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#( I LOVE ME SOME SITH LUKE )
gffa · 4 months
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I have been drifting back to STAR WARS fandom lately and I have been greatly rewarded for it, especially in the gen fic veins, because there have been some banger fics authors have been putting out! And the thing that really gets me in the fannish heart is that there's more and more fics about the Jedi, both for exploring the characters and the culture. I have been able to find multiple fics that have been kind to Mace Windu! I have been able to find multiple fics that explain what attachment actually is to the Jedi and to Star Wars! I have been able to find multiple fics that lift my spirit up or punch me in the feelings in exactly the right way, both for the usual disaster lineage faves, but also for the Jedi as a whole. I'm serious, that means the world to me in this fandom, and I desperately want to share that with you all. LET ME SHOVE FIC AT YOU THAT LOVES THESE CHARACTERS AND THIS WORLD AS MUCH AS I DO!!
FICS THAT PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE WITH HOW GOOD THEY WERE: ✦ wayfinding by night by wrennette, obi-wan & luke & cast, time travel, 10.2k     Before him stood a fellow Jedi, worn and weary with loss. Obi-Wan finds himself on Ahch-To and helps Luke find a path through his grief. ✦ may you inherit his light by notbecauseofvictories, leia & bail & anakin & cast, 2.5k     When your father dies, say the Coruscanti, you are left clutching a star map for a different galaxy. In this, as in many things, Leia is her fathers' daughter. ✦ No Freedom From the Storm (But Peace In Its Midst) by Be_Right_Back, mace & cast, ~1k     Mace is freefalling. On his way down, he meets Hatred, and reaches for Serenity. ✦ "...if you remain his student" by Peppermint_Shamrock, anakin & ahsoka & cast, 3.9k     Ahsoka doesn't leave the Jedi Order. This does not save Anakin. This was never going to save Anakin. Nor stop him. ✦ a distant fire is burning by e_va, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cal, time travel, 47.4k wip     Cal Kestis can move backwards in time (kinda-sorta-not really), and his confrontation with Darth Vader in the Fortress Inquisitorius plays out a lot differently. Fixing the timeline while stuck in his 10-year-old body will be quite the task, but Cal is up to it. He has to be. (Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the clone troopers have no idea what to make of Kenobi's weird new padawan. At least the kid fits in, though.) ✦ No Death, Only the Force by ExtraPenguin, anakin & mace & depa & shmi, 2.8k     Anakin Skywalker is just about to to free his mother from the Tuskens when the Force rudely yanks him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant – and into Mace Windu's body. Mace, on the other hand, gets tossed into Anakin's body on Tatooine. ✦ Well Met by avocadomoon, obi-wan/padme (unconsumated) & corde & anakin, 19k     "Here and then gone again," Padmé said. "It must be lonely." "Sometimes," Obi-Wan said. "But a Jedi is never truly alone."
THIS FANDOM HAS A HAMMER AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF NAILS AND A REALLY GOOD STAPLE GUN, WE'RE FIXING WHAT CANON BROKE AND NOBODY CAN STOP US NOT EVEN GOD: ✦ Begin again by mauvera, obi-wan & qui-gon & anakin & padme & mace & dooku & cast, time travel, 78.9k     Five years into his self imposed exile on Tattooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi is gifted the chance to go back and bring hope back to the galaxy. With hindsight on his side, he fully intends to save his master, save his padawan, make some new and old friends again, prepare the Jedi for a war they’ll hopefully never see and begin to pull apart all the many tangled threads of the Sith Lord’s plans. ✦ Repetition by Peppermint_Shamrock, cody & obi-wan, time loop, 3k     Cody wakes up from a nightmare on the way to Utapau, again and again.
CANON-COMPLIANT (MOSTLY, UP TO A CERTAIN POINT, WHATEVER) DISASTER LINEAGE: ✦ it's like i can feel time moving by gigglesandfreckles, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 5.4k     “Hi,” Anakin says. It's after midnight. “Is everything alright?” “Can’t a man stop by his old master’s room?” Obi-Wan stares at him blankly. “Are you out of food?” ✦ yes, I will take you / I will love you, again by foreverstudent, obi-wan & anakin & cast, time travel, 2.5k     "So you have tried, Padawan." Qui-Gon takes a moment, and his expression is steely but not unkind--the one Obi-Wan remembers from particularly grueling training sessions. "Would you try again, if you had the chance?" OWK!Obi-Wan gets another chance, with a child he once left behind. ✦ No Good Deed Goes Unpunished by kittona, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 1.1k     Anakin gets a bit overprotective when his loved ones are sick. Luckily, he has the best home remedy for a cold. ✦ nothing a cup of tea can't fix by gigglesandfreckles, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 1.5k     when Anakin shows up to Obi-Wan's quarters in the middle of the night, the Jedi Master knows something has gone awry. answering Anakin's desperate cry for help, Obi-Wan is reminded of how very, very prone to dramatics his former padawan and grand padawan are. or Ahsoka gets sick and Anakin flips his shit. ✦ Stick Figures by KCKenobi, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 2k     war is hard. war is draining. to make it more bearable, little mementos* are routinely given. *mementos: encouraging notes, funny little drawings, little gifts, fun snacks, and poems which might get Anakin in trouble. ✦ When the Ground Breaks by stolen_pen_name23, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 4.7k     An earthquake causes devastation on the planet of Berchest. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka work together to help save civilians until disaster pulls them apart. ✦ never fear, young one by marverse, obi-wan & ahsoka & cast, 6.2k     Ever since her first day of being a padawan, Ahsoka Tano remembers the words that Master Skywalker had once told her. And every time, she wonders, wonders, and wonders. ✦ the street's a little kinder when you're home by gigglesandfreckles, obi-wan & anakin, 5.2k     "So catch me up," Anakin says. "What did I miss?” Nothing. Nothing happens when you’re gone. “Oh, the usual.” [or: anakin goes missing. obi-wan doesn't handle it well.] ✦ holding anchor by foreverstudent, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka, 3.2k     At the landing of Point Rain, an injured Obi-Wan allows himself to be sentimental over his former padawan, and Anakin patches up his old master. ✦ Nothing to Say by KCKenobi, obi-wan & anakin & satine, 3.2k     (or: Anakin and Satine don’t know how to talk to each other. Until they remember the very important thing they have in common.) ✦ Aggressive Negotiations by SkyBlue1309, obi-wan & anakin & cast, 2.2k     People forget that Anakin was raised by the Negotiator. He was bound to pick up on a thing or two. ✦ At The Window by Peppermint_Shamrock, obi-wan & anakin, ~1k     In the early days of Anakin's apprenticeship, Obi-Wan searches for him in the Temple. ✦ The Words by Ibelin, obi-wan & anakin, 3.9k     Obi-Wan Kenobi has never said I love you in his life. He can say a lot of other things, though.
JEDI CULTURE AND WORLDBUILDING AND CELEBRATION: ✦ Refractions of Light by Independence1776, ezra & kanan, 1.3k     Kanan celebrates a Jedi holiday with Ezra. ✦ The grand outing by Ingata, dooku & sifo-dyas & obi-wan & bant & garen & reeft & yoda & cast, 4.5k     Eight younglings and two Jedi masters on a field trip. What could possibly go wrong? ✦ into the statue that breathes by spoonks, obi-wan & feemor & cast, 8.5k     The night watch in the garden was supposed to be the calmest of them all. No mischievous Padawans “sneaking” in or out, or ne’er-do-well civilians conducting “business” around the lower-level entrances that they didn’t know existed. No the gardens was still, and it was like time was frozen in ice that slowly melted away with the rising of the sun. A slow drip, drip— Drip. Immediately Feemor turned towards the central waterfall. Someone was standing there. Whoever they were, they were small and moved through katas with their hands open like a greeting. ✦ The Temple vs. Order 66 by LauraBWrites, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & cody & jedi & jedi temple, 3.9k     The Temple cannot defy the Will of the Force. But it can, it will prepare for the possible outcomes. It can damn well fight back. ✦ We Three Runaways. by Aethir, obi-wan & depa & komari, 2.7k     In which Depa and Obi-Wan bond, and a new sister is found. ✦ A Short Break by Peppermint_Shamrock, luke & yoda, ~1k     Luke complains about his training, and asks about Jedi training of old. ✦ we are made of our longest days by bereft_of_frogs, obi-wan & anakin & cast, 4.4k     Two years after the events of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan and his new apprentice are called to a remote moon to fetch a baby who’s showing signs of a rare, unique power. On their journey home, Obi-Wan reflects on the last child he brought to the Temple and catches a faint glimpse of three possibly entwining futures.
I AM A PREQUELS ERA BITCH AND I'M MAKING THAT EVERYONE ELSE'S PROBLEM: ✦ the salle at dawn by maragny, anakin & mace, 1.5k wip     Master Windu is the best duellist in the Jedi Order. When Anakin Skywalker is seventeen, he duels Mace for the first time, and it ruins both of them for anyone else. ✦ Saving People Counts as Revenge, Right? by ImperialKatwala, obi-wan & anakin & dooku, time travel, 4.3k wip     Count Dooku of Serenno is an intelligent man. His methods may be a bit severe, and he may not be allowed true freedom to plan campaigns in the war he helped create, but he has always had an eye for strategy. Moving the pieces around the board and plotting out where they will need to be next. So, when he opens his eyes after Anakin Skywalker cut his head off, he knows to take a moment to assess what’s going on. ✦ if I could find solid ground again by maragny, anakin & depa, 1.5k     “You never told me what we’re doing today,” Anakin says, a little hesitant. “I…I don’t know much about Jedi things yet.” "Good thing we’re not doing Jedi things, then,” Depa replies. “We’re cooking!” Or, Anakin and Depa, finding their places in their family. ✦ Birds Fly in Different Directions by Triscribe, jedi & clones, time travel, 14.6k     In the corridor beyond her quarters, other Jedi were emerging from their own doors, most of them wide-eyed with shock. A few merely looked blearily concerned, and Aayla heard snatches of questions as she darted past, queries as to whether everyone experienced the same distressing vision. But those who clutched at their chests or throats, their weak points- those Jedi bore a muted horror in their eyes, and Aayla didn’t doubt they’d just suffered their own betrayals from trusted men.
✦ The Master, The Padawan, and The Force by Pandora151, padme & ahsoka, 1.9k     Padmé Naberrie was never one to procrastinate. More than that, she maintained a steady, consistent schedule — something that she’d managed to keep ever since she was a Padawan. She was always on top of everything, from her responsibilities with the war to training her own Padawan, Ahsoka. She was well-known throughout the Order for being steady, reliable. And most notably, no matter what, she didn’t just forget things. Which made her current situation all the more…ridiculous. ✦ Off-by-one Error by Jessepinwheel, obi-wan & cast, 12.2k     A stranger appears in the Jedi Temple. Nobody knows who he is or where he came from. Nobody knows what has happened to him except that it must have been something truly terrible. The stranger's name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. ✦ splinters of light by wrennette, dooku & jocasta & sifo-dyas & yoda & jaster & jango & cast, time travel, 22.5k     When Dooku's dying consciousness was sent back into his younger body, at first he remembered only that something important would happen on Korda VI, and soon. His investigations brought both clarity and confusion, and a conviction that he must atone for evils not yet enacted. ✦ The Road that Reaches by ExtraPenguin, anakin & mace & yoda & depa & shmi, 11.5k     As the Council sits down on Naboo to consider the newly-knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi's request to take young Anakin Skywalker as his padawan, they're informed of what transpired on Tatooine – and that Anakin used to be a slave. Mace Windu goes to interview the young child to confirm this, and gets rather more than he signed up for. ✦ the salle at dawn by maragny, anakin &/ mace, 5.1k     Master Windu is the best duellist in the Jedi Order. When Anakin Skywalker is seventeen, he duels Mace for the first time, and it ruins both of them for anyone else. ✦ through the dark (like two flames) by treescape, kanan/cal & quinlan, 5.3k     A Jedi found him on Bracca. Or, in the weeks after Order 66, Cal Kestis and Caleb Dume are reunited on Jabiim. Five years late, on the run from Inquisitors, they have a decision to make. ✦ Resilience by TemporaryUniverse, obi-wan & mace, 3.3k     Twelve years after his defeat at the Battle of Naboo, Obi-Wan's greatest enemy has returned from the dead. Obi-Wan has faced Maul and lost. Now it is time to face himself. ✦ The Buried Truth is Your Favorite Lie by Peppermint_Shamrock, dooku & yoda, ~1k     Dooku tries and fails to leave the past behind. ✦ Hanging On by the Last Threads of Our Hope by IllyanaA, ahsoka & rex, 5.2k     Ahsoka and Rex have endured too much. After the Fall, they stay together until they can't, but the Force has a way of bringing them back together. It's a fact for which both of them are immeasurably grateful.
MULTIGENERATIONAL STAR WARS IS THE BEST STAR WARS: ✦ Future Tense by CeruleanTactician, obi-wan & anakin & luke, time travel, 1.4k     Obi-Wan and Anakin find themselves twenty years in the future, where they meet a young man by the name of Luke Skywalker. ✦ Keepsakes by Coalmine301, obi-wan & leia, 2k     “You were the one who gave me my bantha, weren’t you?” “Yes,” Obi-wan nodded with a small smile. “Your father told me they were your favorite animal. At least then it was.” ✦ Why the Sith Don't Have Class Reunions by Peppermint_Shamrock, anakin & palpatine & maul & dooku & ventress, time travel, 1.9k     Sith apprentices rarely agree with one another (there’s a reason for the Rule of Two, after all), but Darth Sidious is starting to think that it’s worse when they do. ✦ My Dear Padawan by Tulak_Hord, luke & yoda & palpatine, time travel, 3.2k     In which a time-travelling Luke Skywalker successfully saves the Galaxy in perhaps the most horrifying manner imaginable. ✦ The Return by Pandora151, obi-wan & leia & haja, 1.4k     Haja wonders about the others. He wonders about the people he’s sent to the Path from Daiyu — not just Kenobi and the Princess, but that Force-sensitive boy and his mother, the Nautolan teenager from a few weeks ago, the young Kel Dor child and his even younger siblings. Did they all make it home? Are they safe? Was all of this worth it? ✦ Message From Guiding Light by Batsutousai, obi-wan & leia & mace, time travel, 2.2k     Ben and Leia never make it to Mapuzo on the borrowed supply shuttle, instead finding themselves in the middle of the Clone Wars.
FRIENDSHIP WITH CANON ENDED, THIS COOL AU IS MY NEW BEST FRIEND NOW: ✦ Not A Moment Too Soon by Triscribe, depa & kanan & cast, 2k     The first time she stumbled, her padawan said nothing, simply offering his shoulder for her to lean on. ✦ Parallel Lines by Pandora151, obi-wan & anakin, time travel, time loop, 10.7k     Darth Vader leans back in his chair, allowing a small smile to form on his lips, hidden by his helmet. “There is no escape from this, Obi-Wan,” he utters. He looks down at the neat line of text, and the Force echoes his words. “No escape from the past.” ✦ through the dark (like two flames) by treescape, ca/kanan & quinlan, 5.3k     A Jedi found him on Bracca. Or, in the weeks after Order 66, Cal Kestis and Caleb Dume are reunited on Jabiim. Five years late, on the run from Inquisitors, they have a decision to make. ✦ Loth-Cats and Loth-Rats by TessaDoesThings, mace & depa & kanan & ezra, 19k     All Mace Windu wanted out of the Post-Clone Wars world was a simple trip with his lineage to the long-forgotten Jedi Temples of the Outer Rim. However, on Lothal, the three might have bitten off more than they expected. The Republic may have triumphed, but the roots of what could have become the empire are gripped in the corners of the galaxy, and it might be time for some aggressive space weeding. Or a coup d'etat. That would work too. ✦ a princess, a farmer, a teacher by jesuisdeux, obi-wan & luke & leia & bail, 1.4k     Early in the morning, a girl and few men knock on a door. They don't wear anything resembling a soldier, but Obi-Wan has been a soldier long enough to notice the tense shoulders and wary looks beneath civilian clothing. She doesn't wear anything resembling a princess, but Obi-Wan knows these fierce eyes and grace coming from a righteous cause. or A New Hope AU where Vader doesn't attack Leia's ship and Leia herself delivers the news to Obi-Wan and consequently Obi-Wan doesn't die. ✦ What I Wouldn't Give To See Your Ghost by Triscribe , depa & kanan & cast, time travel, 1.2k     “Who are you?” Depa demanded, externally calm but internally frantic. “What is this place? And where is my padawan?” ✦ when that day comes by katierosefun, obi-wan & anakin & ahsoka & maul, modern au/reincarnation au, 44.8k     [or: the alternate universe where anakin skywalker has the chance at some new life…but only if he saves the life of a reincarnated obi-wan kenobi. the catch: neither of them know who the other was in the galaxy far, far away…but that might very well change.]
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lil-ace-of-spades · 4 months
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Filled an OTP meme sheet for DinLuke ( o˘◡˘o)
I based Din's age on the child actor's actual age (10yrs old) when he filmed the flashback scene when we assume that the event is near the end of the Clone Wars/Revenge of the Sith.
I think Din is in the ace spectrum, specifically demisexual. He's never really been interested in forming intimate relationships and is content with the familial/platonic relationships he made in his life. The thought of settling down came to mind when he saw how happy Grogu was on Sorgan but he knew deep down that isn't the life he wants for himself. It's simply not him. Then he meets Luke and falls in love for the very first time. He didn't know what these feelings mean at first so it took some time for him to process that the affection he feels for Luke isn't platonic. He eventually does settle down in the sense that he owns a cabin in Nevarro and a home he shared with Luke on Ossus but he still works as a bounty hunter.
Most of Luke's clothes in his Rebellion days were hand-me-downs since he arrived at the base with just the clothes on his back. He never really bothered with shopping for his own clothes, since he was busy and his friends were more than happy to dress him up.
Din likes to have his alone time. He can't relax in crowded places even when his friends and allies are around. He survived being a bounty hunter in the Outer Rim because of that. So it's usually Luke who does the mingling and the talking, whereas Din prefers to listen and chimes in with a few words when he has something to say or he's been addressed. It helps Din's social battery from running out too fast.
They're both great pilots and often race around each other with Grogu on either of their ships. The little speed demon of a son loves it.
Neither of them are the jealous type. For Din, he's never really fallen in love with anyone to feel that sickly green pull in his stomach. When he sees Luke getting along with people (some clearly flirting), he thinks it makes sense because Luke is a very attractive person but he's firm in his belief that HE is the man Luke will always come home to. For Luke, he's never had a partner that lasted long with the life he led in the Rebellion. He doesn't feel possessive of his partners because he knows he cannot own them. Those first 19 years spent on Tatooine (where he bears the name of generations of slaves and he is the first freeborn Skywalker to carry on living) taught him that no being deserves to be owned by anyone. He also knows that he fell in love with a man who would never break his vow to him. Also, they're both adults that went through so much before they met each other. They're both just glad to have met and fallen in love at a time when their paths crossed at the perfect moment in their lives.
Luke would cook Yoda's soup recipe and Grogu would finish the whole cauldron if nobody stops him. Din isn't keen on the taste so Luke has a version that's easier to stomach for non-green gremlin beings like him.
Whenever they're in public together, they act professionally (except when they're handling Grogu between them). When alone, Din allows himself to be vulnerable with Luke. His burgeoning inner romantic emerges and Luke reciprocates with all the love he feels for his husband.
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jedimasterbailey · 8 months
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SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE THIRD EPISODE OF AHSOKA
PRO JEDI RANT DOWN BELOW
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This Loth Cat is a good representation of me not losing my mind on how badly the Jedi Order is being completely defiled by Feloni. Okay…so apparently according to Feloni anybody can just be a Jedi if they try really, really hard and believe in them because the Force resides in everyone when we all know that that’s not fucking true according to Lucas. Yes, the Force resides in all things HOWEVER it is the Force sensitive (I.e. the Jedi and Sith) that are able to wield the Force because they’ve got the blood to do so (midocholorians… I’m sure I’ve butchered the spelling forgive me). So with that being said, does anything in Star Wars even matter anymore? Like honestly.
By this logic…anybody in the OT could have just destroyed the Sith if they tRiEd HaRd EnOuGh. So I guess fuck the importance of Luke Skywalker and all the other survivors of Order 66? And I suppose by this logic none of the prequel Jedi or hell even Anakin doesn’t matter because anybody can just wield a lightsaber and tap into the Force if tHeY jUsT bElIeVeD iN tHeMsElVeS? Why does Rey matter when apparently anyone could have taken down the First Order and destroyed Palpatine when some fucking Mando could have just done the job of being Force sensitive doesn’t matter?
Like believe me guys, I am TRYING so hard not to be a hater but it truly makes me sad to see the one element of Star Wars I love so much (I.e. the Jedi Order and everything they do and stand for) just get picked apart and trashed over and over and over again. I just don’t understand it and I know I can’t be the only one feeling like this.
Also Ahsoka’s character right now is reminding me of Luke’s in TLJ where I feel like I’m seeing and hearing a completely different character and it’s heartbreaking when you’ve looked up and loved these heroes so much. Like for Gods sake can we settle the score in where Ahsoka stands with the Jedi? Is she or is she not? Because right now she’s doing a poor representation of all her mentors who have lost their lives staying true to themselves, Jedi who gave everything to protect and save lives. Now she seems to just go out of her way to scoff at the Order that raised her, similar to Luke dismissing the very thing that gave him hope in the OT.
As these new shows go on, it just makes the fall of the Jedi Order all the more tragic just seeing how their sacrifice and good will meant absolutely nothing. That’s why characters like Cal Kestis and Cere Junda are incredible. They stayed true to their Jedi values no matter what because that’s what the galaxy needs, heroes who care. Not heroes who have personal agendas.
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trixree · 9 months
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The brain worms are ON ONE tonight folks I am thinking about Cody/Maul/Obi-Wan post order 66 living on tattooine together
like what if Maul sought out Obi-Wan's Commander shortly after O66 to get obsessive freaky closure about how Obes died (feels robbed of the kill, generally mentally ill about it, etc.) and is like "he is useless to me with all this fucking Imperial programing in the way" and does Force Stuff to break Cody's chip and what if Cody Wakes Up and goes "I can use this fucked up little guy to get to my General, who I believe survived, and then I'll just kill him easy peasy and live happily ever after with my husband" so he tells Maul that Obi-Wan is probably alive, actually, and cue a really violent road trip of them retracing Obi-Wan's steps in the hours after O66 via Imperial intel and hyper competence on both of their parts and
OH NO WHAT IF THEY START TO FALL IN LOVE like the forced proximity of it all...LISTEN TO ME. the intimacy of fighting alongside someone and having a functional partnership that's turned Dependency on both of your part's because you were both Traumatized in surprisingly similar ways (raised as a tool of violence for someone else's purpose, same guy actually!) and also have a similar goal via your mutual obsession with this one guy and actually, he's not that bad for a sith/clone, and by the time they get wise to Luke's existence and gun it for Tatooine, Maul is like "if I kill Kenobi this is going to upset Cody. That is Unideal. Can i live with not killing Kenobi?" and Cody is like "I cannot kill him afterall, I like him too much, how the FUCK am I going to explain this to Obi let alone any of the mind control & sorry i tried to kill you shit"
and what if Obi-Wan kept Luke because Reasons and is just so goddamn thankful for some extra childcare help (Luke's in his terrible 2s and he's force sensitive -- Obi's more sleep deprived than he ever was during the clone wars) that he really doesn't give a shit at all that it's his ex that tried to kill him for some mystery reason and motherfucking Maul on his doorstep. help is help 🙏 and they bang and stuff of course okay I'm only human
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david-talks-sw · 11 months
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What's 'Star Wars' about?
A while ago I got an 'Ask' that concluded with "what is Star Wars about, if not the Jedi, right?" And weirdly enough... I have to disagree.
I mean... to me? Yes. Star Wars is about the Jedi. A Jedi-less, Sith-less, lightsaber-less Star Wars movie or series will struggle to get me on board (which is why I was surprised that I loved Andor so much).
But if you read everything George Lucas said, if you think about the Jedi's place in his two trilogies... they're not front and center, right?
Sure, there's Luke Skywalker... but he's a learner, in the Original Trilogy. Same goes for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, in the Prequels. They're going through character arcs.
Otherwise, the Jedi are either used as mentors to the protagonist...
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... or to deliver exposition...
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... but they're mostly vectors Lucas uses to present his thesis.
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Functionally-speaking, the Jedi are important in that they embody the Buddhist philosophies the movie's themes are based on.
But when it comes to the plot, they're secondary. That's because the the themes of these films are bigger than the Jedi themselves.
So the question becomes... what's are the themes?
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The primary goal of the Star Wars films is to inspire kids to start thinking outside the box and teach them a set of values and psychological motifs that have been passed down through mythology and fairy tales.
These values can be summed up in the dichotomy between greed and compassion / selfishness and selflessness / pleasure and joy.
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We all have both aspects and need to strike a balance between the two. After all, being greedy ultimately comes from fear and being afraid can happen to all of us. Problem is, unchecked fear can lead to anger, hate and a whole lot of suffering.
The more selfish you are, the more you want things and the more you're afraid that you'll lose everything you have, you'll get angry when someone tries to take it and that will hurt everyone around you.
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In other words, fear is the path to the tempting/addictive Dark Side.
Thus, seeing as we'll be inevitably tempted by the Dark Side and give in at some point (because nobody's perfect), we should aim to be as selfless and compassionate as possible for our own good... but also for the greater good, because we're all connected to a life energy. You can call it Qi or God; in Star Wars it's known as the Force.
As such, we all form a symbiotic circle and working with that in mind is better than putting ourselves first and draining from everything and everyone around us.
But we also need to be careful because there will be people who give in to that selfish side and will try to control everything. When the time comes, we must stand up for what's right.
So that's Lucas' thesis.
If I had to sum them up, the six movies illustrate it as follows:
The Prequel Trilogy is about the consequences of greed, explored through Anakin on a smaller scale and the Senate on a larger one.
The Original Trilogy shows the triumph of compassion, through Luke, Leia & Han and the Rebellion's fight against the Empire.
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Lucas talked about it multiple times, the Prequels are about how Anakin becomes Darth Vader and how the Republic becomes the Empire, and in both those cases, it happens because they're greedy.
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The Senate is greedy in the more classical sense. They could give a shit about "symbiosis", no they're taking bribes, letting corporations dictate policy, using loopholes to keep themselves in power and halting any meaningful progress out of fear that the new status quo will conflict with their own self-serving goals.
Anakin's greed manifests in a different way. He turns to the Dark Side because of his attachment. He wants to stop Padmé from dying... but not because he wants to save her, rather he wants to save himself from feeling the pain of loss again and will do anything to not have to live without her, her own wishes and the natural cycle of life and death be damned.
In both cases, they cave under pressure orchestrated by Palpatine, but nobody puts a gun to their head. They make a deliberate choice that comes from a selfish place, and neither one takes personal responsibility for it, they blame others, the Separatists in the case of the Senate and the Jedi in Anakin's case.
The Republic becomes an Empire with thunderous applause, betraying the people it was meant to protect.
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And when faced between doing something he knows is right and giving in to his selfish desires...
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... Anakin elects to do the latter, thus betraying his family and leaving the Force in darkness.
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These selfish choices impact the galaxy as a whole, including the only characters in the trilogy who were doing their best to be compassionate and live in symbiosis: the Jedi, Padmé and Bail.
These champions of the Light Side are stuck playing catch-up or helplessly witnessing the events unfold, throughout the trilogy. They're playing by the rules and Palpatine uses this to his advantage.
Thus, as the galaxy tears itself apart because of Palpatine's manipulations, the Jedi and Bail are ignored and gradually weakened until they're either rendered irrelevant or killed.
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A new order is born, one built on blood, lies and greed: the Empire.
But a new hope remains.
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While before, the Jedi and people like Bail stood alone as everything around them became willfully corrupt... now, a Rebellion inspired by their legacy has banded together to overthrow the current order. But they don't fight for power or personal glory, they fight for altruistic, compassionate reasons. There's a sense of general responsibility that moves them, they're all doing their part.
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On a larger scale, we focus on the Rebels, who are tired of seeing people suffer and decided this needs to stop. They have gone from being passive, to proactive.
On a more personal scale, we see the evolution of Luke, from naive farmer to a hero, and guess what? More and more selfish people - like Han or Lando - are inspired to join the Rebellion, after seeing the exploits of Luke, Leia, or even Ben.
It all culminates in the final film, wherein:
The Rebels band together with the Ewoks - literal teddy bears whom the Empire, in their arrogance, never even considered to be a threat - to destroy the Second Death Star and free the galaxy from imperial tyranny.
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At the same time, Emperor Palpatine pressures Luke, who is tempted by the Dark Side like his father was.
But instead of giving in to his selfish desire to kill Darth Vader for all the horrors he's done...
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... he finds the strength to rise above it, instead showing compassion for his father, which, in turn, inspires Anakin to do the same.
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He faces a choice, like he did in Palpatine's office, two decades prior...
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... and this time he chooses right.
Children teach you compassion. Anakin lets go of his fear and anger, and saves his son at the cost of his own life, finally bringing balance back to the Force.
Good triumphed over evil. Its champions achieved victory by being selfless, hopeful and fighting together / helping each other.
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And that's it, that's how the movies thematically tie together.
As you can see, the Jedi aren't that directly impactful on the overall plot, because it revolves around Anakin, Luke and the respective factions/institutions around them.
But what the Jedi do bring to the table is their ability to teach and inspire others, both in-universe and out. They're spiritually impactful.
The Jedi are the epitome of compassion, and it's partially through them that George Lucas teaches his values to the audience.
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io-lu-art · 4 months
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I know we all want redeemed Ben Solo to look and dress like his father at some point. But- ok, hear me out: There hAs to be sOme Lando spirit in there, SOMEWHERE. Like, come on, the CAPE? Are you telling me that Ben Solo, son of Leia Organa, grandson of fashion Queen Amidala, former Jedi padawan and Supreme Fashion Leader himself wouldn't fancy a cape at all? I don't believe u.
Lemme explain.
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high waisted Lando pants but put inside the boots.
Shorter cape. Kinda like Lando's in Solo.
High belt, cause it looks good on him and he knows it.
Dark grey. Mid grey. With a bit of off white. (I believe this is self explanatory.)
Later in life, as he grows older, maybe he will start adding some colour to his clothes.
I'm still not decided on my definitive headcanon. The one on the right is still very close to Luke in RotJ despite the grey and higher belt, but I kinda like it? Just cause it looks more elegant. I mean, sure, you could give him a blaster (I... probably will, at some point), depending on where the stories go and how you write him as Ben. I gave him two lightsabers, because, well- I will explain that when my fanfiction is finished. Or maybe I'll abandon the idea till then. :') (Yes, yes they would be white.) Gotta see if it serves the story well or if it's just my old love for young Ahsoka's yellow shoto lightsaber blinding me.
Jeez, there are so many directions you could take this character. Jedi, pilot, smuggler, gambler, senator... there's no end to this. I've seen so much Jedi Ben Solo fanart and I love all of them. I love the robes so much that I went and made some shape exploration with them.
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But the thing is I'm not really feeling it. If I were to take the story into a new direction, no Jedi, no Sith, just Force sensitives, a new take on this whole idea, expanding on what Rian Johnson gave us - which, I am - I would probably go away from the traditional Jedi designs. Sure, it all also kinda depends on how you colour it, I guess...
*sighs* there could have been so much to explore and discover in IX. But, eh, let's not turn this into another tros rant.
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confused-much · 6 months
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I've just rewatched Revenge of the Sith for like a 5th time and you know what annoys me the most?
That some people think Anakin is the most tragic character of Star Wars.
Like, yeah he was a slave and his mother was killed but most of his other suffering was his own doing.
HE killed the Jedi, including kids (as he did sand people).
HE decided to get married to Padme despite his problem with attachments and hide it from the Order.
HE decided to save Palpatine for his own gain.
HE choked Padme!!! The woman he supposedly loved and couldn't live without!!!
HE chose to fight Obi-Wan and even when Obi-Wan told him it's over, he still chose to attack him.
Most of his suffering was self inflicted and seriously, I don't even feel sorry for him. He deliberately chose to allign himself with a literal Sith Lord just because he wanted to save Padme. And while yes, I could understand the sentiment, he did it selfishly ("I can't live without her!" he screams at Windu before cutting his hand.
When he tells Padme about his dreams, she asked what about their child and he doesn't care about it, he only cares about Padme because HE cannot leave without her, screw her feelings or thoughts on that matter), dooming all of the Republic, not even thinking about other alternatives before.
So no, I don't think Anakin is the most tragic character. But you know who I think is?
Obi-Wan
In a span of a short time he:
- was betrayed by the men he was fighting with for the whole war
- lost his home and family
- had to fight the person he considered his brother
- became a hunted down man
- was betrayed by the person he considered his brother (who also killed kids)
- was forced to go into exile to Tatooine and spend his time alone, guarding Luke, a son of the person who was directly responsible for all of his suffering
- he lost Padme who he valued as a good friend
And before that he also:
- lost his master after said master was ready to throw him away for the Chosen One™ (I hate Qui Gon with passion)
- lost a woman he loved (killed by the same man who killed his master)
And somehow, Obi-Wan till the end was loyal to Jedi teachings and never went to the dark side. And, guess what, none of the points above were his doing! He got dealt with shitty hand all the time and yet he still endured it and still had faith!
Man, I love Obi-Wan.
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look after each other
dealer!remus lupin x baker!reader
words: 1.8k
cw: pining, idiots in love, drug use, tension
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---—---
remus always knows when you're upset.
remus watched as you were finishing the strawberry tarts. he was not so sneakily stealing strawberries as you hummed along to the soft music pouring out of the speakers. it was friday night but you wanted to drop them off to mrs silvia tonight so you could sleep in tomorrow. mrs silvia was a kind older woman who lived alone and spoke with an accent neither of you could place - though you did enjoy speculating about it - and every week she would order some kind of baked good from you. 
you put them all neatly in a box and said you'd be quick even though both of you knew that wasn't true. she only lived two floors below you but mrs silvia always chatted for just a tad too long whenever she saw either of you.
so, seventeen minutes later and counting he was browsing through netflix waiting for your return. it was his pick tonight and he knew no matter what he chose you'd tease him about it, but he didn't mind. just as he was starting to get restless you return. you smile softly at him as you lean on the doorframe for stability while you tug your shoes off.  
remus returns your smile and stares at you intently. his gaze feels sharp on you, you always feel exposed under his stare, like he can see all of your secrets. 
you start walking to the couch and flop down on the side closest to the door and run a hand over your face, feeling exhausted. remus cocks his head as his eyes follow you, squinting slightly as he continues study you.
“what’s wrong, angel?”
you met his gaze and glared playfully “nothin’. what's wrong with you remmy?”
he glares back and scrunches his nose up “don't lie, sweetheart it’s not a good habit.”
“says the drug dealer.”
“bunny” you hate that tone. it makes you want to tell him every little thought going through your brain. 
“‘m just tired rem. and my feet hurt those shoes are cute, but fuck do they hurt”
he smiles slightly before he furrows his brows. he noticed your absence over the past few weeks, spending less time with him and working more. he pulls your feet onto his lap and starts massaging them. you sigh contently shuffle around getting comfortable and mumble out a small “thank you” he only hums in response “what movie did you pick?” you ask.
“a new hope”
“again?” you ask in a teasing tone.
“yeah. whatchu got against episode 4?”
“nothin’ just the prequels are better."
“you only say that cause you think hayden christiensen is hot." he rolls his eyes.
“well yeah and ewan mcgregor but carrie fisher is gorgeous so that's not my reasoning. i like the storyline of the prequels better that’s all.”
“you kiddin’ me love? nothing beats watchin’ luke destroy the death star."
“nope wrong anakin and obi wans fight is the best. episode 3 is superior.” you yawn starting to feel the exhaustion catching up to you. 
remus gently smiles and rubs small circles on your ankle “how ‘bout we compromise, bunny? we’ll watch revenge of the sith then new hope. that way we both get our favourites." 
you pretend to consider this and over exaggeratedly tap your chin in thought “m’kay remmy you got yourself a deal.” you hold your hand out to shake. he takes it and squeezes gently. 
“go get changed baby i’ll make the popcorn.” he taps your foot to signal them to move so you slide them to the floor.
“can i borrow one of your sweaters?”
“i left one on your bed angel.”
“you’re the best remsy.”
he scrunches his nose up at the nickname and watches you disappear into your bedroom. you smile as you enter your room upon the sight of one of remus’ brown sweaters folded on your bed. you undress before pulling on the sweater, a pair of comfy boxer briefs and some fluffy socks.
once you’re done you go back into the living room to see remus with a bowl of popcorn and and two cups of tea on the coffee table. he’d taken off his own sweater and was now just relaxing on your couch in his faded graphic tee and grey sweatpants. he’s fiddling with the remote loading up revenge of the sith. 
“hey pretty boy.” you give him a tired smile.
“hey bunny. c’mere.” you fall onto the couch and remus pulls you into him, loving his arms around you and letting your head loll onto his chest. you lean back and look up to him grinning at him. “y’ready for a subpar star wars movie?" 
“if by subpar you mean the bestest most awesomest star wars movie then yes.”
“whatever you wanna believe, love.”
he only half watches the movie. you’d watched them together plenty of time before anyway, he was more interested in watching you. he saw you grow slowly more and more tired.
just as padme gives birth, you start snoring lightly against his chest. he pushes some stray hairs out of your face and kisses your forehead. “g’night bunny.”
and you always take care of remus.
the upbeat knocks on his door jolts remus out of his half asleep state sprawled out on his worn out couch. he sighs as he rises and cracks his back on the short walk to the door.
he swings it open to reveal a familiar smiling face holding a loaf of some kind of bread. he can't help but mirror your smile as he steps aside to invite you in.
“i heard you arrive home 20 minutes ago but i wanted to finish making my banana bread first so i could bring you some” you ramble on while heading towards the kitchen and placing it down on the small breakfast bar, then turning to face him again “mrs. silvia gave me some bananas yesterday apparently her son-” you’re cut off by remus’ arms wrapping around you and his head burying itself in your neck.
you softly start to run your hands through his hair while your other arm returns his impromptu hug. “you doin’ okay remmy?” you question softly but instead of responding his arms just tighten around you.
you furrow your brows and lean back slightly to grab his jaw and look into his eyes. “you high rem?”
“mhmm” 
“wanna go to bed?”
a beat passes before he slowly nods into your neck. you slowly untangle yourself from him and pull him into his bedroom. you face him and reach up to run your hands through his hair and down his face. he leans into your touch and closes his eyes. you move your hands lower and reach for the bottom of his sweater and slowly pull it over his head and onto the floor. he pulls you into a hug again and your arms go around your waist and lean into him. 
“remus dear?”
“yeah love?”
“please don’t take this the wrong way but when was the last time you showered?”
“um… maybe 4 days ago?”
“rem?” 
“yes?”
“can i run you a bath?”
“please angel.”
you giggle as you pull away and walk into his bathroom to start drawing a bath. there were plenty of bath products there already you had gifted him after you taught him how to use them properly. remus lingers in the doorway watching you intently. 
you can feel him lingering “strip, lupin.”
“if you wanted to see me naked pet you could've just asked.” he pulls his shirt off before fumbling with his jeans. he struggles a lot with the button before huffing and leaning against the wall. “babyyyy i need help.”
you sigh softly and move closer to him and undo his jeans “you got it from here pretty boy?” you tease lightly.
“you think i’m pretty?”
“course darlin’” 
he smiles and feels his face heat up. your comments always affect him more when he’s high. 
you watch him shyly turn his head away and smile fondly “the baths ready hon’ do ya need anythin’ else?”
he shakes his head, and you leave the room. once you hear the small click of the door closing you turn and head towards the kitchen. you cut up some of the banana bread and get two glasses of water. you take them to his bedroom and place them on his bedside table. you move around the room, lighting the few candles you had bought for him and grabbing some clean clothes for him. 
you knock on the bathroom door “rem, can i come in?”
“yeah, love.” his muffled voice replies.
you walk in and smile down at him. there were enough bubbles in the bath to preserve his modesty (not that he would have cared anyway) so you could only really see his shoulder and above. “i brought you some clean clothes babe for whenever you’re ready.”
“thanks angel.” he smiles, and you leave again.
you grab some painkillers for his unavoidable hangover in the morning. you decide to change into one of remus’ t-shirts and a spare pair of sleep bottoms you left there. you go back into the kitchen and start making two cups of tea. you set out two mugs and chose the tea bags but just as you start adding the sugar you hear a groan coming from the bathroom. you abandoned the tea and rushed to the bathroom.
as you walk in you seem remus on the floor, shirtless, with one leg inside his pyjama pants.
you can’t help the small giggle that escaped at the sight. “need help sugar?” 
“pleaseeee.” he gives you those stupid puppy dog eyes.
you help him to his feet and hold him to stabilise him while he puts his other leg into his pants. once his pants are securely on his hips you reach for his shirt and bunch it up to help him put his head through the hole. then, helping his arm goes into each sleeve. you smile and pat his chest.
you return to the kitchen and finish making the tea. you move to the sink to wash the teaspoon you used and the other few stray dishes when you feel his arms wrap around your waist. he snuggles into you and smells your hair. he starts slowly kissing your neck and rubbing small circles onto your hip bone with his hand.
“you’re being very affectionate,” you comment trying to come off as nonchalant despite leaning into his touch.
“i missed you.” he mumbled into your neck.
“you saw me this morning.”
“i know but it’s not enough.” he whines slightly in a way that is somehow endearing.
“seeing me every day isn’t enough? what did you take?” you snicker slightly.
“pads had some mushrooms. we’re not the right kind of close we need to be closer. i love you bunny.”
“i love you too remmy.”
“no not in the right way. not in the way i do.”
your breathe hitches. he was high. you force an insincere giggle “you’re so high baby. you ready for bed?”
“can you stay? please stay the night with me?”
“yeah, rem. i’ll stay.”
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americankimchi · 1 month
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god i wish they hadn't retconned maul's death. i get wanting to explore more of his character because he was, objectively, one of the coolest star wars characters to ever hit the big screen and didn't get much screentime prior to his death, but also his role was fulfilled perfectly within those constraints so i wasn't too upset by it.
but by retconning it and making it so he never died it's like. okay. what now? the whole point (well, to me, ymmv of course) of the theed generator fight was that it was the first ever fight between the jedi and the sith in thousands of years, and that in the end even though the jedi (obi-wan) won the fight, a jedi (qui-gon) and a sith (maul) still died. a master and an apprentice dying together to herald the start of a new age/the return of the sith. perfectly paralleling the way in rotj a master (palps) and an apprentice (anakin/vader) died together to herald the return of the jedi. in both instances, a father figure (qui-gon/vader) dies in the arms of their son (obi-wan/luke) as a sith (palps/maul) is cast down into the abyss to their deaths. (palps being alive in the ST and retconning his death in rotj is also annoying for this reason)
i mean i like maul. don't get me wrong. he's an incredibly compelling character and i enjoy seeing more of him... but there's always the thought hovering in my mind like "he should be dead though. he should 100% be dead. this wouldn't be happening if he was dead, but i honestly would rather it not if it meant that maul was dead."
like the tpm fight just doesn't hit the same knowing that canonically he's just. going to become a robot octopus at some point. (shoutout to palps becoming sith glados in the ST) it cheapens the moment for me. it was supposed to be a moment of triumph marred by the deep and soul-crushing loss of a loved one and it's just... not, anymore. or at least not to the same extent. AUGH i'm just. frustrated. wish star wars as a whole wasn't constantly reframing/retconning what's been established. just puts a bad taste in my mouth.
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hannagoldworthy · 6 months
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WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS LEGENDS
One take I regularly see from the “Jedi Critical” corner of this fandom always manages to baffle me: “In Legends, Luke Skywalker corrected the mistakes of the dogmatic Jedi Order!”
Since my days as a dumbass first-time tumblr user, in which I was rather sternly corrected by older users if I got too aggressive in my arguments, I’ve tried to steer away from pointing out how STUPID that take is. But? Nothing’s saying I can’t make a post of my own about it!
So.
With the bare minimum of due respect.
What fucking book did you read where Luke Skywalker corrected his own fucking mistakes, let alone those of any Jedi who came before him?
Because from what I’VE read? Luke had a nasty habit of doing the same things everyone criticizes the Prequel Jedi for doing, only ramping the ante up in a way only a Skywalker trained by TWO of the Disaster Lineage can.
Mace Windu threatened a “helpless” old Chancellor in his own office and was trying to assassinate him? Gag me. Luke Skywalker electrocuted Shimrra Jamaane to death with Force Lightn-pardon me, “eLeCtRiC jUsTiCe.”
The Jedi Order of the Prequels used Padawans as “child soldiers”? Please. Luke Skywalker possessed the body of his nephew to duel Exar Kun…when Jacen Solo was TWO, a FUCKING TODDLER. That’s not even getting into the number of very young teenagers who died horrible deaths as SOLDIERS in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong - for pity’s sake, Anakin Solo was knighted at sixteen and KILLED AT SEVENTEEN, where his grandfather’s knighting at nineteen was considered a rush job!
The Galactic Army of the Republic was a slave army? So was the army of YVH-1 battle droids built to battle the Yuuzhan Vong invasion! “Oh, but those were just droids” yeah and? The anti-Jedi folk cried when Anakin Skywalker was rightfully punished for not wiping R2’s memory of sensitive battle information, and they’ve outright said they have more sympathy for the battle droids than for the living, breathing people defending themselves against the battle droids. Not to mention, Legends had a Droid’s Rights movement in full swing at this point in time, so? YVH’s were people programmed from “birth” to die in battle. Next question.
Obi-Wan was too mean to Darth Maul and Darth Vader when he cut off their limbs? Alema Rar would like a word! Luke Skywalker permanently crippled her lightsaber arm, his sister cut off one of her feet AND one of her lekku (brain tails, that HAVE HER BRAIN IN THEM), AND put her in the way of a spider-sloth that BIT HER IN FUCKING HALF. And this was after Luke helped raise her as a youngling and HAD A VISION OF HER TURNING TO THE DARK SIDE, and did FUCK-ALL to prevent her from turning!
On the topic of doing fuck-all to prevent something…oh, was Obi-Wan Kenobi unable to prevent his Padawan from being groomed by a Sith Lord? Well, Luke Skywalker GAVE his son Ben as an unofficial apprentice to Jacen Solo, who turned out to be Darth Caedus and mentally, emotionally, and physically tortured Ben for six years! And, while Obi-Wan did not like Palpatine and continuously advised Anakin not to trust him without even knowing Palpatine was Sidious, Luke fully suspected Jacen was headed down a dark path and still encouraged Ben to be his apprentice because he was afraid of the Skywalker legacy dying with him.
Obi-Wan Kenobi flirted inappropriately with enemy generals? Luke Skywalker banged them. No, seriously, Legends Luke’s sexual body count is in double digits, the man was an unrepentant fuckboi. Mara Jade, Calista Masana/Mingla, Gaerial Captison, Shira Brie, some blonde named Mary who was in one comic to die at the end, fucking ABELOTH? Yeah, Luke only married one of those women, BUT HE FUCKED ALL OF THEM. And now, we have the DinLuke ship (which only exists in fanon, so I will count it as Legends) to mirror the Codywan ship (which actually has some basis in canon), just to cement that Luke Skywalker is a persistent playboy for BOTH teams. He loves them and leaves them like a pro.
Oh, there’s a persistent fan-theory that Korkie Kryze was Satine and Obi-wan’s secret love child? There were rumors that Brisha Syo was Shira Brie’s daughter with Luke…rumors that were credible enough that Luke had to do his own investigation into the matter. Shira Brie, aka Lady Lumiya, whom Luke blew to smithereens when she tried to kill him, and fought her with no mercy when Darth Vader pieced her back together and sent her to fight him again. So, while Obi-Wan has a rumored lovechild from a respectful relationship with a woman who opted not to tell him, Luke legitimately blew up his alleged baby mamma in the void of space with the bare minimum of regret.
Yoda and Obi-Wan sent Luke to kill his own father because they couldn’t manage to do so? Luke sent his niece, Jaina Solo, to kill her TWIN BROTHER because he could not bring himself to kill Jacen himself. And, while Luke was understandably torn up about killing Anakin, Jaina had a Force-bond comparable with a canon dyad withh Jacen - it hurt her a lot more when she killed Jacen than it ever would have hurt Luke to kill Vader. She nearly DIED of heartbreak, that’s how bad it was.
Obi-Wan hurt Anakin’s trust by faking his death and going undercover? He beat the crap out of Anakin to maintain his cover? Luke hurt Leia’s trust by faking turning to the Dark Side, becoming a reborn Sidious’s new apprentice, ACTUALLY FALLING TO THE DARK SIDE, and mentally fighting Leia WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT, to the point she WENT INTO LABOR EARLY.
Obi-Wan beat Anakin in a duel and left him to burn to death? Luke Skywalker BEAT THE LIVING HELL out of Vader until Vader was wordlessly pleading for MERCY, which he DID NOT DO ON MUSTAFAR.
Now.
Is there any nuance in Luke’s situations, throughout all of these examples? Yes, there is...but there’s also nuance in the Jedi’s situation in the Prequels, which no one seems to acknowledge in their case. So, whatever grace I extend to Legends!Luke being an imperfect and fascinating character, also extends to the Jedi being imperfect and fascinating characters in their own right.
I love Legends!Luke BECAUSE he reminds me of the Prequels Jedi, not because he corrected any of their “mistakes” (he did not. He very clearly did not). So don’t come at me saying Legends!Luke was better than the Prequel Jedi. I have read the books! I have kept the receipts! AND I WILL USE THEM.
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marvelstars · 4 months
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One of the things I love about star wars is how simple/complex some of the relationships are there.
For example, the force literally sent Anakin, the reason of his birth, was to end Palpatine´s(Sith) rule because the Sith plan had become infallible even if there was just Count Dooku and Palpatine.In fact he planned for Dooku to be the one to assault the Temple before he knew of Anakin.
Palpatine could no take chances with Anakin, that´s why he dedicated so much of his time to groom him, 13 years, and I find it funny that even he ended being a little bit attached to the kid, to the point that he keep him around and forced him to stay alive at all costs when he could have let him die.
I like Palpatine and Anakin relationship not because they are two pair of conspirators as it would look like from the outside but because this is a textual case in an action movie of stockholm syndrome and lima syndrome were Palpatine is still deeply abusive of Anakin in a psycological way and later in a physical way with Vader but Vader/Anakin still cares for the Emperor and Palpatine doesn´t want to let go of Anakin because he sees him as his property, his trophy, HIS.
In Palpatine´s eyes Vader can´t even be Luke´s FATHER because he is HIS. What kind of person tells a kid their father can´t be their Dad because they are HIS slave(actual canon dialogue from the radio SW ROTJ show), Sheev, that´s him and this becomes the reason for the end of his rule because Vader does want to be Luke´s Dad even if it kills him and he only can save him from Palpatine.
Their relationship is deeply disturbing but it´s great food for thought and it makes me crazy fandom is too busy painting Anakin as the evilest character ever when Palpatine is right there.
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burntblueberrywaffles · 4 months
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the desperate anidala bitches shall rejoice, because i come offering a second rec list 😌 /lh
My Anidala/Vaderdala rec list! (part 2)
You can find the first rec list here!
sorry I took so long this got buried way down in my drafts but it's finally out 🫡
some of these are not complete so do check chapter count and pls dont yell at me asdfhgkjfh
Modern AUs
The Bet
Anakin's had a crush on Padmé since fourth grade, and after putting up with his pining for seven years, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are finally stepping in and making a bet that he can't ask her to junior prom in the spring. Meanwhile, Padmé is realizing that Anakin isn't as annoying as she'd always thought. In fact, her feelings towards him are starting to go in quite the opposite direction...
Snow Place Like Home
For genre-typical convoluted reasons involving ill-timed blizzards, Padmé is forced to spend the holidays at Anakin's house. Anakin isn't as upset about his boss staying with him for Christmas as he probably should be.
Second Chances
When Luke Amidala and Leia Skywalker meet at summer camp, they're shocked to discover that they're long-lost twins. The logical next step? Getting their estranged parents back together.
I usually avoid Parent traps AU just because I dislike it as a setup, but when it comes to Anidala a bitch is desperate, and this was a cute and fun one, I really enjoyed it!
Lemon
“What other secret fantasies do I have that are glaring neon signs for you?” Anakin asks. “You’re conflicted,” Padmé says, “because on one hand you want to be a very good boy for me, but on the other you want to misbehave so I have a reason to punish you.” He blows out a plume of smoke and taps the ash off his cigarette. “You know, I really thought you were a nerd. I thought I'd have to be like, ‘Hey, how about you tie me up sometime.' Get you into this stuff little by little. But no, you’re diving right in like we met on a BDSM subreddit or something.” Or: Padmé has car problems. Thankfully she knows a good mechanic.
normally, I probably never would have checked out this fic, (mommy kink is just not my thing) but as previously stated, A BITCH WAS DESPERATE and you know what it actually slapped 😌
Rebound
Padmé Naberrie has just been broken up with. She wasn't prepared for a night out with her girls to find her a rebound. She certainly wasn't prepared for Anakin Skywalker.
Sith-Raised Anakin
the inevitable end of dancing with the devil
"Maybe it was too crass to compare the devil to such a creature—Lord Vader wasn’t the devil, he was worse." Senator Amidala was undoubtedly one of the most respected and adored public servants to walk the galaxy. Lord Vader was not. Vaderdala AU. Arranged Marriage AU
A Worthy Sacrifice
Chancellor Palpatine has dropped the act and decided to rule the galaxy openly as Darth Sidious. His reign wouldn’t be half as successful without his unhinged attack dog Darth Vader, a much rumoured warbringer who appears in black robes with a saber red as blood and brings even the strongest revolutionaries to their knees. Padmé is not only fighting for her home country but the freedom of the known regions and she is desperate to turn the tides of this war which is why she agrees to the deal Sidious offers her: A child with this favourite Sith Lord in exchange for her home: Naboo.
This is one of my favourite fics with this trope!
Pearl in My Head
Padmé's just starting her career as a Senator when she attracts some unwanted attention from the Emperor, who has decided on a very different role for her in the Empire. [empire already exists, arranged marriage/forced proximity au! loosely follows some aotc/rots events]
What Was I Made For?
Darth Vader was not a man made for love, but this was not love. Or, Basically, Padme and Vader are friends with benefits, but she's so nice to him that it makes him question his entire existence.
FOR YOUR LOVE (i’ll do whatever you want)
𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲, 𝐰����𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐡, 𝐢’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐢 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐢’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 He gave her that devilish smirk of his. The one that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. “I’ll give you what you want.” OR, A rare moment of intimacy happens for Padmé and Anakin – whose relationship is strictly carnal.
I have yet to read the second chapter (will get on that when I get out of the snowbaird hole lol) but I really enjoyed the first one!
Vaderdala
love me, love me (like you used to do) 
In which Vader fails to capture his son, but gains a daughter, his wife, another pair of twins... and the past.
this fic was SO GOOD holy shit literally made me feral when i fiorst read it
Love Like Ghosts
There are very few people who know the location of the Rebel Alliance’s base on Naboo. Even fewer who know the names of any of the people who work there. So when Padmé gets up on a cold morning, the windows frosted and harsh wind rattling the doors of the large house that’s been the headquarters of the Alliance for nearly two decades, to see a package with her name on it sitting on the doorstep, her heart stops in her chest.
loved this fic but as a heads up it doesn't provide "they get back together" closure so be ready for that
news of old by @ineedausernamel829
Padme is a member of the rebel alliance. During a mission, her past relationships with darth Vader comes to light
No vaderdala interactions, but exploration of the relationship through Padme talking about it - It’s so so good
Sad Vaderdala hours
Imperial Socialite
In a timeline where Darth Vader doesn't face immolation and Padmé Amidala lives, their marriage continues in a form that is at once far more honest and deeply dysfunctional. Though Padmé tries to remain within the Imperial Senate, the trauma of her husband's betrayal--and the apparent deaths of her children--force her into early retirement. Too much of a liability to aid the emerging Rebel cause directly, Padmé seeks out new avenues of defying the Empire: by leveraging her connection to Vader to mess with the Imperial Elites of Coruscant.
it could be sweet
an interconnected collection of stories based on the idea of what would have happened if Padmé had lived. (aka me finally writing down my self-indulgent vaderdala daydreams aka me living my best life)
This series is so good in a "rip my heart out of my chest and steps on it" way
all joy sucked dry
Her husband had fallen, her life’s work had crumbled, and her own babies were strangers to her. But she didn’t even care, and that was the worst part. Or: Padme deals with postpartum depression, and Vader is ill-equipped to help her
Others
Across the Seas
Padmé Amidala - the daughter of the royal governor of Jamaica - never expected her life to be much more than it already was. Her routine is to dress in her finest clothes, put on a pretty face, and ensure she is presentable to not only the people but to the many men attempting to court her. However, Padmé's world is flipped around when pirates attack, and the young woman finds herself in the company of their fearsome, brash, (dashing) Captain. Initially sickened by the roughish man, Padmé will quickly learn there is so much more to the mysterious Captain Skywalker. A pirate's life for me
The pirate AU I didn’t know I needed. So good
Right & Wrong
After they watch a holoshow that portrays reprehensible content, Anakin unwittingly reveals the concerning way Chancellor Palpatine acts towards him. Padmé will not let anyone harm her husband — and she’ll make this Obi-Wan, the Jedi Council, and even the whole galaxy’s problem if she needs to.
when the grooming is actually adressed >>
cestrum nocturnum
Summer on Naboo, the Clone Wars have yet to begin, and Anakin is tasked with protecting Senator Amidala after an attempt is made on her life. It's too bad that every moment with her has him in agony, and every moment apart is even worse—especially after that night in the courtyard ... Or: Anakin spends a torturous time on Naboo in the company of the person he loves because he doesn't know how to tell her his true feelings.
Naboo smut 🤭
And that's it! if anyone has recommendations for a fic that isn't in either of my rec lists, please let me know! I am so so desperate I need my anidala fix
Since I was deep into the Star Wars hole and desperate, I’ve also been reading non-Anidala/non-Anidala centric fics about Darth Vader/Anakin/the Skywalker family, so I will be posting a rec list for that soon! (When i say soon it can mean anything from a day to months, my brain is not always great at tasks, if anyone wants to be notified when I do post it lmk and I’ll tag you ❤️)
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antianakin · 4 months
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@theneutralmime
Okay, so there's two things being discussed in here that I will try to answer separately.
The first is about Obi-Wan "lying" to Luke about the Darth Vader/Anakin distinction and implying that they're separate people. I tend to agree with you that Obi-Wan isn't doing this for his OWN sake, but is in fact doing it for Luke's because Luke ISN'T READY to hear the truth yet. Mark Hamill has said that he sort-of sees the moment on Bespin when Luke falls away from Vader as almost like a suicide in some respects. If you take that as your interpretation of what happens in that scene, then it's pretty clear that Obi-Wan wasn't wrong about Luke not being ready for this particular truth.
Even if you don't take that as your personal interpretation, I feel like assuming that Obi-Wan was separating Vader and Anakin for his OWN benefit is just a disingenuous reading of the text. Once the truth is out and Luke calls him on it, Obi-Wan has no issue discussing the topic more overtly. And Obi-Wan is incredibly calm when facing Vader in ANH, there's no obvious conflict in him during that sequence. He knows who he's facing, he knows what it means to him, and he's prepared to manage it. He's completely in balance, which is why he's able to just let himself go in the end. If Obi-Wan were truly incapable of handling the whole CONCEPT of Anakin being Vader, I feel like we'd have seen way more distress in him in this film and in this sequence, and we'd see him attempting to try to continue the practice when conversing about it with Luke in ROTJ.
What they have Obi-Wan do in the Kenobi show is actually the OPPOSITE of what everyone assumes is happening. Obi-Wan isn't forced to separate them in his head because he can't deal with the pain of thinking about it, he's just choosing to mourn the version of Anakin that he remembers, the version of Anakin he raised and loved. He HAS to move on, he has to let go, or he'll remain as stuck in the past as Anakin himself is and won't be of any use to anyone. I do love that the separation seems to come more from Anakin himself than from Obi-Wan, something that the Kenobi show didn't even begin. We see Anakin say something similar to Luke in ROTJ and Ahsoka in Rebels, too. Anakin being incapable of coming to terms with what he's done and therefore having to separate who he was from who he's choosing to be is ENTIRELY in character for him. Anakin CAN'T accept change, he CAN'T accept reality, that's such a major core of who Anakin is and why he does the things he does. What Obi-Wan is doing is just accepting that Anakin has CHANGED, that he's choosing to be a Sith, and so he can mourn the person he remembers while accepting that the person who currently exists is now his enemy (and not someone he can save).
Which leads nicely into your second question which is about whether Obi-Wan WANTED Luke to kill Anakin or not. Let's look at what the dialogue is.
Luke: There IS still good in him. Obi-Wan: He's more machine now, than man. Twisted and evil. Luke: I can't do it, Ben. Obi-Wan: You cannot escape your destiny. You must face Darth Vader again. Luke: I can't kill my own father. Obi-Wan: Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope.
Now, personally, this doesn't scream to me of Obi-Wan WANTING Luke to kill Anakin so much as it does Obi-Wan recognizing that so long as the Sith remain alive and in power, there will never be peace.
However, you will notice that Obi-Wan never actually SAYS that Luke has to kill Vader. He says that Luke has to FACE Vader. This is important because the OT is, for many reasons, LUKE'S story. It's not actually Anakin's. And one of the major things happening for Luke across ESB and ROTJ is that he has to face his own darkness and accept it in order to rise above it. That's what Vader represents. Vader is not the tragic hero Anakin Skywalker at this point, he's just the physical manifestation of Luke's own darkness. Obviously you can choose to look at this scene with all of the context of Anakin's story from the Prequels and TCW and all the numerous other things that have been released since then that explore Anakin's character further and add more nuance to him. But the truth of the matter is that this scene was written long before any of that was out there in the world. Lucas had some idea of how that story was going to look, he'd written out a certain amount of it, but it wasn't something that was SUPER impacting the story being told in THIS film. This film is NOT Anakin's story. It just isn't.
And the other thing that happens in this scene is the revelation of Leia as Luke's sister. So not only are they discussing the manifestation of Luke's darkness, but they're bringing in a representation of LIGHT, as well, of Luke's GOODNESS. His love for Leia, for this person who's done nothing but fight for peace and freedom since we've met her, who's most well-known line is about HOPE, who is constantly being dressed in white to help get all of that across. THAT'S the other side of the coin. So this scene is telling us that obviously Luke HAS good in him, of course he does, but that he also needs to accept that he has the capacity for darkness, too, or that goodness can be corrupted towards evil, the same way his father's was.
Balance means making the choice to face your own darkness and accept it in order to be able to control it so that you do not succumb to it. And balance is what makes the Jedi who they are. Luke will never be a true Jedi until he achieves balance, and he can't achieve balance until he faces his darkness. So sure, what's happening on the surface is that Obi-Wan is telling Luke that he has to be willing to face the possibility that he's going to have to kill his own father. Other people have pointed out that, with additional context from things like the Prequels and even the Kenobi show, Obi-Wan is saying that Anakin likely won't GIVE Luke another option and that Luke needs to be able to do better than Obi-Wan, finish the job Obi-Wan was unable to complete before. And I'm happy to sort-of incorporate that more Watsonian idea into the Doylist concept of Luke just needing to face his own darkness, but the Doylist one HAS to come first and so many people choose to ignore it in favor of just getting mad at Obi-Wan for telling Luke he might have to kill his father or everything is doomed. Looking at it like that is really such a surface-level reading of the scene that ignores all of the deeper meaning of the entire story Luke has gone on over the course of three films, to me.
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auroramoon-draws16 · 4 months
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My friend convinced me to get into Star Wars
Send help
(Warning: SPOILERS and I’m not THAT into it, so correct where you see fit)
Assassin’s Creed x Star Wars
But the Brotherhood is an ancient af group, as old or older than the og Jedi order, they’re so secretive and mysterious that not even the modern order are sure they exist. Kind of like a spooky myth?
The Force be like: “Brotherhood? What Brotherhood? I didn’t help make any Brotherhood!” We love a bad gaslighting bitch 💜
I think they’d be force users who pretty much do as their original universe do: “We work in the Dark to serve the Light.” All the tenants included.
Their sabers are small af and more blade-like, sort of like the darkblade, but crystal clear and emits very little light, they barely make any noise too. (Phantom Sabers? Maybe? That sounds cool, right?) The Assassins got the white hoods and shit too. Omfg they can finally do the Leap of Faith wherever they want! Fuck gravity! We have the fucking force!
As for Eagle Vision, I think you could pass it off as a force ability. Being able to sense feelings and danger is a thing already, so being able to do a large sweep and tag friend/foe would be a step above that. Also treasures. Like the grabby lil dragons our Assassin babies are. They need to be able to fund shenanigans on the fly, and not all of them have time to grab some from their reserves!
As for their role in the main Star Wars story, we got options:
Shoving Desmond into this shit because I can~
Desmond and his Team™️ investigate the Clone Wars shit, because the Brotherhood has always been against oppression and have been systematically wiping out slavery from several parts of the galaxy for a while now, so they would automatically get suspicious. (Clones? Meant for fighting?? For an entire republic??? With no rights of their own???? Idk man, that sounds sus. Oh and the Jedi don’t have a choice because there’s a whole ass war and it would be against their code not to do anything about it? And there’s an order to kill literally all of them at a moment’s notice? Alright, guess we’ll fix this ourselves!)
Des and the crew find the chips and save the Jedi from mass genocide. Maybe killing Palpatine, because fuck that guy.
Would they need to reveal the Brotherhood’s existence to have that happen? Probably not, but it could happen. Boy, wouldn’t that be interesting?
Also, clone shenanigans, because I love them sm
Especially Bad Batch and Domino Squad
And Rex and Cody
My poor babies
But: if the Brotherhood was weakened like in their og universe and they couldn’t investigate (lets say they were compromised by the Sith for a while before the clone wars)
+ Des was born a bit later
Time to aid the rebellion and face destiny!
(If you REALLY want to throw Des into bullshit, like I know you do: Time travel fix it fic with Luke, Leia, Han, and Desmond!)
(You may also include Mandalorian fun, because I also love the Mandos, my other babies <3 Mandalorian culture goes hard and the fics that include them have kidnapped surprise adopted me)
Y’all have fun, I’m tired ^_^💜
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pomplalamoose · 6 months
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Could we please get some sith luke x reader hc’s?🤞
Me as soon as I saw your ask:
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There is in fact nothing that'd make me happier, nonnie!
Sith Luke headcanons were one of the first things I ever wrote for Luke before even creating this blog so I'M SO EXCITED🩵🩵
(check them out here)
• deciding to date Sith Luke is not a choice you should make lightly 
• (if he gives you the chance to anyways)
• depending on where you meet and how you catch his eye, he will either lure you in with his charm, seducing you with all he has
• or, alternatively, just straight up kidnap you 
• once he has acquired you however, there's no chance he'll ever let you out of his clutches again
• he possibly allows you the illusion of free will but know that he's the one holding all the threads 
• just like his father he is a very good manipulator 
• because he doesn't want you to even think about leaving, he likes to twist your mind to get what he wants, to keep you with him 
• you may not have the chance to leave anyways but that doesn't mean he wants you to find out about that in the first place 
• you're supposed to love him with every fiber of your being!
• he's all you have, the center of your universe!
• stay with him and never again will you need or want for anything 
• he will make sure you have it all
• you won't realize the door to your golden cage closing in your face until it's too late
• in the same way he's as fiercely protective as he is possessive 
• you aren't allowed to go anywhere without him by your side 
• and due to his threatening person being always somewhere near it's practically impossible to engage in a normal conversation with someone outside of his immediate family 
• he tends to be wary even of them 
• he doesn't want you to engage too much with others, afraid another man or woman will catch your fancy, no matter if it's in a platonic or romantic way 
• he is the only one you will ever need
• everyone making an effort to come close to you will end up on his radar
• and then they will randomly disappear?
• no, he really can't tell you why all of your new friends keep vanishing like that 
• maybe you should've just listened to him and stayed away 
• there's no one but him who has your best interest in mind after all
• the galaxy is full of unreliable and dangerous people, stay away from them 
• while he enjoys showing you off on his arm, parading you around as his most priced possession and reveling in the way it sparks jealously wherever you appear, he can change his mind about it just as quickly 
• yes, they may take a quick look, but ultimately you are his and his alone to enjoy
• he will make this very clear by always having his hands on you 
• one might rest on your lower back or on the back of your neck 
• maybe he's holding your hand very tightly in his, refusing to let go
• if you want to check out the buffet or step outside to look at the scenery you will simply have to ask (beg) him
• don't worry though, if he's in a decent enough mood it's not hard at all
• cling to his arm and flutter your lashes at him 
• leave a shy kiss on his cheek 
• whisper in his ear 
• he won't be able to deny you anything 
• not when you're so clearly putting on display to whom you belong 
• and to make this even more obvious he'll always leave his marks on you
• if they fade, he'll make sure to re apply them
• he expects you to wear them in the open like jewelry 
• don't you dare covering them up with either make up or clothing 
• Sith Luke is dominant in every single aspect and always, without fail, has to have the last say 
• the more easily you succumb to his will the better
• he may not straight up order you to do things a certain way, but you'll learn fast enough what pleases and displeases him 
• this is not only in regards to how you wear your hair and how you dress but how you behave as well 
• he decides what you do to your hair in the morning, as it's his habit to play with it 
• when he has the time he personally picks your outfit
• if he doesn't you'll have to ask him whether he likes what you choose, sometimes having to change several times until he's finally satisfied 
• he decides what and how you eat and especially enjoys handfeeding you when he's not too busy 
• if you lick his hand extra clean after you are allowed to pick a favorite dessert of yours 
• he expects you to wait for him when he returns to your shared quarters after a hard day, no matter how late it is 
• receive him with open arms 
• tell him how much you missed him 
• cover him in kisses and your affection 
• don't leave his side, follow him wherever he goes 
• offer to take off his shoes for him
• offer to help him change into something more comfortable
• ask him about his day and listen closely 
• stroke his face and be sympathetic as he a answers
• offer to run him a relaxing bath and to wash his hair 
• offer to massage his sore muscles after
• beg for him to hold you close 
✨ slight nsfw content under the cut✨
• as interested as he is in what you're wearing, he likes it most when you're not wearing anything at all
• not only does he enjoy the lovely view but most of all the easy access, that he can have what he craves most at any time 
• drape yourself over his bed clothed in his long black cape like a present for him to unwrap and he's more than eager to fulfill every wish you might have 
• but be careful, you might not be always alone with him as he often tends to have visitors over 
• don't you dare let yourself be seen in any state of dress until he specifically asks you to join them
• he likes watching you take a shower and does so regularly 
• for once he won't tell you what to do, instead leaning back and drinking in your wet and soapy body
• he'll sometimes ask you to turn a certain way so he can get a better view though 
• maybe a shampoo bottle will slip from your grasp, you'll have to bend down to retrieve it 
• oh, it happened again? You really are a little clumsy today
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david-talks-sw · 9 months
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An allergy to the Prequels
While I'm putting together a post about the evolution Lucasfilm's transmedia strategies, this part kinda turned into its own thing!
So I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but, uh... there hasn't been that much Prequel content since the Disney sale, right?
'Couple novels and comics, some episodes... but nothing meaningful.
The more I look into it, the more it feels like a deliberate avoidance to touch on anything Prequel-related - beyond the required quota, that is - to a point where they'd rather tell stories set during periods that are Prequel-adjacent (Dark Times, High Republic) than something set around Episodes I, II and III.
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On-screen policy: "pretend they never happened"
I mean, this one's no secret. When The Force Awakens had been announced, with J.J. Abrams at the helm, everyone sighed in relief. "Finally, George Lucas won't keep ruining the franchise."
When Abrams had been announced as the director of Episode VII, I remember this cringey animated video started circulating online, titled "4 Rules To Make Star Wars Great Again" or "Dear JJ Abrams":
“Star Wars isn’t shiny and clean... Star Wars is a western.”
If you ask me, those two things are not mutually exclusive.
'Cause Star Wars has always been both, for many Prequel kids. Both clean and dusty, Coruscant and Tatooine. There was never a disconnect between the Original Trilogy (OT) and the Prequel Trilogy.
Even the documentary The People vs George Lucas shows Prequel-hating fans begrudgingly admit their kids felt all six episodes tied seamlessly.
Abrams, on the other hand, said: "I think [the "Dear JJ" video] was right on." Later on, he also said:
he considered "putting Jar Jar Binks's bones in the desert" on Jakku, somewhere, and
he intentionally made the lightsaber fights "rougher", "primitive" and "more powerful" unlike the fast-paced ones in the Prequels.
Later, we found out he wanted to blow up Coruscant.
It's clear he wasn't a big fan of the Prequels.
But y'know what? Not many fans over 20 were, at the time. And when The Force Awakens came out, most them celebrated it as a wonderful love letter to the OT.
Star Wars is cool again. Mission accomplished 🙌 !
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However movies keep coming out, and references to the Prequels - if there are any - are literally just that... references.
Sometimes in the shape of a cameo ("hey look, Genevieve O'Reilly from the Ep. III deleted scenes is playing Mon Mothma again!")
Sometimes in a name (Luke name-dropped "Darth Sidious"!)
But nothing set during the Prequel era, and nothing treating the events that happened in that period as relevant or impactful, beyond subtextual nods.
In fact, the trend of avoiding anything Prequel-related continues as the final film in the Skywalker Saga comes out:
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The Rise of Skywalker has a secret Sith society that chants the name "Palpatine" instead of his Sith name "Darth Sidious",
the film pretends the Kaminoans never existed,
and neither TROS nor Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates script even try to bring Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker back on screen. Let that sink in, we're talking about the Chosen One, Skywalker Senior, whose sins caused this whole mess... and his name isn't even uttered once in the final chapter of what Disney dubbed the *Skywalker* Saga (or the entire Sequel trilogy, for that matter).
But hey, The Clone Wars got renewed for one last Season! That's cool right? So many stories had gone unfinished and somehow the animation looks even better than befo--
-- oh. It's not 22 episodes? Only 12?
Four of which had already been shown to us, but hey! We need to set-up the Bad Batch series, so let's shoehorn those episodes in there, and forget Son of Dathomir, Dark Disciple or Crystal Crisis.
*sigh* Better than nothing, I guess.
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In other mediums: "just not a priority"
Now this is something that I'll explore more in the transmedia post (and purely my interpretation), but the noticeable change between Lucasfilm's transmedia strategy *post-ROTS* and the one post-Disney sale is that:
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Before, the games, comics and novels were the main content. After all, Revenge of the Sith had been released, so that was it, for the movies. Thus, a variety of other content was being cranked out to keep the Star Wars franchise relevant. There were comics set 100 years after Episode 6, comics set 25,000 years prior, games set in the Old Republic era, other stories in the New Republic era, novels galore, a couple of parody films and an animated show, The Clone Wars, which sometimes received its own tie-in comics, novels and games.
After the sale and ever since, most of the transmedia products have had only one goal: promoting the films & streaming shows.
So while in 2015 you won't see an abundance of Prequel content... you'll see an avalanche of OT books and comics come out.
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Why? Because the heroes of that era will be in the Sequel Trilogy movies. It provided context to the kids who hadn't seen the OT yet, and reintroduced those films to a new generation of fans, while priming them for the Sequels.
A multimedia marketing strategy that ultimately proved successful.
However, it continued even after The Force Awakens came out.
Don't believe me? Compare how many comics there have been set during the Prequel era vs the OT era.
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If they make comics about the Prequels, they're limited runs.
Case in point: before the current Yoda series, the best any Disney Prequel-set comic series ever got was 6 issues.
Note: it's worth pointing out that the frequency of mini-series aren't just a Star Wars-specific thing, it's a comic book industry thing. The readership for comics is dwindling, many people are reading scans online, and so no publisher wants to commit to a story that lasts more than 4-6 issues. My problem is: there absolutely would be readership for a Prequel comic series to warrant an extended run instead of a mini-series.
Let's talk books. There have been give or 64 canon novels published since the Disney sale.
Only 11 of them are set during the Prequel era. And even those stories only came out when the planets were aligned.
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Almost half of them were released while being a part of some bigger multimedia push.
Example:
Before the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was being released on Disney Plus, we'd had one novel and like two comic stories about him during the Prequels... released between 2012 and end 2021. That's about three pieces of content in almost ten years.
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Clearly a low frequency.
Then, when the series is around the corner, two books and a comic story comes out in the space of months, plus an anthology book with an alt cover with his face on it and a comic with a story of him and Anakin in the first issue, all in 2022.
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My takeaway: short of there being a film or series that needs to be promoted, you'll rarely get any Prequel comics or books.
And this is OBI-WAN we're talking about. The character who even the Prequel haters love. Imagine how little attention the other ones get.
Gaming-wise, Battlefront had no Prequel content at all (again, 2015 was the year where OT content was shoved down the consumer's throats to prep them for Episode VII), and Battlefront 2 only released Prequel content a full year later.
All that being said, we did seen some Prequel elements here and there. After all, some actors got to reprise their roles, books and comics came out featuring Prequel characters... but there's a catch.
The stories they appear in are set in-between Episodes III and IV, a time-period known as "the Dark Times" or the "Imperial era".
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"Dark Times" being used instead of the Prequel era
It's easy to see the appeal of this era. You keep the same threat from the Original Trilogy - the Empire - but redress it with Prequel elements... while also cherry-picking the best characters of both the OT and the Prequels and giving them a chance to shine again.
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The situation is more clear cut, as opposed to the complex one in the Prequels. Bad guys are stormtroopers, good guys are anyone else. And the stories no longer take place in the shiny capital, you're back on the frontier.
But at this point... it feels like a cop-out.
When you consider how much content has been set during the Dark Times, it's nothing to sneeze at. Since the sale, we've had:
2 movies (Solo, Rogue One)
4 series set in that time-period (namely The Bad Batch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Star Wars: Rebels).
2 video-games (Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor).
17 novels (such as Ahsoka, Lords of the Sith, the new Thrawn books, etc)
And just a whole bunch of comic book series & mini-series (like Kanan, Princess Leia, various Vader-centric comics including Darth Vader: Lord of the Sith, many tie-in mini-series promoting Rogue One, Jedi: Fallen Order, Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc).
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There's been so much content made for this time-period that it feels like an unwillingness to do the work and create something set something during the Prequel era, let alone something that follows its Jedi.
After all, why make a story set in the Prequels (disliked by vocal fans) when you can just take the characters in that story and put them in an OT setting (which will appease the Prequel-haters)?
Maybe these stories get relegated to the Dark Times because:
there seems to be a perception that anything set in the Prequel era won't sell?
or maybe the current SW writers weren't fond of Episodes I, II and III, and don't find those Jedi characters likable, thinking they're too righteous and dogmatic which makes it hard to craft a story around them.
Or maybe it's because they're under the impression that the Prequel Jedi are bad. Like, canonically, in the narrative. Not just in a "I don't like them" sense, but also in a "the story is all about them becoming corrupted" sense.
Let's expand on that last point.
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Retconning the Prequels as the "Fall of the Jedi" era
Somehow the rare stories set during the Prequels that we do get seem to automatically be about how "the Jedi lost their way/failed".
The series Tales of the Jedi is explicit about it...
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... and I already explained why it contradicts what George Lucas established here and here.
You also see it in Rebels and the new season of The Clone Wars...
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... in comics...
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... in games...
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It gets to a point where the Prequels era has now been redubbed the "Fall of the Jedi" era by Lucasfilm.
You wanna know what that period was referred to before the Disney sale? The "Rise of the Empire" Era.
Because - and I'll never get tired of saying this cuz it's factual - the Prequels aren't about the fall of the Jedi, they're about the fall of the Republic and Anakin, and rise of the Empire and Vader.
So in addition to being overdone, the "Jedi lost their way" is not even the intended narrative of the Prequels (if one puts any stock in Lucas' words). It's a minor subplot at best, hardly the focus of the films, let alone a whole time period.
But dubbing it "Fall of the Jedi" implies that there's another era in which the Jedi were in their heyday.
Because Star Wars authors are in luck! Yet another alternative has presented itself in the shape of a new transmedia initiative, and it's even better than the "let's set it during the Dark Times" solution:
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A new transmedia initiative: The High Republic
You wanna deal with the Jedi before the Empire, but for some reason you wanna avoid dealing with the ones seen in the Prequels?
Look no further. Meet the Jedi of the High Republic.
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Noble, adventurous, inspired by the Knights of the Round Table, they're everything the OT kids dreamed about when they heard ol' Ben Kenobi talk about the Knights of the Old Republic.
That's more like it!
Note: the High Republic was created for other reasons and has many more upsides than the ones mentioned above. Namely, a fresh new spot in the timeline that allows for creative freedom and a beautifully-coordinated transmedia storytelling effort where retcons are non-existent. However it does seem evident that not having to deal with the 'unlikable' Prequel Jedi and their "fall" is one of those upsides.
Another perk that the High Republic era offers is more freedom in terms of storytelling compared to the Prequels.
In 2016, Pablo Hidalgo tweeted he still quotes to authors the following excerpt of West End Games' guide for aspiring Star Wars writers, from 1994.
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You can't write "this was the best day in Luke Skywalker's life", for example, because another author may want to write a better day than the one you just wrote.
My guess is that a similar approach applies to how all characters from the movies are treated. They're massively iconic. So you can't write a book that drastically changes how Mace or Yoda or Obi-Wan are perceived overall.
The stories need to be self-contained, disregardable if necessary, because you'll have dozens of writers coming up with new stories for those same characters, and you need to leave them some room.
Examples:
Notice how in the book Dooku: Jedi Lost we never see how Dooku turns to the Dark Side and joins the Sith.
Same goes for crossover comic book arcs of the Star Wars issues, like Vader Down or Crimson Reign... the characters don't really change by much in those comics. You could stick to just watching the movies and you wouldn't really miss anything.
But with The High Republic, you indeed can develop these characters as much as you want.
All stories featuring Avar Kriss leave an impact on her, you can nail down who she is perfectly in one book or one comic arc, both being just as meaningful to her character.
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The fact that she's not as iconic/famous a character as Mace Windu means that authors can go to town on crafting an interesting and nuanced character arc for her that'll have a beginning, middle and end... something Mace will never really get.
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CONCLUSION:
Back in 2015... let's not kid ourselves. The Prequels were unpopular and Disney is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Opting to make as much money as possible is what they do.
It's the same reason they decided not to go with George Lucas' original plans for the Sequels, in 2012.
I mean, imagine you're Disney. You just dropped 4 billion dollars, with a B, on this franchise. Your next Star Wars movie needs to be worth the price tag. Now, you can pick between two options:
Option #1 is uncharted territory and it explores the midi-chlorians (the cursed word…!) and the guy who presented you with this option also openly admits that a big chunk of customers won’t like it, but he wants this to be done because it’s his vision.
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Option #2 is very simple: a soft reboot, that plays on nostalgia that the same chunk of customers (aka the 'boomer and Gen-X fans who grew up with the Original Trilogy and now have kids, grandkids and MONEY) will like.
It's a no-brainer. They gave the customers what they wanted.
But time has passed, the fans who were children when the Prequels first came out have grown up, and grew up with characters like Yoda, Mace, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto and other Jedi as their heroes, aside from main characters like Anakin and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.
Can we maybe expand on them, flesh them out more?
No, let's either ignoring the storytelling potential of these characters or reducing it to them being "righteous, arrogant and dogmatic".
God forbid we get a story showing the Prequel Jedi in a *gasp* more positive light? One where their POV is more understandable, instead of the same old "we brought this on ourselves" storyline.
There's a whole decade between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones... you're telling me there's no space to show us Anakin's training and how he formed bonds with the Jedi we later see in The Clone Wars? I tried my hand at it here:
Interesting or fun Prequel-set ideas from other pro-Jedi fans on Tumblr can be found here, here and here.
And y'know, part of the Star Wars intent is for fans to take the ideas in the movies and come up with their own stories. You're supposed to create headcanons.
What I'm saying is fans of the Prequels are being given less "imagination food" than the rest, and many of us who like the Jedi in particular are forced to rely on headcanons only. "Better than nothing" is no longer an acceptable standard.
There's a range of recognizable Jedi characters that have already been established in films and TCW, can we maybe expand on them, flesh them out more, instead of whole new ones?
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