#and the whole series is almost worth it for that moment when kenobi's like 'i know what vader will do next' because he knows anakin so well

[fictionadventurer]

The Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries is scattered moments of emotionally-devastating pure brilliance linked together by some of the most childishly dumb plot devices you can imagine.

#this could have been good #and in some moments it is #but there's so much nonsense in between that doesn't need to be there #there are so many pieces that are so good but they're put together in entirely the wrong way #like it's a top-of-the-line lego set put together by a monkey with a blindfold on #they had the obi-wan-vader confrontation as a pitch #how do you mess that up? #by throwing in a pointless extra villain for one #and by giving both of them their very own idiot ball to play with so they don't even have to fight for it #i've seen it suggested that since lucas ignores dialogue the best way to watch the prequels is to mute them #and just watch the images while the soundtrack plays #and for significant portions of this show that's how i'm having to approach it #beautiful aesthetic beloved characters some fascinating moments but please ignore the ham-handed dialogue that strings it together #i still love little leia and the force-sensitive underground railroad with all my heart though #and the whole series is almost worth it for that moment when kenobi's like 'i know what vader will do next' because he knows anakin so well #also for that double-agent lady #and a lot of the lightsaber fights are genuinely cool #star wars #obi-wan kenobi

[anna-pixie]

padawan -> obi-wan kenobi {part one}

              ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

me: has a witcher series to finish which is taking a lot of time

also me: starts a new series about a character i’ve never written for before!

{also trying out a new layout? unsure of what i think of it}

summary: you’re hopelessly in love with anakin skywalker, but he only has eyes for padmé amidala. your heartbreak is starting to effect your performance in the jedi temple, and your position as padawan to obi-wan kenobi is in jeopardy.

pairings: obi-wan kenobi x reader {eventually}

warnings: none

               ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

         ╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

Your face is blank as you watch Anakin from across the room, something you’ve learnt to do from many, many months of suppressing your emotions. Though your face no longer betrays you, the way your heart swells at the sight of his smiling face reminds you of your ever present love for the fiery Jedi.

Your warmth stutters, however, when a hand is placed on his shoulder, and Senator Amidala appears from behind him with a smile full of sunshine and grace. You can’t help but slightly purse your lips as Anakin’s whole body reacts to her touch, as though she is a magnet and he is made out of pure iron.

Anakin, whilst being a great Jedi and an exceptional pilot, is not as skilled at masking his emotions. Despite it technically still being a secret, you’re sure that everyone knows of his love for and marriage to the gleeful senator. It was like a punch in the gut when you had found out about their nuptials. You and Anakin had been close friends for years, your friendship was one of those will-they, won’t-they friendships, full of flirty banter and sexual tension. You had liked it that way, you were content that way. Until the day he arrived with the joyful news that he had settled down with Padmé. That was the day that your friendship changed forever, he withdrew from you, became more distant and treated you the way a Master would treat a Padawan - holding you at arms length as though you had never been close in the first place.

It suffices to say that you’re heartbroken, and you wake up every day just as heartbroken as the last. It’s a horrible cycle that has had devastating effects on your training. You’re unfocused, unwilling to put in any extra effort, unwilling to socialise the way you used to because everywhere you go, the two of them are there, as in love as the day they wed.

“Credit for your thoughts?” The melodious voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi floods your ears as he settles himself beside you on the black lounger.

 “I’d like to think my thoughts are worth more than a singular credit, Master.” You joke, leaping to your usual defence mechanism of humor to deflect from the obvious sadness radiating from you. You’ve never met anyone as perceptive to the force as Obi-Wan, both a blessing due to his vast knowledge, but also a curse, due to the fact you can never quite hide your emotions from the Jedi Master.

You had trained under Obi-Wan at the same time as Anakin, however your recent slip ups had meant that while Anakin was promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight, you still remained a Padawan under the guidance of Obi-Wan.

 “Of course, my Padawan, I apologize,” Humor laces his tone, before he turns to face you completely, his expression more serious as he holds eye contact with you, “I do require a serious conversation with you, Y/N, about your recent performance as my Padawan. Please join me in my quarters for a drink of tea. Be there around 7. Enjoy the rest of your day, young one.”

You watch with a fond smile as the older Jedi makes his leave from the bustling room, his robes swishing behind him as he goes. Truth be told, you had harboured a crush on your Master when you first began to train under him. The first few times you met him were spent with longing gazes and a lot of lip biting on your end, but eventually your attention was captured by the flirty, playful nature of Anakin. You wonder how things would’ve turned out if your focus had stayed on the older Jedi master, you know he is very set in his ways, but you wonder if maybe something would have bloomed between the two of you. You can imagine Obi-Wan to be a very gentle lover, in all aspects, the complete antithesis to the damned Skywalker boy you had fallen for.

With a shake of your head, you banish all thoughts of romance from your mind. You’re training to become a full fledged Jedi, attachments are not allowed. That doesn’t mean other things aren’t allowed, that stupid voice in your head reminds you. No, you won’t let yourself think about such things.

              ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Your head is hanging low as you stroll slowly through the hallway of the Jedi temple, on your way back to your residence after a long day of not really listening to the things the council had been droning on about. You can tell that people are starting to notice your wavering commitment to the cause, however you honestly cannot bring yourself to care.

 A shriek escapes your mouth as a hard body barrels into your own, almost sending you to the ground had it not been for your quick reflexes summoning the force to keep your body upright. A smile forms on your lips as you hear the tell tale chuckles of Anakin, who seems to have quickly ran out from behind one of the pillars without first checking for passers-by.

“Y/N.” He breaths, an apologetic smile on his face as he gathers himself, brushing his chin length hair back into place, “Sorry about that.” His voice is sheepish and he scratches the back of his head.

 “Don’t worry about it, Ani, walk with me?” You throw out, averting your eyes as you nervously await his response. You don’t know why you even asked, you haven’t been alone with him for a while, he’ll definitely say n-

“Sure. You going back to the residences?” You nod at his question, too shocked by his agreement to form words at the moment. He sends you another smile as you start your trek back to your quarters, your legs moving of their own accord whilst your mind takes a moment to catch up with the current situation. You curse your heart for the way it swells instantly with happiness at the presence of Anakin, simply walking beside him, barely feeling the warmth of him under his robes, makes all the feelings you try so hard to suppress return to the surface.

A noise from behind grabs your attention, and the two of you turn your heads, only to be met with the sight of a giggling Padmé trying to sneak out from behind the same pillar Anakin came from. The familiar sadness hits you like a tidal wave as you face forwards once more, just catching the fond smile on Anakin’s face as he looks back at his wife. The fleeting happiness you get when you’re around him is not worth the floods of sadness that always follow, you think, as the two of you walk silently towards your residences.

“I haven’t seen much of you lately, Y/N. No one has, actually. I know Obi-Wan has been worried about you.” He speaks casually, his tone so breezy that it sounds as if your welfare never even crossed his mind. Obi-Wan is worried about you, fine. But is Anakin? He’s the source of all your pain to begin with.

 “That’s nice of him.” You muse, not even glancing in his direction as you continue walking, hoping that your upbeat tone is enough to quell any curiosity he may have. However, it is not, and you’re stopped when he tugs at your elbow, gripping onto it with a slightly lax grip as he narrows his eyes at you.

 “Seriously, Y/N, what on Tatooine is going on with you?.” His tone is firmer now, and your skin is heating at the feeling of his hand on the bare skin of your arm. You try to find your words as you gaze into his eyes and you quickly realise that you need to get yourself together, lest you want him to feel your true emotions through the force.

“Absolutely nothing.” A tight smile pulls across your lips and you wrench your elbow out of his grip, leaving him standing outside the temple with his suspicious gaze trained on your retreating figure.

 By the time you return to your room, you only have an hour or so before you’re due to meet Obi-Wan for tea. You decide that you must do some meditation before you face your Master, knowing that his concern for your wellbeing will make him more perceptive when he analyses you.

You find brief tranquility, thinking of the lush skies and soft greenery of your home planet Alderaan. It’s not long before your mind is bombarded with the images of what Anakin and Padmé must’ve been getting upto behind the pillar of the temple, stealing secret kisses and laughs because they love each other so much that they can’t possibly wait until they are in private to be together.

Jealousy rolls off you in waves, thinking about how you wish it was you that he was so desperate to kiss, so desperate to hold and be in your presence even though it is forbidden. Accepting the fact that Obi-Wan will be able to sense your negative emotions from a mile away, you begin to get ready to join him.

You’ve never been in a Master’s quarters before, so you’re unsure of whether your usual outfit is appropriate attire for the occasion. A simple tank top, usually a light colour, and matching tight pants, with a sheer sarong wrapped around your waist. Deciding that you doubt Obi-Wan will care what you’re wearing, you decide to forgo any changes. You fix your hair and look in the mirror with a frown as your thoughts take over once more.

What does Padmé have that you don’t? Is it her position in the senate? Her maturity? Her outgoing personality? You had tried to be more like her, more vocal and social in your day to day life, but by nature you are cripplingly shy, so that failed miserably.

               ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Come in, Padawan.” Your Master’s voice sounds from behind the large white door, and you wait patiently as it slides open for you at his command. He is still wearing his robes from the day, you note, as he pours two small cups of herbal tea at the small table next to his kitchenette.

All the Jedi Masters have larger, more equipped residences than the Padawans, and usually make food and eat in their own quarters rather than in the mess hall like the rest of you.

You take a moment to look around Obi-Wan’s room whilst he is momentarily distracted making your drinks. It’s very...him. He seems to have chosen to forgo the harsh, overhead lighting that adorns the rest of the residences, instead having a few dim lamps dotted around that spread a low, moody hue around the room. It is relatively clean, his bed is made, scattered with many comfy looking blankets, yet every free surface seems to be covered by piles and piles of books. You can tell that most of them are old Jedi texts, and a smile tugs at your lips at the dedication of your Master.

 It’s strange to be in here, you feel like you’re completely surrounded by every aspect of him. You can see a spare change of robes hanging on the doors of his closet, probably ready to be worn tomorrow, and the door of his fresher is slightly ajar, allowing you to peek inside if you wish to. There is a dirty plate next to his sink, he must have just finished eating before you arrived, not having time to clean the dish properly. Seeing his room like this, he seems so human to you all of a sudden. He seems so… familiar to you.

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” His voice is amused, and you turn to face him with a blush. He is sitting down now, in one of the chairs that surrounds the tiny table, opposite another one for you to sit on. You mumble an apology and make your way to the seat, awkwardly perching yourself on the edge of it.

 “I like your room, Master Kenobi, it’s very… homely.” He smiles at your admission and gestures to your tea before taking a sip of his own.

“Thank you, Y/N. I like to have a place I enjoy spending time, I appreciate it when I return from long missions.” You hum at his response, letting out a pleased noise as you taste the tea he prepared. It is some sort of woodsy concoction, not what you’d usually go for, but it tastes like heaven on your tongue.

“So…” You clear your throat, the anticipation of this impending conversation almost killing you, “You wanted to talk to me, Master?”

“Ah yes, straight to it then?” He looks puzzled at first, as though he is unsure of how to approach the topic, before heaving a resigned sigh and placing his tea back onto the table with nary a drop spilt, “Y/N, you had so much potential. I chose you and Anakin to train under me because I saw something in the both of you. Anakin? He was hot headed, fueled by passion and rage and I thought it a good challenge to help him control it. You, on the other hand? You were quiet, reserved, overwhelmed by your shyness but absolutely simmering with potential. And we unlocked so much of it, did we not? You were excelling, even more so than Anakin. What happened, Y/N? You can’t expect me to believe that my best Padawan forgot everything she’d learnt overnight. No…” He leans forward now, not allowing your wide-eyed gaze to waver from his as he continues with his serious spiel, “You stopped trying, you gave up. I would like to know why, and you’re not leaving my quarters until you tell me. I’ve tried to be gentle with you, kind, but the council are threatening termination of your place in the Jedi temple.”

Silence descends on the tense room as your brain struggles to comprehend everything Obi-Wan just threw your way. Of course you knew the council weren’t happy with you, you’d seen the disapproving gazes from Mace Windu and Ki Adi-Mundi, but you never even considered it had reached the point that they were considering ending your training as a Jedi, and relieving you of your place in the temple.

The only sound that breaks the silence is your breathing getting quicker and quicker, until Obi-Wan realises he needs to try and calm you down. Your anxiety is so strong he feels as though it is hitting him, and he notices the way your eyes begin to well up, and you realise with a start that months and months of pent up emotions are making themselves known right now. Right here, in your Master’s quarters.

 Luckily, General Kenobi is a master at diffusing situations, and is quick to kneel in front of you, taking both of your hands in his and gazing up at you with those kind eyes of his.

“If nothing else, Y/N, a Padawan should be able to trust their Master. Can you trust me? Whatever the problem is, it will not leave this room. I give you my word.”

You know you shouldn’t tell him, for Jedi’s should not love, but you crumble the second his thumb brushes over the skin of your hand. At this moment, you want to be comforted, and not just by anyone, by Obi-Wan specifically.

“I love him, Obi-Wan. I love Anakin so much it hurts, but he doesn’t love me, he loves her.” You sob, tears spilling freely from your eyes as you avert them from his own. When you hesitantly look back towards him, you expect him to look shocked, angry, in disbelief. Rather, he just gives you a sad smile that conveys the fact that your admission was exactly what he had expected you to say to him.

Has Obi-Wan known about your feelings for Anakin this whole time?

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#obi wan x you #obi wan fanfiction #obi wan x reader #obi wan fluff #obi wan x oc #obi wan kenobi #obi wan kenobi x you #obi wan kenobi x ofc #obi wan kenobi x reader #star wars imagine #obi wan x y/n #obi wan kenobi x y/n

[pyrobane-fandom-space]

Significant Strides in Relations

Author: Merlyn Bane

Word Count: 10.3K (shut up, don't @ me okay)

Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi manages to catch the attention of his attache on a diplomatic mission.

Warnings: Adult Content™. Strong language, smut. Virgin!Obi I guess. Unprotected sex--wrap it up!

A/N: Did I come back from the dead just to post some completely self-indulgent bullshit? Yes I did. This is like 3.7K worth of smut with like 5K worth of justification and like 1K of Skywalker bullshit at the end and I'm not sorry about any of it. I would also just like to blame @no-droids and their Open Door series for giving me a Thing for Obi-Wan in the first place.

(gif found on google, not mine)

You want to fuck the Jedi.

And, yeah, sure, you feel a little bit bad about it. You know enough about the Order to know that that's something the Jedi don't do--if the poor man knew the direction your thoughts had taken, he'd probably be scandalized. You can clearly imagine his face turning, just, scarlet, especially because you do mean fuck. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi is visiting your planet on a diplomatic mission that you haven't been briefed on the particulars of, and you've been assigned to him as an attaché during his stay--tending to his needs, making sure he's comfortable while he's here. It's a function you've performed many, many times as part of your duties to the royal family, but Kenobi has been...particularly pleasant, to work with. The Jedi is kind, treats you like an equal even though you're technically working for him for the time being, and he's funny. You hadn't realized the Jedi were allowed a sense of humor, but Maker, this one is sarcastic, constantly teasing with a playful glint in his blue eyes that is...not helping you with the whole 'wanting to irredeemably corrupt him' problem that you're currently having. 

You show up at his quarters just before breakfast to collect him as you have for the last two days and he's already there waiting for you, opening the door just as you're coming to a stop in front of it.  Kenobi gives you a gracious smile as he steps into the hallway with you, letting the door slide closed behind him, and you return it before turning to start making your way to the dining hall. He falls in step next to you and despite the fact that he really isn't walking that close to you, you swear you can feel him there. "Good morning, young one." 

You snort softly, scrunching your nose up as you give him an unimpressed side-eye. "Young one? You realize I'm within five years of you? I think you spend too much time with your old padawan and not enough with your peers, Kenobi."

The Jedi chuckles next to you, looking suitably sheepish as he grins over at you. "My apologies, my lady," he says, and you can tell that he's teasing you lightly. You roll your eyes but don't correct him--no, instead you internalize it, and his innocent my lady gets cataloged away with the rest of the impure thoughts that have been plaguing you since you saw him in the great hall upon his arrival. "I meant no offense."

"None was taken."

The conversation sort of just...drifts off, and you take the time to study his features out of the corner of your eye while he's looking ahead. The Jedi is...handsome, and frankly you think it's very unfair of the Order to lock all of that up under a chastity vow. The lines of his face are classical, look like they could have been carved from marble--only accentuated by the scruff of the beard lining a jaw you kind of want to sink your teeth into. 

And, Maker. His eyes. The clearest crystal blue, like twin glaciers, piercing directly into your soul every time you meet them but...gentle. Always gentle. You know he's as talented a warrior as he is a negotiator, you've heard the stories, but you would never know it from his pretty eyes. 

"What are your plans for the day, Master Kenobi? Since there won't be any official matters taking place today." It's the third day of the week, and on your planet it is considered inappropriate to do such work then. Most of your people will be in services today, to include the royal family. You probably should be, but you had offered to stay behind and continue to assist the Jedi--you've never cared for such things, anyway, and you certainly think he makes for better company.

Kenobi turns his head just enough to give you a small smile before he looks forward again, humming softly as he considers his answer. "I will likely confer with the Council this afternoon, update them on how the negotiations are going. Perhaps I will take some time to meditate, as well. You may have most of the day to yourself." It's quiet for a moment, then: "And you may just call me Obi-Wan, if you wish."

Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan--

It does not escape your attention that this isn't an offer that was even extended to your employers, who he's supposed to be here on the sole purpose of brokering an agreement with. They've still been using titles with each other, you know they have. Fuck. "Obi-Wan," you repeat, hoping that it escapes his notice how much you find that you like the way it feels on your tongue. Obi-Wan. "If you find you have the time, later, maybe I could show you around a little more. There are some places on the palace grounds I think you might enjoy."

The Jedi hums again, and you can see that he's still smiling when you look over at him. "I will certainly keep that in mind."

You reach the dining hall only a few minutes later, and go your separate ways once you've gotten your food. You find a seat at one of the far tables tucked into a corner that's already populated by a couple of your fellow staff members, making sure to sit so that you're facing him so he can get your attention if he needs it. You're being elbowed almost the second your ass hits the seat, the girl to your left clearly desperate for whatever gossip she thinks you have as she leans in and whispers at you in hushed tones. 

"Maker, you've got a dreamy one. You're so lucky, I was assigned to--"

You're not even listening, not really--tuning her out while you tuck into your breakfast. You suppose you don't have any real right to be so annoyed with her, truthfully, given that you've been having similar thoughts about him yourself all morning and for most of the last couple of days, but you find that you are anyway. The girl doesn't even seem to realize that you're ignoring her, continuing to chatter at you until one of the other people at your table manages to redirect her attention, if not the subject. 

 You tell yourself that the reason your attention stays focused on the Jedi is in case he needs you for anything but you're not very convincing, even to yourself. Your mind wanders while you eat, formulating scenarios that all seem to end with Obi-Wan between your thighs. Most of these thoughts are generally nonsensical, idle flashes and half-strung together images, but some of them come through with alarming clarity. 

I want to suck his cock.

The Jedi suddenly chokes on whatever it is he's just eaten. 

You instinctively shift to stand up to try and help him but his companion is already there, smacking his back with more force than you think is probably necessary and laughing loudly enough that you can hear him from your table. Skywalker, you think his name is. He's still chuckling when they settle back down, despite the thoroughly unamused looks Obi-Wan is shooting him. You snort quietly to yourself and Skywalker turns his head to look at you like he can sense your eyes on them. Your eyes meet for a second, two, and then to your horror he winks at you.

Your stomach sinks. No. No, no. No. He's just winking at you because he caught you looking over at them, right? Jedi can't. Jedi can't read minds, right? Surely not. The younger Jedi raises an eyebrow at you, the edge of his lip curving into what can only be called a smirk, and you really. Just need the ground to open up and swallow you whole right here. Maker. You're going to have to work with Obi-Wan for the next couple of days--how the fuck are you supposed to look him in the eyes, now, knowing that he's heard you this entire time? 

 Breakfast passes both entirely too quickly and not near quickly enough, and before you know it, both Jedi are getting to their feet. You curse quietly under your breath and stand yourself, disposing of your tray before you manage to make yourself walk back over to join them. You still have a job to do, regardless of whether or not you want to dig yourself a nice deep hole to die in right now. You do your best to force a smile once you reach them, really trying your absolute hardest to pretend that none of...that, had just happened. Like you haven't been caught lusting over Obi-Wan fucking Kenobi by the man himself. 

Skywalker is the first to speak, that Maker-forsaken grin still plastered firmly in place on his face when he does. "Hello,"

You think he's having entirely too much fucking fun with this, frankly. 

Obi-Wan seems to agree with you, if the look he gives his companion then is anything to go by. You swallow, doing your best to reign in your composure as you raise a hand to wave at him in response before turning back to the man you're supposed to be assisting. "Are you--" you pause, clearing your throat before continuing. "Are you ready to return to your rooms?"

Maker. Maker. Why did you have to say--

"Quite," Obi-Wan answers before you can stutter out an apology, giving Skywalker what can only be described as a warning look before he turns back to follow you. Your gaze stays all but permanently affixed to the floor as you start making your way down the hall, the only thing indicating that he's still beside you the sound of his boots on the tile. 

You can feel his eyes on you when you reach his door but you still can't bring yourself to meet them, clearing your throat awkwardly and folding your hands behind your back in a bid to stop yourself from picking at your thumbnail from the nervous energy that's suddenly coursing through your body. "I. I hope you have a pleasant rest of your day," you manage to stutter out, taking your leave before he can say anything to stop you.

You end up having a couple of hours to yourself to stew in the privacy of your own room before anyone comes for you. 

You groan quietly when you hear the knock at your door but haul yourself to your feet and make your way over anyway, pushing your hair out of your face. You frown minutely when you find one of your coworkers standing there. Kaljova--she's assigned to Skywalker, if you recall correctly. She seems vaguely concerned with the state you're in but is kind enough not to comment on it, giving you a polite smile instead. "Master Kenobi has asked for you," Kaljova tells you, and has the grace to pretend to not notice the way your face falls with it. 

"Do you know what he needs?" you ask her, blessedly managing to keep your voice even. You reach down to grab your cloak from the table by your door and tie it around your shoulders without waiting for her to actually answer, stepping out into the hallway and letting your door close behind you. 

She shakes her head, shrugging a little bit. "Master Skywalker didn't say, I'm sorry."

You shake your head, sighing softly but giving her a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay. Thank you for letting me know."

She returns your smile and nods once before she turns around and leaves you to your own devices again. You groan quietly, pinching the bridge of your nose as you work up the nerve to actually make your way to the visiting diplomat wing where you know he's waiting for you. It takes you a couple of minutes but you do manage to make your feet move eventually and they carry you there far faster than you'd have liked them to. 

You swallow harshly and close your eyes for a second before reaching up to knock on his door, bracing yourself. Maker, he probably wants to talk about it, clear the air or whatever, and you are just...absolutely not even a little bit equipped to deal with that right now, frankly. You're able to school your features as the door slides open but just barely, and you stop breathing altogether when you look up and meet those pretty blue eyes. 

And he seems...surprised to see you. 

That kriffing--

"You...didn't send for me, did you?"

Obi-Wan shakes his head, looking more confused if possible, and you just sigh quietly, giving him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I think there was a...miscommunication." And I'm going to kill your fucking padawan. "I'll just--I'll just go." You raise a hand in a very awkward not-wave and turn on your heel to go, but then.

The Jedi gently grabs you by the elbow, and everything stops for a moment. 

Goddammit.

"Wait," Obi-Wan says, softly--like he's trying not to spook you. You take a deep, stuttering breath, and sigh it out, relaxing where you stand as you give up on getting out of this. "I believe...it would be a good idea, if we talked."

Yeah, that's. That's pretty much what you figured, unfortunately. 

"I'm very sorry, if I made you uncomfortable, I...I didn't know you could--" Didn't know you could hear me. 

"I know," he tells you, just as gently as before, and you reluctantly turn just enough to be able to face him. His eyes are soft when they regard you, and you find your breathing evening out despite yourself--wondering idly how much of it is actively his doing. "Just...come inside. Please."

You can't find it in yourself to deny him so you nod, letting him lead you into the room and trying to pretend that you can't feel your heart stop when the door slides shut behind you. Obi-Wan seems to notice you not knowing what to do with yourself because he gestures to one of the chairs in the sitting area, sitting down in the one opposite it once you're settled. It's quiet for a moment as both of you seem to search for the right words. 

"I would like to begin by apologizing for Anakin," he says finally, and you snort as the words register.  He gives you a wry smile in return, and continues. "He means well, but he can be...thoughtless, in his humor, at times. Particularly when it is at my expense."

"He sounds like he must have been a joy to train."

That earns you an almost startled sounding laugh out of the Jedi, which manages to get a real smile out of you. "I fear he may have also misled you, to an extent." He tells you, not quite meeting your eyes now as he scratches at his beard. You give him a questioning look and he sighs softly, leaning back in his chair. "We...can hear thoughts, but only if we go looking and it is considered very inappropriate to do so without reason."

You feel your eyebrows knit together in confusion, then, and you tilt your head at him. "But you…?"

Obi-Wan winces, and nods. "You may have...projected, this morning, inadvertently. It was...rather loud, and my guards were not as firmly in place as they probably should have been."

Oh. So you'd shouted it at him, then. Great. "Oh."

"I had...gotten a sense of the direction of your thoughts, before that, but you were acting very professionally so thought it best to pay it no mind."

That's...very kind of him, actually, to have simply ignored it even though it must have made him uncomfortable, especially when he so easily could have just told you to knock it off or requested a different attache. You clear your throat, finding yourself picking at your thumbnail again. "I appreciate that."

"You needn't be embarrassed, you know." the Jedi murmurs softly, and you look up to meet his gaze despite yourself. He smiles at you a little bit, then, and it brings something very warm into those blue eyes of his that almost makes you just a little lightheaded. "These things happen. You're only human, you can't be expected to have complete control of your thoughts all the time."

"You do," you point out, just because you feel the need to. "Jedi do. So I'm told."

"We spend our whole lives learning to try." he amends, and there's something so human in the way that he grins that suddenly, all you want to do is lean over and kiss him. "It is a constant exercise, not a skill that can be mastered."

"Still. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable this week."

"Uncomfortable might not be the right word for it, speaking truthfully," Obi-Wan admits, so quietly that you're almost not even sure he's really said it at all. And--Maker, is he implying what it sounds like he's implying? You know your eyes must be just about bugging out of your head with the shock but he mercifully either doesn't notice or pretends not to, scratching at his beard again as he seems to consider his next words, and you...really need him to stop doing that. It's becoming hard enough to maintain your focus as it is. "There were times where I was perhaps...tempted."

You stare at him, blankly, blinking slowly as the words process. Tempted tempted tempted-- "I thought Jedi couldn't…"

Obi-Wan clears his throat, and suddenly he's the one looking unsettled. "Technically, the Code prohibits intimacy, attachment. It...says nothing about the act itself."

Oh. Oh.  

You're still staring at him, just completely dumbstruck, so the Jedi seems to decide to take it upon himself to continue talking and fill the space. "For most of us it ends with the same result, functionally, but. Technically." 

Maker, get it together. You feel like you're on a several second delay, having great difficulty processing this new information, let alone giving him the verbal response to it that he's clearly waiting for, now. "Have you--"

"Almost. Once. When I was a padawan myself. My master and I were stationed on Mandalore at the time, assigned to protect the Duchess." 

You're grinning, now, you can feel it tugging at the edges of your mouth. Maker, you suddenly need to know this story like you need to breathe. "What happened?"

Stars, you swear you can see the tips of his ears turn red. "Qui-Gon caught us. It has...certainly dissuaded me from making any attempts since."

You laugh. You can't help it. Suddenly you're laughing so hard it nearly hurts, grasping your middle with one hand while wiping tears from your eyes with the other. You would feel worse about it if Obi-Wan didn't look so amused himself. "Oh, you poor thing." you snort before your brain can catch up with your mouth, and you feel your own face heat when you realize the implication of what you've just said to him. Way to go, Ace. 

Except...he's still grinning at you, amusement dancing in those blue eyes, and all the air seems to rush out of the room when they lock on your own. Kriff. "Are you suggesting that I'm missing out, then?"

He's teasing you, the bastard, and all of sudden it makes you feel bold. You lean forward in your chair, then, resting your elbows on your knees as you encroach on his space and pull your lower lip between your teeth.. "I'm not suggesting anything, Master Kenobi," you all but purr at him, "but should you be interested in finding out for yourself…"

The offer hangs in the air between you, then, like a lit fuse while you just stare at each other, both waiting to see if the other will make the next move.  

"And what might this...demonstration...entail?"

"Nothing you aren't completely on board with," you tell him immediately, because if this happens--Maker, if--it is absolutely imperative to you that he enjoys himself just as much as you do. Which...gives you an idea, actually. "I make sure my partners have a good time. Haven't done my job if they don't."

Fuck, the Jedi's eyes are blown. His pupils have nearly overtaken those pretty blue irises and it makes your breath catch with how much you want to ruin him. You can feel the tension rising in the room between you, feeding on and feeding into your arousal in a vicious cycle. He swallows, and you watch his Adam's apple bob with it and narrowly resist the urge to bite him. "Oh?"

Kriff, you need to leave before you fuck him right here and ruin your plans. You give him a small, soft smile and stand, padding over to him. His eyes track each movement, his head tilting back to gaze up at you when you come to stand between his knees, and you can see how ragged his breathing's gone at the sudden proximity. You reach out and let your palm wrap around the line of his jaw, your fingernails scratching lightly through the coarse hairs of his beard, and the Jedi's eyes fall closed before you even lean in. He gasps when your mouth brushes against his own, the faintest whisper of a kiss, and your smile widens. "I think, that you deserve to be seduced properly, Obi-Wan," you breathe. "I'm not going to fuck you, Baby, not just yet. When you really want it--then I'll give it to you."

 It takes several seconds before he's able to get words out again, and when he does you can barely hear what he's saying from the rasp in them. "I think, my lady," he pants, "that you are being exceedingly cruel."

You chuckle softly, letting your thumb brush across his lower lip before you straighten up and take a step back, ignoring the almost whine that escapes his throat when you do. "Perhaps."

For the rest of the evening, you act as normal--as if none of the events of the day had taken place. You meet with Obi-Wan and escort him to the dining hall for dinner as usual and go your separate ways once your trays are piled high. You do your best to resist the urge to glare daggers at the other Jedi, particularly when he grins and waves at you, but you are able to content yourself with the sharp look Obi-Wan gives him for it as he sits down. Dinner is uneventful despite Skywalker's best efforts, and passes quickly. You give Obi-Wan this time to...come down, essentially, to gather his wits back about him before you really set your plans into motion in the morning. You had left the Jedi absolutely wrecked this afternoon, and not only do you think it would be just a little unfair to begin your seduction in such a state, you're a little concerned that you might actually kill him if you overwhelm him so much all at once. So, you give him time to breathe. 

Or at least, that is your intent. 

The sudden drop almost seems to have the opposite effect. Obi-Wan's composure is, outwardly, as impeccable as always. No-one but you and Skywalker--you're sure--would be able to tell that anything's up. The only reason you do is because you still can't take your eyes off him so you notice the way his haven't left you, either. And, Maker, the way he looks at you. You almost want to give in, drag him back to his rooms now, but. You meant it earlier, when you said you thought he deserved better than that. The concept of virginity as a special thing is not one you've ever particularly put much stock in, yourself, but you know that this is, will be, a big deal for him whether he's willing to admit it or not. You want to give him at least this much. He might not be allowed true intimacy or emotional attachment, but that doesn't mean the sex has to be careless. You meant it, when you told him that you take care of your partners.  

The next day, you start slow. Obi-Wan is actually fairly busy with the diplomatic mission he'd been sent here on in the first place, which makes that relatively simple. The only time you really get with him that morning is when you're escorting him to and from meetings, so you spend that time finding excuses to touch him. Subtle things, like adjusting already-straight the collar of his robes. 

"Good morning, Obi-Wan," 

The Jedi steps out into the hall with you and lets the door close behind him, returning your greeting with an easy grin that makes your heart skip a beat. "Good morning. Where are we off too?"

"You have a meeting with the Chancellor, first. It'll be long and likely boring assuming Skywalker behaves himself, but productive." You give him a soft smile, stepping forward and looking up at him from under your lashes. He watches you intently, almost seeming to stop breathing for a second when you reach up and adjust the tan collar of his robes, your fingertips brushing lightly against the skin of his throat when you do. You let the moment linger a second longer than it needs to before you step back to a respectful distance and nod down the hallway. "Shall we?"

Brushing his hair out of his face when it's fallen into his eyes.

Obi-Wan looks about as tired as you expect him to when he comes out of his meeting a couple of hours later but he has a small smile for you when he sees you waiting for him in the hallway anyway. Skywalker follows him through the door seconds later but barely pays either of you any mind, grumbling something about breakfast as he follows Kaljova down the hall. The two of you stand there for another moment, glancing at each other and chuckling at the younger Jedi's irritation, and you notice idly that some of his blond hair's managed to fall out of place. You reach up to brush it back out of his eyes and bite your lip when they zero in on your own, and you find yourself leaning in further before you can stop yourself only for you to jump apart when the door slides open again. The Chancellor gives you both a polite nod as he takes his leave, completely unaware of what he'd interrupted, and you have to shake your head to clear it once he's out of sight. You can still feel the Jedi's eyes on you when you turn to make your way to the dining hall.

It continues this way, more or less, until lunch, when you decide to kick it up a notch going into the afternoon. You remember what he told you about being able to pick up on your feelings, at least in a general sense, whether he went looking for them or not so you decide to lean into that and let your mind run wild with the things you want to do to him. You're careful not to project any particulars at him this time but you can tell that he definitely takes notice when you start letting your thoughts wander. 

You're still sitting in the dining hall at your separate tables, and you smirk lightly when his eyes snap up, watching them narrow when he realizes what you're doing. You maintain that eye contact shamelessly, pulling your lower lip between your teeth as you try to imagine what's waiting for you underneath those robes. Skywalker's glancing back and forth between you and grinning but Obi-Wan ignores him completely, raising an eyebrow in your direction that you merely shrug at. You see him shift slightly in his seat after a little while of this and decide to lay off a bit--for now, at least. 

Obi-Wan has to consult with the Jedi Council after lunch so you decide to have some mercy on him immediately leading up to that and take a break from your little game. You're sure he's still aware of the arousal boiling low in your belly while you walk him back to his rooms after lunch but you're not actively focusing on it now, letting yourself relax and the Jedi by extension. 

It's during dinner that evening that you really kick it into high gear. 

You're not even fully sure this is going to work, since you've only ever done it once and by accident, but watching Obi-Wan converse with Skywalker at their table, you know you want to try. So you focus your attention on the Jedi, and hone in on the thought of what you think it might be like to kiss him until you see him stiffen and you know he's got it. You keep going, feeding him different images that only grow more explicit as you grow bolder. Sucking and biting bruises into the skin of his throat and chest while you grind down against his cock. Looking right into his pretty blue eyes while you stroke that cock, watching him come apart when you finally take it into your mouth like you've wanted to do practically since you laid eyes on him. Riding him, burying your hands in his hair and swallowing his moans while you bounce in his lap. 

Obi-Wan grits his teeth across the dining hall, gripping the edge of the table he's sitting at tightly and pointedly not looking at you while he tries to regain control of his breathing. Skywalker is staring at you, wide-eyed and slack-jawed in total shock, and you only smirk back at him in response as you let the projection drop. You didn't necessarily want the other Jedi to see those things, truthfully, but you don't know how to control the projection well enough to block him out and he's been enough of a dick about the whole thing this week that you really don't feel all that badly about the fact that he looks like he kind of wants to bleach his brain, now. 

You simply go back to your meal once you've dropped the projection, though you can't help the small grin that stays plastered on your face. The next few minutes pass that way, but then.

But then.

Well, projection goes both ways.

It feels sort of like a tickle, at first, at the edge of your mind--easily ignored. Then it turns into a gentle prodding, and when you look up to confirm your suspicions, his blue eyes are locked firmly on yours and it takes your breath away. He's...being remarkably gentle with you, knowing that no-one's ever been in your head before like this, waiting for you to relax and let him in in a complete roll reversal that shocks you. You barely manage to contain the gasp when you do, because he's suddenly pushing images back at you. Obi-Wan thinks back to how your fingers had felt in his hair this morning, and then reimagines that feeling with you in his lap, tangled in his hair while you kiss him. Then, fuck. With his head between your thighs. He stops and focuses in on this one, imagining as many details as he can manage as he pushes it to you. Your hands pulling on the blond strands while his grip your thighs, holding you open as his tongue laves through the folds of your cunt. 

The moment feels like a tipping point, and both of you know exactly what is going to happen once this meal is over. 

You're so pent up and aroused when it's finally time to leave that you're lightheaded with it but somehow you manage to get to your feet anyway, and thankfully you don't end up having to deal with Skywalker at all because Obi-Wan is out of his seat first this time and meets you halfway. There's something in the air between you, something tense and charged, and you know you need to get him back to his rooms now. He seems to be on the same page because he wastes no time in following you out of the dining hall, and his strides are longer enough than usual that you actually struggle just a little bit to keep up. 

And there's something so…juvenile about this, rushing off and sneaking around, but it's...fun. You feel almost like a teenager again, truthfully, so eager to get him alone somewhere private so you can get your hands on him that you're all but running down the hallway to get there. 

You're on the Jedi the moment the door closes behind you but he's right there with you, pulling you in for a kiss that's all enthusiasm and little finesse but heats your blood anyway. Your fingers tangle in his hair as you tug him closer and he moans with it, his own hands finding your face and framing it gently. You run the tip of your tongue along his lower lip and press forward when his mouth opens into it on a gasp, licking into his mouth until he has to pull away to breathe. 

Maker, he already looks a mess; beautifully flushed with his hair all askew and his pupils blown wide. It makes you want to do, just, unspeakable things, but you know you still have to take your time and ease him into it or this will all be over too fast and you can't have that.  

"Go...go sit on the bed," you murmur, putting a hand on his chest as you step back and take a second to try and get your wits back about you. "Take your boots off. And your cloak."

And, Kriff, he does it immediately, nodding at you with that just fucking wrecked look in his eyes before he turns to do exactly what you told him, laying his cloak over the back of one of the chairs and padding over to the bed where he sits on the edge before leaning over to take his boots off. You watch him the whole time, almost high on the heady feeling that comes with this hyper-competent Jedi Master doing whatever you tell him to. 

You take your time in joining him, partially to tease and partially just because you need those extra few moments. His eyes track every movement as you remove your own cloak, laying it next to his as you toe your shoes off, and you give him a small smile as you make your way over to the bed. Obi-Wan's breath hitches when you climb up onto it and seems to stop altogether when you carefully settle yourself on his lap, his hands fisting at his sides until you reach down to take them gently and guide them to your waist. "You can touch me," you purr, running your nose along the line of his jaw and grinning to yourself when his grip suddenly tightens with it. "It's encouraged, in fact."

He snorts quietly, so breathily that you almost miss it, and starts rubbing circles into your sides with his thumbs. "Noted," he rasps, and you grin wider before you press a kiss just under his jaw. The Jedi shivers with it and the reaction emboldens you so you continue downward, pressing kisses along his skin until you reach the collar of his robe and then you're working at the belt of his robes, eager to get at more of his skin. Obi-Wan seems to still have enough presence of mind to help you, shrugging out of the first two layers once you're able to get them open and discarding them to the side carelessly. You reluctantly have to pull back so you can yank his undershirt over his head but then his whole torso is exposed for your viewing pleasure, so you decide you're alright with the short interruption. 

"See something you like?" Obi-Wan quips breathlessly after a few seconds of you shamelessly studying every line and pane of his chest and you only smirk at him an answer, leaning back in his lap to get a better view and darting your tongue out to wet your lower lip. 

"What are the odds of anyone seeing you without the robes?"

His eyebrows knit together momentarily like he doesn't know what you're asking, but he seems to put the pieces together when you suddenly duck back down and lick a broad stripe along the line of his collarbone. His hips jerk up with a broken moan before he's able to manage an answer, his head tilting back and further exposing his throat. "Un-unlikely," he gasps out, and you're grinning again as you start pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses lower until you find a spot on his pec that pleases you and you stop and suck. The Jedi gasps raggedly, his fingers digging into your waist as he tries to ground himself, but you don't stop until you know a bruise will bloom there. "Something to remember you by?" he hisses, and you chuckle softly as you trace the round little blemish with the tip of your finger. 

"Oh, Baby, I don't think you're going to have any difficulty with that with or without a few little...reminders." 

Obi-Wan moans again, low in his throat, when you start pressing a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses down his chest, gasping out and trembling the first time you let him feel teeth. His hips buck again and then it's your turn to gasp when his cock rubs right up against your cunt--already so, so hard. And, Maker, it is not a small bulge. What's he hiding under all of those neutral fabrics? You leave a meandering line of bites and hickeys all the way down his chest, ignoring the way he whines when you shift back off of his lap so you can continue down to his stomach. He leans back on his palms, then, watching you intently with dark eyes that make your pussy clench between your thighs, and his breath catches in his throat when your hands find the ties of his trousers. "What are you--"

"Told you I wanted to suck your cock," you remind him, biting your lip as you start undoing them--slowly enough to give him ample opportunity to stop you if he wants. "That alright with you?"

The Jedi nods mutely, suddenly seeming at a loss for words, and you smirk as you sit back on your knees and start pulling them down his thighs until he springs free, and--

Kriff--how fucking dare the Order deprive the galaxy of this magnificent cock? 

He's not the longest you've ever seen, per se, but he's thick enough that you almost wonder how you're going to take this thing and beautifully flushed, with defined veins that you just know are going to feel incredible inside you. You lean in to lick a stripe right up the underside of it before you can stop yourself and Obi-Wan cries out at the sudden stimulation and shakes, falling backwards onto his back. You moan softly at the response you pull out of him and lean up until you're able to take the head into your mouth, watching as he squeezes his eyes shut and grips the bedspread until his knuckles go white and unravels. "Watch me," you tell him, taking him in your palm and pumping slowly while you wait for him to respond, "Wanna see those pretty blue eyes."

He forces them open just like you told him to, keeping them trained on you as he bites down on his lower lip and takes a shaky breath and you take him into your mouth again, satisfied. He cries out again but a little quieter this time, and you hum around his cock as you start bobbing up and down on it slowly, almost teasingly so, holding his hips down as best you can so you control the pace. You definitely want to feel him come down the back of your throat at some point, but this isn't the time for that. You have every intent of him coming buried deep inside you tonight. 

It becomes something of a game, figuring out exactly what he likes. Hollowing your cheeks to make your mouth tighter around him and moaning until he gasps. Teasing the slit at the top with the very tip of your tongue until you swear you hear him curse. And then you take him to the root.

And, Maker, he swears when he bottoms out and it shouldn't be so insanely hot hearing those words come from this ordinarily so well put-together Jedi but it is. You realize how close he's approaching his end so you reluctantly pull off of his cock, then, ignoring the whine that escapes from high in his throat when you do so. You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand while you try and catch your breath, which is not made any easier by the way he's looking at you. You know you must look just as wrecked as he does, now, all flushed skin and swollen lips, but if you didn't know better you would genuinely think the man was about to eat you alive. "I think, my lady," he rasps finally, after several seconds of staring at each other, "that you may be slightly overdressed."

Kriff. You glance down at the tunic and trousers that you are, in fact, still wearing, before looking up to meet his eyes again. You maintain that eye contact as you sit back up on your knees, pulling your lower lip between your teeth as you slowly start undoing the laces holding the top closed. Obi-Wan watches each movement like it's the most mesmerizing thing he's ever seen, pupils blown so wide they've almost completely obscured the blue. He groans quietly when the tunic slips from your shoulders, his tongue darting out to wet his lower lip when your breasts come into full view. "Is that better?"

He shakes his head mutely, swallowing harshly as he seems to try to gather the words. "I want--may I--kriff, lay back. Please." His gaze follows you closely as you slowly lower yourself down onto your elbows, intensely curious what he's about to do. The Jedi takes a deep breath like he's steeling himself and then he's shifting forward until his body stretches over top of yours, kicking his trousers the rest of the way off in the process, and it's your turn to gasp when you feel his lips brush against the underside of your jaw. He's holding himself up enough that you can't necessarily feel him press against you, but Maker, you can certainly feel the heat coming off of him and his warm breath against your throat. "I believe it's my turn," he murmurs by way of explanation, chuckling softly when your next breath comes out ragged.

"You don't--you don't have to do that," you moan, and Stars--you mean it, you do, especially this first time, but you will be just absolutely fucking inconsolable if he changes his mind right now especially after he went and put the fucking image in your head during dinner earlier. 

He doesn't grace that with a verbal response but you're hardly complaining because he starts trailing kisses down the side of your neck instead, and Maker he must have been paying attention when you were doing this to him because you swear he's replicating the technique. "Tell me what you want," he murmurs lowly into the skin of your throat before nipping at it experimentally, listening to you gasp as he keeps talking. "Tell me how to please you, Darling."

His fingers find your nipple before you're able to even begin trying to formulate words and you cry out at the sudden stimulation, arching up into it. "F-Fuck, you're doing a pretty kriffing decent job already," you pant and he chuckles again, running his tongue along your collarbone like you'd done to him and moaning when he gets another ragged gasp for it. "Maker.  U-Use your m-mouth,"

You think for a second that he's going to make some smartass comment about how he already is, but mercifully Obi-Wan seems to know what you're asking him for and decides to be kind about it. He continues exploring your breasts with his hand while he returns his mouth to your throat, licking and sucking his way down the column of it until he reaches your sternum where he stops to suck a bruise into the skin. He gets you so worked up by the time he reaches your breasts that you almost don't realize how close he's gotten until those blue eyes are flickering up to meet yours and he's taking your nipple into the blazing hot cavern of his mouth. You open your mouth on a wordless shout and start to writhe under him but he's right there, both hands coming down to your hips to hold you in place as he laves his tongue around the stiffening peak. Obi-Wan focuses his attention on your breast until you're whimpering and then switches to the other, moaning around your nipple when your fingers tangle in his hair. 

"You like that, don't you?" you purr down at him, watching the Jedi through half-lidded eyes as he moans again in an affirmative. You pull, then, gently--experimentally, seeing if it's something he'll even like, and then he. Fucking bites you. "Fuck, Obi-Wan!" 

"About as much as you liked that," the asshole grins at you impishly as he pulls away from your breast, leaning in to kiss you before you can call him on it. His hands find the top of your trousers once you relax into it, and he leans back to look at you as his fingers dip into the waistband. "May I?"

He starts pulling them down as soon as you nod your consent, sitting back and watching as every inch of skin is revealed until he's removed them completely and he tosses them to the side with the rest of your clothes, leaving you totally bare in front of him. Obi-Wan just...sits there for a moment, taking you in, and you let him, relaxing back against the mattress and smiling up at him. 

"Beautiful," he breathes finally, returning your smile with a small one of his own before he's shifting down, keeping his eyes on yours as his lips brush against your hip. He reaches forward and runs one finger through the lips of your cunt lightly, almost teasingly, watching you gasp and try to grind down into it. "Would you like it if I tasted you here, Darling?" Obi-Wan hums, continuing to press kisses along your hip and the insides of your thighs while he waits for an answer and, Maker, the coarseness of his beard against the sensitive skin there robs you of all conscious thought. All you're able to manage is a nod because you're so strung out and you need him there right now but that seems to be enough for him because he starts leaning in, one hand on each of your thighs as he licks a broad stripe right through your cunt. 

Stars, you can't even form the words right now to talk him through this like he'd asked, but he...doesn't actually really seem to need your help, here. The Jedi focuses in on your clit right away, swirling his tongue around the little bud before he sucks it into the wet heat of his mouth and you nearly sob at how good it feels. "D-Doing so good, Baby," you manage to get out, and the words almost come out as more of a mewl as he hums around your clit, sending jolts right through you. 

You whine in protest when his mouth leaves your clit but his thumb replaces it soon after, rubbing slow circles around it like he's trying to drive you insane on purpose. And then, Maker, his tongue dips into your entrance, licking up inside you while all you can do is sob your pleasure into the air. He keeps going this way for several minutes, steadily working you higher and higher with his tongue buried in your cunt and his thumb strumming your clit until your thighs start to tremble and you feel that coil inside you start to wind tighter. Obi-Wan moans between your legs as when he realizes you're approaching your end and steps up his ministrations, his thumb picking up speed until your back arches underneath him. The orgasm burns its way through you, slow but intense, until you're nearly cross-eyed and delirious with it and he keeps working you through it until you're shaking with overstimulation and pushing his head away. 

The Jedi goes willingly when you push him back into a seated position once you've managed to regain your bearings, and Maker, he's a sight like this; his hair just hopelessly disheveled from your fingers in it and your slick coating his chin and kiss-swollen lips. You take a moment to just look at him, committing this image to memory for all of those nights after he leaves when you know you'll look back and picture this with your hand between your thighs. His hands find your hips as you crawl into his lap and settle there, squeezing gently and letting out a soft moan when you lean in to kiss him. Obi-Wan is the one that licks into your mouth this time, mimicking the way your tongue had tangled with his at the start of this until you're moaning into it. 

He gasps into the kiss when you reach down between you to take his cock in your hand, stroking it slowly while you shift in his lap and Stars, you swear the Jedi underneath you stops breathing entirely when you line him up and the head of his cock presses right up against your entrance. "Maker, please," he begs then on a broken moan, pulling out of the kiss to catch his breath but leaving his forehead pressed up against yours. He opens his eyes to hold your gaze intently as you start to sink down onto him, crying out at the fucking stretch of it. You take your time taking his cock, both for his benefit and your own, and the slow intrusion into your cunt has you shaking before he even bottoms out. 

"Fuck, you feel so f-fucking good," 

And it does. You have to take a minute to adjust once you've taken him to the root before you can move, gripping his shoulders tightly in an attempt to ground yourself, and his hands tighten on your hips in response. The Jedi looks like he might implode if you don't move so you take pity on him, sweeping him into another heated kiss as you roll your hips forward and swallowing his ragged gasp that escapes his throat. You keep the pace slow at first, steady, working yourself open and easing him into the motion and the way your pussy feels wrapped around his cock, and you manage to keep that pace for a few minutes until it becomes too much for both of you.

Obi-Wan's hips buck up at the same time your hips rock forward and you choke on a loud cry, throwing your head back when the head of his cock suddenly hits you right in the sweet spot. He seems to realize that you liked it because he does it again and again, his hands suddenly becoming vices around your hips as he starts thrusting up into you. You keep bouncing in his lap as best you can with his hold on you, meeting him thrust for thrust and Maker, nothing you'd imagined has anything on this. You bury your face in the side of his neck in a pitiful attempt to muffle the sounds that are leaving your throat, sucking and biting at the skin you find there and enjoying the moans you get out of him in return.  

You suddenly find yourself on your back with the Jedi above you, swallowing down the gasp that tears out of you as he claims your mouth in a searing kiss. Obi-Wan starts thrusting again immediately as he lets instinct take over, leaning forward on his elbow next to your head to give him better leverage. You nibble on his lower lip as you bring your legs up around his waist, gasping into his mouth when he fucking growls at the feel of your teeth and knotting your fingers in the strands of his hair again. His free hand comes up to cup the side of your face, holding you in place while he kisses the breath from your lungs. 

You're not going to last much longer, if the way your cunt is already starting to tighten around him is anything to go by. He shifts his hips just slightly, down and to the side, and you almost scream when he manages to find an angle that has the head of his cock hitting your sweet spot straight on at the same time as the warm skin of his torso brushes against your clit on each thrust in. Fuck, fuck, fuck, how did he get the hang of this so fast? He's going to kriffing kill you, if he keeps this up. "Stars, Obi," you sob out, "I'm gonna--"

The Jedi presses one last firm kiss to your mouth before he's pulling back to watch you fall apart, his hand leaving your face and moving down your body until he's stroking your aching clit with his thumb again, rubbing it in fast, small circles like he's learned you like it as he continues fucking into you like it's the last thing he'll ever do. "Right behind you, Darling," he grits out, his voice coming strained and wrecked and you know he means it. It only takes one, two, three more thrusts before you just fucking shatter, crying out into the air and trembling as the orgasm obliterates you. He follows not half a dozen thrusts later, burying his face in your neck and gasping as he fills you with everything he has, his hips still pumping lazily as he comes down. 

Eventually, the Jedi collapses down on the bed next to you, reaching over to brush some of the hair out of your face and giving you a dopey grin that's such a wild juxtaposition from his usual composure and his reputation that it makes you giggle, unable to help yourself. He raises an eyebrow at you playfully but it only makes you laugh harder, shaking your head. "Maker," you breathe, finally, because you can't seem to string together anything else. Obi-Wan chuckles next to you and reaches over to pull you back into his chest, burying his face in your hair while he tries to catch his own breath. "You are...a very quick study. Maker."

You can't see him grin, but you can hear it in his voice when he speaks again. "I'm glad you're pleased," he teases, and you only roll your eyes before letting yourself fully relax against him. Your eyes start to droop but you don't have the energy to fight to keep them open, and you end up falling asleep right there in his arms.

He lets you.

You wake up the next morning almost unbearably warm, and when you go to try and sit up, you find that you can't. You freeze as a half-baked realization suddenly comes over you, hesitantly cracking your eyes open.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Oh, kriff. 

You fell asleep here last night. In the Jedi's bed. With the Jedi. He, it turns out, is the reason that you can't move. Obi-Wan's got both arms wrapped tightly around your middle, holding you against his chest with his legs tangled up with yours, and Maker you would never have pegged this man for a cuddler but you couldn't be more wrong, apparently. It does, however, create quite an interesting problem for you.

This is his last morning here before he leaves to return to Coruscant. He and Skywalker are supposed to leave early, before even breakfast. Skywalker will, doubtlessly, be coming around to see what's what's holding his old master up, and soon--and you are still here. 

Where you are. Definitely. Not supposed to be.

You don't know how much time you have but you know that it isn't much. You have got to get out of here before Obi-Wan's pain in the ass prior padawan shows up, and the Jedi looks so peaceful like this that you kind of wish you could just let him sleep but you really don't want to just sneak out on him after last night. So you sigh, reaching up to shake his shoulder gently. "Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, we have to get up."

It doesn't take much to wake him, thankfully, and he lets go of you to prop himself up on his elbow as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "What's wrong?" he asks, his voice still hoarse from sleep as he peers down at you, not quite as surprised to see you there as you'd have maybe expected him to be. 

You don't even get a chance to answer him because there's suddenly a knock on the door, and both of your eyes widen at it. Skywalker. "Obi-Wan?"

Fuck, fuck, fuck, where the fuck are your clothes? You're out of the bed before Obi-Wan even has a chance to stop you, frantically trying to find your clothes and put them on. You toss his trousers at his chest when you come across them and that seems to be what finally spurs him into motion, standing up so he can get them on as he calls back to the other Jedi. "What is it, Anakin?"

There's a moment of confused silence, then: "Cody's landing the transport now."

Obi-Wan opens his mouth like he's about to tell his old padawan that he'll be out momentarily, but doesn't get a chance to get the actual words out before you both hear the hiss of the door starting to slide open. Thank the Maker, you just manage to get your tunic back on before Skywalker comes into sight, and you do your best to try to look fucking normal as his eyes flicker between you but your heart fucking stops when you glance to the left of you and realize that Obi-Wan still isn't wearing a fucking shirt. His entire chest is exposed, which means that all of the marks you left scattered across it are also exposed. Fuck, fuck, fuck--

"I'll just. I'll just see you on the transport."

Skywalker is gone before either of you can react, the door sliding shut behind him. Your next breath leaves your lungs with enough force that it's almost a wheeze, and you have to bend over and put your hands on your knees for a second while you try to process what the fuck just happened. Obi-Wan blinks next to you, looking directly ahead for a second or two more before he suddenly starts chuckling, and you stare at him incredulously. "I'm sorry," he says finally, "That was just…"

You're laughing too, then, shaking your head as you step back over to him, ducking down to grab his shirt from where you can see it on the floor. You place the fabric in his hands and lean up on your toes to press a light kiss to his cheek, giving him a small smile. "Until next time, Master Kenobi?"

He gives you a small smile in return, and surprises you a little bit when he leans in himself and presses a soft kiss to your lips. "Until next time."

Mercifully, no-one questions him when Obi-Wan finally makes it to the transport. He intentionally doesn't look at Anakin even though he can feel the other man's eyes on him as he finds his seat and sits down, straightening his robes. He finds it difficult to keep the smile completely off his face so he just ducks his head instead in the guise of settling in for the flight and studiously ignores the way Anakin is still staring at him. 

"How was your trip, General?" Cody asks, leaning around in the pilot's seat to look back at him once they've left the planet's atmosphere. Obi-Wan opens his mouth to answer but Anakin's there first, suddenly grinning ear-to-ear in a way that makes him distinctly uncomfortable. 

"Oh, the General had a wonderful time." the younger man drawls, looking him right in the eyes as he does, and Obi-Wan wonders not for the first time if Qui-Gon died and left Anakin in his care as some inhumane form of punishment. "Made significant strides with relations and learned a lot, I'm sure."

"Oh, well, that's good, Sir." Cody responds, and Obi-Wan really dearly hopes he's as unaware of the insinuation as he sounds. Cody really does not need to know these things. Anakin does not need to know these things. "I'm glad your mission was productive."

Anakin opens his mouth like he's going to say something else but closes it abruptly and grins instead when Obi-Wan glares at him and shakes his head slowly in warning. "Thank you, Cody." Obi-Wan says instead, leaning back in his seat and letting his eyes close as he tries to relax. Maker, he can still feel the effects of the night before, his muscles are more sore than he would have expected and he finds that he's very aware of the bruises you'd left behind and it's...strangely pleasant. 

He's not allowed to have emotional attachments, but. He kind of does hope that he'll see you again one day anyway. Until next time, Master Kenobi. 

#obi-wan x reader #obi-wan kenobi x reader #Obi-Wan Kenobi #Obi-Wan #reader fic #reader insert #star wars #star wars fanfiction #star wars fic #star wars prequels #fic #fanfiction #merlyn posts

[gffa]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark, coming August 25, promises to be a beautiful tribute to the just-completed animated series. The anthology will collect 11 stories by 11 authors — Lou Anders, Preeti Chhibber, Zoraida Córdova, Jason Fry, Rebecca Roanhorse, Greg Van Eekhout, Tom Angleberger, E. Anne Convery, Sarah Beth Durst, Yoon Ha Lee, and Anne Ursu — including 10 retellings of memorable episodes and arcs and one original Nightsisters-based story.  So if you loved the tales of Ahsoka, Maul, and clanker-busting clones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark will give you the chance to experience them again in a whole new way. Like Captain Rex on a recon mission, StarWars.com reached out to each author to learn why they love The Clone Wars, and which stories they’re telling. Lou Anders (“Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General,” based on the episodes of the same name): I love The Clone Wars for expanding the story of Anakin’s fall from grace. Skywalker really shines in the series, and we see what he truly was, and what he could have been, and by giving him so many opportunities to excel in the early season, his ultimate fate is that much more tragic. I also love the series for gifting us my all-time favorite Star Wars character, and one of my favorite characters from any universe — Hondo Ohnaka!      My chapter is a retelling of the first season story arc that plays out across the episodes “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General.” I wanted to explore this storyline because I find Count Dooku a fascinating character. Sometimes pure, mustache-twirling, mwa-ha-ha evil can actually be boring to write, but a villain who feels they are justified, either because of perceived slights or intellectual superiority or the failure of their rivals or birthright are much more interesting, and Dooku is a bit of all of this. For research, I obviously watched tons of Clone Wars. But I also read up on everything about Dooku I could find, and I listened to Christopher Lee and Corey Burton’s interpretation of the character over and over, trying to internalize their speech patterns. Dooku is so gorgeously supercilious. It was just a blast to get in his head and see the world from his perspective. (And the fact that the storyline gave me another chance to write for my beloved Hondo Ohnaka was an added bonus!) Tom Angleberger (“Bane’s Story,” based on the episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo”): There’s a lot to love in The Clone Wars, but I think it’s Ahsoka’s arc that really stands out the most. Ventress’s arc does, too, and the way that these arcs cross at the just the right moment is really great Star Wars!      My chapter is based on the “Crisis on Naboo” story arc. It’s basically a Space Western. The baddest bounty hunter of them all, Cad Bane, is hired to kidnap the Chancellor. What he doesn’t know is that almost everyone is lying to him, especially a fellow bounty hunter who is really Obi-Wan in disguise. In the TV version, we see it all from Obi-Wan’s point of view, so we know that Bane is getting played. In this retelling, we see it all from Bane’s point of view and, boy, is he going to be mad! To prepare I watched both The Clone Wars AND old spaghetti Westerns starring Bane’s inspiration: Lee Van Cleef. Preeti Chhibber (“Hostage Crisis,” based on the episode of the same name): I love the story that the prequels tell, but because of the nature of what they were trying to do — tell a decade and a half worth of story in three films — we’re missing major moments in what the war really means to the galaxy at large, and in the Skywalker saga itself. The Clone Wars tells us that part of the narrative, it gives us the shape of what entire populations of people had to go through because of this war manufactured by the ultimate evil. And within that scope gives us the hope and love and beautiful tragedy we associate with Star Wars on a larger scale. (Also, Ahsoka Tano — The Clone Wars gave us Ahsoka Tano and for that I will be ever grateful.)      I’m writing Anakin’s story during “Hostage Crisis” — an episode in the first season of The Clone Wars. I decided to write the story entirely from Anakin’s perspective, which meant being inside his head before the fall, but where we are starting to see more of the warning signs. And then there’s also the romance of this episode! Anakin’s love for Padmé is real and all-consuming and, as we eventually find out, unhealthy. So, this is a romantic episode, but one that shows us Anakin is ruled by his heart. And that that’s a dangerous thing for a Jedi. In order to best wrap my own head around what was going on, I watched the episode itself several times, and read the script, and then I watched the chronological episodes of Anakin’s run-ins with Cad Bane, so I could get a real feel for where he was with his understanding of Bane’s character. E. Anne Convery (“Bug,” based on the episode “Massacre”): I love it because I think it’s a story that manages, while still being a satisfying adventure, to not glorify war. It does this mainly by following through on the arcs of wonderful, terrifying, funny, fallible, and diverse characters. From the personal to the political, The Clone Warsredefines the ways, big and small, that we can be heroes.      My chapter is the “original” tale, though it still touches on The Clone Wars Season Four episode “Massacre,” with brief appearances by Mother Talzin and Old Daka. If I had to boil it down, I’d say that it’s a story about mothers and daughters. Honestly, it felt a little like cheating, because writing new characters meant I got to be creative in the Star Wars universe somewhat unencumbered by what’s come before. I did, however, have several long text chats with Sam Witwer because I was interested in Talzin’s motivations. We talked about stuff like her capacity (or lack thereof) for love. I think I came away thinking she was more a creature driven by issues of power, control, and the desire for revenge, whereas Sam was a little kinder to her. I mean, he is her “son,” so you can’t really blame him for wanting to think better of her! I always love a story within a story, and I was interested in the space where the high mythology of Star Wars and the home-spun mythology of fairy tales could intersect. I drew on my own background in mythology, psychology, and the language of fairy tales, plus I did my Star Wars research. Re-watching the Nightsisters episodes was just plain fun. Zoraida Córdova (“The Lost Nightsister,” based on the episode “Bounty”): The Clone Wars deepens the characters we already love. It gives us the opportunity to explore the galaxy over a longer period of time and see the fight between the light and the dark side. Star Wars is about family, love, and hope. It’s also incredibly funny and that’s something that The Clone Wars does spectacularly. We also get to spend more time with characters we only see for a little bit in the movies like Boba Fett, Bossk, Darth Maul!      My chapter follows Ventress after she’s experienced a brutal defeat. Spoiler alert: she’s witnessed the death of her sisters. Now she’s on Tatooine and in a rut. She gets mixed up with a bounty hunter crew led by Boba Fett. Ventress’s story is about how she goes from being lost to remembering how badass she is. I watched several episodes with her in it, but I watched “Bounty” about 50 times. Sarah Beth Durst (“Almost a Jedi,” based on the episode “A Necessary Bond”): I spent a large chunk of my childhood pretending I was training to become a Jedi Knight, even though I’d never seen a girl with a lightsaber before. And then The Clone Wars came along and gave me Ahsoka with not one but TWO lightsabers, as well as a role in the story that broadened and deepened the tale of Anakin’s fall and the fall of the Jedi. So I jumped at the chance to write about her for this anthology.      In my story, I wrote about Ahsoka Tano from the point of view of Katooni, one of the Jedi younglings who Ahsoka escorts on a quest to assemble their first lightsabers, and it was one of the most fun writing experiences I’ve ever had! I watched the episode, “A Necessary Bond,” over and over, frame by frame, studying the characters and trying to imagine the world, the events, and Ahsoka herself through Katooni’s eyes. The episode shows you the story; I wanted to show you what it feels like to be inside the story. Greg van Eekhout (“Kenobi’s Shadow,” based on the episode “The Lawless”): What I most love about Clone Wars is how we really get to know the characters deeply and see them grow and change.      I enjoyed writing a couple of short scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin that weren’t in the episode. I wanted to highlight their closeness as friends and show that Anakin’s not the only Jedi who struggles with the dark side. There’s a crucial moment in my story when Obi-Wan is close to giving into his anger and has to make a choice: Strike out in violence or rise above it. It’s always fun to push characters to extremes and see how they react. Jason Fry (“Sharing the Same Face,” based on the episode “Ambush”): I love The Clone Wars because it made already beloved characters even richer and deepened the fascinating lore around the Jedi and the Force.      I chose Yoda and the clones because the moment where Yoda rejects the idea that they’re all identical was one of the first moments in the show where I sat upright and said to myself, “Something amazing is happening here.” You get the entire tragedy of the Clone Wars right in that one quick exchange — the unwise bargain the Jedi have struck, Yoda’s compassion for the soldiers and insistence that they have worth, the clones’ gratitude for that, and how that gratitude is undercut by their powerlessness to avoid the fate that’s been literally hard-wired into them. Plus, though I’ve written a lot of Star Wars tales, I’d never had the chance to get inside Yoda’s head. That had been on my bucket list! Yoon Ha Lee (“The Shadow of Umbara,” based on the episodes “Darkness on Umbara,” “The General,” “Plan of Dissent,” and “Carnage of Krell”): I remember the first time I watched the “Umbara arc” — I was shocked that a war story this emotionally devastating was aired on a kids’ show. But then, kids deserve heartfelt, emotionally devastating stories, too. It was a pleasure to revisit the episodes and figure out how to retell them from Rex’s viewpoint in a compact way. I have so much respect for the original episodes’ writer, Matt Michnovetz — I felt like a butcher myself taking apart the work like this! Rebecca Roanhorse (“Dark Vengeance,” based on the episode “Brothers”): I always love a backstory and Clone Wars was the backstory that then became a rich and exciting story all its own. The writing and character development is outstanding and really sucks you into the world.      I chose to write the two chapters that reintroduce Darth Maul to the world. We find him broken and mentally unstable, not knowing his own name but obsessed with revenge against Obi-Wan and we get to see him rebuild himself into a cruel, calculating, and brilliant villain. It was so much fun to write and I hope readers enjoy it. Anne Ursu (“Pursuit of Peace,” based on the episode “Heroes on Both Sides”): The Clone Wars creates a space for terrific character development. The attention paid to the relationships between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Ahsoka make for really wonderful and resonant stories, and give so much depth to the whole universe.      I was at first a little scared to write Padmé, as her character felt pretty two dimensional to me. But the more I watched her episodes in Clone Wars, the more dimension she took on. She’s such an interesting character — she’s both idealistic and realistic, so when corruption runs rampant in the Senate she doesn’t get disillusioned, she just fights harder. She has an ability to deal with nuance in a way that is rare in the Republic — and it means she’s not afraid to bend a few laws to make things right. In this chapter, the Senate is about to deregulate the banks in order to fund more troops, and Padmé decides to take matters into her own hand and sneak into Separatist territory in order to start peace negotiations. Of course, neither Dooku nor the corrupt clans of the Republic are going to allow for this to happen, so the threats to the peace process, the Republic, and Padmé’s life only grow. This arc is the perfect distillation of Padmé’s character, and it made getting into her head for it fairly simple. But I did watch all the Padmé Clone Wars episodes and read E.K. Johnston’s book about her, as well as Thrawn: Alliances, in which she has a major storyline. I really loved writing her. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark arrives August 25 and is available for pre-order now.

#obi wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #asajj ventress #ahsoka tano #katooni #yoda #captain rex #darth maul #novels #news #long post

[allofthejedi]

A Compilation of Obi-Wan Speaking to Force Ghost Qui-Gon Jinn

(Alternative Title: Obi-Wan finally reunites with his favorite Space Hippy)

Our first canonical entry happens in Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston which takes place in 18 BBY, or, one year after the events of Revenge of the Sith.

We get an interlude halfway through the novel that depicts Obi-Wan on Tatooine. He has been trying to reach Qui-Gon, yet has been unsuccessful:

"Obi-Wan let go of Ben Kenobi's house, the last place in the galaxy where a piece of Anakin Skywalker rested and broke through the wall between life and death. [...] Alone and connected. Aloof and hopelessly entwined. Obi-Wan had only a moment before he was wrenched back into the physical world, but it was long enough to renew his hope.

'Obi-Wan,' said Qui-Gon Jinn. He was sure the voice was stronger this time. 'Let go.'"

Almost, but not quite there yet.

Next, we have Skywalker: A Family at War by Kristin Baver, which was just released that has this gem:

"Before he and Yoda had parted ways, the old Jedi revealed that Obi-Wan's beloved master Qui-Gon Jinn had returned from the netherworld of the Force, manifesting his conscious mind even after death. It took 10 years, but eventually, Obi-Wan was able to commune with his dearest friend, resurrected within the cosmic Force."

This takes place ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, so around 9 BBY.

Break out the blue milk, it's a cause for celebration! (Hopefully, we will get to see this breakthrough in the Kenobi series, fingers crossed everyone!)

Lastly, drum roll please, we have Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, a short story found in the Star Wars: From A Certain Point of View novel (not to be confused with the novel she wrote under the same name).

This short story is one of the most beautiful heart-wrenching things I've read and is one of my favorites within the whole series.

It's from the point of Qui-Gon Jinn as he appears to Obi-Wan; the latter is tending to the Jawas who were attacked by stormtroopers during the events of A New Hope (0 BBY).

While the whole thing is fantastic (and I highly suggest reading it) here are some quotes that stand out in terms of their relationship and the workings of a ghost hippy:

"'Qui-Gon." The name is spoken by another. Qui-Gon has been summoned."

At this point, Obi-Wan, in almost twenty years of isolation, and ten years of connecting with Qui-Gon, can now call force ghosts at his own whim by just speaking their name.

""Obi-Wan." It is worth the travail of individual existence just to say that name again. So he says the other name, too. "Ben."

First of all, ouch. Travail of individual existence just to say that name again. The hardship of an entire lifetime just to say Obi-Wan. This could be applicable to either of them, each just as sad as the other.

There is also text that describes how Qui-Gon "is not limited to human sight any longer" and can see Obi-Wan at different times in his life (i.e a general, master, padawan, initiate)

"They are all equally part of Obi-Wan, each stage of his existence vivid in this moment"

In response to Obi-Wan finding it difficult to let go of his exile and becoming a Jedi Knight again, Qui-Gon says and thinks

"You've adapted. You've had to." [...] It will in fact be almost instantaneous, a transformation begun and it completed the first time immediate fanger beckons again. Qui-Gon looks forward to witnessing it."

(a.k.a He is excited to see Obi-Wan kick some ass)

"Every step of this long, unfulfilling journey is one Obi-Wan had to take alone ... and yet he never faltered. As the rest of the galaxy burned, his path remained true. It is the kind of victory that most people never recognize and yet the bedrock all goodness is built upon."

You know I had to put the "bedrock all goodness is built upon" quote in here. It's pretty self-explanatory, but it shines a light on the strength of dedication Obi-Wan has to the light and to fixing his mistakes.

A direct continuation:

"Even Obi-Wan doesn't see it. 'You see me in a kinder light than most would, old friend."

"I owe you that. After all, I'm the one who failed you."

"Failed me?"

They have never spoken of this, not once in all Qui-Gon's journeys into the mortal realm to commune with him. This is primarily because Qui-Gon thought his mistakes so wretched, so obvious, that Obi-Wan had wanted to spare him any discussion of it. Yet here, too, he has failed to do his Padawan justice."

This is the part that hurts my heart every time. Both see their personal failures as the most grievous but defend the actions of the opposite as to not condemn each other. Obi-Wan obviously vehemently defends his apprentice and his own teaching, saying "His fall to darkness was more choice than anyone else's failure."

Qui-Gon feels this is not enough for absolution of his mistakes but deems that this can be discussed at a later time "when they're beyond crude human language."

After further discussion:

"Obi-Wan nods, enough reassured to focus fully on Qui-Gon. "You're very nearly corporeal. I've never seen you appear like this."

While this doesn't bode well for a corporeal Jinn appearance in the Kenobi series (a disembodied head maybe?), it is interesting to see how life-like force ghosts can become. Throughout this story, Qui-Gon can shake his head, smell the ash, and be fully aware of his surroundings.

"He had not struggled toward that goal at first. Only after Anakin's fall did he push himself to emerge fully. It was the work of very nearly a decade. This he did for Obi-Wan; at least his Padawan did not have to spend his years in the desert entirely alone."

So maybe we get a disembodied head after all. Nearly a decade after Anakin's fall would put us around the same time frame as the Kenobi series!

Obi-Wan's dry wit appears throughout the story and regardless of the heavy topics they talk about, an old camaraderie can be found weaved subtly throughout.

"Thank you, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan says. "As always, your wisdom sustains me."

"As your strength always sustained me."

Whatever would have happened if Qui-Gon survived Naboo, it is pretty clear that these two had and would have had a close relationship whether it'd be as master and apprentice or as friends.

To end this post, and to tie it to the beginning I'll leave you with the last line:

"As Obi-Wan will soon learn, the most beautiful form of mastery is the art of letting go."

#long post #i got carried away #also to those who think jedi can't love im about to slap you over the head with qui becoming a ghost just so obi wan wouldn't be lonely #that shit is dedication and compassion #And i feel like qui gon is a cancer so its a pretty apt action #qui gon jinn #obi wan kenobi #ben kenobi #force ghost #jedi history buff #skywalker: a famiily at war #ahsoka novel #master and apprentice #star wars novels #novels #meta #jedi

[leslieannefusco]

Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace The New Batman Superman Adventures

Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern chase a time-traveling villain to the past, where they team up with the greatest heroes of the Old West.

The Justice League's adventures in time take them to a futuristic Gotham City, where they join forces with that era's Batman and his super team: The Justice League Unlimited.

When the evil Trade Federation plots to take over the peaceful planet of Naboo, Jedi warrior Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi embark on an amazing adventure to save the planet. With them on their journey is the young Queen Amidala, Gungan outcast Jar Jar Binks, and the powerful Captain Panaka, who will all travel to the faraway planets of Tatooine and Coruscant in a futile attempt to save their world from Darth Sidious, leader of the Trade Federation, and Darth Maul, the strongest Dark Lord of the Sith to ever wield a lightsaber.

The evil Trade Federation, led by Nute Gunray is planning to take over the peaceful world of Naboo. Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent to confront the leaders. But not everything goes to plan. The two Jedi escape, and along with their new Gungan friend, Jar Jar Binks head to Naboo to warn Queen Amidala, but droids have already started to capture Naboo and the Queen is not safe there. Eventually, they land on Tatooine, where they become friends with a young boy known as Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon is curious about the boy, and sees a bright future for him. The group must now find a way of getting to Coruscant and to finally solve this trade dispute, but there is someone else hiding in the shadows. Are the Sith really extinct? Is the Queen really who she says she is? And what’s so special about this young boy?

I’ve never experienced such delay in cartoons airing on TV as I have with the DC Animated shows. Ever since Superman: The Animated Series massive delays started it, it seems to have spilled over into every DC show since. Batman Beyond had it’s “Unmasked”, Justice League had it’s last half of Season 1 and almost all of Season 2 delayed for what seemed like forever, and now Justice League Unlimited it hitting every bump in the road: schedule changes, generic delays and problems with the episodes themselves, resulting in send-backs to the animation studios. “The Once and Future Thing” has been nearly every fans most anticipated story arc this season, and we’ve been waiting ever since June since the loglines were released. So was it worth the wait and agonizing speculation? Nothing ever is; fans over hype things to the point of exhaustion and by the time the episode airs everything’s been inadvertently spoiled via a careless lack of a spoiler warning. Nothing in this first part of “The Once and Future Thing” surprised me; things that would’ve excited me was the re-appearance of Jonah Hex (not seen since Batman: The Animated Series “Showdown”), Batman Beyond, Future Static and Warhawk’s appearance and the whole “Dad?!” line (I know I read somewhere that was going to happen). The Return of the Joker Jokerz gang did surprise me though, albeit if they are a bit changed (more on that later).

Where was I? “The Once and Future Thing” starts off with our first look at Future Gotham since Static Shock’s “Future Shock” crossover, bringing an already exciting mood to the episode (Batman Beyond is one of my all-time favorites, so I may be biased); we then meet the mastermind behind the episode, Chronos (“David Clinton” for those who are picky since “Chronos” was never directly named in the episode, aside from a quick throwaway comment on his suit). After a humorous scene with his verbally abusive wife, we’re thrown into present where he’s attempting to steal Batman’s utility belt from the Watchtower. The first odd thing in the episode occurs here: if an “intruder” alarm is sounded on the Watchtower, a supposedly impregnable fortress, wouldn’t more than just three heroes run to investigate? Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman bolt right as the alarm sounds, while everyone else in the surrounding lunch room just sits and gabs away. I realize that’s probably an unavoidable hole due to only wanting Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman to be the time travelers, but it’s still a bit odd, none the less. Before you sit down to watch this episode, you have to keep in mind that not all things are going to make sense; it’s time travel and that always manages to screw something up. We have mechanical Pterodactyls and Raptors with Cowboys riding on their back, robots dressed up as Old West Gun Slingers and a main villain who had a six-pistol gun. If you want to make sense of that…be my guest, but it’s really best just to sit and enjoy it as it plays out. Granted, you could justify everything that happened since Tobias just kept jumping into the future and hijacking this stuff back, but…dinosaurs? I don’t see the purpose for those, unless he wanted to scare people into doing his dirty work (ten foot robots and massive guns would do that for me anyway); regardless, they were fun to see, even if they were completely random. Heroes in the episode included El Diablo, Bat Lash, Sheriff Ohiyesa Smith and the aforementioned Jonah Hex. They were all great to see in animated form and I couldn’t help but laugh every time El Diablo talked, as his voice actor (Nestor Carbonell) played “Batmanuel” in the live-action The Tick! series (I think I’m one of few who loved that show). Jonah Hex was awesome to see again and Bat Lash was fun to watch as well.

The Wild West portions had their fare share of camp to them, but they were a fun little romp. Bruce refusing to carry a gun and then using his utility belt as a “Go on, I dare you” type move the cowboys used when reaching for their guns, Diana taking her time in deflecting the bullets (“These are the biggest, slowest bullets I’ve ever seen”) and John’s “Green Lantern” Ghost looked like something pulled from a Scooby Doo episode, were fun to watch. There were some nice character moments in this one, but honestly, I think we’re all just waiting for the second part. Speaking of the second part, we got a nice little teaser end to the episode. Landing in the future after chasing Chronos again, the League come up against the Return of the Joker Jokerz gang; descending immediately is the Future Static, Batman Beyond and Warhawk. Static appears much older than his “Future Shock” appearance and Batman seems to have lost the red on the interior of his wings, but Warhawk remains the same. The episode ends with the clinching “Dad?!” from Warhawk as he looks at Green Lantern, who then looks like he just saw Future Shayera in the shower. It was a great ending and created a session of out loud “I gotta wait a week to see the conclusion!?” cursing. Perhaps the most debated part of this ending was the reappearance of the Return of the Joker Jokerz gang; Bonk died on-screen (in both versions of the film, though one more graphic than the other) in the movie, while everyone else seemed to simply get taken away by the cops. One other thing to point out is Woof’s mechanical arms; definitely not on the original model and Chucko’s new look (different color shirt and is now carrying some sort of round object, similar to Ghoul’s pumpkin bucket), all suggest that the gang may be different. If they aren’t, I refuse to believe that one of the story writers of Return of the Joker and producers of Justice League Unlimited simply glazed over Bonk’s death or forgot; the gangs there for a reason that will have to wait for another week to find out. It’s sort of sad that all of the work that was put into the first twenty plus minutes of this episode are overshadowed by the ten second closer, but it’s to be expected. People have been hungry for more Batman Beyond and now that we’ve got him again, it’s gonna be hard to let go.

That was, bar-none, the most mind-twisting and blowing DCAU episode I’ve seen. It’s not that it was “crazy” or “kooky” or all together “spooky,” but trying to get everything straight with the Matrix code flying across the bat-computer screen and Bruce spouting off stuff about the “space time continuum”…just…ouchie. Confusing nature aside (and that will pass upon a few more viewings, I’m sure), this episode was pretty much what I expected it to be; not in plot points and twists, but just in that we’d get a fun romp through future Gotham City. I’ll be damned if it didn’t seem like time flew while watching it this though; commercial breaks came as soon as they ended and I had a goofy grin on my face the entire time, seeing the Jokerz back and Terry cracking one liners again…it was really was one of the biggest fan-moments I’ve had while watching Unlimited. The story itself, as previously mentioned, was quite the confusing experience. The first time I watched it I was just entertained by everything; by the second time I finally got a grasp on why Hal Jordan was appearing (other than to make everyone’s eyes bug out) and why everyone started to disappear. In the end, this trip to the future also ended up being an “alternate” trip to the future, as in the end everything was switched back to normal, albeit with Batman and Green Lantern only remembering what went on and Chronos stuck in a constant loop with his wife’s abusive language constantly recycling. D.R. Movie Co. threw in some new effects on the future Batman’s jet boots; instead of dissipating right away, they left swirly trails; though you only saw this once it was a great bit of animation. The city looked as dark and futuristic as ever and the Jokerz new designs were great as well. Chucko on a rolling ball, Bonk with a massive mallet, multiplying Dee Dee’s, a mechanical arm-enhanced Woof and a spinning saw blade on Ghoul. Anyone who didn’t get flash backs to Batman Beyond’s “April Moon” episode must’ve been delirious; then again, Chronos said he traveled into the future to get those upgrades, so either the doctor in “April Moon” didn’t exist yet or…ah hell I’m getting confused again. Regardless, it makes me long for more of Batman Beyond…but I’m sure I’ve said that enough by now.

Static was enjoyable as well; I never was one to watch the show much, sans the special appearances of other DCAU heroes, but an adult Static is definitely who I prefer. He’s got the wit of Flash and the strength of John Stewart and it was great to see the two interact as “old friends.” Warhawk’s “I’m shocked! Shocked! Well not that shocked…” revelation that he is Shayera and John’s kid and that they may have even gotten married (“Stewart” is his last name; he was named “Rex” after Green Lantern’s childhood friend, Rex Mason / Metamorpho) was nice to see extended upon. Even if we didn’t get much (due to the three Batman’s interrupting) else out of the two, it was fun to see where things progressed (and the look that John gives Shayera at the end of the show). The undisputed and best moment of the episode, however, was the scene with Bruce/Batman/Batman—we get the wise and old Wayne saying hello to his younger self and them both telling Terry to shut up in which Terry emits a “What’d they used to call it? Stereo?” quip. It was the things endless fan fictions are made of where the past meets future… I enjoyed this episode much more than part one; animation was awesome, music fit well with every scene and the characters were all handled nicely, even if there was an over abundance of them. Some may trash McDuffie’s writing, but I’ve enjoyed nearly everything he’s written on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited and this was certainly no exception.

Create sci-fi characters with this dress-up game inspired by the Star Wars movies, mostly the original trilogy with Luke, Leia and Han, and also with many items inspired by Padme, Anakin and Obi-wan. There are four themes in the game to approximate outfits from the show, and create new ones: Jedi martial artist, rebel, queen or princess, and slave. Complete her look with weapons, other types of accessories, body customization and a wide hair section. Also, to make the weapons brighter and the image altogether more dramatic, you can play around with the darkness setting!

This game inspired by the Star Wars saga lets you dress up a male counterpart to the original Sci-fi Warrior! Although the woman has more diverse clothes and some alien features, the man is more narrowly focused on the clothing style of Jedi and Siths (and restricted to humans). The religion of the Jedi, and this is reflected in their fashion style, is itself inspired by the Eastern martial arts and monastic orders such as the Shaolin monks, which combine a deep commitment to a spiritual path with the lifelong study of self-defense. While Jedi and Siths alike are warriors trained in combat, the difference between them is their power source: while Siths align with forces of destruction, and derive power from intense emotions especially anger and hatred, the Jedi curb their emotions and do not feel hatred for their enemy. The genius of this philosophy is that it holds the key to ending the cycle of violence: self-defense against an enemy who is not hated.

#Star Of The Universe

[ardentmuse]

At All Costs (Charlie Weasley x Reader) - Epilogue

Harry Potter - Charlie Weasley x Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Masterlist // Series Masterlist

A/N: No warnings, just a few months later. And just know that just because this series is done doesn’t mean we’re done with Charlie. I WILL NEVER BE DONE WITH CHARLIE. k, you may proceed

Sunlight shone through the window panes, casting streaks of light across the down comforter under which you and Charlie still laid intertwined, clinging to each other and avoiding the inevitable start of yet another day. As the sun grew higher in the sky, the shafts of light crept closer and closer to your eyes, closed in false sleep. The light was catching at Charlie’s hair, illuminating the tiny space between your bodies with a kaleidoscope of reds, yellows and bronzes, like fireworks for your pillows. You felt your hand come up to brush at the hairs before you even knew you were doing it.

“G’mornin’,” Charlie mumbled at the feel of your fingers. It was hard to make out the words with how quickly he tugged on your waist to bury his face in the crook of your neck.

You lifted your head to look around Charlie’s small cabin. You recalled another time, almost exactly a year ago, when you were reclined in bed like this, with Charlie’s head against your chest and the sun informing you of your need to leave. It was the darkest day of your life in some ways, leaving Charlie behind to dive towards likely death. But today, as you looked at the empty bookshelves and the stacks of boxes all marked for delivery to your new homes, you found yourself smiling; one last day enjoying the feel of your husband in this secluded place, the place where you learned to love him so deeply, the place that hurt so much to leave because you were never sure when you would return to his side again, a place that was Charlie’s alone, no matter how much he opened his life and his heart to you. You were only a little sad to see it go.

“We have to go soon, Charlie,” you said into his hair when you estimated the sun had reached its peak in the sky.

“Just one more hour,” he whined, wrapping his legs around you in a grip so tight you couldn’t leave if you wanted to, his muscular thighs securing you in a way that you wouldn’t have minded had he intended something more with it.

You sighed and fell back against the pillows as Charlie peppered your collarbone with kisses. You let out a huff as his lips moved towards the hollow of your neck. With you next breath, Charlie flipped himself on top of you, now truly caging you in his embrace.

“I promise I’ll make it worth your time, love,” he whispered before capturing your lips. You shut your eyes to feel him fully, the gentle pressure his mouth applied, the warm soft curve of his flesh and the sweet taste he gave you each time he moved against you. Somehow each kiss was still magic, no matter how many you shared or how frequently. Soul bound, you thought to yourself, two individuals each their own but made their best together. Charlie was it for you, and the fact that you thought you could just walk away even for such a noble cause as the one you did was laughable in moments like this.

“Scotland is a long trip,” you managed between breaths once Charlie pulled away.

Charlie’s face lit in the most beautiful smile he had ever sent your way. “We aren’t just going to Scotland, love,” he said as he ran a hand across your forehead to cup your jaw. “We’re going home.”

He kissed you once more, deep and passionate, like the thought itself consumed him with passion.

Home. Your home together. Ten years now, ten years of living apart, of sharing stolen weekends and holidays, all of which had to come to an end. Home. Your heart swelled at the word and at the thought of coming home to Charlie each and every day, of seeing his smiling face and eating the meal he prepared you, of kissing his lips each night as you drank your tea by the fire, of holding his hand and feeling his body against you as you slept, of being together the way you had always wanted to be.

You kissed him so deeply, putting all the love and passion you felt for him in your lips. You felt the tears rolling down your cheeks as Charlie’s hands hold your hips. His skin is softer than you had ever felt it, despite the scars and burns that still litter his hands and forearms. A week off work had indeed done a world of good for him.

A loud pounding on the door pulled you both from your embrace. You yelped and tightened the blankets around yourself. No one would stumble upon your cabin so deep in the Romanian wilderness randomly. But for some reason Charlie was smiling.

“Oy, Charles,” George called from the other side of the door, “You better be dressed in there because I am giving you ten seconds before I --”

“Oh no, you don’t!” Charlie yelled at the door, jumping out of bed and pulling on his jeans in a stumbled walk towards the door. “I’ll distract them while you dress, yeah?” Charlie said you way before he opened the door and slipped outside.

“Them?” you said but Charlie was already outside with his brother. You shook yourself from your daze and popped out of bed, throwing on the only pair of jeans and shirt that still sat outside the trunks. But as you looked around at the luggage you had filled, you only now realized that you had never discussed how you were actually getting everything across the continent.

You shook your head. Those Weasleys.

Just as you were throwing on your socks, George entered, followed by Ginny. Charlie stood at the door shaking his head. The rest of the Weasley clan, including Fleur, Hermione, and Harry, came in, each taking a trunk as Molly commanded them. By the time you pulled on your shoes, the entire cottage was empty.

“Efficient family, you got there,” you said to your husband as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder to lead  you out to the portkey.

“Yep, we do,” Charlie said with a smile as he watched his family gather in the woods to help you journey back to the UK. “If only they’d help us unpack all this stuff in our new house in Hogsmeade, too.”

As you crunched through the leaves, Hermione turned to you as said, “Ready to leave this place behind, Y/N?”

Before you could answer, Ginny interrupted her with a giggle, “It’s Professor Weasley to you now, ‘Mione.”

Hermione smiled. “Finally someone competent to teach us Defense against the Dark Arts.”

“And family,” Ginny added. You were smiling at the praise, leaning even harder into Charlie’s arms, feeling the warmth of the family you shared, the family that loved you so, the family that was helping to bring you home.

As you all stood around the shovel that denoted the first leg of your journey, Charlie leaned down to give you a kiss, a simple peck upon your lips. You watched his eyes roam back to the cottage and with a sigh, he took your hand in his.

“You know, it’s okay to be sad,” you assured him. He simply ran his fingers across your knuckles. “This was your life for so long.”

“I know,’ he confirmed with a chuckle, “But you’re my life now. And soon those feisty Hebridean Blacks will be too.”

You found yourself laughing at the idea that Charlie was somehow excited to be working with something even bigger and more dangerous. He was worse than you sometimes, but Godric did you love this man, warts and all.

“To a new chapter?” he asked with a breath, breaking you from your thoughts as he reached for the portkey.

“To a new adventure,” you confirmed, grabbing at the portkey and watching the cabin, the woods, and the whole of the world you had known together, disappear in a swirl of color and chaos.

A/N: thank you all for coming on this journey with me. I hope you enjoyed it. If you liked this story, please check out my masterlist for more one shots and series. But also keep an eye out for my next series, starting in just three weeks and starring a different lovely Weasley sibling by the name of George. Cheers! 

At All Costs tags: @trentadepresso, @pollytypes, @tatlikar, @semicharmedkindofali, @sly-vixen-up2nogood, @cucumberinmyass, @sugarrusheb, @kaitlynnn27, @soosahya, @sugerquill, @allonsymexgirl, @fuckboylukey, @dooriha, @igotmadskills, @thatlittlered, @rupard7, @awkwardcora, @tessimagines, @ineeduhnap, @caramiriel, @starryrevelations, @otherthingsinhead, @reallykosborne, @anarchtayreads. @agirlwhoneedalittlelovingtonight, @humblemei, @littlegeekwonder, @owlsarebirdstoo, @kriegsmelone, @oboewan-kenobi, @jayrart, @bees-love-books, @theboywhocriedlupin, @earthwaterfall, @amberisnotcrazy, @jesslovesfandom, @justducky0423, @bananafosters-and-books, @stellar-amo, @indicisive-af, @yhound, @batgirl-87, @tellmyselflies, @graymountaingal, @blxxdy-hell, @missihart23, @one-stately-raven, @lonikje, @thatswhatmakesyoumiserable, @lady-efriyeet, @i-padfootblack-things, @diamondgirl1111, @hypotheticalforest, @lunarinne, @b0rkk, @fandoms-allovertheplace, @cinnamoncam, @cutie-bug, @bloodangelballerina, @maralisa124, @arthurianbisexual, @0-lost-in-stereo-0, @basically-hayley, @weasleyismyking540, @bethanystan, @fandomfindings , @sassyvetstudent, @that-new-york-girl. @dancing-in-embers, @eh-ilikestuff, @whysoseriouspadfoot, @deannaraquel, @goldenbabby, @mybabys-gunsnroses,  @broken-pieces, @fearlessmaxima, @quinnzel-emillee-moore, @hogwarts-is-home-gryffindor, @br00dy-elf, @wnygirl2012, @firekissedwitchbitch, @mythicalamphitrite, @steph-fowlie, @kneazlesgetitdone

All tags: @fangirlandnerd, @aerdnandreaa, @thisisbullshytt,  @cancerousjojian, @whovianayesha, @themarauderstheoutsidersandpeggy, @luna-xxxxx, @sleepylunarwolf, @starryrevelations, @potter-thinking, @all-by-myself98

#charlie weasley x reader #charlie weasley imagine #charlie weasley #harry potter #harry potter imagine #hp #hp imagine #hphm #hphm imagine #hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery imagine #hp hogwarts mystery #hp hogwarts mystery imagine #charlie weasley x mc #charlie weasley x you #reader insert #x reader #at all cost

[uniqueuglyfruit]

#I mean the poor guy had NO canon personality ( @sauntering-down on this post )

Actually!! While it’s true we know little of Kom’rk, it’s not true we know nothing. We actually know a lot more about him as an individual than generally believed, even from the few scenes he’s in.

To summarize first, Kom’rk, when we first meet him, gives a sense of one who fears the infrequency with which he sees his family has developed into them not caring enough about him to miss him. However, he deflects this with a joke, preventing it from getting too serious. While he seeks validation, it seems he doesn’t want to appear possibly needy or clingy, and when he does get doted on and fussed over, he acts as if it’s not a big deal. Generally, Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain an aloof, bored facade even among family.

At Kyrimorut, Ordo asks Kom’rk to help him with larger tasks, and Kom’rk readily helps him. Despite the fact it seems Kom’rk makes reports through Jaing, in person, Kom’rk is open, almost forward in expressing his concerns―even those that may be simple annoyances. Kom’rk also readily and quickly criticizes his brothers, most especially Ordo, firm but also kind as he does.

To place him in comparison with the other Nulls, he’s closest to Jaing, with whom he has an easy and joking rapport, and it seems he works best professionally with Jaing; this relationship is likely similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have. He has similar preferences and styles of socializing as Mereel, and he and Mereel seem to have similar tastes in what they look for in a social scene. His sense of humor seems most similar to Ordo’s. He’s one of the more extraverted Nulls.

So, very long quote by quote breakdown of what we know (or what I interpret) about Kom’rk and his relationship with some other characters, the latter of which I talk about more than intended, but how characters relate to others is also important.

After his brief appearance as a child, Kom’rk spends most the series as an unseen character, spoken of but never physically present. Much of what we learn first about him is about his significant relationships.

“Fierfek, son, Kom’rk and Jaing can track a flitnat across the galaxy and we can’t find a gang in our own backyard.” (Triple Zero)

“Only ones I haven’t met are Jaing and Kom’rk, and they’re still after Grievous.” (True Colors)

This is the first thing we learn about Kom’rk. It doesn’t establish overly much about Kom’rk’s personality, but it establishes where he is in the scheme of skills and operations the Nulls have. He’s a skilled tracker, and he’s assigned, with Jaing, to track Grievous. And it also establishes an important relationship: Jaing.

Unlike the other Nulls, the long-term assignment that Kom’rk and Jaing are given is a joint op. This is highly unusual, as the Nulls are essentially trained to work as solo operators. This doesn’t suggest anything to me about Kom’rk’s or Jaing’s abilities―they’re tracking Grievous, intensely high value target. Rather, it tells me that Kom’rk and Jaing must work especially well together professionally. And while the Nulls all get along and work well together, it takes a particular kind of rapport for two people to work very closely on a single mission over the course of years.

I’ll get back to this.

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s learning a few saucy tricks from my brother Kom’rk. Good man, Corr.” (True Colors)

“So [Corr] you’ve enjoyed a rich social education with Mereel and Kom’rk, have you?” (True Colors)

The second thing we learn about Kom’rk is he spends time with Corr, and he and Mereel have been influential in shaping Corr’s coming into his own with a marked self-confidence, extraversion, and easy sociability.

There’s no reason to doubt this―Kom’rk may have an assignment on Utapau, but there’s indication that Kom’rk doesn’t necessarily stay there all the time. (I’ll point it out later.)

Judging by the development in Corr, one can judge the difference as reflective of what Kom’rk is like as a person. And it suggests an extravert who enjoys a social scene and is easily sociable, who has similar styles and preferences of socializing as Mereel and likely enjoys similar social settings as Mereel does.

“I saw Kom’rk once, but he doesn’t seem as…” And that was as far as Darman got. (True Colors)

This is an incomplete thought, and there isn’t anything concrete to get from it, really. I just love it. Considering the two Nulls Darman is most familiar with are Ordo and Mereel, it’s safe to say that Kom’rk’s bearing and demeanor strikes Darman at a single glance as different enough from those two to make an impression such.

Of the six Nulls, [Mereel] was the one best able to deal with the demons the Kaminoans had forced on him. But the others—A’den, Kom’rk, Jaing, and Prudii—kept Skirata awake at night to varying degrees. And Ordo… (Order 66)

This is a quote I always pull for the Nulls. I work under the assumption that this isn’t randomly ordered. I always maintain that this is specifically the order from least to most concerned Kal is. Under this, we learn that Kal isn’t overly concerned about Kom’rk. To some degree? Yes. But Kal doesn’t believe Kom’rk needs as much concern as three other Nulls.

It is also, in my belief, a rough ordering of the Nulls from most extraverted to most introverted. (My thoughts on Kal’s association of extraversion with well-adjustment are for another time, even if not elaborating weakens my point here somewhat.) By this conceit, it confirms at this moment Kom’rk as one of the more extraverted Nulls.

Then the hatch opened and Kom’rk stuck his head into the compartment.

“So, nobody missed me,” he said. “I’m gone a year, and nobody baked a cake.”

“Kom’ika…” Skirata got up and embraced him with a crunch of armor plates.

Ordo waited his turn. “Come on, get that bucket off and let’s take a look at you… shab, son, you’re looking thin.”

Kom’rk shrugged, clipping his helmet to his belt. His face did look drawn. (Order 66)

This is meeting adult Kom’rk for the first time. Obviously, of immense significance, despite its brevity.

Now, personally, I choose to understand that the first statement Kom’rk makes actually is of significance, and I choose to believe that, for a fleeting moment, it’s utterly sincere. (Why introduce a character with that if it doesn’t speak to some truth?) Kom’rk is afraid that he’s been gone so long, Kal and Ordo don’t care anymore and they don’t miss him.

But, that’s a weighty statement. One that yells a little too loudly for validation, and would even be needy and clingy. Solution: deflect and diffuse with a joke. Steer the conversation elsewhere before it gets too far down the road toward serious. (Mereel does this all the time, by the way.)

Kom’rk does get the validation he seeks. Kal immediately goes to hug him, and he is concerned about how thin Kom’rk looks. However, despite for a moment fearing he won’t get this reception, Kom’rk simply shrugs. He plays the concern off as if it isn’t of importance―or, he plays off the potential that he isn’t as well as he should be. Or, both.

“Grievous still comes and goes on Utapau, Kal’buir, and he gets visits from interesting allies we didn’t know he had. The Regent of Garis, in fact.”

“And there was I thinking he was in the Republic camp.”

Kom’rk handed Skirata a datachip. “A crumb to toss to Zey—here’s the voice traffic between the two of them, minus the locations, of course. We don’t want Windu or Kenobi charging in there and blowing it before we’ve milked the situation.” He lowered his voice. “And Grievous keeps asking Dooku what’s happened to all these gazillions of droids he was promised, poor old dear. I think he’s been set up.”

“Told you so,” Skirata said. “All propaganda. All osik.”

“Can I have a change of scene, then? It’s boring out there.” (Order 66)

I’d like to note the irreverence in Kom’rk’s tone when talking about Jedi, Grievous, and the assignment Kal gave him. (Compare: Ordo’s staunch acceptance of the lot Kal assigned him, despite deep dissatisfaction with it.)

[Jaing:] “He [Grievous] misses Utapau, obviously. I got a tip-off.”

[Ordo:] “You’re not there, then.”

“No, we’re just tidying up a few loose ends on the Rim.”

“Time we told Zey?”

“Yeah.” Jaing sounded tired. “There’s still something not right about this, but I’m past caring, and so is Kom’ika.” (Order 66)

Here, Kom’rk is indicated to not be at Utapau, instead managing other undisclosed tasks elsewhere.

To return to Kom’rk’s relationship with Jaing, this strikes me as Jaing makes Kom’rk’s sitreps on his behalf, or for the both of them. A little later, Ordo asks Jaing to relay his message to Kom’rk, suggesting to me that when Kom’rk is away, it is normal for Ordo to speak to him indirectly through Jaing.

This gives more of a weight to the possibility that Kom’rk fears Ordo and Kal are unconcerned about him, because he is more distant than the others, but it also speaks of a certain kind of dynamic: not only is Kom’rk rarely heard from directly for us the reader, but he is also rarely heard from directly for narrating characters like Ordo.

It is worth remembering here that of all the Nulls, Kom’rk is away from home base for the longest periods, at one time gone for a year.

Why Kom’rk may communicate indirectly through Jaing, if such is true, is unclear. Perhaps for efficiency. It is redundant to have both Jaing and Kom’rk report the same information. Perhaps it speaks to strain in his relationship with Kal.

Good time to talk about his relationship with Ordo.

“Is it going to burn properly?” Kom’rk asked. “Do you want some accelerant on the pyre?”

Ordo thought that was a good idea, and wondered how it could be done discreetly. (Order 66)

When Ordo and Kom’rk had herded the whole clan into the karyai… (501st)

While I may suggest that there’s possibly strain in his relationship with Kal, I hesitate to suggest such with Ordo. (Full disclosure: Ordo is my favorite.)

I say this because when Ordo needs two large tasks done, one of which is a delicate and emotionally charged matter, Ordo asks Kom’rk for help, and Kom’rk gives it. While one may chalk it up to necessity, the sincerity with which Kom’rk helps Ordo with the pyre speaks to me otherwise,

“They’ve completely overhauled the system overnight, Ord’ika.” Kom’rk took back the ’pad. “Data, comms, everything. We can’t get in. We can’t take stuff out. We can’t talk or listen at will. We can’t spy.”

It was the first time Ordo could recall when he and his brothers had not been able to get at anything they wanted. […] “It’s more an annoyance,” Ordo said at last. […] “None of this is beyond you or me to bypass, and Mereel or Jaing can crack this over a cup of caf.”

“I’m sure we can, but we’re starting over. The whole system’s changed. We’ve been used to being on the inside, exploiting opportunities, but if we want to keep that level of access, we’re going to have to start working harder.”

“Apart from extracting our brothers, why is this urgent?”

Kom’rk shrugged. “Just in case.”

And we hate being shut out. Ordo and his brothers were used to being in control. “We still can’t comm Darman or Niner, then?”

“No, and we can’t even get a medical sitrep on Niner. Or find out where Darman is. Because it’s the Imperial Army now.” (Order 66)

Ruu left, taking her plate with her, and Kom’rk raised an eyebrow at Ordo.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, ner vod, but you lack sensitivity. Poor woman didn’t go looking for Kal’buir. We abducted her.”

“She knows the score.”

“So you’re happy now.”

“Less tense, let’s say.” (501st)

Despite my saying Kom’rk appears distant over comms, in person with Ordo, he is almost forward. He is open with his concerns and has no issue quickly and concisely stating them, even if they’re ultimately simply annoyances rather than urgent matters.

I don’t interpret forwardness as a sign of strain―Kom’rk comes across firm, but not unkind. As someone with multiple siblings, I can say this tone is common, especially when sincerely and without malice trying to help a sibling address a flaw they have.

Frankly, as I see it, it is suggested that Kom’rk’s relationship with Ordo is a direct, open, and straightforward one. Also, is it possible that the deflection he displays earlier is for Kal, rather than Ordo? (Full disclosure: I do not like Kal and am heavily biased against him.)

Additionally, though the inability to hack into the military mainframe is relevant to the situation with Niner and Darman, Kom’rk’s concerns over it are not framed that way. Kom’rk is mostly concerned they have no access and his frustration of being shut out. He also appears aware Ordo may not consider this urgent―Ordo does not―but that doesn’t stop him from mentioning it. While it’s one part thoroughness, one part some relevance to a problem they have, I also think it’s two parts feeling able to express even minor concerns to Ordo.

“Son, you know how many times we’ve pulled that stunt?” Skirata asked.

“Yes. You know how many times it’s worked?” [said Prudii.]

Kom’rk inspected his fingernails. “Well, that’s another problem they’ve brought upon themselves—it’s not like they can take our DNA to prove who we are. Or stick us in a lineup. (501st)

I just wanted to point out behavior indicative of boredom. This is the second time. So, at this point, I’d feel safe assuming Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain a bored, aloof facade, even around family. (I’d also note both are around Kal, and he doesn’t exhibit this when not around Kal, your mileage may vary due to the small number of instances.)

Kom’rk had claimed a corner [of the workshop Jaing set up] to himself and was hunched over a 2-D holochart, tapping numbers into a datapad, completely absorbed in the calculation.

“Who’d have thought it, Bard’ika?” Jaing said, not looking up from the screen in front of him. “Saucy old di’kut, showing up like that. Moral of the story—always go back and check for a pulse.”

“Ordo’s never going to live that down,” Kom’rk muttered. “Ha… ha…” (501st)

Again, support for works well professionally with Jaing.

Also since everyone and their pet strill is probably ribbing Ordo in absentia about how he was wrong about Maze shooting Zey, especially Ordo who is always right and whose entire reputation rides on his being right, perhaps Kom’rk is tired of this topic already. A drawn out laugh like that is often flat-toned: “[mocking tone] Ordo’s never going to live that one down. [unamused] Ha… ha…”

Seeing as Jaing finds this whole thing funny, Kom’rk who doesn’t appear to find it funny at all, serves counterpoint. Likely speaks to at least a concern for how Ordo is taking it, or an empathy for how Ordo will not find this funny himself at all. Kom’rk is either tired of an overplayed joke making fun of Ordo at Ordos expense or isn’t a fan of making fun of Ordo for something Ordo cannot also laugh about. Probably speaks to Kom’rk’s sensibilities or again overall relationship with Ordo.

“Still, it’s hard to cap someone who’s just standing there looking pathetic, even when you know you’ll regret it one day if you don’t.”

“I’ll do it,” Kom’rk said. “Nothing personal. Just necessary.”

“Or we could use them to our advantage.” Jaing tapped his finger on the pile of flimsi. “Because one day, the Empire’s going to really tick us off, and we’ll need the skills of some saber-jockeys who owe us.”

Kom’rk laughed. “They’ve owed a lot of people for a long time. Don’t see much of them repaying their debts.” (501st)

“Of course, if we know where they’re holed up, we could just wipe out the rest of them now,” Kom’rk said. “Or even do a deal with the Empire. But I don’t trust any of them.” (501st)

Pragmatic. Cynical. Negative about the Jedi.

Yes, traits that are said to be shared among all the Nulls to varying degrees, but it’s nice to actually see them.

“Let’s not be too hasty. We know where their bolt-holes are, and with a little ingenuity we can track their movements. They step out of line—the Empire gets a treasure map with here be Jedi on it.”

Kom’rk laughed again. “That boy’s sick.”

“You got that location yet?” Jaing asked. “Chop-chop. Get a move on.”

“In a minute. It’s looking like the Plawal Rift.” (501st)

Again, more support for his rapport with Jaing. And this exchange demonstrates a different energy and tone he has with Ordo. Where he is much more straightforward in his exchanges with Ordo, he has more jest and hard edges for Jaing. It’s a balanced push and pull, and almost a series of little playful jabs.

Now, I’ve talked already a lot about Kom’rk and Jaing, but here, in this moment, is where I feel most that their relationship is similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have, that very balanced counterpoint and deep, unspoken understanding. Just as much as one better understands both Ordo and Mereel as individuals through their relationship, I think it’s possible to have the same with Jaing and Kom’rk.

“Ordo thinks I’m going soft on my old associates,” Jusik said. “I can’t blame him.”

“Are you?” [said Kom’rk.]

“Do you think I am?”

“Nah. Do you want me to shoot you if you are?”

Kom’rk had that kind of deadpan humor. But humor had its serious purpose in life.

“Yes,” Jusik said, half-meaning it. “Make it before I do any real damage.”

Jaing just looked up at Kom’rk, the slightest pause as if it wasn’t funny.

“You got it, ner vod,” Kom’rk said, and went back to his holochart. (501st)

This again speaks to an understanding of Kom’rk that Jaing has that other people may not, or at least that’s how I read Jaing’s hesitation while Jusik is still trying to figure out how serious Kom’rk really is.

Also, Kom’rk’s sense of humor, laid out in exposition. Much like Ordo, he’s dry―though even more dry than even Ordo is, it seems. But it does say a lot about him that agreeing to shoot his adoptive brother is conceivably something he’d say as a joke. Or, maybe it suggests something about his opinion of Jusik.

And that’s everything we know about Kom’rk, and what we can possibly glean it all. Social, dry witted, distant. But close with his brothers, most especially Jaing, likely Mereel, and readily but kindly criticizing Ordo. Possibly worries about how much his family actually cares, but masks it under jokes to not come across as needy. Both open and distant when it comes to communicating, depending on context. It’s true we have very little proper scenes with him, and be clearly is the least developed of the six Nulls, but we actually know a lot more about him and what he’s like than generally believed.

[lurkingcrow]

I should be finishing a whole heap of ficlets, but it’s been FOREVER since I participated in some high quality crack. So, I thought it’s time to bring out a concept I have been teasing @generallkenobi with. Now certain friends (*cough* @resistancepilots @asokatanos @aifsaath @forcearama @albaparthenicevelut etc) might read the following words with trepidation, but bear with me:

Sith Anakimono.

Imagine if you will, a universe where Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker are unexpectedly lost on a mission, and find themselves stuck on a planet/in an ancient temple with a bevy of Sith ghosts for company.

It’s bad. There’s no way out and they are surrounded by Darkness. And Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan has lost so much, he is NOT going to lose Anakin. He will do ANYTHING to protect his Padawan, no matter the situation.

And of course, that’s the crack the Sith Ghosts use to get in.

Anakin NEEDS him. Its not wrong, not for the sake of HIS Padawan. HE can take it. HE can protect the boy. It is his DUTY, is it not ,to face it?

And of course these aren't Banite Sith Ghosts. They look at Obi-Wan in mock astonishment: “Why the goal of a Sith is not evil, it is power, power to be FREE, to do whatever one DREAMS of. And is not your dream a noble one little Jedi? To protect your apprentice?"

And even Obi-Wan Kenobi, stalwart of the Light, has his flaws. And bit by bit the ghosts chip away at him. 

“Can you REALLY protect the boy as you are now?"

And well, it’s been ages, here in this Dark place, and Anakin is all he has left, the bright light in his days. And Anakin has been trying so HARD -  it is not easy, and only the small boons Obi-Wan wins from the ghosts have allowed them to survive.

In the end it is Anakin, shivering, his eyes dull, his face gaunt, hiding the evidence of illness just so Obi-Wan wouldn’t worry, that breaks Obi-Wan.

If it will save Anakin, he will Fall.

And so he does.

.

Of course, as a Sith, Obi-Wan laps up knowledge like water - after all he has made his decision.

(the Sith Ghosts are pleased beyond measure, he is such a GOOD pupil)

Anakin though, Anakin is worried. But Obi-Wan looks at him and smiles gently and tells him that  he is worth it.

And that? That pretty much seals the deal -  the Chancellor was WRONG, and Obi-Wan has chosen ANAKIN over the council, over the Jedi, over EVERYTHING. 

For that, he will follow his Master ANYWHERE. Even into the Dark.

Besides, if the Sith are all about freedom, maybe they WILL get around to freeing the slaves one day, together...

And thus is born Darth Solence and his Apprentice Vader

.

Now over time their codependence just grows. And as Obi-Wan is freer with his affections Anakin grows more used to that level of attention.

It becomes a feedback loop

Which means, by the time of the Clone Wars, there are a pair of irrationally Attached Sith roaming about who COULD destroy/conquer the galaxy but can’t be bothered and are FAR more concerned with more immediate matters.

Like each other.

Or the shortage of Anakin’s favourite conditioner. He almost committed genocide, until it was brought to his attention that there WAS sufficient supply but it was being hoarded by some high up person in order to artificially raise the price and... well this when the galaxy learns that anti-corruption measures are best enforced rather than having Lord Vader take the crusade into his own hands.

( Much later certain elements take to “aiming” Lord Vader at sources of corruption/slavery/other horrors through similar efforts. Lord Solence knows, but is too amused by it all to intervene. Besides, Obi-Wan LIKES Anakin all bloody and feral and flushed with victory...)

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. By the time of AOTC the galaxy is only hearing rumours about the very charming Sith and his overgrown Murdercat of a partner.

The description is rather accurate. Anakin brings Obi-Wan all sorts of bloody presents, has been known to knock ancient Sith artefacts off high ledges and go around marking people as : “Mine” “Mine” “Mine” *hiss* “Not mine!”.

 Perhaps more pertinently however is his habit of lounging on his Master’s lap demanding head pets or lurking behind said Sith to unnerve those seeking an audience with the dread Lord Solence. 

Obi-Wan thinks Anakin is ADORABLE.

(It’s why again, much later, he smiles indulgently as Anakin singlehandedly decimates Zygerria -literally decimates the message needs to get out about how unwise it is to run a slaving empire after all and Obi-Wan is a believer in efficiency- and why part of Nal Hutta BURNS for Anakin’s brithday one year.)

Obi-Wan will do anything for his boy.

 His boy.

Not Sidious’.

Because that? That is what seals Palpatine’s fate. 

A number of incidents reveal that the Chancellor has taken an interest in the new elements in play. And in Lord Vader in particular.

He wants Anakin. And Anakin? Is Obi-Wan’s. Full stop.

This simply Will Not Do.

Lord Solence is out for more than blood. He is out for complete and utter ruination.

And this is how the Jedi Order, and the Republic ends up getting the unasked for assistance of a pair of mad Sith Lords set on ridding the galaxy of the Line of Bane.

.

There are many tales about our codependent pair. 

For a start, yes, of course there are pancakes.

Pancakes were Obi-Wan's bribe of choice all the way through Anakin's apprenticeship. And you can bet that Anakin loved every bite.

Of course, eventually puberty hit, and  Anakin began implying he'd accept something else. But Obi-Wan seems to completely miss the hint  and ask if he meant he wanted waffles instead. 

His continued lack of clue causes Anakin's frustration to grow. Along with his power. And Anakin decides that the only way to make his intentions clear is to be strong enough to MAKE Obi-Wan accept them, as a full fledged Sith Lord.

And then one day, he completes a difficult and dangerous mission, one that challenged all his skills, one that was a WORTHY trial for a young Sith.  And high on his victory he grabs Obi-Wan by the shoulders and kisses him full on.

Obi-Wan just smiles, reaches one hand up and with barely a moment’s movement severs the braid Anakin had kept for so long.

 “Congratulations LORD Vader. I was wondering why you would act. Sexual frustration is a powerful motivator, is it not?"he purrs and Anakin is about to settle in for an EPIC pout until Obi-Wan pets his hair, kisses him again and informs him that  he only Kisses those WORTHY of standing by his side. He wants a PARTNER. He knew Anakin would get there one day, it was just a matter of WHEN. Anakin SWOONS.

(While Anakin will ALWAYS be HIS Apprentice, Obi-Wan was not about to sleep with someone under his tutelage - he likes his partners VERY willing and knowing Anakin COULD kill him if it came to it? Super hot.) 

.

And then there is the time they decide to thwart a certain plan to silence Senator Amidala of Naboo... And discover she has it covered. With a blaster.

Pointed at them.

While she spits out a series of breathtaking insults against the CIS, Count Dooku and his assasins (which she assumes they are).

The boys are impressed,

There may of may not be hearteyes involved. 

There was... definitely some cringing and identity reveal.

( Obi-Wan lowers his hood, red eyes gleaming and smile wide  “It's lovely to see you again, milady - I can assure you we mean no harm" *suave hair flick*  She stutters. Padme never stutters "Ob...Knight Kenobi? You're alive!? But that means... Ani????"t  *said man removes his hood, grinning* "Ani, you've.... grown" “So have you. Grown more beautiful... for a Senator I mean”) 

.

The first bunch of flowers turns up within an hour of her getting back to Coruscant.

 A few days later Padme finds a bloodied Nate Gunray tied up with a giant bow outside her apartments. A box of chocolates and a datachip containing crucial intel are stuffed in his hat.

( Anakin was originally torn between being smitten and outraged that she was pointing a blaster at HIS Obi-Wan. On the other hand, this is his Master, and he is obviously in no danger and, ooh that is his impressed beard twitch!  Anakins' brain begins to put together the possibilities and HE nearly gets shot. A quick discussion afterwards and a reaffirmation that “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine” and the boys decide upon a joint wooing. Given that in this universe Anakin doesn’t have the padawan cut, and Obi-Wan is wearing colours other than beige, Padme is doomed.)

This mission is also the point in which they reestablish contact with Jedi Master  Plo Koon, who was assigned to protect Senator Amidala alongside his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.

The boys think Ahsoka, who back talks to them like they AREN’T a pair of Murderous Madmen, is wonderful.  They totally want to steal her. Except they’re kind of fond of Plo, who remembers the Jedi they once were, has taken a more conciliatory approach to these Sith than the rest of the Council might approve of.

("Master Plo, you appear to have acquired a pair of Sith shadows." "They followed me home. Can I..." "No. You may NOT adopt the Sith reigning destruction and mayhem across the galaxy!" "But little 'Soka likes them! )

Plo, Ahsoka and Padme form an unofficial alliance. Anakin and Obi-Wan are undeniably Dark, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be convinced to work on the side of good! Also, they’re not sure just how much of the offer to grant Padme the galaxy on a silver platter was actually a joke...

Ok, that’s it for the moment! There’s plenty more to play with because you KNOW that the boys are going to completely ruin Palpatine’s plans in the most spectacular fashion, Dooku is going to have to deal with Obi-Wan’s complete and utter disdain ( "He claims to have loved Qui-Gon and yet he serves the man responsible for his death?? How very Sith rolls eyes"), Ventress is out there to induce Anakin’s jealousy (”Don't worry pretty boy, I like my men a little more... obedient") and just generally the tale of Sith Anakimono who has NO shame and an EVEN MORE attentive Master...

:)

[yakobmckee]

Star Wars: The Last Jedi changes everything - and that’s awesome

Okay. Okay.

Let’s get this out in the open: I think Star Wars: The Last Jedi is, maybe, the best Star Wars film ever made. It’s neck and neck with Empire Strikes Back and the things it has to say might push it ahead.

That’s a bold claim, I know, especially for a movie bound to be so divisive; but I have an impassioned defense of it, some of which I will lay out below. Beware: spoilers coming up.

Lots and lots of spoilers.

I warned you!

• • •

Star Wars has always been alternatively known as the Skywalker Saga. A long, drawn out tale that starts (chronologically) with a reckless Jedi Master stumbling on a boy, incredibly powerful with the Force, stranded in anonymity on the desert planet of Tatooine. The Anakin Skywalker of Phantom Menace has no idea what he’s destined to become, and that’s what makes him so endearing and so likeable — he’s an expert pod racer with droid crafting hobby, not a hero.

But Qui Gon Jinn thrusts expectations upon him he can never amount to. Perhaps he could have helped bring balance to the Force, if not for the prophecy that takes the entire weight of that task and places it on his shoulders. Throughout the Prequel Trilogy, Qui Gon’s too-high expectations of Anakin bleed out into other characters. Hounded by prophecies and titles like the Chosen One, he is held to higher standards by the Masters, every misstep is recorded in history, and the resentment that causes makes him an easy target for Palpatine’s machinations.

Palpatine didn’t create Darth Vader, Obi Wan and all the other Masters did — and Rian Johnson knows that, as he very acutely has Luke Skywalker say it: “A Jedi Master created Darth Vader,” he tells Rey, afraid of her power and what it might do if he can’t hold on to her. If he grows to expect too much of her, as he did with Kylo Ren, as Obi Wan did with Anakin.

This is Johnson’s whole theme in The Last Jedi — “This is not going to turn out how you think.” The danger of expectations, and the treasure hidden where you least expect. I’d argue that it’s the theme of the whole sequel trilogy. I don’t know if that was Abrams’ intent when creating The Force Awakens, but the way that film builds you up into thinking that this Star Wars is the Star Wars you know and love, that, yes, the true hero is probably neatly woven into our Skywalker line somewhere, and the true villain is probably also someone we’ve already had dealings with, only serves to accent the moments in The Last Jedi when all that goes out the window.

No, Supreme Leader Snoke isn’t Darth Plagueis or anyone else important. He’s a power-hungry Force user who’s climbed to the top of the First Order, plain and simple. No, Rey isn’t a Skywalker or a Solo. Her heroics don’t rely on blood. They rely on her goodness, alone, because she comes from literally nothing. No prophecy to show her the way, no expectations rising on her. She’s just a girl, who becomes a hero of her own volition.

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren — who, in no small part thanks to Adam Driver’s performance, has the most compelling arc in the film — lives under the same shadow as Anakin thanks to his lineage, and dramatically fails to fill it. Even when he realizes that Rey is right, and he doesn’t need Snoke’s approval, his desire to prove himself worthy of himself tears any hopes for redemption away. The expectations laid on him by Luke destroyed him, a fault which haunts Luke throughout the film.

This theme of unlikely heroes is reinforced and woven into every plot in a way Star Wars has never really succeeded in before now. Every one of the characters has a moment of subverting what you expect they’re worth. Let’s list them just so you know I’m not making it up.

Leia, who sparingly engages with the Force and strikes us more as generally Force-sensitive than full blown Jedi, executes perhaps the most powerful use of the magic ever to take place in the film series. Finn, a nameless stormtrooper, goes through a transformation from someone who just wants to get away to a man who would gladly lay down his life for the Resistance — and almost does. Poe learns that being a hero isn’t about heroics — it’s about considering the interests of the people. Vice Admiral Holdo serves as an effective foil to Poe, unassuming in her feminine aesthetic but just as badass as he is. The film’s last scene — of a lone Force-sensitive stable boy keeping hope in the rebellion alive — really underlines this theme.

Perhaps the greatest example of this comes from film MVP Rose Tico, a lowly mechanic who has the strength of belief to be a hero from moment one, when she stuns Finn for trying to desert (a moment, which, again, underlined the theme by playing on her expectations of what a Resistance hero should be like). As a side note, let’s not forget to mention the gripping performance by Kelly Marie Tran, and the importance of it in a broader sense.

The end result, then, is a pair of movies (The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens) that day, yes, this is Star Wars. But this is a new Star Wars, fresh and clean and ready to stand on its own legs without having to rely on the past.

It’s incredibly appropriate, then, that this is the film that sends off Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Yes, I’m sure an Episode IX centered around General Leia would have been great, but it’s almost better that the final episode of the Skywalker Saga is free of a hero that’s a Skywalker. Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, Lieutenant Connix, and company get to have a movie all on their own, proving that the Star Wars Saga CAN exist without Luke, Han, and Leia. Free of the expectations Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi have kept in play, maybe the rebels will finally win the day. Maybe balance will finally be brought to the Force.

This is BOLD AS HELL for a franchise that lives in people’s minds as one thing, to come out and say it’s time to be something new. Something familiar, but something totally new. It’s innovative, and creative, and people are naturally going to be reactionary and call it blasphemy. But it’s not. It’s really, really cool.

And it’s an important step forward for a franchise that intends to continue to grow. You can certainly say one thing: Star Wars won’t get stale anytime soon.

Aside from all that, it’s important to note that The Last Jedi stands up just as a movie, outside of all the really resonating and well-executed themes. It’s funny; some are saying too much, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The humor doesn’t intrude on moments that are really integral to the film’s themes: most of the Rey/Kylo Ren plot is free of humor, for example. There’s some unexpected hilarity, but most of the dramatic moments get to stand on their own.

Negatives: eh, all that aside, Flying Leia was weird, y’all. And I wasn’t sold on Casino Planet.

It’s also got some of the best action in any Star Wars film ever. The Rey and Kylo Ren vs. the Imperial Guard fight ranks in my top 3 Star Wars moments, and may be the best ever. I don’t know. Only repeat viewings will tell. And with that, I have to wrap it up, because my second viewing’s about to start.

I can’t wait.

Rating: A

#star wars #star wars the last jedi #the last jedi #spoilers

[geekns]

The Many Layers Surrounding Kylo Ren

The Reylo community has spent a lot of time speculating which pieces of Kylo Ren’s costume are coming off in the Last Jedi (the helmet is getting pulverized, obviously). I think that the headcanon is that the more layers Kylo Ren sheds the closer Ben gets to redemption.  Nothing to do with wanting to see more of Adam’s skin.  Nope.

But as it turns out, Adam Driver just recently verified that this theory has merit. In fact, it was already a factor in TFA.

I remember the initial conversations about having things 'skinned', ... peeling away layers to evolve into other people, and the person Kylo's pretending to be on the outside is not who he is. He's a vulnerable kid who doesn't know where to put his energy, but when he puts his mask on, suddenly, he's playing a role. JJ had that idea initially and I think Rian [Johnson, director of The Last Jedi] took it to the next level. ~Adam Driver, GQ UK

When i read this, i knew that a comprehensive rewatch was in order (no pun intended).  I watched TFA focusing on what Kylo Ren’s costume changes were, what it signified, and how it made me feel.  I basically geeked out big time and wrote a massive meta post. Warning, this is image intensive.

The Force Awakens

As i’ve mentioned in the past, all three of the main characters in TFA start off masked. Finn takes his armor off piece by piece in the desert (starting with his helmet as he climbs into the tie fighter with Finn). Rey leaves her mask and speeder behind on Jakku.  Kylo wears his mask for the first two-thirds of the film and has so many layers in his costume that the only skin we ever see is his face and where the saber cuts his clothes away. Here’s one fan’s breakdown of Kylo’s costume’s layers:

Kylo wears a helmet, neckseal/collar, sleeves, tunic/gambeson, midcoat, surcoat, hood/cowl/cape, gloves, belt, pants, and boots. He’s wearing all of it when he makes his grand entrance, at Poe’s interrogation, and in the aftermath of Poe and Finn’s escape.

Kylo’s costume tells us that he is untouchable, powerful, angry. He’s basically Darth Vader Jr without the need for any apparatus to keep him alive.  His first costume deviation is when Kylo is informed that BB-8 has escaped with Finn and “the girl”. He’s still in full getup but his hood is down.  This is the first time we get to see any indication of what’s going on beneath the hood other than a wannabe Darth Vader.  He’s starting to realize that he’s made some mistakes, gets a little sarcastic, and throws his first tantrum.  

He was actually sarcastic with Hux as well, but his disappointment here feels different. It’s not intimidation and impersonal anger but deeply personal and untempered. When he froze the blaster bolt and threatened Hux he was in perfect control; here he is barely held together. Though i think it’s worth noting that Hux chickened out when he sent a subordinate to report and Vader would have gone the whole way and killed the messenger.  Kylo wants to be like Vader but isn’t fully committed.

So far the wardrobe change with his hood signals a vulnerability, the persona starting to falter, etc.  It's telling that the hood is back up when Kylo and Hux come before Snoke but completely absent when we next see Kylo in his quarters. 

In his quarters, Kylo sits for the only time in the whole film. This is a man of action. His hooded cowl and surcoat(s) are stripped away (he’s still got the belt on but he’s in the tunic), head down, asking for forgiveness because he’s feeling a pull towards the Light Side again.  Which means it’s a recurring “issue” for him.  This is also the most relaxed/casual we see him throughout the entire film and his helmet is still on! The fact that he’s only half clothed but his skin is still fully covered is telling.  Kylo doesn’t allow the outside world to touch him, he is completely isolated.

In Rey’s Force Vision we see Kylo in the rain fully clothed but hood down (of all the times to put your hood down, pouring rain makes the most sense, am i right?). Here is a big reason that i think the hood is significant. In her Vision, Kylo first saves Rey (the man he kills is raising a weapon to attack her, or perhaps Luke) then standing further away and seeing Rey for the first time. His body language is tinged with a distinct sense of surprise spearing him into action (he starts to move towards Rey).  We still don’t know if this event was in the past or will be in the future...but I headcanon that Kylo has had (multiple) Visions of Rey and this is still depicting a future that we have yet to see. 

Later in the same Vision, a far more menacing Kylo stalks Rey, hood up, lightsaber lit, in a snowy forest. This portion of the Vision we know is in the near future, though it’s kind of mixed up.  Rey will initially meet him with his helmet on, hood up, just as in the Vision, but not on Starkiller Base, rather just a short run from where she’s having the Force Vision. When she eventually sees him in the snow his appearance will be altered.  

In this Vision, Rey has reason to both trust and fear Kylo before she even meets him in person.  The hood is the only difference between the two appearances. This one layer has meaning.  Hood up, Kylo is fully an extension of Snoke’s power.  Hood down, the man beneath the mask is struggling to assert himself.

On the way to Maz’ Castle to pick up the map, we get to see present-moment Kylo as Hux orders Starkiller Base to fire.  Once again, Kylo’s hood is down; this, along with the music, framing, and zoom, indicates that he does not approve of this new weapon. He’s about to feel millions, if not billions, of people die, just as Ben Kenobi did in a New Hope.  

Moments after this screenshot, the red light cuts across his helmeted features, but from this angle i am reminded of the way he is about to threaten Rey with his lightsaber in the woods.  Snoke’s commands signify intimidation and power on a much greater scale than what Kylo is willing (hoping?) to exercise or accomplish.  His reach is terrible, and that threat is always hovering at Kylo/Ben’s own throat.

Which brings us to the scene we’ve been waiting for: their first actual meeting.  Kylo pursues Rey through the forest, hood up, in full intimidation mode, much like in Rey’s recent Vision of him (but during the day without snow).  It’s an interesting choice for him to stalk her in this way, ostensibly fully in control again and a tool of Snoke, only to choose to abandon the search for BB-8. I wonder if he could he feel his mother’s approach? Is it only his personal connection and fascination with Rey overpowering his sense of duty?  How do we decipher his motivations?

Throughout the film, Kylo’ primary source of contact with the people and objects around him are through his lightsaber and the Force.  The only things we see him touch with his gloves on are his helmet and Rey when he catches her before she can fall to the ground.  Even when his hood is up this is more exposed than he has been with anyone up to this point.  But incredibly he drops his guard even further as soon as he has her restrained on Starkiller Base.  

Once in interrogation, he’s still fully geared but the hood is down again. Once again, with his hood off his powerful menacing aura almost seems relaxed and casual.  He’s clearly trying to seem less intimidating to Rey than he did with Poe.  And as we all know he even takes it a step further and unmasks himself for the first time.

Keep in mind that just before this scene we just saw Leia telling Han that she believes there is still good in their son, setting us for the unmasking of Kylo revealing his face.  Rey still sees Kylo as a monster, but we have just heard from his mother and his own mouth that his allegiance to the Dark Side isn’t as strong as he would have Snoke, his coworkers, and his enemies think.  Even with the mask on, we have already seen that he has doubts; they are only magnified with his mask off.

He just told Rey that she is his guest, which insinuates a certain level of personal attention and protection that he didn’t give Poe.  He only interrogated Poe after no one else could get the intel, he hasn’t let anyone touch Rey, and his body language when Rey wakes is the most submissive that we’ve seen him.  He didn’t kneel to Snoke or Vader’s helmet.  Remember that his hood was up when he interrogated Poe and now he doesn’t have his hood or his mask.

Without the mask he isn’t disfigured or monstrous, he doesn’t even look angry so much as regal. He still asks Rey questions expecting answers, but he doesn’t brutally rip the information out of her head the way he did Poe, he doesn’t go for the throat. He goes for the good cop strategy instead and tries to be sympathetic with Rey.  This must be challenging for someone who lives his life holding everyone at his considerable arm’s length and allows no one to see his face... let alone touch him.  Rey isn’t having any of it and blocks him from extracting the information either kindly or cruelly.

The next scene has intrigued me for a long time. All of a sudden, Kylo isn’t just unmasked in front of Rey, or even just Snoke, but Hux as well. It’s apparent that he feels a certain amount of confidence being open with Snoke, that without the mask Ben is struggling to assert himself, but as soon as Hux enters the room Kylo’s face becomes a blank mask of its own. It’s incredible to watch.  It magnifies the importance of his decision to not only remove the mask for Rey but show his true face.

And then we have a series of continuity errors. I don’t even know how Kylo got his mask back when last we saw it was in the interrogation room with Rey, but his cowl is suddenly absent (when he was clearly wearing it in the chamber where he was talking to Snoke).  Not only that, but the cowl is back on as soon as Kylo gets to where Rey is meant to be waiting. Cue tantrum #2.  

Kylo is definitely having a bad day.  While his attention is on recovering “the girl” he strangely keeps taking his cowl on and off.  (Note: he didn’t even ask Rey’s name, he didn’t give her his, and I’m pretty sure that Rey was too busy mentally resisting him to catch on to who his daddy is.)  Kylo is driven to find Rey across a variety of locales and we are going to just have to wonder what scene was cut that explains what happened to the magical cowl (which incidentally remains down even when it’s being worn in the search montage).

Kylo is not at his best at this point, his chaotic outfit changes keep him from seeming as put together and menacing as he might wish to be. This actually helps reinforce his mental state. Kylo without his hood seems exposed, without his cowl at all even moreso.  He surely must be wondering how this scavenger is hiding from him so effectively but is even further distracted by daddy’s arrival.  Apparently his objective to kill his father takes precedence over finding the map or the girl who has resisted him.

I do think it’s worth noting that in the deleted scene where he visits the Millenium Falcon he enters the ship with his cowl on, hood up, and goes to the cockpit alone where he puts the hood down and grips the pilots’ seats with intensity.

The above-pictured scene on the right (where he senses “Han Solo” for the first time) is the last we see of the cowl in this film. It’s not unusual to feel that the face we show the world has been stripped away to reveal our old insecurities when we are reunited with family. 

We next see Kylo in the same hallway he was in earlier (on his way back to interrogation after talking to Snoke)... only this time we see him walk directly into the room where he will be confronted by his father.  Oops.  I’m sure it only looks like the same ceiling with a tighter framing and is actually in a completely different part of the base. Completely off topic, but i love the way his coats move as he sweeps around the planet, brooding, but back to the analysis.

So at this point it’s pretty clear that Kylo is starting to shed layers. He took the cowl off three times, put it back on three times, and it’s just a continuity nightmare... but it is off for the rest of the film. It is the first layer that he permanently sheds, so there is something to this analysis.  Meanwhile, Kylo’s helmet has just come off for the second time and he's looking more vulnerable than ever before.

Kylo claims that Ben is dead but also shows Ben’s face before making the aforementioned claim. He’s only undermining himself here, but it is past time for the audience to get to know more directly what Kylo is feeling and it’s only fair to let Han see his son one last time. 

It’s difficult to judge how much of Ben’s pain and confusion is an act and how much of it is real. I tend to think that Ben is not as good of a liar as he thinks/wants to be and already knows that he is effectively trapped by Snoke when Han steps closer and says “When he gets what he wants, [Snoke]’ll crush you.” Ben actually takes half a step backward, almost as if he’s trying to hide in the dark. Is he more afraid of his father or the truth? Han continues: 

“You know it’s true.”

“It’s too late.”

The dialogue is raw, painful. Kylo doesn’t believe that there is a way for him to go back to being Ben, to his mother, to the Resistance. He knows better than anyone how powerful Snoke is. A lot of people assume that Kylo’s loyalty is to Snoke and the First Order, that he is firmly anti-resistance and possibly even brainwashed. I don’t believe that. I believe (as Han suggests) that he legitimately feels that he has no place else to go. That he’s playing a part because it’s what people on both sides expect of him. Before this film has even begun, doubts have taken hold of Ben.  I think that his loyalty is solely to Vader’s cause, misguided as that is, but that he is mainly driven by fear.  It’s the one thing Rey plucked out of his head.  I mean look at this face...

This isn’t some completely confident heartless murderer, he didn’t want to kill Han to begin with and he regrets it even more after he does do it. If Kylo were as heartless as he claims, he could have left the mask on throughout the conversation or sneered and raged like his grandfather did while dueling his namesake... who was the closest thing that Anakin had a father. 

(Patricide is the same crime Darth Vader committed in a New Hope when he defeated his adopted father. Obi-Wan went into exile for decades not only because the Jedi were being hunted down but because of the shame of his failure to raise and train Anakin in a way that would have kept him emotionally whole and able to resist the Dark Side.)

So we get to see Kylo be more like his role model, but there are tears in his eyes when he’s doing it. He’s being torn apart.  That isn’t a lie.  And the only time anyone touches Kylo’s skin in this entire film (save with a lightsaber) is when Han caresses his son’s face in the same exact place Rey is about to permanently mark him and then falls to his death.

All of the time spent under his mask, the assumption is that the emotions that Kylo feels the most are anger, hatred, power, and unwavering purpose.  As soon as his mask is removed we see the truth: fear, conflict, indecision, loneliness, emptation.  We get to see what hatred looks like on his face soon enough when he looks at Finn and demands the saber that he believes to be his birthright.  There is no hatred in this moment, only uncertainty and regret.

After spending about three-quarters of the film with Adam Driver in a mask it’s a relief to be able to truly see Kylo Ren’s face.  He feels things deeply. During the forest dual we get to see rage, pain, determination, surprise, and calm focus. We get to see how much strength his body and mastery of the Force provides him with, to the point of feeling that he is toying with Finn and even Rey until she finds her own focus. It’s almost as if, with the mask finally off, the real Kylo/Ben is able to be released.  This fight isn’t about the map and Snoke’s orders, it’s deeply personal.

But despite the fact that Finn’s defeat is casual, almost perfunctory, it’s clear that Kylo doesn’t want to harm Rey.  Keep in mind, when Finn fought with the saber the first time he was quickly defeated by another stormtrooper.  His training seems to be a little spotty, he should have grown up learning how to fight hand to hand just as much with blasters.  Kylo deals with Finn quickly and efficiently and turns his attention to his personal objective.

In contrast, Rey grew up defending herself with her staff.  We know that she’s a good fighter and that no one was able to overpower her until Kylo used the Force. And despite her strength in combat, she still cannot hold her own against Kylo unless she uses the Force as well.  It’s not that Kylo’s toying with her so much as trying to seduce her in an oddly misguided way.  She is forced to fall back repeatedly until he corners her cliffside and offers not to show her the power of the Dark Side, but to teach her about the Force. 

This is not the same offer Vader was making at the end of tESB, father and son ruling the galaxy as equals. It’s not about obeying Snoke and bringing the girl to him. And it’s not even about the saber at this point. It’s about whatever they felt together when their minds pressed against one another. It’s about a shared destiny. Which Rey doesn’t even consider, meditates, and comes back kicking yet again.

Kylo and his costume don’t come out unscathed. Finn cut Kylo’s right shoulder, Rey slashes at his left leg, stabs at his left shoulder, and cuts his face from forehead down to his right shoulder dividing collar, coats, and sleeves.  After being the best at piloting and saber fighting and Force use and who knows what else for most of his life, it must be a hard blow to his ego.  But Kylo isn’t angry or afraid; he’s in awe.

The Last Jedi

At the end of TFA Kylo is wearing a helmet, collar, sleeves, gambeson, midcoat, surcoat, hooded cowl, gloves, belt, pants, and boots (the pieces in italics are damaged, the crossed out ones almost certainly lost on Starkiller Base). After looking at promotional images and behind the scenes footage i think it’s safe to say that Kylo will be starting off the film with significantly less clothing even from the outset. At the beginning of the film his neckseal, gambeson, coats, and hooded cowl are already gone. He’s been stripped down to helmet, cape, sleeves, quilted tunic, belt, pants and boots.

The new tunic is still sleeveless, shorter (to hip rather than knees), and its collar is only about half as high as the old one. It’s one piece of clothing that seems to be present throughout the film. That and the gloves, boots, and trousers. His pants are no longer thick denim but a lighter cotton that is probably closer to what’s worn in the First Order uniforms.  They’re also very form fitting in some of these shots.

To sum up, he’s still fully clothed, but with fewer layers, less coverage. It’s more lightweight and less armored. He’s not putting forth the same TFA appearance, which focused on intimidation. This is far more open and accessible. I’m sure Adam was thrilled with the change because i’ve read the TFA costume is very warm. Which is very necessary in RL if you’re wanting the protection that armor provides, but would be miserable to shoot in under all the lights.

The new cape is much more Vader. There’s no hood anymore so (once again) he’s going to be more exposed/relateable throughout TLJ. Kylo will spend some time with his helmet and new cape but I predict that neither will survive very long in the film.  In most pictures that we have access to they are completely absent. They are focused on in the lift:

...outside the lift (apparently on the way to Snoke’s throne room)...

...and inside Snoke’s throne room. he famous smashed helmet shot makes it obvious that the helmet’s days are numbered, the only question is how long it sticks around. They are really driving its destruction home in the trailers (not this finished product on the left, which is gorgeous, but Kylo holding it in the lift and punching it into the wall.

I just wanted to point out that BTS info stated that Kylo’s saber wasn’t finished in TFA (it’s mentioned in the Amazon X-Ray), Rey seems to have cut it apart at the end of their dual before cutting Kylo’s face, and now it looks brand new. So the saber is new, too, even if it shares the last saber’s general design.  But i wonder if Kylo is still hung up on wanting Anakin’s saber for himself.

Kylo does still have his cloak on when leading stormtroopers into battle on Crait, and i originally assumed that he would be wearing his helmet, but if you look closely you can see his face from above. I think that we’ll get to see Adam’s face for most of the film (yay) and without the cloak for a good portion of it. The Tie Silencer scene, for instance, must be earlyish in the film judging by the space bandaid but there is no cloak or helmet present.

And i know that i’m not the only one who has noticed that the belt seems to be completely absent in the extended hand shot. It’s really hard to tell but i think it’s at least a possibility that the belt will be missing for part of the film. We also know (from the novels as i recall) that the belt has a tracker in it.

One last thing (well two, really).  Notice how matte his overall look is. I assume this is to emphasize how wrapped up in the Dark Side he is, but the tiniest bit of Light is still shining through. The shiniest elements of his costume are the helmet, gloves, and belt. His TFA costume was the same way, mostly matte, those three elements reflective. IMO, those are three costume pieces most likely to be discarded before IX. There is a strong focus on hands across all the trailers (Mark tweeted about this) and the fact that Kylo never gets to actually touch anything or anyone in TFA means that they want this to pay off.  I am hoping that the next person to touch Ben skin to skin is Leia, but i predict that in the final scene of TLJ he and Rey will be together and his gloves are going to be gone.

There is one additional costume change to mention. There’s one shot of Kylo that isn't obviously set on a First Order ship where he’s wearing something that’s made of a shinier fabric (see his shoulder on the left). I originally thought there may be more than one cloak in use (since the one in the Vanity Fair shoot seems more reflective than the one in the red poster or outside the lift, both as pictured above)... but i now believe that it’s a leather jacket that hasn’t been shown anywhere else.

So you know how a lot of the footage isn’t showing us Kylo and we know that he’s on Ach-to and on Crait? I suspect this jacket is very important and is from a scene so guarded, so under wraps, that we have no way of knowing when or where it is in the film...but i really, really hope that it involves a reunion with his mother (or Rey).

#the force awakens #kylo ren #meta #the last jedi #speculation #reylo fam #ben organa #just let him actually touch someone and be touched

[hexxalite-hecate]

I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT TLJ AND I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THEM OK THANKS

Spoiler: the more I think about TLJ, the more I like it. This is a closer look at the big criticisms I’ve seen about the film. The most popular ones seem to be:

1. Reylo sucks and Rey’s storyline with Kylo romanticises abuse

2. Rey not being a Skywalker or a Kenobi is bullshit and meaningless

3. You ruined Luke!

4.The movie is too long and convoluted, what even is going on in the space casino 

WELL OK THEN HERE WE GO

Argument 1: Rey and Kylo's interactions romanticise abuse.

Some people love the idea of a Kylo/Rey romance; others feel his treatment of her bears unmistakable hallmarks of gaslighting and abuse, and the idea of a strong woman like Rey falling into a clichéd bad-boy romance arc would ruin her character and send a really terrible message about relationships that the media is already guilty of widely perpetrating. And to much of an extent, I agree with that, especially the second part of the argument. But I’m not weighing in on shipping wars; that’s not what this is about. I want to talk purely about canon interaction, and I don’t think any romanticising of abuse is borne out by how Rey actually responds to Kylo onscreen. A lot of people point to the scene where he reveals her parentage and asks her to join him, in particular that his statement about her being “nothing” is manipulative and insidious.

While I definitely don’t think Kylo is above being manipulative, let’s try and analyse a little more of what’s going on in that scene. I admit it’s kind of funny to think of Kylo negging like a redpiller, but I think there’s more going on when he says “you’re nothing; but not to me” than a pickup line. I believe Kylo’s projecting like a 60w bulb here. It just so happens that he hit the nail on the head when he touched on Rey’s fears of loneliness and abandonment, but I think he’s also talking about his own feelings. In fact, Kylo’s dialogue is so Freudian that it’s an interesting exercise to take all the statements he makes to others throughout the film (particularly Rey) and assume he’s talking to himself. The results are weirdly plausible. Snoke has clearly been destroying his self-esteem for years, and he (not without reason) believes that the bridges back to his family are forever burned. I think the “you’re nothing; but not to me” comment is a statement he would long for someone to say TO him. He’s honestly trying to communicate to Rey that she has worth, despite it coming across almost the exact opposite. And the thing he most wants in the world is for someone to feel that way about him.  

By this point in the film, the battle with Snoke and the Praetorian Guards has galvanised a new direction in Kylo. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” Now he fully embraces that statement. To him, Rey represents a whole new path that had hitherto been non-existent; something outside both the First Order AND the Jedi/Resistance. When he asks her to join him, I don’t believe he means as part of the First Order. Listen to his words: "We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy." I think he meant for them to forge a completely different path, just the two of them. This is why he doesn’t lend much thought to stopping the attack on the Resistance ships, callous as is it. He’s killed the past. None of it matters to him. He doesn’t care if the Supremacy burns too; in fact he’d be glad. He and Rey can leave all this pain and heartache behind and become their own Order. When he makes this offer, Kylo is at his most sincere and vulnerable. And when Rey rejects it, his fleeting vision of a glorious future beyond his pain, guilt and subjugation is dashed in an instant. Predictably, he reacts with a psychotic break.

Of course it would be a ludicrous betrayal of Rey’s character for her to accept this proposal, throwing her friends’ lives to the wind and enabling Kylo in his selfish power fantasy. I’m so glad the writers didn’t go that route, for a number of reasons. For a start, Rey is not aware of the true complexity of what Kylo is experiencing in this moment. She simply sees him retreating to the Dark Side, dashing her own hopes of his redemption that had surely risen during the triumph over Snoke and the Praetorian Guards. Rey would never have said yes to Kylo Ren; it was Ben Solo she went to the Supremacy to save. But even had she seen what was really going on in his head, I’m still glad she refused because it underscores a subtle but strong feminist narrative that has permeated the new trilogy so far. Kylo is damaged, but it is NOT Rey’s job to fix him. Her compassion prompted her to reach out a supportive hand and she undoubtedly feels the chemistry of their bond, but she won’t throw her principles, her integrity and her friends under the bus for what is essentially a psychotic killer, no matter how much she sympathises with his pain. This is why I find it misleading when people label Kylo and Rey’s canon interaction as “romanticising abuse”. Having compassion for someone is not the same as enabling or excusing their actions. If Rey had fallen into his arms believing she could fix the bad boy and everything would be ok, THAT would be romanticising an unhealthy relationship. But she doesn’t. Her integrity speaks sense over her bond with Kylo, and she refuses to take on the responsibility of making him better. That responsibility is his alone.

Now, if he takes it upon himself to improve and atone, truly and unselfishly? Then I would be up for an actual relationship between them. I don’t think that’s an implausible prediction for the series, either.

Argument 2: Rey having no significant parentage was pointless and a wasted opportunity.

The feminist nature of how Rey’s character is written touches on another of the major complaints I’ve seen about TLJ; the reveal of her parentage. I think even Daisy Ridley commented with annoyance that the only conversation people seemed to be having about Rey was which famous man is her progenitor. But guess what! She’s not special because she’s Luke’s daughter or Ben’s sister or Obi-Wan’s granddaughter; she’s special because she’s Rey. If one of TLJ’s main themes is failure, the other is undoubtedly “we are the spark”, and “we” is everyone and anyone. Anyone can be special and rise to greatness, no matter if they’re a long-lost relative of a powerful Force-wielder or not. The Skywalker dynasty is not as special or unique as you thought they were.

This leads into another thing that I really love about how TLJ is written, and something that its detractors seem most furious about: it’s not afraid to kill sacred cows. The Skywalkers are not the be all and end all of the Force. Not even the Jedi and the Sith are; Luke makes that crystal clear when he encourages Rey to feel the true extent of the Force during her meditation. All these ancient traditions and bloodlines are insignificant specks in the cosmic Force. What I love about this concept is that it so perfectly and cleverly chastises fans for clinging onto a limiting and misplaced sense of tradition about Star Wars. Ending on the scene with the nobody stableboy on Canto Bight casually Force-calling his broom encapsulated this theme; the spark is everywhere. Anyone can rise and be a hero. Even the Skywalkers came from nothing; they were slaves from a backwater nowhere. The institutions of the Jedi and the Sith were both corrupt and ineffectual by the end because they clung to tradition instead of focusing on living individuals. The Jedi were as much to blame as the Sith for the creation of Darth Vader; their rigid adherence to their codes lead to Anakin’s alienation and eventual fall. Ironically, the one character we see who seems to understand this turns up in the hated Phantom Menace; Qui-Gon Jinn. His focus on the living Force rather than traditions and codes is implied to be the reason he was never accepted by the Jedi Council, but he was the only one who truly connected to the young Anakin on a compassionate and human level. If Qui-Gon hadn’t died, Darth Vader might never have existed.

Nowhere is the theme of killing sacred cows more blatantly paraded than in the scene where Luke and Yoda destroy the ancient Jedi temple tree with its sacred texts. Having conceived of the idea in a moment of manic despair (much like the moment that lead to him contemplating killing Ben Solo), Luke is then horrified when the ghost of Master Yoda finishes the job with what seems like capricious glee. But Yoda has finally learned the lesson that Luke taught him on Dagobah when he abandoned his training in favour of saving his friends; when the old ways do not work, it’s ok to let them go. Kill your sacred cows. Let the past die. “We are what they grow beyond", Yoda tells Luke. What use are Masters if their apprentices never surpass them? And that’s true of Yoda as well. Even an old dog can learn new tricks, and on Dagobah, Yoda was still clinging to the codes and traditions of the creaky outmoded Jedi Order.  He was reluctant to train Luke and believed his impulse and emotion to be dangerous. But Luke taught him that emotion, passion, love and putting your friends first was not something to be feared as a path to the Dark Side; it is to be embraced and cherished as an essential human experience. Ironically, since his failure with Ben, Luke himself has become afraid that that lesson was the wrong one. But when the tree burns, Yoda re-kindles in Luke the very thing that Luke taught Yoda all those years ago on Dagobah. The cyclical nature of their journeys mirror the cyclical nature of the Force; it will go round and round, encompassing everything and everyone. We are the spark.

Argument 3: Luke's personality was butchered and his exile was out of character.

“Killing a sacred cow” is what I think a lot of people’s feelings about Luke’s characterisation boil down to in TLJ, and where a lot of the upset stems from. I’ve seen many arguments that Luke would never have contemplated killing Ben; that he would never avoid his responsibilities with the Resistance for 20 years; he would never be so “cowardly” as to not attend the final battle on Crait in person. His hope and light was the focal point of the original trilogy; his character was butchered! But I think all of these arguments overlook fundamental aspects of Luke’s character. Implying he has realistic human flaws seems to be sacrilege. But when you think about it, the things we learn about Luke’s story in TLJ make perfect sense based on his personality, past and experiences.

Let’s look at Luke’s timeline after the OT. The biggest thing that goes wrong for Luke (that we know of) is his moment of madness when he turns a lightsaber on his own nephew. And on the face of it, it does seem extreme. Never-give-up-on-friends-and-family Luke, who went to the ends of the galaxy even for his corrupted fallen father, attempting to kill an innocent boy – his nephew at that!? It does seem outrageous. But when you really look at Luke’s character from Episodes IV to VI, you’ll see that he has these impulsive and passionate reactions a lot more than fans tend to remember. Luke is an extraordinarily emotionally driven person, and his gut instinct informs pretty much all his major decisions in the OT. He joined the Rebel Alliance because he saw a pretty girl on a hologram begging for help. He diverted the escape from the Death Star to rescue Leia as soon as R2D2 said she was a prisoner there.  He turned off his targeting computer in the trench.  He went to Dagobah on the orders of a hallucinatory ghost. He took weapons into the Dark Side cave against Yoda’s advice because he felt spooked. He went to rescue Han and Leia on Bespin despite Yoda begging him to remain impartial. We constantly see him making split-second emotional decisions or even succumbing entirely to instinctual feeling. Remember when Vader threatened Leia at the climax of RotJ, and Luke completely and utterly lost control? His hysterical, panic-filled beating on Vader is EXACTLY the kind of instinctive emotional reaction that we can assume happened in the hut with Ben. He had a shocking vision of Ben’s darkness, fell totally prey to his emotional instincts, and before he knew it the lightsaber was alight in his hand. Like during his fight with Vader, reason overcame madness pretty quickly, and I very much doubt Luke would actually have actually hurt Ben if the scene had been allowed to play out. He actually says this directly in the film: “it passed like a fleeting shadow, and I was left with shame and consequence”. But unlike with Vader, by that point it was already too late. The damage had already been done, the trust broken, and Ben reacted in his own uniquely impulsive catastrophic Skywalker way. (These Skywalker boys are all so extra.)

But Luke should have gained control over his feelings long ago, you cry! He was building a new Jedi Order, and one of the main hallmarks of the Jedi is that they control their emotions!

Well, yes, it was. But the entire point of the ending of RotJ is that Luke shatters that traditional Jedi Order. This is the lesson that he teaches Yoda at 11th hour on Dagobah; that you can be a strong in the light side of the Force and also be true to your personal attachments and commitments. They are not sins to be eradicated (this pressure is what drove Anakin to the Dark). This truth was undoubtedly part of the basis of Luke’s new Order. But when he wakes up and sees what his moment of uncontrolled instinctual reaction has wrought – his temple destroyed, Kylo gone, the apprentices slaughtered – he would naturally have had a crisis of self-doubt. Was he right about his new Order teachings? Should he have followed the old Jedi way instead? He must have been wrong, and now he’s failed everyone, including his own nephew, and by extension his beloved sister and best friend.

That brings us to the “out-of-character” exile on Ach To. As far as I can see, this isn’t out of character at all. Remember what everyone who doesn’t like Luke trots out? He’s whiny. He sulks as much as Anakin did in AotC. He had plenty of moments of inspiring optimism in the original trilogy, but he had plenty of moods too. And yeah, he was a teenager back then. But this is a part of Luke’s essential character, and the Luke of TLJ is not an 18-year-old any more; with age comes the natural loss of youth’s idealism even without a traumatic event to compound it. Luke’s always had his friends to pull him out of his melancholia before, but this time it was those very same friends whom he had let down. How could he seek solace with them when he had singlehandedly caused their son’s downfall? We don’t know yet whether he saw Han and Leia after the disaster with Ben, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he simply couldn’t bring himself to face them. And as time goes on, it gets harder and harder. Luke isn’t just ashamed of what happened with Ben; he’s afraid of himself. Is he dangerous? How many other lives could he ruin? They’re better off without him. Anyone who has ever struggled with depression, or seen a friend or family member do the same, will recognise this litany. By the time TFA rolls around, Luke is seriously depressed and probably suffering from PTSD as well. He is jaded, afraid, ashamed, cynical and bitter. When Rey turns up looking for all the world like another young idealistic Jedi puppy, asking for the very training that Luke believes doomed his first apprentices, is it any wonder Luke throws the lightsaber over his shoulder and refuses to speak to her? He genuinely thinks he has nothing to offer; or worse, that he and his teachings are an active danger to her. 

Of course as moody as Luke can be, he has always been easily pulled back to the light, even in his jaded and traumatised state in TLJ. It does not take Rey long to rekindle the spark of hope and optimism that has always been within him. The scars from his ordeal will never disappear, though. Did you notice how he FREAKS OUT when Rey shows even the slightest curiosity about the Dark cave below the island? He sees Ben all over again – or possibly even himself, entering the cave on Dagobah. He’s back to the rigid Jedi code of DENY REPRESS DENY, and predictably, it drives Rey away just as it did Anakin in AotC. It’s only after his heart-to-heart with Yoda that Luke begins to see the worth in his teaching methods again, and return to some semblance of the Luke we saw at the end of RotJ.

The projection he sends to Crait is not only a very clever move from Luke, it’s also a uniquely unselfish one, despite the cries of “coward” from the naysayers. What purpose would physically showing up on Crait serve? Only indulging his own ego. He’d have been killed in the first onslaught of firepower, and achieved nothing but despair for the Resistance and triumph for Kylo. He knows that the true value of his presence is to buy time for the Resistance to escape, and in the process inspire them with the sight of their long-lost ally. It also serves to show Kylo how powerful Luke truly is, even after all this time. Kylo drops a line earlier in the film about his Force bond with Rey not being the same as a physical projection; even with Rey’s level of raw power, he claims it would kill her. Of course it kills Luke too, although it’s unclear whether anyone has actually realised this by the end of the film. But Luke dies making the same sacrifice Vader did. He messed up, but his dying act is to protect his loved ones in whatever way he can. I personally thought the scene of his death on Ach To was incredibly beautiful. Luke has found peace and redemption. He is more at one with the Force than he has ever been. How can you begrudge an ending like that?

Argument 4: The film was over-long and the Canto Bight codebreaker plotline sucked.

Well yeah, I'll give you that one. Justice for Finn and Rose!

Anyway that’s all; thank you for coming to my TLJ TED Talk.

#star wars #the last jedi #tlj spoilers #tlj #reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #luke skywalker #extra skywalker boys #tlj meta #star wars meta #meta

[stonefreeak]

I LOVE the chancellor Obi-Wan series! I reread it all the time because tortured Obi-Wan is great, but his personal hell of becoming a politician while preventing everything is even better. But that last line, wow. Why do I get the feeling the assassination is going to happen while Skyguy and Snips are away? But would that mean that Obi Wan gets to show off all his amazing jedi moves in front of the Senate? And remind them he's The Negotiator but also a superb fighter???

Anonymous said:Im suddenly thinking of imprompto skydiving when the next assasionation attempt goes off in Bail’s office. Unless it is poision or toxic chemicals.

Anonymous said:So, SC Obi has had two attempts on his life so far? Only two? No others getting caught before they get to Obi? One of Palps assassin plans interrupted by some other opportunist who fails miserably (and then more Palp-is-suffering?) Or frustration on the investegators parts at these unrelated to the first two attempts?

I wouldn’t think that two assassination attempts warrants an “only”, considering what a short time Obi-Wan has been in power. It is, in fact, a huge amount of attempts. After all, a lot of political leaders have gone their entire careers without a single assassination attempt. ;)

So here we are! An update! Finally! Assassination attempt #3!

I’ve had the text finished-ish for some time, but I’ve been editing and editing and editing until I now. Shout-out to my girl @dendral for looking it over so I could stop banging my head against it! 

This ficlet ended at a whooping 5.7k, so hopefully it will feel worth the wait.

WARNING: this story contains the aftermath of an explosion, as such there will be some descriptions of injuries caused by it, mentions of death, as well as the contemplation of death and dying. 

If there’s anything you think i missed in my warning, I’m sorry, just let me know and I’ll fix it.

Here we go!

Obi-Wan thinks back to the previous night. He slept well, knowing that Master Yoda was watching over him, though he cannot help the feeling of shame that washes over him. He shouldn’t need Master Yoda’s help like this. He’s dealt with his prescience since he was a child, he should be used to it by now.

He tries to accept the feeling and let it go. He knows that Master Yoda would likely smack his shin with the gimer stick and say something about there being no shame in needing help, and how asking for it shows greater wisdom than breaking your back trying to carry all burdens on your own.

The thought almost makes him feel a phantom ache in his shin, and he smiles. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Obi-Wan turns back to the matter at hand.

The feeling of ever approaching danger has yet to leave. Which means that whatever it is he’s being warned about, it has yet to happen. He stares at his planner and frowns slightly, tapping a finger softly against his desk. It’s difficult, to say the least, to plan for something when you don’t know what that something is.

Perhaps he should bring some troopers with him when he leaves his office for today’s meetings. Having a few extra pair of eyes to search for danger would be beneficial. Not to mention that should something happen, having them around could very well help save lives.

A meeting with Senators Biwa, Himesh, Chuchi, and acting Vice-Chancellor Ha’han-ash regarding a treaty between Cyllian III and Illi-hian starting ninth hour and set to end thirty minutes before lunch at twelfth hour. At thirteenth hour his meeting with Bail Organa regarding the a bill concerning the relocation of war refugees will start.

Obi-Wan rubs his beard and considers his predicament again. He cannot bring all his troopers. Some must remain to guard his offices, he has too many important documents and notes in them to risk leaving them unattended. Besides, bringing too many guards could be taken as an insult; the Senators could see it as Obi-Wan implying that they’re untrustworthy.

Any other day, Obi-Wan would go to the meeting alone; he hasn’t been bringing guards to meetings where he doesn’t leave the upper floors of the Senate office building, but with the way the Force is—constantly sending out warning signals…

Well. Obi-Wan simply cannot risk it. He’s not one to play fast and loose with people’s lives. Not to mention the potential for political fallout from accidental perceived slights or favouritism…

Obi-Wan shakes his head again. He’ll bring Waxer and Boil with him for the day, the rest of the troopers will stay in the guard room and make sure no one gets into the office.

Decision made, Obi-Wan glances to the clock again, nodding to himself. He’ll have to leave soon unless he wants to arrive late, which means discussing his plans with the men immediately.

He puts his planner down and gets to his feet. Politics wait for no man.

~~~~

Obi-Wan glances at the clock discreetly. The meeting was supposed to end thirty minutes before lunch hour, but now it is already fifteen minutes past lunch hour. Senator Biwa has gone over the set meeting time by almost forty-five minutes already. Lunch hour has started and if Obi-Wan wants to have time to eat anything besides rations bar from his office before his next meeting, this one must wrap up quickly.

“All in all, I think it’s clear that Cyllian III has broken the treaty with Illi-hian and as Senator of Illi-hian I cannot allow it to stand. I’m sure you understand, Chancellor,” Senator Biwa says, his nasal voice picking up a few octaves toward the end of the sentence.

“I understand your position, Senator, and I appreciate that you called for a private meeting with a few neutral parties present—including myself—before you brought this before the Senate as a whole,” Obi-Wan says smoothly. If he wants this meeting to end, he will need to play his cards right. “At the same time, I also understand Senator Himesh’s position, and I believe that further investigation into the treaty and the situation is warranted before any decisions are made.”

Senator Chuchi nods her head. “I much agree with Chancellor Kenobi.” She casts a glance toward the other senators before she continues, “And I’m very pleased to see that you are both willing to negotiate and discuss the situation with diplomacy before any drastic measures are taken.”

Her words very much go in line with the sort of person Obi-Wan has come to understand that she is. Her experiences on Orto Plutonia seem to have shaped much of her views regarding battle and diplomacy. A controlled temper and a calm personality. With the timidity she had during that time now gone, she’s grown into her role.

She would likely have made a good Jedi, Obi-Wan thinks to himself with a small smile.

“Agreed,” Senator Ha'han-ash says, tilting her head to the side. “I must ask that this meeting draws to a close now, as I’m afraid it’s already past lunch hour and I will soon have other duties that demands my attention; as, I’m sure, do you all as well.”

Senator Biwa momentarily looks as if he wishes to argue, but finds himself without anything to say. He nods and murmurs an agreement instead. Senator Himesh glances at him, and follows suit.

Obi-Wan looks at Boil and Waxer, standing on each side of his chair, though just one step behind, before he returns his attention to the gathered politicians.

“I must thank you for the meeting, gentlebeings. I will ensure an independent and neutral investigation is conducted, and once it finishes, I will call you all for another meeting.” Obi-Wan smiles blandly at the gathered group.

“Thank you, Chancellor,” Senator Biwa says, “I will leave it in your capable hands.”

Obi-Wan gets to his feet and makes a customary Jedi bow, years of habit from diplomatic missions hard to curb. He may be the person with the greatest power, both physical and political, in this room but it would be truly gauche to remind the others of it.

The Force is all but screaming in Obi-Wan’s head, like warning sirens going off in a failing space ship. It’s a rising crescendo in the back of his mind and soon it becomes almost a physical itch. The sensation as a whole is much as if every passing moment takes him closer and closer to whatever it is the Force has been warning him about—as if he’s a hair’s breadth from impact.

Senator Chuchi and Vice-Chancellor Ha’han-ash step up to him as Senators Biwa and Himesh draw away from the group—away from the meeting table toward Senator Biwa’s personal desk—to discuss something in low voices. Normally, Obi-Wan would be able to listen in on their conversation, but with the constant warnings from the Force and his need to pay attention to other things he finds it too much effort. Not to mention rude.

Senator Chuchi brushing a strand of hair out of her face catches his attention, and he turns his attention to her more fully.

“What is your schedule for the rest of the day, Chancellor?” she says and graces him with a small smile.

“In the immediate, I will have lunch. After lunch hour has passed, I have a meeting with Senator Organa. Said meeting is expected to take up the rest of my afternoon,” he says and smiles in return.

“I see,” she says and pauses briefly before she continues, “I was wondering if, perhaps, you and Vice-Chancellor Ha'han-ash might be willing to join me for lunch?”

Obi-Wan blinks in surprise. Unexpected, but not unpleasant.

“I would be delighted to.” He turns to Ha’han-ash. “What do you say, Vice-Chancellor?”

She inclines her head again, her large horns making the movement seem more exaggerated than it actually is. “I believe that would be a lovely way to pass the lunch hour,” she says and makes her people’s customary gesture of thanks with her left hand—signalling her appreciation of having been invited. “Do lead the way, Senator Chuchi.”

Obi-Wan nods and turns to the other two senators to bid his farewell. “Well then, Senator Himesh, Senator Biwa, we will take our leave first. May the Force be with you,” he says and bows slightly again.

The two nod, bow a bit, and give their own farewells in return. Senator Himesh’s long neck sways slightly—the movement is slightly reminiscent of the Kaminoans.

Kaminoans… Kamino… the Inhibitor Chips… No mention of them beyond that one memo in the databases… as far as he could find… Oh!

The virus! Of course! It was rewriting files when Ellée neutralised it, so who’s to say that it didn’t have time to alter a few other files before she noticed? Which means that there is a possibility of unaltered records in the back-up files, just as there were with the mission reports!

Of course there was something he was missing last night!

He’ll have to contact Ellée for access to one of the backup drives immediately. Senator Chuchi and Vice Chancellor Ha'han-ash won’t begrudge him a single comm. Or perhaps he should—!

The Force screams at Obi-Wan. The ghost sensation of fire washes over him and suddenly he knows.

He flinches backwards, bumping into Boil and Waxer, and gathers the Force around everyone close enough for him to reach in an instant—just before the explosions tear through the room.

~~~~

Riyo Chuchi cries out in pain as she’s thrown across the room and slams straight into the wall, banging her head before she crashes to the floor, her head smashing against it.

Her ears ring and hurt and she feels dizzy. There’s an ache in her arm, there are black spots in her vision, and she wants to scream with the pain. She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to breathe through it, tries to calm down.

What in the Core Worlds happened?

She opens her eyes to take in her surroundings and is met with complete chaos.

There is debris everywhere, something is spewing smoke, and—! Before she can properly catalogue everything there’s a loud crashing sound and she’s moving against her will, rolling down something.

She cries out, her injured arm slamming against the ground with every rotation, before she comes to a stop, smashing into something hard and full of sharp edges.

More rumbling, the sound of a siren, the crackle of fire and then further agony. Her leg is burning and she finally screams.

By the Fates Above, she can barely breathe through the pain as she tries to roll away, tries to move, but the agony is threatening to tear her apart.

Her left arm will not move, but with a surge of adrenaline she moves into a sitting position without using it to support herself.

With the edge of her thick cloak she pats out the fire on her skirt, regardless of the pain each pat against the injured flesh causes.

“Fates preserve me,” she breathes, chest heaving and tears overflowing her eyes.

“There is a fire in sector 23B-42H. All building occupants are requested to leave the building immediately.” The robotic voice from the speakers startles her, muffled and almost drowned out by the ringing in her ears.

She looks away from the terrible sight of her burned leg to take in her surroundings instead.

The burning debris is so hot. She slowly inches away from it further, both to get away from the heat and to avoid breathing in the hot air or the smoke.

Above her is a large hole, though smoke is obscuring most of what is above. The floor of Senator Biwa’s office giving way due to the structural instability caused by the explosion must have been what set her rolling.

Senator Biwa… That’s right, she wasn’t alone. She starts scanning her surroundings more closely, where are the others?

She has to find someone else. She looks around, she can either move to the left, or to the right. She closes her eyes, swallows heavily, and then chooses to go right.

Crawling with an injured leg and a useless arm is harder than Riyo could have ever imagined, but she needs to find someone else. She can’t bear the thought that she might be the only survivor. Not to mention, she wants to get as far away from the source of the fire and the billowing smoke as possible. She knows that if she inhales that hot air…

The ringing in her ears hasn’t let up, but she can still hear other things—the groaning of duracrete and durasteel, the sparking of broken wires, the crackle of fire, the constant repetitive robotic message telling everyone to evacuate the building…

As she moves her left arm hangs uselessly at her side, and she knows that without it she has no chance of climbing back up the piece of flooring she rolled down. No, she needs to find a way out—a door, anything—on this floor level.

That, or someone who can help her.

It likely doesn’t take her long to hear the sound of coughing in front of her, though every moment feels like an eternity. She continues her slow crawl and rounds a corner.

“Vice-Chancellor Ha'han-ash!” she exclaims loudly, flooded with relief at finally seeing another living soul.

Ha'han-ash is sitting against the wall, holding her hands over the lower part of her face, obscuring it from view.

“Senator Chuchi!” Ha'han-ash says, though it comes out slightly muffled by her hands. In the low light, Riyo can see a trickle of blood sliding down her forehead and onto one of her hands.

“Are you… are you terribly injured, Senator?” Riyo asks, crawling closer.

Ha'han-ash shakes her head, but keeps her hands firmly covering the lower half of her face.

“Not as such, no. I think I might have some damaged ribs, possibly some damage to my airways, but my people are hardy and with thick skin.” Her voice as hoarse and strained. “However, I believe the Chancellor must have done… something to lessen the effects of the blast. I saw him flinch and lift his hands just before the explosion occurred.”

Riyo frowns, and tries to think back. Had Chancellor Kenobi moved? She can’t remember. The one thing she does remember, however, is seeing is his face and the sudden pallor on it.

“Perhaps he… sensed something? Through the Force?” She finally manages to arrange herself in a mostly comfortable position, though her leg hurts more than she truly bear. It’s hard to concentrate with the constant smarting. She all but collapses against the wall, letting it hold her weight. “I will admit that I know nothing about how the Force works.”

Senator Ha'han-ash turns her head to the side slightly, the movement looks odd with the way she keeps her hands over her face. Why is she—?

“Your veil!” Riyo speaks her thought as soon as it pops into her head.

“It seems to have gotten lost in the blast, and I have nothing to replace it with unless I tear a bit from my dress. However…” she trails off and won’t meet Riyo’s eyes anymore.

Riyo’s eyebrows knit in confusion and her mouth turn downward, why is Senator Ha'han-ash suddenly not looking at her? She knows she’s covering her face with her hands because her veil is missing but—!

Oh. Of course. If her veil is missing, then she must use something else to cover the lower half of her face in front of others, as is the custom of her people.

“I assume I arrived before you could do so,” Riyo concludes, nodding to herself. “I will look away, and you can tear a bit from my dress, Vice-Chancellor, it’s already ruined,” she offers, before she closes her eyes and turns her face away.

“Thank you, Senator Chuchi.” The words are heartfelt, and Riyo smiles despite the situation at hand.

~~~~

Boil has seen his fair share of explosions as a soldier, but he’s never been actively caught in one before. He’s certain the General did something—since Boil’s not dead—and the only thing he can think of that could possibly allow you to survive being in the middle of an explosion would be some kind of Jedi Force thing.

His armour seems to have shielded him from the worst of it too. Cataloguing his injuries, he knows he’s a little banged up—his elbow is hurting like a fucking gundark has been gnawing on it and something seems to be dribbling out of his left ear—but in a mostly good condition.

Ugh, ear dribble.

He shakes his head to clear it, resolutely ignoring the slight dizziness he feels and starts taking in his surroundings. He needs to find Waxer, the General, and the senators. Any potential health issues can wait until he’s made sure that they aren’t worse off than he is.

The surrounding area is a fucking mess, not that Boil expected anything else considering the explosion. He appears to be on one of the last pieces of floor in his vicinity that hasn’t crumbled down into the room beneath the office. There’s a gaping crater, more or less, with smoke billowing out of it and there are glass shards from the utterly demolished windows everywhere.

He should call for backup and definitely healers too.

He checks his comm. No lights. No response. Fuck. It’s completely fried. The shock wave of the explosion must have taken it out. Boil rubs a hand over his helmet visor and hopes that Waxer’s comm survived.

So. If comming for help is going to have to wait, then the next step is finding survivors and ensuring the General and Waxer’s safety… And the other Senators’ as well, but Boil can acknowledge his priorities in his own head.

Glancing back to where he knew two senators had been standing when the blast rocked the room, he sees two crumbled bodies, one of them half buried in debris.

Shit.

He gets to his feet, knowing he needs to check the bodies first, before he goes down the hole—otherwise he risks not being able to get back up.

He moves slowly, almost like he’s sneaking, as he makes his way over, occasionally testing the floor first, unwilling to risk making more flooring fall and possibly land on someone.

The floor, despite its condition, seems mostly stable. He doesn’t hear any cracking noises or the like. In fact, Boil’s surprised with how quiet everything is. Shouldn’t some sort of alarm system have gone off considering there was an explosion?

Perhaps the alarm system got taken out by whoever planted the bombs?

Shaking his head, Boil decides that speculation will have to wait. Right now he needs to check up on everyone else and comm for help. With a resolute nod to himself, Boil continues on his way to the two bodies.

Senator Himesh—who looked a bit like a cross between a Mon Calamari and a lothcat but with a long neck—is the closest. Half his body is covered beneath the remains of what was probably a desk once.

He isn’t moving. At all. In fact, Boil can’t even see any rise and fall of his chest.

Fuck. Shit. Sithspit. May the waters of Kamino swallow the bomber whole.

Boil removes his left glove and puts his hand around the nose area. No breaths. He presses his fingers to Himesh’s neck instead, looking for a pulse. However, he quickly realises the futility of it as he has no idea where he should be feeling it—he’s not a medic, and he’s certainly never seen anyone of Himesh’s species before—and he decides to test the wrist instead.

No luck. The senator is dead as a Kaminoan seeeel fish on Tatooine.

Boil shakes his head and gets to his feet, tucking his glove into his belt for now, and moves on. There’s nothing to be gained by staying with the dead.

He walks around the desk and heads over to the second slumped body.

Body turns out to be the right word too, because Senator Biwa is definitely dead. There’s blood coming from his nose and ears, and there’s…

Boil gets back to his feet and puts his glove back on, no need to check for a pulse. He might not be a medic, but there’s no way Biwa survived that.

Both bodies confirm Boil’s suspicions about how the General must have used the Force to somehow shield the people who were close to him, because he’s in too good shape compared to these two. He was close enough to the blast that the shock wave should have fucked his lungs up at the very least, but they seem to be just fine.

Shaking his head and sighing, Boil returns to the large hole. He’ll need to get down there to see if he can find someone else. The rest of them should be okay, though—aside from possibly Waxer—not in as good shape as Boil, considering their lack of armour.

Getting down the hole is easy, the floor has collapsed in a way that’s more or less created a slide. It seems to be mostly dark down the hole—was it a storage room without windows beneath Biwa’s office?—at least partly because of the smoke rising from it.

Carefully sliding down the floor piece, Boil wonders if the lights were turned off in the room below or if simply no lights survived the explosion.

He can see a bit of fire, but the smoke is thankfully rising and being swept out the broken windows in the office above—less chance of anyone getting issues with smoke inhalation then.

Reaching the bottom, he looks around; once at the bottom he can see that it’s slightly dim from many broken lights, but not so much that he can’t see—some still work and the fire is pretty much a light source, as are the sparks from broken wires.

Boil finds himself at a crossroad: either he goes left or he goes right, and he has no way of knowing which way would be the most beneficial.

He starts to go to the right, but changes his mind quickly. He’s not sure why, but he feels like he should go left first—maybe the General and his ‘feelings’ have started to rub off on Boil. Turning on his heel swiftly, ignoring the way his elbow smarts and the black spots that appear in his vision from the abrupt movement, Boil sets off to the left—hopefully to find Waxer.

Walking around the huge slabs of duracrete and durasteel, Boil catches sight of Waxer almost immediately. Looks like the Force is with him, as the General would say. It’s also now that Boil realises that his hearing must be out, because Waxer has removed his helmet and is clearly cursing up a storm, but Boil can’t hear it at all.

Shit.

“Waxer!” Boil hurries over and sees quickly why Waxer is cursing: one of his legs is trapped beneath a heavy looking slab of debris.

Waxer turns to him and starts talking, gesturing towards his leg and the mess holding him in place. He’s speaking so swiftly that Boil doesn’t have a chance to read his lips, and wouldn’t even if he’d been trained for it.

“Waxer, Waxer!” Boil has no idea how loudly he’s saying it, but it seems to give Waxer pause. “I can’t hear shit, I think the blast has deafened me.”

Waxer pales, presses his lips together, and nods resolutely in understanding.

“Does your comm work? Mine doesn’t, and we need to call for backup and healers.” Boil shakes his arm a bit to show the lack of lights coming from the comm.

Waxer immediately starts digging into his pocket—so he wasn’t wearing it when the blast hit?—and brings up his comm. Unlike Boil’s, this one’s lights are glowing. Waxer messes with it for a bit then gives Boil a thumbs-up.

He moves through a rapid series of field signs, [Will comm for backup and healers. Find the General,] before he turns to his comm and starts to enter a number sequence, likely for the Jedi Temple or the brothers still in the General’s office.

“Senator Biwa and Himesh are both dead, I haven’t found anyone else besides you yet.”

[Understood.] Waxer’s face is set in grim determination.

Nodding resolutely to himself, Boil gets to his feet. Waxer is fine, mostly, and now Boil needs to find their general.

~~~~

Obi-Wan stares blankly into nothing and tries very hard to keep breathing, despite the utter agony of it.

He can’t move, even the tiniest of movement sends shocks of pain through him, worse than the constant throbbing of his chest. Breathing hurts and he takes slow, shallow breaths.

He’s not getting enough air, he knows as much, but any attempt to draw deeper breaths sends a wave of pain through his systems. Better to try and minimise the pain felt and hopefully be able to keep his wits about him longer.

What happened?

He swallows and blinks a few times, trying to make his vision stop spinning. The dizziness is worse than any he can remember in recent history. It’s much like the time when he contracted a rather bad concussion as a Padawan.

He closes his eyes and swallows again, trying to keep his breathing even if shallow, trying to stay calm despite it all.

They had finished the meeting. And then… What happened?

The senators.

Waxer and Boil.

Where is everyone? Where is he?

He looks around without moving his head, the disarray and destruction around him indicates some sort of explosion. No one else is here… What if they’re all dead? What if he’s the only one still alive?

The Force is silent. It seems… it seems this explosion was what it was trying to warn him about. However, he… He walked straight into it. He brought Waxer and Boil into it. If he’d gone alone, then at least they would have been safe.

Now…

Now he doesn’t… he doesn’t know if they’re even…

He blinks his eyes open. The pain is constant, and the worst of it is in his chest. He should… he should catalogue his injuries. Try to focus and see if there’s anything he can do something about.

He should be trying to move, trying to find the others and…

What was he thinking about? He tries to focus, tries to remember, but his head is spinning and he’s in so much pain.

Pain.

Injuries.

He was supposed to catalogue his injuries. He opens his eyes resolutely.

Sitting up is a far greater challenge than Obi-Wan could have ever imagined. He’s barely lifted his head a millimeter off the ground before he must stop, the strain on his chest too painful.

So, no sitting up to catalogue his injuries; he’ll have to do it lying down.

Obi-Wan relaxes his facial muscles, keeps his eyes closed, and tries to even out his erratic and painful breathing once more. If he can’t sit up and look, he’ll have to catalogue his injuries by what sort of pain he feels and where he feels it.

The pain in his chest is similar to being stabbed—he recognises the feeling well enough. His time as a Jedi has been fairly tumultuous, in great part due to the war, so he’s been stabbed a few times before. However, those injuries were likely not as severe as the stab injury currently afflicting his chest. If there is such a thing as a stab injury that isn’t severe.

Clenching his eyes shut harder, Obi-Wan tries to focus on his breathing properly. He feels not just dizzy, but also light-headed, as if he’s not getting enough air. The horrifying thought feels familiar, somehow.

He pushes that away; he shouldn’t get side-tracked. He needs to determine the severity of his stab wound beyond the obvious “to the chest” and “very painful when breathing”. He moves his left hand slowly, sliding it across his chest to try and find the wound.

It doesn’t take him long, and his hand closes around a long, round thing sticking out of his chest. The shock makes Obi-Wan stop breathing for what feels like like an eternity.

The feeling of having been stabbed, trouble breathing, this durasteel rod… Oh.

Obi-Wan opens his eyes and angles his head—moving his chin toward his chest without lifting his head from the floor, ignoring the almost painful way his scalp scrapes against it.

The angle is bad, the light is dim, and his vision is swimming, but Obi-Wan can still see the durasteel rebar—which must be piercing straight through his chest—quite clearly. Blood gleams on its surface and Obi-Wan has to swallow down panic.

He’s dying, isn’t he? He hasn’t heard anyone move, hasn’t heard anyone so much as call for him, so help doesn’t seem to be coming, and unless he gets help quickly… Even if the reinforcement bar is stopping the worst of the bleeding and hindering air from entering the chest cavity… He needs medical attention soon.

He’s dying. He’s dying and he’ll die alone.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

The mantra, familiar as it is, is no help here. Obi-Wan finds that he cannot find any peace or serenity in the uncertainty and pain of his situation. He’s known he could die at almost any moment for years due to the war, and yet…

He clenches his eyes shut again, finds that he cannot stand to keep looking at the blood covered piece of durasteel any longer. He feels ill. There’s a piece of durasteel rebar going straight through his chest.

The thought enters his head, panicked and unbidden; some of the last words he’ll ever say to Anakin and Ahsoka: “Like Master, like Padawan.”

Master Qui-Gon died by being pierced through the chest with a lightsaber, and now Obi-Wan will…

The hysterical giggle wheezes out of his mouth. The shortness of his breath is as terrifying as the knowledge that he will die alone.

“Obi-Wan. Little one. Please don’t despair. Help will come, you must only hold on long enough.”

Oh. That achingly familiar voice.

Obi-Wan gasps for breath, every single one rattling his chest and sending spikes of pain through him. So this is how it will go. If there is no real companionship to be had as he dies—what happened to the others? Waxer and Boil? The senators?—then it appears he will hallucinate some.

“Oh, Padawan mine, you cannot give up now,” Qui-Gon’s voice says, strain and worry apparent in a way it rarely was in life.

When Obi-Wan finally relents and opens his eyes, he’s met with a sight he didn’t expect. The illusion of his old, long-dead Master is glowing, faintly blue, and quite see-through—not solid and real looking as he would have expected.

Why would he hallucinate a ghost as his sole companion during his last moments?

“Please, Obi-Wan, try to focus,” the ghost says and kneels down, bringing its face that much closer to Obi-Wan’s own. One of its big hands brushes some stray hair out of Obi-Wan’s face—it feels like a gentle breeze.

“You will survive this, Padawan mine, because of your use of the Force.”

The Force? What…? He tries to remember.

They had just finished the meeting and were heading out to have lunch, and then… Nothing. It’s a blur. Why is he here?  What happened? What did he do?

“W-what?” he croaks.

“You shielded yourself, and the others close to you, from the worst of the blast… Help will get here in time, Obi-Wan.”

The blast? The others? What others?

…

Oh. Oh, that’s right. The senators, Waxer and Boil. Yes, they were close to him. Where are they?

He’s alone, wherever he is. Hallucinations don’t count as company.

Oh…

He’ll die alone.

It’s now that Obi-Wan realises that for some reason, some reason he cannot quite understand, he always expected someone else to be there when he died.

Perhaps Anakin, during a mission gone wrong. Or Ahsoka during the same.

Perhaps Cody, in the midst of war and battle.

Perhaps surrounded by friends, old and finally at his end, in the Jedi Temple.

He’s never considered dying alone before.

That… that’s where he differs from his Master. At least… At least Master Qui-Gon didn’t die in solitude.

Pierced through the chest and definitely dying, Obi-Wan finds himself glad that he was there for his Master’s last moments—whatever little comfort he might have been, because he sorely wishes for the same now.

“Oh, Obi-Wan, please don’t despair. I am one with the Force, and the Force is always with you, and so, I am always with you. You must only hold on a little longer, and I am so very proud of you.”

Oh. Well.

“I was there…” Obi-Wan wheezes, “when you died… Perhaps it is… fitting… That I see you… now when I die…” It’s so hard to breathe, and so hard to speak. His eyelids feel heavy, like slabs of durasteel. Obi-Wan struggles to keep his eyes open, to keep looking at this mirage. Even if it’s not real, it’s a sight sorely missed.

The ghost of his Master looks so very sad, suddenly, but Obi-Wan simply smiles at the mirage. He wishes he could be held like when he was young, just one last time, but he knows it’s impossible. Hallucinations brought on by the spinning mind of a dying man cannot touch you.

Master Qui-Gon’s ghost says nothing more, simply leans over and kisses Obi-Wan’s forehead. Obi-Wan finally closes his eyes. The pain is immense, but perhaps there is peace to be found in his dying moments after all.

There is no death, there is the Force.

—

(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)

#Supreme Chancellor Obi Wan Kenobi #my writing #star wars #obi wan kenobi #tcw #holy shit #update is happening #long post #here we go #lmao are y'all ready for this? #I got an ask! #Anonymous #feelingsandopinions

[themeatlife]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - A Review

AND Reranking the Star Wars Movies

The Finale (Maybe)

2019 saw the end of several major pop culture series: The Avengers, Game of Thrones, and the Skywalker Saga of Star Wars (or at least it was proclaimed, we shall see a decade from now if it is resurrected). Having a major finale was en vogue.

So here is the spoiler-free review. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was enjoyable. It was imperfect, with a handful of glaring flaws, but nothing that would prevent die-hards or casual fans from enjoying the experience. You get the scale of things and at moments visually it is almost overwhelming. The action set pieces are fantastic. All-in-all, worth seeing in theaters.

Now for the spoiler-rific review below the line. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want to be spoiled (why are you reading this) then scroll until “The Star Wars Countdown” headline is at the very top of you window/phone screen.

——————————————————————

I’m probably going to skip a few things but this is the main storyline.

Palpatine has never really left. He’s been in the background in the Unknown Regions raising the Final Order, a super-ginormous fleet to rule over the galaxy once and for all.

We catch up with our new trilogy trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe and what is left of the Resistance, led by General Leia. Leia has also taken the lead in mentoring Rey in the ways of the Force. News of Palpatine gets to them and the trio find themselves planet hopping on a quest first to find a dagger which is the key to finding Palpatine and then a programmer to get C3PO to translate script on said dagger. Along the way they are being hunted by the First Order and Kylo Ren. This sequence is very Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but better executed.

Once the dagger is decoded, it leads them to the remains of the second Death Star where they must retreive a device with the coordinates to where Palpatine is. There is first a showdown between Rey and Sith Rey a la Luke in the forest in Degoba. Then is the showdown between Rey and Kylo where Rey ends up stabbing Kylo with his own lightsaber (Kylo was distracted by a dying Leia, Force-calling out to her son with her last breathe) and then Force-healing him and leaving him on the planet using his Tie Fighter with the device. Kylo then sees a vision of his father Han Solo telling him Kylo Ren is dead and his son Ben lives. Ben then leaves to chase after Rey to attempt to help confront Palpatine.

So Rey arrives on Exegol where Palpatine and the Final Order are gathered and preparing to deploy, leaving a signal for her Resistance friends and Ben to find. While Rey confronts Palpatine, the short handed Resistance tries to take down a communication tower in an effort to prevent the fleet from deploying. Epic battle ensues. Lando Calrissian comes with reinforcements for the Resistance while Rey almost gives in to Palpatine in an effort to save her friends. Ben comes in and they both fight Palpatine. Ben goes down and Rey uses the lightsabers she and Ben were using (coincidentally Luke and Leia’s lightsabers) against Palpatine’s Force Lightning, eventually killing him and herself in the process. Ben revives Rey and then kisses her (WHAT?!?) and then dies. The Resistance takes down the Final Order. The Resistance returns to their base, the new trio hug it out. Then the film ends with Rey returning to Tatooine where the saga began, burying Luke and Leia’s lightsabers and with their Force ghosts looking on takes on the Skywalker last name.

So my issues...

So, Palpatine is back? Last we saw his body fell down a shaft in the short-lived rebuild Death Star, thrown over by Vader in an effort to save Luke. I’m not sure how that even works that he’s back. I know they touch on it in the movie but seemed like we were done with the Emperor three (or is it six?) movies ago. But as a villain, Palpatine is effective.

The quest for the dagger and map device thing was a bit much. That actually could have been a movie itself. Like could have essentially replaced The Last Jedi with that quest. As much as I liked the The Last Jedi, I think a lot of the internet fanatics didn’t. And that hurt the Star Wars powers that be. And much of The Rise of Skywalker felt like it was actually attempting to write a lot of The Last Jedi out of the Star Wars timeline.

And yeah the Ben-Rey kiss was sudden. They seemed to have a very non-romantic connection so that was kind of out of place. Maybe it was more a goodbye kiss from Ben than anything, but it felt out of place.

And then the new trilogy as a whole. Although there was a new trio of main characters, the storyline was really dependent on the trio from the original trilogy. If the Force Awakens was the Han Solo movie and the Last Jedi was the Luke Skywalker movie, the Rise of Skywalker would have been the Leia Organa movie. And in many ways it was, but then it wasn’t. There is only so much you can do with extra footage. Rest In Peace Carrie Fisher, this movie needed more of you in it.

But with all that, it was still an enjoyable experience. It was imperfect, but that’s okay. No Star Wars movie is perfect (except for Empire). If you want comparison, better than Game of Thrones, no where near as satisfying as Avengers: Endgame.

The Star Wars Countdown

I ranked these almost two years ago. It didn’t change that much but I did switch a few and added the newer ones after I rewatched all the movies in the lead up to the Rise of Skywalker release. I FINALLY got my wife to watch them all with me. Disney+ and Netflix came in handy. So here are the updated Star Wars standings. I’ll do my college football wrap up later this week.

11 – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Surprise surprise, I know.  But yes, Episode I is by far the weakest and most disposable of the series (as evidenced by the omission of it in the Machete Order). Most of the major plot points are brought up again in Episode II, so not really that important to watch.  And the action in it, while okay for the most part, do not make up for the most annoying and boring parts of the film – Jar Jar Binks, child Anakin Skywalker, and the Pod Race.  If you must watch it, the main scene you need to watch is the battle on Naboo where Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn and the Ewan McGregor version of Obi-Wan Kenobi take on double-lightsaber wielding Darth Maul played by martial artist Ray Park.

10 – Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

While Attack of the Clones is a step up from Episode I, this episode is plagued by two things: awkward pacing and the unnatural evolution of the love story of Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker.  The way the movie was paced it felt like it was going by too slowly at times.  Obi-Wan’s story arc kept me interested as he investigates bounty hunter Jango Fett and discovers the clone army.  But man, that Padme-Anakin story is rough.  Anakin comes off with a stalker-like creep factor obsession for Padme, and somehow Padme is infatuated with that?  Yeah I’m not convinced, that dynamic always felt super awkward and forced. Not that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen couldn’t have chemistry.  It’s just that in this movie, they didn’t…at least not convincingly. Cool stuff on the back end of this movie is the battle on Geonosis featuring a gladiator-style survival scene for Obi-Wan, Padme, and Anakin as well as the Jedi coming to their rescue. Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace Windu and Frank Oz’s Yoda show off some lightsaber skills as well.

9 - Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

This ended up being not as bad as critics made it out to be. It was fun and action heavy. I slightly different take on the Han Solo character by Alden Ehrenreich. It was fresh and it was Han as a young man less jaded than his original trilogy self. It was cool to see Woody Harrelson (Beckett), Thandie Newton (Val), Emilia Clarke (Qi’ra), and Donald Glover (young Lando Calrissian) in the Star Wars universe. There were a few things wonky with the movie though. I don’t know if I liked the live story between Solo and Qi’ra. The whole Lando and a droid thing was weird. And resurrecting previously deceased Sith Darth Mal felt a little empty (I know he’s appeared in other Star Wars projects but the cliffhanger at the end of this was Darth Mal’s first film appearance since Phantom Menace).

8 – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Out of the prequel trilogy, I like this one the best.  And while it was a longer movie (2 hours 20 minutes), it didn’t feel weighed down by some of the pacing issues of Clones.  The ever-present forced romance between Padme and Anakin is still there though, and it becomes the primary reason Anakin turns to the Dark Side.  While the premise seems feasible, the unnatural feel of the relationship hinders this reasoning.  Over the course of the prequel series, they did a good job of planting seeds to make it seem like the Jedi are plotting to take over the Republic. So as a secondary reason for Anakin turning to the Dark Side, this reasoning works.  Some people had a problem with the whole calling kids “younglings” but I didn’t really see that as a problem.  The Old Republic could have talked like that, so it wasn’t an issue for me. So minus the whole Padme-Anakin thing and an unintended hilarious “NOOOOOOOOO” moment when Anakin turns into Darth Vader, it was a solid movie.  It was sad to see several points where Anakin could have turned back but didn’t.

7 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Before going into this film, I have to say that doing away with having the episode number in the title was a welcomed change away from the George Lucas era awkward titling. When I first saw this movie, I was awestruck.  Filled with nostalgia.  Almost like seeing a Star Wars movie as a kid again.  But the second time around seeing it, I quickly realized that even though there were new characters that this was more or less a very borrowed plotline. It was basically the original Star Wars, only updated.  Rey (Daisy Ridley) was like Luke (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford, of course) like a less-Force oriented Obi-Wan.  The First Order is basically the Empire resurrected, the Resistance is the Rebel Alliance.  Starkiller Base is the Death Star.  And Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) killing Han like Vader defeating Obi-Wan.  But I was still thoroughly entertained, and the intro of Rey, Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), and BB-8 was a welcomed addition to the Star Wars universe and The Force Awakens put down a solid foundation for the franchise to build upon for its new trilogy.

6 - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

See above for the review. I will say for all it’s problems it was enjoyable for the most part and entertaining as hell.

5 – Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

While The Force Awakens feels borrowed, The Last Jedi felt more like its own things.  Some critical of The Last Jedi felt it similar to The Empire Strikes Back. While it did have some similarities, I think the major differences (particularly the Force Chat and dynamic between Kylo Ren and Rey, and some of the backstory behind Luke and Kylo Ren’s relationship) make it so much of its own story. It is the peak as far as quality of the newest trilogy. One of the coolest scenes in the entire Star Wars franchise was Kylo and Rey taking on Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his Praetorian Guard.  And while clearly the main focus of the film is the Kylo-Rey-Luke dynamic, the side plot of Finn and Rose (Star Wars newcomer Kelly Marie Tran) to Canto Bight in search of a hacker to disable a tracking device while Leia (RIP Carrie Fisher) and Poe try to lead the Resistance away in escape of the First Order were welcome storylines. Don’t listen to the haters online, this one is the best of the new trilogy.

4 – Star Wars (1977)

Wow, trailers back then are nothing like they are now. Yes, I refrained from calling this film “A New Hope,” simply because that was not the original name of the movie.  I respect this movie.  It’s the origin story of Luke Skywalker.  It featured ruthless villain Darth Vader (before we knew he was Luke and Leia’s father), a love interest (Leia before we and Luke find out they are brother-sister), and the cool rebel too cool to be in the rebellion (at first) in Han Solo.  But as most movies of the time, the special effects feel dated (much more so in this film than the other two in the trilogy).  And while it is the origin story, it was merely the tip of the iceberg. A strong foundation to build the rest of the franchise, but not the most compelling plotlines of the series (that is to come later).

3 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

I had this film actually up at 2 when I ranked this a year and a half ago. It isn’t an essential movie to the overall Skywalker storyline of the main Star Wars installments.  But you get the sense of urgency and the sacrifice it took to steal the Death Star plans.  Rogue One is one part chase movie, another part heist movie.  Two types of movies I always enjoy.  The characters fill out in a short period of time and feel so rich.  It is the only Star Wars movie where all the main protagonist characters you are focused on the entire movie dies, making it not feel like a Star Wars film.  But the death scene with Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Imwe and Jiang Wen’s Baze Malbus as well as Felicity Jones’s Jyn Erso and Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor are equally heartbreaking and powerful.  The feels!  While the film doesn’t add to the overlying plot of the entire series, it does add a bit of understanding of just how big the stakes were in getting those Death Star plans and how invested the Rebellion was outside of the core characters of the series in trying to topple the Empire.  And then, well, Darth Vader totally owning the Rebels while trying to board Leia’s ship is badass and leads right into the original Star Wars.  Loved this movie.

2 – Return of the Jedi (1983)

A great conclusion to the original trilogy. We see the movie open with Jedi Luke displaying his control of the Force as the team rescues Han from Jabba the Hut. The Rebellion wants to strike one last blow to the Empire by taking out the rebuilt Death Star. The fight culminates on the forest moon of Endor. Luke reveals to Leia what she probably felt but didn’t recognize, that they are brother and sister. One of the strongest scenes was that final confrontation between Luke and Vader that ends with Vader saving Luke’s life from electrocution from the Emperor. Some people had a problem with the cute, fluffy Ewoks but I was okay with it. This is the movie where the extras added by George Lucas in the 1998 theatrical rerelease (and updated again in 2004) hurt the movie experience though. The extended musical scene at Jabba’s place was unneeded. We don’t need extra celebration scenes on other planets when its mission accomplished. And we didn’t need Hayden Christensen’s ghost in place of original Anakin actor Sebastian Shaw standing there with ghost Yoda and old ghost Obi-Wan Alec Guinness.  But other than that, this was my second favorite Star Wars movie growing up.

1 – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Out of all the series, this is the masterpiece. If you ever want to make a successful sequel that continues the original story and add to the overall depth of a film series, here was the blueprint.  From the opening battle on Hoth, to the core team getting split up, to Luke’s journey finding Yoda and training, to Han and Leia being chased down by the Empire, all the way to the climax of the film on Cloud City, we find our heroes being tested and pushed as well as finding themselves.  The Han-Leia love story holds up and feels realistic.  Luke’s internal struggle to train and fight off the darkness in him while confronting his fear of Vader feels realistic as well. And of course, the mic drop of all mic drops in sci-fi and maybe movie history – “I am your father.”  I was eight or nine years old when I remember first watching and actually understanding some of what was going on.  I remember yelling “WHAT?!?” as I watched.  The most iconic moment of the series.  It made this more than just a space opera.  More than just a sequel to a sci-fi hit. Those words made Star Wars into an expandable series that they have since built upon twenty-fold.  It turned Star Wars from a battle of good vs evil into an internal family struggle – the Skywalker family saga that impacted not just that family, but the entire galaxy.  Luke’s fear was no longer about confronting some ominous unknown bad guy. It was Luke confronting his father, one he never knew.  And the 1980 special effects hold up pretty well in this one.  

The Force will be with you. Always.

#starwars the rise of skywalker #starwars

[captainofthetidesbreath]

#I mean the poor guy had NO canon personality ( @sauntering-down on this post )

Actually!! While it’s true we know little of Kom’rk, it’s not true we know nothing. We actually know a lot more about him as an individual than generally believed, even from the few scenes he’s in.

To summarize first, Kom’rk, when we first meet him, gives a sense of one who fears the infrequency with which he sees his family has developed into them not caring enough about him to miss him. However, he deflects this with a joke, preventing it from getting too serious. While he seeks validation, it seems he doesn’t want to appear possibly needy or clingy, and when he does get doted on and fussed over, he acts as if it’s not a big deal. Generally, Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain an aloof, bored facade even among family.

At Kyrimorut, Ordo asks Kom’rk to help him with larger tasks, and Kom’rk readily helps him. Despite the fact it seems Kom’rk makes reports through Jaing, in person, Kom’rk is open, almost forward in expressing his concerns―even those that may be simple annoyances. Kom’rk also readily and quickly criticizes his brothers, most especially Ordo, firm but also kind as he does.

To place him in comparison with the other Nulls, he’s closest to Jaing, with whom he has an easy and joking rapport, and it seems he works best professionally with Jaing; this relationship is likely similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have. He has similar preferences and styles of socializing as Mereel, and he and Mereel seem to have similar tastes in what they look for in a social scene. His sense of humor seems most similar to Ordo’s. He’s one of the more extraverted Nulls.

So, very long quote by quote breakdown of what we know (or what I interpret) about Kom’rk and his relationship with some other characters, the latter of which I talk about more than intended, but how characters relate to others is also important.

After his brief appearance as a child, Kom’rk spends most the series as an unseen character, spoken of but never physically present. Much of what we learn first about him is about his significant relationships.

“Fierfek, son, Kom’rk and Jaing can track a flitnat across the galaxy and we can’t find a gang in our own backyard.” (Triple Zero)

“Only ones I haven’t met are Jaing and Kom’rk, and they’re still after Grievous.” (True Colors)

This is the first thing we learn about Kom’rk. It doesn’t establish overly much about Kom’rk’s personality, but it establishes where he is in the scheme of skills and operations the Nulls have. He’s a skilled tracker, and he’s assigned, with Jaing, to track Grievous. And it also establishes an important relationship: Jaing.

Unlike the other Nulls, the long-term assignment that Kom’rk and Jaing are given is a joint op. This is highly unusual, as the Nulls are essentially trained to work as solo operators. This doesn’t suggest anything to me about Kom’rk’s or Jaing’s abilities―they’re tracking Grievous, intensely high value target. Rather, it tells me that Kom’rk and Jaing must work especially well together professionally. And while the Nulls all get along and work well together, it takes a particular kind of rapport for two people to work very closely on a single mission over the course of years.

I’ll get back to this.

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s learning a few saucy tricks from my brother Kom’rk. Good man, Corr.” (True Colors)

“So [Corr] you’ve enjoyed a rich social education with Mereel and Kom’rk, have you?” (True Colors)

The second thing we learn about Kom’rk is he spends time with Corr, and he and Mereel have been influential in shaping Corr’s coming into his own with a marked self-confidence, extraversion, and easy sociability.

There’s no reason to doubt this―Kom’rk may have an assignment on Utapau, but there’s indication that Kom’rk doesn’t necessarily stay there all the time. (I’ll point it out later.)

Judging by the development in Corr, one can judge the difference as reflective of what Kom’rk is like as a person. And it suggests an extravert who enjoys a social scene and is easily sociable, who has similar styles and preferences of socializing as Mereel and likely enjoys similar social settings as Mereel does.

“I saw Kom’rk once, but he doesn’t seem as…” And that was as far as Darman got. (True Colors)

This is an incomplete thought, and there isn’t anything concrete to get from it, really. I just love it. Considering the two Nulls Darman is most familiar with are Ordo and Mereel, it’s safe to say that Kom’rk’s bearing and demeanor strikes Darman at a single glance as different enough from those two to make an impression such.

Of the six Nulls, [Mereel] was the one best able to deal with the demons the Kaminoans had forced on him. But the others—A’den, Kom’rk, Jaing, and Prudii—kept Skirata awake at night to varying degrees. And Ordo… (Order 66)

This is a quote I always pull for the Nulls. I work under the assumption that this isn’t randomly ordered. I always maintain that this is specifically the order from least to most concerned Kal is. Under this, we learn that Kal isn’t overly concerned about Kom’rk. To some degree? Yes. But Kal doesn’t believe Kom’rk needs as much concern as three other Nulls.

It is also, in my belief, a rough ordering of the Nulls from most extraverted to most introverted. (My thoughts on Kal’s association of extraversion with well-adjustment are for another time, even if not elaborating weakens my point here somewhat.) By this conceit, it confirms at this moment Kom’rk as one of the more extraverted Nulls.

Then the hatch opened and Kom’rk stuck his head into the compartment.

“So, nobody missed me,” he said. “I’m gone a year, and nobody baked a cake.”

“Kom’ika…” Skirata got up and embraced him with a crunch of armor plates. 

Ordo waited his turn. “Come on, get that bucket off and let’s take a look at you… shab, son, you’re looking thin.”

Kom’rk shrugged, clipping his helmet to his belt. His face did look drawn. (Order 66)

This is meeting adult Kom’rk for the first time. Obviously, of immense significance, despite its brevity.

Now, personally, I choose to understand that the first statement Kom’rk makes actually is of significance, and I choose to believe that, for a fleeting moment, it’s utterly sincere. (Why introduce a character with that if it doesn’t speak to some truth?) Kom’rk is afraid that he’s been gone so long, Kal and Ordo don’t care anymore and they don’t miss him.

But, that’s a weighty statement. One that yells a little too loudly for validation, and would even be needy and clingy. Solution: deflect and diffuse with a joke. Steer the conversation elsewhere before it gets too far down the road toward serious. (Mereel does this all the time, by the way.)

Kom’rk does get the validation he seeks. Kal immediately goes to hug him, and he is concerned about how thin Kom’rk looks. However, despite for a moment fearing he won’t get this reception, Kom’rk simply shrugs. He plays the concern off as if it isn’t of importance―or, he plays off the potential that he isn’t as well as he should be. Or, both.

“Grievous still comes and goes on Utapau, Kal’buir, and he gets visits from interesting allies we didn’t know he had. The Regent of Garis, in fact.”

“And there was I thinking he was in the Republic camp.”

Kom’rk handed Skirata a datachip. “A crumb to toss to Zey—here’s the voice traffic between the two of them, minus the locations, of course. We don’t want Windu or Kenobi charging in there and blowing it before we’ve milked the situation.” He lowered his voice. “And Grievous keeps asking Dooku what’s happened to all these gazillions of droids he was promised, poor old dear. I think he’s been set up.”

“Told you so,” Skirata said. “All propaganda. All osik.”

“Can I have a change of scene, then? It’s boring out there.” (Order 66)

I’d like to note the irreverence in Kom’rk’s tone when talking about Jedi, Grievous, and the assignment Kal gave him. (Compare: Ordo’s staunch acceptance of the lot Kal assigned him, despite deep dissatisfaction with it.)

[Jaing:] “He [Grievous] misses Utapau, obviously. I got a tip-off.”

[Ordo:] “You’re not there, then.”

“No, we’re just tidying up a few loose ends on the Rim.”

“Time we told Zey?”

“Yeah.” Jaing sounded tired. “There’s still something not right about this, but I’m past caring, and so is Kom’ika.” (Order 66)

Here, Kom’rk is indicated to not be at Utapau, instead managing other undisclosed tasks elsewhere.

To return to Kom’rk’s relationship with Jaing, this strikes me as Jaing makes Kom’rk’s sitreps on his behalf, or for the both of them. A little later, Ordo asks Jaing to relay his message to Kom’rk, suggesting to me that when Kom’rk is away, it is normal for Ordo to speak to him indirectly through Jaing.

This gives more of a weight to the possibility that Kom’rk fears Ordo and Kal are unconcerned about him, because he is more distant than the others, but it also speaks of a certain kind of dynamic: not only is Kom’rk rarely heard from directly for us the reader, but he is also rarely heard from directly for narrating characters like Ordo.

It is worth remembering here that of all the Nulls, Kom’rk is away from home base for the longest periods, at one time gone for a year.

Why Kom’rk may communicate indirectly through Jaing, if such is true, is unclear. Perhaps for efficiency. It is redundant to have both Jaing and Kom’rk report the same information. Perhaps it speaks to strain in his relationship with Kal.

Good time to talk about his relationship with Ordo.

“Is it going to burn properly?” Kom’rk asked. “Do you want some accelerant on the pyre?”

Ordo thought that was a good idea, and wondered how it could be done discreetly. (Order 66)

When Ordo and Kom’rk had herded the whole clan into the karyai... (501st)

While I may suggest that there’s possibly strain in his relationship with Kal, I hesitate to suggest such with Ordo. (Full disclosure: Ordo is my favorite.)

I say this because when Ordo needs two large tasks done, one of which is a delicate and emotionally charged matter, Ordo asks Kom’rk for help, and Kom’rk gives it. While one may chalk it up to necessity, the sincerity with which Kom’rk helps Ordo with the pyre speaks to me otherwise.

“They’ve completely overhauled the system overnight, Ord’ika.” Kom’rk took back the ’pad. “Data, comms, everything. We can’t get in. We can’t take stuff out. We can’t talk or listen at will. We can’t spy.”

It was the first time Ordo could recall when he and his brothers had not been able to get at anything they wanted. [...] “It’s more an annoyance,” Ordo said at last. [...] “None of this is beyond you or me to bypass, and Mereel or Jaing can crack this over a cup of caf.”

“I’m sure we can, but we’re starting over. The whole system’s changed. We’ve been used to being on the inside, exploiting opportunities, but if we want to keep that level of access, we’re going to have to start working harder.”

“Apart from extracting our brothers, why is this urgent?”

Kom’rk shrugged. “Just in case.”

And we hate being shut out. Ordo and his brothers were used to being in control. “We still can’t comm Darman or Niner, then?”

“No, and we can’t even get a medical sitrep on Niner. Or find out where Darman is. Because it’s the Imperial Army now.” (Order 66)

Ruu left, taking her plate with her, and Kom’rk raised an eyebrow at Ordo.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, ner vod, but you lack sensitivity. Poor woman didn’t go looking for Kal’buir. We abducted her.”

“She knows the score.”

“So you’re happy now.”

“Less tense, let’s say.” (501st)

Despite my saying Kom’rk appears distant over comms, in person with Ordo, he is almost forward. He is open with his concerns and has no issue quickly and concisely stating them, even if they’re ultimately simply annoyances rather than urgent matters.

I don’t interpret forwardness as a sign of strain―Kom’rk comes across firm, but not unkind. As someone with multiple siblings, I can say this tone is common, especially when sincerely and without malice trying to help a sibling address a flaw they have.

Frankly, as I see it, it is suggested that Kom’rk’s relationship with Ordo is a direct, open, and straightforward one. Also, is it possible that the deflection he displays earlier is for Kal, rather than Ordo? (Full disclosure: I do not like Kal and am heavily biased against him.)

Additionally, though the inability to hack into the military mainframe is relevant to the situation with Niner and Darman, Kom’rk’s concerns over it are not framed that way. Kom’rk is mostly concerned they have no access and his frustration of being shut out. He also appears aware Ordo may not consider this urgent―Ordo does not―but that doesn’t stop him from mentioning it. While it’s one part thoroughness, one part some relevance to a problem they have, I also think it’s two parts feeling able to express even minor concerns to Ordo.

“Son, you know how many times we’ve pulled that stunt?” Skirata asked.

“Yes. You know how many times it’s worked?” [said Prudii.]

Kom’rk inspected his fingernails. “Well, that’s another problem they’ve brought upon themselves—it’s not like they can take our DNA to prove who we are. Or stick us in a lineup. (501st)

I just wanted to point out behavior indicative of boredom. This is the second time. So, at this point, I’d feel safe assuming Kom’rk is either easily bored or feels the need to maintain a bored, aloof facade, even around family. (I’d also note both are around Kal, and he doesn’t exhibit this when not around Kal, your mileage may vary due to the small number of instances.)

Kom’rk had claimed a corner [of the workshop Jaing set up] to himself and was hunched over a 2-D holochart, tapping numbers into a datapad, completely absorbed in the calculation.

“Who’d have thought it, Bard’ika?” Jaing said, not looking up from the screen in front of him. “Saucy old di’kut, showing up like that. Moral of the story—always go back and check for a pulse.”

“Ordo’s never going to live that down,” Kom’rk muttered. “Ha… ha…” (501st)

Again, support for works well professionally with Jaing.

Also since everyone and their pet strill is probably ribbing Ordo in absentia about how he was wrong about Maze shooting Zey, especially Ordo who is always right and whose entire reputation rides on his being right, perhaps Kom’rk is tired of this topic already. A drawn out laugh like that is often flat-toned: “[mocking tone] Ordo’s never going to live that one down. [unamused] Ha... ha...”

Seeing as Jaing finds this whole thing funny, Kom’rk who doesn’t appear to find it funny at all, serves counterpoint. Likely speaks to at least a concern for how Ordo is taking it, or an empathy for how Ordo will not find this funny himself at all. Kom’rk is either tired of an overplayed joke making fun of Ordo at Ordos expense or isn’t a fan of making fun of Ordo for something Ordo cannot also laugh about. Probably speaks to Kom’rk’s sensibilities or again overall relationship with Ordo.

“Still, it’s hard to cap someone who’s just standing there looking pathetic, even when you know you’ll regret it one day if you don’t.”

“I’ll do it,” Kom’rk said. “Nothing personal. Just necessary.”

“Or we could use them to our advantage.” Jaing tapped his finger on the pile of flimsi. “Because one day, the Empire’s going to really tick us off, and we’ll need the skills of some saber-jockeys who owe us.”

Kom’rk laughed. “They’ve owed a lot of people for a long time. Don’t see much of them repaying their debts.” (501st)

“Of course, if we know where they’re holed up, we could just wipe out the rest of them now,” Kom’rk said. “Or even do a deal with the Empire. But I don’t trust any of them.” (501st)

Pragmatic. Cynical. Negative about the Jedi.

Yes, traits that are said to be shared among all the Nulls to varying degrees, but it’s nice to actually see them.

“Let’s not be too hasty. We know where their bolt-holes are, and with a little ingenuity we can track their movements. They step out of line—the Empire gets a treasure map with here be Jedi on it.”

Kom’rk laughed again. “That boy’s sick.”

“You got that location yet?” Jaing asked. “Chop-chop. Get a move on.”

“In a minute. It’s looking like the Plawal Rift.” (501st)

Again, more support for his rapport with Jaing. And this exchange demonstrates a different energy and tone he has with Ordo. Where he is much more straightforward in his exchanges with Ordo, he has more jest and hard edges for Jaing. It’s a balanced push and pull, and almost a series of little playful jabs.

Now, I’ve talked already a lot about Kom’rk and Jaing, but here, in this moment, is where I feel most that their relationship is similar to the one Mereel and Ordo have, that very balanced counterpoint and deep, unspoken understanding. Just as much as one better understands both Ordo and Mereel as individuals through their relationship, I think it’s possible to have the same with Jaing and Kom’rk.

“Ordo thinks I’m going soft on my old associates,” Jusik said. “I can’t blame him.”

“Are you?” [said Kom’rk.]

“Do you think I am?”

“Nah. Do you want me to shoot you if you are?”

Kom’rk had that kind of deadpan humor. But humor had its serious purpose in life.

“Yes,” Jusik said, half-meaning it. “Make it before I do any real damage.”

Jaing just looked up at Kom’rk, the slightest pause as if it wasn’t funny.

“You got it, ner vod,” Kom’rk said, and went back to his holochart. (501st)

This again speaks to an understanding of Kom’rk that Jaing has that other people may not, or at least that’s how I read Jaing’s hesitation while Jusik is still trying to figure out how serious Kom’rk really is.

Also, Kom’rk’s sense of humor, laid out in exposition. Much like Ordo, he’s dry―though even more dry than even Ordo is, it seems. But it does say a lot about him that agreeing to shoot his adoptive brother is conceivably something he’d say as a joke. Or, maybe it suggests something about his opinion of Jusik.

And that’s everything we know about Kom’rk, and what we can possibly glean it all. Social, dry witted, distant. But close with his brothers, most especially Jaing, likely Mereel, and readily but kindly criticizing Ordo. Possibly worries about how much his family actually cares, but masks it under jokes to not come across as needy. Both open and distant when it comes to communicating, depending on context. It’s true we have very little proper scenes with him, and be clearly is the least developed of the six Nulls, but we actually know a lot more about him and what he’s like than generally believed.

#saunteringdown #repcomm things #eh I guess I'll also #Republic Commando #Kom'rk Skirata #i'm so tired lmao so forgive me if i'm all over #but i'm on such a kom'rk kick because i'm so sad about the nulls missing each other and kom'rk seems afraid nobody misses him #i will probably edit the hell out of this but it's 3am rn #i will also maybe reblog this again at a reasonable time #edited to rearrange some stuff and clarify what the original post was

[usamyzonians]

Anakin Dies At the End

This is about the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and contains spoilers.  I’m going to leave the rest behind a “keep reading,” so don’t say I didn’t warn you:

I hate that Han Solo died in The Force Awakens.  This isn’t because I want the original cast to live forever.  Actually, when I heard Harrison Ford say that he wanted Han to die at the end of Return of the Jedi, I thought that would have been a good point for the character to die.  It would have added some gravity to the good guys winning.

I get the parallel to A New Hope.  When I was watching the movie, I texted a friend to ask who was going to scream “no!” when Han died, because I knew where this all was going.

I still don’t like it.

To me, it seems like they killed Solo off prematurely to get a reaction from nerds my generation or older.  This felt like it should have been the turn in Episode VIII (which we now know will be called The Last Jedi), rather than it happening here.  I know it runs parallel to the Obi-Wan scene, but it also runs parallel to the reveal that Darth Vader is Anakan and thus, is Luke’s father.  I’d argue the visual cues are also closer to Empire.

But more importantly, Han doesn’t exactly build a rapport with Rey and Finn.  I mean, yes, he takes on some level of mentorship role to both, but I don’t think it was sufficient to give the scene gravity except to nerds of a certain age who loved Han Solo and remembered how the original Ben died.  Han was the guy who saw through Finn’s ruse but went along with it because he thought he was trying to impress a girl.  Han was the guy who offered Rey a job because she was a competent pilot.

But dream with me here.  What if that scene had happened later?  What if Han had convinced Rey not only to come along with him, but had convinced her to actually trust people?  What if the story had advanced a year or two or five, and Han had helped to rehabilitate Finn from his life as a First Order soldier?  Han’s fast-and-loose approach to life is just the sort of thing Finn could use.

What if, dare I say it, Han Solo had become a father to the new heroes, rather than just a companion on a trip?

Then we get the confrontation with Rilo Kiley.  Han and Leia wish to bring back the son they failed.  Han confronts Milo Cyrus and we get that Ben Solo reveal and...Rey loses a parental figure again (but for real, not because they shared a boat ride).  Finn’s lost a mentor, one of the first people he latched onto after rejecting the First Order, not just someone who lied for him so he could get laid.

I think that would give the scene more weight, both to the characters and to the fans.  Though maybe that’s just me on the second part.

I know Obi-Wan died in a similar fashion in the first part of the series.  I also know Star Wars was written to be a stand-alone movie in case it flopped, whereas The Force Awakens was written to include all sorts of mystery box material.  This one was built as a franchise.  I would rather have this than the mystery of who Rey is and the lightsaber and so on.  I’m not even rally curious about that.

The connection to Anakin’s lightsaber marks her as either a Skywalker or more tenuously a Kenobi, so neither of those will be a worthwhile reveal.  If it’s something else, it will almost certainly be a twist that’s not worth my time, as it will rely on things not previously established. Given that JJ Abrams did the first of the new trilogy, I wouldn’t be shocked.  Either way, I don’t care.

In a similar fashion, I didn’t really need to see the story leading up to why Luke was left on Tatooine.  If that had been played up as a mystery, I’d probably be annoyed with it, too.  Though I was a kid when I first saw the OT and my discretion might be overridden by my nostalgia.  I mean, the identity of Darth Vader is considered one of the greatest plot twists of film history, and it’s based on inconsistent writing from the guy who thought Jar-Jar was a good idea.  And admittedly, that scene still gets me, because I saw it when I was a kid and I thought it was so awesome that this just came out of left field with no foreshadowing and clunky obfuscation tactics.

What mattered to me in Empire and Jedi was not a mystery box.  It was how Luke changes.  He goes to free his friends.  He confronts Vader, planning to kill him most likely.  He surprises Vader, actually hurting him, and Vader disarms him.  Vader tries threats and intimidation, and seeing that his son is still defiant, reveals that he is, in fact, Anakin Skywalker.

Luke, in a moment of defeat, initially denies the truth.  Shortly after, we see him accept it.  And with the exception of rescuing Han, the entirety of Luke’s arc in Jedi is how to deal with his father being the Dragon of the Empire.

To me, that twist is useless without the character connections.  Without the actual father/son dynamic that follows, I don’t care.  Shock, twists, jump scares all have their place, but too often we seen them thrown out to be shock, twists, or jump scares.  I’m not interested in that.  I will likely know the whole movie before I see Ep 8.  I will watch it anyway, because I want to see the journey instead of the bullet points.

And I think that growing with the characters would have made for a more impactful moment when Han is taken away than whatever mystery box we have coming.

I mean, I hope I’m wrong.  I want Star Wars stuff to be awesome.  I want to enjoy the movies.  And I enjoyed TFA for the most part.  I just think I could have enjoyed it more this way.

But maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe, in an alternate universe where I got what I wanted, I’m writing a blog about how I wished they had killed Han in the first movie to show how high the stakes are or something, and that I didn’t need to see Rey and Finn bond with Papa Solo.  I just kind of doubt it.

#Star Wars #The Force Awakens #A New Hope #The Empire Strikes Back #Return of the Jedi #spoilers #Amy Rants #commentary