jedi without a weapon against the Sith. If she had died and the Jedi had gotten ahold of and separated the twins like in canon, things would have progressed from there like in canon, only the twins would have been in trouble because this new apprentice would have had no connection to either twin and thus would have had no motivation to spare either twin if they didn't turn to the Dark Side or to turn on his master to save his/her life. Also, Palpatine would have been able to use the "Obi-Wan killed your father" card on Luke to convert him and with everything Leia's been through, there's no way that she would have been able to confront the Sith without turning.
So overall, it would have been a lot worse if Obi-Wan had killed Anakin after subduing him on Mustafar, so I think a better alternative would have been to capture him, try to tend to his wounds as best as possible, and keep him prisoner until someone could either talk some sense into him or put him on trial.
I could see that that being the case, too, but at that point, could Obi-Wan have climbed down that ledge to save Anakin and tend to his wounds without risking his own life, too? They were right by the lava, and Anakin did still have a mechanical hand, so he may have thought that he might try to pull him down. That’s why I say at that point, it would have just been kindest to kill Anakin as he did that flip, rather than cutting off his limbs and leaving him to burn alive in agony.
I do agree that in a fair and just judicial system in Star Wars, Anakin couldn’t and wouldn’t be allowed to just get executed by any of the Jedi without a fair trial because the Jedi Order of adults themselves were so hypocritical and morally bankrupt. I don’t think a straight up insanity criminal defense would work because he still had enough awareness to know that the crimes he was committing against the Order and the sand people were morally wrong, but I definitely think something like a diminished capacity defense for Anakin could work, which could reduce him to 10-15 years in prison for mass manslaughter over the death penalty for straight up murder. If you think about it, realistically, there are more than enough mitigating factors working in his favor. He has every symptom of CPTSD and several of BPD that clearly never got properly treated, the force, particularly the dark side of the force, is clearly something that becomes a drug addiction to people who do suffer from untreated emotional/mental stability issues, he had limited to nonexistent healthy support within those toxic environments, and he had limited to nonexistent safe escape options from consistently abusive, emotionally neglectful, hypocritical, manipulative, and oppressive authority figures and mentors in two space war cults and slavery his entire life who were all grooming him to be a tool and/or weapon for their own purposes, especially after getting burned up and put in that suit.
So yeah, while I don’t think Anakin’s entirely innocent for his crimes, I also don’t think it’s fair to place the blame all on him for his crimes either because he didn’t carve out the path of factors that influenced him to become Vader, or have much of a fair chance of escaping that fate with how steeply the odds were stacked against him either way.
That being said, the only reason why I say that Obi-Wan should have killed him on Mustafar in their duel is because he’d baited Anakin into doing it to try to be the “perfect Jedi” for Yoda, but then was too cowardly and low-key vindictive to do it when he got “the high ground” as Anakin did that flip, anyway, even when he had the opportunity to do so before he fell.
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nevertheless-moving · 3 years
Text
Suicidal Misunderstanding XVI
Part I - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part XIII - - - - Part XIV - - - - Part XV
Star Wars Time Travel AU #27
Masters Aerdo, Koon and Nu lurched forward in distress as Obi-Wan unceremoniously slammed his mental walls into place.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” He reassured them, smiling weakly and rubbing his temples.
“Cutting yourself off so abruptly from the force after a meditation that deep is dangerous,” Master Aerdo said, alarmed. “Please endeavor to be more gentle with yourself, Master Kenobi.”
“Of course, I simply thought it would be be best to allow for some, ah, uncertainty with my retreat to counteract my... necessary indiscretion.”
“Uncertainty!” Plo scolded. “If I hadn’t been in same room as you I might have thought you were dead!”
“Well, yes, that’s rather-”
Vokara Che burst through the door, followed closely by Bant Eerin.
“PLO KOON! WHAT IN THE GALACTIC CORE HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PATIENT!”
Master Koon took a step back, “Vokara, please-”
“I’m perfectly alright, Master Che,” Obi-Wan interjected, “Master Koon has helped me beyond what I can ever repay. I- Oh dear. You all have.” Obi-Wan looked around, guilt creeping into his voice. “Oh. OH. I am so sorry for what I must have put you all through. I- I assure you, it wasn’t what it looked like. Thank you so much for all you’ve done to save me from...well, my own foolishness, I suppose. Oh that must have been- I deeply apologize for the inconvenience I’ve caused.”
Master Che took a deep breath. “Your good health is repayment enough for whatever debt you feel you might owe. May I take your recent...reaching out to mean that you have begun to regain your sense of where and when you are and no longer feel the need for more...drastic means of escape? Alarming raising of shields notwithstanding?”
Obi-Wan winced. “I am...still confused on a number of points, I admit. But I’ve cleared up most of my important doubts. Its... 7957 by the Centralized Republic Calendar. I’m in the temple Halls of Healing on Couracant. Everyone in this room is a fellow member of Jedi Order.” Obi-Wan hastily wiped away a few tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 
He cleared his throat as the five onlookers watched with a mixture of sympathy and confusion. “It’s going to be difficult, but I owe you all an explanation. Actually I need to explain a few things quite urgently, but first-”
His train of thought was interrupted by the roiling force presence that proceeded Mace Windu’s entrance. Mace paused at the foot of the bed, eyeing Obi-Wan critically as everyone else shuffled slightly out of the way to the edges of the increasingly crowded room. 
“Master Kenobi. You’re looking better.” He finally said.
“I’m feeling better. You really can’t imagine. I’m sure you have questions, but first I must insist- ow!” Obi-Wan jerked back, startled by the sudden rap of a gimer stick on the side of his head.
“Master Yoda!” Che and Aerdo scolded as the Grandmaster suddenly appeared on the nightstand to get a better look at his troublesome great-grand padawan.
 Vokara actually grabbed the wizened elder with both hands, lifting him by the armpits and chastising him like a misbehaving youngling. “That is not an appropriate greeting for any of my patients. Shame on you.”
“Patients, hmm? Shame, shame indeed.” Yoda muttered, dangling in the air. “Gone, my patience is. For making us think he had joined the force too early, shame indeed on Obi-Wan.” 
Obi-Wan bowed his head. “My apologies, grandmaster. I had strong reason to believe that I was trapped in a hallucination. I will explain everything but first we really need to comm-”
“Your suicide attempt, I was not referring to, no. Do such a thing in your right mind, I know you would never. Concerned, we were, of course. Halfway fake your own death, the first thing you did was, after all this! The reason I am hitting you, that is! Too old for this, I am!” 
“I understand, and I had reason for retreating so suddenly. Which I will be happy to explain. But first we really need to do damage control and contact-”
- - - - -
“ANAKIN! Anakin, what’s wrong!” Padme shook her husband’s shoulders as he knelt, collapsed on the floor.
“It’s- Obi-Wan” he choked out. “He was here! He was awake and alive and then he just- stopped.” 
“Oh force. You don’t mean he’s-”
“I don’t know. I can’t sense him. I don’t know.”
“Go. And when you find him, please comm me to let me know if-”
But Anakin was already gone.
- - - - -
"Oh...hm.” Master Tiin shuddered slightly.
“Sir? Is everything alright?” Captain Rex asked.
“Does this have something to do with General Kenobi’s illness?” Boil called out anxiously. A low murmur rippled through the mixed meeting of high-level strategic and logistical officers. 
“His- force presence grew rather strong for a moment. I would have to contact the temple to-”
“He’s dead.”
“Master Krell!” Saesee Tiin chided as the room recoiled in horror. “We don’t know that.”
General Tiin addressed the anxious room, “His force presence did cut out abruptly, but there are a number of explanations for such a thing, and jumping to the worst case scenario prematurely does us no favors.”
“Perhaps we should pause the briefing while you contact the Temple, sir.” Commander Cody offered stiffly.
“Out of line, Clone.” General Krell said, sneering. “Regardless of the status of your former General, we depart at 22:00 hours this evening. This briefing will continue. Interrupt with such a meaningless and insubordinate suggestion again and I will have you put on review for decommissioning.”
“Yes, sir.” Cody replied.
“That’s enough, Master Krell. I realize tensions are running high but please control yourself.” Tiin sighed. “We do need to finish this planning session. I apologize for the disruption, everyone. Now if you will all turn your attention back to map 3a of the Ghost Nebula...”
Command training included modules on compartmentalizing unhelpful emotional responses in order to focus on tactical information, so that’s what Cody did.
- - - - -
“If you have some Sith-related intel to divulge, I think it might be more appropriate to contact the rest of the council first, Master Kenobi,” Mundi said, discarded fluid drip awkwardly jabbing him in the side . 
“I agree, but trust me, first, someone really needs to tell Anakin I’m not dead. If you don’t want to do it, I will,” Obi-Wan announced, trying to get up. 
“You’re not going anywhere,” Bant snapped, pushing him back into bed.
“I- Oh Bant, It’s- some things are fuzzy, but you were one of the medi staff who came to my quarters after I...”
Bant glared in answer. 
“I am so sorry, again I-” 
“Obi-Wan, try not to worry too much about apologies right now. The important thing is you have people who care about you and we are all pleased by your renewed vigor for life.” Healer Aerdo interrupted, maintaining a death grip on Yoda while Che fussed over Obi-Wan’s vital readings. 
“I’ve commed Skywalker but if he’s acting as I suspect, he’s not checking messages” Master Windu said from his place in the corner.
- - - - - 
A Chiss Padawan leaned over to whisper to her Master as the mental flow halted unceremoniously. “Master, you don’t think...”
“Is something wrong, young one?” Chancellor Palpatine called out, smiling warmly at the young apprentice and drawing all eyes in the sub-committee meeting to the cloaked pair standing watch at the door.
“Ah, no, Supreme Chancellor, thank you for your concern. We simply observed a minor disruption in the force,” Her Tholothian Master replied smoothly as the padawan attempted not to fidget. “I’m sure the Council will contact us if it’s anything worth reporting to the Senate.” 
The meeting continued but more than a few senators spent the remainder of the session discretely swapping messages speculating on what could have ruffled the usually silent and stoic guardians. 
- - - - -
Shouted curses and wailing speeder horns followed Anakin as he raced to the temple. 
I swear to all the gods if he’s alive i’ll never kill anyone ever again I should have been there was no warning in the force please help me if he’s dead i’m going to kill everyone on this planet except Padme and then im going to kill Dooku and Grevious and then
- - - - -
“Master Fisto!” Ashoka said, turning anxiously to the Natuolan Master as Obi-Wan’s presence evaporated. “Do you think Master Kenobi is alright?”
“We’re quite a distance away,” Kit replied soothingly. “There’s a very good chance he simply had to withdraw because he was overreaching himself to say hello.” 
Ashoka frowned. “Can we contact the temple to make sure? Please?”
“I’ll send a comm, but we might not get a reply right away. We’re only a few hours out from the planet, so you’ll be able to check in on him yourself soon, alright?”
“Yes, Master.”
- - - - -
“Ah...perhaps we should shift into another room? This one is a little small for the...full Jedi Council. And I wouldn’t mind the opportunity to change out of these patients robes and into something a little more appropriate”
“You’re not going anywhere or changing into anything until I clear you.” Che snapped, elbowing Koth out of the way to jab Obi-Wan with another device.
“If one of the high council is unable to leave this room, than the high council is more than willing to meet here.” Master Gallia said calmly from her perch at the foot of the bed.  
“Well I’m not leaving.” Master Nu announced. “I still haven’t gotten the full explanation Plo promised.”
“As a healer-”
- - - - -
Klicks apart from one another, Sith Assassin Ventress and Knight Vos unknowingly shared identical frowns as Quinlan softly gave voice to what they were both thinking,
“What the fuck, Kenobi.”
- - - - - 
“WATCH OUT!”
“Kriff!”
“...Was that Anakin Skywalker? Did The Hero With No Fear just cut us off?”
“Must be some serious business for him to be flying like that.”
- - - - - 
Count Dooku redirected the Invisible Hand; his plans for Kiros would simply have to wait. Sidious might prefer the Umbaran seige to be a long, protracted affair rather than a decisive win one way or another, but if Tyrannus’s suspicions were correct, than the time for kowtowing to the Sith Master might be near its end. Sidious had long underestimated his Grandpadawan. He suspected that whatever play was going on was less the act of a new player and more the opening move of an experience one now shifting his attention to another arena. 
The ‘attack’ was likely a deliberate ruse to allow Kenobi to slip into the shadows and finally begin addressing the hint he had provided on Genosis long ago. Now, more than ever, Dooku needed to manage Separatist affairs strategically. Kenobi’s search into the force and subsequent rapid withdraw was too deliberate to be anything but the first steps of a larger plot. 
- - - - -
“Ah, Master Mundi?” A young apprentice healer asked the Cerean Master guarding the entranceway to the wing. “There’s a small crowd gathering outside. All very orderly, of course. But they want to know Master Kenobi’s Status. What should I tell them?”
Mundi Sighed. “If they ask, tell them Master Kenobi’s wellbeing is protected under healer client confidentiality and the highest security clearance.” 
Ki-Adi paused. “If Anakin Skywalker, arrives, just- send him this way, as you would a Council Member, understood? Don’t try and stop him.” he added begrudgingly.
“I see.” the padawan replied with impressive professional calm, "Thank you, Master Mundi” She bowed and returned to the front.
- - - - -
Maul staggered out of his cave. Kenobi was taunting him now. Kenobi would pay. Kenobi would see. Kenobi couldn’t die before Maul killed him.
- - - - -
A gap opened in the somber crowd as Anakin sprinted through, heart in his throat.
He should have been here there was no warning he should have been there
“Skywalker!” Mundi barked. “Calm yourself!”
Anakin stared at him with wild eyes and the High Master faltered, frightened for a moment. Before Anakin could say or do anything to the council member, Master Windu appeared. “Over here.”
Anakin blurred past him, mind tormenting him with images of nooses and blood and broken bodies and incomplete-
“Hello there, Anakin.” Obi-Wan sat upright in bed, smiling at him and surrounded by far too many Master’s for anyone’s comfort. Least of all the Masters, now that Mundi and Windu were forcing their back in. 
Anakin took in a strangled gasp, “Obi-Wan- you- i thought you were dead.”
Obi-Wan’s welcoming smile faltered. “Oh Anakin, I’ve really put you through a terrible ordeal the last few days, haven’t I? I am so, so sorry- I- I promise I didn’t intend to leave you like that. Come here, I’ll- its going to sound quite impossible but I can explain everything. There’s so much I have to tell everyone-”
Anakin threw himself forward, ignoring Jedi dignity and who he was knocking over.
He heard a tut of disapproval behind him as he embraced his Master. 
“Oh be quiet” Master Koon chided someone. “Honestly, he’s padawan age, have some compassion.”
Anakin decided to ignore that in favor of crying over Obi-Wan for the fourth time in as many days, utterly exhausted. 
Obi-Wan hesitated for a bare moment before wrapping his arms around his brother and friend for the first time in years (at least for the first time where he was aware that it was real and oh force he was really going to have to meditate to fully understand what he had said and done and what everyone had said in response).
“Perhaps we should give them a moment to collect themselves.” Master Aerdo offered diplomatically. Having largely reached their threshold for open displays of emotion, the Council non-verbally came to an agreement.
“You two have five minutes to pull yourselves together,” Master Windu said severely. 
“Of course, Master Windu. Thank you.” Obi-Wan rasped.
The group shuffled out with remarkable good grace, considering the number of inhabitants in the room, or rather remarkable bad grace, considering they were all supposed to be Jedi Masters.
Plo Koon patted them both on the shoulders before filing out. Master Yoda leapt nimbly out of Bant’s arms to land on the nightstand. He rapped them each lightly on the head before darting out with a chuckle. The door clicked shut.
“Master- I- never do that again.”
“I’m sorry Anakin, I promise, I wasn’t trying to die, I have far, far too much to live for. I’m never going to leave you again, I don’t care what else happens but- I’m not going to abandon you ever again, do you understand. Even if I die, I’ll come back and haunt you for the rest of your life, you’ll barely notice the difference, I swear.”
“...Thank you, but please stop talking now”
“Right, of course. I’m sorry. I’m so, so-”
“I love you, Obi-Wan.”
“...I love you too, Anakin.”
Part XVII
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helbertinelli · 3 years
Note
There are things I just do not like about TCW, especially with a certain guy I won’t even name and Anidala. But there are moments I do like. The episode where Anakin is capture has a few moments I really like.
They’re:
The way Anakin looks at Padmé when they are waiting for the Gungan sub. It just shows how much he loves her.
The way Anakin helps Padmé into the sub. Putting his hand on her back so she doesn’t fall. It reminded me of all the times Anakin offered Padmé his hand in AOTC.
That Padmé makes the trade for Anakin.
When Anakin is released Padmé helps him walk and she places her hand on his chest over his heart.
For me they always have a happy ending, screw Palpatine.
Are there any moments from the show you like?
My favorite Anidala moments are from the Malevolence arc.
I love it when Anakin tells Padme to jump to him and they embrace and then he's like "The things you do to get me alone." That's the cutest thing.
I like how the two of them set up the trap for the droids (? I forgot who it was for... but yeah). It was a cool moment of them working together and it reminded me of them plotting to catch Padme's assassin in the AOTC book.
And I liked when they got back on the Twilight and Padme got to the guns, Obi-Wan was like "You really know your way around here." That was pure gold.
I love the episode when the Gungans capture Griveous. It's one of my favorites episodes ever because it has Jar Jar and Anidala. Grievous getting defeated by Gungans was everything! And then yeah all the Anidala moments are extremely cute. :)
I also love the episode where Cad Bane takes over the Senate and Padme has Anakin's lightsaber with her and she tells Bail "I can't be searched!" and he's like "wtf kind of illegal/controversial thing is she hiding?"
And then at the end, she gives Anakin his lightsaber back like "you dropped this..." And Bail is like "that boy didn't have his lightsaber when he came in!" And then his face is like "this was it? That's the secret? You guys are hooking up? And here I thought it was something dangerous..." I do love Bail kinda knowing but not knowing about Anidala, so it was cute.
Oh and at the beginning of the episode when Bail almost catches them going at it and Anakin has to hide under her desk, but he's really bad at it.
I like the "this lightsaber is my life and now it's yours" or whatever that line was. That was peak romance.
I like Anakin fighting his way through Cad Bane's goons and saving everyone without his lightsaber. I love it when Anakin is crazy stupid powerful and when we really see why he's the Chosen One.
I guess a honorable mention is the episode when there's that virus and Padme gets kidnapped and Anakin goes completely berserk on the droids and he's about to do the same for the scientist guy, but then he chooses to save Padme instead. Like he's actually controlling his rage and he's using it to his advantage (killing a lot of droids really fast).
I just love when Anakin is saving Padme because someone is threatening her like a dumbass because they don't know her husband is Anakin Skywalker the most powerful Jedi in the entire world and he'd do anything for her.
I saw this video that was like "Can Anakin defeat Starkiller" and they were like "if Padme was in danger, Anakin would totally win, no doubt there he gets crazy powerful when it's about saving Padme." I just love this. TCW should have allowed Anakin to "hulk out" for Padme a lot more, especially considering how much they put her in the role of damsel in distress.
Like I for sure thought that in the Mon Cala arc, when they're captured and held in the eel prisons, that Anakin was going to do something super badass with the Force and break out of the eel cell (the ceel if you will) and save Padme (when her air bubble popped) and Riff Tamson (or whoever was there with them) would have had a really bad time finding out why Anakin is the Chosen One. But they never did that. It was just Anakin frowning and getting electrocuted. It was so lame. If they're going to put Padme in danger in front of Anakin, they need to be ready to let Anakin basically go all out to save her. Let him show his true power.
In ROTJ, we see Anakin doing the same when Luke is in danger. Like he only has one arm and he can't lift his arms above his head, but his son is in danger so he gets super mega powerful and he just grabs Palpatine and holds him above his head and throws him in the reactor. It was amazing!
But anyway, from the virus episode, I also love how it ends when Padme holds Anakin's hand briefly and they say something like "I'll see you soon" or something like that. It was cute.
Aside from Anidala moments, I also liked the episode with the younglings (Gungi is best Jedi!!!) when they go to get their kyber crystals and then they run in with the pirates and the droids call Grievous and they're like "they're miniature Jedi!" And before that call Grievous is already like "I'm one more stupid comment away from losing it" and he hears "miniature Jedi" and you can see the life draining right out of him.
I also like the Bombad Jedi episode where Jar Jar wears a Jedi robe and everyone thinks he's a Jedi. I do like the Anidala reference with Anakin leaving his robe on Padme's ship. 😏😏😏😏 I love when Padme is captured and she hears there's a Jedi there, she makes up this plan on the spot to fool the droids that the Jedi is already in her cell, it was hilarious.
And I like the episode/arc with Jar Jar and Queen Julie. True love right there! Also, Jar Jar working with Mace Windu was everything!
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newswcanonprompts · 4 years
Text
prompt #37 - Jedi are like Magpies and love their clones
sorry we haven’t posted in forever! to make up for it, i’m posting one of our longest and detailed prompts (maybe even the longest)- this came from a LONG discussion a few weeks back, and it was a lot of fun. this idea morphed a ton, and it became this huge thing. this is personally my favorite one, so hope you enjoy!
Jedi collect trinkets and wear them!!! Hand them to others as a very important gift
The Clones dont really get it, but they are happy
The jedi make them things like jewelry, keychains, little beaded things, colored strings, they’ll give them feathers, you name it 
Its another way to show that they are individuals, and that the jedi know them specifically 
The veteran clones have long keychain type things and the shiny clones want them very much and it’s something they look forward to 
The padawans hand the commanders things and being sad when the CC’s tell them they can’t take them into battle 
Krell gets found out earlier.
“Okay, look, i know krell is… well, he is *something* and i don’t want to accuse a master of the order but have you looked at his men?! where the hell are their keychains?!”
The padawans stage a protest at the senate because how else are they going to make sure that their troops know they are loved and get their trinkets 
This idea can get angsty really quickly (finding trinkets after battles, in ship crashes, or post-order 66), but we won’t do that because of how angsty this server already is, we need some fluff sometimes
Palaptine can commit self delete 
Clones will paint armor for padawans cause that is how they show honor and stuff 
The clones, upon figuring out what they mean, give their jedi trinkets also
Mirialan padawan holding armor they got: “ITS GREEN LIKE ME!” 
There are little figurines, some painted rocks, some little shiny things found on the battlefield
The clones who aren’t as good with their hands singing songs or telling stories
The jedi record them and keep them on little datachips that they keep on them at all times
Barriss doesn’t go bad because this is happy time
The jedi padawans start a riot / protest outside the senate building because some clones got their trinkets taken away by asshole civilians because they’re “not human”, just copies
The (now very pissed off) jedi sprung into action
If a snooty senator(s) takes away a clone’s trinket, the jedi just sit back and grind to a halt. Because if the clones, the PEOPLE WHO PROTECT THE REPUBLIC, are gonna get treated like that, the war can wait 
The jedi knights and masters just meditate wherever the padawans are protesting
This is done to ‘keep the peace’
If anakin hears a snooty senator degrade the clones, he starts ranting and shouting about their individuality and accomplishments, while pointing at each trinket.
Someone live streams this
Luminara joins in (barriss is right behind) 
Aayla too 
Luminara, anakin, aayla, tag teamed shouted speech 
Ahsoka and barriss are being held back by the CC’s (ahsoka is making some very crude hand gestures and barriss is like “i can name every bone in your body as i break it” - cause barriss has all that healer knowledge) 
Once these three are done, mace windu comes along with the council. They think mace is going to scold the three of them until mace starts shouting at the senators too. The council just lets mace do all the talking. 
This is the most watched live stream this year. It’s very funny and starts a ton of memes (obi wans face, yoda meditating, the look of “oh shit” on the original snooty senator’s face, the look of surprise on everyone when mace starts shouting too - there is also a gif made of the council looking at the situation, looking at themselves (mostly mace) and then they all step back to let mace do the talking, the clones faces when they see that three jedi and then the jedi high council are defending them)
Mace, rolling up his sleeves: “okay let’s do this” 
The senators: backing away in fear 
Obi wan might commit a war crime right now because no way people can talk about his troops like that
Obi wan: “am i allowed to kill a senator?”
Cody: “General, do not-”
This whole thing leads to a massive debate and overwhelmingly good PR for the jedi and clones
Shady sheev doesn’t like that. Good PR for the jedi? No thank you. But since this is a fixit he gets his ass kicked later on so everything’s fine (skeevy sheev has to scramble to try to fix his plans though) 
All the padawans from that one lightsaber episode (the one on ilum where the younglings got their kyber crystals) are there and SHIT’S GOING DOWN
Petro in particular is very close to kicking someone’s ass 
Caleb dume is there also.
“Master depa said we should never raise our blades in revenge or anger. But this is not revenge.” this is war, this is justice, this is defense of a defenseless group 
Padme also joins in all of this (but much more calmly)
She also might make some passive aggressive comments about the snooty senators trash outfit 
She and all her senator friends are gonna blacklist the original culprit 
Padme and bail organa (they also got help from many jedi) put in the clone rights bill the next day
In the halls outside the debate chamber, padme threatens to gut people with her hair pins if they don’t vote in her favor
sure, it’s *technically* extortion, but come on, who’s gonna stop her? those pins are pointy y’all
Anakin tried to help draft / present the bill but he spent most of his time ranting about the injustices the clones have to face (leia had to get it from someone)
Anakin, out of breath: “AND ALL YOU SENATORS JUST SIT HERE, DOING NOTHING, WHEN THEY’RE OUT THERE DYING FOR YOU-” 
Padme: “okay ani i got this, drink some water please” 
Ahsoka also jumps in 
Plo, who’s watching the debate: “little ‘soka, please don’t hurt anyone” (but he’s not about to stop her, after all these are his sons we’re talking about) 
If someone said “well they’re not slaves?” anakin would go OFF. if you thought he was angry before… you got another thing coming.
“I AM A FREED SLAVE! I KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE! THESE MEN HAVE LESS RIGHTS THAN I DID AS A SLAVE!” 
If the public doesn’t know about his childhood before, they do now
Imagine the shock 
Padme: “Ani, deep breaths, it’s gonna be okay.” 
Also padme, to the other senators: “well i mean he’s not wrong you assholes”
Padme is also making very well timed comments and suggestions. It’s the most successful day she’s had since she became senator
She’s also revealing all the senators’ dirty secrets
Padme: “oh, senator so-and-so, i released all your finances and your voting history on the holonet. I’m sure your supporters will love that you’re embezzling funds. Oh, you lost your support? Tragic.” 
The jedi also have dirt on everyone and they just casually let everything slip like they weren’t secrets 
Shady sheev Palpacreep is in his little podium thing during the debate, and he is very pissed, because his plan is getting ruined, but he can’t let it show or else people will discover the truth about him
Anakin: “isn’t it great that we’re finally doing something about it?” 
Sheev, pained: “Of course-” 
This whole debate is still live streamed - and it’s very popular
The senate who made the original comment and started all of this is #cancelled 
This is the greatest thing the galaxy has ever seen / watched because drama 
If a jedi dies, and they aren’t brought back to the temple, they are burned with the other dead on the battlefield. Young padawans take their master’s trinkets in remembrance, wanting to follow their path and have tangible proof that the master passed into the force but that they left their mark in the world
You do not burn the trinkets. Krell tried once. It almost started a jedi civil war (maybe that’s how he gets found out) 
Or maybe krell was found out because he gives zero trinkets to his men, and everyone caught on and were like “hey wtf man” 
But if you wanna make it angsty ( cough cough umbara ) then krell tells the 501st to remove / burn / throw out their trinkets or he’d do it for them 
He gives them an example by slicing a very special one that anakin and ahsoka both gave to rex 
Krell also slices one of dogma’s. It was the only one dogma had because  he was newish to the battalion at the time and wasn’t sure if accepting the trinkets was against regs or not. Krell slashes it and dogma doesn’t say anything but there were tears in his eyes 
All the jedi who find out what happened replace all the trinkets so fast. They also give krell’s men a shit ton of presents.
Krell’s men have no idea what to do with them, but they are so touched a few shed tears when they get them 
The clones get small tattoos of patterns that the little padawans drew for the men
The tattoos are small because some of them *might* just be random squiggles but the padawans looked so happy the clones just had to get them tattooed
Anakin orders japor wood with padme's bank account to make snippets for the clones because it’s not only a jedi thing, it’s from anakin's homeworld - and that’s like the highest praise you can get from him
The clones might not know exactly what it means but they know its super special 
Padme figures out a way to buy japor wood in bulk. Anakin is very touched by this 
When snooty senators start badmouthing clones, yoda just sits there and meditates to drive the senators nuts
“Sitting, i am, because stand you bitches, i cannot” 
Padme gets many trinkets from the 501st because they all *know* about her and anakin
Any trinkets that she gets she likes to incorporate into her outfits (like the warrior fashionista that she is) 
She embroiders some of them into her dresses and hairpieces 
They both get a TON of trinkets when the twins are born
Padme also gives trinkets to the 501st, some of the 212th, and all of the coruscant guard. Especially fox cause she sees all the work he does and the senators he has to deal with 
She’s besties with the coruscant guard. Like yeah, she knows the 501st and they know about her and anakin (and she’s one of them because of it) but the guard is who she’s always with
She probably wore red on debate day to represent them
264 notes · View notes
obwjam · 3 years
Note
Ok so I loved your ‘Anakin gets shrunk’ thing but now I’m also imagining a scenario in which the tiny is suddenly as tall as their giant friends.
AH THANK U i’m glad you liked it 🥺🥺 but also yes i think about this all the time too..... mayhaps it would go something like this
————
It happened suddenly, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment where only a few people were paying attention because nobody thought it was going to work. They had finally made significant progress on their mission to reverse engineer the Separatist weapon that shrunk Anakin Skywalker to just a few inches tall, and a few members of the Jedi Council were eager to see if the nonstop work had paid off. Standing near him was Jayla, his lifelong tiny friend who had helped keep Anakin sane during the worst month of his life. There was a non-zero chance this antidote wasn’t going to work, so she was on standby in case something went wrong.
It worked, though. Maybe a little too well.
There was a blinding light that filled the medical bay as the growth ray was activated. Anakin felt like his body was being torn apart before the pain melted and his eyes adjusted to the room. Wow, everything is so much brighter.
“Anakin!” came the excited and relieved voice of Obi-Wan.
“Did... did it work?” Anakin asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Yes, thank the Force, it did— oh my...”
Sitting on the table to Anakin, there was a new person in the room. It was Jayla, who was no longer four inches tall and instead seemed to be taller than even the five-and-a-half-foot Ahsoka. A splitting headache was all that was left after the fire in her body subsided. No matter how many times she blinked, she couldn’t see clearly.
Anakin turned, following Obi-Wan’s gaze. His jaw just about hit the floor. “What the...”
“Ugh, why do I feel so—woah...” Jayla slurred through her words, and her voice suddenly sounded like she was screaming. It felt like the words were traveling from her brain to her mouth in slow motion. Through the pain in her head, she strained her eyes to try and make out the figures in front of her. She took a shortened breath. Why did everything feel so closed in?
A concerned Jayla? was the only thing she heard before her eyes rolled back and she passed out right on the table.
Anakin and Obi-Wan rushed to help her as Ahsoka, Yoda, Plo Koon and Mace Windu watched in subdued shock.
Ahsoka was the one to break the silence. “Uhm... what just happened?”
Nobody really had an answer. They threw out speculations as Anakin stood at Jayla’s bedside, making sure she was okay. It didn’t take long for her eyes to start fluttering.
Anakin waved his hand and shushed the group as Jayla stirred awake. At first, her eyelids remained heavy and she could barely make out what she was seeing. But suddenly, the face in front of her took shape. Anakin was shockingly close to her, and yet, he didn’t look big at all. It must not have worked.
“Anakin...” she muttered, finding her voice. “What happened? I got the worst headache... oh kriff, that thing didn’t work, did it?”
“Jay,” Anakin cut her off. “It... it did work.”
Jayla blinked, thoroughly confused. “Um, are you joking? You’re still tiny.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Then why—“ she started, but once she looked over to where Obi-Wan’s voice was coming from, she nearly swallowed her tongue. Obi-Wan was eye-level, but he wasn’t bending down, and his face didn’t take up her entire view. In fact, he was several feet away, but it felt like he was right next to her. She tried to reach into the Force to figure out what was going on, but she flinched away when a thousand different sensations flooded her mind. It hurt almost as bad as the headache.
“Take it easy!” Anakin cautioned as Jayla shot up, her eyes wide. Stars flashed briefly in her vision. Her limbs felt like jelly. “You don’t look so good.”
“Stop, stop...” Jayla squeezed her eyes shut as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “You’re talking too loud.”
Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, a look of concern passing between them. The Jedi in the corner stayed put, partially so they didn’t startle Jayla and partially because they were still in shock.
Jayla stared at her feet and took a few deep breaths as she allowed the world around her to normalize in her brain. Even though the floor was so far away from her now, she could still see it in excruciating detail. She swung her legs a few times, gasping when the tips of her toes brushed against the cool tile. When she remembered the Jedi standing in the corner of the room, she glanced up, only able to hold eye contact for just a few uncomfortable seconds before moving her head back down. The Force confirmed what seemed too impossible to be true — not only did the antidote grow Anakin back, but it grew her, too.
“I’m... uh. Wow. I’m really... wow,” Jayla breathed, eyes still trained downward. “This is... really weird.”
“How do you feel?” Obi-Wan was now standing next to the bed. His mind was racing to find a potential explanation for what was in front of him.
“Um. Confused,” she said, still getting used to the projection of her voice. She was too afraid to look Obi-Wan in the eye. “Everything feels loud.”
“How can something feel loud?” Anakin questioned.
“I dunno! It’s... it’s like my senses have been dialed up to 100. Like something is bound to happen at any moment.”
“Sounds like you’re just a bit anxious,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t blame you.”
“No no, it’s more than that. Like... like I can hear what’s going on outside the door. All the people walking by, how their footsteps sound. And how Rex is standing in the hallway and trying to act like he’s not nervous but he’s really freaking out ‘cause he doesn’t know why it’s taking so long and he’s assuming it didn’t work. And the medical droid — the one over there, across the room — it’s making some sedative. Mixing bacta with... something green. It smells awful in here, too, and it’s really distracting.”
Obi-Wan and Anakin stared at her in stunned silence for a moment. Neither of them had sensed Rex outside the room, much less what he was feeling, and the medical droid was too far away to make out the labels of what it was mixing. They certainly couldn’t hear anything going on outside of their little huddle. And the room didn’t even have a smell.
“Hmm.” Obi-Wan calmly rubbed his chin, casting a sideways glance at the other Jedi masters in the room. They seemed to all be thinking the same thing. “We can discuss this later, Jayla. Right now, we need to make sure both of your vitals are stable.”
Jayla nodded, again closing her eyes in an attempt to reduce her bubble of perception. She couldn’t take all the noise.
“Ahsoka, please keep Anakin and Jayla company and let me know if there are any anomalies in their readings. Masters, if you don’t mind?” Obi-Wan jerked his head to the door. Yoda, Plo Koon and Mace Windu, who had stayed surprisingly silent through the whole ordeal, followed Obi-Wan into the hall. They were a little astounded to see Rex as described: leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his fingers gripped tightly around his armor. He perked up when he saw the group of Jedi, but didn’t say anything as they moved off to the side. If they didn’t know any better, they would have just assumed he was tense about being in the Jedi Temple.
“I don’t know what to make of this,” Obi-Wan started. “What went wrong?”
“Too close, she was standing, when we fired our antidote,” Yoda said with confidence. “Caught in its range, she was.”
“I agree,” Mace chimed in. “Though that doesn’t explain why it has the exact same effect on her when it was only intended to reverse what had been done to Skywalker.”
“Maybe the effect wasn’t the same. She seems to have this... heightened connection to the Force,” Obi-Wan offered. “I knew she was strong with it before, but now...”
“It seems that the strength of her abilities grew with her physical body,” Plo finished.
“But Skywalker’s connection to the Force was never diminished,” Mace said. “Besides, that’s not how the Force works.”
“Possible, it may be, that this is not a matter concerning the Force,” Yoda said, drawing the attention of the other matters. “Hyper-attentive, her species is. Always like this, she could have been.”
The four Jedi considered that possibility. It made sense on the surface — she had always been quick and perceptive, and seemed to sense things coming before they happened. Now that she was their size, she was just interpreting her surroundings like normal, but on a much bigger scale, which allowed for picking up on things that humans or togrutas or anyone else would miss.
“If that is the case, then I’m afraid our little Jayla is going to be very overwhelmed by her new world,” Obi-Wan posited. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“We don’t even know how long she’ll be like this,” Mace stressed. “The truth of the matter is we have no idea how either of them will react to this antidote in the long-term. We need to keep a close eye on both of them, at all times.”
“Leave that to me,” Obi-Wan said. He was growing increasingly worried about how Jayla was taking all of this. He wanted to be there for her.
“Master Yoda and I can analyze the readings to see if we can find anything helpful,” Plo looked down to Yoda, who nodded in acknowledgment. “It will take some time, but as long as their vitals are stable, I see no reason to keep them cooped up in the temple.”
“We still have this war to deal with,” Mace grumbled. 
“We can’t send them back out there. Especially Jayla. Not yet,” Obi-Wan protested. “We need to run more tests first.”
“With all due respect, Master Kenobi, there’s only so much a medical droid can tell us,” Plo responded. “We may have to see them in action to get a better sense of their boundaries.”
Obi-Wan considered this. “For Anakin, I suppose I agree with that. But we don’t know what our antidote did to Jayla, or what it will do. We should keep her here for a while.”
“She won’t like that,” Plo said.
“It doesn’t matter what she likes or not. We have a responsibility to keep her safe.”
Mace turned to Yoda, who had stayed silent in the debate. “Master Yoda, do you feel comfortable letting Jayla go out on the battlefield with Skywalker and Padawan Tano once she settles down? If she’s really as perceptive as you think, she could be a huge asset.”
Yoda hummed. While the idea of throwing Jayla back into battle like nothing happened felt odd to him and he was concerned with putting too much on her plate, he also agreed with Mace’s reasoning. The situation in the galaxy was dire, and they needed all the Jedi they could get to fight off the growing influence of the dark side. Plus, he knew his former padawan would adamantly refuse to stay in the temple.
“She may go. But careful, we must be. Know not how she will react to such a chaotic environment.”
“Very well, Master Yoda,” Obi-Wan said. If Yoda thought it was okay, he supposed he could go along with it. “She’ll have me, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex with her. She’ll be well protected.”
The Jedi all nodded, feeling slightly better about the situation. Obi-Wan watched as the other three filed back into the medbay. He made his way over to Rex, whose anxiety was easily sensible now. He sure had a lot of explaining to do.
————-
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I? I don’t think you understand how weird this is for me right now.”
“No, no, I think I understand perfectly. Did you forget the last month?”
“That was different!”
“Please! I wasn’t going around touching everything like I just woke up from stasis.”
“I’ve never held a book before, okay? I had to see what it was like!”
Anakin and Ahsoka were taking Jayla on a grand re-tour of the Jedi Temple. The place was almost unrecognizable at Jayla’s new height of five feet and eight inches. She didn’t understand how she was still so much shorter than Anakin.
“Come on, master,” Ahsoka dared to interject. “Don’t you think you’re being just a little unfair?”
“Psh, no way. Suddenly being tall is way less awkward than suddenly being small.”
“Is it, though?” Jayla said, finding a windowsill to lean against. She wasn’t used to this much walking. “I feel so... exposed. Everyone can see me now.”
“Isn’t that nice, though?” Ahsoka asked. “I mean, don’t you want people to notice you?”
“I guess...” Jayla trailed off, tracing her finger along her wrist. “It’s just really overwhelming. It feels like everyone’s staring at me.”
“I think they are,” Anakin muttered. Word traveled fast in the walls of the temple.
“I never realized you had a tattoo,” Ahsoka said, noticing for the first time the intricate symbol on Jayla’s wrist.
“Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s something everyone in my village gets. Or, got. Here.” She held her wrist out, still getting used to the fact that it was the same size as everyone else’s. “These symbols here, that’s a language. I never actually got to learn it fully, and I’ve forgotten almost all of it, but it means al’hora dessili. Clan of Al. The animal-looking thing is a corano. It’s part of ancient legend. It symbolizes intuition, which I guess was the trait that was most prevalent in me when I was young.”
“How could they have known?” Ahsoka asked. “I mean, didn’t the council come and find you when you were an infant?” 
Jayla sniffed a laugh. “I think I was almost 10 when they found me.”  She exchanged a knowing glance with Anakin. “And I think it was entirely by accident.” 
Ahsoka blushed. “Oh. I had no idea.”
“That’s by design,” Jayla smirked. “Master Windu was the one who discovered me. Hah, out of all the things I’ve seen, that might have been the scariest day of my life. Even now, when we’re almost the same height, I’m still kinda freaked out by him.” 
A gust of wind caught Jayla’s hair and she lost her words. Something like that used to knock her off her feet, or at the very least, push her back a bit. But now, that breeze was like a kiss on her cheek as she gazed out in wonder at the busy world below. The towers still towered, but in a majestic way instead of an imposing one. Everything seemed within reach.
“Excuse me, sirs.”
The three whipped their heads around to find Rex standing with his helmet resting between his arm and his side. Obi-Wan was deep in conversation with someone else across the way, answering many of the same questions that Rex had posited on the way over.
“Rex,” Anakin smiled. 
“General Skywalker. It’s so good to see you back to normal.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Are you feeling alright? 
“Yeah. A little sore, actually. And just a bit tired. But if that’s what it takes, then I don’t care, because I’m just glad to be me again…”
Anakin trailed off when he realized Rex was no longer listening to him. Once he had locked eyes with Jayla, neither of them could tear their gaze away from the other. They both felt like they were looking at an entirely different person. Jayla’s stomach kept turning.
“Hey, Rex…” Jayla said slowly, as if she had just learned those words and was trying them out for the first time. “You’re, uh. You’re taller than I expected.”
Rex blinked. “I could say the same for you, sir.”
Jayla bit back a smile. “Yeah.”
Several beats of silence followed.
“Well.” Ahsoka could barely take it. “This is awkward.”
Anakin tapped Jayla’s shoulder. “I think she short circuited.”
“I think you should stop poking me,” Jayla retorted, playfully punching Anakin in the shoulder. Well. She thought it was playful.
“Ow! Kriff,” Anakin reeled back. “That hurt, yknow.”
“What? Really? M’sorry,” Jayla stammered, staring at her hand. I didn’t hit him that hard.
“If this is how strong you’re gonna be, then you’ll have to take it easy on the punches,” Anakin jested. “Save it for the Separatists.”
“If that’s how strong I’m gonna be...” Jayla repeated anxiously. “I don’t know how much I like that.”
Rex gave the two Jedi next to him a concerned look. They didn’t need words to know that it was time for one of them to change the subject.
Ahsoka spoke first. “Hey, why don’t we go to the dining hall and get some grub? I don’t know about you all, but I’m starving.”
“Uhm, I don’t really think I should,” Jayla said tentatively, rubbing her neck. “I have no idea what eating food could do to me. Or Anakin, really.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” Anakin muttered. “Well, what about the gardens? We still need to finish our grand tour. Rex, why don’t you join us?”
Rex’s face flushed red. “Oh, I--I shouldn’t, sir.”
“Come on, it’ll be nice! How often are you in the Jedi Temple?”
“This is my first time, sir.”
“See? Now you have to come. Jayla thinks it’s her first time in the temple too. You can touch the plants together.”
“Okay, listen--” she started, but stopped when she realized how exhausted she was. Getting angry took up a lot of energy. “Ugh. Can we take it slow? We’ve done so much walking already.”
“We’ve been out of the medbay for an hour!”
“Well, when you suddenly grow 15 times the height you’ve been all your life, you tell me how you feel!” Anakin wanted to keep poking fun, but nothing about that sentence was funny. Jayla sighed. “Sorry. I’m just… really tired.”
“Fresh air will help,” Rex interjected, daring to enter the conversation. “Trust me.”
Jayla gave him a small smile. The butterflies in her stomach were still there, but not as bad as before. “Okay. Let’s go.” She turned to Anakin. “Oh, and I will be touching all the plants.”
Anakin snickered. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Hey, if this is gonna be a long-term thing, then I’m gonna have fun with it. And half the fun comes from annoying you.”
“I wish I could get away with that,” Ahsoka muttered under her breath. 
“Come on, kids! The tour continues!” Anakin waved the group forward. Jayla chuckled and even Rex cracked a smile.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
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padme-amitabha · 4 years
Text
Is Anakin a Mary Sue?
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Now it may shock you to learn this but it turns out that Disney Star Wars is kind of a contentious topic. The fandom's been more or less divided between those who like the sequel trilogy and those who like good movies but both groups spend a great deal of time slinging [ __ ] at each other over every form of social media known to man and truly no battleground is more fiercely contested than the protagonist of each trilogy. People who hate the Disney trilogy tend to criticize Rey for being an overpowered, flawless, perfect, invincible and unrelatable character for whom everything just kind of happens with no real struggle or difficulty a Mary Sue if you will.
Meanwhile supporters of the sequel trilogy are quick to leap to her defense usually with one of two potential counter arguments:  1. You just hate strong women 2. So what if she's op as [ __ ] Anakin Skywalker from the prequels was a Mary Sue too and you don't criticize him. You just hate strong women. This argument was brought into sharp focus for me the other day when I was perusing twitter in search of calm, logical, rational discussion about the merits of the sequel trilogy and I chanced upon this little gem of a comment. Ah yes that famously perfect protagonist who wins everything, always makes the right decisions, has a selfless and compassionate personality, and is universally loved and respected by everyone. Well random twitter [ __ ] as it turns out, I am ready to have that conversation right now. So saddle up y'all because the drinker's here to round up this [ __ ] and put an end to this argument once and for all. Let us journey deep into the world of the Star Wars prequels and see if we can figure out whether Anakin Skywalker really is a Mary Sue.
Now in order to do this, we have to nail down what exactly a Mary Sue is. Well according to the dictionary definition it's a term used to describe a fictional character, usually female, who is seen as too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws originally written as an idealized version of an author in fanfiction. Now the finer points of what makes a Mary Sue can vary depending on who you talk to but after consulting multiple sources and drawing upon my own experiences as a writer, there's a few common traits that I think most people would generally agree on:
1.      Mary Sues usually possess skills and abilities that are not consistent with their situation and personal history. They can do stuff they shouldn't realistically be able to and they can do it better than anyone else.
2.      They usually possess flawless idealized personalities that no real person could measure up to they never give in to negative emotions like anger, greed, jealousy, selfishness or arrogance.
3.      They're universally loved respected and embraced by every good character they encounter even when there's no logical reason for this to happen.
4.      They never get seriously challenged, fail at anything or get beaten by anyone, success and victory come easily to them.
5.      They always make good decisions and strive to do what's right in any situation so why is this actually a problem.
Well I think the answer should be obvious, Mary Sues are boring as [ __ ]. If a character has got no flaws or weaknesses and never really gets challenged or tested by anything then what is there to get invested in?
It's the flaws and failings of a character that make them interesting in the first place and their struggle to rise above and overcome these flaws that make them so compelling. If these things are missing from a character, then there's nothing for the audience to latch onto or care about. There's nothing to like or root for. That's the essence of a Mary Sue and that's what we're going to be looking at here. So, with that in mind let's see how Anakin stacks up against this list shall we?
Point number one: Being overpowered and having abilities that he shouldn't. Now this more than anything else is what people tend to latch onto when they criticize Anakin and who can blame them really? On the surface it seems pretty ridiculous to see a nine-year-old boy doing stuff like this autopilot but let's put it into a wider context, shall we? When we first meet Anakin in The Phantom Menace, he's a slave living with his mother on Tatooine. He's spent most of his life salvaging junk and using it to make new stuff that can marginally improve their quality of life. As a result, he's become pretty good with technology. Well that makes sense, I guess. He's even applied these technical skills to pod racing where he's been fairly successful despite suffering at least one major crash that we know about. Again, this kind of makes sense when you consider he's strong with the force which would likely give him heightened perception reactions and understanding of the world around him, you know qualities that are important to high performance racing drivers. Anyway, his racing abilities allow the main characters to win an engine part that they need to repair their ship as well as enough money to buy his freedom. Sensing his importance Qui-Gon Jinn takes him under his wing and begins to teach him about the force. Remember when older mentor characters were allowed to teach the protagonist things? I miss that. He also takes part in a space battle that destroys an enemy mothership at the climax of the movie. Now as goofy as this scene is in its execution, it's not actually inconsistent with Anakin’s abilities and experiences. If you've worked around technology vehicles and ships your entire life and you can pilot a racing pod to a high standard then it stands to reason that you could probably operate other types of spacecraft as well, particularly if you have a droid on board to manage most of the ship's systems for you. However, for the sake of argument let's concede the Anakin in The Phantom Menace is indeed more skilled competent and capable than your average person.
So, what kind of effect would this have on a young man from an impoverished background suddenly thrust into a much larger world of power, politics and opportunity? Well that brings me neatly along to point number two: Mary Sues are supposed to have flawless personalities never giving in to anger, jealousy, resentment, vengeance or ambition. All throughout the second and third movies in the prequel trilogy, Anakin displays an increasingly severe set of personality flaws that begin to undermine his position in the world and his relationship with other characters. He's impetuous and hot-headed, frequently rushing into dangerous situations without waiting for backup or considering the risk to himself particularly when someone he cares about is in danger. Keep that one in mind because it'll be important later. He's ambitious but also impatient, feeling like he's been unfairly held back by other characters, particularly Obi-Wan Kenobi, and this resentment causes a growing rift between the two men that eventually spills out into open conflicts. Rather than taking the longer and harder path to wisdom and understanding, Anakin wants everything right away. He also cares deeply about people close to him and this attachment often manifests in explosive bites of anger and jealousy when he feels that they're being threatened like when his mother gets kidnapped and killed by Tusken Raiders, causing Anakin to go on a violent rampage that escalates into wholesale slaughter. Afterwards even he's shocked by what he did or when he believes that Padme has turned against him by Obi-Wan Kenobi, causing him to lash out violently against both of them. By this point he's been totally consumed by uncontrolled jealousy anger resentment and betrayal. All of the emotions that lead to the dark side of the force. The point here is clear: if you [ __ ] with someone he cares about then mercy and compassion go right out the window.
All of his skills, abilities and potential which seemed so overpowered and unnecessary in the first movie in fact serve a very important purpose for his character development. They've generated a sense of superiority, arrogance and overconfidence, and a reluctance to listen to criticism or advice no matter how well intentioned they might be. These are dangerous flaws in his personality all by themselves but combined with his overwhelming emotional attachment to people he cares about it creates a potent cocktail of reckless ambition and deep-seated insecurity that makes him uniquely vulnerable to manipulation something which will later prove disastrous because while Mary Sues are universally loved respected and trusted by everyone, Anakin certainly isn't in the first movie. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu and Yoda are all against training Anakin to become a Jedi despite his obvious potential because they know he's already too old to be inducted. This lack of early discipline in his life would leave a dangerous gap in his personality, making him unpredictable and less able to control his emotions, two factors which are extremely dangerous for Jedi. These misgivings would carry over to the next two movies where Anakin is elevated to the Jedi high council on Palpatine’s orders but the council itself refuses to grant him the rank of master because they feel he hasn't earned it yet. Now a different man would see this as an opportunity to prove himself by working hard and earning their trust eventually winning them over and gaining the recognition he deserves but Anakin takes this as a personal insult from the council which drives a deeper wedge between him and a Jedi order which he believes will never truly respect or accept him. Wow it's almost like Palpatine knew this was going to happen and engineered the whole thing to pull Anakin closer to him portraying himself as the only one who can help Anakin realize his full potential. It's a surprisingly smart piece of characterization that's completely consistent with everything we know about both men. The higher Anakin rises the more it stokes the fire of his ambition and superiority and the more he comes to see anyone who doubts or cautions him as a threat to his success. This arrogance and overconfidence also causes him to test himself against powerful opponents before he's actually ready for them and unlike Mary sues who easily win every battle they have to fight, Anakin’s recklessness causes an escalating series of losses like here where he tries to take on count Dooku all by himself and it ends with Anakin getting his [ __ ] arm sliced off. But his desire for revenge against the man who defeated him ultimately causes a more powerful and better prepared Anakin to execute him in the following movie, again proving his willingness to give into vengeance and anger even against helpless opponents or here in his climactic confrontation with Obi-Wan where his enemy has the advantage but Anakin presses the attack anyway and well I think we know how that turns out. Just as a side note I love how this carries over to Return of the Jedi. See Luke’s taking the high ground here just like Obi-Wan did.
What we have here is a clear pattern of behavior from a man whose ambitions consistently outstrip his abilities. Rather than demonstrating patience and restraint and taking the slower and harder path to lasting wisdom and fulfillment, Anakin’s inherent character flaws cause him to push himself beyond breaking point with increasingly disastrous consequences which brings me neatly along to the final points: whereas Mary Sues consistently make good righteous decisions and always strive to do the correct thing, Anakin on the other hand demonstrates a consistent pattern of mistakes and misjudgments that ultimately cost him everything. As I've already shown you the flaws in his personality are exacerbated by his powers and abilities making him easy prey for a ruthlessly ambitious man that knows exactly how to flatter his ambitions and prey on his weaknesses this eventually causes him to commit terrible crimes like murdering an entire tribe including unarmed civilians murdering children, executing a helpless opponent, helping to kill a jedi master, trying to murder his own wife, trying to kill his mentor and best friend, joining forces with an evil dictator to overthrow the republic, delivering this scene…
What I’m trying to say with all this is that Anakin Skywalker is the very furthest thing from a Mary Sue that you can get. Trying to label him as a Mary Sue for no other reason than because he's good at lots of stuff demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what a Mary Sue is and also of who Anakin is. The reality is that he's a powerful but deeply flawed man whose unique combination of circumstances and abilities have created a dangerous personality that's vulnerable to manipulation and corruption his greatest strengths ultimately proved to be his most terrible weaknesses with consequences that echo across the entire galaxy. Now I have my own thoughts on the prequel trilogy as a whole and I’d be lying if I said they were great movies but fundamentally I think the story they tell is actually pretty [ __ ] good and I’m just gonna say it: Anakin’s rise to power and fall to the dark side is a damn good piece of character work that Disney would have done well to pay more attention to. Anyway, that's all I’ve got for today. Go away now.
I would argue the prequels are great movies but he makes some very good points. I have seen so many Disney fans claim Anakin is a Mary Sue, when he’s anything but a Mary Sue. 
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Request: Jango Fett x Jedi!Reader
Request by @sweeetteaa​: So have had this idea for a while now, but I suck at writing so hear me out: Jango Fett x reader, but the reader is a Jedi who goes to investigate Kamino with Obi-Wan and when she meets Jango - it’s love at first sight. And of course sassy Boba also loves her.
Jango Fett x reader
Word Count: 1825
Note: Obi-wan is on Kamino a LOT longer than he is in the movie because reasons
There were times when you thoroughly enjoyed your long-standing friendship with Obi-wan Kenobi. For example, any time he’d come to you ranting about whatever ridiculous situation Anakin had gotten them into; you almost always got a hearty laugh out of those instances.
This, however, was not one of those times.
Right now, you were rueing the day you’d decided to spar with this particular human because he’d dragged you along on his hunt for an apparently not-so-imaginary planet where you were currently getting an astoundingly confusing tour to show off an army of (admittedly quite attractive) clones made for the Republic.
You leveled your friend with a glare behind the tour guide's back and mouthed a harsh, “What the fuck?”
He just shrugged helplessly. His face smoothed back over into calm interest the instant the Kaminoan turned to glance at him. It never ceased to amaze you when he displayed that renowned ‘Negotiator’ facade.
Always one to be hands-on rather than to be lectured at, you spoke up, “You said they were highly trained for battle, yes?”
“Of course,” she replied breezily.
“Would it be possible for me to sit in on one of their drills? I’m somewhat of a tactician myself; I’d like to see how they perform in action. You and Obi-wan can keep viewing the process in the meantime.”
“Brilliant idea!” Obi-wan agreed, obviously seeing your plan of gathering more information.
The Kaminoan nodded. “Your timing is most convenient,” she informed you. “There is a simulation scheduled a few minutes from now. We have an overhead observation bay from which you can watch alongside their instructor.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
~
By the time you arrived, the simulation was already underway, and the clone that appeared to be the instructor judging from the under-armor blacks he was wearing barely spared you a glance while you were introduced. Not that you could blame his disinterest, his brothers down below were putting on quite the show. Still, you would like to glean at least a little information from the clones themselves about this place, and there needed to be a conversation happening for that so . . .
“Your sniper there needs to learn that his priority shouldn’t be the heavy troopers first.”
A handful of scars on the instructor’s face were exposed to you when he turned to smirk in your direction were surprising; you’d assumed such injuries would have been healed flawlessly in this facility. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. There was a curious rush of Force that rushed through you when he raised an amused eyebrow at you. “Oh? Who should he be focusing on then?”
“If he wants the rest of his team to survive, he’d target the stealth team making their way around the edges of the room.”
His brown eyes widened fractionally in mild surprise. “A Jetii that cares about the safety of soldiers? An unusual find. Who are you again?”
“Y/N. Another Jedi and I are here to check on the status of the army.” You made sure to make your voice wobble in a false tell.
One he seemed to buy based off the way that his smirk grew into a lopsided grin that made your heart inexplicably race. “You’re a terrible liar.”
You weren’t, but it played to your advantage to make him think you couldn’t lie for shit. Your Master, Mace Windu, had always encouraged your underhanded methods of gaining information even when the other Jedi frowned on them. ‘Use every advantage,’ he’d always say. The strange emotions that were racing around your mind because of this strange man, though, did concern you, but you shoved that to the side for later examination. You allowed a defeated-sounding sigh escape your lips as you let your body sag. “So I’ve been told.”
“So let me guess: something tipped you off about Kamino and you came looking?”
Well, he was certainly more intuitive than you would have guessed given that he was right and all. Not just a pretty face. “Busted.”
“So a tactician, piss-poor liar, and a curious adventurer. You are quite strange for a Jetii.”
“And you seem to think you know a lot about Jedi for someone who’s never left this planet.”
The second the words left your mouth, his dark eyes lit up, and you knew you’d made a mistake in your read of the man. It very abruptly all fell into place. He didn’t have those scars because of any fault in the healing here in the facility; he’d earned them in the field away from proper medical care. His knowledge wasn’t learned from some other instructor; it was learned first-hand. And his prejudice wasn’t taught institutionally; it was born from some darkness in his past.
“You’re not a clone, are you?”
“No, sweetheart, I’m the original.”
Your heart skipped a beat at the sound of his quiet chuckle, and you’d be damned if you didn’t crack a small smile yourself in response. Vow of attachments aside, you couldn’t help but already be fond of this strange man you’d just met. “So what’s your name then, Mr. Original?”
“Jango Fett.”
That name rang a bell or six. “The Mandalorian bounty hunter?” The one with the famous loathing of Jedi because they slaughtered his people?
“My reputation precedes me?”
“As well as your hatred for my kind, making you a curious choice for the progenitor of an army meant to work beside us to protect the Republic.”
“Money is money, sweetheart, and I’m learning that there might be a few Jetii that aren’t all bad.”
“A few?”
“Well . . . one or two . . . that I’d like to get to know better over a friendly dinner?”
“I suppose that could be arranged. We need to talk about how you’re training you snipers to be blind, anyway.”
~
As it turned out, dinner was in Jango’s apartment along with his clone/son Boba who you found out rather quickly you adored. The initial greeting had been rough, but he quickly warmed to you when you showed him the blaster you kept hidden within your robes for emergencies. He’d been telling some tale for the last few minutes about some trip he and his father had gone on, and his excitement was practically tangible.
“So anyways, Dad is busy trying to tie the guy up, and I spotted a no-good Jetii--”
“Boba!” his father interjected.
“What? It’s not like she’s a normal Jetii. She carries a blaster and agreed to go on a date with you.”
Your eyes widened dramatically, “This isn’t--”
“Son, this isn’t--” Jango cut himself off as the two of you talked over each other in your haste to deny the attraction you’d both been feeling all night.
“I’m a kid, Dad. I’m not stupid.”
“Boba--” This time you were cut off by a knock at the door.
The boy was already on his feet as he shouted, “I’ll get it!”
In the quiet that followed, Jango admitted, “He wasn’t wrong to assume that, you know.”
“I know,” you replied honestly, “but I took the vows, and we just met . . .”
“Dad! It’s for you!”
“Coming!” His eyes never left yours as he stood. “If you ever decide to leave that order of hypocrites . . .” The offer was clear.
“I know who to call,” you promised.
In the span of a single breath, you went from gazing at him longingly to being stunned still at the feeling of his lips on yours to staring at his retreating back in still-frozen surprise. And then everything devolved into a whirl of passive-aggressive accusatory comments, Obi-wan’s pitying gaze, and a chase that left you pondering, well, everything as you and your best friend chased the man that so easily swayed your mind away from your rigid vow of no attachments. 
“Obi-wan?” you called quietly over the comms that connected your two fighters. The two of you were tracking Jango’s ship, and you had a blackhole of anxiety gnawing its way through your stomach.
“I’m guessing this is something about that date I interrupted?”
“It wasn’t a date,” you argued automatically, but even you could hear how convincing you weren’t, “but yes.”
“It’s really getting to you that he is our assassin, isn’t it?” Your silence spoke libraries about your answer. “I’m sorry, darling.” Surprisingly, he didn’t kick into a lecture about the Code like he would have with Anakin, which you greatly appreciated. 
“Do you remember the old myths about the Force?”
“I suppose you have a specific one in mind?”
“The one about how everyone has someone out there connected to them by the Force.”
There was a heavy pause. “Do you believe this Jango Fett is your soulmate, Y/N?” Ever straight to the point was the renowned Obi-wan Kenobi.
You bit your lip, trying to fight back the tears that were currently making your eyes sting. That myth was the only way you could explain the feelings you had when looking at Jango, the way the Force seemed to dance between the two of you when he kissed you. “Yes.”
This time it was Obi-wan’s silence that was telling. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
~
After everyone was onboard a ship that was flying away from Geonosis, you locked yourself in your room with only Obi-wan allowed to enter so you could mourn in peace. All at once the galaxy was at war, your soulmate (for that’s what he must have been for you to have been brought to your knees by his death the second his head was severed even though you were too far to have seen it with your own eyes) was dead, and you were surrounded by his clones like they were living ghosts. You were a wreck, to put it mildly, and you could not let Anakin see you like this and get it into his head that such attachments were acceptable even if this was a special circumstance.
Already, you’d been weeping for hours while collapsed in the middle of the floor. And that was precisely the position Obi-wan found you when he finally returned from giving his report to the Council. In an instant, you were swept into a tight hug.
“Is there anything I can do?”
You shook your head minutely. “I can’t do this, Obi,” your voice shook. “I can’t fight with his ghosts by my side only to watch them die under my command in a war that no one wants.”
“You have my support no matter what you choose,” he promised quietly, “as long as you keep in touch.”
A shaky breath left your lips as some of the tension left your body. You hadn’t realized it, but part of you had been terrified that you would lose your best friend in this chaos. “Thank you.”
“What will you do?”
“Boba was there.”
“The little clone?”
“His son . . . sort of. He’s just a child that lost his father. I can’t just leave him.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you.”
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bkbricks · 3 years
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The Six True Force Ghosts (Updated)
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I am not a fan of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars (Episodes 7-9). One of my many reasons is the way that force ghosts are portrayed. In “The Rise of Skywalker” the Jedi of the past come back to help Rey defeat Palpatine. However, there are many Jedi force ghosts that come back, most of whom should not be a force ghost. I believe this because of how force ghosts are portrayed before Episode 9 was released. They were a very special type of Jedi and took special practices to master. There are only six true force ghosts, in my opinion.
In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda undergoes special training to learn how to become a force ghost. He is the second to ever learn, from the Jedi who learned how to become the first: Qui-Gon Jinn. At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Yoda tells Obi-Wan that he will learn how to connect with Qui-Gon and learn this knowledge himself, as we see he does in the Original Trilogy.
Beforehand
This took special training from all three of these Jedi Masters, that no other jedi had done before. It was also possible because of these three Jedi’s perspectives on the force. In “The Clone Wars” show, Yoda tells the Jedi High Council about becoming a force ghost, and none of them believe him. They all believe it to be impossible. So, because of my love for the prequels and originals over the sequels, I believe that these three Jedi, plus three more, are the six true force ghosts (by the time of Episode 9). Here they are:
Before I go over the six true force ghosts, there is one “Jedi” that I want to clear up that many fans may think to be a force ghost: Ahsoka. First, Ahsoka is technically not a Jedi, since she left the Jedi Order in “The Clone Wars”. She even claimed not to be a Jedi in “Star Wars: Rebels”, during her fight against Darth Vader. She may have had no one to teach her about/aid her in becoming a force ghost. In addition, Ahsoka’s death has never been confirmed. At the end of “Rebels” she was still alive, which took place immediately after the Battle of Endor.
Qui-Gon Jinn
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The first Jedi to become a force ghost was Qui-Gon, and he most likely kept his studies about it a secret. He could do this because he was the only Jedi of his time who believed in the Living Force, an idea that the Jedi Order did not teach nor follow. In “The Phantom Menace” Qui-Gon spoke of the Living Force and the will of the force to the Jedi High Council. The Council, especially Mace Windu, did not seem to care about these views on the force, and is only concerned with High Council and Republic business.
Qui-Gon was even offered a seat on the High Council, because the Council believed that his different views from theirs would be good to have. He refused, however, as he claimed that it would take away from his beliefs and practices with the force, one of which could have been his studies of becoming one with the Living Force, or a force ghost.
Yoda
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During the Clone Wars, towards the end of the war, Qui Gon’s force spirit reached out to Yoda and contacted him. Yoda did not believe what he was hearing at first, as he had never knew about force ghosts before. He told the High Council about hearing Qui-Gon’s spirit, but the Council did not believe him and deemed force ghosts to be impossible.
They believed something to be wrong with Yoda, and had him put under quarantine in a hospital bed under the strict security of Jedi Temple guards. With the help of Anakin Skywalker, Yoda escaped the Jedi Temple and left Coruscant for another location in the galaxy (at the request of Qui-Gon) to begin his force ghost training.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
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At the end of “Revenge of the Sith” Obi-Wan faced the truth that he must exile himself on Tatooine and watch over the young Luke Skywalker. He and two others, Yoda and Bail Organa, had discussed this in their last ever meeting with each other. Once it is settled, the three began to walk away. When Bail left, Yoda called Obi-Wan back for a special message to him.
He told Obi-Wan that he can teach him how to connect with Qui-Gon’s force spirit. Obi-Wan was very pleased, and eager to connect with his old master. Yoda told him that he will need to undergo special training while exiled on Tatooine in order to connect with Qui-Gon. Once he completed this training, Qui-Gon could help Obi-Wan learn how to also become a force ghost.
Anakin Skywalker
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Even though he never underwent any special training to become a force ghost, Anakin was very fortunate to become one. Fortunately for him, Obi-Wan had become very knowledgeable with the Living Force. He could even connect with the physical world quite a bit. This can be seen in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. Anakin, on the other hand, had no chance to learn of the Living Force. He turned to the dark side; then, once he turned back to the light, he certainly had no time to go out and learn about it.
What I will discuss next is technically legends content, but I believe that it fits very well into canon. Anakin became a force ghost because Obi-Wan allowed of it. In “Return of the Jedi” when Anakin redeemed himself back to the light side and fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, he died soon after. Before his redemption, Obi-Wan considered him unable to be redeemed and too far on the dark side. Throughout Anakin’s true redemption, Obi-Wan’s force ghost had been watching.
He was completely shocked, but proud of his old padawan. Before Anakin’s spirit could fully pass on (he had to first travel to the Netherworld), Obi-Wan reached out to him and told him that he had been forgiven, and could return to the physical world as a force ghost if he listened. After Anakin apologized for everything he had caused, Obi-Wan told him that they had very little time. Anakin then accepted Obi-Wan’s offer. At the end of Episode 6, we can see Anakin’s force ghost standing with Yoda’s and Obi-Wan’s. Qui-Gon’s was not present because we were looking through Luke’s perspective, who never knew about Qui-Gon.
Luke Skywalker
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After “Return of the Jedi” Luke certainly had enough time to undergo the special training to become a force ghost. While it is never truly stated that he did this, its almost hinted at and can surely be accepted. Luke appeared as a force ghost in Episode 9. Either Obi-Wan or Yoda (or even Anakin) helped his spirit to become a force ghost just as Anakin’s, or he went through the special training.
Related: Luke’s Jedi Training With Obi-Wan
I like to believe that he took the route of undergoing the special training (possibly very similarly to Yoda’s during “The Clone Wars” show) instead of simply skipping it like Anakin. Anakin did not have time to learn about it, while Luke did have the time, and resources. Plus, Luke’s studying of the Living Force adds more to its mastery and exclusiveness.
Leia Organa
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The sixth force ghost is (possibly) Leia. If there are any of these six force ghosts that I would believe to not become one, it would be Leia. This is simply for the fact that she was only a Jedi for one year. Now, you do not need to strictly be a Jedi to become a force ghost. You simply need to be force-sensitive and on the light side, two things which Leia was. She only underwent Jedi training with her brother, Luke, for one year until she had a terrible vision. She visioned that her becoming a Jedi would lead to the death of her son (who was still unborn).
After this vision, she gave up her Jedi training and focused more on her political life with the New Republic. Leia most likely never took the time to undergo the special training. However, due to her father’s (Anakin) way of becoming a force ghost, this too could have happened to Leia. Luke could have reached out to her (similarly to how Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin’s spirit) and asked her if she wished to return to the physical world as a force ghost. Leia would have most likely accepted his offer.
So these are the true six force ghosts, in my opinion. Of course, this knowledge could have been passed down to future generations. But these are the only six force ghosts that should have appeared/been heard in “The Rise of Skywalker”. Thanks for reading!
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stonefreeak · 4 years
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Here we go, another month, another update! November was really busy, lemme tell you. But, we’re trucking along with this fic, and I hope y’all will be willing to continue to follow along until the end!
More and more senators get arrested, the holonet is in an uproar, and more and more planets find themselves suddenly needing to elect new representation for the Senate.
Obi-Wan and Ha'han-ash find themselves buried in paperwork and running like headless tookas trying to ensure a safe democratic process taking place in each of the affected planets—easier said than done considering many of the arrested senators were never democratically elected in the first place!
Couple the chaos of high-ranking Senators being arrested and tried in the courts for corruption, and in a few horrifying cases even treason due to the senators in question feeding information to the Separatists, with more Separatist worlds clamouring for negotiations of rejoining the Republic... Well, Obi-Wan is starting to feel as strung out and exhausted as he did just before Cody went and spoke with Master Yoda.
Which, of course, can only mean one thing: Obi-Wan needs to sleep. He needs rest. He's working himself to the bone, despite the fact that he's still recovering from an injury that almost killed him.
In all of the chaos that's going on, he hasn't had much time to lie down and rest. He has no doubt that if Vokara finds out, she'll have him by the neck and drag him to bed sit on him for a week if that's what it takes.
He really does appreciate her and her fire much more when they're peers than he ever did when he was a padawan, he thinks with a chuckle.
He stares at the murgröna-rose on his desk, strokes its leaves and considers his options for a moment.
Perhaps he should just... swallow his pride and ask Master Yoda for help... Again. It rankles, it does, but he's in no shape of doing this any other way. Asking for help is not something to be embarrassed about—regardless of what you're asking for help with.
Obi-Wan shuts down his holopad before the news report can unload more information that will no doubt cause an uproar hat he'll be forced to deal with, and starts heading out.
Blast falls in step with him without saying anything, just as he's been wont to do ever since the explosion. Obi-Wan has heard him talk with Cody, however, to ensure him of Obi-Wan's recovery as well as that of Waxer and Boil. Which was an enormous relief when Obi-Wan was told. They are good men, and he would have hated to lose them.
He allows Blast to escort him back to the Temple, there are few men he would trust more, and he is not yet in any condition to think he should handle himself. Another opportunistic assassin and it may just be the end of the line for him.
Take not your life for granted.
~~~~
“There is something I would like to say, though I am not sure if I should.” Plo Koon’s hologram looked conflicted, his brow lowered.
“Tell us, you should. Let the thoughts fester, you should not. Bad, it would be.” Master Yoda leans forward, tapping his gimer stick once.
“It seems like the Separatists are… floundering. Their plans are weaker, they’ve seen through far fewer of our strategies and we’ve experienced far fewer setbacks than usual.” Plo pauses and rubs his chin. “It’s… almost as if they’ve lost an important source of information.”
There’s a pause, complete silence stretches on. Obi-Wan strokes his beard thoughtfully.
There’s a horrible niggling suspicion in taking root in his mind. A few months ago he couldn’t even have considered it for a second, but in the light of everything else.
“As if the CIS has had an inside informer from the start—one who’s been able to feed them many of our plans and strategies—but in recent times said informant is lost to them?” He glances around the Council chamber, curious to see the reactions.
Plo nods slowly.
“That would fit, yes.”
There's an itching in the back of Obi-Wan's head, as if there's something he's missing. Something important. The feeling hasn't left him since he woke up from his coma, and regardless of what information he finds or is given, it doesn't go away. There is something.
Putting it out of his mind for now, he turns his attention back to the meeting. Considering how prolonged the war effort has been, considering how ineffectual Palpatine was... Considering the Jedi missions... Is it possible that Palpatine was a spy for the Separatists?
His sudden rise to power, the fact that a Sith lord is the head of the Separatists—sometimes Obi-Wan wonders how Qui-Gon would have taken the news of his old master's fall—and combining that with the fact that Palpatine likely has been a pawn to the Sith as well... Has he been leaking battle plans to Dooku? Or the Sith Master who in turn gave it to Dooku?
"Considering something, are you?" Yoda's voice breaks into his thoughts.
Obi-Wan looks up and realises that the entire council is looking at him with curious expressions.
"I... may have a suspicion regarding who the spy might be, but I have no solid proof. It makes sense, but I do not want to affect everyone else's ability to look at the situation with clear and unbiased eyes, so I must keep my silence for the time being."
Perhaps once the corruption investigation is finished he'll know more...
"Very well, that is a very reasonable position to take, Master Kenobi." Mace's voice is grave, but he doesn't seem upset. He likely knows as well as anyone the tightrope they walk.
The discussion continues and Obi-Wan listens intently to his fellow council members as they detail the necessary levels of clearance the spy would need—or at the very least what kind of person the spy would need access to in order to get information from them.
When Mace brings up the ecological damage to worlds where fighting has taken place, and the importance of helping the biological life on them recover, Obi-Wan is instantly and horribly reminded of the Zillo beast, and Mace's attempts to get it—the last surviving member of its species—relocated to a safe home. Only for those hopes to be dashed by Palpatine demanding it be taken to Coruscant for study... Coruscant where the beast ultimately was killed to save the members of the galactic senate.
Obi-Wan still cannot fathom what went through Palpatine's mind when he made that decision, that demand, but he knows that Mace is still working on letting go of his regret over what happened.
The regret of the innocents you failed to help, failed so save, are usually the regrets that weigh the heaviest on your soul.
Obi-Wan knows the feeling well and it's one many Jedi meditate on long and often.
"Well then," Master Ti says and folds her hands in her lap, "If we've finished today's session I believe it is time for me to return to the troops. There have been some irregularities that I need to address. For their own safety and that of the rest of their companies."
At the mention of the clone troopers, the itching in the back of Obi-Wan's head suddenly gives way to remembrance: the chips.
He'd been planning to ask Master Ti about the chips installed in the brains of the clone troopers.
"Master Ti, a moment please!"
The entire council freezes on the spot, and Master Ti's hand hovers in the air from where she was just about to shut off the holotransmission.
"Master Kenobi?" She blinks rapidly, and Obi-Wan doesn't think he's ever seen her look that surprised before. She's usually entirely unflappable.
"My apologies for the abruptness, I just..." He coughs. "I remembered something I've been meaning to speak with you about. Regarding the troopers."
Master Ti leans back in her chair and and she places her hands in her lap.
"Absolutely, Master Kenobi. If there's anything I can help you with..." She recovers quickly, which is very typical of her and Obi-Wan suppresses a smile at the thought.
He strokes his beard. "Some of the correspondence I saw between former Chancellor Palpatine and the Kaminoans mentioned... Microchips installed in the brains of every single trooper." He frowns. "There was nothing regarding their usage, but their presence worries me. Have the Kaminoans spoken to you about it?"
Master Ti's face changes from serene to grave and she purses her lips briefly. "No, they have not." She glances off to the side. "I will speak to them about it... But I will also do my own research. If they give me a benign answer for their presence, considering all of the conspiracies against us we've found so far... Well, I don't trust it. Especially since they have not been upfront about them."
"I agree," Mace says suddenly. "Utmost carefulness is imperative. As soon as you know more, Master Ti, please contact the council with your report."
"Of course, Master Windu." Master Ti inclines her head towards him.
"Dark, these times are. Dangerous, they are. And yet lightened, the Force has. What dangers stepped past unknowingly, have we?"
Master Yoda's words sends a chill through Obi-Wan's body, and the council meeting ends on that most chilling of thoughts.
(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)
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misplacedgamer · 4 years
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Meta on “Farewell”, aka the Reylo Theme that Never Was
So I was listening to TRoS soundtrack on Spotify and of course I immediately went to the track “Farewell” (because I like to suffer), and I noticed how...weird it sounded when isolated from the scene it’s placed in. Listened to it a few more times, and I definitely think it lends credence to the theory that there was supposed to be a different ending, and maybe even that it was originally intended to be a triumphant love theme ala “Across the Stars”. And since I have nothing better to do this Christmas, let’s walk through it shall we? I have also been watching the scene for my comparison, so if you’d like to see what I used for comparison please click here. Theory continues under the Read More
The first 40-45 seconds actually line up really well. It’s a reprise of Rey’s theme, but quiet and fading. I think Rey’s death was always supposed to be in this film, or at least a scene where she falls after defeating ol’ Palps. I’m not sure why Rey would fall after deflecting lightning with two sabers full of the entire will of the Force when Mace Windu did the same thing by himself with one lightsaber, but honestly that’s another post for another time. Rey falls, the scene pans down, and her theme cuts out immediately as Ben’s hand enters from the pit. So far, all good.
Next we get maybe my favorite part of the song: Kylo Ren’s reprise. I know I probably shouldn’t like it because that’s not who Ben is anymore, but I think the grief and tension he feels in this scene are high enough to mimic how he always felt as Kylo, so it’s acceptable to keep here. It’s so great how tense this music is, not the full orchestration of his theme but just a few notes for the leitmotif. There’s also a really great part here where the violins swell like it’s going to morph into Rey’s theme (showing just how complementary the themes for these two are), but it never resolves; it just sits there and you feel completely how lost Ben is without Rey. The music does start to get chopped up here though. There’s a bit more of a swell around 1:23 on the Spotify song that’s not in the movie, but it’s not completely cut and I think the shorter length works in the film’s favor so still nothing too bad.
So next we have the hug and the heal. The music sounds about the same for both of these, but it all sounds a bit weirdly timed. Like Ben should start hugging her on the swell of this section (1:38 in the attached video) but he hugs her around 1:34 instead. The cut isn’t even on the swell either, so it all feels a bit disjointed to me, but this might be a nitpick, so idk. If I’m honest him placing his hand on her stomach to heal her seems a bit out of time too. At 1:55 in the video the music drops and switches to another section, so to me that seems like when he should pull away and start to heal, but he’s already touching her. This whole part seems like its a bit fast forwarded, but just the video, so the audio is just out of sync.
The music slips back in time though, and this next bit is great. Everything from the hand touch to Rey saying “Ben” is so excellent. Before the touch, the music starts to slide back into tones that remind me of Kylo’s theme, like maybe it's not going to work, but then the hand touch comes and the music back to a major key. It’s Rey’s theme at first, but then it swells into something wild and screeches to a halt because you (like our heroes) can’t believe it. Is this really happening? Are they really both back? Did they really make it out ok? You can see it on Ben’s face too, the disbelief that Rey’s really alive, like he’s just waiting for it all to be an illusion. And then the music halts, letting everything sink in, and Rey calls Ben’s name and smiles the widest smile (I fucking love this smile, it’s so beautiful). And for me this is the last time this music really fits what’s going on in the scene, so how fitting that it’s on something so lovely.
And now, at last, we get the kiss, and this is where things get wonky. I don’t understand the musical timing of this at all. The kiss happens in the middle of a bar, and it’s such a quiet moment too. Y’all know how Star Wars scores its kissing scenes; it is not subtle. So to have it both start and resolve quiet is a little odd. There’s also been Twitter/Reddit posts going around saying that Rey is definitely supposed to have dialogue here, and I agree. I think what was supposed to happen was a quiet conversation where Rey just pours her lonely heart out, and that’s where Ben smiles then passes out. 
The collapse/death is also a little weird, cause the music does quickly divert back into a minor key, indicating that yes, something bad is happening here, but its not totally sorrowful either. This section resolves on a light, almost wistful tone. The film uses it to show him passing into the force, but it’s so weird. Combine that with the footage looking like it’s been reversed and it’s all a strange effect. 
So finally, I would like to get to the crux of why I think this track was intended to be something completely different: the last minute of it that, as far as I remember, is not in the film. So around 3:56 in on Spotify, the trumpets of the Resistance/the space battles come in. I believe this part is in the film, and it plays when Poe and Finn spot Rey in the air as Red 5, but it immediately cuts to the next track, “Reunion”, without a fade out. The problem with this is that there’s one last big swell of music near 4:18. It has a sweet violin buildup, then a great sweeping long section of strings and a choir and everything. THAT feels like the kiss music there. Right there is the huge “Across the Stars” sting that the Reylo kiss needed. So I’m wondering if maybe that’s where the kiss was supposed to go, or maybe that Ben was supposed to pass out then when it cuts to Red 5 in the air it’s a surprise that he’s with her, and they kiss again. When I originally heard it, I thought that it cut to everyone cheering outside, Rey and Ben would watch it inside the throne room, then they would kiss as a culmination/celebration of them winning. Then it would smash cut to the Resistance and everyone coming home. 
I know there are holes in this theory, but honestly I feel like the song proves this scene was supposed to go very differently. I’m not even sure it was originally called “Farewell” in the first place. It resolves so joyously and hopeful that it feels like it was originally called something else. Why would you end your song meant to underscore a death scene with sweeping strings and happy music when the very next track is a happy reunion and you could have just put it there and had the music carry over between the scenes? If I had to guess, this was originally meant to be the Ben/Rey love theme, probably called “You’re Not Alone” or something equally sweet and it was changed because they changed their minds at the last minute. Now I’ll just continue to live in my happy place where Disney plans to retcon this movie due to backlash and Adam agrees to come back despite the mistreatment his character received and Rey is allowed to be the grey character she’s always been instead of a pure cinnamon roll who’s only evil was due to her lineage.
Oh, one last thing: that sweeping melody used in “Farewell” at the end is also used in the “Finale” during the ending credits. It starts at 6:30 goes until the opening crawl theme starts and it’s fucking beautiful. 
Edit: It also appears throughout the track “Rise of Skywalker”, which for some reason plays over the Resistance reunion scene. Weird that no Skywalker has risen there yet, since Rey’s not yet taken their name. It’s almost like there should have been a Skywalker there....maybe one who’d risen from the Dark Side, from a literal hell pit, AND who’d just risen off the ground after collapsing from his wounds. HMMMMMMM
If I’ve made any errors, please let me know. I only have the death scene footage on hand, so I wasn’t able to double check the stuff after Leia fades, and I do not have every Star Wars leitmotif memorized, so I might be wrong about some of this. Also just htm if you wanna discuss TROS or anything else Star Wars, I’d love to talk. Thanks to @youunderestimatebensolo for the footage!
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!!!!
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reylorabbittrail · 4 years
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Long, Barely Coherent Thoughts about The Rise of Skywalker
Since some of you wanted to hear my thoughts about “The Rise of Skywalker”, I’ve taken some time to write them up and provide context for why I responded the way I did.
A small preamble: I didn’t hate it. Hate is a strong word. And there were moments that I liked. Some that I even loved. However, the aggregate feeling for the movie overall was disappointment. For certain elements, it went beyond that into something genuinely painful and I don’t think that will make sense unless I also go into why I loved the previous two installments of this trilogy.
Also, if you loved this movie, I’m very happy for you. This is about my personal response to a piece of media and I make no judgements on those who enjoyed what you saw. I wish I could join you.
Finally, I will be talking about some sensitive subjects, including child loss and abuse. Please be aware of that before reading further.
Okay, so what was my overall impression of The Rise of Skywalker?
Soulless. Cowardly. Incoherent. Badly paced.
I spent large portions of the movie unable to get into the action because the pacing was so breakneck. There was no time to breathe. Consequently, there was never enough time to recover from one rush before another started. If everything is exciting, nothing is.
I think that this was a deliberate choice to cover up the lack of sense behind the exposition. Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron looks dead inside as he temporarily takes up the mantle of Basil Exposition to explain that somehow or other, Emperor Palpatine has returned and there’s a hard time limit on destroying his fleet.
This is a fine example of a running problem throughout the movie. Whereas both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi used visual storytelling to move the story forward, things in TROS were explained through dialogue time and again. And the dialogue was incredibly clunky.
But back to the story. We are given a paper thin explanation of the Emperor’s return, and immediately are thrown into a fetch quest to find the Big Bad. I’m sure it will make an exciting video game adaptation.
The thing though is that the fetch quest makes no sense. One of the wayfinders is found in the first two minutes of the movie. Yes, it’s in the hands of the bad guys. But does the audience not remember that our heroine is bound to the villain? Why couldn’t she try to use that bond to get at the directions? Why does the Resistance not try to use that bond? Has she hidden from them her connection to Kylo Ren? Either she’s built up a wall of mistrust between her found family and herself by keeping the bond a secret, or she’s revealed all and no one thinks to try to use that bond to their advantage. It’s just conveniently overlooked.
Oh, a sidenote. Wayfinder. Why? There is an in-universe word for such objects already. It’s a holocron. Why not use holocron? We throw Star Wars-isms at the audience all the time. It would be an Easter Egg to the diehards while not bothering the general audience one iota.
Back to our fetch quest. We head to the desert planet of Pasaana. There’s a festival going on. A festival about family. Rey looks longingly at children and infants. A child gives her a fertility necklace. And then suddenly she’s connected by her bondmate through the force.
Now it’s no secret that the Rey and Kylo dynamic is one of the reasons I loved the first two movies in the trilogy. The actors have great chemistry. More importantly, the characters have interesting conflict. And yet that conflict seems off in this movie. TLJ left them complicated enemies. But they feel out of character. I don’t understand what each is trying to get out of their encounters. I have to do massive amounts of work to understand their actions and the dialogue doesn’t help. Because it doesn’t ring true.
Setting such details aside, Kylo rips off the necklace in a moment worthy of the Phantom of the Opera and for once it’s an action that makes sense, having both the subtext of obsessive love and jealousy, and the text of offering a clue for analysis to Rey’s location. Bravo. The writers did something right.
Meanwhile, we get a clunky reintroduction of Lando Calrissian. Has he been stuck on this desert for over 7 years? Longer? We just don’t know and he doesn’t tell us. Our heroes hitch a ride and then we get a fun speeder chase.
Okay, a couple more questions. There’s some good stuff here. The omnipresence of the First Order helps convey how thorough their control is. But why doesn’t Rey hotwire the speeder? It was established two movies ago that she’s a good mechanic. And on Jakku that kind of skill makes sense. Why hand that off to Poe? And why this Trio stuff. It’s fanon. We have just been assuming that Finn’s best friends would form the new Han, Luke, and Leia. Because reasons. None of them textual. It was a failure of TFA to not establish this dynamic if this was an essential element of Star Wars that had to be there from the start.
Which gets to the heart the problem in fandom which is that Star Wars is different  for every fan. What is essential to the series is subjective. For me, Star Wars is light sabers, hyperspace, the Force, epic battles, strange world with one biome only per world. So I’ve never felt like something was missing. But if an essential element was a very particular character dynamic (like a good guy Trio), then I can see why some fans felt let down. As if all the pieces were there but never got put together.
Back to Pasaana. We have a brief descent into the underworld in which Rey has a moment of true Jedi compassion and is rewarded when her compassion for the monster leads to an exit from said underworld. Nice. Mythically coherent. And hey, we also get one of the MacGuffins we’ve been searching for, so, bonus.
 Now we get the arrival of Kylo and his backup band. What was the point of these dudes? I mean, they look cool and I can’t wait to edit videos of them to classic NKOTB. But narratively, why are they there? Why did Kylo reforge the mask? Why all these questions in the third act when we should be in the process of tying up loose ends.
Rey, in a moment reminiscent of bull leaping from Crete, goes out to stall them? I guess? And then ends up in a battle of wills with Kylo that leads to her inadvertent use of Force Lightning.
Okay, another side trip. Are they trying to make out that Dark Side Powers are genetic? Because that’s all I can figure. Really, it’s kind of gross because it suggests that darkness isn’t a human trait that we all carry and must confront, but rather that Rey’s specific problem is a dark legacy. Which, that’s Kylo’s story. He’s the one grappling with the legacy of Vader and how that led his family to fear his darkness rather than aid him in confronting it.
Anyway, we have Rey briefly thinking she’s killed Chewie and that sets our heroes off to our next quest location and another set of problems: Why did we make the Latino man a drug runner and car thief? No, this isn’t just putting an unneeded real world spin on the universe. This is about narrative consistency. Because in a bid to make Poe Dameron an ersatz Han Solo, they broke his actual in-universe back story that had been established in comics and novels. That Poe Dameron was a pilot in the New Republic Navy, the child of war heroes Kes Dameron and Shara Bey. He grew up on Yavin IV. When did he have time to be a smuggler? He’s only a few years older that Ben Solo.
See Lucasfilm has a Story Group that is supposed to help keep narrative consistency between the various media released. And I can’t help shake the feeling that the Story Group was ignored or stonewalled. To please who? The fans? Which fans? Because I would be under the impression that the fans who read the novels and the comics, who dig the trivia aspects of the universe, would be the first to desire the universe to remain coherent.
The Kijimi stuff is fun. Babu Frik is adorable. C3PO is touching. There’s good moments. There really are.
We now go to the infiltration of the Star Destroyer (Does it have a name? Nerds, help me out here. Usually I know this sort of thing.) Again, good moments. I like the implication that Rey’s Force Powers disturb Poe, but it’s never brought up again. One of dozens of Chekhov’s guns left unfired. This is incredibly sloppy in the plotting. Hux is the mole!?! Fun. Yet, again, wasted. And out of character, but I’m sure that’s not going to bother the general audience. Rey gets caught sneaking around in Kylo’s bedroom? Priceless, and some good imagery (smashing the altar to Vader) combined with incredibly clunky dialogue and some more serious questions that never get answered.
The whole time Kylo thought Vader was talking to him it was Palpatine? Why the hell does he still have that mask on a pedestal? He just couldn’t bear to get rid of a collectible? He hadn’t had time to konmari yet? And just what does smashing the pedestal symbolize? Is this the start of Kylo breaking free? We’ll probably never know.
Rey escapes on the Falcon. After getting the worst character reveal in the Saga. I’m sorry. Rey Palapatine is just dumb. I liked that she was a nobody. It allowed her to be the Forces solution to the manipulation and abuse heaped upon the Skywalkers. She was brought into the story and bound to the last scion of House Skywalker as a corrective. She wasn’t overpowered. (No really. She executed a few very basic Jedi skills in the first two movies, none of them exceptional.) And her skill level makes sense the moment you understand that she is bound to Ben Solo. She is literally downloading his training. She can do what he can do. Even her fighting style mirrors his. Fun fact: if you watch the scene in The Last Jedi where she’s practicing sword forms on Ach-to, and compare them to Kylo in his duel with Luke, they’re identical. To a move. Rey is powerful because the Force chooses its vessels. No one was asking who Mace Windu’s parents were. Or Ki-Adi Mundi’s. But Rey is skilled because a very clear in universe device means she has access to Ben Solo’s mind and that included every skill he ever learned.
Alrighty, so now our team is on to the next step in the quest, the ocean moon of Kef Bir, one of the many moons in the Endor system. (No, it’s not the Forest or Sanctuary Moon with the Ewoks.) We meet Jannah, another wasted character. She is pretty and could have been cool. But she exists for us to realize that Finn is probably Force Sensitive and that he broke conditioning not due to innate morality but because he’s not a Muggle.
Which brings me to my gripe with how Finn’s character was treated. He spent the whole movie running around shouting Rey. That’s it. That’s his arc. I don’t mind that he can feel the Force. But I feel like his development was regressed. He had a clear character arc in the first two movies. From a man running away from responsibility to one willing to fight for a friend, to a man willing to commit to cause. This movie should have had him building on that, and perhaps like Moses returning to free the rest of the Stormtroopers who are canonically child soldiers brainwashed into fighting for the bad guys.
Back to the plot. Rey takes off for the Death Star, searches the haunted house and yet again has her moment in the cave, this time confronting a dark vision of herself. Dang that was cool. Would have liked to see more of that. Anyway, she confronts Kylo and he smashes the holocron. Emphasizing for us how pointless this fetch quest has been. Girl could have hopped a ride in his TIE at any point and dealt with the fallout after they dealt with the emperor.
They fight. It wasn’t a bad fight. Just not my favorite. It did emphasize though that Kylo is never ever fighting on the offensive with her. Never in three movies has he ever taken an advantage of an opening for a killing blow, and never was it more obvious than in this fight. Kylo gets distracted, Rey stabs him mortally, and this act seems to wake her up from whatever possessed her in the throne room. She heals him and runs away.
This brings up another thing that bothers me. I know the filmmakers were working with some severe challenges with their footage of Carrie. I don’t think it was badly used for the most part. But I was left baffled at what exactly was going on here.
I was not baffled at Kylo/Ben’s confrontation with Han. This was the high point of the movie for me. It was pitch perfect in tone, and touched on the one an only sin Ben ever committed that wasn’t connected to a war objective, the murder of his father. And it made clear that the prodigal was loved and wanted and it wasn’t too late to come home. The heart of Ben’s problem has been the conviction that he has done too much wrong to come home, and while it is only a memory, it is a true memory of the man who loved Ben enough to walk straight into Hell though he knew it would probably be the death of him. I can forgive this scene for throwing the lightsaber  into the ocean. I realize that most of the audience doesn’t know that you can heal kyber crystals. Yes, the saber was a metaphor for Ben’s damaged and unstable soul, and yes, it would have been poetic (and badass) for him to show up later with a healed lightsaber, stable and blue and looking like something an angel would fight with. But I’ll forgive that for the poetry of what happens on Exegol.
And then we go to my low point. I’ll set my costumer’s beef with Luke Skywalker’s wig aside. It looked cheap and that’s all I’ll say. It was more the deliberate middle finger to TLJ in the lines while ignoring that Luke’s most iconic and Jedi-like moment in the original trilogy was casting aside his lightsaber in an act of compassion. Yes, Rey was burning her ship and throwing away her weapon for the wrong reason.  And it was a deliberate echo of Luke who also was appalled when his fear was twisted by the Dark into an attack on his nephew. She is overcome with the same shame and fear of self. Luke can speak to this in a real way. With better dialogue, it might have worked for me. Alas, it didn’t. Instead we got more exposition to provide us with an extra lightsaber. And more questions about why everyone in this family gave up on Ben Solo.
Here’s the thing. If Leia remains untrained, lots of things make sense: her instinctive but infrequent use of the Force; her fear for her son and sense of inadequacy in dealing with he struggles with darkness, her unresolved issues with her father which lead her to hide her parentage not only from the galaxy but also from her own son. All of this is undone by the training reveal and makes us wonder why everyone was willing to help a descendent of Palpatine but not their own flesh and blood. And in a movie that used dialogue to explain nearly everything, these lacunae stand out more than they would in a film that trusted the audience more. See you could have had Luke say “We messed up. We gave in to fear. And we didn’t want to make the same mistake with you. Rey. I’m the son of Darth Vader. I know more than any man that we are more than our bloodline. And forgetting that with Ben was the worst mistake of my life.” But  he didn’t. Which in a movie which tells as much as or more than it shows seems like a deliberate choice.
Have you noticed that I’m ignoring the space battles? That’s because they’re forgettable. I just didn’t care about them. Especially since the galactic conflict remained essentially unresolved. Back to the Force Plot, the only plot that matters.
Rey confronts Palpatine. Yawn. At this point I just don’t care. For most of the movie, she hasn’t seemed like my Rey. I couldn’t relate and by this point I’ve lost interest so I’m more wondering where did all these people come from. Are there concessions? How much does a hot dog and Coke cost on Exegol? Does this stadium have bathrooms? Nice to see that it’s built like the AT&T one down the street with the sliding roof panels. And then my boy Ben Solo arrives and the film is good again. Without a word of dialogue (besides “ow”) Adam Driver delivers the best performance of the movie, showing that the Han Solo of the trilogy was there the whole time in his son. Was there ever a more Han Solo thing than running into a Dark Side temple in your pajamas, armed only with a blaster? And then Rey passes him Anakin’s saber. OMG. Brilliance. The best part of the movie. For a moment I thought that they would at least wrap it up well. And for a moment they’re side by side and all is right in the world. And then Palpatine throws Ben in a pit.
I hate this. I don’t hate this movie but I hate this moment. For three movies we’ve set up that Rey and Ben (He’s Ben now; don’t’ @ me.) are equals in the Force. They have a Yin/Yang dynamic that made this work. The natural conclusion here should have been that they take out Palpatine together. Because both have a beef with him. This is the man responsible for ruining the lives of four generations of Skywalkers. And while Ben is at the bottom of a pit, Rey stands alone, calling on the Jedi to help her.
The Jedi that are ignoring the Skywalker at the bottom of the pit.
Including Ben’s grandfather that he’s been begging for years to help him.
Including his uncle who promised to always be with him. (We were robbed of Ghost Luke trolling Kylo. Robbed I tell you. Mark Hamill would have nailed that.)
Ben is at the bottom of a pit being ignored while the Jedi transform Rey into their sacrificial lamb for Girl Power points.
So, yeah, I hated how Rey defeated Palpatine. It was wrong. It wasn’t in union with her bondmate. It wasn’t through the power of love and compassion. It was Space Wonder Woman meets Harry Potter. And then she dies. Because the Jedi only ever viewed people as tools in their grand battle with the Sith.
But Ben. Oh, Ben loves Rey for who she is. And he climbs out of the pit without a lick of help from anyone and cradles her lifeless form in the most heartbreaking Pieta, and you can see on his face the moment he make his decision and gives everything of himself to bring her back. It was beautiful, and they share the most pure, the most perfect kiss.
And then he dies.
And that’s where the movie breaks me. Because he didn’t have to die. It doesn’t make sense. Why does Leia hold on until this moment? Why does Maz seem satisfied? Where did Ben go? Why does he go unmourned? Where is his Force ghost? This movie just leaves us with more questions.
And the very end kills me. Rey is on Tatooine. A dead world that holds no importance to her (or Leia, I might add). She buries the Skywalker sabers. A funeral. She sees the ghosts of Luke and Leia bless her as she takes on the Skywalker name. A name that she could have taken in a life-affirming way through marriage, but that appears as scavenged from the dead that she has surrounded herself with as she ends the movie an eternal child, side by side with a stolen droid.
It makes no sense.
But whence my nerd rage? Why do I care? Why have I devoted over 3K words to this?
Because the first two movies in this trilogy made me care about these characters.
When I first saw The Force Awakens, I connected immediately with her loneliness. Loneliness is something I get viscerally. I have always been socially awkward and had difficulty making friends. I rarely felt known or understood and I understood that deep longing to belong. When Rey was being interrogated by Kylo Ren, that was what struck me. He notices her loneliness.
And you realize that Kylo is projecting. That he is seeing in her a kindred spirit. He too is lonely, and trapped by fear into being stuck in a place that he knows in his heart of hearts is a dead world. He too is trapped by relics of the past.
So, you see, Rey and Kylo were both me. I had lived that loneliness. I had experienced profound isolation and the sense that no one truly understood me. I desperately wanted them to find their belonging and heal their wounds. And that’s certainly the story that TLJ picked up on and continued.
But there was more. I became fascinated with the question of how the son of Han and Leia fell, and I could see the possibilities in the pattern of their characters: Leia, the woman driven by duty, trying to build the New Republic to make a better galaxy for her son, and leaving her son vulnerable to predation in the process; Han, a man who had only just stopped running from responsibility, and who’s own lack of father figures left him feeling inadequate as a father. Throw in a villain who can groom and psychically abuse their son and you have the ingredients for a tragedy.
And because I identified with Leia, Ben became, in a way, an additional child. A parent’s greatest fear is that in trying to do the right thing for your child you inadvertently make things worse. Poor Leia. She needed a mother to tell her child mattered more than a bill in the Senate. That the galaxy could wait. But Palpatine killed her mother. Both her mothers, because he was as complicit in the death of Breha Organa as he was in the death of Padme Amidala Naberrie.
So when Ben Solo died, it was like losing a child. And anyone who knows me personally knows that I do not choose that phrasing lightly. And being a mother, there is always a sense of survivor’s guilt. The sense that if you had done the right thing, it wouldn’t have happened. It doesn’t matter if that isn’t the truth. It’s how it feels.
I have met so many people online who identify with Ben Solo because they were abused as children. Who like him processed their trauma in unhealthy ways. It’s not where I come from, but I have the capacity to empathize and hear the message they’re inadvertently being told: that if you do bad things because you’ve been groomed and manipulated and brainwashed, you can’t come back. Even if you turn your life around, it won’t matter. You’ll only find peace in death and you will die unremembered as punishment for your sins. And your family will replace you with someone nicer and easier to live with.
But I can hear you saying: It’s not that deep. It’s fake and in space. It’s just a story.
Well, here’s the problem:
1)    The brain does not distinguish real people from fictional characters. The part of the brain that produces serotonin and dopamine can’t distinguish fact from fiction. This is actually why art has the power to heal. The catharsis experienced in a work of art can help us process trauma because we relate to the characters in the story. But the flip side is that stories can cause genuine trauma. If we related to characters in a story and they are treated unjustly, we feel that injustice and it hurts as badly as if it were real.
2)    Ben Solo was written to be sympathetic. He is the child of beloved characters. His backstory is one filled with pain. He was failed by every family member who should have protected him. He was abused physically and mentally for years. Recently published materials exonerate him from the destruction of the Jedi temple. It was all part of a plot to push him to the Dark. All Ben ever wanted was to be loved for who he was. And that was snatched away from him.
3)    I can’t turn off my brain. I can’t stop asking questions and trying to make sense of things. I can help but see the Chekhov’s guns and the symbols and the messages, however inadvertent.
4)    It is a grand failure of a movie if it only works on a surface level and not when you start digging deeper. Every other Star Wars movie, including The Phantom Menace, rewards the person who can’t turn off their brain. This was the first one that falls apart so completely the second you start asking questions.
I wish I could like this movie. I was prepared to like it if not love it. And while I got Ben’s redemption and the Rey and Kylo romance that I wanted, I feel like I got nothing. Like they don’t matter at all.
I am planning to start new hobbies in the new year. I got some war gaming miniatures painting sets for Christmas and I’m glad I have a new special interest to pour myself into. I have enjoyed sharing my love of Star Wars trivia with my kids but it just hurts too much at the moment to spend time thinking about a franchise that has been so  badly mangled. I’m probably in the bargaining stage of grief at the moment. I wholly buy the theory that there was happy ending filmed and someone blinked in the game of chicken, leaving us the mess that we were handed.
I’m also planning to get back to writing. If even Disney can’t tell a fairy tale properly anymore, it’s time for a new batch of writers to get out there and tell the stories I want to hear. I am sick of grimdark fantasies and cynicism masquerading as sophistication. I may write a fanfic or two to fix the story in my mind, but I think that ultimately I need to be creating original works. I know that there are children eager to believe in happy endings, plenty of women who believe that Byronic heroes can be redeemed, and not a few men who will buy both if the story is well told.
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gffa · 5 years
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Sometimes I think about yelling at STAR WARS fandom to slow the hell down because I have so many things to read and so many books and comics on top of all the fic, but then I remember, THIS IS THE BEST PROBLEM TO HAVE, oh no I have so many fun things to read! How awful! I can’t keep up with everything that I know I’m going to enjoy, so I have to post a list before I’m finished catching up, because otherwise it’d take me another month! Terrible! The fandom really has put out some absolutely wonderful things lately and I’ve just felt really happy and fizzy about them, I’ve been excited to yell about them and now I want to yell at other people about all the stuff I loved. STAR WARS FIC RECS: TIME TRAVEL RECS: ✦ Hearts Entwined by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & shmi & qui-gon, time travel, 6.5k wip   stolen moments between Padawan Kenobi and Shmi Skywalker, glimpsed by Qui Gon Jinn, and his continued attempts to understand both this strange new addition to the Temple and the unexplained relationship between the pair PREQUELS RECS: ✦ And the Void Answered Back by Ghost_Owl, obi-wan & anakin & rey & finn & poe & ben & yoda & maz & cast, force ghosts, 37.5k wip   (Follows the Force ghosts of Anakin, Obi Wan, and friends getting dragged kicking and screaming through the events of The Force Awakens) ✦ Youngling by LostintheTARDIS, obi-wan & anakin & cast, de-aged!anakin, 65.5k wip   Obi-Wan is sent on a rescue mission to find his missing padawan, shot down after completing a mission of his own, but what he finds is not what he expects. “No, it… It’s not possible, Obi-Wan. How can Anakin Skywalker be this little boy?” ✦ Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi by stonefreeak, obi-wan & anakin & padme & cody & bail & palpatine & cast, 16.5k wip   By an old Republic law, all members of the Jedi High Council are senators in the Galactic Senate, and can thus be voted in as chancellor. ✦ The Orchards by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & qui-gon & cast, 3.6k   When young Obi-Wan Kenobi is injured on a previous mission, Qui-Gon Jinn refuses to accept further off-planet missions until his Padawan’s recovery. Yoda assigns the pair an in-Temple mission of utmost importance while Obi-Wan heals. Master and Padawan welcome the change of pace. ✦ Staggering Is For Those With Nothing To Live Up To by shiningjedi, mace & ponds & depa & yoda & obi-wan & cast, 4.9k   Ponds has fought side-by-side with his general for over two years, so if Windu thinks that he can’t tell when something’s off, then, with all due respect, he’s made a serious error of judgement. ✦ Blow me away, Master Kenobi by stonefreeak, obi-wan, 1.9k   An explosion at a spaceport caused by anti-war extremists leaves Obi-Wan to navigate his way up through the surface through the debris. And then he finds the children… ✦ Found Clan by silvergryphon, boba & ocs & obi-wan & anakin & cast, 18.4k wip   After the Battle of Geonosis, a Jedi Healer discovers young Boba Fett mourning the loss of his father. Not about to leave a ten-year-old boy on his own, she promptly adopts him with the full collusion of her Padawan. ✦ The Art of Dual Wielding (Specifically, How to Not) by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk), obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   “Hey, Master, can you teach me Jar’Kai?” ✦ On the political ramifications of a marriage between a Jedi and a Senator by Deviant_Accumulation, obi-wan & anakin/padme & cast, 9.4k wip   In a shocking revelation, Nabooian priest Father Herriem has come forward stating that one year ago, he has officiated a marriage between Senator Padmé Amidala, former Queen of Naboo, known for playing a major part in the Liberation of Naboo, current Galactic Senate representative of Naboo and leader of the liberal south-up faction, and Knight Anakin Skywalker, Jedi General of the Republic Army. ✦ The House of My Father by ReneeoftheStars, dooku & cast, 2.4k   Dooku has left the Jedi Order and returned to his homeworld of Serenno, where he claims his rightful place as the Count of House Dooku. His sister-in-law is less than thrilled with his arrival. ✦ untitled by stonefreeak, dooku, 2.6k   Yan Dooku looks out over the holotable, filled with recent battles against the Republic. Battles that has started to go increasingly well for the Republic, with the heightened morale from their new chancellor. ✦ Full of Charts and Facts and Figures by ambiguously, mace/depa, 4.3k   Mace and Depa get kidnapped by pirates. ✦ Shed by SingManyFaces, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   Not long after being assigned to Anakin, Ahsoka becomes worried he’s hiding something serious and goes to Obi-Wan for advice. ✦ Tipping Point by Ria Talla (ronia), adi gallia & finis valorum & eeth koth, 3.3k   “I believe that if what’s happening on Naboo is allowed to continue, the other member systems will wonder what they owe to a Republic that can no longer protect them.” ✦ The Path of Totality by Raven_Knight, obi-wan & yoda & qui-gon & cast, 1.8k   Before going their separate ways into exile, Obi-Wan Kenobi shares with Yoda a lesson of wisdom he’d learned from his late Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. A lesson of darkness, light, and hope. OBI-WAN/ANAKIN RECS: ✦ Homecoming + Ben + To Love What Death Can Touch by Ripki, obi-wan/anakin & luke & leia & cast, western au, 3.7k   After a long absence, Anakin finally returns to the Lars farm. (Western AU.) ✦ The Missing Part by Nightstar269, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, modern au, 57.4k wip   Anakin Skywalker, a student of mechanical engineering, has always felt that his life was lacking something, a feeling that was made much worse with the deaths of his mother first, and of the woman he loved some time later. Still haunted by the pain and heartbreak, he tries to go on with his life as well as he can. When an initiative of the director of the university has the students attending the classes of another degree so as to enrich their knowledge, he will meet someone that will turn his world upside down. ✦ Across the Darkness by xpityx, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/padme, 19.3k wip   Obi-Wan knew they had hit the temple’s inner security measures when Anakin went from calm to clutching both Obi-Wan and his lightsaber between one step and the next. ✦ Desire by Ralph_E_Silvering, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, mild d/s, 10.8k   Anakin Skywalker decides to take his investigation of an illegal smuggling ring in entirely the wrong direction when he finds a substance called “Desire"…and Obi-Wan cleans up his mess, as usual. ✦ What An Expensive Fate by FromDreamstoEmpires, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, sith!obi-wan, sith!anakin, 1.3k   Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him, “But you like it when I tell you what to do.” He said softly, hand pulling on his curls until Anakin was forced to look at him, “Don’t you, sweetheart?” ✦ In the Details by SingManyFaces, obi-wan/anakin & anakin/ahsoka & obi-wan/anakin/ahsoka, NSFW, 2.3k   Anakin spends time learning the bodies of those he loves, and enjoys the same treatment. ✦ Collar by bell (belldreams), obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, 4.1k wip   “You have to be sure, Anakin. Once we’re in, we’re in.” “I think I can handle being your sub, Obi-Wan.” ✦ Pursuit by Icse, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, modern au, 18.5k wip   Aka ‘Obikin Equestrian AU’ on Tumblr. ✦ Thank You, Dear Heart by supercalifragilistichespiralidoso, obi-wan/anakin, ~1k   Obi-Wan calls Anakin by a pet name when they’re not alone ✦ came last in the technical by destiny919, anakin & ahsoka + background obi-wan/anakin, 1.5k   “Okay, Snips,” Anakin said confidently. “We’re doing this. We’re making this happen.” ✦ my heart is an echo chamber by Burning_Nightingale, obi-wan/anakin, 3.4k   Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader don’t meet again until their final confrontation on the Death Star. Not in person, at least. ✦ Rebel with a Cause by planetary_retrograde, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka & cast, 12.6k wip   A year after the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi has formally joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. His new mission: training Rebellion pilot and resident loose canon Anakin Skywalker. ✦ untitled by subskywalker, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, d/s, cock warming, 1k   “Remember dear one,” Obi-Wan reminded him as he pet his curls with one hand while the other stroked his cheek gently. “If it gets to be too much or if your need a break just tap our signal, okay?” ✦ Out Of Control by Gildedmuse, obi-wan/anakin, NSFW, 4.2k   “All right. But you owe me, and not for saving your skin for the tenth time . .” “Ninth time. That business on Cato Nemoidia doesn’t count.” ✦ last one on the list by destiny919, obi-wan/anakin & cast, ~1k   TIL the Han Dynasty was founded by a sheriff who was transporting convicts when several escaped. Knowing the punishment for this was death, he freed the rest and organized many into a rebel band, eventually going on to help overthrow the ruling Qin Dynasty and install himself as Emperor. ✦ darling can’t you hear me (s.o.s.) by nessa_j, obi-wan/anakin & cast, 3.5k   Stranded alone on a planet, Obi-Wan thinks his transmissions aren’t being received, and starts sending private messages to Anakin, not knowing that Anakin can hear everything. ✦ a night full of stars by Ralph_E_Silvering, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, 2k   Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka are sent to Batuu on a mission by the Jedi Council. While there, Anakin and Obi-Wan finally act on the unspoken feelings between them. ✦ untitled by spell-cleaver, obi-wan/anakin & ahsoka, ~1k   So for the prompt mashup, Magical Accident, Accidentally Married, Obikin Thanks! ORIGINAL TRILOGY RECS: ✦ The Family Tree by frodogenic, vader & luke, 12k   In which Luke Skywalker is stranded in a tree waiting for a flash flood to recede. Too bad he’s got company… Post-ESB oneshot, can be read as canon-compliant. ✦ They rhyme by liv_k, obi-wan & anakin, 5.2k   Past and future, darkness and light, despair and hope meet one last time. ✦ Stitched With Its Color by lammermoorian, luke & hera & cast, 4.4k  Luke’s been all over the galaxy searching for clues about the Jedi - he should have started a little closer to home. REBELS RECS: ✦ in this world by xpityx, zeb/kallus, NSFW, 2.1k   It had been eight months. Eight months since he’d last seen Alex in person. He’d still been Kallus then, had still been convinced that the Ghost crew were taking him to his executioners. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE!
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