#Anakin´s redemption

[marvelstars]

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: Redemption & Forgiveness

The matter of redemption in Star Wars has always been a matter of discussion in the fandom and I wanted to give my take on this.

"A redemption arc is a literary term for a type of character development in which a bad or morally gray character turns into a good person by the end of the story. They redeem their worst sins through their actions in the story's resolution"

From a literature pov Darth Vader had a text book redemption arc on ROTJ which Lucas talks about as him "stopping the horror" by learning and having compassion for his Son.

"It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the Saga is simply Anakin saying, ‘I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I have grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing this because he has faith in me, loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die.’

Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it: The prophecy was right. Anakin was the Chosen One, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son."

George Lucas, The Making Of Revenge Of The Sith; page 221

But redemption can also have different meanings which also played a part in the way Lucas choose to represent the moment of Anakin/Vader´s redemption. Redemption:

(IN RELIGION):(especially in Christianity) an occasion when someone is saved from evil, suffering, etc. The state of being kept from evil or of improving morally. The act of paying back a loan

In many ways Redemption is also the act of paying back a moral debt owned by the evil or morally bad acts someone committed, this act on itself means the person in question improves their morality because they are turning back from evil to do good and make reparations.

In this way, thanks to the intervention of his Son, Anakin was saved from the suffering of the darkside and able to "turn back from evil" , improve morally by showing compassion once more in many long years and pay back his actions at the price of his blood.

This doesn´t mean it was the only way he could have paid his debts but it was the one way he was able to also stop the evil his master commited agaisnt the galaxy, this despite the fact Vader "loved" the Emperor, his love didn´t mean he didn´t recognize what they did was wrong and instead of washing himself of blame given he was initiatily manipulated into turning to the darkside by the Emperor, Vader took responsibility for them both, took the ounce of good left inside of him and "stopped the horror" in one self sacrificial action. Redemption is about the choice of the person who is seeking redemption.

Now when I see this creates confussion and even anger in the fandom, because is seen as unfair, is that many fans believe this means other characters HAD to forgive Anakin because Vader redeemed himself but this is not the case at all, forgiveness is another action all together, the fact Anakin redeemed himself in the end doesn´t mean Obi-Wan, Leia, Han, Luke, rebels and the Imperials, etc or any other person hurt by his actions HAD to forgive him, that is their prerrogative but at the same time, the fact they DIDN´T forgive him or the fact many didn´t even know Vader was the one who defeated the Emperor giving way to the New Republic rule(acording to the new canon), this doesn´t erase Anakin/Vader´s redemption.

Anakin/Vader was redeemed by his own actions, the act of being forgiven can only be made by the people hurt by his actions and no one else but even in the case they don´t forgive him doesn´t take away anything from Anakin´s sacrifice and the good that came from it.

Anakin lying dying and thinking of joining the force once more while being grateful to Luke for showing him how he could love again without knowing if his sacrifice was even going to be known or not was part of his redemption, he did what he could, at the price of his life, it didn´t matter what else happened after this. He was at peace.

Obi-Wan teaching Anakin how to become a force ghost was Obi-Wan´s choice, his way of showing Anakin that he forgave him but Anakin was already redeemed before he did this by Anakin´s own sacrifice.

Luke forgiving his father to give him a chance to turn from the darkside was Luke´s choice, no one else and Luke was at peace with his choice even when his father told him it was "too late for him"

Leia trying to forget everyting about Vader, not wanting to know about Anakin to get some peace but later remembering her mother and the good actions of her biological father, told by Luke, to stop herself from falling to the darkside by hating him when he was already dead, but not being able to forgive him either was her choice, it gave her peace, and the fact Anakin redeemed himself doesn´t mean she had to forgive him.

So in the end redemption and forgiveness is a matter of choice of the person seeking redemption and the person giving forgiveness. They are related but they aren not the same thing and just like Anakin choose to come back in the end, this possibility was open to any other imperial or rebel who did wrong at one point of their lives. It´s a personal decision, a personal choice.

"The boy was good, and the boy had come from him- so there must have been good in him, too. He smiled up again at his Son, and for the first time, loved him. And for the first time in many long years, loved himself again" (Anakin Skywalker - ROTJ)

#anakin skywalker #star wars #darth vader #luke skywalker #obi wan kenobi #leia organa #redemption #forgiveness #Old trilogy #Prequel trilogy #George Lucas #Palpatine #Emperor Palpatine #Jedi Order #Anakin´s redemption

[jessequinnfirstofhername]

Hey!! I really loved the idea of poll and I got an idea :) what about the best lightsaber in sw??

Consider this my redemption for my “Best Star Wars Ship 🚀” poll. This is no rushed joke poll! This is a hard-worked on, week-long… joke poll.

#star wars #lightsabers #obi wan kenobi #darth maul #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #general grievous #darth vader #luke skywalker #the darksaber #kylo ren #ben solo #leia organa #rey #star wars prequels #star wars: the clone wars #star wars the original trilogy #the mandalorian #star wars sequel trilogy #fives-ren

[adragonsfriend]

Upon reflection, having it implied that saying "Anakin can both be traumatized and responsible for his actions, (which is not the same thing as blaming him for his trauma)," means that I don't like his character, or that I think anything along the lines of "he's inherently bad," is actually hilarious and I'm no longer mad about it. Like,,,

My dear critics, I did not write over 100k (so far) of fanfic about him going on a time travel redemption arc, in the relatively famous in SW fandom "Anakin actually was already redeeming himself thru stories and being a double agent and is possibly the coolest character ever AU" because I think he's inherently bad person. I am so incredibly down for the fact that he is capable of so much good. For 24 years he makes literally the worst choices possible, and then he is still capable of making a good one. That's the WHOLE point.

His potential for good is why it's sad that he makes bad choices. No one gives a fuck when Palpatine does war crimes because he's presented to us narratively as a force of nature, not as a person. Anakin IS presented to us as a person. He could always choose differently.

But he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't. And he doesn't.

AND THEN HE DOES!!!

Writing a fix it centering on him is largely just a matter of choosing any one of those "And he doesn't"s, and changing it to an "And then he does!"

#star wars #biting his own tale #anakin skywalker #tatooine slave culture #yes there are 24 “he doesn't”s #i counted #star wars yoinketh away

[clover-blossom]

ANIDALA FIC RECOMMENDATINS -Part 2

Presenting Part 2!

I'd love to see your recommendations as I have been out of this fandom for a while and probably missed out on a lot of good fics!

Order 66 by Disco Shop Girl

The order was to exterminate all Jedi: Past, Present and Future. Captain Rex has a different plan. Order 66-S: to save General Skywalker.

Order 66: The Jedi Purge by ThoseWereTheDays

Knight Skywalker and Senator Amidala are reunited after years apart when Order 66 is executed. Some changes: Anakin never turned to the dark side, Count Dooku and Jango Fett are still alive, Padme hasn't seen ObiWan or Anakin since the time of Episode I.

The Ties That Bind by Sean30

Given a brief period of time off during the Clone Wars, Padmé and Anakin visit her family at the Lake Country estate on Naboo. A family that still doesn't know they are married, although they are about to find out.

Slipping Into Darkness by Ani-maniac494

Anakin has the opportunity to change the future. But, can he can resist the temptation of the Dark Side and overcome his own weaknesses, or has he already fallen too far? Ep. III AU.

Future Imperfect by The RealReal

A time travel story in which Anakin Skywalker is sent to the future to witness the consequences of his actions.

Caught by Simple.White.Lie

Confession is considered part of redemption. The other part is seeking justice. AU/WhatIf story. Canonical till pre-ROTS. 

Part 1

#anidala #anidala fic #star wars anakin #anakin and padme #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #padme and anakin #star wars prequels

[bylerpolls]

Is Will gonna have a villain arc?

A) He’ll be tempted with evil, seriously tempted, but won’t actually give in. Like Luke in ROTJ.

B) He’ll give into the dark side a little bit, but won’t stay in that zone the whole season

C) He will be involved with darkness/possessed in a way that’s similar to season 2

D) Not at all, he’s the hero, and they also won’t do a repeat of s2’s possession arc because that would be repetitive. He won’t even come close to giving in to evil. He’s Henry’s opposite.

E) He will be the hero, but he’ll be a grey hero/antihero in some capacity, pulling from the light side and the dark. Like Anakin pre-fall.

F) He’ll give into the darkside and stay there pretty much the whole season, but will redeem himself and have happy ending with Mike

G) Yes, the Redditors are right. Will’s fate is to go full villain and his only redemption will be sacrifice

#byler #byler tumblr #byler endgame #stranger things #byler nation #mike wheeler #will byers

[briliantlymad]

Gods I'm a Sucker for bail breha raising both twins and accidentally on purpose bringing anakin back to the light.

I love the coparenting situation that would develop between them. How do you even coparent with darth vader? And post redemption arc, how the hell do you deal with this guy who's got ptsd x 10 and is more machine than man but he holds his kids (your kids) with the care of holding fragile glass.

Anyway it's also like. They probably try and rehabilitate him, make plans and try and ensure there's escape routes and shit and anakin just wakes up one day and is like yeah no this isn't working out for me I gotta go kill the emperor now and just. Gets wrecked in the process 😭😭😭

No baby time until anakin can walk again and helps bail and breha clean up the mess that is the empire and what do you mean darth vader inherits the empire he's not available right now he's a pouty pile of skin and bones in a hospital bed right now.

He wants to take the twins flying but can't cus they're 2 years old! What are you doing!?!? He settles with taking joyride through the palace in the wheelchair( hoverchair?) He's got until he gets his legs back.

I'm ngl my brain says this will probably end up as bail/breha/ anakin either in a platonic or a very d/s heavy romantic way

#anakin skywalker #rare pairs #anakin rare pair #star wars #my plot bunnys

[myfairkatiecat]

I saw you reblogged the random asks post. And since I know you like musicals, what are your top 3 and do you have a least favorite musical?

Yesss I love random asks, and I’m excited about this one bc I love musicals!!

My favorite of ALL TIME is wicked, and anyone who calls me a fake theater kid for that is the real fake theater kid bc they aren’t secure enough in their theater-kid-ness to like a popular musical. Yes, almost everyone knows it, but the reason I like it is because I am a SUCKER for villain backstories/tragic heroes/antagonist redemption etc. This is why I am obsessed with Anakin Skywalker’s story and also can’t stop writing Good Nathaniel Benedict fanfic? So Elphaba is just amazing to me because she has such a believable side of the story while also doing things we know are morally questionable, AND she sings the coolest songs about it. no good deed is quite possibly one of my favorite musical songs ever. All of wicked’s music sounds like epic movie soundtrack but with lyrics and I’m HERE FOR IT. You wouldn’t believe how much wicked fanfic I’ve read.

My second favorite is newsies!! My five year old foster brother is currently obsessed with it and can sing all the lyrics to most of the songs, which is the most adorable thing in the world. The newsies are all adorable, and in the movie version Jack is Christian Bale and in the proshot he’s Jeremy Jordan so like, main character is easy on the eyes either way lol. Also Katherine is so relatable. She sings about writer’s block, she sings my soul!! All the ensemble songs are so powerful and the L Y R I C S! I could do a whole other post on my favorite newsies lyrics. You go Feldman. It’s good stuff.

My third favorite is probably Next to Normal, because not only is the music fire, it’s amazing at the way it portrays how mental illness affects the people who surround you. Also, Aaron Tveit is in it, and his voice is hot (and also he is hot) so that is an automatic YES!

My least favorite is SpongeBob the musical. The music is bad and my perfect pitch can’t handle Texas Song.

Thank you for the ask :D hope you enjoyed my ramblings!

#ask #musical theater #wicked #newsies #next to normal

[that-gay-jedi]

Fics I'd want to write but already have too many WIPs to even contemplate adding more to the fucking folder (posting concepts in the hopes they stop haunting me from underneath the floorboards), mostly crossovers:

Fix-it that's just Jedi reading children's books to smol Anakin. It starts when some kind and wise soul lends Obi-Wan The Snow Cat to help him and Anakin talk about grief in the wake of Qui-Gon's death. They help him explore his relationship to prophecy/destiny via The Paper Bag Princess. Room on the Broom to challenge win-lose thinking. Etc. As an adult, he asks Obi-Wan to reread The Velveteen Rabbit with him if he ever gets self-conscious after losing his arm and then we all cry.

Anakin gets therapy but it's inspired by Poe's The Premature Burial, like, they carefully and repeatedly and with plenty of emotional support etc expose him to a simulated reality in which he experiences losing everyone he loves but structured in such a way as to reduce the fear of it rather than make it more frightening, and Anakin thinks his prophecy nightmares of Obi-Wan dying are just (a very ineffective and unpleasant) part of the therapy until he complains and somebody on his care team goes "Wait, what?" which leads to Sidious getting discovered.

The Happy Man's Shirt but make it Vaderwan. Emperor Vader just wants to keep Luke from dying of melancholy, but now he's reluctantly learned a life lesson from a shirtless Obi-Wan and it's making him rethink this whole Sith Empire thing. I'm insane and there's something wrong with me.

Crossover with Were The World Mine (movie). Same age AU with Anakin as Timothy and Obi-Wan in a similar ish role to Jonathan (yes I know Obi-Wan isn't a jock but hear me out), Ahsoka as Frankie and Rex as Max, utter fucking chaos, what Timothy does with the flower is already such an Anakin move tbh

Shakespeare's Tempest but make it Vaderwan, with Vader turning away from the dark side being like Prospero breaking his staff. All about Letting Go(tm). Darth Vader redemption but with so much Force philosophy you'll want to stuff a sock in my mouth.

Crossover w/ The Last Unicorn. Sidious or Dooku as King Haggard, Anakin and Obi-Wan as Molly Grue and Schmendrick or alternatively as Amalthea & Prince Lir, Maul as the Red Bull, honestly *slaps roof* this baby can fit so many reinterpretations/explorations of all our favourite themes in it

Crossover with Celia S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy (When True Night Falls, Black Sun Rising, and Crown of Shadows). Listen, are you someone who ever thought it's hypocritical of Christians not to pray for/forgive/empathize with the Devil? Would you go nuts if a fantasy-brand priest homoerotically did exactly that? Okay now what if Anakin was the fantasy-brand Devil (eldritch af) and Obi-Wan risked his own beliefs/moral purity/etc for him, and they were magically connected and intextricably linked, all while the rough equivalent of the Force on their planet was trying to kill them and/or trying to communicate with them (it's complicated)?

Sailor Moon but make it obikin, because we all want to see the horror of Artoo doing Luna's job lmfao.

Crossover with Steph Swainston's Fourlands series (The Year of Our War, No Present Like Time, The Modern World etc). This one would have everything. Obikin with anidala parallels, Anakin making morally objectionable choices, horrifying combat scenes, Star Wars galactic politics meets the weirdest worldbuilding you've ever seen, blasphemy and sacrilege, needless theatrics in the midst of apocalyptic threats, wingfic tropes, idek how else to describe it but we are so missing out.

I'm sure more of these are gonna come smack me upside the head at some point but luckily for all of us I'm only haunted by things I read/watched 5+ years ago and eventually we'll run out of those.

#obikin #vaderwan #darth vader #obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #don't let me write these #crack AUs #brainrot

[emblazons]

hi :) i saw this post earlier and thought it was interesting….would you happen to have an opinion on why will refuses to give vecna/henry/one a name and only refers to him as Him? it feels like a very conscious choice from the writers to not let us know what name will thinks of him by, especially after s2 possessed!will spent all of the season referring to the mind flayer the same way.

Hi Rae! 💖

So—I haven’t given any thought to this previously, but: upon first reflection, I do think Will not calling Henry/Vecna/001 anything but “him” probably has a lot to do with the fact that Will’s connection to him was almost always to Henry’s sense of himself, aka not what outsiders might think of him or his ever evolving label/identity in the world—almost refusing to label him in the same way they refuse to label relationships or when Will or Robin’s sexualities (aka leaving the human(s) and their behavior(s) to speak for themselves).

Honestly, it does feel very intentional, considering Will does refer to this enemy as “Vecna” when they’re watching El search the void in the SBP—

—but this is a moment of generality, when he doesn’t have any sense of who is doing the attacking at this point, and therefore describes the disembodied “enemy” by the name he’s heard it referred to…I assume by El (forgive me, I haven’t revisited the context much as I’m answering this lol).

That said, the second we get to Hawkins, Will is made keenly aware (once he’s in proximity to feel Henry’s presence again) that the enemy they’re fighting is the same one he’s been possessed by—which is why he goes back to referring to Henry/001/Vecna as “he,” aka the “other” in his mind made up of Henry’s sense of self.

I imagine (though don’t quote me on it—and sorry for the comparison lmaoooo) it works as a reference much like Harry Potter referring to Voldemort as “he” when talking through the visions he sees / tracing the part of Tom Riddle that latched to him?

Aka, when referring to the externalized entity and enemy, Will says “Vecna” and “The Mind Flayer,” the way Harry says “Voldemort” or “Tom Riddle,” but the “he” Will (and Harry) describes when talking about thoughts is the personhood that he has direct internal contact with, in a way more intimately acquainted than a title could convey.

If anything, I think Will’s “He” is meant to show that Henry/001/Vecna is all three to himself, at all times; they aren’t independent identities in Will’s perception because they aren’t different identities in Henry’s sense of himself, but rather the sum total of him as a person/being (much like most of us don’t inherently split our own self-concept into several labeled sections).

Tbh, I think that general “being” choice rather than a single label to Will could also what could lead to that Vecna “redemption arc” the Duffers made brief mention of, because Will refusing to give “him” a single label signifies any one of the three “identities” (or even a new “added” one) could come to form the being in his mind—a la Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader being the same, but eventually uniting those two sides to make some level of “human” amends.

…I’m not sure if that made much sense, but hopefully it made some! I’ll give it more thought though. It is a very interesting catch, all thing considered. And thanks for asking me to think through it! ✨

#will byers #henry creel #vecna #my st commentary #stranger things #ice-sculptures #asks

[marvelstars]

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader: Redemption & Forgiveness

The matter of redemption in Star Wars has always been a matter of discussion in the fandom and I wanted to take on this.

"A redemption arc is a literary term for a type of character development in which a bad or morally gray character turns into a good person by the end of the story. They redeem their worst sins through their actions in the story's resolution"

From a literature pov Darth Vader had a text book redemption arc on ROTJ which Lucas talks about as him "stopping the horror" by learning and having compassion for his Son.

"It really has to do with learning. Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can’t be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. He doesn’t right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the Saga is simply Anakin saying, ‘I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I have grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I’m doing this because he has faith in me, loves me despite all the horrible things I’ve done. I broke his mother’s heart, but he still cares about me, and I can’t let that die.’

Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it: The prophecy was right. Anakin was the Chosen One, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son."

George Lucas, The Making Of Revenge Of The Sith; page 221

But redemption can also have different meanings which also played a part in the way Lucas choose to represent the moment of Anakin/Vader´s redemption.

Redemption:

(IN RELIGION):(especially in Christianity) an occasion when someone is saved from evil, suffering, etc.

The state of being kept from evil or of improving morally.

The act of paying back a loan

In many ways Redemption is also the act of paying back a moral debt owned by the evil or morally bad acts someone committed, this act on itself means the person in question improves their morality because they are turning back from evil to do good and make reparations.

In this way, thanks to the intervention of his Son, Anakin was saved from the suffering of the darkside and able to "turn back from evil" , improve morally by showing compassion once more in many long years and pay back his actions at the price of his blood.

This doesn´t mean it was the only way he could have paid his debts but it was the one way he was able to also stop the evil his master commited agaisnt the galaxy, this despite the fact Vader "loved" the Emperor, his love didn´t mean he didn´t recognize what they did was wrong and instead of washing himself of blame given he was initiatily manipulated into turning to the darkside by the Emperor, Vader took responsibility for them both, took the ounce of good left inside of him and "stopped the horror" in one self sacrificial action. Redemption is about the choice of the person who is seeking redemption.

Now when I see this creates confussion and even anger in the fandom, because is seen as unfair, is that many fans believe this means other characters HAD to forgive Anakin because Vader redeemed himself but this is not the case at all, forgiveness is another action all together, the fact Anakin redeemed himself in the end doesn´t mean Obi-Wan, Leia, Han, Luke, the Imperials, etc or any other person hurt by his actions HAD to forgive him, that is their prerrogative but at the same time, the fact they DIDN´T forgive him or the fact many didn´t even know Vader was the one who defeated the Emperor giving way to the New Republic rule(acording to the new canon), doesn´t erase Vader´s redemption.

Anakin/Vader was redeemed by his own actions, the act of being forgiven can only be made by the people hurt by his actions and no one else but even in the case they don´t forgive him doesn´t take away anything from Anakin´s sacrifice and the good that came from it.

Anakin lying dying and thinking of joining the force once more while being grateful to Luke for showing him how he could love again without knowing if his sacrifice was even going to be known or not was part of his redemption, he did what he could, at the price of his life, it didn´t matter what else happened after this. He was at peace.

Obi-Wan teaching Anakin how to become a force ghost was Obi-Wan´s choice, his way of showing Anakin that he forgave him but Anakin was already redeemed before he did this by Anakin´s own sacrifice.

Luke forgiving his father to give him a chance to turn from the darkside was Luke´s choice, no one else and Luke was at peace with his choice even when his father told him it was "too late for him"

Leia trying to forget everyting about Vader, not wanting to destroy herself by hating him when he was dead but not being able to forgive him either was her choice and the fact Anakin redeemed himself doesn´t mean she had to forgive him.

So in the end redemption and forgiveness is a matter of choice of the person seeking redemption and the person giving forgiveness. They are related but they aren not the same thing and just like Anakin choose to come back in the end, this possibility was open to any other imperial or rebel who did wrong at one point of their lives. It´s a personal decision, a personal choice.

Return of the Jedi by James Kahn

#anakin skywalker #darth vader #luke skywalker #Emperor Palpatine #star wars #obi-wan kenobi #leia organa #han solo #returno of the jedi #old trilogy

[sithdestined]

🗒 — what is/are your favorite genre(s)/theme(s) to write?

munday asks!

I love a good bastardzation arc which is why I'm writing Anakin. I also love redemption arcs. I love tragedies and bittersweet reunions and what ifs. I love angst but I also enjoy some good fluff, though with Anakin, there is always more going on underneath the surface. I love action threads, and mysteries and supernatural AUs.

[ragnarssons]

this episode is legit making me cry, it’s so hopeful and heartfelt and rewarding and happy and i’m not surprised coming from dave filoni, but it’s so rare these days with tv shows and i feel like it’s also dave giving an end to his mandalorian arc started from the clone wars. a united people, working to rebuild everything they’ve taken for granted and destroyed for so long, it’s such a good “redemption arc” for the mandalorians as a whole, after so many have suffered not only because of the empire but because of each others. and then din and grogu, s2′s ending is NOTHING compared to this one, they deserve every bit of happiness they can gather. grogu feels safe and happy, at home and at ease, building himself again after all the trauma he’s been through and wandering around, lost and alone in the galaxy after order 66. the way him and din were so alone and that’s why they connected so much, and how finding a place among the mandalorians people allowed them to find a place with each other as well and accept what they were to each other i mean- this is everything dave filoni always said star wars should be about. love, hope, father and son. no power in the galaxy would equate a moment of joy and completion with your child. this is what luke and anakin fought for against the emperor at the end of rotj. and this is why, dave filoni will never write anything wrong in the star wars universe. he is the star wars’ goat.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian lb #the mandalorian spoilers #i feel so full #of course i want more of them because if they ever are to end the show #like they'd have to warn me several years in advance #but this ending is perfect #also THEY GOT RID OF THE DARKSABER THANK THE LORD PRAISE THE FORCE #i don't know how they did it #somehow this is BY FAR my favorite episode of the whole show #and yet it needs the other episodes to work #but it feel so full-circle it's beautiful

[hiscyarika]

Landslide: Chapter Six

Word Count: 4.5k

Summary: Reader and Javier contemplate their next steps after they’ve rekindled their love.

Warning(s): None

A/N: Surprise! I’m back with this series. I’m hoping there are still some of you around to read it. No matter what, I’m determined to finish, no longer how long it takes me. But thank you to the people that have and will read this. Your support means more to me than you know! And a special thank you to @bestintheparsec​ for taking a look at this before I published it! You’re the best, Lauren! (Enjoy the things I added and didn’t tell you about :) )❤️

Masterlist

Tag Lists

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five

(Gif by @anakin-skywalker​, originally from this post.) Please let me know if you’d rather me not use the gif. I’ll remove it immediately! No questions asked.

The morning comes easy.

Javier does not wake with the sun. As the sky breaks, golden with the dawn of a new day, he sleeps, and he sleeps peacefully.

When he does wake, it is of his own volition. He doesn’t have to pry his open, doesn’t have to force himself to move and stretch the muscles that have stiffened in his sleep. He gives himself time. He is in no hurry to greet the day when he can spend it right where he is, with you in his arms. Where you belong.

Javier looks down to find that you are still sound asleep. A tender smile graces his lips as he watches the slow rise and fall of your chest. For just a moment, he has to convince himself that this isn’t a dream, that he won’t wake to an empty bed and an empty heart. His bed has been cold for years, or at least it may as well have been. The women he tried to warm it with, while he may have cared for them, they never meant as much to him as you do. They were never able to fill the void of losing you. But now, with your back pressed flush against his chest and his arm draped over your torso, the ache of loneliness has already become a distant, blurred memory. He knows that you won’t let it find him again.

He shifts, reaching out just a bit further to rest his hand on top of yours, carefully threading your fingers together. In the quiet tranquility of the morning, Javier finds himself considering what the future will bring. For the first time since the day he left you, he doesn’t fear what the next day or the rest of his days might entail. In fact, he welcomes this next chapter, this redemption of which you have deemed him worthy. He’s sure that he’ll never comprehend what made you drive to the house last night, to let him love you the same way that he had a decade ago, to love him the same way that you had then. Javier knows full well that this is a second chance, a mercy, that he doesn’t deserve, so he won’t squander it.

No, he’ll spend the rest of his life making up for lost time.

He sighs softly, pressing a feather-light kiss to the curve of your neck. His eyes trail slowly along your body, and he takes care to note the way that every part of you fits so perfectly against him, just like you always have. In his mind, it’s just another testament to the fact that things were always meant to end up like this.

You begin to stir under his arm, squeezing his fingers a bit tighter as you wake. Javier almost feels bad, knowing that if he’d stayed still, you’d likely still be asleep, but then your eyes flutter open, lashes fanning your cheeks as you adjust to the sunlight creeping in through the window. You let out a long exhale, yawning and stretching your legs, and then your lips curve into a gentle smile.

“Good morning, Javi,” you murmur, voice laden with sleep. You turn to look over your shoulder at him as you speak, and he greets you with a tender kiss.

“Buenos días, mi amor,” he whispers, gently pulling you closer to his chest.

“Sleep well?” you ask him, shifting to lie on your back next to him. His hand, still joined with yours, rests on top of your stomach. Javier can’t help but smile at the question, his chest blooming with warmth.

He leans down, close enough that his forehead ghosts against yours. “Better than I have in years, querida,” he says, lips brushing against yours as he speaks. He pauses, then leans in closer, his warmth pressed fully against you now. “Thank you,” he whispers. The words come straight from his mended soul. As if the years in Colombia hadn’t been hard enough, the last few nights had been particularly difficult for him, but that was all worth it if it means that he gets to spend every night this close to you now. Having you this close has already begun to put him back together.

You giggle softly and his chest tightens with affection. “Why are you thanking me?” you ask, bringing your free hand up to cradle his jaw. He closes his eyes for a moment at the contact, but soon meets your gaze again, grinning slightly. He’s quiet for a moment, trying to form a proper answer to your question, but just shakes his head in the end, pressing another kiss to your lips.

“Nevermind, mi amor. Nevermind,” he murmurs, delicately stroking your fingers with the pad of his thumb. He pauses for just a brief moment as he brushes over your bare ring finger. His eyes linger on the empty space where your wedding band should be, though not long enough for you to notice. Before you can follow his gaze, he brings your hand up, brushing his lips over your skin.

You lean up with a grin on your lips and a hint of mischief shining in your eyes, intent on kissing him again. But you stop about an inch from him, halted by the sound of the door opening and then closing just a moment after. “Shit,” you breathe, falling back against the pillow. You free your hands from Javier, both of them covering your face as you sigh and try to hide your embarrassment.

Javier looks down at you quizzically, speaking in a soft huff of laughter. “What?” he asks, lifting a hand from your face and threading his fingers with yours once again. It’s an action that he doesn’t even process, his conscious thought superseded by the need to keep you as near to him as he can. “It’s just my dad. The auction was rained out the other day.”

You part your fingers to reveal your eyes, opening them to stare up at Javier in disbelief. “Exactly.”

Javier stops and turns his head to look at the door. Both of you are deathly silent as you wait to hear Chucho again. Javier just grins when you both hear nothing. “Well, he hasn’t called for either of us yet, which means he knows we’re up here.”

You groan, replacing the hand covering your face with an unused pillow from the other side of the bed.

Javier laughs again. A real, deep laugh from the chest. “Aw, querida, what’s the matter?” he asks, but his tone is playfully mocking you as he tries to pry the pillow from beneath your arm. You’re not holding onto it tightly enough to stop him, and so he exposes you again.

“Javi, we haven’t been caught like this since we were teenagers,” you tell him, and though you’re trying to be serious, the gleeful look on his face is infectious.

“Mi amor,” he starts, trying to reason with you. He leans down and plants a kiss on your forehead, then finally releases you so that he can get out of bed. “We are not teenagers anymore. There’s no reason to hide,” he tells you, though neither of you can deny that the playful joy you both exude is anything other than childlike.

You finally sit up in bed, pulling the duvet cover off of your legs. You watch him as he pulls on a pair of jeans over his boxers, then opens a drawer to find a shirt. Shaking your head, you pick up your abandoned pillow and throw it at him. “At least you can put on fresh clothes.”

Javier straightens up as the pillow hits his back, and he turns to face you again, two clean shirts in hand. He tosses you the plain white t-shirt and keeps the dark blue button-down for himself, shaking his head back at you. “Now when have I ever made you walk downstairs in a wrinkly shirt?”

Your smile softens as you hold the shirt close to your chest, breathing in the smell of laundry detergent and a lingering hint of Javi. It first fills your lungs and then sends a wave of calm through the rest of your body. Even after so many years, he still smells like home.

“Never,” you finally concede. You stand then, quickly getting yourself dressed and making your hair presentable so that the two of you can face Chucho together.

Once you’re ready, Javier gently runs a thumb across your forehead, smoothing out the worry lines that have taken form there. His fingers lightly trail down your face from there, and as he caresses your jaw, he leans in for another soft kiss to your lips. “You think too much, mi corazón. Always have,” he murmurs lowly.

“I know. I know,” you reply, reaching up and circling your arms around his neck. “But I can’t help it.”

“I know,” Javier echoes, eyes gazing fondly into yours, “It’s the writer in you.”

“I think it’s actually called overthinking, but sure. We’ll go with that instead,” you quip, grinning up at him.

Javier carefully separates from you then, his hand moving to rest on your lower back as he turns to lead you out of the room. “Come on. Papá is probably wondering what’s taking so long.”

You nod and walk with him out of the bedroom and down the stairs. In truth, you know that there is nothing to be anxious about when it comes to Chucho. The gentle old man wouldn’t hurt a fly, much less be cross with you. Besides, you’d seen it in his eyes when you spoke with him at Danny’s wedding: Chucho still held hope in his heart of gold that everything would work out between you and his son. He’d believed in the two of you, and you couldn’t remember off the top of your head the last time he had been wrong about something so important as this.

As you and Javier enter the kitchen, you find Chucho sitting at the table with the newspaper in his hand. He lifts his head to look at you both, and a gentle, fatherly smile lifts his lips. “I was wondering when you kids would be up. I was beginning to think you might miss breakfast,” he says, and his words immediately have you smiling too. Just as Javier had said, there had been nothing to worry about. You had slipped back into your place in the Peñas’ lives with such ease that it was like nothing had ever happened.

“Good morning, Papá,” you reply, the words coming with such ease, much in the way they always do around the family patriarch. You take a seat beside him. Javier follows suit, sitting in his usual chair across from his father.

“Good morning, mijita. It’s good to have you home,” Chucho says. He folds the paper up again and lays it on the table in front of him, his gaze shifting between you and Javier for a moment. You feel Javier’s warm hand wrap around yours a second later, and when you turn to look at him, you find that he’s smiling in agreement with his father. More than that, his eyes are shining with the gleam of “I told you so,” just enough for you to see.

“I’m glad to be home too,” you tell both of them softly, but you can’t seem to tear your eyes from Javier’s. Saying the words out loud makes this real. You’re no longer stuck dreaming of the life that you and Javier should have had together. You get to live it again. Ten years late, sure. But as Pops would say, better late than never.

Chucho hums in approval, and that breaks you out of your reverie. You and Javier both look back over at the old man. “What can we do to help with breakfast, Pop?” Javier asks.

He lets out a breath through the nose at Javier’s question, thinking to himself for a moment. “I can handle the stove work. Why don’t the two of you get the coffee going and set the table?”

“Done,” you reply, letting go of Javier’s hand and standing from your chair.

“I’ll get the dishes after we’re done, too,” Javier says, following you as you get up. But the second he has the chance, he grabs ahold of your hand again.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, Chucho takes a moment to sit and watch you both. Before getting up from his chair to start frying up the bacon and eggs, he lets out a small, contented sigh. Seeing the two of you together again puts his heart to rest. He’s spent years wondering if time truly could heal the wounds that had been inflicted on both of you. And now, he’s finally seeing that it can.

—

You make a quiet exit after breakfast is done and the dishes are cleaned and dry. Javier walks you all the way out to your car and doesn’t let go of you until he has to. Though he knows that things are different now, that the two of you are finally on your way to the life he’s wanted to live with you so badly, he can’t seem to shake the feeling that soon, the other shoe will fall. Surely it can’t have been so easy that everything would fall back into place after one night.

As you drive down the dirt road back to your apartment, and even after you’ve gone from his eyeshot, he stands there waiting to name the shrouded culprit of the tightness in his chest. It had been easier when he had you close to him. With you in his arms, he could believe that everything would be alright. He could do exactly what his father had told him to do: build the fence back up stronger than it had ever been before. And yet now that you’ve gone, even just down the road to your apartment, it seems there may be another storm that hits before he has the chance.

He’s not sure how much time passes before he finally turns around and goes back into the house, but still he can’t cast off this sense of despair that has taken over him. There’s something there. He knows there is, but it just won’t come to him. It’s following close behind him, a malignant spirit breathing cold down his neck and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Javier decides that the best thing he can do for himself is take a shower and figure out for himself what the next step will be. So long as he can keep putting one foot in front of the other, then perhaps he can outrun whatever might try to take you from him again.

Javier’s almost reached the stairs before he hears his father’s voice again.

“Does this mean you are not going back to Colombia, mijo?”

The question stops Javier cold in his tracks. Suddenly, every nerve in his body is shot: numb and electric all at once. That tightness in his chest squeezes him like a vice, forcing the air out of his lungs.

Cali.

Slowly, Javier brings himself to turn around and face his father. The old man stands in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, and Javier is forced to watch as the hopeful glint in his eyes goes out. It gives way for the grave, remorseful expression that his father always seems to wear when Colombia is mentioned. It leaves him at a loss for words. He can’t keep a single thought straight in his mind.

Chucho’s lips turn down into a deep frown. “Si vas a dejarla otra vez, tienes que decírselo.”

Javier takes in as deep a breath as his body will allow, but releases it just as fast. His lungs are tight and unforgiving, burning with the effort of trying to keep his breathing slow and steady. There’s not enough air.

He plants his hands firmly on his hips, looking down at the ground as if somehow he’d find the right words etched into the hardwood. The silence is excruciating.

“No le harás esto de nuevo,” his father continues. Javier lets out a noise of agitation.

“Sí, Papá,” he says, finding his voice again. “Lo sé.”

“Javier,” Chucho says with a new sense of conviction. Just the way his father says his name sends another strike of pain through his chest. The old man doesn’t hesitate long. “You don’t have to go. This is a perfect reason for you to stay,” he says, “You will never get another chance with her. Are you ready to let her go? Is that something that you’re prepared to do?”

Javier’s head snaps up so that he can meet his father’s eyes again. “Dad, I can’t drag her into this! Not when she could end up dead. Why the hell do you think I left her the first time?” Every inch of his skin feels like it’s been set aflame as he gives in to anger and frustration. He knows that he shouldn’t be upset with his father, not when all he wants is for him to be happy with you. But Chucho has a way of making things seem much simpler than they really are. Nothing about this, about having to leave you again the moment he gets you back, is simple.

“You should have stayed then too,” his father replies. Simple. As if Javier hadn’t nearly torn himself in half contemplating the choice between you and Escobar. What he saw and did in Colombia certainly were not the first things to take pieces of him.

“The DEA needed me. What was I supposed to do? Tell the government to fuck off so I could live happily ever after?” Javier retorts, throwing an arm out to his side and taking a step towards his father.

Chucho sighs. “No one would have thought any less of you if you had. No tenías que huir y ser un héroe. No cuando tenías una vida aquí.”

“No,” Javier says definitively, his expression suddenly stone cold. “No soy un héroe.”

“Eres el único que cree eso, Javier.” There’s a sadness in the old man’s eyes as he says the words, but his tone is still firm and unrelenting. The ability to survive in a standoff like this is something that Javier knows he inherited directly from his father. If they let it, this argument could go on for hours without either one giving. It was a matter of pride, though Javier knew you preferred to just call them both bull-headed.

“No sabes lo que he hecho,” Javier bites back, but then he hesitates, decides to hold his tongue. He has to stop himself from going on. The last thing he wants is to rehash and relive all of the terrible things that happened during the hunt for Escobar. It would only break his father’s heart more, and he couldn’t do that. It didn’t matter how angry he was or how much he needed his father to see things from his perspective. Javier would not fight back at his father’s expense. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I have to go after Cali. I can’t take her with me. That’s the end of it.”

It’s clear in his eyes that Chucho can sense Javier standing down, and so he does the same. “Please, son. I can’t bear to see what that place has done to you.”

“It’s done, Papá. It’s too late,” he says. It brings the pain back to his chest to disappoint his father this way, but he knows that he cannot back out now. He’s already made the commitment to go after the next cartel of narcos. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he turned his back on his duty now.

There’s a silence. Javier watches his father closely, waiting for the old man’s next words. They’re surely to be some kind of Hail Mary, a last-ditch attempt to get him to surrender.

“This is not the life that I wanted for you. This is not the life your mother wanted for you.”

There it is.

But at the mention of his mother, Javier tenses again, shaking his head and pointing his finger at his father’s chest. “Do not bring Mamá into this. I am going back to Colombia at the end of the month. Tengo que terminar lo que empecé.”

With the last word, Javier turns his back and marches up the stairs. Chucho doesn’t say anything more, just lowers his head and cradles his forehead in his hand. A door slams, hard enough to shake the house, and the old man knows that he’s lost.

Again.

—

As you drive away from the Peña ranch, you’re glad that you’ve got a seatbelt on. You swear that if you didn’t, you’d float right out of your seat. You feel truly weightless at finally reuniting with Javier, truly reuniting with him in a way that made the last ten years feel like a forgotten nightmare. The more you try to remember the way it hurt, the less you can recall. It’s a level of bliss that you swore that you would never feel again, and yet here you are.

You spend the short drive on cloud nine, though your apartment is a welcome sight when you reach it. Happy as you are, you are not beyond the need to freshen up. Stepping out of your car, you take in a deep breath of what you think will be fresh air, but you have to laugh at yourself just a second later. The midsummer Texas heat is not nearly as refreshing as you had anticipated in your euphoric state of mind.

You shake your head at yourself and step inside your apartment. It takes a moment to shake the odd feeling of being there when you don’t have to be. For years, this apartment has served as your personal fortress of solitude, a place that you return to when you have no other choice. And now, for the first time since Javier left, you’re confronted with the very real possibility that you won’t be living here alone for much longer.

That thought makes you stop in the entryway. You have to wonder what the next steps are going to be for you and Javier now that you’ve set forth to make things right. There’s part of you that desperately wants to dive headfirst into the life that you should have started with him a decade ago, but rationality quickly comes to dampen that dream. You know that it’s going to take time for the two of you to get to a place that resembles the relationship you had when you were younger. You know that it’s not something that you should rush either. This is a precious second chance that you can’t afford to screw up.

You let out a long exhale. Suddenly the thought occurs to you that you should perhaps call your mother to tell her what’s happened.

Maybe later.

You turn instead to go down the hall and take a quick shower. Just as you pass the living room though, something catches your eye. You stop, then take a couple of steps back. Your eyes briefly scan the room to find the source of the blinking light; There’s a red light on your answering machine.

Curious, you abandon the task of showering for another few minutes, opting instead to see whose call you had missed. It’s not very often that you get calls on the landline to begin with. More than likely though, it was your mother, perhaps a neighbor that had seen you in town and called to check in.

You press the button on the machine to go through your messages. There’s a long, monotonous beep.

“Hello, this is Felicia Bailey with Dawes Publishing House. I was calling to let you know that we have read your novel pitch for Heart of Glass and would like to negotiate a publishing contract with the opportunity to do some book signings and local readings here in New York. We’d like to have you here within the next week or so to go over the manuscript with one of our editors and get started with the paperwork. Please call us back as soon as you can at…”

You don’t hear anything past that, not clearly anyway. The rest of the message plays through, but it feels like you’re underwater. Your fingers tingle in shock. Your heart is pounding in your ears.

The answering machine beeps again, signaling the end of your messages.

A short, hard breath finally pushes its way out of your lungs, and you find that all you can do is look around your living room as you try to process what you’ve just heard. Except it doesn’t take long for your vision to blur with happy tears. Finally, after years and years of trying to sell this novel, you’ve gotten the call, the call that you swore that you’d never get. You’ve received so many rejections, written, spoken, and silent. You’ve spent so many years bouncing from city to city, praying that someone would find just enough interest in the story you had to tell to give you a chance. All you needed was a chance to prove that you have what it takes to capture an audience with your art.

You’ve suffered so many rejections that you’d contemplated scrapping the entire manuscript and starting with a fresh idea. But you hadn’t been able to write anything for a long time. This story had been born of your pain, had been an oasis in the middle of the biggest drought of your life. It’s not your best work and you know that. But nothing else would come to you. In your drought, there was no sign of rain, and running into Javier again had put an even bigger halt on things.

Javier.

You jump up from where you’d taken a seat on your couch, letting out a triumphant laugh. He was going to be thrilled once you got a chance to tell him. Suddenly every nerve vibrated with the need to call him and tell him right that second, but you knew it would be much more fun to tell him in person. All your life, Javier had been the one to always be in your corner when it came to your writing. Your parents, though they’ve tried to be as supportive as possible, have always been a little wary of the fact that your novels have not been the source of steady income. But Javier, before he’d left, had been the one to constantly tell you that someday, you’d make it. And now you have.

He needed to be the first to know.

-

Spanish Translations

“Si vas a dejarla otra vez, tienes que decírselo.” - "If you’re going to leave her again, you have to tell her."

“No le harás esto de nuevo.” - "You won’t do this to her again."

“Sí, Papá. Lo sé.” - “Yes, Dad. I know.”

“No tenías que huir y ser un héroe. No cuando tenías una vida aquí.” - "You didn’t have to run away and be a hero. Not when you had a life here."

“No soy un héroe.” - “I am not a hero.”

“Eres el único que cree eso, Javier.” - "You’re the only one who believes that, Javier."

“No sabes lo que he hecho.” - "You don’t know what I’ve done."

“Tengo que terminar lo que empecé.” - "I have to finish what I started."

-

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#javier peña #narcos #narcos colombia #javier peña x reader #javier pena x reader

[tennessoui]

Just got done playing Red Dead Redemption 2 for like the 10th or so time. Very heavily story and character based and fun video game to play. Anyways, I was thinking of an Obikin AU set in during the 1890’s with Obi-Wan being the muscle behind the gang like Arthur Morgan is like they both of Scottish heritage and look similar. Then Anakin bring an elite member of society and they somehow always meet under circumstance fall in love. However, it’s hard for Obi to leave his gang since he shoulders the majority of responsibility for his gang and idk go from there I suppose.

(checks my notes) well let's see i have a regency au, i have a pirates au, i have a mob au (....many mob aus, a GROSS amount of mob aus) but i don't have a historical mob au.......

this has very little to do with red dead redemption 2 as i got halfway through reading the second paragraph of the wiki article and then realized it'd be pretty embarrassing if i researched this more than i researched my star wars fanfictions. anyway enjoy this adjacent au called my 1899 au:

(1.7k)(sorta dark because this is their first meeting and obi-wan does hold anakin at gunpoint):

Anakin has almost gotten used to the jostling movement of the train enough to go to sleep when it screeches to a halt on the tracks. He blinks open his eyes in indignation at the cessation of movement, getting ready to stand and demand answers from the conductors.

Then he hears the first gunshot, accompanied by loud exclamations, and he quickly realizes that demanding anything from anyone is suddenly not his job anymore. Even if he’s riding in the first class carriage.

It actually seems to be a very bad idea to be riding in the first class carriage right now, considering how sure Anakin is that the train he’s on is currently being robbed. 

He’d heard of this happening—his mother is one of three judges of this territory, a role second only to that of the governor, of course he’s heard of the train bandits currently terrorizing the Western frontier. But—in the chaos of his…forced relocation, he hadn’t even thought that he might not even arrive at his new prison cell at all.

Train bandits.

His heart is in his throat as he stumbles to his feet in the silent carriage. Distantly, he can hear voices, but nothing so close that he could not…slip away into one of the working class carriages. His clothes would not fit into the population there, but perhaps he could offer some silent bribery to the other passengers in exchange for not turning him over.

Train bandits love the elite, of course. Anakin has heard the horror stories. No. That will not be him. Shmi Skywalker’s son would never allow it.

Perhaps he can steal a cap from one of the other men. His hair suddenly feels too nice, too clean, though it’s been days since he’s been able to wash it. The train ride from New York City to the American Frontier is harsh, but now he’s suddenly worried that it is not harsh enough. Will he stick out? Is he in danger? Will he be hurt—or worse, killed?

He has no parameters to judge that future. Well. Only the one. But then, he’d been behind the blade, not on it. Would it hurt? Clovis had not seemed fond of the experience, but would it hurt to die? To—

His hand grapples with the lock of the carriage door, just as it’s pulled open.

Anakin blinks into the face of a bandit.

“Going somewhere, love?” The man asks with a smirk, eyebrows raised slightly. When he steps forward, Anakin steps back automatically. Everything about this man, from his worn leathers, patched clothing, sweat-stained bandana round his neck, this-side-of-unkempt beard, and black ink of tattoos swirling up and down his forearms spell danger.

“Are you a hero then, love?” the man asks with something akin to interest in his voice. “Rich boy, ready to save the day?” One hand falls to rest on the grip of his gun. 

Anakin swallows. “No,” he mutters. The man tilts his head slightly, as though in agreement.

“No,” he repeats. He has an accent, though it’s hard to place. British almost, but a drawl as well. Anakin hadn’t been aware that any of the British had ever made it this far into the Western territories. But this man looks as if he were born to wear the desert on his skin, no matter how pale he still is. Freckles dot the expanse of his face and forearms, and his cheeks are stained slightly red. Even then, he fits here better than Anakin ever could.

“Leave,” Anakin says. He tries to demand it. It’s very hard to demand anything in front of this redheaded scoundrel. But it’s second nature for him. If he wants something, it’ll happen. That is the nature of his life. “I demand that you—”

“Sweetheart, maybe you don’t understand the situation,” the man murmurs. He kicks the door of the train shut behind him as he walks forward until Anakin is pressed against the glass of the train’s window pane. Then he draws his pistol and presses it carefully against the thin skin of Anakin’s neck.

He should do something. He needs to do something. He is going to die if he doesn’t do something.

“I’m going to make the demands here, love,” the bandit says. “And you’re going to….acquiesce.”

Anakin clenches his eyes shut and turns his head to the side. He can feel the bandit’s breath on his face. He can smell him, all sand and sweat and sandalwood.

“Oh, no need to look so afraid, darling,” the man coos. What a strange thing to say when one is holding a gun to someone’s throat. “I just want your nice things.”

“I don’t have nice things,” Anakin mutters, refusing to turn his head back to look at him. The man starts to scoff, and Anakin can feel the barrel of the gun pressing harder against him. “I don’t.”

“Pretty boy like you don’t have pretty things?” The man asks, and a hand comes up to grip his jaw, to turn him forcefully to face him. “Now I doubt that.”

Anakin grinds his teeth together, working his tongue furiously, trying to find the words.

He doesn’t have nice things. He murdered a man. He murdered his best friend’s fiancee and then couldn’t even bring himself to marry her. He should be in jail, but that’s not how this America works. He’s been sent out to act as a mayoral warden for settlement Tatooine, Utah because you can’t jail the son of one of the judges of the territory for a duel that got out of hand. You can only strip him of his wealth and send him to the ass-end of the very world, a place so sandy and miserable that you make him almost wish he’d been imprisoned instead. 

Instead of saying any of that, he rears back and spits in the face of the bandit, who blinks at him uncomprehendingly for several seconds before slowly and carefully wiping the insult off his skin.

“You ain’t from around here, are you?” The bandit asks without asking. His eyes gleam in the low light of the carriage.

“And thank the good God for that,” Anakin replies, even when it gets him what will surely become a livid bruise on his neck—if he lives long enough.

“Ain’t no good god here,” the man murmurs. “And I reckon you don’t quite understand the situation you’re in or else you’d be doing everything I tell you.”

“Like what?” Anakin challenges as though he doesn’t currently have his heart in his throat.

“Like taking every single ring off your finger and giving them to me on the double,” he responds, and Anakin’s breath catches in his throat. But—but it’s alright. Fine. Yes, he can survive this loss.

He’s only shaking slightly when he starts to remove the rings from his fingers.

“Thank you darling,” the man says, holding out his hands for the jewelry. Anakin glares down at it, but drops the metal into his palm. It’s absurdly large. Anakin is absurdly angry abou this fact.

“I heard gunshots,” he mutters as he works. “Have you killed anyone?”

“Probably,” the bandit nods. “You know, these train robberies, they do tend to bleed together, you see….”

Anakin sneers. “Not for the people you hurt,” he replies, glowering down into the bandit’s eyes. 

The bandit looks like he’s considering Anakin’s words. “I suppose not. How interesting. And here I was thinking this was getting a bit dreary.”

Anakin opens and closes his mouth a few times, no sound escaping at all. “Dreary—-”

He wonders if this man even knows about dreary. Dreary! Anakin’s life was dreary! Anakin’s life was a series of parties and chatter and fake laughter and insipid smiles and hinted marriage proposals. This bandit’s life couldn’t be more different.

“Hm,” the bandit agrees. “And, darling, what do you have there just around your neck?”

Anakin’s now-bare hand flies to his throat, carefully avoiding the barrel of the gun. “Nothing.”

“Now, sweetheart,” the man tsks, sounding so disappointed that Anakin feels the absurd urge to shy away, “if you’re going to lie to a liar, at least do it well.”

Anakin swallows. “It’s—please. Please, sir. It’s my mother’s.”

The bandit narrows his eyes. “I don’t seem to recall caring. Show me.” The gun presses harder against his skin, moving up to rest against the underside of his jaw.

“Japor,” Anakin breathes out because he’s not an idiot, and he doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t. He should take the necklace off now. He should. He should give it to this thief. But—but it’s his mother’s. It’s the last tangible reminder he has that she loves him, not when she could not even look him in his eyes while the governor ran his trial. It was Governor Palpatine that decided his exile. Shmi had not said a word.

The bandit is silent, and Anakin chances a look under his eyelashes at him. He seems…considering.

Two callused fingers come up to play with the cord of the necklace, and Anakin tilts his head back to let them. Japor is rare in the Americas. It’s expensive. He will lose this today. He will lose this now.

“Hm,” the outlaw says, pressing so close to him that there’s no part of their bodies that isn’t touching. “Hm. Can’t see such a sweet boy lasting long out here,” he murmurs, ghosting his bearded jaw along Anakin’s to mutter into his ear. Anakin contains the most inappropriate shiver he’s ever felt. “I know where you’re going to get off, Mr. Skywalker. We do our research around these parts.” 

At the mention of his name, Anakin’s breath freezes his throat.

The bandit chuckles slightly. “And one day soon, if I still want it, I’m going to pick that necklace off your corpse. Sweet and soft don’t survive around here long. Mark my words.”

He lets Anakin go so suddenly that the release in pressure makes him sag back against the window. His chest heaving with every breath, words of the man still ringing in his ears, Anakin forces out his one burning question: “Who are you?”

From the doorway of the train compartment, the man smirks. It’s a mean thing. The bandit flourishes into a bow. Anakin’s stolen rings glint in the low light from where they’re now placed on the man’s every finger.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” the outlaw responds. “At your service.”

#asks #obikin #obviously i wanted to write a cut to scene bit where anakin makes it to his new house #and he wakes up in the middle of the night to bandit-mob boss obi-wan smoking in his window and looking at him #and obi-wan tells him that he's run this town for years #by figuring out what the guy in charge/mayor wants #and either giving it to him or threatening to take it away from him #and he's like 'it's just a matter of time before i figure out what you want darling' #before leaving through the window #and leaving anakin with the strange thought--'you. i want you.' #prompt fill #1899 au #i was this close to just wrriting that second haalf #and i would later if anyone wants tbh #i do think it's funny how all my dark obi-wans just DO stuff to their anakins #like that is just so so so opposite of how i love them when it comes to canon #so it's always so funny to me tbh

[visionsofmagic]

get to know me better.

[or fandoms that I am fond of with]

[wanted to make this to show my interests]

︶

Tips: [ ♡ ] refers to most loved ones for me.

& for movies and tv series I wrote those that I wanted to write a fic about or make edits from them and read stories about them.

lastly, you can request an edit such as wallpapers and icons OR story/prompt/oneshot from these likings such as games [gow, ac, etc.] your wishes always welcome! & requests are open for both edits and stories.

︵

⋯ marvel/mcu  ⋯

favorite characters: loki, bucky b.[ ♡ ], stephen s. [ ♡ ], peter parker, wanda m.[ ♡ ], ghost rider, deadpool, natasha

favorite movies [mcu]: ragnarok, infinity war, the winter soldier, iron man

favorite tv series [mcu]: loki, wandavision

⋯ dc ⋯

favorite characters: batfam members, especially bruce wayne/batman[ ♡ ], superman, green lantern [hal], doctor fate, zatanna, john constantine

favorite movies:  the batman (2022 and nolan triology)[ ♡ ], constantine, joker

favorite tv series:  the sandman

⋯ games [pc, ps] ⋯

god of war – kratos [ ♡ ], atreus [ ♡ ], mimir, freya, brok and sindri, heimdall [don’t judge me pls, I just loving cocky characters]

detroit: become human – connor [ ♡ ], markus, kara & hank

dying light 2 – aiden, hakon

resident evil series – chris, leon, jill, ethan

assassin’s creed series – ezio [ ♡ ], altair, connor, alexios [ ♡ ] & kassandra, da vinci

other games I like [to play & to watch]: red dead redemption 2, heavy rain, the last of us, uncharted 4

⋯ tv series ⋯

the boys – the boys members [ ♡ ], homelander [poor boy], maeve, soldier boy [very little far from putting the heart because of jensen’s amazing acting]

supernatural – dean, sam, castiel [ ♡ for all of these three], lucifer

other tv series I like/d: lost, obi-wan kenobi, sherlock, house of dragon & got

⋯ movies/movie series ⋯

star wars – obi-wan [ ♡ ], anakin/darth vader [ ♡ ], luke, leia, padme, r2-d2, [din djarin from tv series and ahsoka from animated series]

lord of the rings – nearly every character but mostly: gandalf, aragorn, sauron, galadriel

hobbit – also nearly every character but mostly: smaug, bilbo, thranduil, bard the bowman

other movies & movie series I like to watch for both the storyline and specific characters [there are so many because I am 100% movie lover but I will just write those I want to write about thanks to their characters]: the matrix [♥], twilight [thanks to robert pat.], the chronicles of narnia [ ♡ ], in time, the gentlemen, bullet train

new info will be added/removed from time to time, probably... and I hope you found common interests as me! I wanted to publish this as a personal post and something that you can get some information about me as well! thanks for visit my blog and this post, I wish to find you in my other posts & message section. have a nice day, night & life!  ♡   - rose.

#personal post #my interests #masterlist #??? #should I call it as masterlist? #vom #rose #gifs are edited by me #<3 #thanks for reading this #^^

[aphantpoet]

Boba Fett

When looking at fans reactions to the series “The Book of Boba Fett” I was surprised by the number of people who's complaints hinged on the idea that the series is some sort of redemption arc that should take a long time  I will admit, I haven’t got the chance to watch the series yet as I do not have Disney plus and have not found a way to watch it elsewhere,  but I have found in these reviews that people seem to have a very one dimensional view of Boba Fett as a character. 

When we first meet Boba Fett he’s a minor antagonist in the original trilogy. Less of a character and more of a plot device. His armour aside,  the most notable things about him is that he’s pragmatic “He’s no good to me dead” and a bit of a ladies man [the scene in Jabba’s palace]. That’s hardly any nuanced characterisation. He “dies” as he lived, an ultimately one note but cool antagonist  that provides some colour between the grey, black and white of the Empire.

We see him next in the prequal trilogy where, despite the relatively small screen time, Daniel Logan is giving it his all. We see him in his father’s apartment on Kamino ,when Obiwan Kenobi goes to investigate the planet and we are introduced to the clones. Young Boba is shown in this first scene to be a smart kid who distrusts the Jedi [or at least strangers]. We see him observing his dad’s interactions with the Jedi, We’re also shown that despite him not having the inhibitor chip, he still listens to his dad with Boba closing the door to hide Jango’s armour. When Obiwan leaves before Jango can order Boba to pack so they can get away Boba’s the one who prompts his dad. This first scene shows him as a kid who  is observant, smart and cares  about his father.

During the confrontation and chase with Obiwan Boba plays a mostly supporting role. He is only seen actively engaging when he scrambles into the ship and fires the guns at Obiwan. He manages to fire impressively well when you conside that he;s can’t even see over the steering wheel. He’s also the one who points out that they’re being tracked. he’s not shown to be especially ruthless except when he laughs at Jango’s “we’ll have a couple of surprises for him” comment. other  than that he mostly spends that scene in the cheap seats. This shows him a proactive and demonstrates that he is still learning from his father, still a far cry from the feared  bounty hunter he’s shown as in the OT. 

He’s next shown at the execution of Padme, Obiwan and Anakin, where he cranes his neck to have a look. He doesn’t really say anything during that scene or during the ensuing battle. His only major appearance after is when he holds his father's helmet and rests his forehead to it. during these scene Boba does not play a major role, presumably because George Lucas thought having the heros’ fight a ten year old would be a little too far. 

During TCW, Boba is shown in three arcs, playing a relatively minor role in two of them. His first major appearance is when he is trying to kill Mace Windu. Boba executes the plan quietly and efficiently , in a way that minimises damage to the crew. It is not until Mace Windu asks a clone to put something in his room because Anakin needed him that things spiral out of control. 

Aurra Sing is the one who orders him to blow up the reactor rod. Boba protests “But the crew, this isn’t about them”. He is still ultimately persuaded to do it. When he’s caught Boba easily slips into the “vulnerable cadet “ role and tricks the trooper into handing over his blaster. While Boba has no problem fighting the trooper when the helmets are on  Boba hesitates when the helmet comes off and he’s faced with his father’s face staring up at him in fear and confusion. It is only with the assertion that he and the clone are “brothers” that Boba is able to follow through with stunning the solider. This sequence of events shows Boba's competence as well as his moral compass, It also serves to demonstrate his complex surrounding the clones. 

This moral compass is further challenged when he sabotages the escape pod  and Aurra Sing intercepts them to pick him up. Boba is more than ready to just leave and even suggests to her that they let them go. Aurra Sing is the one who asserts that the have to be jettisoned into the unknown. he only leaves with her  after this threat is applied to him. He walks away telling the cadets that he’s sorry and, as Aurra demands, lets them loose. Through this arc Boba is shown acting with competence but anger, displaying instincts that were likely taught to him by Jango. When speaking to the captive clones Boba removes one of their gags and tells him that this isn’t what he wanted. It is only when the clone reminds him that he is also a clone that Boba hardens up, though not enough to hold back a wince when Aurra slaps the clone and by the time shooting the hostages comes around Boba is not angry enough to go through with the threats. This shows that despite his quest for vengeance he is still an immature and insecure kid in a galaxy where there are thousands of him made everyday. The only thing that makes him different from the other clones is that he ages normally and was chosen by Jango, one thing that is not unique to him and another that says nothing about his accomplishments. He is still far from revenge and from living up to his father’s legacy. 

Through the following scenes Boba slowly becomes disillusioned with the quest as he sees Aurra shoot a member of their crew in cold blood and is threatened by her. He still tries to hold onto the moral high ground and insists that “i’m not a murderer, but I want justice ” even when that drive for “justice” has flown way out of his control.  He is eventually left to the mercy of the Republic. Plo Koon  brings Boba to Hondo Onaka to get him to tell them where the remaining hostages are. Boba protests that he has no one so why should he help?,  it is only when Hondo, the only person at this point who has treated Boba’s loss with any respect convinces him that it’s the honourable thing to do and that it’s what his father would have wanted that Boba caves and expresses genuine remorse for his actions. Despite his age and arguable part in the carnage as a whole, Boba is sent to prison.

There is not much to be said for his appearance when Obiwan goes undercover but his actions after getting out of prison, either by release or escape show how he has hardened and stayed the same. He is tasked with bringing a bride to a warlord, for this mission he is teamed up with newcomer to bounty hunting, Ventress. Boba is short and demanding to the Dathomirian, claiming that's she’s a “rookie”. Neither seem to know that the other s  in fact overqualified. It is worth noting however that this same energy is also given to him by Ventress so he is hardly the only one acting like this.  It is also worth noting that Boba is not incapable of taking advice from others. This is seen when he questions the need to subtram travel, when he thinks that just using the ship would be easier. When the reason why is explained to him Boba has no problem with the direction. Boba comes out of prison much harder than he was when he came in, having  no problem with making himself bigger or dishing out violence where he has not changed is seen in his actions later in this event.

When Boba and his crew are attacked the chest they were keeping the bride in comes open Boba’s first instinct is to run to her and assure her that he’ll protect her from the attackers. The dubious honourability of him delivering a slave bride to a warlord aside, it is clear that Boba has internalised Hondo Onaka’s lesson on honour. It is only when he realises that she’s on their attackers side that Boba orders they be tied down so he can get the mission done. Ventress subsequently switches him with the girl and delivers her home.  Boba is not seen after that but it is in this scene that his portrayal as a ruthless bounty hunter makes more sense. even still, during this arc Boba is not seen being especially bloodthirsty. He’s ruthless towards the people who stand in the way of his mission but for innocents, those he cares for or assumes he’s being paid to protect  he’s especially careful. 

Boba has no other major appearances in the shows or movies until the Mandalorian. When he saves Fennec Shand he has no connection to her, he is not even aware that she once hunted the closest thing he has to a biological sister in canon.  Despite seeming to have softened Boba prove this not to be the case. He threatens Grogu to get the armour back and fights well against the troopers. he is also the first to suggest that there’s not need to fight and they they put down their weapons. During the fight Boba gets his armour back. Boba honours his deal with Din Djarin and joins in the mission to get Grogu back, one again showing Hondo Onaka’s lesson about honour has made an impression on him even all these years later.

When Bo Katan starts to insult him Boba is not quick to violence. It is only when  Jango Fett is brought into it that Boba brings put the threats. He then fights Bo’s sidekick before she agree’s to help Din Djarin because Grogu’s involved. After the mission he ruthlessly shoots down Bib Fortuna and so begins his hostile takeover of Mis Eisley. Looking at some scenes he seems to be going a good job, having mellowed while retaining his fire and sense of honour.

So, looking at all that together, there is no reason why the arc set out in Book of Boba Fett cannot work. While I’m sure some of the criticism I’ve seen is valid, I do not think the  assertion that Boba Fett  should remain a ruthless killer is one of them, nor do I think that this is part of some moralist agenda to make villains not evil anymore . 

#star wars #boba fett #long post #character analysis