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#it doesn’t work well for ahsoka especially because it feels like they’re just making her anakin mini rather than having her be her own chara
fulokis · 8 months
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Honest ahsoka thoughts warning it’s long and ranty and I may be using it as an excuse to not express some of the feelings that I have in personal life right not
I’m gonna be honest I never thought I would hate ahsoka as a character, like she was my favorite for the longest time. And yeah that started to change in high school because I related more to Ezra and Sabine while watching rebels as it came out and that makes sense because I was the same age. But she was still a cool character that I liked. But I can’t fucking stand her after rebels, even in the last season of rebels she’s iffy for me. And like yes I’m watching ahsoka but at this point it’s not for ahsoka it’s because I’m nostalgic for rebels (and imma be honest the actors they chose for Sabine and hera are not my favorite) and I’m a huge Thrawn fan. But like I’m terrified they’re gonna fuck up thrawns character more than they did in rebels (honestly heir to the empire with canon Thrawn seems not like something that would happen unless he was playing an angle like he was going to the empire in the first place (my opinion clearly most people aren’t necessarily going to agree with me.) ) at the very least they have Lars playing Thrawn which gives me a little hope it won’t be totally off the mark. But also a lot of the dialogue just isn’t well written, like I know the actors are just given it but it seems a lot like most of them just kinda stuck to the script and didn’t play around with it to make it work. (I say this having only been in a few productions in highschool but like we would play around with stuff and to me this feels like they’re at a table read) which honestly is a shame because the music? the loth cat? The droids? A good portions of the effects? Are all really well done to me and it hurts because this could be such a beautiful production but it’s falling short because the writing and the actors aren’t my favorite
And don’t get me wrong I am enjoying bits and pieces but if I truly enjoy a piece of media I will go back to it and re experience it again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rewatched the clone wars, rebels, the prequels, rouge one. Or replayed swtor and Kotor and the battlefront campaign. I know I’ve read the Thrawn 2017 series at least three times in full and the separate books at different points. I’ve read the ascendency trilogy twice as well. Death troopers I’ve read three times at least, same with annihilation (which tbh is absolute crap but the point is it’s entertaining and I enjoyed it)
And that’s the thing I love Star Wars, Star Wars genuinely probably saved my life because I had something to look forward to despite my mental health being dogshit. And I can recognize that not all Star Wars is for me. And yeah it makes me sad especially when it involves characters that I love. Like the Revan book couldn’t read that shit, a new dawn I can’t ever get past the first 90 pages (yes this kills me and I don’t know why I can’t) and I think that’s what makes me upset the most is that as much as I loved ahsoka as a character it has been ruined for me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever enjoy her as a character ever again. Cause the thing with the other two is Revan is different for everyone and that’s because BioWare let you choose who you wanted to play as back in 2003. With a new dawn I don’t know why but it isn’t vastly different than the characters I love, it’s still them and I know it’s still very much them even if I personally can’t get through it. But with ahsoka its hard to explain but I can’t stand her since after rebels and it hurts.
And I understand characters develop as they grow, but I don’t see how she made the jump from being rebels season two ahsoka to this ahsoka we have now. There’s such a disconnect to me, I don’t know how to word it other than she seems like such a bitch now and there’s nothing to me that would have made her develop that way. Yeah there’s a war and trauma and shit but that doesn’t connect to the way she’s bitchy. Like sure I can see how some of it could be a trauma response. But not all of it, like geuinely I don’t understand how she would just not wish to tell Sabine about the potential to find Ezra at all. Like I’m sorry your dealing with your personal issues cause it sounds like y’all got into a fight but you honestly expect me to believe a character who typically was mediating between people so much when she was a fucking teen that she’s going to be some bitch who holds grudges and refuses to solve her own goddamn issues? Like I’m sorry but that seems like some backward character development and as far as we know there’s been no major developments whatsoever.
Also can I just say the choice to make Sabine her padawan is fucking weird. Like they never interacted much, if they wanted to pull that they should’ve left kanan alive and had him do it.
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I finally got around to watching the clone wars so here are some Ahsoka and Anakin headcanons that wont leave my brain
They both steal each other's stuff and complain when they catch the other one doing it 
As Anakin’s hair grows longer he finds himself looking for hair wraps or something to push it back 
And he stumbles on Ahsoka's stash he borrows them mostly when she’s off on a mission so she won’t complain 
But she suspects him of doing so cause they’re never in the correct spot he also steals some of her simpler hand wraps when he’s training 
Ahsoka's just as bad tho she’ll steal Anakin’s cloaks and shirts all the time cause for some reason the council failed to give her comfortable clothes  
It all comes to a head when Ahsoka is debriefing the council and Anakin and she stops and goes “Is that my head wrap?” 
The change of topic is so abrupt that no one reacts for a hot second 
And then Anakin goes into full-on defensive mode like “What? No your device must be defective cause this isn’t yours” 
Which Ahsoka calls him out because “Jedi’s don’t lie so just come clean sky guy I know that mine. And are those my kriffing hand wraps?! Take those off you’re gonna mess them up!” 
Anakin is still defending himself and Obi-Wan is stepping in scolding them for using this line for their petty and selfish arguments  
And then Anakin says “Wait snips is that my cloak” “Don’t change the subject just cause you got caught” “No no you can’t talk about getting caught you little hypocrite that’s my cloak!” 
Obi-Wan is still chiming in half-heartedly but he knows better than to stop a full-on argument between those two 
Especially when they’re throwing each other words back at them like “I thought you said I should keep warm” “And I thought you said I need a hair wrap with all this hair” 
The argument only ends cause Windu threatens to hang up the com 
After the debriefing ends Anakin calls Ahsoka back and the argument starts right back up again 
Ahsoka always gets ready with her music playing 
And Anakin in true big brother fashion doesn’t want Ahsoka to know he likes her music so instead he’ll just turn on their version of shazam and stands by the speaker in what he thinks is a normal fashion 
It always goes something like this “Master what are you doing?” “What do you mean snips I’m not doing anything” “Oh so you’re just standing in my doorway with your device on for no reason” “Yep” “Okay when well have fun”
And in bratty little sister fashion she turns off her music and lights and leaves him in the doorway 
Later on she makes a playlist of all his favorite songs and sends a link to it 
All she hears is a grumbled “thank you” from the other room 
Anakin also plays his music out loud sometimes and it took a small amount of time to realize the songs Ahsoka complains about the most are her favorites 
He adds them to their shared playlist and ignores her when she plays those songs more 
Over time they make a lot of joined playlists
Some to work out and train to, some to hype them up before a mission, some to wind down after a mission, some to play when they have nightmares 
It’s something that they both enjoy more than they probably should 
Obi-Wan jokes that some of those playlists will be the death of him 
Ahsoka runs abnormally hot to the point where she could wear shorts in winter and Anakin runs cold enough to be confused for a corpse  
Obi-Wan Padme and Ahsoka all agree that he needs to get checked out cause no way is it healthy to be that cold 
They're both fine in their rooms where Ahsoka can blast the AC and Anakin can turn the heater up as high as he needs 
But the common room is where the bickering happens such as “Jesus snips I didn’t realize we lived on Hoth” or “I’m so sorry master that every room can feel like Mustafar” 
I also know that they both get nightmares like Earth-shaking soul shattering nightmares 
Some where they get abandoned some when they can’t save each other in time and some where they have to kill each other  
Not a lot of words need to be said when Ahsoka wakes Anakin out of a dead sleep with tears in her eyes or when Ahsoka wakes up cause Anakin is checking in on her for the third time that night 
They both just grab as many pillows and blankets as they can carry so they can make the world's best pillow fort 
Obi-Wan has grown accustomed to finding them cuddled up on the floor while the credits of a shitty old movie roll in the background  
When they get older I feel like they unlock the childhood nickname status 
Don't get me wrong snips and sky guy are their normal nicknames and will never go away but those are mostly used when they’re out in public or on the battlefield 
When they’re around people they trust like Obi-Wan and Padme you’ll hear questions like “You good Ani?” or “Be safe Soka”
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d3sertdream3r · 7 months
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I really liked the Ahsoka show but it also felt kinda weird to me idk what did you think of it?
I have the same feeling as you, anon. Overall I liked the show, but I didn’t love it. There was a lot going on mythically/symbolically, but it didn’t all land narratively for me. 
First of all, there was a big Lack of Backstory™ problem going on through the whole thing. 
There was a lot of telling and not nearly enough showing. Ahsoka and Sabine are supposed to be the emotional heart of the story, but we don’t know anything about their history besides vague references. 
We see in the first couple of episodes how much Sabine loves Ezra, but the general audience doesn’t have a clue who he is and once she finds him, it’s just business as usual. Their hug was great but for those who don’t know their backstory (and even people who do), it doesn’t really hit emotionally because there wasn’t enough time spent on showing their relationship in live action and them getting to know each other again after a decade apart. 
We didn’t learn anything about why Morgan is so desperate to bring Thrawn back despite the fact that the Empire eradicated her people. We didn’t learn anything about how they knew each other before he was yeeted to another galaxy. 
We don’t know much about Baylan and Shin’s relationship either. They’re cool and mysterious, and that’s about it. He tells her he trained her to be something more and then decides to leave her on her own in the very next episode to take her place in the new Empire. Why wouldn’t he take her with him if he wanted her to be something more?
I understand that this is part of a larger story, but every season of any show should have solid character arcs that tie into their series character arcs. I just personally didn’t feel like the character arcs were developed enough this season, largely due to Filoni not delving into anybody’s motivations beyond surface level. 
I think having flashbacks between Ahsoka/Sabine and Ezra/Sabine would’ve helped a ton. It also would’ve been a good idea to have a Rebels recap at the beginning of the first episode for those that didn’t watch the show. Kenobi had a Prequel recap that was gorgeously edited and summed everything up before diving in.
As far as the cast:
EMAN ESFANDI IS THE LOVE MY LIFE!!! I adored every single scene he was in, every single mannerism and facial expression he made, his smile gives me butterflies, and his curls are to die for.
Natasha as Sabine was really good, but her character needs work. She didn’t translate nearly as well as Ezra did into live action imo, which is not Natasha’s fault at all. It was 100% a writing problem for me. The first two episodes nailed her character, but as the series progressed she started to flatten out.
Rosario feels really stiff to me. I don’t know if it’s her or the writing or both. I’m not familiar with much of her work, so I can’t really say. She just seemed really apathetic about everything despite her dialogue saying otherwise. I really love Ahsoka, so I hope her live action portrayal gets better, whatever the issue is! 
Hera was given crumbs, but MEW absolutely crushed it! I’ve seen a lot of people complain about her portrayal, but I thought it was amazing. I need to see more of her immediately!!
Lars is spectacular as Thrawn, but the writing didn’t quite make him as intimidating as he was in Rebels. I want to see Lars get to chew the scenery in the future!
Other thoughts:
I feel like the Baylan/Shin dynamic is kind of what Maul and Ezra would’ve had if Maul found Ezra before Kanan did. I really hope they expand on that, especially since it was mentioned twice that Ezra is like Shin. It’s super interesting!
I want to know why Thrawn is so pro-Empire without any mention of the Ascendancy. I hope they don’t turn Thrawn into a generic mustache-twirling villain. He isn’t AT ALL, and that’s the main reason he’s a fan favorite in the first place. 
I need Ezra to be in every Star Wars project going forward! I can’t wait to see him interact with all the other characters in the Mando Era!!
Anakin was awesome, but I needed him to have a deeper conversation with Ahsoka considering the last time they each other, he tried to kill her. 
I need Leia and Ahsoka to interact, or at least a reference that they know each other! Ahsoka telling Luke and Leia about their parents (especially their mother) is really important to me! 
Jacen is the cutest! Ezra and Jacen are going to be the most cinnamon roll master and apprentice duo of all time!!
PISSED THEY CUT BEFORE HERA AND EZRA COULD HUG!! WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!!!
WHERE IS ZEB?? IS HE SAFE?? IS HE ALRIGHT??
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tennessoui · 2 years
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Miss Kit, if you’re still taking prompts. How about “You love me, right?” for AU where Mafia boss Anakin corrupts Obi-Wan.
hi hi hi!!! so this was a bit weird to write because the au in question is really like 1-2 posts (i know there's an original but i can only find the follow up) which means it was a lot of building!!! which was cool but also that means this is actually 2.5k rip
anyway this is an au where basically young detective obi-wan is sent undercover to infiltrate mob boss anakin's criminal organization and he's successful but he falls in love with anakin in the classic 'got too deep and can't get out' thing. at least anakin loves him and loves corrupting him. (this is dark--duh--and age reversal, so obi-wan is 23 and anakin is 39.)
sorta a reverse pbatmb but not because i think there are really fascinating differences between the stories but it is a dark mob boss story with flipped mob bosses, so it's a LITTLE reverse pbatmb lol
anyway
(2.4k)
It isn’t surprising that Anakin is waiting for him, not really. He’d probably had him tailed to the police station and back again. He might even have told his man to kill Obi-Wan should he not exit the building within fifteen minutes.
After all, letting Obi-Wan run away once was about proving a point. Twice just looks bad.
So he’s not surprised that upon stepping into the lobby of Anakin’s restaurant, his elbow is caught by one of the men. “Vader wants ya,” Ahsoka tells him. She sounds grim.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Obi-Wan replies. Maybe it’s because he feels—free. Maybe it’s because he feels confused and like he’s swallowed a ball of lead that transformed itself into a hornet’s nest upon contact with his stomach. He shrugs Ahsoka’s hand off. “I know where to go.”
Ahsoka doesn’t say anything, but she does sneer. She didn’t like him much before she found out he was a rat. She especially didn’t like him after he ran that first time, no matter that at the time he’d thought he was running for his life. She probably didn’t think his life was worth the trouble he’d caused.
They’re both lucky Vader thinks differently.
“Watch your step,” she tells him like it’s a threat, at the base of the grand staircase that leads to the second floor. Ostensibly, there’s more dining up there for anyone in want of a table at a hot, fancy, popular restaurant with countless awards. Realistically, Obi-Wan knows that the second floor of the restaurant is where Anakin conducts his business.
His other business.
“Thank you,” Obi-Wan replies, pausing on the third step to look down. It’s the events of the past twenty-four hours that make his tongue loosen in a way that only Anakin has ever rewarded him for. “He says you’re jealous.”
Ahsoka’s eyes flash in the low light as she takes a step closer. She’d been about to retake her spot at the front, the guard dog of Vader’s mob. “What.”
Obi-Wan steps down until he’s only one step higher than her. It makes them almost the same height. “He says you’re jealous,” he repeats. “Ani does.”
Obi-Wan never calls Anakin Ani, not unless he’s been told to by the man in scenarios where it helps both of them with their covers: Anakin as someone to underestimate. Obi-Wan as someone to write off. It works now too for a vastly different reason. The only one allowed to call Anakin by his first name is Obi-Wan himself. Not even Ahsoka, his apprentice, can.
“I’m not,” Ahsoka snaps. She grips the bannister so hard that her knuckles turn white.
“Really?” Obi-Wan asks. “Because, well. I was an undercover cop, he caught me, he still kept me, and then I slashed his face, I ran away, and when I came back he still welcomed me with open arms. But you—he broke your finger for bungling the shipment I told Windu about. I’d be jealous too, in your place.”
Ahsoka tries to take a second step up, be on level with Obi-Wan, but he stops her with a hand raised and placed on her neck. “Now, now,” he says. “Vader wants to see me.”
Anakin’s apprentice snarls but lets him go. She always has to let him go because Anakin loves him. Anakin wants him.
“One day, someone’s going to show you your place, Ben,” Ahsoka takes a step back, a strategic retreat.
“I know my place, ma’am,” Obi-Wan says in Ben’s accent, soft and unassuming, framed and workshopped off of Vader’s own speech patterns because the linguist the police hired had thought it would breed familiarity. “Similar to yours, it’s beneath Anakin. Mine just comes with more perks.”
He loves me for one, he doesn’t say. He doesn’t particularly want to shove a crowbar into Anakin’s relationship with his apprentice. Not because he doesn’t think Anakin would forgive him for it, but because it sounds more complicated than it’s worth. Ahsoka will adjust. Anakin will make sure of it.
He doesn’t love you, an unwelcome voice murmurs in the back of his head. The memory is fresh. Mace Windu, senior detective, had said that not even an hour ago, clutching Obi-Wan’s resignation letter tightly in both hands. Parting words that had landed like a grenade in his mind, even as he tried to shake it off.
Has anyone ever? He’d shot back, eyes drawn without his express permission to stare heavily at the sheriff’s closed door. Qui-Gon had refused to see him. His own father—he makes one choice he doesn’t approve of, slips and stumbles in a situation his father sent him into, and suddenly Qui-Gon Jinn never adopted a boy.
He’d left the station soon after, but not before Detective Windu hda fired a parting shot: I’d hate to see you spend the rest of your life catering to your daddy issues.
Obi-Wan hadn’t even really thought about the words, what they meant, not until he’s walking through the open doors of the second floor to see Anakin lounging in a firm chair at the head of a table. The table is laid heavy with food: fruit, cold meats, cheeses, pasta, salads, oysters.
All of it untouched. Some of it Obi-Wan had admitted to never trying, some of it he’d told him were his favorittes.
Anakin smiles when he sees him, dropping the knife he’d been spinning around in his fingers to hold out a hand as he shifts his body, readjusts to rest his chin on his fist. “Welcome home, baby. Happy retirement.”
Obi-Wan gets halfway from the entrance of the room to Anakin before he stops. He doesn’t mean to. He’d been ready and willing and eager to climb into the older man’s lap, kiss him dirty, lick down the pink scar over his eye that Obi-Wan had given him. But—he can’t shake Mace Windu’s words. Men like Skywalker can’t love. You’ve found yourself in the eye of a hurricane, but storms move quick. 
It had been his mentor’s last piece of advice for him, before his feelings and disappointment had turned his words into insults and petty blows.
Men like Skywalker can’t love.
“Baby?” Anakin sits up straight, head cocked slightly as he studies him. “Did they give you trouble? Quitting a job isn’t illegal. You gave them two weeks and everything. Well, I did. But you were there. You were quite…enthusiastic.”
Obi-Wan swallows and can feel a blush burn down his face and across his cheeks. He remembers the terms of which Anakin had called into the police department, asked to speak to Obi-Wan’s supervisor, and smugly told them that as Obi-Wan’s new employer, he was phoning to let them know that Obi-Wan was giving a two-weeks notice, but that they had talked about it, and Anakin would allow him to finish up on any current assignment he was working on.
The assignment Obi-Wan had been working on was, of course, infiltrating Anakin’s criminal organization while undercover as a lackey from out of town named Ben.
Obi-Wan had, at the time of the call, been on his knees beneath Anakin’s desk.
“Come here, Benny,” Anakin purrs. Obi-Wan has never liked that nickname, not since the very first time the mobster had called him it, and he thinks he probably knows.
He’d studied Anakin, right, before he’d gone under. He knows that Anakin still sometimes calls him Ben on purpose because Obi-Wan can never stop the flash of guilt he feels at having started a relationship with Anakin before the older man knew who he really was. He knows Anakin uses it against him. He knows Aanakin probably can’t even help it. 
It still stings. Many things do, in their relationship. But Anakin kisses the hurts better every time. He’s the only person who has ever said he loved Obi-Wan and then—then actually tried to make good on the promise.
Obi-Wan’s mouth is dry, but he has to ask. “You—you love me, right?”
Anakin blinks at him and lounges back in his seat to look at him consideringly. His hand drops down onto his thigh. Like this, the man looks more Vader than Anakin, and it makes Obi-Wan shiver. No one in the precinct actually, really thought Anakin Skywalker had dual personalities, and perhaps Obi-Wan should know better than everyone else. But he doesn’t.
Sometimes Anakin looks at him and all he can see is Vader in his eyes, the way his hands are rougher on Obi-Wan’s form, the short staccato sentences and the resting frown that even Obi-Wan cannot kiss away. Vader is…territorial. There has never been a single meeting that Obi-Wan has attended where Anakin looks like Vader that he has not attended in the man’s lap. It’s not as if Anakin is lightyears better or anything, still as possessive, jealous, but sweeter too.
Obi-Wan doesn’t know what these differences mean. He isn’t sure Anakin would elaborate if asked. 
And a part of Obi-Wan—a part of Obi-Wan simply does not care. Not if both—one—either—whatever—not if Anakin, whoever Anakin is at any given moment, wants him. Loves him.
“Do I love you?” Anakin repeats. It’s an embarrassing question, all things considered. It reeks of every insecurity Obi-Wan has ever harbored in his soul. And even though most of them have been teased out by the man in front of him, dissected and examined, the words still bruise to hear spoken so lowly in the air. “Come here, Obi-Wan.”
This time, Obi-Wan goes, closing the distance between them quickly. Before he can scramble into his lover’s arms, the man stands up so that their fronts brush against each other.
It feels far too close and not close enough, and Anakin must agree because his arm brushes against the backs of his thighs and pushes up in the universal sign to jump. Obi-Wan does, wrapping his arms around his neck for further balance.
Anakin catches him with ease. Obi-Wan’s only twenty-three, not yet grown into his shoulders, so he’s fairly light to carry, but it helps that Anakin is almost forty, all broad shoulders and height and muscle put on from a life of fighting.
“Why else would I have taken such an interest in you, sweet baby Ben?” Anakin croons as he lays him down on a couch meant for reclining with after-dinner drinks. Mostly the couch is where Anakin fucks him if he doesn’t want to wait to get back to his apartments. “Take you in, off the streets, a stripper who punched my best friend in the face because he was flirting with a girl?”
“She was half his age,” Obi-Wan mutters, turning his face up and away. He’s never going to apologize for it, even if it hadn’t been how he was supposed to make contact with Anakin’s mob in the first place.
Anakin hums and catches his jaw. “Hm. Point is, baby, why else would I have let you get so close to me, wearing all my pretty things, ignoring all the alarms in my head saying you knew me too well, too fast, if I didn’t love you?” His hand tightens and Obi-Wan gasps out.
He’d read the files on Anakin. He’d read every Business Insider article. He’d read everything he could get his hands on. Of course he’d known so many things about the man. That had been his only job. Get close to Anakin Skywalker.
Task succeeded.
Anakin Skywalker’s lips trail from his cheekbone down and then up again, to the edge of his temple. Obi-Wan knows what he’s going to say before he says it. “Why else would I let you into my bed, if I didn’t love you? Why would you be the only person allowed to see the twins whenever you want if I didn’t love you? Why else would I be so terribly upset to find you in this very room, in this very position with one of my men, if I didn’t love you?”
Obi-Wan tries to move, to thrash and shiver and run his hands over Anakin in return but somewhere between laying him down and now, the man has caught his wrists in one of his big hands while the other runs up and down Obi-Wan’s torso.
The man—Maul—had followed Obi-Wan one night to a meeting with Detective Secura. He’d overheard everything, had known Ben to be a rat, but he hadn’t confronted him about it for two days. He’d waited until he could get him alone, in this room. Obi-Wan had been sitting at the table, sipping water, knowing he couldn’t eat until Anakin returned from his drop-off.
Maul had threatened him. Threatened to tell the mob, threatened to tell Anakin. Obi-Wan had been confronted with the thought of losing Anakin or losing his cover and he hadn’t reacted well. He’d known exactly how long it would take Anakin to get back, so he’d stalled until the last minute before offering himself to Maul in exchange for his silence.
He’d seen the looks. He’d known he wouldn’t be turned down.
He’d also known Anakin would kill Maul if he found him on top of him. Which he had. To both.
“Why would I forgive you after, if I didn’t love you, sweet thing?” Anakin murmurs, mouth still pressed to his temple. “Why would I forgive you for trying to fuck another man into silence, for lying to me about your name, for hurting me and leaving me, if I didn’t love you?”
Obi-Wan whimpers. Anakin’s hand has migrated to his throat and he’s putting so much pressure on it. He’s hurting him. He’ll probably never hurt him as much as Obi-Wan hurt him. Maul had managed to accuse Obi-Wan as being a rat before he’d died. Anakin, fearsome and covered in blood, had turned to him with one golden eyebrow raised.
Obi-Wan had tried to flee. For some reason, that had been the moment Anakin had become enraged. He’d tackled Obi-Wan to the floor. They’d fought, Obi-Wan has a scar on his palm still, long and deep. He’d grabbed the knife Anakin had slit Maul’s throat with with his open palm flipped it to his other hand, and cut out at Anakin’s face. The move had gotten him off him, just long enough for him to run.
“If I didn’t love you, baby, why would I have gone to find you? Why would I have made it so very clear that your place was by my side? Why would I have given you the choice to come back or stay away forever? Do you think I often give rats those sorts of choices?”
Obi-Wan shakes his head. It hadn’t taken him long. Anakin, that is. He’d found him hiding in his apartment—Obi-Wan’s, not Ben’s. Obi-Wan had come home from a shift to see Anakin lounging on his sofa, reading through one of his favorite books, skin around his right eye carefully bandaged.
It hadn’t taken Obi-Wan long either, to decide. Anakin hadn’t even gotten out of the building before Obi-Wan had made his choice. He hadn’t—he hadn’t wanted to leave Anakin. The man had said he loved him. He hadn’t—he hadn’t wanted to be without his love again, he’d do whatever necessary.
“I’m not a rat,” Obi-Wan gasps, and the hand around his neck loosens as Anakin takes his hand away to look down at him in interest. 
“Oh?” he asks. “What are you then?”
“Your baby,” he breathes, eyes falling to half-lids as he adjusts their bodies so that they’re as close together as possible.
“Mm,” Anakin agrees, leaning down to bite gently at the skin of Obi-Wan’s bottom lip before letting go. “Guess I’m just wondering then. I think the real question should be…does my baby love me?”
Obi-Wan lets his eyes fall completely shut as he tilts his head up in silent demand for a proper kiss.
After all, Anakin has a point. The answer should be obvious.
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superectojazzmage · 8 months
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Ahsoka Review
So far, this show is like a weird middle ground on the whole rollercoaster of quality that has been the Disney+ Star Wars shows. It’s nowhere near as fantastic as Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2, Bad Batch, and Andor. But it’s also not anywhere as godawful as Kenobi, Book of Boba Fett, and Mandalorian season 3 ended up being.
Acting is all over the place. On one end, you have Ray Stevenson (God rest his soul), Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eman Esfandi, Diana Lee Inosanto, Clancy Brown, and David Tennant all giving great or at least good performances but occasionally hitting points where they’re clearly struggling to make their dialogue sound like actual human speech. On the other end you have Rosario Dawson talking like she’s either weirdly smug or on Valium with no in-between; my feelings on her as Ahsoka have definitely soured a lot as time goes on, she’s just so emotionless and robotic and when she isn’t doing that, she comes off as unlikably self-righteous. And then you have Mary Elizabeth Winstead really trying her best despite not being a great pick for Hera and Ivanna Sakhno who hasn’t really gotten much of anything to do so far.
Writing is even more hit and miss. One second, it’s perfectly serviceable, the next very clunky, but it’s never really as good as in most other Star Wars works. It’s a bit like the dialogue in the Prequels; more concerned with conveying exposition to the audience than sounding like natural conversation. Some of the character interactions work really well, some don’t. Some of the humor lands really great, some doesn’t.
Music is absolutely AMAZING. Kevin Kiner is a godsend.
Fight scenes are pretty good. Not groundbreaking but definitely enjoyable. Choreography is good and the characters usually actually feel like they’re trying to kill each other rather than getting way too showy like the Prequels could. Sabine and Shin’s dual definitely is going to awaken things in the lesbians.
The story succumbs to the “making things too complicated and messy and lore-breaking” flaw that the Sequels did. What is the point of this Star Map when the Imperial Remnant is already in contact with Thrawn? How is Thrawn in contact with the Remnant AT ALL given that he’s apparently in a different galaxy entirely? Why was the Map hidden away in an old Nightsister temple like it’d been there for centuries instead of being in Imperial Remnant custody and how did Morgan know it would lead to Thrawn? How did Nightsisters even get ahold of this thing? Who are these mysterious extragalactic beings? I’m sure some of these mysteries will be explained as we go, but I’m also kinda scared they WON’T be and I furthermore feel like the story is just throwing in unnecessary complications; literally why are we dropping the world-breaking bombshell of going to another galaxy instead of just having Thrawn be in the Unknown Regions like in Legends? The whole “bootstrapping a bunch of hyperdrives together” thing would actually kinda make sense if they were just going to the Unknown Regions, but another galaxy entirely?
”It’s not loyalty, it’s greed”. I see we will NOT be having any moral complexity in our Star Wars today. Especially hilarious because Ahsoka’s assessment there doesn’t even match the events onscreen at all and the situation actually portrayed feels very much like it should have depth to it, the show just doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Disappointing, given how good of a job Andor and early Mandalorian did at depicting things in a nuanced light.
This show tips the New Republic from merely over-stretched, over-bureaucratic, and deeply flawed to downright criminally incompetent. It was one thing when Mando season 3 showed one or two Imperial spies subverting the broken system for their own ends. It’s another for this show to have AN ENTIRE MAJOR SHIPYARD be Imperial spies operating directly under the Republic’s nose. It’s like they’re trying to make us feel happy the First Order is gonna blow it up.
Pacing is… odd. It’s a very easygoing and slow story, which is very good as it gives the characters and events time needed to breathe, but there are times where it can feel like it’s really dragging out scenes that other stories would’ve sped through in the name of getting to the damn point.
Bizarrely, despite this being supposedly being Ahsoka’s show, every other character feels much more meaningful, likable, and pivotal to the narrative. Sabine is a great protagonist, Hera is still the Space Mom we know and love, Huyang is a fun sidekick, Baylen Skoll is really interesting as an antagonist, Thrawn and Ezra cast a palatable shadow over the plot without even directly appearing, and so on. Meanwhile Ahsoka feels like a prop.
Thank God Chopper is still committing war crimes.
The best way I can describe the plot so far is like it’s somehow simultaneously holding itself back and doing too much, if that makes sense. It’s jumping into territory that could easily hurt it and other works in the setting, but also seems too antsy to commit to doing something genuinely daring.
All in all, this is pretty much Rebels Season 5 but in live action, and it’s a very hit and miss affair. It’s enjoyable so far, but I’ll have to see what direction Filoni takes the subsequent episodes in before deciding whether or not this is a good series or goes in the “not my canon” trashcan.
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fanfictasia · 1 year
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Comfortember Day 3
Warm Food 
Spoiler: This is an excerpt from From Darkness Comes Monsters
Apparently, the first rule of this is that they’re supposed to wear something nice. Which complicates things when Ahsoka only has a couple pairs of clothes, and there’s certainly nothing “nice” about them. They’re for work and fighting and that’s all she needs. Her and Otieno both collectively agree they aren’t spending that kind of money for this.
Going to some fancy place to eat together – Ahsoka is trying hard not to think that this just sounds dumb, because honestly she doesn’t really get the point, but apparently, everyone does it – is what they finally settle for, despite the money. It should be worth it… hopefully.
Although Ahsoka still feels guilty for using up money they didn’t get very legally for a purpose like this. She’s starting to see what Otieno means about how they need to survive first, but it’s still not completely necessary to… do things she knows are questionable. Even if it does make things easier.
She is a little excited for this, though, which is… nice. Most of the time since she came to live in the underworld she’s been just feeling useless, unless she’s temporarily distracted by a mission. Now, it’s actually something to look forward to which is… unusual.
They finally reach their destination, going to Dex’s – it’s not all that fancy, but it’s still a place she knows well, and that makes it easier and harder at once. She almost things trying to rebuild memories of places except in her new life makes it feel better. It’s worth trying, anyway.
And this, at least, Ahsoka is grateful to know how it works. She’s occasionally been to places like this on other planets if they were on a mission away from the rest of the clones. 
Although she has no idea why it feels like all the eyes in the building are on her and Otieno as they make their way through the place, to find a seat and give their orders. Not that she cares what anyone thinks of her or them anyway, but still.
“How is this supposed to be… special?” Ahsoka asks, sliding into a chair across from Otieno. So far, it just feels weird. Especially when her mind is focused on how she feels towards him, and that makes it stranger.
“It just… is?” Otieno offers, “A change from the normal.”
“True,” Ahsoka agrees, glancing around. She’d probably enjoy it more if she wasn’t so stressed about the prices.
“We can try some… unusual foods,” Otieno suggests.
Ahsoka picks up the menu, scanning the list of foods. It’s unsurprising how many things are listed as unavailable because of all the food shortages. And everything they can get is so expensive, even if the food does look good. It’s something beyond the usual bland foods they both usually eat, so she supposes that does… make it special, and hopefully worth the money.
Well, it’s definitely special for Ahsoka, for the same reason being at the Temple and able to eat normally is special – that she could have food that tastes like food instead of rations and things they often had to live on during battles. 
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had food like this,” she comments reflectively as they start eating.
“Yeah,” he concurs, “Me too. It’s rare I can afford more than to just get by.”
“It’s nice,” Ahsoka admits, “But I’m not sure we have the money to repeat this any time soon.”
“Probably not,” he agrees, grimacing, “But hey, that will just make this more special.”
“How often are you supposed to do… this?” 
“…I have no idea.”
“Then we will… figure it out on our own,” Ahsoka suggests.
She lets herself savor each bite of the food, something she’s rarely ever had time for in the past. It was almost always hurry before and eat before the droids show up, or hurrying off to get to class, with the little time she ad at the Temple.
Being here with Otieno is nice, but it’s not really any different than spending time with him at their home. She has no idea if it’s supposed to be or not, but she’s beginning to think the general customs involving this are strange. Why couldn’t they have done something a little more productive at home together? What would that have changed?
Not that she regrets having the opportunity to eat a meal like this, and maybe at some point in the future they can indulge in it again, but it won’t be any time soon.
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phoenixyfriend · 3 years
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OKAY so on the topic of Star Wars takes wrt “character ends up in an A/B/O universe where they’re an omega, but they were previously a cis male in their canon”
@atagotiak and I had some Thoughts on discord
So, obviously, Anakin would make a good omega and he’s also incredibly murdery. Foregone conclusion that we're using him for this.
There is no preexisting Anakin in the Omegaverse. He shows up JUST as the war is starting. Canon timeline is in the third year of the war (he’s 22), but whatever dumped him into omegaverse also tossed him back a few years. No de-aging, just a bit of mismatched timeline stuff.
He's... really good at war, and clearly a Jedi, so the Temple just kind of goes "WELL OKAY THEN, SURE, YOU'RE IN, EVERYONE PRETEND HE'S BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME." The Jedi, by and large, don't care about omegaverse dynamics beyond 'what do you need, medically, to be happy and healthy' and 'what do you need to be aware of so you can be prepared for biases you encounter in the field?’
None of the civilian natborns (mainly politicians) want to put him on the field because of those biases. Anakin, being Anakin, is VERY blatantly an omega in scent, has never been on suppressants (because it wasn't a thing he fucking NEEDED), is incredibly emotional as a person, loves kids, etc.
Like, nobody wants an omega fighting a war anyway, but THIS one is like PINNACLE omega, and those awful Jedi are making him FIGHT just because he's good at stab!
The Jedi: Actually, it's because he's got several years of war experience that we don't, and he's a good tactician that works well with the clones-- Coruscant: You MONSTERS The Jedi: Look, we gave him the option to not stab and he looked absolutely devastated. Anakin, several days earlier: You don’t want me? I’m not good enough??? Jedi: Also he can beat up at least half the temple.
He doesn't know a damn thing about dynamics, but he DOES know that sometimes he's so horny he wants to stab HARDER. The clones are largely disinterested in their generals' dynamics because between mostly-Mando* trainers and no-dynamic Kaminoans, they only really care if a person can shoot.
* Mandalore approves of Fighty Omegas. As far as (traditional) Mandalore is concerned, you want an omega that will kill the threats to your children as well as you do.
Anakin: You know more about being an omega than I do. Rex: ...I'm an alpha. Anakin: Yeah. Let that one sink in a bit.
We have two options for Obi-Wan!
Omegaverse local Obi-Wan (beta) has never met this man before, and is very unnerved that the immediate default reaction Anakin has to his presence is releasing Family pheromones as if Obi-Wan is his DAD and like. This strange, too-tall man from another dimension has got absolutely NO control over what he projects in the Force OR in his dynamic.
Obi-Wan was ALSO transplanted from canon to omegaverse, and is also an omega, for contrast reasons. He is nice and friendly and and likes poetry and that sort of thing... but also he has the highest dismemberment count in the movies. Also he doesn’t prioritize romance.
We went with the second one because it's hilarious.
Someone watching them spar: Wow, omegas from that universe are terrifying.
As previously mentioned, now with some tweaking to account for both: Obi-Wan and Anakin just straight up don't exist until they drop headfirst into the council room, already covered in blood. (It's mostly not theirs.)
Nobody realizes either one is an omega until they "naturalize" to this dimension and Anakin goes into heat... and doesn't realize it, actually, because his primary symptom is heightened protectiveness and aggression. Everyone else with the right nose realizes, because the man has no control over his pheromone production, but Anakin? No. He just stabs. He’s angry and horny and he will cut someone.
Ahsoka has no reaction to human pheromones but basically everyone smells Anakin's "my child!" reaction to her, so... Cool. Have a padawan, we guess.
Anakin ends up sparring a lot with Aayla and Ahsoka, because only humans and near humans have dynamics, so these two don't REACT to the pheromones situation.
(Palpatine is a Kindly Old Beta who tries to treat Anakin the way he EXPECTS Anakin wants to be treated, which is. Not. Accurate.)
(Anakin hates it.)
I'm just so in love with "An omega can't fight." "You wanna fuckin' bet?"
There are plenty of omega Jedi, by the way, it's just... most of them can keep it relatively low-key instead of Anakin's jet-engine broadcast. Some, if they're known to be omega, probably take advantage of being underestimated, like Obi-Wan probably (and especially a version of Obi-Wan that was always an omega, unlike this version). They have a very different way of presenting themselves than Anakin, who's not subtle about being an omega and also not subtle about being all aggressive and stabby.
At one point, Anakin has to protect some Very Traditional Individuals who get all "Stay back, Omega, it's not safe!" and he's just... so tired of this shit. “You are squishy civilians and I'm a trained Jedi Knight and accomplished GAR General who's killed more people in one sitting than there are in this entire palace. Sit the fuck down and let me do my job.”
It starts making the rounds that Anakin insisted on fighting in person, and the rumors shift from "how dare the Jedi force an omega to fight" and over into things that are deeply hurtful in-universe in the vein of "broken omega" and some people try to say it to his face but like...
He didn't grow up here.
He doesn't care.
Say that to one of his friends and he's going to rip out your spleen, probably, but say it to him and he's just staring at you flatly and asking if that's a negative on getting away from the encroaching battle droids, sir?
"You're rather unpleasant for an omega, aren't you?" [deeply offensive] "I literally could not give less of a fuck about your opinion. Move."
It's not that there aren't omegas that act like Anakin, either, it's just that most of them aren't, you know, Jedi who regularly interact with the upper crust, or capable of his level of destruction. Unbeknownst to Anakin, everyone clocks him as Outer Rim based on his behavior, well before his accent gives him away, and certainly before he mentions he's from Tatooine, because Core Omegas Don't Act Like That.
Someone they meet in a more diplomatic setting says something decently passive-aggressive about how at least Obi-Wan acts more like how an Omega should. Then a battle breaks out for some reason, and... well. Anakin and Obi-Wan cause such a scandal by keeping score of kills in a battle, don’t you know?
Turns out sending Anakin to fight Ventress is great because she keeps expecting him to react a certain way but NO he's here to STAB.
I like the idea that Obi-Wan's favorite opponent these days is Grievous because the cyborg doesn't have a nose, and thus gives zero fucks about dynamics or heats. Dooku is a rich old man who has opinions heavily influenced by Sith Juice Making Him More of a Dick, and the Dathomiri can smell dynamics even if they don't have them, and so they have biases about those things. Meanwhile, Grievous is just there to Kill, and Obi-Wan genuinely appreciates the lack of commentary on his dynamic.
Dooku’s probably an alpha, or a beta who's used the whole "we are more level-headed" thing as one of several angles to keep himself the public face and supreme commander of the CIS.
On to more fluffy things that have less to do with political biases.
There's a lot of "I'm upset that my loved ones don't know me," but also please understand the appeal of Obi-Wan marching up to Quinlan like "Yes, hello, I understand you've been read in on the full situation behind myself and my former padawan. I was close friends with your alternate universe self, which I feel is necessary disclosure before I propose the following: Would you like to join me for my upcoming heat, as I have minimal experience with the dynamics situation and even fewer people I actually trust, and I believe I can put my faith in you to treat it as casually as necessary while still having control and respect for my person."
(The Team is in a fairly safe place to process stuff, but having sudden unexpected changes to your biology has gotta be a little traumatizing, on top of ending up in a universe where none of your friends know you and people have a whole host of unfamiliar forms of sexism to point at you.)
Obi-Wan, who wasn't quite touch-averse but was much more easily overwhelmed by physical contact than Anakin (who craved it), suddenly finds his body switching gears and insisting on cuddles with Trusted Loved Ones, which is.... mostly Anakin, on account of nobody else really knowing him yet. Also Ahsoka, who is aware that she's something of a replacement for her alt-universe self, but Anakin explained it as "I love you so much no matter which dimension I'm in or what you're like, and I'd like to get to know you the way I got know her."
(It's rather eloquent for Anakin. He got Obi-Wan to help him draft up the script for when he pitched taking on omegaverse Ahsoka as a padawan.)
Anakin gets a more intensely sexual heat than 'usual' at one point for Reasons (IDK it could be as innocuous as 'we got better food than the usual rations and my body is reacting to the higher fat content with the belief that it's safer to have a baby now'), which nobody takes a whole lot of notice of because they're in a WAR, and also this is only his fourth one so it's not like he's got a lot to compare it to... except then the predominantly alpha clones can't stop themselves from reacting to the pheromones, mostly by wandering past his door and asking if he needs anything, offering up alpha-scented blankets and stuff for the nest to soothe the hormones, bringing snacks and electrolyte drinks, and like, Anakin is flattered, really, but fuck off please.
(He got a warning from medical a few hours before it hit that it would be different, so he actually does have alpha-scented fabrics to help him out. Apparently that's a thing you can just ask friends for, so he asked Rex if he had anything on hand that he could spare. He now has one of Rex’s recently-used sheets and a bodyglove in the nest.)
(Anakin has no idea how to feel about the nesting instinct, but at least it’s warm.)
Tia asked "Oh hey, who has the scared and horny reaction to his carnage?" and like.
Listen. I'm not saying I've been low-key imagining this as Rex being a very subby alpha who's really into Anakin's whole Thing but...
At one point Anakin gets injured in a way that requires painkillers and he ends up whining to the point of almost crying about the fact that nobody is cuddling him right now in medbay and Kix just gives up and comms Ahsoka to come hug her weird older brother.
And Then There Is Purring.
That’s a Thing Now.
Rex ends up in the pile somehow. He came over to check on Things and ended up yanked in by half-asleep, half-high Anakin, who has a grip like an octopus and no impulse control and is purring like a pod motor while NUZZLING HIM.
There’s a lot of blackmail photos featuring Rex’s very intense blush as he’s cuddled by his commander (giggling at him) and general (clinging like a tooka and rubbing himself all over).
Anakin is deeply offended that ANYONE thinks he'd want to get pregnant by just any old person, NO he needs to fall in LOVE there needs to be EMOTIONAL DRAMA and if Padme won't have him (apparently she's in a relationship and no he's not BITTER) then he'll find someone else to have a whirlwind romance with!
People think Anakin's a slut because he can't control his pheromone production (he has NO practice and for health reasons he can't go on suppressants) so he always smells open and ready for flirtations, which Obi-Wan also has to a somewhat lesser degree (he's older so his body just naturally produces less), and then someone tries to cross a boundary and grabs his ass and ANYWAY Anakin has to now fill out an incident report for breaking a civilian's arm.
Again.
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stonefreeak · 3 years
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Revenge of the 5th and also I am SO SORRY it takes me so long to update these days. Who knew having a job and living during a pandemic could be so bad for fic updates?
Anakin can't sit still. He finds it hard to think, hard to breathe sometimes.
Palpatine got convicted on corruption charges.
Sure, not as many and not nearly as serious as those Mas Amedda was convicted of. Instead it seems like Amedda was running a lot of corruption in Mr palpatine's favour... But the fact that Palpatine was involved in even just some corruption, the acceptance of bribes and...
It means Anakin was wrong and Obi-Wan was right.
He can't stand it. He can't believe it. It's not fair!
He fought for Palpatine with Obi-Wan. He pushed Obi-Wan away, raged and screamed at him for being distrustful... And it turns out that he was right not to trust Palpatine. That he was right not to trust in Anakin's trust in him.
And it hurts.
Especially since he'd seen it on Padmé's face when the conviction came. She was pleased. She thought it was right.
She must have been hiding something from him, something about Palpatine, and he almost hates her for it. How could she keep things from him when they promised never to lie to each other? Never to keep anything secret from each other considering how much they must keep secret from everyone else.
It feels like a betrayal and he doesn't know how to handle it.
Not for the first time he wishes that Master Hestish hadn't died. That she was still here to help him get a grip over his emotions, help him think things through.
He knows that Obi-Wan or Padmé would do their very best to help him if he only asks, but when they're the object of confusion... They can't help. If he's angry and upset with them, how can they possibly help him sort his feelings out?
Master Hestish and he had a good relationship, Anakin thinks. She was helpful, kind, and she never judged him. She helped him get himself under control sometimes, and because they only met during his sessions with her, because they didn't have a relationship outside of those sessions... She was always an unbiased and completely separate person. She was never entangled in his duties or his relationships or his school work... She was only ever there to be a rock in the sinking sand, helping him climb to safety until the Tatooine winds calmed themselves and the sinking sands could be traversed again.
He knows that if Obi-Wan knew he's feeling like this, he'd tell Anakin to find a new mind healer to talk to. Find someone else who can help him, but... Anakin doesn't want anyone else! He wants Master Hestish! He wants Bharani Hestish... In her white robes and with her so very odd appearance—like nothing Anakin had ever seen before, completely impossible to mistake for anyone else—and her calm acceptance of whatever he told her.
It's not fair that Anakin has to lose everyone! It's not fair that apparently he can't trust anyone he loves, because sooner or later they keep something from him. They lie to him.
Or they die.
He can only hope that Ahsoka hasn't lied to him too. That she isn't keeping secrets and going behind his back. He's not sure he could take it from his Padawan as well. Well... he knows that she didn't talk to him about her concerns that it might be her fault that Obi-Wan got caught in the blast, but... That's not quite the same thing, right?
He doesn't like it though. He doesn't like the fact that Ahsoka will keep something as important as her fears from him. He's her master and it's his duty to help guide her through her journey to becoming a Jedi Knight, and how can he do that if she keeps secrets and won't ask him for help when she needs it?
He should probably talk to her about that... But later. Later. When he's not as upset as he is now. He doesn't want to risk getting angry at her when it's not really where his frustration and anger is targeted right now.
He should...
He doesn't know what he should do.
He can't talk to Obi-Wan. He just can't. After all the things he said, all the accusations and assertions he did... That he was wrong about Palpatine, even just slightly... Of course Palpatine isn't as bad as Obi-Wan seems to think he is, Palpatine is a good man, isn't he? But...
Yes. That's it.
He feels it like a soft caress in his mind. Of course Palpatine is a good man who's made a few mistakes. Even the court didn't think he'd done anything bad enough to warrant prison or anything like that. He just got some fines and a warning to be careful with what sort of contracts he enters and favours he does for others and asks for for himself.
It's... It's not ideal, of course. But Palpatine is still trustworthy.
After all, he had more power than anyone else in the galaxy for years and he wasn't corrupted. He was still on the whole careful with his political power. Just a few mistakes doesn't just somehow make someone a bad person.
Not when there's the likes of Dooku or even just Mas Amedda out there—people who actually hurt others and cause destruction and chaos. Palpatine isn't anything like them.
Anakin lets out a frustrated breath. Even now that he's managed to sort himself out and his thoughts regarding Palpatine, he still feels restless and like he can't sit still.
He wants to talk to Obi-Wan... Wants to apologise for some of the things he said, but... No. He can't.
He should probably talk to Padmé instead, shouldn't he?
After all, Palpatine has been a mentor to her too. It must have been a harsh blow to her even though she thought it was deserved after she heard the evidence. Maybe they can comfort each other and then visit Palpatine together so he knows that they still support him, that they still know that he's a good person despite what has happened.
Nodding to himself, Anakin gets to his feet and rolls his shoulders. He needs to act swiftly, who knows when he'll be sent back into the field again. It's likely not far away considering how much better Obi-Wan is doing... Anakin knows he got extended leave due to that—which was really nice of the Council, really.
But he wants to make sure he's talked to Padmé so they've sorted everything out before he needs to leave Coruscant again.
Obi-Wan... Obi-Wan can wait.
Some distance will probably do them good.
Regardless of how much Anakin wants to apologise and for everything to just go back to the way things were when he was a child, before Obi-Wan got busy—before the saboteur took Obi-Wan from him—it's probably for the best if they have some distance now.
Obi-Wan probably wants some anyway, he's like that isn't he? He thinks that distance and letting your heads cool is always a much better idea than just getting out and aired immediately...
Ugh. Whatever.
Anakin'll go talk to Padmé instead of driving himself crazy with all these thoughts.
He leaves his room and heads out of the Temple. He considers sending Ahsoka a comm message to let her know where he's gone... But it's probably for the best if he doesn't. At least then he'll have some plausible deniability if anyone tries to suggest he went to see Padmé for anything but platonic reasons. They won't even be able to prove that he specifically went out to see her!
He hates that they have to keep their marriage secret, but...
No, he can't think about this now. He pushes the thoughts away, they'll have to wait for later.
Now he just wants to see Padmé.
(Supreme Chancellor Obi-Wan Kenobi masterpost)
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willowcrowned · 3 years
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Okay but has anyone considered Obi-wan/Cody/Satien (is that how its spelled?) Regardless, hes got two hands for his two mandalorians, the au where this happend is gotta be top notch ridiculous ye?
Okay thank you so much for giving me a reason to think about this, because this AU contains three things I adore: polyamory, ships where everyone is frighteningly competent, and Obi-Wan
In this AU, Ventress is somehow even less well-adjusted (bear with me). What this means is that, instead of taking a gap year and finding herself after her family is brutally murdered, she decides she needs to get revenge even more now. What does this mean? In the short term, she still becomes a bounty hunter, but in the long run? She’s looking for a Sith lord team up so she can punch Dooku (with a lit lighstaber) in his stupid, elitist, backstabbing face.
So when Maul invades Mandalore, what happens? Ventress comes right along, ready to give her ‘I know we hate each other, but consider teaming up to kill someone we both hate even MORE’ space TED talk. And though Maul may be terribly annoying, a closet theater kid, always in a tits out kind of mood, and denying his gay awakening, he’s not stupid. He knows Sidious is coming for him, sooner rather than later, and he knows he needs more people on his side than his (impressively beefy) brother. He and Savage agree to the team-up.
Cue Obi-Wan showing up, ready to save his sort-of girlfriend, and finding Pre Vizsla, who got REAL sus the second ANOTHER lunatic with a red lightsaber showed up, occupied by capturing Maul, Savage, and Ventress. 
Obi-Wan saves Satie, who convinces him to call Cody for a quick evac, and they’re running away, flirting, and arguing over shooting things (as usual), when they spot Ventress, Maul, and Savage, about to be executed.
Oh, they both think, hell no. And then, because they have a stupid moral code that makes them do stupid moral things, they go save them.
A little background on Obi-Wan at this point: He has been fighting in a war for over two years. He is exhausted, close to a breakdown, and seriously questioning his place as a General. Next to him at all times, supporting him, helping him, and saving him, is Cody, who is clever, kinder than he has any right to be, and is, of course, devastatingly handsome when he does his special, unique-to-Cody half-smirk.
Obi-Wan, to put it mildly, is totally gone on him. Obi-Wan also, to put it less mildly, is his commanding officer in an army that Cody can’t leave on pain of death. To do anything— make any advance beyond the flirting that he engages in with most people— would put Cody in a very uncomfortable position, whether or not he returns Obi-Wan’s feelings. So Obi-Wan watches him from afar, hoping against hope that his affections are returned, and that one day, after the end of the war, there will be a future for both of them.
A little more background on Obi-Wan at this point: He has always respected Satine. Their correspondence fell apart just a few months after the end of his mission with Qui-Gon, but he’s been keeping up with her professional accomplishments for years. Over time, the love he bore for her faded, leaving him with good memories and an enduring appreciation for her courage, her cleverness, and her ability to deliver devastating blows to someone’s confidence with a few well-placed words.
Until he sees her again. And yes, alright, he might be angry that she’s choosing to stay out of the war— he knows what good she could do— but he understands her fears, understands the very real possibility that if Mandalore gets embroiled in yet another war, they may never recover. The thing is... well, she’s still very beautiful, especially when he’s yelling at him, and as slowly as his feelings had faded then, they come back in a rush now.
He has very much fallen in love with Cody, and he is very much still in love with Satine.
Cut back to the present— Obi-Wan and Satine rescue the three most annoying Sith in the galaxy and get the heck out of dodge. Cody, because he’s Cody, comes swooping in with a last-minute rescue.
At this point, two things are occurring.
The first: Obi-Wan is stuck in a room with four people he’s periodically flirted with over the past few years, two of whom he’s desperately in love with, one of whom he had a weird encounter with that he can never tell Anakin about when she and him got trapped in a middle school auditorium, and one of whom is definitely wearing no shirt and all that jewelry for a reason. It is Supremely awkward for him.
The second: Every single person in that room, each of which is (barring Savage) deeply attracted to Obi-Wan, is realizing that Obi-Wan is dressed in Mandalorian armor, and while Obi-Wan in three layers of tunics and a cloak is an absolute knockout, Obi-Wan in Mandalorian armor may very well kill them (and he won’t even have to touch his lightsaber to do it).
For one single moment, everything is absolutely still as they all stare at each other.
...And then Maul starts on the ‘I will rend your flesh from your bones, feel my wrath, Kenobarrgh’ spiel, and Satine stuns him. Oh, and Savage. Ventress agrees to watch the two of them if they don’t stun her, and Obi-Wan agrees.
Which then leaves him, Cody, and Satine in a room alone.
A word on Cody at this point: He has been bred from birth to be the perfect soldier— loyal, clever (but not too clever), and rigourously adherent to protocol. Yet, within three months of knowing Obi-Wan, he’s, well, calling him Obi-Wan in his head. Even just that is a gross breach of protocol, but he’s compromised in more ways than one. He talks to Obi-Wan, now, not just as a subordinate, or secondary advisor, but as a friend, as a councilor. Every time Obi-Wan touches him— never for longer than a brief second— his skin lights up under his armor. One time, Obi-Wan fell asleep on him for half an hour, and Cody’s was sure everyone would hear his heartbeat. 
What he’s doing— how he feels— he knows it’s putting Obi-Wan in danger, knows that if the Kaminoans had wanted to the clones to be equals to the Jedi, they would have told them so. And look, he knows what the natborns would call the way he’s feeling, but he can’t feel that way. He’s a clone— he’s expendable by definition. Even if, on some off-chance, he makes it out of this war alive, there’s nothing for him. Obi-Wan couldn’t care for him like that, couldn’t care for a man with the same face as millions of others, born and bred only for war. So it doesn’t matter how he feels.
A word on Satine at this point: Obi-Wan, when he left, was a gawkish, bumbling thing of red hair and freckles and the sweetest smile. Obi-Wan, when he came back, was graceful, eloquent, and very, very handsome. He is also infuriating. (This does not change how attracted she is to him in the least.)
She’s not a romantic, really, but she is a realist, and she knows she’s loved him in some form or another for over twenty years. She knows she can’t ask him to return it— knows that asking him to leave the order for her wouldn’t just be for her, it would be for Mandalore, and while the politician in her cries for her to claim him, the person in her who loves Obi-Wan could not abide tearing him away from his culture for her own purposes. She still loves him, deeply and irrevocably, and she knows he still loves her. (Maybe, she thinks, after the war... But she can’t afford to be sentimental).
What do Cody and Satine have in common? They’re both extremely competent, both instinctively ruthless, and they both love Obi-Wan. Oh, and they’re also both immediately jealous of their counterpart.
They know they shouldn’t be. They know it’s not fair, not when Obi-Wan isn’t theirs anyways, but it doesn’t change the surge of envy and dislike that happens when they see Obi-Wan use the soft voice he only uses for the people he likes best on the person across from them.
Cody knows he can never compare to the Duchess, who is beautiful and well-spoken and has held Obi-Wan’s heart since they were fifteen. Satine knows she can never compare to Cody, who has been at Obi-Wan’s side every second since the war’s beginning, who is so much closer in ideals to Obi-Wan than she is, however it might appear on the surface.
Fortunately, they don’t have to deal with it for long, because Ventress comes in with Maul and Savage and proposes a team up, at which point Maul reveals the identity of the Sith Master.
Obi-Wan swears a string of words that Cody and Satine are both very impressed by, and agrees to the team up. Cody and Satine, who are both going to Coruscant anyways, agree to it too.
What ensues is a good deal of scheming, during which Cody and Satine avoid each other like the plague, Obi-Wan is repeatedly told to get some sleep, and Ventress cuffs Maul to a door on multiple nonconsecutive occasions. When they get to Coruscant, Satine has already told Padmé, who has in turn told her group of anti-war (and anti-Palpatine) senators, Cody has given Rex a heads up, and Ventress, Maul, and Savage have been metaphorically sharpening their lightsabers for ages.
(It occurs to Obi-Wan, at one point, after he’s woken up from his enforced 25-hour nap, that Palpatine must have created the clone army for a reason— must have a failsafe in place— and he asks Ahsoka to pull all the data the Kaminoans have on the clones. They find out about the chips, and Ahsoka immediately immediately holds the Kaminoans at laser sword point until they reprogram every order into a command that dissolves the chip.)
The thing about organizing a coup together is that it makes it very hard to avoid each other. Cody and Satine are forced to work together, and, what do you know, it turns out that even with seething jealousy at work, they end up respecting each other. (Note: Obi-Wan comes into a room at one point to see them both bent over a commlink, heads together and hands nearly touching. He short circuits.)
In any case, coup, Palps dies, Republic fixed, whatever.
What’s important is that Obi-Wan gets really, really injured— so much so that he might die. Cody and Satine have dealt with him being dead before (Deception arc anyone?), but this? Watching him slowly fade, knowing there’s nothing they can do about it? That’s worse.
One night, when Anakin has fallen asleep, they have a long conversation in low voices about Obi-Wan, darting from fond to furious to devastated over and over again. If he wakes up— if, not when— they agree to say something to Obi-Wan, to let him know that they love him. It’s a meager consolation after all they’ve been through, but this is the end, in one way or another, and they deserve to be honest with him.
(Cody thinks, privately, that he will be— well, not tossed aside, because Obi-Wan isn’t the sort of person who does that, but there won’t be a place for him by Obi-Wan’s side anymore. Obi-Wan is a Jedi, a negotiator, a peacekeeper, and Cody is a soldier for a now-ended war. He is already steeling himself to accept Obi-Wan’s polite rejection with equanimity, to not cause more pain to the man. (It will be easy, he knows, to wish him every peace, every happiness. Cody has only ever wanted to see Obi-Wan happy. This does not mean it will not be painful.) Obi-Wan said once that he would have left the Order for Satine if she’d asked— she will ask, now, and Cody knows Obi-Wan will leave, can see the love written in his face, in his spine, in his hands, whenever he is around her. Satine will ask, and Obi-Wan will leave, and Cody will be left to look for a place in this new galaxy.)
(Satine thinks, privately, that Obi-Wan’s feelings for her must be long faded, replaced by his obvious ones for Cody. Obi-Wan is a warrior, a Knight, and Satine is a diplomat who foreswore violence long ago. She is already steeling herself to accept his rejection with grace. (It will be easy, she knows, to wish him well. She has only ever wanted good things for him. This does not mean it will not be painful.) He said once that he would have left the Order for her if she’d asked, and whatever he’d felt then for her pales to what he feels now for Cody. Cody will ask, and Obi-Wan will leave, and Satine will rule as she always has.)
And then Obi-Wan wakes up.
Cody and Satine let him have his long talk with Anakin first, partially because they know how important it is to him, partially because Anakin wouldn’t let them if they wanted to, and partially because they are dreading their own coming conversation. When Anakin has finished, and Obi-Wan is asleep again, they go in, hand-in-hand, and wait for him to wake up.
When he does wake up, he sees them holding hands and immediately comes to several wrong conclusions. Wrong Conclusion A: Cody and Satine are in love. Wrong Conclusion B: Cody and Satine are going to try to break the news that they’re in love to him gently. Wrong Conclusion C: This conversation is about to break his heart.
Then they speak.
At the end of it, Obi-Wan has some Thoughts. Thought One: alkdfjhskhsgjljlbhkgkjbjvnab,gkjvn;qlerghjsv?????!!!!fwbfwlkrehwogwhuwrijvhfdbhkf!!!! Thought Two: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Thought Three: Oh, we’re all idiots. Fantastic. 
He then passes out, because being on the edge of death for days and then having a shock to your system this big tends to do that to you.
When he wakes up, he is mildly more coherent. Then he sees that Satine and Cody are asleep on each other, and the coherence is lost, but he does manage to wake them up and get across three things:
Thing One: He is desperately in love with them both.
Thing Two: He’s leaving the Order for a multitude of reasons, but they are a Significant Bonus.
Thing Three: He would very much like if they both held his hand while he falls back asleep.
Cody takes Obi-Wan’s right hand, Satine takes Obi-Wan’s left hand, and the three of them stay like that, fingers intertwined, for a long, long, while.
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vagrantblvrd · 3 years
Text
Luke “I’m here to rescue you!” :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Skywalker rescuing Din and others with rad Jedi powers and Din “I’m so tired, please let me rest” Djarin and his “Are you a Jedi” is like. The best.
Luke used to being recognized pretty much everywhere he goes and this Mandalorian who has no clue is so great, he loves it?
And then the however long after taking Grogu as his student Luke ends up chasing Din. At some point there’s another rescue that’s marginally less dramatic than the one on Gideon’s cruiser.
Din just stares at Luke before he offers a quiet thanks and trudges off because ow and tired and so, so tired and his job’s not finished yet, and did he mention the tired part? Because so very tired.
Luke is like ??? but gamely follows along because Grogu is miserable, inconsolable  -
“What did you say?”
Luke blinks at the way the Mandalorian whips around, hand dropping to the blaster at his hip as he strides toward him and has to run the last thing he said back in his mind and oh, of course.
Cocks his head, because this Mandalorian, exhausted, hurting, and covered in...well, Luke’s not sure but there’s a very large creature behind them that was mostly dead before Luke had to step in at the last minute to save said Mandalorian, and anyway.
After all that and having gotten a glimpse of what Luke’s capable of on Gideon’s cruiser, he looks like he’s figuring out the best way to kill Luke and it’s kind of great?
(Leia would have conniptions if she could hear that part and would also kill him, which is why Luke is never, ever going to tell her. Ever.)
“He misses you,” Luke says, keeps eye contact with Din because the Force and all even with the helmet - even with the way Din’s fingers over his blaster twitch, the way it looks like oh, hey, the Mandalorian might kill him anyway, but -
He just sighs, shoulders dropping as his hand falls away from his blaster, head turning away.
Not much to look at here, rock and dust and burned out mining settlements.
“I have a job to do,” the Mandalorian grits out.
Luke studies him, considers his words and smiles. Small thing at the corner of his mouth.
“Want help with that?”
Which is how Luke gets dragged into a plan only an idiot could love, which of course is why he’s all for it and all kinds of fighty action.
(Including the one where he and Din end up back-to-back against a mob of baddies and quips an one-liners and dry retorts are exchanged and Luke is far more charmed by the whole thing than he should be, and the same for Din and it’s just a slippery slope from there, you know?)
Also, just when they think the fighting’s over the last baddie on a roof somewhere takes a shot at them and it’s hard to say which of them is more impressed at what happens after that. Din who shot the baddie dead, body tumbling from the roof as in westerns of olde, or Luke who deflected the shot with his lightsaber.
Still.
Din tilts his head at Luke as he holsters his blaster, says - mocking? teasing?
“You missed.”
Because he has seen, okay, he has seen Luke deflect blaster bolts right back at the idiot who fired them, knows he can do that.
Luke shrugs, that little smile on his face he had when this whole mess started back, and he says,”You had it covered.”
And then goes off to check on the innocents they were protecting, who hired Din to save them, while Din stares after him thinking uncomplimentary things about Jedi because seriously, okay, seriously.
But also that thing about Grogu and Luke not having to work all that hard to convince Din to come see his kid.
(Has this moment, though, when Din mentions what Ahsoka told him about the Jedi order and attachment and makes a mental note to have a chat with some Jedi masters he knows later, but for now, yes.)
Din who’s all...restless, antsy, worried about setting Grogu on a path to the Dark side, so he doesn’t stay.
Goes off on Adventures and such, meanwhile Luke’s sending him updates on Grogu’s progress. Sometimes just happens to be in the same place as Din - What a surprise Din’s ass, what with the smirk on Luke’s face and oh, look, Grogu’s here too.
There’s just.
A lot of that going on, and Din is kind of losing his mind about it because it’s hard to be noble and self-sacrificing when the person he’s doing it for isn’t letting him???
Just absolutely refuses to, and has the galaxy’s worst enabler in an annoying smug Jedi who should really know better, because Jedi???
Luke just shrugs, that same dam smile on his face s Grogu chatters at Din - lecturing him, really, with that scowl on his face and angry little growl to his voice.
“He misses you,” is all Luke ever says, and it’s just.
A lot.
And then there’s a situation in which Din evades the bad guys in his new ship but also ends up crashing it. Just staring at the damn thing, hull integrity compromised and listing sadly to the side because broken landing struts and also a pile of boulders and look, not his best landing ever.
He’s not in his best shape ever either, bruised and battered and just so, so tired, and then a damn X-wing shows up not too long afterward.
Skywalker, because of course it’s him, and Grogu too.
Din’s sitting on a boulder staring at his ship and just.
Tired.
Luke doesn’t say anything, but he sets Grogu down and Din’s tiny green gremlin kid scampers over to him and tugs on his pants. Lifts his little arms and Din obeys the unspoken command to pick his kid up, and stares.
Because his tiny green gremlin kid has a helmet.
Pilot’s helmet, though, and Luke just shrugs when Din looks at him because what? Things get turbulent sometimes when one is flying about in an all too recognizable X-wing and it’s not like Luke has a wingman to watch his six wherever he goes and also there are so many people out there who’d love to take a shot at him, so.
Safety measures and all.
Really.
Although maybe having a Mando-Dad is influencing his son’s sartorial choices, who can say.
(But please consider Grogu in a full set of Grogu-sized Mandalorian armor as I sure the hell am right now.)
Din huffs, and when he looks back a Grogu his heart does this Thing inside his chest because there’s a mudhorn insignia on the helmet.
Luke just happens to be looking at something in the distance when Din looks at him again, but there’s this hint of a smile and an air of amusement about him and just.
Yes.
Anyway.
Luke wanders off to examine Din’s poor, poor ship, see if it can still fly and leaves Din and Grogu to their reunion. And since it’s mostly the two of them staring at one another and Din being emotional Luke sets about taking care of what repairs he can do with what’s on hand while he’s there.
Artoo trundles over from the X-wing and pitches in and between the two of them have the Din’s ship looking a little less pathetic by the time Din and Grogu come over to see what they’re up to.
“Huh,” Din says, because they did a good job, but it’s not like he can just say that, now can he?
Luke rolls his eyes, says, “It’d go faster with more hands,” which he isn’t wrong about.
So Din gets back to work, and so does Grogu.
Din stealing glances as Luke sneaks in Jedi lessons such as holding panels in place as they weld them to the ship’s frame and such. Tiny green gremlin son practically beaming as Luke praises him for a job well done and Din’s heart does that Thing again.
Anyway, they get his ship patched up far sooner than he would have on his own and then it’s this tiny bit awkward.
What he wants - no, what he thinks he wants - is to leave in search of another bounty, Karga always has some for him - keep busy, make himself useful, but -
“You look like you could use a few days to rest,” Luke says, kind about it.
Din knows very well he’s not in the best state at the moment. Armor dirty and tired down to his bones, and the Jedi’s not wrong, exactly, just.
Reasons.
Ones that don’t stand up to Grogu’s little face and sad eyes and Din’s tired, enough so to give in to weakness this one time and go with them to wherever Luke’s set up shop.
And then he just.
Stays
Mostly.
Still gets restless, antsy, and goes off to hunt bounties, but when his job is done he finds himself going back to Grogu and Luke more often than not.
Enough that he has a set of rooms shared with Grogu and he’s become a familiar figure to the town not far from Luke’s school and -
“You really don’t have anything better than to hang around here?”
Cara and the others giving him looks when he goes to Nevarro to pick up more than a handful of bounties at a time, or wanders the town to soak in the changes they’re bringing to it with the Empire gone and funds coming in - New Republic fighters and such stopping by for fuel and minor repairs.
Which.
Cara gives him a look, a smirk, as though Din’s got anything to do with that, and yes.
Anyway, anyway, no matter how long he’s away Luke’s always there when he gets back, Luke and Grogu, and it means something, doesn’t it?
After a while - the trips away don’t stop, can’t help that - but he stops staying away for so long, looking for excuses to stay away.
Starts to feel less like...like an interloper at Luke’s school eve though he was the only one to think like that, especially once Luke gains more students.
Because fighting and such, and sparring demonstrations and Din won’t mind, and really, it’s as fun for Din as it clearly is for Luke.
But also Din teaching Luke’s students in combat forms aside from lightsabers and such.
(Luke sneaking in at the back when his own classes are done, leaning against the wall and watching Din with an appreciative eye until Din has had enough of the smug and the smirking and hauls him in front of the class for practical demonstrations.)
Perhaps there are long walks together, Luke and Din with little Grogu toddling along or hitching a rid in their arms or on their shoulder, and quiet conversation and peace and quiet and this contentment Din hasn’t found anywhere else.
And, perhaps, on one of those long walks together there’s a moment where Din leans down, forehead against Luke’s while Grogu chases after a frog, Luke smiling up at him -
A splash and indignant little squawk, splashing from Grogu who chased the frog into the water, of course he did. Luke’s laughter as he pulls away to rescue their tiny green gremlin child while Din closes his eyes, helpless smile on his face as he listens to Luke gently chiding Grogu and Grogu’s protests, stubborn as Din and Luke combined and breathes.
(Also, though. Grogu pouting all the way home because he almost had that forg okay, if his dads had just given him another chance he would have had it.)
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eyayah-oya · 3 years
Text
Return to Me
Clone Ship Week | Day 6 | Post-Battle - @cloneshipweek
Cody/Rex
Rating: G
Warnings: mentions of Point Rain, canon typical violence, disgustingly cute happy ending
Ao3 link
           Geonosis was just as awful as every vod had ever described. It was hot and dusty, of course, but Cody didn’t really care about any of that.  It was the number of brothers he’d lost on the way to Point Rain, the hundreds more killed by the bugs and their weaponry, on top of all the droids that seemed to come in never-ending waves.
           Cody and the rest of the 212th were going to join General Mundi and the 21st Nova Marine Corps on the other side of the planet while Rex and his men worked with Gree and the 41st under General Unduli.  They would be taking on the enormous droid factory the next day, and Cody would not be able to help any of them.  He would have his own mission to run.
           There were hundreds of vod’e all over the fortified base they’d managed to find and set up camp in.  Brothers from all four battalions mingled and shared increasingly exaggerated stories.  Cody had spotted Corporals Fives and Echo talking to some boys from the 21st, and he’d seen the medics fussing over the injured vod’e and generals.  But there was no sign of Cody’s cyare.
           “Lieutenant!” Cody called to 2nd Lieutenant Jesse of the 501st.
           Jesse snapped off a sharp salute.  “Sir!”
           “At ease, Lt.  Have you seen Rex around recently?” Cody asked.
           Thinking for a moment, Jesse slowly nodded.  “I think I saw him over by the remaining gunships, sir. He was talking to General Skywalker about half an hour ago.”
           Cody nodded and clapped the trooper on his shoulder. “Thanks.  Make sure you take some time to rest, Lt.  We’re in for a rough campaign.”
           “Of course, sir.  You do the same and see if you can get Rex to sleep, too.”
           As Cody walked away, he chuckled to himself.  Little brothers were getting uppity.  At the start of the war, there was no way any trooper, let alone one from a different battalion, would have talked to him so casually.  It was a testament to how well the men of the 501st were relaxing around their Jedi and learning how to be something besides soldiers.  It was nice.
           Cody prayed to whatever gods watched over clones bred for war that Rex hadn’t gone back up to the Resolute already.  He needed to see Rex and make sure his cyare was alright. Too many vod’e were walking wounded, and even more were severely injured or dead.  As much as he knew it was a real possibility, Cody did not want to ever consider a reality where Rex marched on ahead of him.
           “Hey, Commander!” Commander Tano chirped from out of nowhere.  She smiled up at him with bright eyes that hadn’t been weighed down by war yet.  She still had hope and Cody prayed that she would never lose that.  Yet another thing he prayed for to unknown gods.
           “Hello, Commander.”  Cody dodged a pair of vod’e carrying a crate full of supplies and glanced down at Commander Tano.  “Can I help you with something?”
           “Jesse said you’re looking for Rex?  I know where he is!  But we have to hurry before my Master pulls him away again.”
           If Commander Tano was willing to help him find Rex, Cody was definitely not going to say no.  Especially after the massacre they’d just faced.  “Thank you, Commander,” he said, warm affection warming his chest briefly. “I appreciate it.”
           Commander Tano waved away his thanks.  “It’s no problem.  I get it.  Master Skywalker practically ran to Master Kenobi’s side as soon as we got here, and I know Jesse went to go find a batchmate of his from the 41st. Sometimes, you just need to make sure everyone’s alive.”
           “That is very wise, Commander,” Cody said.  He really shouldn’t be surprised, but in his mind, the Commander was just so young.  She shouldn’t have insights into how war worked, and why they needed time to recuperate after a bad battle, if only to reassure themselves that their loved ones made it out alive or to mourn the ones that hadn’t.
           There were far too many mourning vod’e.
           “I have a great teacher,” Commander Tano said with a warm smile.  “Rex said you taught him a lot of what he knows and he’s been passing some of that down to me.  It’s helped me in some tough situations, so I should be thanking you, Commander.”
           “No thanks necessary, Commander,” Cody managed to say without choking or giving away his emotions.  Not that it probably mattered since Jedi were attuned to the people around them.  Only General Kenobi had ever thanked him for anything, and Cody was convinced that his General would thank Ventress after she stabbed him with her saber.  Karking di’kutla jetti.
           “Anyway, Rex is over in that tent, hopefully taking a nap. Coric was threatening him earlier with sedation, so he might have followed through on that threat.”
           And with that, Commander Tano skipped away, most likely to terrorize some poor shiny who wouldn’t know how to deal with an overly friendly shiny Jedi Commander. Cody privately wished he had a holo of their flailing.  It would provide some good laughs in the future.
           Cody strode over to the tent Commander Tano had pointed out, and knocked on the frame.
           “Come in,” Rex called and something inside of Cody’s chest loosened.
           He undid the fastenings and stepped inside, taking his bucket off immediately.  Rex was sitting on the cot, a datapad in his hands, likely going over the initial casualty reports for the battle.  Most importantly, he was very much alive.
           “Rex,” Cody gasped out with a strangled breath.
           Rex jerked at his voice and then a second later, Cody had his arms wrapped around his cyare, breathing him in as he held on as tight as he could.
           “Cody!  You’re okay!” Rex said.  He pulled back to give Cody a sharp look.  “You are okay, right?”
           “Yes, I am.  I didn’t end up getting injured.  That was purely my General,” Cody said, trying for some dry humor but it fell flat in the face of their combined relief.  “What about you?  I heard you got thrown off a wall?”
           “Karking Fives and Echo,” Rex growled.  “General Skywalker and Ahsoka caught me, so I wasn’t hurt.  Nothing beyond a few bumps and bruises.”
           Cody ran his eyes over Rex’s body, as though that would tell him if Rex was hiding any injuries with the armor in the way.  Once he verified that there wasn’t any gaping hole or crack in Rex’s armor, Cody dropped his helmet to the ground and pulled Rex into a bruising kiss.  His cyare responded eagerly, clinging desperately to the hard, sharp planes of Cody’s armor.  There was no finesse, no sweetness in the kiss.  Just pure, heady relief and a desperation to prove that they really survived.
           Rex gripped Cody’s hair tightly with one hand, the other wrapping around his waist to pull him as close as their armor would allow. He sucked on Cody’s bottom lip and gently nibbled before letting go and pressing his head against Cody’s in a soft keldabe.
           “I was so worried when we heard that most of your gunships went down, including General Kenobi’s.  You’re usually flying with him.”
           “We decided to split our forces.  It was a really close call a few times, but we made it.  We both made it,” Cody answered.  He was shaking from relief at having Rex in his arms, alive and unharmed.  Nothing would ever be able to beat that heady feeling of overwhelming gratitude to whatever gods were listening.  They’d listened to at least one of his prayers today.
           “Stay alive tomorrow,” Cody demanded after a moment of just breathing each other in.  “That factory is going to be really dangerous.”
           “I know.  Gree is a solid vod, though.  He’ll have my back and I’ll have his.  Plus, we have the Jedi to help keep us safe.”
           Cody very carefully didn’t think about the many times General Skywalker had gotten men killed by doing something reckless or stupid. The R2 droid was not important enough to sacrifice his padawan, Rex, and three other men to General Grievous.  Out of four, only Rex and Denal had made it back, and Commander Tano had nearly been killed by Grievous when she kept Grievous from killing Rex, all for a droid.  Cody was skeptical, but he also had faith in Commander Tano and General Unduli and her padawan.  They’d protect the men while Skywalker handled whatever crazy idea he had.
           “We will be safe,” Rex said, giving Cody a shake. “While you’re off with the Marines, you should talk to Bacara.  They’re out of contact with most of the GAR.  Only Neyo and Jet can get through the blockades to deliver supplies and intelligence to Nova.”
           A frown carved the worry lines on his face deeper as Cody absorbed that information.  “I’ll talk to him.  See what we can do,” Cody swore.
           Rex nodded.  “Good.  He’ll keep you alive.  Bacara already told me he’s planning on sharing all of my embarrassing ARC training stories to you while you’re on campaign together.”
           Cody grinned.  “I’ve been trying to pull those out of Neyo, Keeli, Thorn, and Thire for ages now.  And Bacara’s the one to spill the beans?”
           Rex grumbled and buried his face against the crook of Cody’s neck.  “He said I don’t have enough blackmail material on him to keep him from blabbing. He also said I don’t scare him because, and I quote, “I’m as terrifying as a sleepy baby nexu cub buried in a pile of nip”.”
           “That—is strangely accurate,” Cody choked out, laughing at Rex’s offended growl.  “You’re a little prickly, but everyone knows you’re just a softy.  I mean, you’ve been teaching Commander Tano what I taught you?”
           His cyare shrugged.  “She’s in the middle of a war, and she doesn’t have the training we do. I don’t want to see her die when I could have prevented it.  Nor do I want to see my vod’e die because she makes a bad decision.  I’m giving her all the tools she’ll need to be successful and survive this war.”
           “You’ve adopted her.”  Cody couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before.  Rex had always loved with all his heart, as evidenced by the numerous vod’e who loved him unconditionally.  Of course, Commander Tano would have made the list.  “If she’s yours, then she’s mine, too,” Cody said. “We’re in this together.”
           Rex finally peeked his head back out from where he’d hidden it against the small sliver of skin on Cody’s neck.  “Really?”
           Cody didn’t hesitate.  He nodded and bumped their foreheads together.  “I promise.”
           For the first time since their first kiss, Cody had the amazing opportunity to see Rex completely and totally flustered.  He blushed bright red, sputtering and coughing as he tried to find something to say.
           It took a few minutes for Rex to completely compose himself and then it was Cody’s turn to be flustered.  “Are you asking me to be your riduur?”
           “What?” Cody spluttered.
           For a second, Rex faltered.  But then he squared his jaw and firmed his spine as if he was facing the worst of odds in a battle.  “We are one when together.  We already do that, and have done that since we were cadets.  We are one when apart.  At this point, I don’t think there’s anything that could separate us, even when we’re fighting on opposite ends of the galaxy.  We share all.  We tell each other everything.  You said it yourself.  What’s mine is yours, too.  We will raise warriors.  We are raising Ahsoka together, since we share all.  Not to mention all of our men that we’ve both trained since this war started. If that doesn’t count, I don’t know what would.
           “So, are you asking me to be your riduur?”
           As Rex laid out each point, Cody found himself agreeing. He and Rex were already married, they just hadn’t said the vows to each other yet.  And honestly, there wasn’t a better time than now.  Cody would rather be married to the love of his life for a few hours, then never have married him and watched him die in battle.
           “Yes, Rex of Torrent.  I am asking you to be my riduur,” Cody said, determination in every cell of his body.
           Rex lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Cody, bringing their foreheads together.  “Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome, mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde,” Rex swore fervently, his whole heart bared for Cody to see.
           “Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar’tome, mhi me’dinui an, mhi ba’juri verde,” Cody echoed the vow, offering Rex his heart with every breath.
           They shared the same space for a moment, pressing into the keldabe more firmly before their lips brushed together.  Like a firework had been set off in his bones, Cody tugged Rex into a passionate, over-whelming kiss that stole their breath away.  He could feel his heart swelling with the amount of love he felt for Rex, bursting out from behind the dam he kept on his emotions most days.  It rolled over him until the only thing he could think of was that Rex was alive, in his arms, and that they were now married.  What more could Cody care for in that moment?
           Eventually, air became a necessity, and they broke away from each other to breathe.  Rex gave a soft chuckle.  “You do realize that means you’re going to have to adopt Ahsoka, too, right?”
           “YES!  I get two dads AND Cody has to call me by my name now!”
           “Shh, they can hear you, Soka.”
           “Oops!  Everyone scatter!”
           Cody laughed.  His heart couldn’t contain the joy he felt, and he would carry that joy throughout the war as a hopeful flame for when they could all have peace again. But in that moment, he had all night with his riduur, and Cody planned on making the most of it.
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gffa · 4 years
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IF YOU STRIP CONTEXT OF THE REST OF THE SHOW--HELL, EVEN OF THE REST OF THIS EPISODE--FROM THIS SCENE, I can see how we should be siding entirely with Ahsoka, especially on the heels of the walkabout arc and her conflict with being drawn back towards the Jedi and the Jedi Order. Her points aren’t wrong, in the sense that she’s right that Obi-Wan is playing politics with this, but she’s stripping context and consequence out from the choice he faces and that’s specifically why he says, “That’s not fair.” and even Ahsoka herself says, “I’m not trying to be.” Her accusation is not fair. Because, let’s say that Obi-Wan did exactly what Ahsoka said--that he prioritized the people of Mandalore over saving the Chancellor.  We’re setting aside that this was a manipulation on Palpatine’s part and that Mandalore is a trap, only what we can see from Obi-Wan’s point of view and his motivations, his good faith assumptions on why rescuing the Chancellor is important. If they chose Mandalore over Coruscant, what would happen is: - They would be drawn into yet another war because they had broken a treaty, when they’re already stretched to the breaking point for this first war. - The Chancellor may be the one in trouble, but what does Ahsoka think will happen if the Chancellor dies or is ransomed back?  The Republic would be in chaos, the war effort is already balanced precariously, and none of them know that the Separatists aren’t the real threat.  Whatever good reasons many of the Separatists may have, they murder, enslave, and oppress the worlds they attack.  If the Republic loses the war, that’s what happens to every world in the Republic. - The Jedi might be more popular with people if they saved Mandalore, but would it really benefit the galaxy as a whole, given a good faith assumption on what these characters would know?  (There is no right answer to this question, of course.) Ahsoka is very nearly arguing for popularity over doing the more important thing, because this isn’t a situation where there aren’t consequences.  Mandalore needs their help, but so too does Coruscant and it’s not just about the Chancellor, it’s about the Republic as a whole.  And it even comes down to--why are politics bad?  I get that Ahsoka means that choosing your actions based on politics is a calculated sort of thing, but why is that bad?  Because Star Wars: Propaganda basically posited that that was the problem, that the Jedi didn’t play enough politics, that’s why their image was so bad. Ahsoka’s case for Mandalore could be argued to be the same thing--you want to win back the public’s faith, then you have to take this path.  That right there is politics, too. EVERYTHING IN THIS WAR IS POLITICS.  NOTHING CAN ESCAPE IT.  BECAUSE POLITICS IS EVERYTHING LIKE WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD THAT HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT TO US VERY CLEARLY.  AND WE SHOULD ALL LEAN INTO POLITICS, RATHER THAN SEPARATING OURSELVES FROM THEM. If politics were inherently bad, we wouldn’t see characters like Padme Amidala, Bail Organa, and Mon Mothma--or, hell, even Leia Organa herself--as heroes.  Because politics are important!  You don’t have to be (and shouldn’t be) a full-time politician for politics to still be important.  That working within a system to help better it and be able to reach more people is a good thing. Further, this doesn’t come without context of earlier in the episode, Obi-Wan is specifically shown to be incredibly desiring of helping people--he basically caves to Anakin’s strategy based on Anakin’s argument that they can help people sooner:
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That is right there in this very same episode.  Obi-Wan agrees to a reckless strategy specifically when Anakin points out that it can help people sooner. Obi-Wan Kenobi is not someone who doesn’t want to help people, that’s his whole thing! Further context, which isn’t specifically related to this particular issue, but does give context to Obi-Wan Kenobi as a character is everything with Bo-Katan seething over whether Satine even meant anything to him.  She did.  And she still does.  But he cannot allow his feelings to cloud his judgement--and that is something that is key to being a Jedi.
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It reminds me of George Lucas’ commentary on attachment: “But [Anakin] has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation. And it feeds into fear of losing things, which feeds into greed, wanting to keep things, wanting to keep his possessions and things that he should be letting go of. His fear of losing her turns to anger at losing her, which ultimately turns to revenge in wiping out the village.“  –George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary “He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can’t let go of his mother; he can’t let go of his girlfriend. He can’t let go of things.”  –George Lucas, Time Magazine interview (2002) The thing about Obi-Wan/Satine is that it was pretty clearly created to be a foil to Anakin/Padme (and, boyyyyyyyyy, is that abundantly clear in the scene with Bo-Katan where Anakin is STARING at Obi-Wan as he says this, as we all know Revenge of the Sith is looming riiiiiiiiight over our heads), where Obi-Wan and Satine do make the right choices about the vows they’ve taken to other aspects of their lives.  That they are balanced in a way that Anakin and Padme are not. Dave Filoni says it himself in the commentary for the Bad Batch arc, in this very season: “I mean, even Obi-Wan was in love with someone.  That’s not abnormal.  It’s very normal.  What you choose to do and how you choose to have a relationship, what you sacrifice, then that becomes a bigger deal when he’s made an oath to the Jedi Order to be selfless, to put everyone else ahead of himself.”  --Dave Filoni Obi-Wan’s feelings for Satine are very much a parallel and contrast for Anakin’s feelings for Padme, and we know exactly how that’s going to turn out for Anakin, because Revenge of the Sith looms incredibly large over this entire episode and this entire arc. ”He’s made an oath to put everyone else ahead of himself.” is something Obi-Wan has done and continues to uphold, so accusing him of politics is like--what does Obi-Wan gain by playing politics then?  He’s putting other people ahead of himself, so playing politics must be for that reason, too. Furthering this context, especially in tying it to what it means to be a Jedi, is commentary from “The Lawless”:
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”And in that moment, that critical moment, he cannot seize on his anger and his hatred for Maul.  Though that’s probably there, deep within, he can’t seize on it or Maul will win, he knows that.  I think we learned a lot about Obi-Wan and what it means to be a true Jedi, which is what I see Obi-Wan as.“ –Dave Filoni, on “The Lawless” All of this is important to understand that, when Obi-Wan Kenobi talks about the choices one makes, about not letting his feelings cloud his judgement, he’s coming from a place of established narrative reliability. We want to side with Ahsoka, because her hurt is so genuine and valid.  Because she sees a problem with the way the galaxy views the Jedi and we know that the Jedi’s doom is soon upon them.  (And this is where I get wary of the show’s narrative potentially trying to say, “Well, they’re kind of responsible for their own genocide because they just weren’t nice enough to people and only helped so many people, that they should have done more and more and more.” because, no, fuck that idea for real, the Jedi are not responsible for their own genocide, certainly not based on anything in the canon!)  She wants to fix this problem and she’s coming at it with a choice that she thinks would restore faith in them. The problem is that the Jedi are being asked to make choices between what’s popular and what they see as doing more good for more people.  And there’s a great line from the Age of Republic - Padme Amidala comic that ties into these themes as well:
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“But trying to serve the greater good doesn’t exactly make you popular.”  (Oh, hey, look!  More politics!) On first blush, the idea of helping the people of Mandalore over saving the Chancellor seems like the right thing to do because we know Palpatine is Sidious, we know that it leads to ROTS, we know that ROTS leads to the Empire, especially when Ahsoka ties it to the Jedi Order becoming unpopular with the galaxy.  But Obi-Wan points out that she’s not being fair.  He points out that the Republic is on the line.  I’m pointing out that everything is politics, one decision over the other isn’t less political just because it’s more intimate.  And it doesn’t come without context.  It’s not just the Chancellor, it’s bigger than that. And serving that greater good--as Obi-Wan genuinely sees it--doesn’t always make them popular. And still even further, this isn’t entirely about the Jedi Order’s politics, but it’s about Ahsoka’s own hurt at how the Jedi had to play politics with her, too.  She’s still hurt that they expelled her--though, as always, context shows that she gave them absolutely nothing to work with, she immediately distrusted them before they even heard anything, she refused to even send them a message, she attacked clones on her way out, she was seen colluding with a known Separatist war criminal, she was found with incredibly damning evidence, and still wouldn’t actually talk to them or ask them directly to trust her, and ultimately none of her own actions saved her, it was a Jedi who saved her--that this doesn’t negate that they made mistakes as well, they should have visited her in the jail, they were playing politics and it doesn’t matter to Ahsoka that their hands were forced--and that’s driving her conversation with Obi-Wan, especially as someone who is part of the Council that she feels betrayed her. And Obi-Wan’s coming at this from the point of view that she let her emotions cloud her judgement over what happened, that she reacted blindly rather than trusting them in the critical moment (and the theme of trust was allll over that arc), and she’s still coming from this from a place of emotion, but that he respects her choices in the end and he obviously still cares very much about her.
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All of that is underlining the conversation and one of the things that makes it such a hellishly complicated scene here in “Old Friends Not Forgotten” is that both of them are pretty narratively reliable. They’re both coming from a place of deep care and a desire to help people. They’re both coming from a place wanting to do what’s best for people. Which is why I love that I think Ahsoka genuinely loves the Jedi Order and why she says, “people who truly need us”.  It furthers my feeling of how I think, had Order 66 not happened, she may have come back to the Jedi eventually, if this difference could be resolved, but at the very least she certainly never hated them.  This is all coming from a place of love for the Jedi, for her family.  Even if she’s on a different path, even if ultimately she’ll say, “I’m no Jedi.” in Rebels, that’s about what she’s willing to do, what lines she's willing to cross, that a Jedi wouldn’t, and that it doesn’t mean they’re not still her family and that she wants good things for and with them. And why I love that she may not be being fair here, she may be stripping context and consequence out of the choice she wants to make, she may be letting emotion cloud her judgement, but she’s still so incredibly valuable and I do think they should have listened to her more.  The Jedi’s genocide is not on them, the murder of an entire people can never be on the victims, but I do think Obi-Wan has so much weight on his shoulders that he has trouble seeing the forest for the trees.  And that’s not a horrible thing, especially because Ahsoka’s shoving the trees aside here. But that there was no right answer here.  Mandalore is a trap.  Mandalore is going to fall to the Empire anyway.   Coruscant is a trap.  Coruscant is going to fall to the Empire anyway.   It doesn’t matter if they choose Mandalore or Coruscant.  Order 66 is already set to be triggered any minute now, nothing can stop that.  Them being more popular wouldn’t have saved them from it, not in a galaxy where the Republic general public was apathetic enough to not stand up against the Separatist themselves, instead allowed a clone army to be commissioned and the Jedi to be drafted into the war.  They wouldn’t stand up for themselves against the Separatists, they weren’t going to stand up for the genocide of a tiny religious culture, either.  It doesn’t even matter if the Jedi fought in the war or not--fight and be killed.  Don’t fight and they’ll be like Mandalore and be forced into it anyway or killed. That the Jedi were forced to make shitty choices in situations where there weren’t any right answers and get blamed for not having magical answers to problems that they cannot possible solve. What really brought that home to me was the way the scene ended--when Anakin offered an actual reasonable, viable solution (something that most people don’t offer the Jedi when saying what they should or shouldn’t do, they’re rarely given actual, workable options) where they could do both, Obi-Wan pretty readily jumped on it.
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This shows that of course the Jedi want to help, whenever and wherever they can.  Not going to Mandalore isn’t that they don’t care or that they don’t want to help, but that there are two tire fires put in front of them and they didn’t see a reasonable way to do both, and Coruscant, as the capital of the Republic, which is the only body that can possibly stand between the Separatists and the enslavement/oppression/murder of thousands of worlds, must be protected. (Just look what happens when the Republic and the Jedi fall--the Empire inflicted atrocity after atrocity on the galaxy, which says to me that the Jedi were right in that the Republic had to be defended because it was all that stood between the galaxy and a lot of really evil things happening.) Ultimately, the only thing that the Jedi could really do that mattered is that they helped save people--people like Hera Syndulla--and they did do that.  And the accusation that they’re not trying to help people is not a fair one.  Even when it comes from a place of deep care.  And that’s why this scene was ouchy in such a good way, it really was an amazing episode to watch!
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padawanlost · 3 years
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Why do people seem to hate Dave Filoni all of a sudden? I mean I'll confess I don't really like the way some characters were changed in the The Clone Wars series, but Filoni and Lucas did do a LOT of things right in that series. Its actually really deep and explores some very important moral and social issues like the impact of war especially on young people. Is it because Filoni has been critical of the Jedi at times? Honestly, I don't see anything inflamatory in what he says, and I don't think he's just randomly pulling stuff out of the air. Some of what he says is supported in old canon materials. The Jedi aren't perfect, I fail to see why legitimate criticism is such a big deal.
Before anything else, this ask was sent before the bad batch premiered so I won’t get into *that* right now.
That being said, this fandom has had a very interesting love-hate relationship with Filoni, so allow me to provide some context before we get into the heart of the issue.
Before The Clone Wars (2008) premiered the anti-prequel movement was still strong. A lot of people still accused George Lucas for ‘ruining’ star wars forever, so when the show premiered filled with action scenes, jedi, sith, badass moments and humor, Filoni was hailed as the savior of the franchise. Finally someone who understood what star wars was *really* about had come and saved us all from the prequels boring issues.
 That mentality last for quite some time. sure, there were voices of dissent but the general vibe was that Filoni had truly fixed star wars and the prequels. It was very similar from what happened to Game of Thrones. When the show premiered HBO and D&D were hailed as these god-like superwriters who could do no wrong. As the show progressed fans started noticing the cracks but most people still believed the show and its creators above criticism. only now that some time has passed that people are becoming more objective about the content and realizing the signs that something was off were always there. Of course, Filoni didn’t have a fiasco similar to Got’s Season 7 and 8 but the long waiting period between TCW’s season 6 and 7 gave people a lot of time to think objectively about the show, which made them realizing Filoni was, after all, just a man. And TCW was not an ‘alternative’ to the prequels, it was just an extension of it.
The themes people hated in the prequels were deeply imbued into the clone wars because a show about war must be, by definition, a show about politics. Whether people are ready to admit it or not, star wars was always about politics. I mean, the OT was about reestablishing a democratic government. It doesn’t get more political than that lol
And we can speak of PT-politics without talking of the Jedi Order. And here lies the core of the issue: people’s sudden realization of this truth. Somehow, for a very long time, some fans didn’t realize the clone wars  (and sw in general) was all about poltical (anti-war) allegories.  
Here’s a Filoni interview from 2013 that discusses the fandom reaction to the jedi:
StarWars.com: I was at the Lucasfilm fan screening of the finale, and I was keeping an ear on the crowd’s reaction to certain scenes. I was kind of surprised at the reaction when Ahsoka doesn’t take her Padawan braid back. Dave Filoni: Right. StarWars.com: Because people gasped at first, and then a lot of people started cheering. Dave Filoni: Yeah! Fantastic, huh? StarWars.com: What did you make of that? Dave Filoni: I was really, really surprised by that. Really surprised. I didn’t think people would be against it. But I certainly didn’t think that people would applaud it, necessarily. I think that there’s a certain element there… I mean, we weren’t trying to paint the Jedi in a bad light, but certainly you understand her reasons for wanting to leave. We’ve kind of taken a generation of Star Wars fans and really made them reassess that whole time period to the point where at the end of it, they’re on the side of this young girl who’s like, “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work for me.” And I think people feel that right now. They are often in a situation that they’d rather not be in and they wish they could just walk away, and maybe she embodies that. Maybe there’s something going on there that we’re not aware of. But I don’t know, I was pretty fascinated by that. It was a pretty surprising reaction. George and I went over those final scenes quite a bit. One of the big things was, the whole scene with the Council at the end used to take place outside where Anakin and Ahsoka talk. And it was definitely George, when we watched the first cut of it, who said, “I want to split this so that it’s half-inside, half-outside. And the outside is just Anakin and Ahsoka.” It was very important to him to separate the two of them out and just have this conversation between them. He wanted kids to know that she didn’t blame Anakin for it and that she wasn’t upset with Anakin. And I thought it was a great call. When I re-shot the scene it was pretty phenomenal. There was a debate about Ahsoka at the end, and her just going back to the Jedi at the end of it, and that was the initial impulse. But I kind of argued, “Well, wait. We have an opportunity here with her out to change her story dramatically.” And I’m always looking for those opportunities, because you’re not sure when they’re gonna come, to just grab something and change it dramatically for her. I thought, to do that whole storyline and then have her come back would almost be expected, so why not challenge that.[x]
Unlike what the narrative sold on tumblr says, Filoni and George talked about what was going on in the show (he was reason for Maul and Mandalore, two fan favorites, being on the show). But because accepting Filoni knew what he was doing means accepting George also knew what he was doing when drawing political and social parallels between real life and star wars, it’s much easier to just hate on Filoni and/or George (depending on what they are saying).
It’s kind of like selective hate. When Anakin is being abusive or when Padmé is being assaulted Filoni is a fucking mastermind. But when he’s criticizing the Jedi Order he’s a dumbass who doesn’t know shit about star wars. Or at least don’t know as much as people who have never talked to George Lucas, talked to anyone linked to star wars or has explored the full contents of the star wars lore know.
Look, I’m not defending Filoni here. He’s made plenty of decisions I don’t agree with it, but I find quite surprising how people can’t be rational about it. or, at the very least, be critical of the things that truly matter and have an affect on people in real life like racism, sexism and abuse. Idk, I just find interesting how the fans hating on him for being slightly ‘critical’ of the jedi Order seem to have no problem with the racism, whitewashing and sexism in the show. It really shows what people’s priorities are.
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val-aquenta · 3 years
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1,4, and 22 for the salty asks?
Hoo boy, this is just enabling me to rant lmao. But thank you so much for the ask. <333
1. What OTP's in your fandom(s) do you just not get?
Gotta say Obitine. Uhh... I didn't get it when I first watched the cartoon, and I hated the implication that they gave Obi-Wan a romance to make Obi-Wan more 'human' (something I've heard other people push on the narrative.) I do like that it kind of showed the choice between being a Jedi and being in a commited relationship, but beyond that nothing. I also don't really like how most of Satine's whole story is determined by her romance to Obi-Wan. She's killed because of their relationship, most of the arcs with her surround the 'are they still in love and going to get with each other' narrative, and frankly it bores me. I am personally not into shipping in general, and I prefer more platonic and familial relationships like the Jedi-Clone and inter-Jedi relationships, so ships are kind of meh in general to me. I also didn't even see the appeal of their 'romance' tbh. They just seemed to argue a lot, and their confessions kind of came out of nowhere to me. If they did love each other, it really must have been a long time ago. I don't see it working?
Uhmmm off the top of my head are a few that I don't get, but I don't feel as strongly about. Qui-Gon x Shmi (never really understood why?), Rey x literally anyone lol (especially not our genocidal buddy kyle), Rose x Finn (not developed enough and then completely forgotten lmao, Ahsoka x Lux (ok this one is basically a notp tbh. Just... ew), and basically every Obi-Wan ship that I know (look he doesn't need fucing romance ok.) I didn't really want to go in depth with these because if we did heh yikes, we'd be here forever.
4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?
Hah. Anidala lol. From the top of my head, I think it's a very selfish relationship. I mean Anakin cares more about his feelings to Padmè than Padmè herself, and I feel like Padmè wants the clandestine romance vibes that come with being married to a person who is meant to be a neutral party. Especially during a war. Anakin's willingness to commit genocide for his 'love' for Padmè isn't a large sweeping romantic thing. The idea that he'd do anything for his love is pretty scary and I'm pretty sure Padmè, to some degree, knew of it. The fact that she continued to stay with him and live this double life means that she doesn't care about the consequences really. Idk I just feel like this relationship brings out the worst in both parties. The fact that Padmè is willing to deny that Anakin's fallen even when Obi-Wan comes to her door and tells her that Anakin killed Jedi could be that Padmè doesn't think Anakin capable of doing such a thing, but due to the fact that she was with him for the Tusken massacre and the whole Rush Clovis shit (and probably other tcw I don't remember) makes me think otherwise. Imo, I think that had the war ended and Palps been aprehended and everything gone well, their relationship would not have worked, because a large part of it was the fact that it was a secret thing, and that Anakin was not with Padmè that much. I don't see it working without outside factors imo, but whatever.
And, similar to many things, a lot of anidala fans are not willing to confront this truth that their relationship is built on lies and deceit and therefore will not continue to hold strong. So many of them ignore how Anakin broke his oaths as a Jedi to be impartial and place others over single people, and we all know that he did not do that when it came to Padmè. I know a lot of anidala fans aren't like this, and I'm not particularly vehement about this. This notp is more me not wanting to read anidala fics or see anidala art, and I've filtered it out. But yeah, some fan's vehemence that this was the one true thing and that if Anakin had been able to love openly (like he could... he just didn't have to be a Jedi to. Dang he really wants to eat his cak and have it too) and whatever he wouldn't have fallen just makes me... cringe a lot. Also I can't really separate what their relationship caused with the relationship itself.
22. Popular characters you hate?
Oh... uhh... this one makes me nervous ahhh. Well there are a few that I don't like as much as most people do and only a couple I hate hate. I really hate our lovely boy kyle. Uhh... mass murdering manipulator who tortures Rey and co, dude who stands by as entire planets are destroyed, and a genocidal maniac overall. I'm scared of some of his fans because yikes they're really fervent and trying to make kyle a morally grey character because of his 'redemption' during tros. Like... I don't care. You can say the same about Anakin/Vader tbh, but I think a lot of my hate for our buddy kyle comes from his fans and r*ylo stans who are very... intent on excusing Kyle's shitty actions. At least most Anakin/Vader fans know he's a shitty person and don't try and morally grey-ify him if you get what I'm saying.
Jango Fett too. I mean, I haven't read any of the books featuring him, but I'm gonna say it. Jango decided to enter that contract to create the army of clones. Essentially, he signed them up for the army in that contract with Dooku, so idc about your 'but he'd be such a good mand'alor and dad to the clones' bs, because he really wouldn't. He's incredibly selfish, and idk a lot of people seem to think he's the next best thing since sliced bread. I guess I should add Bo-Katan as well, because she's very hypocritical. the whole 'shouldn't you care about my sister' thing was not a good look because Bo-Katan, who helped bring the group of people there to destabalise her reign and kill her? Did you think deathwatch would just let her go freely? lmao with these two it's more I just don't like them that much. It's not like I hate them a whole bunch.
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mandaloriandy · 3 years
Note
For the WIP game, Obi-Wan Can’t Catch A Break, Can He?
[WIP Ask Game!]
Obi-Wan Can’t Catch A Break, Can He?
a.k.a
The Star Wars AU I’m Not Gonna Write: Time Travel, the Fuckening: Darth Searah 3.0
So time travel. Wham, blam, cosmic rays, everyone gains future memories. And! There’s a bunch of people who haven’t been born yet who show up out of nowhere. “I don’t understand why we’re the same age, you died years before I did,” Sabine Wren tells Ezra Bridger, when they meet up. On Kamino, everyone has a big ole freak-out before the medics yell at everybody to shut up and start getting their control chips out (and Kix, just in case, carefully does not mention the time he spent in cryo-stasis). “Hm,” says Shmi Skywalker, when her much-older-now son shows up to kill Gardulla and free her. “Things got complicated, didn’t they?” Ani doesn’t stop hugging her, so she can feel his nod. “I have some things to tell you as well, I think…”
Obi-Wan Kenobi is an initiate. This is, to borrow a phrase of Ahsoka’s, a big yikes moment. He would probably be freaking out about it more if everyone else was freaking out about it less, but as it is, there is nobody in the temple who is not halfway to a panic attack except for maybe Vokara Che, who is grimly sedating anyone who needs sedating, and Sifo Diyas, who is pointing and laughing and saying I told you so. So Obi-Wan does what anyone (he thinks) would do: he organizes his fellow crechelings to go give their various masters a slap upside the head (or, more likely given their current stature, a stomp on the toes) until they stop freaking out and start doing things.
This is not the interesting part of the AU. Just work with me, here.
Okay. So over the next few years, things become… weirdly normal? Like, nobody is pretending that Obi-Wan et al are as young as they are. But also it is very clear to everyone that they’re all still children, and have the cognition skills and habits of children. So people go off with their various masters (with only a few minor shuffles) and start doing missions across the galaxy. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan (and Tahl and Yoda and Mace and probably a few others, for safety) swing by Tatooine, because they’re not gonna just leave Anakin there, but… well, he’s not there, and neither is Shmi. Plo Koon’s first stop is not Kamino (because trauma, and getting shot down by men you considered your family) but he goes there after he can’t find Ahsoka on Shili, and it’s just… empty. Palpatine has vanished. Great, everyone says. Now what.
Well, now problems.
The thing is, last time, by the time Obi-Wan had turned like seventeen, all of Qui-Gon’s friends were dead. They’re not, this time, and that’s wonderful (even though Obi-Wan is probably only like fifteen at this point so technically they’ve still got time.) The thing is, Qui-Gon is a maverick, and has never played by the rules, and knows how to play-by-the-rules-in-the-rules and also how to pretend. The thing is, the thing is… the thing is that when they had first started truly delving into this research, it was Dooku who had been following Qui-Gon’s lead.
It takes Obi-Wan Kenobi, oh, three months to figure this all out?
No, not quite. It takes Obi-Wan about that long to figure out that Qui-Gon is dangerously close to the edge of Falling. Unintentionally, he thinks. From trauma and sorrow and loneliness, he thinks. So he argues with the Council (he was once on the council) and they agree that he can keep trying to convince Qui-Gon not to Fall. Since technically he isn’t Fallen yet. He writes up all their mission reports, anyways, so he can just include an encrypted section with a status update on that. It’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu thinks. Surely he is the person best-placed to determine how safe or unsafe Qui-Gon Jinn is. Normally, he would be right, especially with a post-ANH General Kenobi. Unfortunately for him, Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently a teenager.
So a few years into this, when Obi-Wan is fifteen or sixteen, Quinlan Vos runs away. He Fell, his master says. Months later, when Obi-Wan senses a shadowed presence stalking him through the concourse of a space station, he just sighs and gets an extra cup of caf, then sits down on a bench until Quinlan just comes out and talks to him. Quinlan says that he didn’t know what to do – he’d Fallen before, and returned, but now it kept happening and he doesn’t know how to stop it. Quinlan says that he just thought he needed some time away for things to settle, but it hasn’t settled yet, and would Obi-Wan be willing to help him? Quinlan is lying out his ass about most of those things. Again, unfortunately, Obi-Wan is a teenager, and at this age he has a much harder time keeping his eyes off of Quin’s biceps than he should. (Also, well, Quinlan knows Obi-Wan, and knows that this is exactly the kind of narrative that Obi-Wan is looking for, because it’s the kind of narrative he’s desperately trying to find with Qui-Gon, had desperately tried to find with Anakin. Quinlan Vos, at this age, is a bit of an asshole.) Of Course I’ll Help You, Obi-Wan says. Let me just tell the Council– You can’t tell the Council! Quinlan says. Half of them died before the Clone Wars even started, they… I’m scared they won’t understand… he makes his eyes go wide, he bites his lip, he lowers his lashes. Okay, Obi-Wan says.
Quinlan’s not that subtle, though, so Obi-Wan figures it out in just a month or so. A month of him traveling around with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. And learning Obi-Wan’s routine. Like, when he sends the Council updates. And what kind of things he puts in them. Oh, fuck, Obi-Wan thinks, while Quinlan has him pinned to the floor, his lightsaber clipped to Quin’s belt. Then, he thinks again. It’s not as if Quin knows any of his passwords, or his encryption keys, or his separate decryption keys. Without those, there’s no way Quin will be able to use his datapad to send the Council false updates, so they’ll realize that everything has gone south fairly quickly. Quinlan shifts Obi-Wan to a one-handed grip (damn those biceps) and, with his teeth, pulls the glove off of his free hand. Oh, fuck, psychometry, Obi-Wan thinks. Yeah, he’s kinda screwed. “Don’t tell me you’re working with Dooku,” Obi-Wan says, as scathingly as he can manage. Quinlan rolls his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m working with Skywalker.” he pauses. “I mean, Dooku’s also working with Skywalker. So. You know.” Well, Obi-Wan thinks, trying to be optimistic. If Anakin kills me then my force-ghost can go complain to Yoda, at least.
Obi-Wan has failed to ask which Skywalker is the one pulling the strings, here.
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prfctparis · 3 years
Text
In a Sweet Sunshower
AO3 Link
summary: He Who Brings Rain and The One Who Shines Bright are siblings. It’s fitting that there’s a sunshower during one of the campaigns when their legions team up.
a/n: a few things about Tatooine Slave Culture in this is borrowed from fialleril here on tumblr, so all rights go to them for that. except for the sunshower thing, i came up with it while driving and wrote this as fast as i could and actually kind of proud of the concept ngl. fun fact! zariza’s name mean ‘gold, brilliantly bright’ in hebrew so obviously it means something similar here in this star wars universe.
There’s an old phenomenon, here on Tatooine – from thousands and thousands of years ago back when this place wasn’t all dirt and sand – where the suns shone high in the sky, and voluminous clouds did little to darken the earth below, and rain fell from them, soaking the life on the ground.
It never lasted long, a few or so minutes at most, but it always happened during the hottest season of the year. It was said to be a beautiful sight to behold. The down pouring rain and the bright shining suns, together. Apparently it looked like liquid gold.
Everyone called it a sunshower. All of the Depur took it as a sign for there to be tricksters coming their way. Some of the Amavikka said that it was a sign of hope from one of the ancient prophets – Ekkreth, or Maru, or Tena, or Ebra – or even Ar-Amu to the slaves.
But most said that during it was when slaves became Free for good.
…We haven’t had rain in ages.
Zariza huffs and grimaces. Every single part of her is sweaty and sticky, and the humidity of this planet’s region might actually end up being the death of her. No, not the droids they fought earlier, or the damn Separatists, or even a stray blaster bolt. But the humidity. She knows that hate isn’t a good thing for a Jedi to feel, but she hates it, through and through. The air feels suffocating – the exact opposite of what it should be – and makes the heat of the sun feel hotter than it actually is. 
It’s horrible. She says as much to her Jedi Master.
“Yes, humidity does make what we’re doing harder. Unnecessarily so,” Mace agrees, sounding less annoyed and tired than his padawan but Zariza can hear the edge of the emotions in his voice. He isn’t fairing so well in this weather, either.
At least the battle is over. Now they just have to clean up everything.
The leaders of the planet had asked for clean up help once the fighting had ended and they had verbally agreed to officially join the Republic. Of course the 187th and 501st easily promised they would do so. Neither of the legions have somewhere important to be, except for maybe Coruscant or a High Council meeting, and so here they are. Sweating their asses off in the humid heat that somehow feels like a murder attempt.
“Take a break if you need it, Zariza – I don’t want you overworking yourself in this heat. It could be dangerous,” Mace says after a few more moments. Then to Commander Ponds, “Same goes for all of the one-eighty-seventh, Commander. Take as many breaks as you need.”
Zariza sees Ponds nod out of the corner of her eyes, followed by, “Yes sir, General. Lieutenant Spite and a medic squad are collecting bottles of water and setting up tents for shade. I’ve heard that the five-oh-first are doing the same as they work as well.”
“Good.”
Wiping her brow with the bare skin of her bicep, Zariza is glad that she had the foresight to leave her black cloak and outer tunic on the venator-ship. She now only wears the black boots, leggings, and the sleeveless white under tunic, which is now stained with dirt and a few specks of blood but she could hardly care. The troopers did earlier, though, especially at the beginning of the fight – lack of armor meant danger but Zariza wasn’t about to give herself a heatstroke. She at least still wore the braces for her forearms, and the chest plate that she has since taken off.
One of the troopers – Mayhem, she recognizes the armor – hands her a container of water hardly ten minutes later. She smiles gratefully at him and takes it, taking a few sips, and then hands it back. He caps the container, clips it on his belt, and they both get back to work cleaning broken droid parts and other various debris from the fight. Mayhem never strays too far from her. Zariza might have been annoyed by it if she didn’t know that he’s looking out for her.
On the other side of the large area that had been used a battle field against Seppie droids, are the 501st – her brother included. Like her, he has darker robes than the usual Jedi, and had also foregone the outer tunics because of the planet’s heat before battle started. Zariza won’t be surprised if he’s currently completely shirtless by now – a risk for a sunburn, no doubt, with skin much paler than her own, but that’s his problem. She also knows for a fact that Ahsoka is wearing the tube top outfit she wore constantly before Anakin corralled her into wearing something more covering, a few pieces of armor included, just a month ago.
Hell, even Master Mace Windu is shirtless right now, the weirdness of it be damned. Some troopers have started to disappear regularly, leaving in full gear, only to pop up again with the top half of their blacks and armor gone.
Yeah. Humidity karking sucks.
Needing a break, Zariza leans against a lone tree nearby. She can feel the Living Force flowing through it and focuses on that as she catches her breath. Mayhem spots her and brings her more water without question.
“Thanks,” she sighs, and takes another sip.
Mayhem nods, undoing a second bottle from his belt, right next to where his helmet it clipped. He’s shirtless just like many of his brothers, curly hair frizzy as hell. “You’re welcome, sir,” he says. Once he’s had a few sips of his own, he asks, “How much is left in there?”
She shakes it, and shrugs. “Half, maybe?”
He nods again. “I’ll go back to one of the tents and refill it for you soon.”
She smiles thankfully. “Don’t forget to get yourself some.”
Mayhem chuckles. “Of course not, sir.”
After taking another drink, she hands it back just like before. But she doesn’t move to get back to work just yet. Master Mace nudges her in their bond, asking if she’s okay, and she tiredly pokes back to confirm that she is, all the while eying what’s left of the field to clean up. They’re getting there, but it looks like it will take forever. At least Anakin, Ahsoka, and the 501st are tackling the other half; and they’re getting closer, slowly but surely.
Her eyes flit up to the sky, and she spots grey clouds nearby. But, ugh – they aren’t close enough for them to get rained on.
It causes a frown to tug on her lips. A pout, if she wants to be honest about it.
Mayhem chuckles for a second time, more amused than before. “Finally saw the clouds, huh, verd’ika?”
Another trooper nearby stops and looks as well. A wounded noise escape them. “It’s so close but so damn far,” they say, forlorn. What a Force-damned mood.
“This humidity will be the death of me,” Zariza mumbles.
“That’s not happening on our watch,” they say, firm yet exhausted, the sadness about the clouds suddenly gone.
“Damn straight,” Mayhem agrees.
She can only groan.
Once Zariza has rested for a good few minutes, she stands up straight again, but instead of getting to work, she unties the knot of the yellow bandana at the nape of her neck. The wild, dark waves of her hair are no doubt frizzy and wilder than ever; earlier she was positive that she felt the waves grow in size because of the friz and the humidity, and she honestly doesn’t want to know what she looks like because of it. Quickly, she works on putting her long hair into a nerftail and ties it with the bandana.
What feels like ages later, the planet’s sun is beginning to finally lower in the sky and the 187th has done most of their half of the battle field. Through the bond, Zariza can tell Anakin is close by yet she stays lying on the ground, taking yet another much needed break. The clouds are closer, too. Yet still no rain.
The sound of boots crunching the dry, summer grass as someone walks gets closer and louder, up until the person stops right at Zariza’s head, casting a shadow over her. She blinks and tilts her chin to get a better look at who it is despite already having a pretty good guess. Anakin stands over her, sweaty and shirtless, with red tinting his shoulders, chest, and nose. His dirty blond hair is matted with sweat and it sticks to his forehead and the nape of his neck, a few of the short curls frizzed up, and his face is contorted into a scowl.
“I cannot believe I’m saying this,” he says, “but I miss Tatooine’s dry heat.”
“Agreed,” she grunts.
Anakin huffs and steps to her side. He then sticks out his flesh hand, and Zariza forces herself to sit up so she can grab it. He pulls her to her feet and almost immediately lets go once he’s sure she’s balanced well. The humid heat has made the brother-sister who hug every time they see each other, want to not be touching another body in any way for the foreseeable future.
Anakin runs a hand through his hair, grimaces at the sweat, and wipes it on his pants. Disgusting. “Been drinking enough water?” he asks.
She sighs. “Yep. You?”
“Yep.”
“Ahsoka?”
“Yep.” A beat. “Master Windu?”
She almost says ‘yep’ again, but decides not to. “Yeah, him too. Don’t worry.” She smirks. It’s no secret that before Master Mace took her as his padawan, that Anakin couldn’t stand the man. The feeling might have been mutual, but honestly Zariza doesn’t know and doesn’t care to. For now.
Anakin just rolls his eyes and flips her off, walking off to help Captain Rex and a few more guys of Torrent Company.
Ahsoka comes up to her a second later. The younger teen doesn’t say anything, and neither does Zariza. Usually energetic and happy to get her to know her Master’s little sister better, the heat has zapped the togruta of most of her energy. So in silence, they work together on a particularly large piece of debris, and then immediately head to the nearest tent for some much needed shade. Breaks are becoming more frequent, and Zariza thinks that maybe she will have to stop helping if they don’t finish up cleaning soon.
Anakin is already in the tent, along with Master Mace, Captain Rex, and Commander Ponds by the time the girls get there, and the two padawans wave a short greeting to the men before beelining where other troopers are giving out fresh water.
It’s when one of the Boys In Blue (as the GAR has started calling the 501st) hands them both a fresh container when it happens.
The sound of rain pelting the top of the tent makes everyone freeze. It’s obviously still sunny, but that doesn’t stop Zariza or any of the others to turn to check for themselves. And it is – no clouds directly above them at all – yet the rain is falling down, gradually increasing to a steady downpour. She blinks a few times and inches closer to the edge of the tent, and hardly a second later Anakin is at her side, looking out as well, mouth parted in shock.
“A sunshower,” Anakin whispers.
Zariza numbly nods.
Her mind conjures up a faint memory of being told of a phenomenon from hundreds of thousands of years ago on Tatooine. Of sunshine and rain, together. Of liquid gold. Of tricksters visiting Depur. Of a sign of hope to slaves, or a celebration for the Freed.
It doesn’t look completely like liquid gold like Amu’s tales said, but it was close to it. It’s still beautiful. A stunning phenomenon that neither Anakin nor Zariza believed they would ever get to see. 
“They don’t last long,” she finds herself saying.
The Skywalkers turn their heads in unison to look at one another. Matching grins of excitement and mischief form, and without any prompting Zariza is taking off into the rain almost as fast as a blaster bolt, Anakin hot on her heels.
Zariza jumps into an already formed puddle. It’s right next to one of the 501st troopers, Jesse, and it splashes him. Zariza may or may not have used to Froce to make the splash bigger, but that doesn’t exactly matter. Just that there’s a sunshower, that her and her brother are both Free, and there’s a fucking sunshower and it’s amazing! 
Jesse lunges at her, wanting to retaliate for getting splashed at, but she slips away easily with loud laughter.
From him, anyway – Anakin catches her a second later with water from a puddle cupped in his hands. He promptly dumps it over her head with laughter of his own, then misses up her hair just for the heck of it.
“Wha– ugh, Anakin!”
“Tag, you’re it!” he shouts, as if they’re eight and twelve again in the Room of a Thousand Fountains instead of sixteen and twenty in the middle of a field post-battle.
Zariza gapes at him, but it quickly turns into grins and she chases after him without a second thought.
It doesn’t take long for Ahsoka to join, or even for the troopers. Within seconds, there’s a large game of tag, troopers splashing in puddles, and almost everyone running in the rain with the sun shining down on them, laughter ringing out into the open and so much Light seeping into the Force that Mace can’t help but shove his Commander into the rain as well.
…Yes, we haven’t had rain in thousands upon thousands of years.
But it is said that one day, when the twin suns shine hotly over Tatooine, that clouds will form once again yet they will not obscure the twins from sight, and a downpour of rain will wash over everyone.
All the slaves will be Free, and Depur will no longer have power over us.
We will have a sunshower once more.
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